#allied brass

[satanic10]

Kids in Boston

Inspiration for a mid-sized, contemporary kids' bathroom remodel with white walls, a drop-in sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, quartzite countertops, and one-piece toilet.

[simplycrazyhunter]

Bathroom Kids (Boston)

[wipbigbang]

WIP BIG BANG SIGN-UPS ARE LIVE!

The 2024 round of WIP Big Bang is now open for sign-ups! Any fandom is welcome, as long as the fic is 500 completed so far and will be at least 7,500 words upon its finishing. Signing up is easy: just fill out the form linked below after you read the FAQ and take a look at the schedule.

[sinceileftyoublog]

St. Lenox Interview: Good Waterpark Design

Photo by Aaron Cansler

BY JORDAN MAINZER

You may think you have very little in common with a PhD holder and lawyer who also happens to be a brilliant singer-songwriter. But Andrew Choi, who records as St. Lenox, continues to cull from his experiences, whether they've happened to him or others, to tell tales that transcend background, let alone educational level or salary. His studio albums have followed the same format: ten songs centering around a theme, often presented as a gift to others, sometimes as a gift to himself. They've covered Choi's own experiences with life and love, his father's immigration to the United States, and our collective existence during periods of political upheaval. And though his latest, Ten Modern American Work Songs, out today via Don Giovanni and Anyway, technically strays from the pattern (it has an introductory track for a total of 11), it sports everything you love about a St. Lenox record, from Choi's powerhouse vocals and diaristic lyrics to underratedly complex arrangements of chintzy chamber pop and hearty indie rock.

Written as a (facetiously non-financial) 10-year reunion contribution to the NYU Law Class of 2014, Ten Modern American Work Songs is notably filled with regret, the songs' protagonists often struggling to reconcile their current status symbols with the familial warmth they've left behind. But it also imbues a universal hope, for things as tangible as fairer wages and better work-life balance and as abstract as gaining or maintaining happiness. "Victory!" shouts Choi on "Courtesan", the album's first proper song after its introductory vignette. "After seven years of agony, I get to be a courtesan this year." Atop a swirling synth arpeggio and steady, marching drums, the anthemic chorus is both a shout of moral panic and a weight lifted off of the protagonist's shoulders: He can finally make some money. The tone is sarcastic on "Lust for Life", rife with organ, harmonic synths, and toy-like mallet percussion; though the protagonist is happy that he's going to be part of unionization efforts, he recognizes the fact that his job is thankless, that "Everyone comes running back to us when the hour is dire or they are near death."

A lesser songwriter would make songs about labor sung from the perspective of someone making good money, even if they are paying off debt, sound cynical, especially given increasing wealth inequality. Though Choi is careful to separate his voice from that of the protagonists, it's clear his lived experience contributes to the album's realness. It's why a song like "Rudy" works, about a classmate who prioritized family life over the corporate ladder; the protagonist calls himself, in contrast, a "big city, fast-talking asshole" and a "weeknight twilight pissant." You know, at the same time, that there's part of Rudy who wishes he, too, was a "weekend corporation peon." On album closer "On Fulfillment", the narrator commiserates with a fellow lawyer at the wedding of a mutual friend. Equal to their sense of, "What could have been?" is a hilarious recognition of their own economic privilege." "Jet-setting off to Venice or at the high-society gala," Choi sings, "It seems they always waste these things on us mere middle-aged attorneys."

My favorite songs on Ten Modern American Work Songs, or at least the ones that best showcase Choi as not just a songwriter or lyricist but scene-builder, are those that take place in seemingly mundane locations. Sure, you might find touching and relatable, lines about the protagonist's dad teaching him how to drywall and lay tile, and him nevertheless abandoning a house in Columbus for the least bang for his buck in NYC. But a song like "New York Speaks Softly at Night", with its layered organ and keys, provides even more gut punches, the narrator taking the subway, looking at people around himself and perceiving their lives, even a "wet orange cat in the pouring rain." "It looked at me like I could be its midnight savior / Hard luck Garfield got the Mondays yet again," Choi sings, the most MJ Lenderman line on a non-MJ Lenderman record this year. “Quasi-Nichomachean Ethics (Drunk Uncle Advice)” sees someone giving advice to his 21-year-old nephew, a mix of words earnest, empathetic, pragmatic, and snarky. "Don't underestimate the tendency of humans to keep on disappointing you at every waking opportunity," Choi sings. If at first, it sounds harsh, the more you listen to it, you wish someone would have told you the same thing when you were young. And "Kalahari" takes place at a waterpark in Sandusky, OH, the narrator beholden to the exact speed of the lazy river, the perfect place for existential pondering. "Forget vacationing down in Mexico, where all the ex-pats hate the tourists like you," Choi sings, peeling back layers of American obnoxiousness while expressing a genuine love for a "not real authentic" park.

As if the density of Ten Modern American Work Songs, the album, wasn't enough, St. Lenox has also released videos for all of the album's singles, titled differently than the songs themselves. He and his husband Elon star in each of them, but as with the album, he refers to the characters in the video as distinct from himself. In the video for "Rudy", titled "How to Get a Table at Tatiana", the main character's unable to get a reservation at the acclaimed NYC Afro-Caribbean restaurant of the same name, so he works on his own cooking skills instead. In the video for “Quasi-Nichomachean Ethics (Drunk Uncle Advice)", titled “Introduction to Modern Philosophy”, the narrator tells us about the death of a mentor of his before he has to give his nephew advice, Choi inverting the plot of the song. The video for "Your Local Neighborhood Bar", titled "Open Mic: The Egalitarian Institution", is the protagonist's tribute to past post-work performances, where everyone was on the same playing field. The video for "Lust for Life", titled, "What Do We Do with the Roses in our Garden", sees the protagonist and his husband weighing their new life in suburbia, having recently purchased a home, decorating it with their items and taking care of what existed there before them. The one first person exception is the video for "Courtesan"; entitled "The JD Vance Couch", it's the true story of how the couch that Choi and his husband are sitting on in the video, as they wave at their infant daughter, was given to him by a law school classmate who was roommates with the Republican nominee for Vice President. Potential jokes aside, in the video, Choi laments Vance's idea that leaders must have direct stakes in the future (their own children), considering that Vance may have been in an ethics class, taught by Choi himself, at The Ohio State University.

Though it may be challenging for the average listener to connect all the dots, thankfully, Choi was willing to answer some questions over email about the world of Ten Modern American Work Songs. Below, read his responses, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: In your track-by-track breakdown of the album, you refer to the song's narrators as "the protagonist," who often lead a life similar to yours. How autobiographical is the album?

Andrew Choi: Fairly autobiographical, but from time to time, songs evolve on their own. Sometimes, the stories of people that I know make their way in, or sometimes, I'll change a few details for the sake of anonymity. "Rudy", for instance, isn't exactly my story. There are some details of my life that are in there--I did forget my mom's birthday one year, and I felt awful about it. But I don't have a friend in Missouri named Rudy. (I do have a friend named Rudy, but the song isn't about him, it's just that the name works for the song). In "Rudy", the protagonist has mixed feelings of contempt and envy for an acquaintance who has prioritized things in life somewhat differently, and I think that is definitely something I can identify with.

In "On Fulfillment", it's based initially on a real event, of law school classmates meeting up many years later at the wedding of another classmate, and some of the song is about me, but some of it is stories I hear from other people. Most of the rest of the record is more completely autobiographical, but I'm sure there's some artistic license taken throughout.

I refer to the song's narrators as "the protagonist" partly as a defense mechanism, because a lot of American listeners will see me as an Asian-American musician and have an instinct to view this as music about "other" people. But these are stories about work life that I think of as more broadly applying to young Gen-X and elder Millennials, about education and social mobility, that I know my friends talk about a lot. People have a very strong tendency to identify with people who look like them, and it affects their ability to interpret what they're seeing or hearing, whose side they take in an argument, or how they relate to one another. So I provide that as, perhaps, guidance or emphasis on the way to approach the record as a listener--that they see the narrator as the protagonist, because in America, you have to kind of correct or guide those tendencies up front. As someone who gets "othered" constantly in the music industry, in person and in print, its a constant struggle to adjust that tendency and have especially white Americans think, "I can identify with him."

