#but this june's conquest there was More ... AND MY BEST FRIEND. WHO WENT

[astrxealis]

okay i'm going to an ffxiv unofficial fan event in july this year and there's this wol (character) sticker exchange thing me and lune really want to participate in but 1. we don't really know how to draw yet 2. we don't really have money to commission. so. sobbing

[outermaybanks]

Out of the Woods - ch 6

a/n: thank you for reading, i love you ♡

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I woke up feeling warm, sweaty. I tried to sit up but it was like I was being held down. I forced my eyes open to find JJ’s head in the crook of my neck, half of his body draped over mine.

“Mmm- JJ- JJ wake up. C’mon dude, you’re killing me.” I tried to push him, and he started to stir. “What?” He grumbled, half asleep. “J, wake up.”

He lifted his head so fast it collided with mine. “Owww- dude.” I groaned, rubbing my head. “Sorry- shit- sorry.” JJ rubbed his head, sitting up. “It’s fine, what do I need to breathe for anyway,” I teased, making him chuckle as he rubbed his eyes.  “Not my fault you got two pillows on your chest,” JJ said. I smacked his arm and got out of bed, clumsily walking to the bathroom. 

Once I put some cold water on my face, I was more awake, but I still needed a minute. I had kept my crush on JJ underwraps for the past 4 years, but lately it seemed harder and harder. I looked at my reflection, and put some cold water on my hands before wiping my face again.

“Get your shit together, now, Junie Abernathy.” I whispered. 

When I walked out of the bathroom, JJ and John B were awake and walking around the house. “Up and at ‘em, cupcake, we got shit to do.” JJ said as he whizzed past me on his way to the living room.

I ran a hand through my hair as I followed him, but turned into the kitchen instead. John B was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. “We gotta get Kie and Pope soon.”  “Any more of that?” I asked, reaching for the fridge. “Cereal, yes. Milk, no.” JB replied, his mouth full of food. “Awesome.” I closed the fridge and opened the cabinet, grabbing the box of cereal. “You and JJ were pretty loud last night.” John B said as I was pouring myself a bowl. “Please, we’ve all heard JJ doing much worse through these walls.” I grabbed a spoon and took a bite of cereal. “Don’t remind me.” “Heard my name. Whatcha talking about?” JJ asked, coming into the kitchen. “Oh sweet-” JJ said before grabbing my spoon and taking a bite of cereal, dropping the spoon back into my bowl. 

“You and your lady friends.” John B answered, making me cringe before taking another bite of my cereal. “Lady friends? Seriously?” I questioned, lifting myself up to sit on the counter. “What else would you have me call them?” John B questioned. “Girlfriends?” I suggested. “Definitely not girlfriends.” JJ piped in. “How about conquests?” That made me cringe even more.

“Gross.” I mumbled. “Prude.” JJ retorted. “Perv.” “Virgin.” “Who says I’m a virgin?” I questioned, but JJ just chuckled. I looked to John B for backup, but he looked away.

“Seriously? You guys think boys don’t like me?” I questioned. “No, no, no, Junie. I think boys like you..it’s just-” John B started. “We’ve never seen you with guys that weren’t us,” JJ finished for him, John B nodding in agreement. “Well, I’ll have you both know I’m not a virgin, so.” I took another bite. “Oh really? Do tell.” JJ prodded, leaning on his hand against the counter. “Didn’t you say we have shit to do?” “Ope- avoiding the question. Virgin.” JJ grabbed my spoon again, taking another bite of my cereal. “You know you can get your own, right? And I’m not a virgin.” “It’s okay to be a virgin, June, JJ’s just giving you shit to get a reaction," John B spoke up.

I shook my head, taking another bite. “You guys are dicks.” I shoved my bowl into JJ’s chest, handing it to him before hopping off the counter. 

I went back into the bedroom to change, putting my bikini on before pulling on my denim shorts. When I went back out, I heard John B. “Think she’s mad at us?”  “She’s always mad at me. It’s probably sexual frustration. There’s a lot of tension there.”

I rolled my eyes as I walked out of the house, slamming both the porch and front door behind me. I walked over and collapsed into the hammock, bringing my legs up as I swayed. The hammock was one of the best parts of the Chateau, I could spend hours laying here and the time would just melt away.

“Would it help if I said sorry?” John B asked. I opened my eyes to see him standing by the tree.  “You really couldn’t back me up in there?” I replied. “I didn’t know there was anything wrong with it. Being a virgin.” “There is when it comes to JJ… dude has a new ‘conquest’ like every other weekend.”  John B raised his eyebrows, “Well… maybe if you just told him about-” “Shut up. Shut up right now.” I said, sitting up, noticing the front door opening.

John B looked behind him just as JJ was closing the door behind him. “You guys ready or what?” JJ called.

John B gave me an apologetic look before holding his hand out to help me out of the hammock. I took his hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet. The three of us walked to the dock, John B got on the boat first, then JJ. JJ held his hand out to help me but I swatted it away.

“You let John B help you out of the hammock.” JJ complained like a child. “John B said sorry for being an asshole.” JJ turned to look at John B. “Woooow.” “Can you two please just behave, please?” John B replied before starting the boat.

I sat on the front of the boat while he drove the boat over to Heyward’s, then to Figure Eight to pick up Kie, then we were back on our way to the Chateau.

“Hey guys,” JJ spoke up, “Settle something for me. Has anyone ever seen Junie over here laying the moves down on some guy?” “What?” Kie asked. “Are you serious?” I asked. “Junie and I got into a little debate this morning because she said she wasn’t a virgin, and I pointed out that the only guys she hangs around is us.” JJ explained. “Maybe she lost her virginity to Pope.” Kie spoke up, making Pope chuckle. I winked at Pope, making John B and Kie laugh.  “That’s not funny.” JJ said, moving to sit on the front near me. “Well,” Kiara started, her laughing slowing to a stop. “ For the record, I have seen Junie be into someone. Maybe you just don’t pay attention Jayj.”

I smiled to myself, then looked over to JJ, who just shook his head before looking away. I looked to Kie and mouthed a ‘thank you’, to which she gave me a nod.

After some time passed, another boat came into sight, and JJ whistled. “You guys see that? That’s the Malibu 24-MXZ, the world’s finest wakesetter. Number one in luxury, quality, and performance. 200k easy.” “We picked the wrong parents.” Pope said. “I hate to break it to you guys, but that’s Topper and his girlfriend.” Kie pointed out.

We were all silent as we passed them, all of us staring.

“You don’t have to act like you don’t see us, bitch.” Kie said somewhat loudly. I definitely think they heard. Once we got back to the Chateau, we got back into the Twinkie to drive over to JJ’s job. I sat in the back with Kiara and Pope.

“Psst.” Kie whispered, then nudged her head in the direction of JJ. My eyes widened and I shook my head no. Maybe this is why keeping my crush on JJ a secret was getting harder, maybe my friends were making it harder.

“Alright, keep a look out.” JJ spoke up as John B turned into the parking lot. “We’re behind enemy lines.” He grabbed the gun and began inspecting it, but John B grabbed it and made him put it away, with Kie threatening to throw it into the ocean.

“Can’t forget my badge. Professional busboy.” JJ said, pulling it from its retractable string then releasing it. JJ lead us through the building, through the kitchen while greeting his coworkers. I gave a wave to the line cooks, but JJ grabbed my arm to pull me away, then led us to the back, to a room with computers.

“Sweet lord, the internet!” Pope cheered as he raced to a chair. “Let me get in there, gotta check out my insta models.” JJ said. “Don’t have time.” Pope said just as John B pulled the map out of his bag and placed it in front of him. Pope entered the coordinates written on the map into the computer so it could show us the location. It was about 900 feet under water. Both JJ and John B were relieved.

“How do you suppose we get 900 feet deep?” I questioned. “Yeah, will we be taking your personal submarine?” Pope questioned. “The salvage yard. They got a drone that drops 1000, it has a 360 camera and everything. It’s for deep dives and stuff, it’s exactly what we need.” JJ said. “Can your dad get his grimy little hands on that?” John B asked. “Well, my dad’s grimy little hands got his ass fired. I guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced, turns out. But the drone’s there. It’s in the impound yard out back.”

We all exchanged looks, then made a run for the door.

I sat across from JJ in the twinkie, watching as he rolled a blunt. Pope was upset about us doing ‘illegal crimes’, so John B was trying to put his mind at ease. “Pope, we’re not stealing the drone, we’re borrowing it.”

Pope took a deep breath. “‘Humans are the only animal that can’t tell fantasy from reality.’” “Did you come up with that?” John B asked. “Albert Bernstein came up with it.” Pope explained. I was becoming distracted by JJ sealing the blunt with his tongue. God maybe he was right, maybe I was too pent up.

Just as JJ was about to light the blunt, Pope took it out of his mom. “Keep the signal clear.” he said before throwing it. “Pope!” I shouted, looking in the direction he threw it. “Look what you did, you upset bugs.” JJ scolded.

John B parked the van, and I continued my search for the blunt.

“You know what your problem is?” JJ’s voiced asked. “You?” Pope retorted. “No, it’s that you need to relax, man. You’re always too tense." “I’m not too tense.” “Alright ladies, we need someone to distract the guard.” John B spoke up. “I think Junie should do it.” Kie said. “What?” I asked. “Yeah, what?” JJ repeated.

Kiara turned in the passenger seat to look at JJ, “I just mean, it’ll be a chance for her to prove you wrong.” “Oh, then I’m so in. One sec-” I said before taking off my hoodie. “What are you doing?” JJ asked. I pulled my shirt over my head, leaving me in my bikini. “Didn’t you hear Kie? I’m proving you wrong.” I answered with a smirk before I slid open the door and climbed out, and walked around the van.

“Hey!” John B called, causing me to turn and walk over to his window, I could hear JJ and Kie arguing behind him. “You got this.” “‘Course I do. Be fast, okay?” I said before turning back to walk to the guard shack.  “Hello?” I called out in the sweetest voice I could muster, waving my arm around as I walked over by the window. A man walked out and over to the gate. “Can I help you?” “Hi! Um, so, I have a flat tire… and I’m like- clueless when it comes to this stuff. Any chance you could help me?” I asked, giving him a small smile, looking down nervously then back at him.

The man looked me up and down, his eyes lingering just a moment on my breasts. “Yeah.” “Yeah? Oh, thank you!” I said, running a hand through my hair. He went back into the shack to open the gate, and I looked behind me to try and signal to guys to be ready.

When I turned back I saw the guard on his way back, carrying an air pump. “Thank you again, so much, it’s um, just this back one here.” I said pointing as we walked. “What happened?” The guard asked. “Um… I really don’t know, I just came outside and it was like this.” “Probably just sitting in the yard too long.” “Oh really? I didn’t know that could make it flat…” I leaned on the edge of the boat, trying to push my cleavage up. Men like this were too easy. I tried to think of ways to stall him while he filled up the tire, but before I could think of anything, I heard a dog barking.

