#The Boy with the Arab Strap

[archivist-crow]

Belle & Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998)

Twenty-six years ago today, on September 7, 1998, The Boy with the Arab Strap, the third studio album by Belle & Sebastian, was released. After their second album came out in 1996, Scottish indie outfit Belle & Sebastian opted to release three EP’s the following year, delaying the release of their third album. However, the EPs all successively climbed the higher on the charts, introducing the band to US college radio audiences, and setting the stage for the new album. Released to acclaim in 1998, the album peaked at number 12 in the UK and was the band’s first real presence in the US.

[reckonslepoisson]

The Boy With the Arab Strap, Belle and Sebastian (1998)

Perhaps my writing about Belle and Sebastian, too, will become a mere impersonation, an embarrassing cliché of my earlier pieces about the band. Critical accusations of The Boy With the Arab Strap as stale or tired have proven false; more delightful twee pop, lyrically and instrumentally as fresh as the day Belle and Sebastian first wrought it. 

Pick: ‘Sleep the Clock Around’

[thequietabsolute]

soberly and without regret I make another sandwich

— Belle & Sebastian, from Ease Your Feet into the Sea [1998]

[senorboombastic]

Live Review: Belle and Sebastian at Manchester Academy 21 July 2023

Words: Ben Forrester On my way to the Academy in Manchester this evening, I’m calculating how long it’s been since I was first introduced to Scotland’s premier indie group, Belle & Sebastian. Turns out it’s been 20 years, as it was their 2003 album ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ that switched me on to the Glaswegian’s glistening pop melodies. I’ve therefore waited two whole decades to see them…

[tomcat-radio]

Some Belle and Sebastian sketches because I love their album covers and wanted some value practice. Anyway I’m so normal about this band it’s insane.

[polaroidblog]

“Memoria polaroid” – un blog alla radio S23E18

Bentrovate e bentrovati a una nuova puntata del podcast di “Memoria polaroid – un blog alla radio”, la trasmissione in onda ogni settimana da Bologna sulle frequenze di NEU Radio. Apriamo le danze celebrando il ventennale di Candinista, il leggendario album d’esordio delle Black Candy, e poi viaggiamo da Vancouver a Göteborg, dalla Nuova Zelanda alla Gran Bretagna, passando anche per il nostro…

[ghosts-of-love]

god once you start relating a song to a person it's so hard to snap out of it

[square-braxket]

boy with the arab strap is filled with so many emotions it makes me cry through the whole album

my absolute beloved

[musicalsiphonophore]

i LOOOOOOVE BELLE AND SEBASTIAN !!!!!!

i saw them live recently they were sooooo good and also i have vinyl of boy with the arab strap and SIGNED vinyl of if youre feeling sinister and i love them sooooooooo much

We’re rocking out to Belle and Sebastian today

Specifically late developers

[bunnyscrypt]

jason todd as a lover <3

sfw

a real lover boy. he's obsessed with you and everything about you, doesn't even try to hide it. everyone can see and feel how much love he has for you. physical touch is definitely one of his love languages —he always has to be touching you, whether it's a grip on your waist or a hand resting on your neck. why look for a chair when he has a perfectly good lap right there? he just wants to feel on you at all times.

rarely calls you by your first name unless he's upset. it's always beloved, baby, habib albi, rouhi, hayati, etc (i will be making a post about all the things he calls you in arabic)

quality time! yes jason loves books and you'd definitely have moments reading together but he also canonically likes punk rock and heavy metal. you two would absolutely have your own concerts in your room listening to joy division, the chameleons, killing joke, and black sabbath etc..

he will teach you arabic. he loves flirting with you in the language, watching with a smirk as you get flustered (and annoyed) cause he knows you don't understand.

(speaking of i do want to expand more on that and even do that "surprising my lover by speaking their language" trend)

c l i n g y. personal space is not in his vocabulary. he can't help that he's addicted to you.

he's one possessive mf!! (so are you) do i even need to say more? but let's not get it twisted. he's not the type to control what you wear or who you talk to or what you do —you're your own person. you can do whatever you want. he knows your his and he's yours so he's not all that worried. besides...... he can fight (and he's strapped)

spoils you to no end. will definitely just give you his card with a kiss on the cheek and tell you to treat yourself to whatever. staring at something a little too long at the store? liked an item on social media? he's already ordering it, he doesn't gaf. if you want something its yours.