SILY: At times, it seems like the songs on this album have a difference in tone between their sound and subject, or even between themselves and their respective music videos. Was achieving a certain level of contrast important to you?

AC: Regarding the music videos, I think if you spell out what the subject matters of the song and the videos are, you'll find that they talk about the same things, though I admit that processing the music videos takes some time to work through, because I have multiple narratives happening simultaneously. Perhaps the video will provide a different take on an idea from the song, but even, then it is advancing the subject matter in a way that makes the pairing meaningful.

For instance, in "Rudy", the protagonist is living a more ambitious life and has regrets over whether he should be doing some of the more domestic things that his friend is doing. In the music video, the protagonist has moved out of the city and now lives in New Jersey, where he complains about not being able to do some of the high social status things he could have done if he still lived in the city. These are different but related perspectives on ambition and social status or FOMO; the protagonists have FOMO but desire (almost) the exact opposite of what the other does. And looking at the issue from multiple perspectives is meaningful.

In "Quasi-Nichomachean Ethics" the protagonist is giving advice to his nephew, much of which is somewhat half-assed and not very philosophical. The protagonist in the video is the same protagonist, but talks in a more philosophical way about advice itself, reflecting on the philosophical tradition of passing along wisdom, and (perhaps) arguing about how relevant the practice of philosophy is to life in general. The subject matter of the music and video are pretty complementary, because they both talk about advice but from different perspectives. And while I'm inclined to think the song gives less important advice because it's less "philosophical," I also think its the advice I would tend to give a young person, because it's very practical.

I don't think contrast is important in and of itself. Between the music and subject matter of the songs, I use the music mainly to set the emotional perspective of the protagonist, as context for interpreting what's happening in the lyrics. If the music seems contradictory, it may reflect a more nuanced attitude of the protagonist. I could have written "Courtesan" with music that provided a more sneering and cynical take on law school, but I didn't because I want the listener to look at it from the protagonist's eyes. It should sound more hopeful, because that is how the protagonist feels. Despite future uncertainty, he's gained social mobility and his experience is a mixture of hope, excitement and a bit of fear. I would say in general, if the music sounds unexpected, it's providing a direct emotional cue to interpreting how the protagonist views the subject matter, maybe 100% of the time, in my songs.

SILY: Why did you decide to (technically) break the 10-song pattern of your albums with a prologue track 0?

AC: The track 0 was originally going to be a longer song, but the first pass, I think, presented the idea completely on its own and, I think, set the stage for the record, so I didn't need to write a full 3 passes. Sure, in some sense, it's a song. But for me, the songs that I put down will generally have a more complete narrative structure. Track 0 doesn't (in my opinion) have that. It more sets the tone for ingesting the rest of the record, because it prompts the listener to think generally about the value of work. If anything, it's like that ditty before Joan Osborne's "One of Us": not a full song in and of itself, but it provides an emotional context for the full song, whereas my ditty provides as a context for the record as a whole. (Also for modern practical purposes, I would want to present "Courtesan" on its own without including "Eulogy", so combining them into a single track wouldn't work out very well.)

SILY: I love how "Kalahari" toys with ideas of authenticity when it comes to tourism, often in a tongue-in-cheek way. As someone who has spent years in both the Midwest and the East Coast, do you ever feel uniquely positioned to comment on how we perceive parts of the country different from ours, even if you're still poking fun at yourself when commenting?

AC: I think, maybe, it makes me twice as frustrated to see things get lost in translation both directions? A few months ago, I visited this restaurant in my home town in Iowa, which is where I went with friends for our high school senior prom. It was known in high school as the best restaurant in town, and served elegant French food, including escargot, which we tried for the first time as young naïve high schoolers. Many years later, the restaurant had reverted to something like a mixture of a TGIFridays and a pan-European cafeteria, which was a very jarring, memory-destroying experience. I actually looked the restaurant up the other day, and saw that many years before I had even gone there in high school, it was written up in the New York Times as a restaurant with a hopeful chef trying to bring old school French cuisine (like you might find in New York City) to the Midwest. It's such a depressing story, and yet, I was able to get dinner there for myself, my husband, and my parents all for less than $100. Anyway, I don't think you're going to get that perspective without living in the Midwest and living on the coast for some time, but it puts you in a funk just having that perspective. So, I guess the answer is, "Yes?"

SILY: Do you often find places like waterparks--that can be rife with loads of loud people and music--conducive to self-reflection?

AC: It depends what you're looking at. Have you ever been to the lazy river? "Kalahari" was intended to connect to aspects of the lazy river. The electronica element is the bubbles floating up to the surface, and the slow metronome tempo, the constant speed of the lazy river. It's where all the parents and depressed adults go to avoid the high energy of the rides. In the lyrics, I situated the protagonist there at the beginning (and end) of the song. You're sitting in the lazy river, with the water pushing you along in a dream state, and you watch people from every stage of human life pass by you by. It's very existential. That's not even me being artistic or especially insightful, that's just good waterpark design.

SILY: "New York Speaks Softly At Night" describes someone recalling the various people and things they saw while riding the subway. As a writer, do you find shared spaces, like public transportation or airports, inspirational?

AC: I think shared public spaces are places where you are forced to be in acquaintance with people and stories that you might not otherwise choose yourself. I'm not saying that public transportation doesn't have predictable patterns, but I think, these days, it's a nice counterpoint to social media, where people either manicure their interactions or have their interactions manicured by the algorithm to the point that they lose perspective. But in this song, I was just pointing out maybe an unexpected positive aspect of working late at night, is that it puts you in touch with different characters and stories you might not expect.

SILY: Is your violin on "Quasi-Nichomachean Ethics (Drunk Uncle Advice)" meant to sound overbearing, or at least in-your-face, like a reflection of the narrator giving advice?

AC: It is a reflection of the narrator, in the sense of being a kind of drunken happy revelry? I think it may sound overbearing, but I think in modern times, that's partly because we interpret stringed instruments as passive, chord-blocking orchestral filler. If you're a concert violinist, you will know that the violin in particular is one of the instruments that best mimics the human voice. It's a soloist instrument and deserves to be utilized in solos in the way that rock bands use the guitar, only it does a better job of mimicking the human voice than the guitar for a variety of physical and technical reasons. It's heavily under-utilized, because pop music writers keep relegating it to chord filler or mood-setting background music. I think, in many cases, it's not even mic'd in such a way that captures its full expressive range. And I don't say this as someone who was merely "classically trained." I won national and international competitions for the violin as a soloist, back in the day. Pop and rock musicians don't understand the virtuosic potential of stringed instruments. At all.

SILY: Are you at all involved in any music industry labor efforts like United Musicians and Allied Workers?

AC: I'm not involved with the UMAW, though I'm broadly friendly to what I see as many of their goals. There are unions like the American Federation of Musicians whose goals I also broadly support.

What I do spend a fair bit of my free time on is trying to remedy what I see as socioeconomic inequality in the music industry. Many independent musicians don't have a grasp of the financial and institutional barriers to success as indie musicians, and they don't understand the extent to which "successful" indie bands are financed by large amounts of family money. My musician friends who are, for the most part, middle-class at best, simply don't have that kind of money, and if we were ever to put the screws to every band that gets a writeup or review in any major outlet and see how things were financed, you would end up with a population that looks a lot more like Princeton University or NYU Law School. Musicians who have less means need to be educated on that, so that they can plan accordingly. And look, I definitely support musicians trying to do things like increase streaming royalty rates (which the UMAW champions). But a musician friend that has a stellar but overlooked record is not going to get much from doubling the streaming royalties on his 500 streams last year. He would have gotten more from understanding ahead of time how to best allocate his limited savings on his record release, given inequalities in the system.

SILY: Are you planning on performing these songs live?

AC: If I can find a place that works for me. We moved to New Jersey somewhat recently, and its hard to book a show after you've moved, because nobody knows who you are, and who would you even invite? I have a kid now, too, so do I even have the time for that? I go to open-mic fairly regularly. In fact, I workshopped most of the songs on this record at an open-mic in Hoboken called Finnegan's Pub, and an open-mic in Cliffside Park, called Brass Rail Pub 2. I think music listeners should go to things like open mic more often. If rumors are correct, people actually used to do that more often in, like, the 1960s. You get to see the writing process up close and personal and see how a song develops over time. I have friends in comedy that invite me out to perform, so I'm sure I'll hit up some variety shows in the future.