“Did you hear that?” “Um- yeah, it kind of sounded like a raccoon.” He accepted that as an answer and went back to filling the tire. I tried to think of something. I didn’t have anything to let the air out of other tires. “I think it’s almost done.” The guard said. “Wow, thank you so much, you’re like my hero. So how long have you worked here?” “About 5 years.” “Wow, I bet you’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff, working at a salvage yard. That’s a tough job.” The guard smiled to himself. Then the machine stopped. “Thank you, ma’am. You never told me your name?”

“Oh, I’m-” I was cut off by the definite sound of a dog barking, and with no machine whirring to cover it up, the man immediately stood up and took off running.

“Shit…” I mumbled to myself. I quickly got in the driver’s side and reversed, Kie said I needed to bring her dad’s truck to the meeting spot. I sat in the truck for what felt like forever, and only knew a moment of peace when the Twinkie came into sight. As soon as the van was parked I jumped out of the truck.

“Please tell me it worked…” I said once Kie got out, ready to switch places with me. “I got the drone, it’s in the back.” John B said. “Woo! Way to go, Jeeb!” I cheered. “Me? That was some serious work you just laid down.”  “Yeah it was!” Pope agreed, and I feigned bashfulness, flipping my hair a little bit.

Kie high fived me as she walked past me. “Meet me at the Wreck!” she called as she got in the driver’s seat. I climbed into the back of the Twinkie.

“Hey, did we ever find that blunt?” I asked as soon as I sat down across from JJ, making him chuckle before he held it up for me. We drove to the Wreck, arriving at roughly the same time as Kiara, and we all quickly climbed out, heading inside. 

Kie walked over to talk to her dad, so the rest of us went to the corner of the restaurant. 

“I’m starving…” I complained. “Yeah you worked up quite the appetite. You couldn’t’ve put your shirt back on?” JJ teased. I rolled my eyes.  “Here-” John B said, pulling off his hawaiian button up and putting it on my shoulders.  “Thanks, Jeeb.” I said, before sending a look of annoyance to JJ as I put it on. 

Kiara’s dad agreed to giving us free food, thank god. We all sat together and ate once her dad brought us out the food. We were talking and laughing, John B and JJ even started a game of throwing and catching food in each other’s mouths, much to our entertainment. Then, once everyone else left, Kie turned up the music and began dancing, asking John B to dance with her. I smiled as I watched them, taking a drink of my soda.

“Hey, so… how come you never told me about this mystery guy?” JJ asked now that we were alone at our table. “What?” I questioned. “I mean…” JJ knuckles tapped the table. “You told Kie, and I’m supposed to be like… your best friend or something, and you never told me.” “It wasn’t worth mentioning.” I covered. “It was worth mentioning to Kie.” JJ countered. “I didn’t tell Kie. She just… noticed.” 

JJ looked away from me to watch Kie and JB dance. I figured that meant the end of it.  “I'm sorry I didn’t notice…” JJ said softly. “Don’t be. He didn’t feel the same way.”

©outermaybanks 2024 taglist: @lilliebellee

[idreamofdraco]

FIA’s Recently Updated Fics

You guys, there are so many drinny stories that have been updated recently on the Fire and Ice Archive! Check out stories that have been updated in the last 50 days (as of June 8, 2021) under the cut!

Dream of Hades by AFamiliarWitch (WIP, 4 chapters) Ginny doesn’t trust the Malfoys, or their meteoric return to the centre of society, but a mishap at a party could change everything she thinks that she knows.

A Very D/G Holiday by Anise (WIP, 25 chapters) Draco and Ginny at the Burrow for Yule! Throw in tense dinners, shocking family secrets, Santa suits, and a dragon or two… what could possibly go wrong?

Of Faeries, Fate, and Draco Malfoy by dykeadellic (WIP, 14 chapters) There was a loud shriek as one of the daycare workers escorted Mrs. Malfoy back to her son, only to see him locked hand in hand with Ginny, a bright chord of light tying their hands together.

“Draco! What have you done?” Narcissa yelled, sounding for all the world like a banshee.

Draco smiled widely and said, “I vowed to marry my best friend, Ginny.”

And with that, Narcissa Malfoy promptly fainted.

Abyss by estherbraga (WIP, 7 chapters) A few years after the war and Voldemort's fall, Draco: a former Death Eater struggles to recover his reputation as a decent and improved new man as a Ministry low-rank employee. Meanwhile, he gladly reencounters an also new Ginny Weasley. Despite his inner instincts to mock her recent break-up with Potter, upon meeting her opaque, beautiful amber eyes, he finds himself attracted to her darker self. But Ginny, just as Draco, needs more than attraction, she needs to find the fire she long lost, and, who would have thought that icy Malfoy would be that right man to rekindle her spirit?

Counterplay by Alexandra-Emerson (Complete, 30 chapters) This story picks up at the part in the 7th book where the group is cornered by Snatchers, but this time, someone saves them. This is an alternate ending to the series. There's still a Horcrux hunt and hallows, but we also see Snape and Draco as spies, Ginny joins the hunt, and the group works with the Order this time, instead of staying completely out of touch.

This story is filled with action and a lot of plot twists. It's told primarily from Hermione and Ginny's POVs, with a little Voldemort and Harry POV mixed in.

Bleed Slow by dykeadellic (WIP, 7 chapters) Draco and Ginny are the perfect Auror team. There isn't a case they can't solve, until the murder of Pansy Parkinson. With time on the side of their killer, and Ginny as his final conquest, they have to hope they'll be able to stop the murderer in time.

My Sweetest Downfall by kieraraelyn (Complete, 1 chapter) She was his downfall. At least he went down laughing.

Ferreting Out Shelter by kieraraelyn (Complete, 1 chapter) Ginny brings home a stray and Draco is not amused. But when has he ever been able to deny her anything?

A Singular Love, Which is Far From Common by Anise (WIP, 7 chapters) An amusement park based on the Tudor dynasty sounded like a good idea when George and Luna first proposed it to Ginny. But nobody counted on insufficient codpieces, Styrofoam beheadings, random roller coasters, and above all, Draco Malfoy…

Holidating by idreamofdraco (WIP, 7 chapters) Ginny is tired of being the only single Weasley at family gatherings and all the pity that comes with that status. Draco could do without opportunistic women taking advantage of his desire to connect. The solution? Team up to become platonic dates during the holidays.

If only their hearts could stick to the plan....

See You by BelleAmour (WIP, 3 chapters) After months of going through the motions, a simple peak through a window up turns lives.

Ashen by Ludi (WIP, 18 chapters) Malfoy was curious. Curious and angry. “So, what do you want from me, Weasley?”

It was the admission of his defeat. Ginny felt the taste of victory - and it was bitter.

“I want influence. I want protection. I want safety.” She stopped, giving him time to assimilate her words, before she played her final card. "I want your name. " When saying the last sentence, however, she could not help the blush that spread across her face.

Malfoy's countenance changed several times in a very short time. Annoyance turned into wariness, then into confusion, and finally, when he really understood what Ginny had implied, his face showed only a profound horror.

I want your name.

I want a marriage.

Wilfully by Anayashe (WIP, 29 chapters) For the life of her, Ginny Weasley did not know how this had happened. She could have blamed the two glasses of expensive champagne, or considered the possibility of being put under the Imperius Curse, but she knew deep down that that was not the case. Somehow, she had knowingly and wilfully ended up here. Shit.

[creepingsharia]

“They Rape Our Women, Kill Our People, and Burn Our Properties”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, August, 2020

by Raymond Ibrahim

Defaced frescoes (R) inside the ancient monastery of Sumela in Turkey (L).

The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of August, 2020:

The Slaughter of Christians

Philippines: On August 24, 15 people were killed in twin suicide bombings, carried out by the widows of two terrorists, and targeting a cathedral in the Muslim majority city of Jolo; about 80 others were injured in the blasts.  Abu Sayyaf, a jihadi terror group, claimed responsibility.  “There were two bombers. A suicide bomber was involved in the first explosion,” a military spokesman confirmed. “The second suicide bomber blew herself up after she was arrested after the first explosion.”  “They have died as martyrs witnessing to their Christian faith,” said local Bishop Charlie Inzon of those who died, “as they braved to stay in Jolo despite constant intimidation and risks….  [I]t was treacherous, inhuman and an evil act of violence” “This crime,” added Church in Need, a human rights group, “is even rendered more unconscionable because of the hardships our people are going through during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Ethiopia: At least 500 Christians—“including pregnant women, children and whole families”— were slaughtered between late June and August 27 in what were reported as “relentless door-to-door” attacks.  Soon after a popular singer from a Muslim majority tribe was allegedly assassinated on June 29, “extremists arrived in cars and, armed with guns, machetes, swords and spears, sought out and slaughtered Christians.”  The report continues:

Children were forced to witness their parents being brutally murdered with machetes….  An Oromo Christian was beheaded for refusing to deny his faith by tearing off the thread around his neck (worn by many Ethiopian Christians as a sign of their baptism)….  Christians’ business premises and houses were burnt down, vandalised or destroyed by the extremists. Billions of dollars of damage was caused to property…  The severity of the atrocities shocked local witnesses who gave accounts of harrowing scenes. In Dera, a witness described how the killers desecrated corpses by ‘dancing and singing, carrying the chopped or hacked body parts of those they slaughtered.’ Another witness reported how the hacked bodies of an elderly Christian couple, who were beaten to death in their home, were dragged through the streets… Thousands of traumatised survivors have fled for their lives, including orphaned children, and many are being sheltered in churches and community centres.

Cameroon: Late in the night of August 1, the Islamic terror group Boko Haram sent in two suicide bombers, one of whom was a girl, into a village, while its residents peacefully slept after a hard day’s work.  Their target was the village’s Catholic Mission.  At least 28—including seven children between the ages of 3-18—were killed in the subsequent detonations: “The scene was horrific,” as explained by the leader of the targeted Catholic mission: “I was at home when they came. We heard gunshots and then shouts from the vigilante committee alerting us. So we fled … When they got in, they first fired shots (randomly), and then people started running.”  One of the terrorists, a young girl, concealing her identity and intentions before a group of women and children who were hiding, claimed she was hurt and pleaded for their help.  “They were duped,” the church leader said. “She detonated the bomb and killed many people.”  According to the report,

Further details about the bombers, including their origins, are unknown though reports in recent years indicate that Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of children. Last year, the UN recently stated that since 2009, an estimated 8,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram. And according to a UNICEF report, at least 117 of these children have been used as suicide bombers since 2017—and more than 80 percent of them are girls.

Nigeria: Throughout the month of August, the “ignored genocide of Christians” continued at the hands of Muslim herdsmen and Fulani tribesmen.  According to an August 4 report, in Kaduna State, at least 171 Christians, many of which were women and children, were slaughtered.  On August 10, armed jihadis stormed the Lion of Judah Church in Azikoro and opened fire on worshippers; four Christians were killed.   An August 24 report states that “Fulani herdsmen attacked a predominantly Christian village in north-central Nigeria, killing one resident, burning a church building and kidnapping four children among others.”