late night drives on his motorcycle. you're upset? had a bad day? he's already strapping a helmet on your head, putting you on the back of his bike. “tanks all full, we can drive for as long as you want”

nsfw:

loves every position. he just wants to be with you but missionary and cowgirl are his top favorites. missionary —he loves to look your eyes as he whispers sweet and dirty words to you. watching every expression you make as he hits it deep. cowgirl —that's when its your turn. holding him close, tugging his hair, whispering whatever in his ear as you grind down, forehead touching his.

free use!! but him wanting you to use him whenever you want. sad? just want to be close to him? youre just in the mood? use him, he wants you to. whenever you're hesitant, he just reminds you that “baby im yours. whenever you want, alright. i got you. whenever or wherever you need me"

he is a certified munch. gets off just getting you off. loves when you tug his hair pulling him closer. doesn't even want anything in return, he just wants to taste you. he's a messy eater

praise kink praise kink!!! both ways. wants you tell him how good it feels, will also tell you how good you make him feel.

loves when you act bratty cause he knows you just want him to be rough and fuck the attitude out of you.

a moaner and a talker! will talk in arabic without realizing it sometimes. "take it so well baby" "look at me baby, that's it" "pussy feels so fucking good"

[fursasaida]

"What is described here is not 'use of human shields', but rather a much more severe crime: forced conscription of a civilian to act as a suicide bomber on behalf of the IDF. That being said, there is ample evidence that the IDF is also using human shields in recent weeks"

this man was arrested by the IDF, had explosives and a camera strapped to him and a leash put on him, and forced to walk down tunnels so soldiers could check for Hamas fighters via the camera - and detonate him if they saw any. (Presumably of they saw anyone at all, given their disinterest in making any distinctions.) After they let him go they specifically chose "someone younger" to do the same - a 15 year old boy.

The horror is unimaginable.

Note: this is from eyewitness testimony, via a translator, via Mouin Rabbani. Rabbani notes it has not been further verified. The thread does include commentary regarding what makes this account credible. The Arabic account this is translated from is here.

[porcelainseashore]

Where We've Left Our Love - Series Masterlist

𑁍 Teenage Headache Dreams - Part 1 Timeline: High School/College AU Pairing: RE2R Leon x Dancer! Reader (18+) Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Summary: You’re a bored, but ambitious high school student who can’t wait to escape small town life and make it in the big city. You thought you had it all figured out, until you unwittingly befriend the resident golden boy, Leon.

𑁍 Ghosts from the Past - Part 2 Timeline: Post-RE4R Pairing: Agent! Leon x Dancer! Informant! Reader (18+) Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

Summary: 7 years after leaving behind everything you’ve known, you’re suddenly thrust into facing a ghost from your past, Leon. Navigating where you stand with him brings up old memories, painful truths and countless questions. At the same time, you have to deal with a bunch of strange occurrences at your dance company.

𑁍 The Lost Tapes - Series one-shots Timeline: Pre-RE2R to Post-RE4R Pairing: Leon x Fem! Reader Chapter 1, Chapter 2, .... more to be added!

Summary: One-shots for my series Where We’ve Left Our Love. Encapsulated moments within the past and future lives of Leon x Reader in no particular order.

Author's Note: Content warnings are in the individual chapters.

Title from Where We've Left Our Love by Arab Strap.

navigation 🧭 | leon's masterlist 🔮 | ao3 💖

[musclejedi-tameem]