SILY: Is there anything you've been listening to, watching, or reading lately that's caught your attention?

AC: I occasionally participate in Paul F. Tompkins' Varietopia, and if it comes to your town, I suggest you visit. It's just a really interesting mix of music and comedy--you never know who is going to perform, which is really the best way to ingest music and comedy. I ran into a comedian there, Hannah Pilkes, who was just so hilarious and intense with her characters, and I'm excited to see more.

I ran into a comedian, Dave Hill, through Cabinet of Wonders, put on by Wesley Stace, a few years ago, and then later at a radio show Come To Papa, put on by Tom Papa, and he has such a new sense of humor, and is a genuine guy himself. I am trying to get out of the house and catch his show "Caveman in a Spaceship" in the near future.

Joe Peppercorn (who is featured in the song "Your Local Neighborhood Bar") from Columbus has been putting out some really interesting records. Not a lot of people are that skilled at both songwriting and production/orchestration. He's a complete package in that sense, which you'll get a sense of by listening to his latest, Darkening Stars.

Mary Lynn, also out of Columbus, released a record a few years ago, Where I Wanna Be, which I was just very impressed by. It's a peak example of a record that I thought deserved much more exposure, but did not receive it, because of those financial/institutional barriers I mentioned.

Niall Connolly's last two records, The Patience of Trees and Dream Your Way Out of This One, are great. He has been organizing a great singer-songwriter community in NYC called Big City Folk for a long time and has been instrumental in keeping a sense of community alive amongst songwriters in the city.

I happened to hear a record last year, Ryan Wong's The New Country Sounds of Ryan Wong, which I found to be striking and fresh. He's just someone really mixing up country music in a way that doesn't feel forced or overthought.

Micah Schnabel has such a big body of work, I wouldn't know where one would start, but I found his latest, The Clown Watches The Clock, to be thought-provoking and topical, in a meaningful way.

[stephobrien]

Is your pro-Palestine activism hurting innocent people? Here's how to avoid that.

Note: If you prefer plain text, you can read the plain text version here.

Over the last few days, I’ve had conversations with several Jewish people who told me how hurt and scared they are right now.

To my great regret, some of that pain came from a poorly-thought-out post of mine, which – while not ill-intentioned – WAS hurtful.

And a lot of it came from cruelty they’d experienced at the hands of people who claim to be advocating for Palestine, but are using the very real plight of innocent Palestinians to harm equally innocent Jewish people.

Y’all, we need to do better. (Yes, “we” definitely includes me; this is in no small part a “learn from my fail” post, and also a “making amends” post. Some of these are mistakes I’ve made in the past.)

So if you’re an advocate for Palestine who wants to make sure that your defense of one group of vulnerable people doesn’t harm another, here are some important things to do or keep in mind:

Ask yourself if you’re applying a standard to one group that you aren’t applying to another.

Would you want all white Americans or Canadians to be expelled from America or Canada?

Do you want all Jewish people to be expelled from Israel, as opposed to finding a way to live alongside Palestinian Arabs in peace?

If the answer to those two questions is different, ask yourself WHY.

Do you want to be held responsible for the actions of your nation’s army or government? No? Then don’t hold innocent Jewish people, or Israelis in general (whether Jewish or otherwise), responsible for the actions of the Israeli army and government.

On that subject, be wary of condemning all Israeli people for the actions of the IDF. Large-scale tactical decisions are made by the top brass. Service is compulsory, and very few can reasonably get out of service.

Blaming all Israelis for the military’s actions is like blaming all Vietnam vets for the horrors in Vietnam. They’re not calling the shots. They aren’t Nazis running concentration camps. They are carrying out military operations that SHOULD be criticized.

And do not compare them or ANY JEWISH PERSON to Nazis in general. It is Jewish cultural trauma and not outsiders’ to use against them.

Don’t infuse legitimate criticism with antisemitism.

By all means, spread the word about the crimes committed by the Israeli army and government, and the complicity of their allies. Criticize the people responsible for committing and enabling atrocities.

But if you imply that they’re committing those crimes because they’re Jewish, or because Jewish people have special privileges, then you’re straying into antisemitic territory.

Criticize the crime, not the group. If you believe that collective punishment is wrong, don’t do it yourself.

And do your best to use words that apply directly to the situation, rather than the historical terms for situations with similar features. For example, use “segregation,” “oppression,” or “subjugation,” not “Holocaust” or “Jim Crow.” These other historical events are not the cultural property of Jews OR Palestinians, but also have their own nuances and struggles and historical contexts.

Also, blaming other world events on Jewish people or making Jewish people associated with them (for instance, some people falsely blame Jewish people for the African slave trade) is a key feature of how antisemitism functions.

Please, by all means, be specific and detailed in your critiques. But keep them focused on the current political actors – not other peoples’ or nations’ political or cultural histories and traumas.

Be prepared to accept criticism.

You probably already know that society is infused with a wide array of bigotries, and that people growing up in that environment tend to absorb those beliefs without even realizing it. Antisemitism is no exception.

What that means is, there’s a very real chance that you will screw up, and get called out on it, as I so recently did.

If that happens, please be willing to learn and adapt. If you can educate yourself about the suffering and needs of Palestinians, you can do the same for Jewish people.

Understand that the people you hurt aren’t obligated to baby you. Give them room to be angry.

After I made a post that inadvertently hurt people, some were nice about it, and others weren’t. Some outright insulted my morals and intelligence.

And I had to accept that I’d earned that from them.

I’d hurt them, and they weren’t obligated to be more careful with my feelings than I had been with theirs.

They weren’t obligated to forgive me, trust me, or stop being mad at me right away.

I’ll admit, there were moments when I got defensive. I shouldn’t have. And I encourage you to try not to, if you screw up and hurt people.

I know that’s hard, but it’s important. Getting defensive only tells people you care more about doubling down on your mistake than you do about healing the hurt it caused.

Instead, acknowledge that they have a right to be angry, apologize for the way you hurt them, and try to make amends, while understanding that they don’t owe you trust or forgiveness.

Be aware that some antisemites are using legitimate complaints to “Trojan horse” antisemitism into leftist spaces.

This is a really easy stumbling block to trip over, because most people probably don’t look at every post a creator makes before sharing the one they’re looking at right now.

I recently shared a video that called out some of the Likud and IDF’s atrocities and hypocrisy, and that also noted that many Jewish people are wonderful members of their communities.

I was later informed that, while that video in particular seemed reasonable, the creator behind it is frequently antisemitic.

I deleted the post, and blocked the creator. I encourage you to do the same if it’s brought to your attention that you’ve been ‘Trojan horse’d.

EDIT: Important note about antisemitism in leftist spaces:

While it's true that some blatant antisemites are using seemingly reasonable posts to get their foot in the door of leftist spaces, it's also true that a lot of antisemitism already exists inside those spaces.

This antisemitism is often dressed up in progressive-sounding language, but nonetheless singles Jewish people and places out in ways that aren't applied equally to other groups, or that label Jewish people in ways that portray them as acceptable targets.

If you want to see some specific examples, so you can have a better idea of what to keep an eye out for, I suggest reading this excellent reblog of this post.

Fact-check your doubts about antisemitism.

Depending on which parts of the internet you look at, you’ve probably seen people accused of antisemitism because they complained about the Likud and/or IDF’s actions. So you might be primed to be wary, or feel unsure of how to tell what counts as real antisemitism.

But that doesn’t mean antisemitism isn’t a very real, widespread, and harmful problem. And it doesn’t mean many or even most Jewish people are lying to you or being overly sensitive.

So if someone says something is antisemitic, and you aren’t sure, I encourage you to:

A. Look up the action or thing in question, including its history. Is there an antisemitic history or connotation you aren’t aware of? For best results, include “antisemitic” in your search query, in quotes.

B. Understand that some things, while not inherently antisemitic, have been used by antisemites often enough that Jewish people are understandably wary of them. Schrodinger’s antisemitism, if you will.