Uganda:  A Muslim family severely beat two cousins for embracing the Christian faith; one died of his wounds.  Last reported, the surviving cousin, Ahmad Waisana, 23, still barely “clings to life,” and suffers severe injuries to his head and a kidney.  From a sick-bed at an undisclosed place of refuge, he said, “I have been spending sleepless nights thinking of my [cousin and] best friend, Jalilu [Kamutono, aged 20].  The whole of my body is aching. I am not sure whether I will get well or die and go to be with Christ.”  Earlier, both cousins, after listening to and attending various sermons in late 2019, “made a public confession of faith in Christ.”  Word instantly reached their fathers, who are brothers, even before the cousins returned from the event to house they all lived in.  The fathers “angrily chased” the apostates out of the village.  After several months of moving around and trying to eke out a living, which became increasingly harder due to COVID-19 lockdowns, “we decided to return back home hoping that we were going to be welcome,” Ahmad continues:

At home we were questioned whether we were Christians, and we affirmed to them that we were still Christians but pleaded that we be received back. To our surprise, we were received with hostility, and the relatives arrived and started beating us with sticks and blunt objects before burying us in banana leaves.

According to the report, “Their relatives were about to set them on fire when some cattle herders and Christians happened by,” prompting their violent family to flee.  “At the hospital we were diagnosed, and the finding was that Jalilu had internal bleeding, and after two weeks he succumbed [on August 5] to the injury” and died. “I could not remain at the hospital, and so I went to a nearby church.”  After the hospital called Jalilu’s family to come and retrieve their son’s corpse for burial, “They were reluctant at first, but pressure from the government and the problem of COVID-19 made them to yield, and they took the body for burial; that was on Aug. 7.”

Germany: Hamzar D., a 25-year-old Muslim migrant from Tunisia, strangled the 28-year-old German mother of his child to death, partially because she had baptized the child into Christianity.   They originally met at a disco; by July 2019, she gave birth to his son.  “But after the birth, she changed,” explained the aggrieved killer. According to the report, she “withheld his son from him for a long time, and then she made his boy a Christian too.”  This and other disagreements led to his strangling her during one of their meetings.

Attacks on Churches

Crete: A Muslim migrant from Algeria, 38, attacked a Christian cathedral twice in less than a week. First, on Sunday, August 2, he threw rocks at and damaged the stained glass windows of the Metropolitan Church of Agios Minas, in Heraklion, the largest city on the Grecian island.  Two days later, on August 4, he returned with a hammer and started to smash down the cathedral’s door.  Camera footage helped police identify and arrest the Algerian.

Turkey:  Unknown vandals defaced “priceless” Christian frescoes inside the ancient Byzantine monastery of Sumela in Trabzon.  Many of the faces of Jesus and the saints were scratched out of the icons.  The monastery, which was built in 386, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and visited by many pilgrims on her feast day, August 15—less than a week before the desecration occurred.   The monastery had only recently reopened, having been closed for years to repair earlier arson and vandal damages.  Despite all the visible damage (pictures here), “Turkish authorities deny the disaster, with the Deputy Director General of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism stating that there was no recent damage to the frescoes in the Monastery.”  Some social media users claimed responsibility for the “sacred” duty of desecrating the monastery.

Also, coming on the heels of an event that shocked and angered many Christians around the world—the transformation of the Hagia Sophia cathedral/museum into a mosque—on Friday, August 21, President Erdogan announced that another ancient church/museum, renowned for its exquisite Byzantine/Christian mosaics, has been transformed into a mosque.   Holy Savior in Chora is a fourth century church that, like most other churches in Constantinople/Istanbul, was turned into a mosque after the Muslim conquest of 1453.  Later excavations found that many of the Christian images and mosaics that had been painted over could be restored.  During its experimentation with secularism in the mid-twentieth century, Turkey made the necessary restorations and turned it into a museum in 1958, as was done earlier with Hagia Sophia in 1935.  Like the latter, Chora is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Its “beautiful mosaics and frescoes cover almost all the church’s walls and domes,” a historian noted, adding, “It would be hard to imagine it being returned into a mosque without totally covering [or destroying] them over.”  According to a report, “Other church-museums in Turkey, including less notable Hagia Sophias in the towns of İznik and Trabzon, have also been converted back into mosques in recent years.”

Italy: On August 12, an Egyptian migrant broke through Milan Cathedral’s security and sped up to the high altar, where he forced, at knifepoint, a guard to kneel for over eight minutes.  The man was reportedly loitering around the front of the cathedral and broke in after a patrol inquired for his ID (it later came out that he had a criminal record).  Police officials rushed to the scene in an attempt to negotiate with the hostage-taker, who was eventually apprehended.  Although police did not reveal his identity, the Italian bishops’ news media Avvenire uncritically quoted him during the standoff saying that he had a “room” in the cathedral and that his name is “Christian.” According to a later report, however, the 26-year-old man’s name is Mahmoud Mohamed Zin Elaabdin Elhosary.

Sweden:  During widespread immigrant riots believed to be connected to the burning of a Koran in Malmö, Muslims tried to torch a church in the small town of Ronneby.  A local, Naem Sufan, said he intervened and prevented its burning, and was also beaten because he “defended the church” by extinguishing the fire with his jacket.  His injuries include a broken shoulder and strained neck.  “You get so disappointed when you see immigrants do that,” he said.  “I’m an immigrant myself. And I don’t get it. Sweden has given them everything they want. We have fled war, so we can not start new wars here.”

Desecration of Christian Cemeteries

Turkey:    A Christian cemetery belonging to the Holy Savior Church and another Armenian church was desecrated.  According to a report, “the remains were taken out of the graves and the bones of the deceased were scattered everywhere” (pictures here).

Pakistan: On August 17, dozens of armed Muslim men occupied a 70-year-old Christian cemetery.  While there, and “according to eyewitnesses,” they “desecrated graves, Christian crosses, and Biblical verses written on walls and tombstones. The men then constructed a wall dividing the graveyard in half.”  A local Christian explained their motivation:

Over 100 Christian families reside in the village. We have remains of our forefathers in this graveyard. However, influential Muslims have grabbed a big portion of the graveyard.  They have grabbed the land to use for their cattle….  The Christians had no courage to stop the armed men as they were ready to open fire if the Christians resisted…  Very soon the land grabbers will occupy the remaining part of the graveyard.  We cannot fight as we are the poor segment of the society.

Last reported, local authorities had not responded to Christian please, and the land remains occupied by the grave desecraters.

Egypt: Local officials forced Christians to exhume and remove the corpse of a young Christian boy from his resting place behind his church to somewhere else “far from Muslims.”  According to the August 21 report,

The child, Samer Mark Maher, was buried on a piece of land behind Mary Mina Church as per usual practice. The governor, however, claimed that there were no permits and ordered that the Christians remove the body to a place far from Muslims.

Moreover, local authorities and council members are now talking about exhuming all Christian corpses at the church and moving them elsewhere, even though, as one Christian layer explained, “The Copts (Christians) there don’t have an official place [other than their church] to bury their bodies. Usually, they were burying the bodies in land behind their church. The nearest village which contains Coptic burials is far, around 100 kilometres [more than 60 miles] from the dead child’s village,” where few of its Christian residents have vehicular access.

In another incident of discrimination in Egypt, during what are known as “reconciliation sessions,” a government-appointed village mayor ruled that a Christian family must sell its home and leave their village.  (In Egypt, local authorities and involved parties of a dispute often meet outside of courtrooms in an effort to resolve matters and restore peace before getting the law involved.)  The case revolved around a young Christian man who accidentally hit and killed a Muslim girl with his motorcycle.  Despite the fact that such accidents are very common in the chaotic and near lawless roads of Egypt; despite the fact that even the girl’s father acknowledged that it was an accident; and despite the fact that these sessions are informal and meant to find the most equitable solution before the courts get involved—the Muslim official, Hanni Snofar of Fayum governorate, who was invited to the session, ordered not just the expulsion of the youth, but his entire family, who must sell their home as soon as possible and essentially go in “exile.” The August 15 report inquires:

It was just another reconciliation session but it turned into a courtroom with the animated mayor ordering the selling of the Christian family’s home and their expulsion.  By what right does the mayor judge and issue mandatory decrees to expulse a family, force them to sell their home, and create other problems?  Do we no longer have judiciaries to rule on such cases?

Attacks on Apostates and Blasphemers

Syria: An Islamist group connected to Turkey and operating in northwest Syria seized a 40-year-old Kurdish man for apostasy in the city of Arfin.  Earlier, fighters from Failaq Al-Sham ordered Radwan Muhammad to relinquish his school so they could transform it into a madrassa, an Islamic school.  Radwan, its headmaster and an English teacher, refused, adding “I will hand you the building in one case only: if Jesus Christ comes down to earth again.”  He was promptly apprehended.  According to Pastor Nihad Hassan, who is also from Afrin, “We are extremely worried about Radwan’s life and wellbeing, he is being held at [Failaq Al-Sham’s] Headquarters in Afrin and they may execute him.  Those Islamist groups and their Turkish masters are walking in the footsteps of IS. In fact, many of their fighters are former IS and al Qaeda members.”  Moreover, “Mr. Muhammed’s wife died recently, but the group prevented the family from washing and shrouding her body according to the customs of that region. She had converted from Islam to Christianity a while ago.”

According to a separate report from August 19, “Continuing its policies of religious oppression and demographic change, factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) — a coalition of militias, several of them with extremist ideologies, formed and funded by Turkey — kidnapped 14 Kurdish youth from occupied Afrin after they converted to Christianity.”

Pakistan: On August 5, after mosque leader Muhammad Abdul complained, police arrested Sohail Masih, a Christian man, on the charge of blasphemy.  Earlier, during a Facebook discussion, Masih wrote, “It is not possible that the blood of goats and bulls can wash away sins. The incident of Miraj is based on a lie.” (Miraj is a reference to the Islamic tradition that, while mounted atop a supernatural winged creature named Buraq, Muhammad flew from Mecca to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, then temporarily ascended into heaven, all in one night.)  When local Muslims learned of Masih’s blasphemous post, an “enraged” mob surrounded the police station he was being held in; some “forcefully entered the police station and exchanged angry words with police.”  Soon thereafter, police formalized a case against and charged Masih under section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code, the maximum penalty of which is death.

Indonesia:  A Muslim convert to Christianity was arrested for “blasphemy.”  Apollinaris Darmawan, 70, wrote on twitter that “Islam is not a religion but a heretical teaching that silences and uncivilizes its people.”  On August 8, before police could get to him, an angry Muslim mob stormed his home, dragged him outside and stripped him naked.  The elderly Apollinaris has a history of criticizing Islam and was released from prison, where he had served four years for another blasphemy accusation, just five months earlier. Discussing this incident, the deputy chairman of the human rights group Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace said that “In a democracy, views expressed by Darmawan are natural. In religious life, if people are criticizing our religion, we [should] see it as a challenge, not an insult.”  The 70-year-old now faces the maximum penalty for blasphemy in Indonesia: six years imprisonment and a one billion rupiah fine (USD 72,000).