It had been a long day of travel for Isaac. Vacation was supposed to be fun and relaxing but the last 24 hours had been anything but. Constant delays in his flights had him arriving at his destination later than planned and on top of that his luggage was lost and wouldn’t be delivered until the next day! At least the island resort he was staying at seemed nice enough. The clerk was even kind enough to give him a change of clothes to wear until his luggage came. When Isaac got to his room he looked out at the beach but decided to take a shower before doing anything, he stank from 24 hours of solid travel. So he hopped in the shower and cleaned up. The provided soap and shampoo smelled good, very manly he thought. On getting out he opened the bag of clothes from the clerk. It was a light blue tank top, black gym shorts and a dark blue jock strap. Isaac wasn’t into any of that normal but it was clean clothes so he figure he should use them, they were free too after all. Putting them on he realized that they were to big for him but as soon as he noticed that he began to feel off. He was sweating heavily and then his body started to grow! He groaned as he began to get taller and his body began to fill in with muscle. His nonexistent pecs swelled heavily until they were two massive slabs of meat pushing out his tank. He groaned again, deeper now, as his shoulders rounded out and his traps push up behind his thick neck. His arms thickened quickly two as his skin got tanner. He looked down and could see 8 thick abs popping into existence on his stomach area and the it hit him. He almost doubled over as his legs swelled to thick tree trunks with big hairy feet to support them. Between his now massive thighs he felt his cock growing longer and thicker getting almost 11’’ long and 2’’ thick. His balls swelled with new testosterone and dropped heavily like two oranges between his legs. The massive size of his legs pushed his package forward in his jock strap and made it plainly visible under his shorts. With all that done his face changed and got older becoming late 40s and his hair changed to a short jock hairstyle. His beard grew out nice and full on his chiseled jaw line too. And his skin finished darkening as tattoos appeared on his arms. Isaac was gone, now all that was left was Reza, the husband of the clerk/owner of the resort and the fitness trainer at the outdoor gym. Reza stretched and looked in the mirror. He smiled and gave a thumbs up to himself. “Looking good man” he tumbled in his deep Arabic accented voice. He looked at the clock and knew he needed to get down to the gym to start training his clients. But boy was he horny. His husband was gonna get his ass pounded tonight for sure. Reza walked out of their apartment and down to the gym where he began pumping iron while he waited for his clients. His husband passed and gave him a hug. Reza loved him so much and was ready to give him a night to remember that evening.

[yunarim]

Can I please request headcanons for the Scarabia boys, Leona, Idia, Rook and Vil finding out that the reader is fluent in their mother tongue (for example: Arabic for Kalim and Jamil, Swahili for Leona, Greek for Idia, French ofc for Rook and German for Vil)?

It lowkey would be funny if they found out by hearing the reader curse

── ⋅⋅⋅ ATTENTION PLEASE | reader who is fluent in boys’ native languages

➷ gn reader, cultural references in some parts, reader is aware of the original fairytale in vil's part, slight cursing in vil's part ⤹ kalim al-asim, jamil viper, leona kingscholar, idia shroud, rook hunt, vil schoenheit

You’re hanging out with KALIM AL-ASIM in the Light Music Club room watching him humming something while you’re helping him arrange stuff. Lilia and Cater are just about to arrive when Kalim starts singing a bit louder and you turn to him, smiling brightly. He has a nice voice, you wonder why the Club never performs on stage with songs. 

“Do you know the song that was popular like, hundreds of years ago? They say it was created when Sorcerer of the Sands existed!!”

“Oh?” You don’t stop polishing his drumsticks. “I don’t think so, given my transmigration. Another world, remember?”

“Ah, right~” Kalim replies playfully. “But it never hurts to try once, don’t you think?” 

“Hey,” you let out a little laugh. “You’re a musician here, not me.”

“Come on, just try! I bet you would do great! Listen, try repeating after me! When the wind’s from the east and the sun’s from the west…”

Kalim surely makes the song sound so beautifully and easy to sing but you find yourself struggling memorizing the lyrics, and let out a small sigh.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay!! It’s actually easy!”

“The one whose hand is in fire is not like the one whose hand is in water…”

You want to try singing again but see Kalim’s dumbfounded facial expression and ask him what’s wrong. When you realize you just let a popular saying in your native language slip out of your tongue, you just say a weak ‘oh’ and apologize. 

“Sorry, let me translate it real quick…”

“No need,” Kalim replies and you realize that even the sound of his voice has changed. 

“Wait…” You say, pointing at him, your smile widens instantly. “You speak Arabic?”

“I didn’t expect you to know Arabic too!” Kalim can’t help but suddenly throw himself on you with hugs. “You’re amazing!”

“As well as you are!”

When Lilia and Cater finally arrive, they can’t even get what is happening at the moment. You almost agree that now you would speak Arabic only like in a way of ciphering things but then you realize that Jamil and apparently half of Scarabia students can speak Arabic so it’s not very confidential but at least you two can gossip playfully around Lilia and Cater from now on. 

➤ اللي ايده في المية مش زي اللي ايده في النار -  Easier said than done.

“What are we cooking today?" You ask JAMIL VIPER, washing your hands and tying the straps of the apron behind your back.

“Nothing complicated,” he says, taking eggs in one hand and vegetable oil in another. He then brings beans that he apparently soaked in water overnight, and starts boiling. “I could apologize for calling you out so early in the morning but you asked this yourself…”

“Sorry for seeing you online so early in the morning,” you replied with a cheeky grin.

Cooking with Jamil was always fun. The dishes he cooked reminded you of ones you were extremely familiar with back in your world. 