C. Ask Jewish people WHO HAVE OFFERED TO HELP EDUCATE YOU. Emphasis on WHO HAVE OFFERED. Random Jewish people aren’t obligated to give you their time and emotional energy, or to educate you – especially on subjects that are scary or painful for them.

@edenfenixblogs has kindly offered her inbox to those who are genuinely trying to learn and do better, and I’ve found her to be very kind, patient, reasonable, and fair-minded.

Understand that this is URGENTLY NEEDED.

In one of my conversations with a Jewish person who’d called me out, they said this was the most productive conversation they’d had with a person with a Palestinian flag in their profile.

THIS IS NOT OKAY.

I didn’t do anything special. All I did was listen, apologize for my mistakes, and learn.

Yes, it feels good to be acknowledged. But I feel like I’ve been praised for peeing IN the toilet, instead of beside it.

Apologizing, learning, and making amends after you hurt people shouldn’t be “the most reasonable thing I’ve heard from a person with a Palestinian flag pfp.”

It should be BASIC DECENCY.

And the fact that it’s apparently so uncommon should tell you how much unnecessary stress and fear Jewish people have been living with because of people who consider themselves defenders of human rights.

By all means, be angry at the Likud, the IDF, and the politicians, reporters, and specific media outlets who choose to enable and cover up for them.

But direct that anger toward the people who deserve it and are in a position to do something about it, not random people who simply happen to be Jewish, or who don’t want millions of people to be turned into refugees when less violent methods of achieving freedom and rights for Palestinians are available.

Stop peeing beside the toilet, people.

[badgerbl00d]

captain's girl

☆ characters: akagami no shanks

☆ up next: tbd

☆ summary: shanks has always had a soft spot for you but as he spends more time around you that feeling intensifies- he's fallen, and hard.. how will he confess?

☆ a/n: i lost the ask that originally submitted this but i loved this prompt! so so cute and always lovely to write for my favorite captain.. shanks nation rise!

Shanks hadn’t slept in days. 

Shanks- an emperor, had been a pirate for decades and he knew well what it meant to be selfish. To be faced with all the treasure and beauty in the World and it not be enough until one had it all to himself. But he’d only ever seen it. In allies and enemies alike he had seen that corrupting burning want- no, need for something that drives one nearly mad. He’d seen fellow seamen be consumed by this bubbling and boiling desire that had always sickened him to think about.

And then there was you. Beautiful, strong-willed, and unafraid of pirates and men and danger and swords and, all of the sudden, he began feeling the symptoms of that dangerous selfishness. He’d watch you laugh with Benn, or cook with Lucky, or play cards with Yasopp and his chest would tighten. His nerves would begin to ebb and flow in uncertainty and the terrifyingly unfamiliar feeling of jealousy began to sprout within the captain of the Red Haired Pirates. He’d spend hours poring over a potential solution– something to make it go away. But everything he tried was useless. Any slight progress immediately crumbled the moment you walked by him. He’d found a nice girl on an island and flirted with her, buying her drinks, treating her special as the rest of the crew began to pour into the bar. It was working! She liked the same music as him and thought he was funny. But then you’d walked in with Beckman, your perfume immediately recognizable to him and he folded. You were entirely captivating to him, and bless him, he tried to listen to the girl in front of him and feign interest in what she was saying but all he could focus on was the sound of you laughing and thanking the men who were sending drinks your way. On a separate occasion, he’d taken a different approach. You were in a particularly cheeky mood and not the most prone to taking orders, so he got frustrated. He leant into that frustration, barking at you for not listening. But you just rolled your eyes and begrudgingly got up to do what he was asking. As you walked past him, you raked a fingernail across his chest and offered assistance if he needed “any help de-stressing.” And with a wink you were off. After that little incident, he could hardly sleep and was quite literally plagued by (very inappropriate) thoughts of you and decided it would be best if he didn’t do anything for a while. This had been going on for months now.  A one sided game of cat and mouse that Shanks did not want to be playing, after all, he wasn't used to playing the role of mouse. Shanks was a man who always got what he wanted.

But he was realizing there was no escape. Constantly you teased him, tempted him, lured him, all to act like nothing the next moment. His head was spinning. Just this morning, you ran into him at breakfast and asked if he wanted to go into town with you. He came up with some half assed excuse and tried his hardest to keep his composure when you pouted at his and said, “Pretty please?” He went up and moped in his office, going over all those moments when he felt that now familiar ache in his chest– that throbbing pain that felt like his swollen heart was being mushed up against his ribcage and had been making his daily life on the ship, oh, so inconvenient. 

Like a few months ago when, in your typical fashion, you’d put together a small band out of the rag-tag musicians on the crew. An upright bass player out of your intel gatherer, a drummer out of one of Hongo’s assistants, some brass players that you put through a very selective audition, and, of course, you as the singer. He remembers walking out after having a few drinks with those of his men that he was closest with and hearing the sound of your voice singing a soft jazz tune. ‘I wish you bluebirds, in the spring…..’ his heart picking up a bit, and him leaning over to look at the band playing, ‘To give your heart a song to sing, and then a kiss…’ Him rushing down the stairs and urging the crew to dance, asking Lucky to get behind the bar and start making cocktails and drinks, ‘But more than this, I wish you love’ anything so that he could sit and listen to you. He remembers the boyish surge of energy that coursed through him when you shot him a playful wink. A thank you for entertaining your antics and encouraging your little band of criminal musicians. 

Or last week, when you stopped by his office (he’d begun spending more and more time locked in there attempting to find reprieve from your presence which was quickly becoming all too much for him to be around) and knocked on his door in the way you always knocked on any door. Three rhythmic little taps, always quiet and polite. “Come in!” he’d said, forcing his voice to steady itself like his heart wasn’t crawling up into his throat. “Hey Shanks– I have something for you.” You made your way to his desk, dropping a little parcel on it before going to lay down on the couch in his office, a seat he always kept open for you. It was just an old leather chair, but he knew how much you liked it. He opened up the parcel, watching you pull out a cigarette and bring it to your lips, holding it droopily between them as you dug around in your jacket for a lighter. He finished unwrapping the gift, a compass falling out. Gold and the initials R.H.S. engraved in the back. The glass had been carved out so that it was angular and there was a detailed inking of the ocean in the back, and the north arrow was dark red. He turned it over in his palm, “R.H.S.?” he asked. “It’s funny, huh! Red-Hair-Shanks,” you laughed, “It made Benny crack up so I snatched it. They wanted $15,000 for it! Like hell was I gonna pay that…. Hey, do you have a lighter?” You walked back over to him, leaning on his desk, looking down at his face, batting your eyes at him all doe-like. He felt like he might faint. 'Benny' he felt a pang of jealousy but smiled to himself at the nickname. Beckman hated nicknames but you'd started calling him Benny and for the first time ever there was no protest from the man's lips. You'd wiggled your way into all their hearts like that- helping Lucky with groceries and keeping Yasopp company when he drank more than he could stand.

“Sure do, sweetheart,” he maintained his typical flirty cadence but failed to sound as confident as he usually does. You shot him a look. He sheepishly handed you the lighter but instead of taking it you leant over further, beckoning for him to light the cigarette for you. He swallowed and brought the lighter up to the cigarette, the two of you making eye contact as he lit it. You blew a playful puff of smoke at him before making your way back over to the sofa. You laid across it, kicking your shoes off and pulling a magazine from his shelf. “Playboy? Really?” He gave you an embarrassed grin and shrugged. You made a mental note that this magazine had been left open on a photo of a bikini-clad girl that looked an awful like you. Pervert, you thought. You put the magazine away and sunk further into the chair, taking long drags of the cigarette, filling up the room with smoke. Shanks was trying not to stare a hole through you and limited himself from looking over in your general direction. You were so at peace, your legs draped over the arm of the chair and your hands above your head.  An hour passed like this, the two of you sharing a silence that was only peaceful on your end. Shanks sat at his desk pretending to be deeply interested in a blank piece of paper and mulled over possible topics of conversation. He was trying not to beat himself up over his newfound shyness- he was like a teenage boy talking to a girl for the first time. When he finally got the courage to ask you about your most recent errand he was cut off before he could even start.

“Y/n!!! Help me with dinner, eh?!”