France:  As a reflection of anti-Christian sentiment and fears of apostasy, a Muslim family beat and shaved the hair of a 17-year-old girl for dating a Christian boy.  Previously her hair was about two feet long.  According to the deputy prosecutor of the case, the family will be tried later this year for “violence against minors”:

The two families knew each other and (their relationship) was not a problem, but when they started talking about marriage, the girl’s parents told her: “We are Muslims, you cannot marry a Christian.”…  The first blow came from the mother, then there was an outbreak of violence. She was taken to a room and beaten. She was shaved, according to her testimony, by her uncle—her father’s brother— while being beaten.

The August 21 report closes by saying that, “Head-shaving in this context has a particularly shocking context in France. This was the punishment after the Second World War meted out to thousands of women who had relationships with Nazi occupiers in so-called ‘horizontal collaboration.’”

Rape and Forced Conversions of Christians in Pakistan

In late August, Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl, escaped from the home of Mohamad Nakash—her kidnapper, whom the Lahore High Court had recently ruled is her legitimate husband despite her objections—and fled to a police station, where she gave testimony, including on how she was being “forced into prostitution”  and “filmed while by being raped,” with threats that the tape would be published unless she complies with the demands of her rapist/husband and friends: “They threatened to murder my whole family,” the young girl said. “My life was at stake in the hands of the accused and Nakash repeatedly raped me forcefully.”  In an interview, a friend of Maira’s family described how the family is in hiding and constantly on the run, adding: “Maira is traumatized. She cannot speak. We want to take her to the doctor, but we are afraid we might be spotted. We are all very frightened, but we place our trust in God.”

In a separate but similar instance, a married Muslim father of four kidnapped Saneha Kinza, the 15-year-old daughter of a pastor, while she was walking to church for early morning prayers.  According to the report,

Saneha’s family fears that their daughter will be added to the growing number of Christian girls who, after a kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam, are married to Muslims…  On July 28, Pastor Morris Masih’s family received a call from the kidnapper, who threatened them if they dared to take any action to bring Saneha home.

In another incident of abuse in Pakistan, Muslim employers upbraided and beat Anika Shehzad, a Christian housemaid aged 18, after she refused to convert to Islam.  A human rights activist explained how such incidents are very common in Pakistan:

Christians in Pakistan are illiterate and poor, and many poor families are forced to take risks such as sending their young daughters to rich Muslim families to work as live in domestic servants for a little money. These young girls are often sexually harassed, tortured and sometimes are asked to convert to Islam.  Many times such cases are reported in the mainstream media, like the gruesome torture of 10-year-old housemaid Tayyaba by an additional district and sessions judge, and his wife, in the capital Islamabad which made headlines in 2016. Several girls have even been killed, like Shazia Masih, 12. And several cases are taken to the courts but hardly any family has got justice and the practise still continues because perpetrators are always influential and rich, and sometimes victims are pressurised to withdraw their cases and some victims are compensated with money.

Finally, a video appeared on TikTok showing a Christian man on the floor being pressured to renounce his faith and embrace Islam. An August 25 report describes it:

In the video in question, the Christian man is seen being pressured to recite the shahada, the Islamic creed, surrounded by people who are not seen. Despite everything, he refuses, saying that for nothing in the world would he recite the Muslim creed and reject the Christian faith.  His tormentors [which include female voices] then begin to threaten him, saying that he will face serious consequences. Even then, the victim says no, stating that it is his right to keep his faith and that he is ready to suffer all the consequences, that he would not give up his religion.

Commenting on this, Rev. Irfan James of Peshawar said that,

Pakistani Christians suffer many challenges and [endure] persecution. They face difficult situations every day.  It is sad that young Muslims, the majority community, constantly threaten Christians and our faith. Time and time again, they make fun of our faith, but neither the government nor law enforcement do anything about it.  If we report these cases, the offenders get away with it by apologising and saying that they did it in an unconscious way. Should a Christian do something similar, he is immediately accused of blasphemy and the local Christian community is guilty by association. They rape our women, kill our people, destroy or burn our properties….  [All] we want is for our constitution and the law to treat us as equals, with justice, and for the guilty to be put on trial.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic.  Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1)          To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2)          To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

[blackkudos]

Donny Hathaway

Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American jazz, blues, soul and gospel singer, songwriter, arranger and pianist. Hathaway signed with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto", in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music." His enduring songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", "Little Ghetto Boy", "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", signature versions of "A Song for You" and "For All We Know", and "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. "Where Is the Love" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1973. At the height of his career Hathaway was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was known to not take his prescribed medication regularly enough to properly control his symptoms. On January 13, 1979, Hathaway's body was found outside the luxury hotel Essex House in New York City; his death was ruled a suicide.

Early life

Hathaway, the son of Drusella Huntley, was born in Chicago but raised with his grandmother, Martha Pitts, also known as Martha Crumwell, in the Carr Square housing project of St. Louis. Hathaway began singing in a church choir with his grandmother, a professional gospel singer, at the age of three and studying piano. He graduated from Vashon High School in 1963. Hathaway then studied music on a fine arts scholarship at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he met close friend Roberta Flack. At Howard, he was also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Hathaway formed a jazz trio with drummer Ric Powell while there but during 1967 left Howard just before completing a degree, after receiving job offers in the music business.

Career

Hathaway worked as songwriter, session musician and producer for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records in Chicago. He did the arrangements for hits by the Unifics ("Court of Love" and "The Beginning of My End") and took part in projects by the Staple Singers, Jerry Butler, Aretha Franklin, the Impressions and Curtis Mayfield himself. After becoming a "house producer" at Curtom, he also started recording there. Hathaway recorded his first single under his own name in 1969, a duet with singer June Conquest called "I Thank You Baby". They also recorded the duet "Just Another Reason", released as the b-side. Former Cleveland Browns president Bill Futterer, who as a college student promoted Curtom in the southeast in 1968 and 1969, was befriended by Hathaway and has cited Hathaway's influence on his later projects.

That year, Hathaway signed to Atco Records, then a division of Atlantic Records, after being spotted for the label by producer/musician King Curtis at a trade convention. He released his first single of note, "The Ghetto, Pt. 1", which he co-wrote with former Howard roommate Leroy Hutson, who became a performer, writer and producer with Curtom. The track appeared the following year on his critically acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything, which he co-produced with Ric Powell while also arranging all the cuts. His second LP, Donny Hathaway, consisted mostly of covers of contemporary pop, soul, and gospel songs. His third album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway was an album of duets with former Howard University associate and label mate Roberta Flack that established him, especially on the pop charts. The album was both a critical and commercial success, including the Ralph MacDonald-penned track "Where Is The Love", which proved to be not only an R&B success, but also scored Top Five on the pop Hot 100. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on September 5, 1972. The album also included a number of other covers, including versions of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend", "Baby I Love You", originally a hit for Aretha Franklin, and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling".

Perhaps Hathaway's most influential recording is his 1972 album, Live, which has been termed "one of the best live albums ever recorded" by Daryl Easlea of the BBC. The album can also be found on the British online music and culture magazine The Quietus' list of "40 Favourite Live Albums". It was recorded at two concerts: side one at The Troubadour in Hollywood, and side two at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Donny Hathaway is also known as the co-composer and performer of the Christmas standard, "This Christmas". The song, released in 1970, has become a holiday staple and is often used in movies, television and advertising. "This Christmas" has been covered by numerous artists across diverse musical genres, including The Whispers, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Alexander O'Neal, Christina Aguilera, Chicago, Harry Connick, Jr., Dru Hill, *NSYNC, Gloria Estefan, Boney James, The Cheetah Girls, Chris Brown, Anthony Arnett (First Baptist Bracktown Christmas Celebration), Patti LaBelle and Mary J Blige (A Mary Christmas, album 2013), Seal, and Train.

Hathaway followed this flurry of work with some contributions to soundtracks, along with his recording of the theme song to the TV series Maude. He also composed and conducted music for the 1972 soundtrack of the movie Come Back Charleston Blue. In the mid-1970s, he also produced albums for other artists including Cold Blood, where he expanded the musical range of lead singer Lydia Pense.

His final studio album, Extension of a Man came out in 1973 with two tracks, "Love Love Love" and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" reaching both the pop and R&B charts. However, it was probably best noted for his classic ballad, "Someday We'll All Be Free" and a six-minute symphonic-styled instrumental piece called "I Love The Lord, He Heard My Cry". He told UK music journalist David Nathan in 1973, "I always liked pretty music and I've always wanted to write it." Added the writer, "He declined to give one particular influence or inspiration but said that Ravel, Debussy and Stravinsky were amongst whom he studied."

He returned to the charts in 1978 after again teaming up with Roberta Flack for a duet, "The Closer I Get to You" on her album, Blue Lights in the Basement. The song topped the R&B chart and just missed the number 1 spot on the Hot 100 (reaching #2). Atlantic then put out another solo single, "You Were Meant For Me" shortly before his sudden death.Liner notes for later releases of his final solo album explain: "Donny is no longer here, but the song "Someday We'll All Be Free" gathers momentum as part of his legacy... Donny literally sat in the studio and cried when he heard the playback of his final mix. It's pretty special when an artist can create something that wipes them out." Edward Howard, lyricist of the song, adds, "It was a spiritual thing for me... What was going through my mind at the time was Donny, because Donny was a very troubled person. I hoped that at some point he would be released from all that he was going through. There was nothing I could do but write something that might be encouraging for him. He's a good leader for young black men".

Personal life

FamilyHathaway met his wife, Eulaulah, at Howard University and they married in 1967. They had two daughters, Eulaulah Donyll (Lalah) and Kenya. Lalah has enjoyed a successful solo career, while Kenya is a session singer and one of the three backing vocalists on the hit TV program American Idol. Both daughters are graduates of the Berklee College of Music.Mental illnessDuring the best part of his career, Hathaway began to suffer from severe bouts of depression. It was found that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was known to take strong medication daily to try to control the illness. However, Eulaulah Hathaway has said that her husband was frequently less than diligent about following his prescription regimen. Donnita Hathaway has said that her mother gave her similar information about her father, saying that when he took his medication, he was generally fine, but that when he did not, it was impossible for her to deal with him. Over the course of the 1970s, Hathaway's mental instability wreaked havoc on his life and required several hospitalizations. The effects of his depression and melancholia also drove a wedge in his and Flack's friendship; they did not reconcile for several years, and did not release additional music until the successful release of "The Closer I Get To You" in 1978. Flack and Hathaway then resumed studio recording to compose a second album of duets.

Death

Sessions for another album of duets were underway in 1979. On January 13 of that year, Hathaway began a recording session at which producers/musicians Eric Mercury and James Mtume were present. Mercury and Mtume each reported that although Hathaway's voice sounded good, he began behaving irrationally, seeming to be paranoid and delusional. According to Mtume, Hathaway said that "white people" were trying to kill him and had connected his brain to a machine, for the purpose of stealing his music and his sound. Given Hathaway's behavior, Mercury said that he decided the recording session could not continue, so he aborted it and all of the musicians went home.Hours later, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the window of his 15th-floor room in New York's Essex House hotel. It was reported that he had jumped from his balcony. The glass had been neatly removed from the window and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule that Hathaway's death was a suicide. However, his friends were mystified, considering that his career had just entered a resurgence. Flack was devastated and, spurred by his death, included the few duet tracks they had finished on her next album, Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway. According to Mercury, Hathaway's final recording, included on that album, was "You Are My Heaven", a song Mercury co-wrote with Stevie Wonder.Hathaway's funeral was conducted by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Later in 1979, the Whispers recorded the tribute song, "Song for Donny", for their self-titled breakthrough album. The song reached #21 on the R&B chart.