“Please would you prepare the bread? You need to place the bread cubes in— hey, are you perhaps following your intuition or something? I never told you the recipe.”

“Huh?” You turn to him when you put bread cubes into the boiling beans water and remove it immediately. “A-ah, right, sorry! I just… the ingredients choice reminded me of Bagila bil Dihin… I miss eating it while living in Ramshackle without any money to buy the ingredients, sadly… Oh, sorry, what was I saying? Tell me about the recipe, please.”

Jamil’s usual collected facade seems to shatter for a moment before you rush to him when onions start turning caramelized. 

“Sorry,” you repeat. “It just happened naturally…”

“Didn’t know you can cook Bagila bil Dihin.”

“Haah?!” Now it’s your turn to be surprised. “I didn’t know you could speak Arabic!” 

“You could have guessed with how many dishes we already cooked together.”

“Yeah maybe I could… But I couldn’t have guessed Arabic exists in Twisted Wonderland!”

“Well, you know now,” Jamil seems more relaxed around you as if he showed you a little bit more of the true side of himself. “Now, would you chop parsley? We can eat together before Kalim wakes up, if you will.”

“Sure!” You reply with a soft chuckle, feeling more energized. 

Jamil lets you try the dish first and suggests keeping it secret from Kalim for some time when he sees your smile. Would you let him fool around just a little? 

“I don’t get your logic,” you say to LEONA KINGSCHOLAR who’s lying on your lap when you’re doing your homework. 

“I don’t get yours either, herbivore,” he yawned, closing his eyes. “You’re being too much of a perfectionist. Just go with the flow or something.”

You sigh, staring at your copybook absentmindedly. A comfortable warmth radiating from Leona’s body was lulling you to sleep but you had exams coming up.

“No, because how the hell does ancient magic even work here? I see spells are needed to be casted in some sort of a Latin equivalent with proper pronunciation. But then there’s a language I don’t know. Also can you cast ancient magic in your native language? Will it be the exact same spell or another one? Arghh…”

“First, calm down. Second, it is Latin.”

“Our worlds seem to be not so different after all,” you shrug. “Actually, demonstrate one harmless ancient spell to me. I won’t ask any questions if you do.”

“Ha!” Leona laughs, adjusting himself on your lap to get into a more comfortable position since you’ve started fidgeting in excitement. “Harmless, you say. The only harmless magic I can cast is to shut you up.”

“I don’t care, cast it.”

“Just stop asking stupid questions and let me sleep already, herbivore.”

Leona smirks proudly, guessing you went under impression and finally shutted up. But the next second he was proved drastically wrong. 

“You know, if that’s the real ancient magic, then I can cast it too. Say, did it work? I believe it did.”

Leona opens his eyes instantly, bright emeralds of his glare aimed at you. You chuckle, resting your hand on top of his head, letting your fingers play with his silky hair.

“I thought we’re over with secrets, herbivore. And now you speak Swahili?”

“Who knows what else I’ve got in my sleeve. Now cast something real already!”

“Don’t wanna,” Leona yawns again. “But keep on trying, maybe even you can cast something. Aloud.”

“If you want to hear me speaking Swahili, then just say so!.. And he’s asleep.”

You’re playing a new detective adventure video game IDIA SHROUD just got. Even if Board Game Club basically is for board games only as it stated in the name, somehow nor Idia and Azul were against of playing a detective adventure PC game Idia just got… somewhere. 

“Hey,” you point at the game when an intro music starts playing. “It looks like it's from the Paleozoic era.”

“I have to agree,” Azul nods. “Looks quite interesting though.”

“Never thought you play for graphics only. What a drama… Wanna get kicked out of the Club?” Idia said quite dramatically when you roll your eyes.

The name says “Nancy Drxw”. You almost get deep into your thoughts when Idia starts playing and you see a kind of familiar gameplay system and setting. 

You get actually excited when the first 30 minutes pass. Mythology-based game turns out to be quite witty with its riddles and puzzles and while Idia is being a personification of an internet walkthrough and Azul hissing at him for dragging the spotlight on himself, you think the setting is extremely familiar to you.

“Let me handle this,” you say when you see a puzzle with 5 different names, tokens and letters of the Greek alphabet. 

You didn’t even know Greek existed here! 

“Ha! Even if I recognized you’re not a normie, there’s no way you can handle this,” Idia says, letting you try nevertheless.