Lucky. You groaned sitting up, remembering that you’d promised to help him out with tonight’s dinner last week. “Sorry, Captain,” you said, putting your shoes back on, “I’d love to stay and fog up your office a bit more but duty calls.” 

He nodded and got up, nearly running into you. “Ah, sorry princess,” he said, guiding you gently out of the room with a hand on your back. 

“Try not to miss me,” you’d said, taking the cigarette out of your mouth and placing it in his. He furrowed his brows in equal amounts of confusion and sexual frustration. “Lucky won’t let me smoke in the kitchen,” you explained. You shot him a wink and were off. 

He took a short puff of the cigarette before taking it out and staring at it between his fingers. Your red lipstick stained the end of it. He took a very self indulgent inhale before setting it down on an ashtray in his office. It was the first time he’d smoked in a while.

He hadn’t remembered it feeling so good.

He was late to dinner that night and even Benn had indicated some degree of worry about his captain, asking if he was alright. 

Shanks knew this couldn’t last forever– that he would have to do something before he lost his ability to lead his ship entirely. But then, of course, there was what happened yesterday.

Some rookie pirates had convinced themselves it would be a good idea to try and loot your ship. You’d been out on the deck helping Beckman with some chores when the first group of them climbed overboard. Neither of you had particularly expressive reactions– after all, you could tell within a few seconds that they were neither strong nor experienced. Still, it was the general attitude of the Red Hair Pirates to avoid conflict as much as possible. So when they wrapped rope around your wrists and held knives to your throats you and Benn didn’t flinch. Some newer recruits had sounded the alarm which eventually led to the rest of the crew making their way lazily out onto the deck. Shanks emerged from his office, reading glasses still on and laughed at the sight.

“Yasopp– take a pic, will ya!?” he laughed, slapping him on the back, “Benny we’re gonna hang this up in the dining hall!”

Benn rolled his eyes and you smiled. It took another several moments before you realized that your body was feeling more and more weakened by the moment, but when you finally felt a dullness creeping up your legs you noticed that the man holding you was a devil fruit user. The Neru Neru no Mi you believed it was called, Sleep Sleep Fruit. Fatigue started to wash over you and you stumbled forward slightly. The laughter on the ship immediately ceased and Benn called your name. You tried responding but instead fell back, landing against your assailant's chest. Yasopp and Lucky both brought their hands to their pistols, and Benn had taken a more offensive stance though it was clear the effect was starting to weigh on him as well. 

“We’ll kill them both,” one of the looters had yelled. Yasopp shot Shanks a look, waiting for some kind of command. “Yasopp–” Shanks started, but he hesitated a moment. If his sniper made any kind of mistake it would be your life taken instead. Before he could react, your captor had drawn the knife down your arm, smirking at the cry of pain you let out as your arm was coated in red. “Shoot him,” he said, gaze turning black. You passed out, though whether it was from the pain or the effect of Shanks’ emperor’s haki on your weakened body was unclear. But the last thing you saw before blacking out was the haunting anger on Shanks’ face.

You woke up a bit later, your head throbbing and your arm bandaged. “Holy shit,” you muttered, “What happened?” Hongo and Beckman were sitting by your bed talking to each other and Lucky, Yasopp, and a few others were playing cards. 

"You passed out from the effects of the devil fruit," Benn explained, "And you got a nasty cut on your arm. But Hongo says you'll be healed up by the weekend."

You blushed, somewhat embarrassed that you were the only one to have been injured. "What happened to the other crew?"

Benn shot you a half-smile. An expressive mixture of pride and shame. "The Captain took care of it. Honestly all we could do was watch, we all know better than to get in his way when he gets like that. Never seen this ship so bloody, that's for sure."

You grimaced, "Suppose they won't be messing with us again?"

Benn laughed, "Definitely not."

“Hey, Y/n!” Lucky called out, “Want anything to eat?”

You sat up, pushing yourself to the edge of the bed and grabbing the glass of water Benn offered you, “Yeah, Luck. I’ll take anything, honestly. Where is Shanks?” Benn sighed and looked over at Yasopp who was giggling like a twelve-year old. You got the message. 

“Maybe we should tell him it’s obvious? And it’ll fix things?” 

Benn shook his head and leant back in his chair, “Nah, it would crush the guy. Maybe if you say something to him, though?” You thought about it for a minute. You'd talked with each other before about the captain's feelings. How he acted every time he was around you. Benn added that he'd never seen him like that before, "Buggy's given us stories about how he used to be around girls. He'd run the other way when a pretty lady talked to him. He's obviously gotten over it since then but it's sort of nice to see him like this."

"Can't blame him," Yasopp added, winking at you, "You're about the prettiest thing on the sea."

Yasopp was still laughing about it, over a game of cards with Lucky and Hongo. You appreciated their company while you rested.

“I don’t know guys. You know I love him just as much but will it be weird? I mean– no offense, but this ship isn’t really the ideal romantic setting. And what if he plays favorites?”

They all laughed at this, “He already is, sweetheart!”

“Just tell him!”

“We’ll have a big ol’ wedding!”

You rolled your eyes and asked to be dealt into the card game they were playing. Lucky came back with a bowl of soup for you. Laughter was filling up the small medical room and it echoed down the hall...  

Shanks’ crush on you was astoundingly obvious and what was more surprising was how he had been moping about it for the past four months. He was now in his room, shrouded in embarrassment. Half of it stemmed from the generally well known fact that Shanks and his crew were untouchable- or at least, should be. And the other, perhaps greater, half from the fact that you'd ended up hurt because he’d hesitated. It also didn't help that he had doubted Yasopp at all- he knew he never missed. He’d spent the evening drinking a bottle of whiskey to himself and replaying other embarrassing faux pas he’d committed in front of you. The bottle of empty whiskey sat in front of him on the desk and the sun had long set. He got up, feeling miserable, and decided to head to bed. He grabbed the empty bottle, pausing before he grabbed it. Your cigarette from a week ago sat in the mauve ceramic ashtray on his desk (also a gift from you– you’d said it reminded you of his “ugly pants”). He stared at the lipstick still staining the white paper on the end of the cigarette. His chest tightened and he looked out the window of his office. You were out on deck, your arm bandaged up, hauling some rope into a metal bin. He smiled to himself- an injury like that was no excuse for chores. You looked gorgeous. A white glow surrounded you from the beaming moonlight up above. Your hair was messy and flowed freely around your face shifting the shadows that fell on it. He knew, suddenly, that he had to talk to you. That in all his embarrassment and emotion and confusion about his feelings, he’d neglected to check up on you. He set the bottle down and grabbed the half-smoked cigarette, slipping it into his pocket. He paused at the door, momentarily enjoying the nerves that were coursing through his body. How long had it been since he last felt excitement like this? There were moments at sea where he realized that, thanks to his age and experience, he no longer felt those pangs and throes of youthful worry and excitement. But this? This was new and he was reeling like never before. He was submerged in uncharted waters and all of a sudden that spark of adventure that follows every pirate flared up inside him. Shanks closed the door to his office behind him, taking a deep breath. 

You wrapped up the rest of the rope and threw it into the container, before taking a seat on it. Closing your eyes and taking a moment to yourself. It was rare to have a night so quiet. You could hear the faint sound of laughter and talking coming from below the deck. The ship was slowly rocking back and forth.

“Mind if I sit next to you?”

You blinked your eyes open to see Shanks standing in front of you. It still surprised you how a man of his size and power could sneak up on you so easily. It was a nice reminder of how in control he actually was of everything around him. It put you at ease to know you were in such responsible hands and guidance. 

“You feel ok? It’s my fault I should’ve–”

You smiled at him, “What? This? I’m fine, Captain– I’ve dealt with much worse, that I can promise you.” He frowned at that, “That’s not a good thing, Y/n. I don’t like thinking about you getting hurt.” You shrugged and ruffled his hair, “I’m a pirate. A Red-Hair Pirate. It’s bound to happen. And you’re not perfect either. Believe it or not. What’s going on with you lately? So sappy.” You knew very well what was going on with him.

Shanks smiled and looked down at the floor. This was it. Now or never. 

“Y/n… You know that, well, women love me and- and that I love women,” he started. Your smile dropped. 