Legacy and influence

Hathaway has been widely praised for his voice. Justin Timberlake calls him "the best singer of all time." Raúl Midón said that Hathaway is "the strongest soul singer that ever existed" and compares his vocal technique to a classical singer. "When Donny sings any song, he owns it," David Ritz quotes Stevie Wonder as having said. Amy Winehouse called Hathaway her favorite artist of all time. She mentioned him in her hit "Rehab” and covered several of his songs. Hathaway's work including Donny Hathaway Live, which featured noted R&B musicians Willie Weeks (bass), Fred White (drums), Mike Howard (guitar), Phil Upchurch (lead guitar side 1), Cornell Dupree (lead guitar side 2) and Earl DeRouen (percussion), has been cited as an influence by numerous other artists including John Legend, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly, Alicia Keys, Jon B., Chris Brown, Nas, Common, Beyoncé, George Benson, Victor Wooten, India.Arie, Jon Gibson, Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight, Anthony Hamilton, Usher, John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Freddie Jackson and Frank McComb. Hathaway's use of the Rhodes Piano on his early Atco R&B recordings has also influenced many neo soul artists & producers.A second live album called In Performance, released in 1980 following his death, also included tracks recorded at venues in Los Angeles and New York between 1971 and 1973, showing Hathaway to be a fine stage performer. Later, in 2004, selected tracks from these two albums were added to previously unreleased live recordings for These Songs for You, Live!.For Record Store Day 2014, Live at the Bitter End 1971 was released on 180g vinyl as a numbered, limited edition. This album marks the first time this 1971 performance at The Bitter End has been released on vinyl, previously appearing on the CD release of the 2013 career anthology, Never My Love. The 21-minute recording of "Everything is Everything" had never been released before on any format and was an exclusive track to this release.

Discography

Studio albumsLive albumsSoundtrack albumsCompilation albumsSinglesWith Phil Upchurch

Upchurch (Cadet, 1969)

The Way I Feel (Cadet, 1970)

Tributes

On soul group the Whispers' 1980 self-titled album, the group paid homage with "Song for Donny", written by fellow soul singer Carrie Lucas. The song was set to the melody of Hathaway's "This Christmas".

In 1999 Aaron Hall recorded a brief tribute version of "Someday We'll All Be Free" on the third album for his group Guy titled Guy III, with Teddy Riley and Damion Hall.

In September 2001, Alicia Keys performed "Someday We'll All Be Free" on the 9/11 televised tribute concert America: A Tribute to Heroes.

In 2005, neo-soul singer songwriter guitarist, Raul Midón (Blue Note) worked with Hathaway's longtime producer Arif Mardin (known for collaborations with the Bee Gees, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Norah Jones, and Aretha Franklin) and created a tribute song to Hathaway called "Sittin' in the Middle".

In her 2006 song "Rehab", Amy Winehouse sings of learning from "Mr. Hathaway" instead of going to rehab.

In 2007, Deniece Williams covered "Someday We'll All Be Free" for her Love, Niecy Style album. Williams later shared that she broke down in tears in the studio while recording.

In 2008, Ed Pavlic published Winners Have Yet to Be Announced (University of Georgia Press), poems re-imagining the life of Donny Hathaway.

The song "What a Catch, Donnie", from Fall Out Boy's fourth studio album, Folie à Deux (2008), is named for Hathaway and mentions Roberta Flack, his writing partner.

Bizzy Bone's song entitled "A Song for You", is a track that includes an interpolation of Donny Hathaways's original recording of the same name.

In the 2013 song "Classic", band MKTO references writing songs "like Hathaway".

Wikipedia 

[atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine]

Fire Emblem: Awakening Thoughts

As of the date May 20th, 2020, I finished my playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening on its one year anniversary of when I got it. It is now June 5th of writing this. This post will be my thoughts and feelings on Awakening, much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post last year. Let's get into some history between me and Fire Emblem before I go into Awakening.

As I've said before, Awakening was both my first Fire Emblem game and my first Tactical RPG. Smash Bros. was where I had heard of Fire Emblem but it wouldn't be until Ultimate came out that I would start to get interested. It was because of my friend's preference for Lucina that got me into playing as her in Smash and that's pretty much how she became both one of my mains and a favorite. It honestly wasn't till I listened to the Smash remixes of Id, Conquest, and Lost in Thoughts All Alone that I decided to play Awakening and then Fates. So thanks go out to both Smash and my friend Eric for converting me to Fire Emblem trash!

Much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post, I'll be going over every aspect of Awakening I can think of, from the graphics to the gameplay to the story. I'll even include a Best/Worst Girl and Boy of both generations because that kind of thing seems to matter to some people, along with my reasons for why X is Y. Keep in mind that whoever I choose as those categories, it is just my opinion and you're free to disagree with me. I say this because I know that, no matter what I say, some diehard fans will get pissed at me and come at me for daring to shit on their favorite character. I already know some people are gonna get mad because they think X should be Best/Worst and that'll be fun to see (You can interpret that as sarcasm if you want).

Listed below are Awakening spoilers, so if you want to play the game and don't want to be spoiled, now's your chance to stop reading. I know Awakening came out in 2013, meaning 6 or 7 years ago, but there may be some people who haven't gotten around to playing it yet so I want to be courteous to them. Here are my thoughts on Fire Emblem: Awakening!

First off, the graphics. I think they looked really nice for a 3DS game that came out in the early 2010's and I believe this was Fire Emblem's first fully 3D game as well so that's really impressive. The in-game models were nicely detailed, the in-game sprites were nice looking, and the prerendered cutscenes were beautiful. This doesn't mean they're not without their faults, though. I wish the in-game cutscenes were more animated because it's easy to tell when an animation's been used over and over again, I feel as if the in-game sprites have some dissonance with official art, and there are times where expressions or animations for the prerendered cutscenes have looked pretty awkward. In terms of the first and last point, I'm giving IntSys some slack because, as I stated earlier, they were developing a game for the 3DS, a powerful handheld device but it's still a handheld, and this was FE's first 3D game so there may have been issues transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models. I'll explain what I mean by my second point. I've looked at Cynthia's official art and when I see her face, I tend to see what I'd call a baby face, pudgy cheeks and all. Her in-game sprite, however, her face is sharper, more mature, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the pigtails throwing me off or it's just a difference between two art styles, I don't know. I'm not an artist so there's not much weight behind this but I'm just saying there's somewhat a dissonance between official art and in-game sprites.

Secondly, gameplay. I loved how easy it was and how I could switch between a simple and complex UI if I wanted to see which attacks could hit or what the enemy's stats were. This may sound stupid but I honestly thought it'd be way more difficult due to this being a Tactical RPG. I know strategy's a big part of Fire Emblem but strategy's not a big problem if you're like me and you grind to hell and back. Speaking of which, I played on Easy Casual mode so that might be why it seemed so simple from the get-go. Just to give you an idea of how much I grinded, I put in 200+ hours and that mostly consisted of buying a shitton of Reeking Boxes, spawning Risen on some of my favorite grind spots, and fighting them over and over again. I went through the 3 basic classes each character could have, maxed out their default class one last time, promoted them to their advanced class, and maxed out those classes 2-3 times over. I have a video on my Twitter that shows the stats of these characters and most of them are over 220 (The shapeshifters 300). Needless to say, I loved each and every fucking crit I got. Cordelia even got what I call a miracle crit, which means she got 2 crits in one round and after the enemy attacked, she got another 2 crits. Level grind ain't a joke in this game.

Thirdly, the music. Considering it's part of why I got into this game in the first place, I loved it. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the OST and it sounds so much better when you don't have the ambient sounds and you're not listening to it through the 3DS speakers. The song that hit me the most and just gave me the overwhelming feels was Id~Sorrow as it played in Chapter 21. It fit so well with the tone of the scene and I just sat there for a few minutes, letting it play in the background as I did shit. Other notable mentions are Id~Purpose, Destiny, Conquest, and the song that is just ellipses. If the music is this good in Awakening, I can't wait to see what's in store for Fates!

Fourthly, the voice acting. For a game where most of the voices come in forms of clips, I thought they were good. Each of the actors tried their best to convey their characters in the clips they were allowed to have and I think it shows. The only critique I have, and it's not the actors' fault, is that some of the characters' voices don't fit them. I'm not saying they miscast these characters, it's more like the direction was off, if that makes sense. Let me bring up Cynthia, Kjelle, and M!Morgan as examples. I don't think it's a stretch to say that, sometimes when you look at a character, you kinda imagine what they'd sound like before you hear their actual voice, right? I already brought up Cynthia's looks so I imagined her voice to sound very high-pitched and maybe a little childlike. I hear her voice and, while she's high-pitched and some of her voice clips do go into that childlike territory, she's nasally sounding and more mature. Kjelle is a complicated case in that, her voice fits her appearance (minus the armor) but not her personality. Her personality is similar to Sully's so I figured her voice would sound gruffer and not...cute, if that's the right word. M!Morgan's, I think, everyone can see the problem with. He's supposed to be the youngest of the kids, right? Since he's the only third generation character and all that? I think he just sounds a little too old for the supposed baby of the kids. Again, I'm not saying the voices are bad or that the delivery/emotion was bad, I just think the direction in which they were voiced don't fit some of the characters. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of archetypes or something.

Now we move on to the story. I can't say as to whether it was good or not, mainly because I spoiled myself on it way before I decided on playing Awakening, so I don't think I can say much to the quality. The least I'll say is it's serviceable. I'll admit, the one thing I was shocked by was the appearance of the Grima Avatar because I thought Grima was inside Robin the whole time and I didn't think he'd have a separate vessel. I straight up thought Grima!Robin was either my mother or a twin I wasn't aware of so I'm giving credit to the writers for surprising me. Anyway, I think the only flaw I have with the story is with the pacing. I thought the first half was fine, it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was the second half that the pacing couldn't find a middle ground. Now I'm going to say that this half was stretched out over months of my playtime so whatever I say next might be exaggerated because of my procrastinating ass so... I feel like the Valm arc was way too slow and the Grimleal arc had so much trouble finding a middle ground. The beginning of the Grimleal arc was quick but Grima himself decided that I had to finish 2 and a half chapters before I finally got to beat him and you have to deal with constant reinforcements before you kill off the target. I think if it weren't for my overleveled as fuck units, I wouldn't have finished Awakening in time for my birthday.