“Ha, just look at him. It’s obvious that the playwright goes to Euripides and as for the token… theatre mask for sure, no doubt.”

Azul sitting at your left lets out a small ‘huh?’ unlike Idia who goes all broken, error 404 imprinting on his face at the moment.

“Excuse me—” Azul tries to ask you what was that just now but Idia interrupts him.

“Hey, move Sigma E to the center and the Mask to the inner red point!” 

You get excited as Idia leans a bit closer to you to show where to put certain elements on the screen and you don’t even get what’s wrong with Azul's expression when he finally breaks your idyll.

“What are you two even saying?”

“Ah, right.” You say, turning to Idia who seems just as confused as you. “How the hell do you know Greek?”

“I literally live in Hell—”

“Oh,” you say. “Right. The keeper of the Underworld and stuff. My bad.”

“One more intended pun and I’m not letting you solve the puzzles.”

“Drop your cipher, would you be oh so kind?” Azul sighs. 

“Nope!”

The first time you hear ROOK HUNT saying random things in French makes you think he knows some words and does it for aesthetic purposes or something. 

You watch a theatre play on your phone which was airing yesterday but you’ve been preoccupied with too many things already so the only way to watch it was today, sitting during a little break under the tree in the school yard. 

You heard Epel nagging about this particular play because somehow it turned out that Vil wants the next project for Film Research Club to be inspired by this play. What does it have to do with you? Well, figuring out the right mood and being a shoulder to cry on because the amount of French was overwhelming and—

And hey, you’ve got to watch something in your native language for the first time in what felt like a year already!

You surely don’t hear Rook approach you until he bends over you and says. 

“What a wonderful afternoon, dear Trickster!” You switch your gaze to him for a few seconds to give him a nod and smile in a greeting way. “ I see you’ve been watching quite a masterpiece, have you not?”

“Yeah, Epel asked me to watch but it’s pretty interesting. Want to join? Though I assume you already saw it.”

“Right you are,” he says but sits beside you nevertheless. “Do you need some help with translations? There are quite a lot of incredibly charming French lines!”

You chuckle softly and turn to him.

“Really? What are your favorites? I can actually see you performing the main lead role on stage.”

You haven’t seen Rook reacting to Vil for the first time in his life, but if you have, you could have sworn that you exceeded all the expectations. Heart-eyed Rook grabs your hands in excitement and declares his everlasting appreciation of how French sounds from you. 

“Alright alright, no need to exaggerate,” you giggle. “I must say I’m impressed too.”

Epel next day: is impressed, too. But more terrified because now he’s got two friends speaking alien language and ending up never translating it to him. 

VIL SCHOENHEIT asked you to help him out during Film Research Club activities. After doing some cleaning, you’re preparing decorations for the next scene.

Still holding a broom, you take a closer look at the stage and the decorations you need to arrange and how other students are adjusting the light. Wooden furniture, dust particles flying all around and glowing under soft sun rays penetrating from the old window; piles of utensils on the table. 

You giggle, making your way towards the centre, and use your broom. Somehow it reminds you of one particular scene from the Snow White movie, and you start singing softly when no one sees you. 

It’s not like anyone can speak your native language, so you don’t really care when you’re basically citing Snow White and whirl around, enjoying your little Dxney main character moment. 

Vil enters the room and wants to call for you but the closer he gets to the stage, the clearer he hears what you are saying exactly. He observes you for some good two-three minutes without you noticing him at all, and chuckles.

How peculiar.

“It won’t take long when there’s a song to help you set the pace,” you still sing, your body moves on its own. “And as you sweep the room, imagine that the broom…”

“Is someone that you love, and soon,” Vil interrupts you and you drop your broom that instant. 

“Ah shit, I got carried away,” you say, slapping yourself on the forehead and hear Vil sighing softly. 

“Language,” Vil says glaring at you with a hint of upcoming scolding, but he joins you on stage instead. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Your singing is quite decent, in fact. Never knew you could speak German, though, you never fail to impress me, hm?”

“Same here. In any case..!” You throw a quick anticipating glance at him and smile when he waves his hand and continues for you.

“You’ll find you’re dancing to the tune… Want to play this role? You would fit with how beautifully you speak.”

“Never expected you to say that to me.”

“Literally can someone translate what they’re saying?!” Epel, who was watching them from the very beginning, asked other students who were standing in the auditorium. “I can’t understand alien language, sorry.”

“Will be our little secret then.” Vil says to you before letting a little chuckle escape his tinted lips.