“M-hm.”

“Uh,” he rubbed his neck sheepishly, like a child getting scolded, “Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re not like other women.”

You looked at him, “Are you sure about that?” You looked unamused. He steeled himself– he was an emperor of the sea, goddamnit, you were just a woman! Just a girl on his crew.

He knew that was a lie.

You were his girl on his crew. And he was being eaten alive by your existence, completely consumed by the thought of you. He couldn’t live another day without relieving himself of his constant torture and the emotional suffering you put him through. He couldn’t wake up another morning without you next to him, begging him to sleep in a bit longer and asking him to hold you tighter. He couldn’t spend another night watching you laugh and smile and be the most beautiful, enchanting thing in the world and not call you his. You were his, not through ownership but through love. 

“Alright! Damn it, woman, you’re so intimidating.” Your smile returned. 

“I love you,” he sighed. It wasn’t as dramatic as either of you had pictured. He said it like he was simply reminding you.

“I love you, Y/n. And I have for months. Since I first saw you– since you first started giving me random antique shop gifts and coming into my office at the most inconvenient times and filling it up with smoke. I can’t look at the color red and not think of you. That’s my color, damn it! And yet– I see red and think of the brand of cigarettes you like and the lipstick you wear and the way your laughter sounds and the color of your nail polish. I can’t listen to music and not think of you. I mean- you’ve come on board and turned everything upside down. My men, my violent men, are playing jazz on Thursday nights! Lucky’s new favorite thing to drink is Cosmopolitans and Yasopp is taking daily showers and, christ, Benn’s new nickname is Benny and he likes it! Everything I have reminds me of you. This is basically your ship now. And I love it. I love how you're everywhere. And I- I need you. I want you but it's more than that- I need you.”

He took a deep breath and looked at you for the first time in weeks. You laughed- at him, and grabbed his hand. His cheeks turned bright red and he felt like a teenager again. You squeezed his hand, “F-i-n-a-l-l-y.” He took a moment to sound out your spelling, and smiled somewhat defeatedly. He laid his head down on your shoulder and mumbled into you, “Was it obvious?”

 You wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned your head against his. It was refreshing to touch him without it being strange or feeling unnatural. To just hold one another and understand that that was all it was– a touch. That before either of you said anything and broke this mundane, normal silence everything was perfect. There was no room for mistake or anxiety or insecurity. There was just the mass of red hair on your shoulder ticking your neck and your arms wrapped around his. But you figured he’d suffered long enough. 

“Very,” you said, answering his question, “There’re a bunch of betting pools regarding when, and if, you’ll confess. Though you don’t make a great effort to hide it. Looks like Benny’s gonna make some cash tonight.”

He shot up, somewhat offended, “I do hide it! I’ve kept my distance from you and treated you like everyone else.”

You laughed and sat him down on the bin next to you, “No, you haven’t. I’m your favorite. And though you have been avoiding me, when you’re around me your face is pink and you lose all that playboy gusto you think the ladies like. Plus you have those magazines lying around. It flatters me how much I resemble some of those models.”

His mouth fell open at this, realizing he had left it wide out in the open. You smiled at this, but said nothing. It was quiet out again– everyone had gone to bed early, tired from the day’s commotion, an unexpected change of pace from the typical mundane life of a pirate at sea that normally consisted of chores upon chores upon chores. The sea was calm tonight, almost eerily so. You rested your head against Shank’s shoulder and closed your eyes, it was quiet again. You could tell he was itching for a response. You smiled, enjoying the effect you had on him.

“I love you, too.”

You felt Shanks tense and opened your eyes, turning to look at him. He had a stupidly large smile plastered on his face. He was so damn handsome. His hand slid up your back and came to rest on your neck. He gently pushed your face toward his, a smile creeping up your lips, and tested the waters. You closed the gap, closing your eyes as you kissed your captain, shifting forward and finding your way onto his lap. Your arms wrapped tightly around his neck and you could feel him smiling against your lips. Shanks broke the kiss, pulling away after giving you a few more pecks. 

His arm sank down to wrap around your waist and pull you in even tighter. He rested his forehead against yours and looked down at your lips, plump from the kissing.

“You’re mine,” he said. 

“Yours.”

He sighed, relief flooding his body. You rubbed his neck, "Guess I wasn't as obvious as you, hm?" He laughed and squeezed your hand, "No. God, I was terrified. What an awful feeling."

You smiled. You were getting tired, and your arm was throbbing. "Wanna come with me to see Hongo? I think my arm should get re-wrapped." He nodded, standing up. You walked toward the infirmary, while Shanks stood back for a moment. Waiting awkwardly.

"Shanks?"

His name had never sounded so lovely. He was worried, "Should we tell people yet? The crew- I mean."

You laughed, and kept walking, "I think they'll figure out on their own. After all, I suspect that I'll be greeting them tomorrow morning with your shirt on."

He watched you walk on ahead a bit more before following after you, scooping you up in his arm and pressing kisses to your face. Shanks dropped you off outside of Hongo's door, letting you go in on your own. 'I want tonight to be just us,' you'd explained. Word does travel quickly on a ship. He waited outside the door, listening to you and Hongo talk while he rebandaged your arm. His chest felt warm and full, not with the previous tightness he'd experienced but full with satisfaction.

A familiar ebbing flow of egoism spread through his body. It was nice to be reminded of who he was. An emperor of the sea with one of the highest bounties of all time. A man feared and respected across the world. Wanted by the world government and untouchable to anyone. Almost anyone. Your voice bubbled up over the sound of his thoughts for a moment. His confidence had quickly reinstated itself.

After all, Shanks was a man who always got what he wanted.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Blue Swede - Hooked on a Feeling 1973

"Hooked on a Feeling" is a 1968 pop song, written by Mark James and originally performed by B.J. Thomas. Thomas's version featured the sound of the electric sitar (played by Reggie Young) and reached No. 5 in 1969 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1973, the Swedish poprock group Blue Swede did a cover version, which included the ooga chaka introduction from a 1971 cover by Jonathan King. King had heard Johnny Preston's "Running Bear", which was the inspiration for the ooga chaka chant. This version reached number one in the US in 1974.

In 1992, Blue Swede's recording was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's debut feature Reservoir Dogs.

In the mid-90's, the Dancing Baby "sk_baby.max" model became one of the first viral memes. The animation was also shown on several episodes of the 1998 legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal as a recurring hallucination, suggesting a metaphor for the ticking of Ally's biological clock, and was accompanied by Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling". Various commercial advertisements presented the Dancing Baby animation to international markets continuing the mainstream media attention. This particular manifestation of the video, bound to the song, is widely distributed and referred to as the "Ooga Chaka Baby", further cementing the scene in pop culture history.

The 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured the brass fanfare and title lyrics of the Blue Swede cover version prominently in its trailers and theatrical release, resulted in a significant spike in sales for the recording; the film's soundtrack reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart in August 2014. The song was also featured in the teaser trailer for the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

Blue Swede's frontman is singer/actor Björn Skifs. He did the Swedish dub of Woody in the first two Toy Story movies, as well as singing in stead of Phil Collins in the Swedish dub of Brother Bear.

"Hooked on a Feeling" received a total of 81,9% yes votes!

[johnsonbathrooms]

Add heavy duty brass and steel shower arms to your bathroom. The chrome finish offers and easy to maintain all-weather look and the high-quality brass body the stress-free reliability. Explore the various designs here.

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

💎 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Lion Door Guardian
Wondrous item, uncommon ___ This brass door knocker is fashioned after a lion’s head. You can attach the knocker to an unlocked door by firmly pressing it against the door for 1 minute. The door then becomes locked, as if by the “arcane lock” spell. You choose the door’s password when attaching the knocker to it. Speaking the correct password to enter the door causes the knocker to emit a rumbling purr. If the door doesn’t have a handle, a brass handle in the design of a lion’s paw appears where one would normally go. The handle also has a physical lock, although there isn’t a key made to fit it. If a creature attempts to pick the door’s lock or break the door down, the knocker transforms into a Large lion, including any handle it may have created. The lion appears in the nearest unoccupied space before the door and attacks the creature and its allies. Unless the creatures know the nature of the door knocker, they are almost always surprised. The transformed lion is made of brass: it uses the lion’s statblock, except that it’s a construct instead of a beast, it has immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition, and it has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. The lion returns to its normal form and reappears on the door after 1 minute. If the lion is reduced to 0 hit points, it returns to its normal form on the ground at the foot of the door. Regardless, the lion regains all its hit points when it returns to its normal form. ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[tylermileslockett]

Hekate is known as a protector of entryways, borders, and crossroads. She is also a Cthonic (underworld) goddess who exists on the peripheries of the pantheon, and teaches witches like Circe and Medea their magical crafts. Therefore, she has darker associations with death, the underworld, the moon, magic spells, and spirits.