Just for shits and giggles, I'm gonna say what I picked for my choice with both Luce's judgement and Grima's fate. I picked the self-sacrificial choices, which means I accepted Luce's judgement and allowed her to kill me and I dealt the final blow to Grima so Chrom didn't have to. While I knew the outcomes of both choices and them ultimately not meaning anything, I wanted my Robin to reflect what I would've done and I'm a very self-sacrificial person. Because I made Chrobin happen in my playthrough, which meant Luce was my daughter, I believe that, if my child who came from an apocalyptic world told me I was the reason for that happening and that she came back through time to stop that future from happening so she and the others wouldn't suffer, I would've let her kill me. Parents would and should do anything for their kids and if my death possibly gave my daughter the chance for a better life, I'd take it in stride. As for me dealing the final blow to Grima, if it was to save everyone I loved, I would've done it. Although there's some feelings of wanting to give a big "Fuck you" to Grima and to permanently end the problem so any future descendants wouldn't have to deal with it. This section may sound more philosophical and personal than I usually write but I think it deserved it.

Now we're on to Supports and who I chose to be together. I don't think it's wrong to say that this is where the characters really get to shine and it's because of the Supports I love these kids and how much I'm going to miss them when I move on to other FE games. As for the "canon" couples, I mainly went with characters that I thought would complement each other and this was one of the few things I tried to choose for myself. I tried my best to go for pairings that weren't fan favorites but I'm also not very connected with the fandom as of writing this so I may be completely wrong in which ships were favorites or not. So here are the pairings I got for my playthrough!

Chrom-Robin

Frederick-Sumia

Virion-Miriel

Vaike-Nowi

Stahl-Sully

Lon'qu-Cordelia

Ricken-Lissa

Gaius-Maribelle

Gregor-Cherche

Libra-Panne

Henry-Olivia

Lucina-Inigo

Owain-Cynthia

Brady-Nah

Kjelle-Laurent

Severa-Yarne

Obviously, there are some characters missing from this list and I can explain why. I didn't recruit Kellam and Tharja and it's because your girl is a dumbass. Kellam, I thought, was already on my team, he was just labelled as an ally so I didn't need to recruit him. They really should've made that clear. Tharja, on the other hand, was an even bigger dumbass than me because she decided to charge after Robin, who happened to be in front and was way overleveled, and got her ass promptly beaten with a crit. I regret not getting Kellam but after hearing how awful of a person Tharja is and how many fans are willing to put aside emotional abuse and stalker-like tendencies to have a chance to fuck her, she can stay buried in the sand where I electrocuted her ass. Unfortunately, this does means Noire didn't pop up in my recruitment list and that fucking sucks. The only characters left I didn't have a pairing were Gerome and Morgan. I think Gerome wouldn't really care for a romantic partner because he's all about not wanting to create ties in this time and shit and, since I see Morgan as the baby of the kids, I figured he'd be a little too young to be in a relationship. Despite that, I wish I got him and Nah together because I found out after she was shipped with Brady that Morgan's the only S-Support she'll say "I love you" to and I was immediately filled with regret.

Before I move on to the Best/Worst contest, there's something I need to bring up because I can see what sensible fans have shown now. This game is HELLA gay. Like, holy fuck, how many instances are there where you have two characters of the same sex and they have dialogue that seems to have been written with romantic intent but the writers decide it's meant to be platonic? Maybe I just have this weird line of thought on how straights are because there's no fucking way some of these gay moments would be a thing with even the most accepting straights. Maribelle calling Lissa darling and other pet names, Robin blushing from some of the girls and even mistaking Flavia's proposition for a marriage proposal, Severa looking at Kjelle's abs, the list goes on. I'm not straight because I'd be doing some of this shit with a potential girlfriend if I could! Why did it take IntSys until 3 Houses to implement LGBT+ pairings when this game is right here?! At least this game doesn't have the weird student/teacher relationships 3H has and believe me when I say that, if it weren't for the fact I could give less of a fuck for 3H, I wouldn't play that game for that reason! Anyway, Awakening is hella gay and it should've been the first LGBT+ FE game instead of 3H.

The Best/Worst contest... As I said in the beginning, there'll be a Best/Worst Boy and Girl for both generations because that's fun and it seems to matter a lot to some people. Repeating what I said, this is just my opinion and you're free to agree or disagree with me. One rule I'm putting in is I will try my best to not pick fan favorites. Don't get me wrong when some of the crowd pleasers are good but there are other characters that deserve just as much love as the fan favorites so this is why I'm putting in this rule. Without further ado, here are the rulings!

1st Gen

Best Boy-Lon'qu

Best Girl-Panne

Worst Boy-Virion

Worst Girl-Miriel

2nd Gen

Best Boy-Owain

Best Girl-Cynthia

Worst Boy-Inigo

Worst Girl-Severa

Let's see how many people I piss off with these judgements. So, my reasoning: Best Boy for 1st gen was a big toss-up. I kept wanting to choose between Chrom, Frederick, Stahl, and Lon'qu because they really endeared themselves to me but I chose Lon'qu in the end because he's honestly such a dork (I mean, all of them are) and I gotta admire how he tries to overcome his fear of women and try being there for his wife and daughter if he happens to have one. There's also the fact he has to literally psyche himself up to talk to women if you check in with him in the Barracks and I'm just like "Fucking hell, that's adorable and I GET it". Best girl is Panne because believe me when I say that the moment I see this woman and hear her voice, I'm immediately gay for her. Then she transforms into a giant rabbit, kicks so much ass, and I'm in love. Funny story, I'd talk to my friend about my progress in Awakening on Discord and the moment he asks me who best girl was and I answered Panne, he called me out for being a furry. Granted, I would've automatically said Luce but I'm trying not to pick fan favorites so I get his criticism. If a woman like Panne existed in real life, bunny ears and tail and all, I'd probably become a furry for her, no questions asked. As for worst boy and girl, Virion and Miriel are characters I honestly don't give much of a fuck about. Not that they're bad, I just don't care about their archetypes, if that makes sense. Miriel I found to be boring and Virion's of the Casanova archetype and I've always kinda hated that archetype so that's why they're on the ranking.

Oh boy, 2nd gen. So, best boy being Owain. This boy is going to kill me. He's so adorable and sweet and he's just a good boy. There are literally Tweets on my Twitter where I just gush about him and he deserves so much love. He's just a sweet boy who loves his parents so much and is so proud to be their son and how he manages to rope his cousins (Luce and Morgan) into going with his fantasies and how they just go along with it! Owain is a cinnabun and I want to protect him and love him. Anyway, best girl being Cynthia is sorta the same reason as Owain. She's just so bubbly and happy and just adorable. Yeah, she may get carried away with showboating but I just love her earnest desire to be a hero. I think everyone can see why I paired Owain and Cynthia up. Now for the worst. Inigo and Severa are probably the only characters in this whole game that straight up got on my fucking nerves and for different reasons. Outside of his supports with Olivia and Henry, Inigo's constant flirting with the girls and Robin and inability to take no for an answer just rubbed me the wrong way. I actually put out a Tweet saying how Inigo's like an r/niceguy and I still think he is one. Course, this doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of laughs from him. I fucking died at his and Gerome's A-Support where he ends up pathetically crying after the emo loner got more game than him and Gerome has to comfort his ass, that was hilarious. It also helped the fact that Liam O'Brien, who I've only heard him as the brooding emo loner role, voiced Inigo as the complete opposite of that and I had a blast. Severa, on the other hand, was...really unpleasant. There's a reason I hate Tsunderes with a passion and it's because they're unnecessarily bitchy towards everyone they know, even if they have no reason to be. Severa, however, was somehow worse because she went out of her way to be horrible to people. My dislike for her was cemented the moment I saw her and Cynthia's C-Support and she chose to make fun of her, despite Cynthia minding her own business and Severa just going "fuck it". However, I should express that I understand why Inigo and Severa are the way they are and that's why I'm not being as harsh on them as I could be. They still have their good moments and I can appreciate them while also raking them over the coals.

So that concludes my review/experience of Fire Emblem: Awakening! Despite some moments of frustration and annoyance, I had fun playing this! I mean it when I say I'm gonna miss these kids but I had plenty of time to spend with them so it's time to move on to newer lands. Next up on the list is Fates and I think I'm siding with Hoshido first. It's funny how, despite me spoiling the story for myself 3 separate times, I still can't remember much, if any, of it so that may say something about the quality. I also know Fates is pretty divisive among the fandom but the thing I know it for is the weird pseudo-incestuous ships it has so that's going to be fun! Hopefully, I'll get around to playing as one of my other mains in Smash, my water horse dragon Corrin, sometime soon and I'll be sure to let everyone know when my journey will start!

[autodidact-adventures]

World War I (Part 37): The Rest of 1915

A series of meetings was held in France over July-August, to decide what should be done next on the Western Front.  The first meeting was at Calais on July 6th, and those attending included Asquith, and the French War Minister Alexander Millerand.

Joffre presented his plans for an autumn offensive.  Kitchener was very much against it (he was almost scornful), and so was the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Arthur Balfour (who was also a former prime minister). The next day, Kitchener and the civilians had left, and Joffre & JF met at Chantilly.  They agreed that Joffre's plans should go ahead anyway.

A larger meeting was held on July 17th.  At this one, Douglas Haig objected to Joffre's plans.  He'd examined the ground where the offensive was to be carried out by his army, and now he stated that it was too open – his troops would be too exposed.  Also, he didn't have enough artillery.  Joffre didn't listen, though.

In mid-August, Kitchener was at the last of these meetings (and that's when he heard about the recent failure at Gallipoli).  He was there not only to sort out details of the western offensive, but also because things were getting even worse in the east.

Eastern Front

For generations, Russia had forced most of its Jewish population to live in eastern Poland, in ghettos and shtetls (small Jewish towns).  They were mostly prevented from becoming farmers, or entering academic professions.

In late 1914, Russia had driven over 500,000 of them from their homes, claiming it was for security concerns.  Many died in the harsh winter.  In early 1915, Cossacks drove another 800,000 from their homes in Poland, Lithuania, and Russia's Courland region.  Often, they weren't even allowed to take whatever possessions they could carry or take by cart.

General Nikolai Yanushkevich directed Russia's final military withdrawal from Poland. The tsar had forced Grand Duke Nicholas to accept him as his chief of staff early in the war, and he was a protégé of the corrupt War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov (who himself was one of the tsar's favourites).

In Poland, Yanushkevich adopted a “scorched-earth policy”.  All inhabitants (Jewish or not) were put to flight.  Many died from starvation and disease (cholera, typhoid & typhus); the total death toll is unknown.  Food stores were destroyed; machinery was taken eastwards on wagons & railcars.  Four million cattle were killed, which led to a meat shortage that would last longer than the war did.

Not long after capturing Warsaw, Germany took Novo Georgievsk, a fortress city. They took 90,00 soldiers POW (including 30 generals) and captured 700 guns.  Only days later, they took Kovno (an equally important city), and another 1,300 guns.

By now, they'd taken over 700,000 Russian POWs, and the Austrians nearly as many. They were still marching eastwards, and the Petrograd government was in a high state of alarm.  They issued a decree saying that the families of POWs would receive no government assistance; and soldiers who surrendered would be sent to Siberia after the war.