In Hesiod’s Theogany, Hecate is the daughter of Titans Perses and Asteria. For defeating the giant Pergamon in the Gigantomauchy (epic battle between Olympians and Giants), Hekate is the only Titan to retain her powers under the rule of Zeus, who gives Hecate a share of earth, heaven and sea.

One of the most famous myths involving Hecate is Hades’ abduction of Demeter’s daughter, Persephone. Hekate assists Demeter in the underworld by leading the way with torchlight, and later becomes an attendant to Persephone. Hecate’s sacred animal ally is a black dog, said to be Hecuba, Queen of Troy, who was reincarnated by Hekate after suicide. Another sacred animal servant is the Polecat (weasel), who was the handmaiden Galinthias punished for a deception involving the birth of Hercules.

  Around the 5th century B.C.E. we see the first sculptural totem figures portraying Hekate in the triple body form surrounding a central column. These votive statues for the protection of travelers would be placed at crossroads with each figure facing a different path.

Hekate is associated with a variety of frightening Daimones (minor divinities or spirits which could be good or evil.) the Empusae was a shapeshifting specter with the body of a woman, and one leg of brass and the other of a donkey, with hopes of devouring a traveler. The Lamia was originally a vengeful Libyan serpentine woman who devoured children, but later was seen to take the form of attractive, voluptuous woman who would seduce a traveler and feast on their fresh blood. The Mormo was another phantom bogeyman said to be sent out by Hekate to nibble on misbehaving children. 

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. Hope you like the final painting! Please share it if possible. Xoxo

[yourplayersaidwhat]

[Context: We've been splitting the treasure more or less evenly between the five of us for the whole adventure and before and a shit ton of gold just got dropped into the party's laps.]

DM: [evilly] What will you spend it on? You can buy practically anything you want--

Fathomless Warlock : [wicked grin] I already know what I'm doing with my share!

DM: Oh?

Fathomless Warlock: I'm opening a shelter, soup kitchen, and free healer clinic to help the common people of the city. :)

Celestial Warlock: And this will be great as a warchest for my political campaign!

DM: ...Oh its not like you needed that money to complete the game or anything.

Fathomless Warlock: (ooc): What? This is what my character would do? This is clearly a serious societal problem for Waterdeep and it's really not safe for all these folks to be sleeping in the dungeons we're crawling through. I'm friends with a lawyer and a cleric and with help from our allies I sure we could swing this. And I just took my fifth of it, like we previously agreed? But look if it's plot important to have a lot of cash on hand, I can pay some of it back to the party pool from my own funds from what I inherited as a noble and just from the treasure we've accumulated on this adventure. You know I'm also still working for the paper and we've got the tavern and that should cover personal expenses...

DM: No no no it's not important.

[Beat]

DM: How much?

Celestial Warlock: And I'm not spending my fifth all at once. It's just sitting there until I use it. At first it's probably gonna be smaller expenditures like flyers and pins. And it's not like we have to pay for TV ads, just need to use my Book of Shadows to learn Skywrite...

DM: Oh, okay... So what will you all spend it on?

[Collective shrug]

Fathomless Warlock: I think you all should get yourselves a fine set of clothes so you don't have to rent a tux again. I already have one because like, you know...

Wizard: I'll be getting spell scrolls and inks to study my magics.

Fathomless Warlock: Cool!

Monk: I bought brass knuckles!

Paladin: Alright, then I'm buying plate mail.

Monk: They cost 10 silver. :)

Paladin: ...I'm still buying plate mail.

Celestial Warlock: That's cool! (Won't have to spend as many slots healing her.)

Paladin: Is that really all you're buying...?

Monk: [thinks for a moment] Steel toe boots? (Can I wear boots as a dragonborn?) ...A second silvered wakazashi in case I lose the first one?

DM: That's it?

Monk: I'm a monk. I don't really need material things. Though I figured I might buy some bamboo and knick knacks and things for our Tavern. If we need more money for the tavern (or the campaign) for the tavern I won a lot of prize money doing those mixed martial arts competitions that I don't really use or need.

DM: No no no that's okay...

[Beat]

DM: How much?

[forestshadow-wolf]

Ghost who has a bad rep. Of leaving allies and friendlies behind for survival or for thr sake of the mission, but only because the higher brass spread those rumors, and everyone believed them. Ghost didn't do anything about it

Price knows this isn't true, he's always a little amused when it shocks people because [insert fake surprised Pikachu face] some rumors are just rumors?! Le gasp! 😱

Gaz was on the fence about him at first but quickly realized that the rumors weren't true

And soap... he was either oblivious to the rumors (unlikely) or simply didn't care to listen to them. Ghost isn't sure which, but he's pretty sure soap has no sense of self-preservation

[nenyabusiness]

"Last Temptation"

After episode 4 and the possible flash-forward, I just need to talk about this soundtrack. We haven't heard it in the show yet, and I'm pretty sure we're going to have to wait until the season finale. Bear McCreary is a master at combining leitmotifs to musically represent a scene, and I truly believe that this is the track that will play during the inevitable confrontation between Sauron and Galadriel.

Spoilers ahead for potential predictions, because I'm breaking this fucker down.

We start out with a soft soprano humming the melody of "Where The Shadows Lie". For those who don't remember the full version from the first season, it's the one with lyrics:

Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone Nine for mortal men doomed to die One for the dark lord on his dark throne In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie

So far, we've already heard this melody quite a bit, since it's often played when something sinister and ring-related is going on. It also plays with a full symphonic orchestra during the Annatar reveal in he soundtrack called "Emissary at the Forge", which I'd personally say is actually Annatar's theme. I could go on a rant with that one to, but to put it briefly: We've got "Sauron" and "Where The Shadows Lie" played on Elven-coded instruments. Does it get more Annatar than that?

Okay. So. The scene opens with dark ring shenanigans and/or Annatar. It's dark. It has tension. It's the eerie calm before the storm.

At 0:40, the mood changes. We get strings, followed by male choir and sharp brass, leading us straight into Sauron's theme. It's not as chaotic as "Sauron" from season 1. We have a steady 4/4 rhythm compared to the whatever the hell is going on in the original theme. The core melody and the ostinato on the strings are unmistakable though. We're dealing with Sauron.

1:05 is where things start to escalate. We move between sharp female vocals and softer orchestral interludes that almost seem to fight each other, leading up to the magnificent 1:36. Galadriel's leitmotif on brass, with a note lowered just a half step to give it dissonance. If "Emissary At The Forge" is Elven-coded "Sauron", then this is Sauron-coded "Galadriel". It's not ethereal. It's not harmonic. It's intense, and I can't wait to see what Galadriel is actually doing here during this part. Fighting, most likely. Viciously.

After a brief breather, we reach 1:59 where Sauron's leitmotif returns, sung by a single soprano. No string ostinato. Just the main melody, performed with the same eerie vibe as "Where The Shadows Lie" in the intro. The orchestra builds, losing some dissonance as more instrument joins... and then we're suddenly back in a much more triumphant version of Galadriel's theme at 2:25. Something has shifted here. The dynamics are different. Maybe she's getting the upper hand? But here comes the kicker, Sauron's ace up his sleeve: Halbrand's theme.

A soft whisper of a dulcimer breaks free from the symphonic orchestra at 2:30, followed by a Nordic nyckelharpa at 2:35. There are hints of Halbrand's theme in other season 2 tracks too, but not like this. We're not just dealing with elements of Halbrand's theme here. This is Halbrand's theme, with the original instrumentalization. In episode 4, we catch a glimpse of Sauron in a flickering montage of images, looking almost exactly like he did during the battle in the Southlands. I strongly suspect that when we get to that scene, it's going to be backed up by this exact part of the soundtrack. It lasts for almost half a minute. The battle has been put on pause. Has Galadriel's feelings for the man she thought she knew caught up with her? Something emotional is happening here. Something that involves their time together, back when they were still allies.

At 2:56, the battle is on again. The sharp female choir is back, sounding even more erratic. More urgent. Galadriel's leitmotif returns, now with the right note but at doubled speed. She's retaliating.

The next major point happens at 3:47, where things suddenly go quiet. We shift into Sauron's leitmotif on soprano again, which transitions into Galadriel's, and then back to Sauron's. It's really, really smooth, and I can only applaud Bear for the execution. The themes should be incompatible, but nope, he makes it work.

At 4:53, something really interesting happens. Both "Sauron" and "Galadriel" have string ostinatos. Ostinatos are short, reoccurring melodies, and Bear often use them to back up the "main" motifs. At this time stamp, we're hearing a new ostinato that sounds an awful lot like Sauron's and Galadriel's combined. It's not as dissonant as Sauron's, but it's not as clean as Galadriel's either. I can still hear both in it, though. We're no longer just shifting back and forth between the soundtracks - they've actually merged. I have no clue what that means but I can't wait to find out. Is this her "Last Temptation"? Did he give her the same proposal again? Is she tempted?

The music builds again. At 5:27, we hear a short, explosive burst of Galadriel's theme on brass baked into an epic soundscape. Whatever it was that just happened, she's snapped out of it. She faced her temptation and turned it down. We hear the direct result of this at 5:39, where we get Sauron's theme sounding a lot more like the one from season 1 again. No more soft soprano. We're back to male choir. (I think it's worth mentioning that traditionally, male choir more evil-coded than female, so that's neat.)

If there was ever any doubt whether or not she resisted the temptation, we get a confirmation at 6:03. Galadriel's theme on harp, backed up by a soft female choir. She chose the light. Again.

The final half minute is orchestral, but the battle is over. There's peace. A touch of triumph, a touch of melancholy, but there's definitely peace.

Okay. I think I'm done. Bear is a genius so I'm sure there are even more easter eggs in there, but these are the ones I caught.

EDIT: During that final half minute, we actually get a bit of Elrond's theme. Is he the one who interrupts the altercation? Is that how the fight comes to an end? I'm really interested in seeing how that plays out. TLDR: Bear created a Sauron/Galadriel/Halbrand medley and I'm in awe.

[vampirepirates]

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

THE LONG WINTER ( ... ) SANDOR CLEGANE .

Masterlist:

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀" ⠀⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀𝔖andor Clegane saw clearer then than he ever had - Lyarra Stark, the lone wolf, would never last a day in the Lion's den. To hell with it, he couldn't help but think. He cared not about winter - nor the pack surviving. He cared not for the Starks to begin with. What he did care about, was making sure the all-encompasing light of Lyarra's eyes never went out. Not while he still lived. ⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

ORIGINAL CHARACTER - Lyarra Stark. Twin to Lyanna, sister of Eddard, Benjen, and Brandon.

Lyarra Stark of Winterfell would give her life for her family, while Sandor Clegane would do everything in his power to keep her from doing so. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

— ⠀⠀INTRODUCING ⠀THE CAST OF ⠀⠀'THE LONG WINTER'

( any other characters not listed simply are casted with their usual faceclaim, or whatever comes to mind! these are just the /main/ characters . )

LYARRA ⠀STARK ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀LONE ⠀WOLF .

Played by Katie Mcgrath ( ... )

" You cannot ask me to stay — not when my wolf lays trapped in the jaws of a Lion .. "

SANDOR ⠀CLEGANE ⠀— ⠀THE HOUND ⠀.

Played by Rory McCann ( ... )

" Praying to your Gods, Little Wolf? Good, you're going to need them .. "

REYNE⠀ 'STARK' ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀LOST ⠀GIRL ⠀.

Played by Alicia Agneson⠀ ( ... )

" I will never allow my fear to overcome my love. Not while I still live .. "

GOGNI ⠀⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀⠀FREE ⠀⠀MAN   .

Played by Travis Fimmel  ( ... )

" I never knew a wolf to accept her cage as willingly as you have .. "

PETYR ⠀BAELISH ⠀— ⠀⠀LITTLEFINGER .

Played by Aidan Gillen ( ... )

" Trust no one — and yet make sure that everyone can trust you. Loyalty kills more men than fealty .. "

LYANNA ⠀STARK ⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀LOVED   .

Played by Kaya Scodelario ( ... )

" Compassion came easy to her, Lyarra could recall. She had never met someone with more love in her heart, than her sister .. "

JON ⠀SNOW ⠀⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀BASTARD  .

Played by Kit Harrington ( ... )

" I have only known one mother, my entire life. And now I am meant to watch in silence, as she leaves .. "

TYRION ⠀LANNISTER ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀IMP   .

Played by Peter Dinklage ( ... )

" In my experience, it is a far easier feat to make a friend than an ally! So, let's drink, shall we? "

—               Hello! My name is Zevran! I'll try to keep this short for the sake of my sanity. This is my first official fanfic, so bear with me as I work through this. This fic randomly came to my mind a few weeks ago, and I have not been able to escape it. Some things to note before I start this; Lyarra is not perfect. There will be times where she makes brass decisions, says rude things, and very clearly sides with the wrong people. One example of this, is the nature of her friendship with Petyr Baelish. Petyr is not a good person, and I will never deny this! But he is someone that Lyarra cares for greatly, so I will portray their relationship the best I can. Also, I have never read the books. I just started the first one, but considering I am now writing this -- that will definitely be a slow process. My timeline may be messy, especially considering I am creating my own events and timelines. So if I mess anything up, feel free to let me know -- but know I may not change everything.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the fic -- and feel free to leave any kind of comment!

             Lover, Hunter, Friend, and Enemy — You

             Will always be every one of these.    Lover,

             Hunter, Friend, and Enemy .. You        will

             Always         be          every       one   of these .

             — Fleurie,                               Love and War .

[deletarius-draws]

You Honor Me ~ {Full Illustration}

Sol & Lae ~ You Honor Me Full illustration.

I’ve been looking through references of old distressed style, cracked and textured paintings for this one as well as for their posing. This piece is during their time within the Astral Planes fighting alongside one another against Vlaakith’s forces. Solus Aximand (Tav) has gith inspired armor with a githzerai tailored robe, dawning a battle worn breastplate, a gold or possibly just brass. Lae’zel is wearing the modded in equipable armor worn by Githyanki in-game (I looked at some Pinterest references for her armor), the two in this particular piece wear more scavenged armor due to previous wear and tear of whatever they wore before. Traversing the battlefields of the Astral takes its toll, the two can fight on for hours and days without much rest, that is until now. Not that keeping up with time really means much at all, considering their locale. They continue to war together, fighting as one and instinctually as they have when they fought side by side in Faerûne. The only difference is the enemies they face alongside Githzerai allies.

[scotianostra]

On 17th August 2010 Bill Millin, piper to Lord Lovat at D Day, died, aged 88.

Millin had left Sandyhills near Glasgow to join the Highland Light Infantry, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, No. 4 Commando.

On June 6th 1944, the 21-year-old had been ordered to play against the wishes of the top brass. He was the personal piper to Lord Lovat - who, despite there being a ban on pipers being allowed on the frontline, defied the War Office's orders and brought him to Sword Beach.

Pipers were banned from being on the frontline during the Second World War because of the number of casualties seen during the First World War. The enemy figured out that the piper helped boost morale to the Allied troops, and they were slaughtered because of this. This led the War Office to restrict their presence in camps as well as on the frontline.

After the war Bill settled in the lovely wee devon town of Dawlish, the museum there has his pipes on display as seen in the second pic, the first shows Bill at Edinburgh Castle in 2003.

The first pic is Bill, reunited with Josette Gouellain in Ranville, Normandy. The two met 50 years ago when Josette asked bill to play something just for her. The Scot complied with "The Nut Brown Maiden" in admiration of the little girl's hair and eyes.