Reports of what was happening were beginning to arrive in the west.  General Sir Henry Wilson was the British officer closest to the French high command.  He was a very good manipulator, and he found ways to use the eastern disasters to help his French friends.  He warned London that if they didn't fully support France's next offensive, then that could lead to Joffre & Millerand losing their positions, and to France making a separate peace.

So Kitchener told Hamilton that he shouldn't expect any more troops to be sent to Gallipoli.  He ordered the BEF to completely support Joffre's offensive, “even though, by doing so, we suffer very heavy losses indeed.”  Kitchener expressed no hope that the offensive would actually succeed – for him, the point was to keep the Entente together.

In the last days of August, the tsar removed Grand Duke Nicholas from his position as head of the Russian armies.  He put himself in that position instead, to the horror of his ministers.  He explained to the Grand Duke in a letter that he believed it was his “duty to the country which God has committed to my keeping” to “share the burdens and toils of war with my army and help it protect Russian soil against the onslaught of the foe.”  The Duke was relieved when he heard the news, saying, “God be praised.  The Emperor releases me from a task which was wearing me out.”

This was the last of a number of command changes that the tsar had made that summer (and the worst one).  War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov had gone too far with his corruption – for example, when the army's chief of artillery begged him for shells, telling him that Russia would have to make peace otherwise, Sukhomlinov told him to “go to the devil and shut up.”  In late June, the tsar finally realized that he would have to go, and replaced him with Alexei Polivanov, a capable and energetic general.

Polivanov immediately began a program of reforms – he made major improvements to the supply system; he formed committees to take responsibility for food, munitions, transport, fuel and refugees; he was willing to work with Russia's national assembly, the Duma.

The tsar made other command changes as well, and almost everyone was glad of them, except Tsarina Alexandra, his wife.  She believed that the tsar should become more autocratic in response to Russia's problems – that it was the only solution to them.  Many ministers begged the tsar not to become commander in chief, but she persuaded him to ignore them, and later wrote, “You are about to write a glorious page in the history of your reign and and Russia.”  The way she saw it, the ministers had questioned not only his decision, but his authority as an autocrat; they were enemies of the crown and should be dismissed.

Tsar Nicholas explained his decision in a letter to Paléologue: “Perhaps a scapegoat is needed to save Russia.  I mean to be the victim.  May the will of God be done.”  What he didn't think of, though, was that by being so far from the capital, the increasingly widespread belief that the government was really controlled by the tsarina & Rasputin would grow even more.

The British & French were pleased by the tsar's decision – they saw it as evidence that he was committed to the war.  They were also pleased with the man he'd chosen as his chief of staff – General Mikhail Alexeyev, an experienced commander & strategist.  The Germans, too, were glad of the tsar's new role, because they'd come to respect the Grand Duke's abilities in that position.

Russia abandoned the cities of Brest-Litovk and Bialystok, and by early September they'd withdrawn to the Pripet Marshes, a remote region which was treacherous and mostly uncharted.  Falkenhayn refused to follow them there, and ordered all eastern commanders to stop offensive operations.  He then began preparing to move several army corps back to the Western Front, and to conquer Serbia.  But Conrad & Ludendorff ignored his instructions.  Later, they would claim they had misunderstood him.

On August 31st, Conrad had began an offensive that would encircle 25 Russian divisions, and then drive them eastwards into Ukraine.  It began well, but then went downhill.  One of the Austrian armies captured the city of Lutsk, but then was taken in the flank by a Russian force that had hidden itself in marshland grasses.  Further disasters followed.  Eventually, Falkenhayn had to take two of the divisions that were preparing to invade Serbia, and send them to help.  During September, Conrad lost 300,000 men.

Meanwhile, Ludendorff was continuing his Courland campaign.  His troops captured Vilna (the capital of Lithuania), and the Petrograd government panicked and began preparing for flight.  But the Germans had taken 50,000 casualties in capturing Vilna, and so Ludendorff decided not to advance on the Russian city of Riga.  He halted the campaign, and settled down to organize & administer his conquests for the winter.

Cracks were appearing in the Hindenburg-Hoffmann-Ludendorff alliance.  Max Hoffmann was one of the best generals on either side, and he was now incredibly frustrated with the state of things.  He blamed Falkenhayn for failing to keep going in the east.  But he also was angry at Ludendorff for attacking too directly at Vilna, and thereby suffering so many casualties.

Hoffmann was contemptuous of Hindenburg, believing him to be passive and nothing more than a figurehead.  He wrote, “On the whole Hindeburg no longer bothers himself with military matters.  He hunts a good deal and otherwise comes for five minutes in the morning and evening to see how things are going.  He no longer has the slightest interest in military matters.”  Another general on Ludendorff's staff said that, “Hindenburg himself is becoming a mere stooge.”  Hindenburg was spending a lot of time having portraits of himself painted, and writing to his wife.

Later in the year, Ludendorff & Falkenhayn met at Kovno, to join the kaiser's ceremonial celebration of their victories.  Falkenhayn asked, “Now are you convinced that my operation was correct?”  Ludendorff replied, “On the contrary!”  Russia hadn't surrendered, or sued for peace – they were, as before, merely being pushed eastwards. Falkenhayn was heard to say that he would need to court-martial Ludendorff when the war ended.

Western Front

Joffre's autumn offensive began on September 25th.  It actually consisted of three distinct offensives.  One of them was the Second Battle of Champagne, in France's Champagne region west of Verdun, against the southern part of the original German line.  There were 27 French divisions with 900 heavy guns and 1,600 light guns (Joffre had stripped these guns from the border fortresses), against 7 German divisions which were stretched thinly across 58km of front.

The Third Battle of Artois was in the same place as the last Artois offensive.  Here, Ferdinand Foch commanded 17 French divisions.  The German line ran north-south, and had only 2 divisions.

The third offensive was a bit north of Artois, at Loos.  Here, there were 6 British divisions against only one German division.  It was part of the Third Battle of Artois.

Basically, this (Artois + Loos) was the spring offensive on a much larger scale.  The goal was to cut off the Noyon salient, break the railway connecting the two ends of the German front, and force a general withdrawal.

But back in the spring, the Germans had shown that they could defend very well even when greatly outnumbered.  During the summer, they'd been setting up new lines far to the rear, beyond the reach of the Entente artillery. They'd connected these lines with perpendicular trenches and tunnels.  They were well-equipped with heavy artillery, and – very importantly – very good at using it.  The Germans were learning to position their machine guns to neutralize any enemy attackers who had survived the artillery.

The British weren't very optimistic about Joffre's offensive, and that was partially why.  Kitchener had insisted on full British participation, even though he didn't believe it would succeed.  Part of his reason for doing so was that there was talk of putting all Entente forces under a single commander, and if he didn't co-operate, he worried that he wouldn't be given that job.

JF was usually eager to attack, but he wasn't in this case.  He warned that he had less than 1/3 the number of divisions needed for victory, and that the ground they were going to advance over had far too little cover. But he didn't complain too much, also for political reasons – JF believed thast it was only Joffre & Foch's support that was stopping the London government from removing him from command, so he had to support this offensive.

General Sir Henry Rawlinson was the commander of the corps that would lead the British attack.  Before it began, he said that “it will cost us dearly, and we will not get very far.”  Pétain was in direct charge of the Champagne offensive, and his attitude was much the same.

Strangely, Douglas Haig was the only optimist, even though he'd initially been against it.  His opposition had been because the BEF would only have 117 heavy guns to prepare their advance on a 8km-wide front (the Champagne offensive, in comparison, would have over twice that many per mile of front), and the lack of protective cover.  But then it was decided to precede the offensive with a release of chlorine gas, and he was much happier about it all.  In fact, he was so encouraged by this decision that he had tower built, from which he would observe his troops attacking the German defenses.  (This would be the first time the British used poison gas during WW1.)

Before the battle began, King George V visited the BEF headquarters, and borrowed a general's horse to review the troops.  According to a corporal in the Sherwood Foresters regiment, this is what happened:

“The King rode along the first three or four ranks, then crossed the road to the other three or four ranks on the other side, speaking to an officer here and there.  Our instructions had been that at the conclusion of the parade we were to put our caps on the points of our fixed bayonets and wave and cheer.  So that's what we did – 'Hip, hip, hooray.'  Well, the King's horse reared and he fell off.  He just seemed to slide off and so of course the second 'Hip, hip' fizzled out.  It was quite a fiasco and you should have seen the confusion as these other high-ranking officials rushed to dismount and go to the King's assistance.  They got him up and the last we saw of him he was being hurriedly driven away.”

The Third Battle of Artois began in the French sectors with four days and nights of shelling.  This destroyed the Germans' first line, and many of the troops in it; however, it also told them that something big was coming.  When the attack began on the morning of September 25th, it went smoothly at first for the French.

But in the British sector, the winds were uncertain, and Haig wasn't sure if he should release the chlorine gas or not.  Meanwhile, the troops were in the front-line trenches, and being given all the rum they could drink, while waiting for the order to advance.  At 5:15am, the winds finally seemed right, so Haig approved the gas release, and climbed into his tower.  But the wind soon shifted backwards, thus bringing the gas back to the British.  Once it had dissipated, those who still could began to advance.  Soon, they were making rapid progress.

But then things started to go wrong all over the place.  Over in Champagne, the French had destroyed the German first line, and advanced through it, reaching the second line much sooner than they'd expected – and this success was not to their advantage.  They entered the trenches just as an artillery barrage from their own side attacked them – it was supposed to clear the way for them before they got there.  The survivors had to retreat.  By the time they could resume the attack, German reserves had come forward.  They had many machine guns with them, and quickly recaptured what the French had had to give up.

These reserves included two of the corps that Falkenhayn had recently sent to the west.  Falkenhayn himself was on the scene, because he was so worried about Germany's weakness there, and he helped keep the defenses intact.

Earlier, when the French had been rapidly advancing, he'd arrived at the German 3rd Army headquarters, where the chief of staff was preparing to order a retreat.  Falkenhayn sacked him, and ordered that the troops hold their ground at all costs while waiting for the reinforcements that he knew were going to arrive soon.

At Artois, the French captured the crest of Vimy Ridge for the second time – but yet again, only briefly.  An intact German second line stopped them, and eventually drove them back.

At the beginning of the offensive, Joffre had regarded the Champagne battle as the important one, and the Artois battle as relatively unimportant.  The British attack at Loos was intended only as support for the French at Artois.  But now, he began to be manipulative.  He now wanted to end the Artois attack, because it had no chance of getting anywhere.  So he stopped it, but pretended to the British that he hadn't.  Now the British were fighting alone at Loos.

They did well at first, passing easily through the first German line, which had been wrecked.  They also broke through the second German line (although taking heavy losses).  Ahead was open ground, and they could push forward into open country like they'd been wanting to do for ages – but.  They needed reserves for that, and there were two problems.  1) JF had placed the BEF's general reserves too far to the rear (as much as 16km back).  2) Haig hadn't held part of his army back in reserve, which was the usual military practice.

It took many hours to get the general reserve to the front lines.  And by then, the Germans had filled the hole, and were attacking the British with machine guns.  The British attacked again, but it was a slaughter – 7,861 British troops & 385 officers were killed, while German casualties were zero.  When the British finally withdrew, the Germans let them go.  A later German history of the battle would record that the machine-gunners were “nauseated by the sight of the massacre of the field of corpses.”

A British soldier wrote, “Coming back over the ground that had been captured that day, the sight that met our eyes was quite unbelievable.  If you can imagine a flock of sheep lying down sleeping in a field, the bodies were as thick as that.  Some of them were still alive, and they were crying out, begging for water and plucking at our legs as we went by. One hefty chap grabbed me around both knees and held me.  'Water, water,' he cried.  I was just going to take the cork out of my water bottle – I had a little left – but I was immediately hustled on by the man behind me.  'Get on, get on, we are going to get lost in no man's land, come on.'  So it was a case where compassion had to give way to discipline and I had to break away.'

Joffre ordered the Champagne fighting to continue, and it did so until November. Eventually, Pétain simply ignored the orders to continue.  The Second Battle of Champagne had 143,000 French casualties, and 85,000 German casualties (including 20,000 POWs).

At Artois & Loos, the British took 61,000 casualties (including 2 generals and 28 battalion commanders), the Germans 56,000, and the French 48,000.

Joffre told the Paris newspapers that the German losses had been far greater than the French (which wasn't really true), and that the campaign had been a great success.  In reality, the Germans had stopped the Entente from achieving anything, and inflicted huge losses on them, despite being hugely outnumbered.  Also, it was now obvious that the Entente couldn't spare any troops for Gallipoli, or other theatres.  Joffre's credibility was further damaged (at least among the insiders who knew what was really happening).  However, he stayed in his position.

JF, on the other hand, did not.  During the Battle of Loos, Haig had complained to his friends that it was JF's incompetence that had prevented victory. Later, he declared that, “If there had been even one division in reserve close up, we could have walked right through.”  Of course, Haig was to blame for this as well.  But JF panicked and falsified the official record of orders issued during the battle.  Haig learned of this, and made sure the King heard of it.  The King then intervened with Asquith, who gave JF the opportunity to resign.  JF realized he had no choice, and agreed.  Haig was promoted to the position (which he'd wanted since before the war began).  JF returned to England, and was made Viscount Ypres.

Serbia

The fighting was winding down on the Western Front, and winter settling in on the Eastern Front.  Attention turned to the Balkans and the Aegean.

During the summer [June-Aug], both sides had been trying to get Bulgaria to join them (much like they had Italy).  And like Italy, Bulgaria's government was basing their choice on whoever could give them the most territory.  Edward Grey had tried to win Bulgaria over by offering them many concessions, but what he couldn't give them was the land that Serbia had taken from Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War (because Britain was Serbia's ally).  In early September, they joined the Central Powers.

Even before Joffre's autumn offensive began, it was obvious that Germany & Bulgaria were preparing to invade Serbia.  If Serbia fell, then the Entente would lose their tiny foothold in south-eastern Europe (taking the Gallipoli failures into account).  Also, Russia would be even more demoralized, and Greece & Romania might join the Central Powers as well.

So Entente troops had to reach Serbia somehow.  This meant Salonika (Thessaloniki), a Greek port that had been a possible alternative to the Dardanelles earlier in the year.

By the end of September, the French had several divisions on the way to Salonika (one division had been removed from Gallipoli).  General Maurice Sarrail commanded them.  He'd been removed from command on the Western Front, but because of his political connections, the government had had to find him another position elsewhere.

Britain didn't want to leave the Balkans to the French, so they sent the 10th Division from Suvla Bay to Salonika.  For a while, they hoped to persuade Russia to send troops as well.  On October 3rd, Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov said that was impossible – Russia was losing 235,000 men a month on average, and its pre-war professional armies had basically been wiped out.

The British & French troops landed at Salonika on October 5th.  On the 7th, German & Austrian troops (commanded by Mackensen) crossed Serbia's northern border.  On the 9th, two Bulgarian armies arrived from the east.  One pushed the Serbs towards the German/Austrian forces; the other cut the rail lines that connected Salonika to Serbia.  The Serbian army was trapped between two enemy forces, coming from two direction.  They fled towards the sea, and civilians fled with them.

A mass of refugees tried to cross Albania's mountains, and tribal enemies, eager to settle old scores, attacked them.  It was chaos, and a horrific situation.  Serbia lost 250,000 troops.  Only 150,000 managed to reach the Adriatic Coast, and only half of them were fit for further service.  British ships took them to camps on the island of Corfu.

Serbia had fallen. It was the final straw, and the French government fell.  Premier René Viviani was replaced by Aristide Briand.  The Minister of War Alexandre Millerand was replaced by General Joseph Gallieni, who had helped Joffre save Paris in 1914.  Now Joffre was reporting to the man who had been responsible for his getting the Commander-in-Chief position the year before, and whom he'd tried to sideline before & after the Battle of the Marne, due to jealousy.  Joffre's critics hoped that Gallieni would dismiss him, but this didn't happen: instead, Gallieni yet again defended and protected him.

Gallipoli

On October 11th, Kitchener cabled Hamilton, asking him how many troops he thought would be lost in a withdrawal from the Gallipoli beachheads. Hamilton replied that it would probably be at least half of them. Kitchener then removed him from his position as the Gallipoli commander.

Edward Grey promised Greece the island of Crete if they'd join the Entente.  But Greece had been intimidated by the failures at Gallipoli and in Serbia, and declined.

In mid-November, Kitchener travelled to Gallipoli himself to see the situation, and decided that they had to evacuate.  He returned to London, to find that Asquith had reduced his authority even further during his absence.  The committee responsible for war strategy was now reduced to five people, and Kitchener was no longer one of them.  General Sir William Robertson was brought back from France, and appointed chief of the imperial general staff, the new War Committee's chief adviser on military operations, and the channel through which the government's instructions would be sent to the BEF.  Kitchener went to Asquith and offered his resignation, but it was refused – he was still an important propaganda figure.

Winston Churchill wasn't on the committee, either.  Since being fired as First Lord of the Admiralty, his only position was the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – a meaningless position in which his only responsibility was to appoint county magistrates.  Churchill left the government and entered the army as a Major (although he'd hoped to be made a Brigadier General).  When he arrived on the Western Front, he had with him a servant, a stallion & groom, heaps of luggage, and a bathtub with its own boiler.  A limousine took him to a château, where he would live.  By January, he would be serving on the front as a competent battalion commander.

On November 23rd, the War Committee approved a detailed Gallipoli withdrawal plan, worked out by Hamilton's successor.  The retreat was carried out over the next month, in total secrecy, and was the closest thing to an actual military achievement since the Battle of the Marne.  The Royal Navy worked together with the soldiers on the beaches, getting men away in darkness.  Of course, the more men that were evacuated, the more vulnerable those still remaining were.  On January 7th, 1916, Sanders ordered an attack on the 19,000 British troops still left at Cape Helles.

But the Turks under his command refused to attack.  Even when the officers threatened them, and then shoved & slapped them, they would not move.  Mustafa Kemal wasn't there – his health was wrecked, and he'd been sent away in December.

36hrs after the mutiny, the last Australian troops were evacuated safely.  The Gallipoli Campaign was over, after killing at least 87,000 Turks (the real figure is probably higher).  46,000 Entente troops had died. Total casualties (both sides) were around 500,000.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

41 times Stephen King's dog Molly was the most evil beast on the internet

If you've ever read a Stephen King book you may think you know fear, but the truth is you won't have been confronted with real evil unless you've laid eyes on Molly.

SEE ALSO: 13 of the best Stephen King short stories you've never read

That's Stephen King's dog: a corgi who goes by the alternative name "the Thing of Evil," and who enjoys nothing more than striking fear into the hearts of humans and squeaky toys alike.

I am Molly, the Thing of Evil. You will not see me coming. pic.twitter.com/yVYjKpQAUo

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 1, 2015

From her plot to get Santa to her planned zombie dog-led conquest of Vermont, we've rounded up her most dastardly moments below.

1. The time she flashed this deeply evil grin.

Molly, aka The Thing of Evil, flashes a sinister smile after torpedoing the canine-feline peace talks in London. pic.twitter.com/WtBX8GMyxW

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 17, 2015

2. The time she took a truly wicked selfie.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, has taken a paws-on selfie for all her Twitter fans, and forced me to post it. Or else. pic.twitter.com/e9IF1S70uJ

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 2, 2015

3. Her first birthday.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, celebrates her first birthday. Her plans for Year Two are, well, unspeakable. pic.twitter.com/DZP80bazzk

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 15, 2015

4. The time she tried to pull the wool over her owner's eyes.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, tries to convince me she is a Thing of Good. I am not persuaded. pic.twitter.com/7JQcbhtjrS

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 26, 2015

5. The time she was too smart for her many enemies.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, waits for her Official Taster to make sure her evening repast isn't poisoned. pic.twitter.com/vrUHz8WzEV

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 20, 2015

6. The time she tucked into a typical breakfast.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, enjoys her usual breakfast of gin and juice while listening to Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. pic.twitter.com/yYy8Jzx9zg

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 11, 2016

7. The time she planned her conquest of Vermont...

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, considers unleashing her battalion of zombie Irish Wolfhounds on Vermont. pic.twitter.com/XesTH0KRkL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 8, 2015

8. ...And New Hampshire.

Molly, aka The Thing of Evil, looks west, plotting her conquest of New Hampshire. pic.twitter.com/7HiR6s7wW5

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 20, 2015

9. The time she captured this unsuspecting victim.

Molly, aka The Thing of Evil, ruthlessly hunts down the Purple Dinosaur of Decency and crows over its dead body. pic.twitter.com/yhyab7vj5k

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 9, 2015

10. The time she introduced us to her equally evil friend.

Even a Thing of Evil needs a pal to chum with. This is Molly's friend Nom, aka Nasty Old Monkey. pic.twitter.com/VHTGhZkgiB

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 22, 2017

11. The time she showed off her gym routine.

Molly demonstrates the Thing of Evil Workout, also known as the Who Gives a Shit About Muscle Tone Workout. pic.twitter.com/r0jk2Cf865

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 3, 2015

12. The time she prepared for a new job.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, preps for her job as moderator at the next Clinton-Trump debate. If anyone can make Trump shut up, it's Molly. pic.twitter.com/GArJBSJp2K

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 27, 2016

13. The time she used her ball as a handy political metaphor.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, demonstrates what the world will look like after 4 years of Trump foreign policy. pic.twitter.com/He5Sl4RDfq

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 14, 2016

14. The time she had a pressing political engagement.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, meets with Donald Trump's White House staff. pic.twitter.com/XJO7OW5GNp

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 1, 2017

15. The time she tried her paw at "alternative facts".

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, tries to convince me it was her stuffed monkey who shit in the corner. Calls it an alternative fact. pic.twitter.com/OCDZSQZTrG

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 24, 2017

16. The time she claimed a new victim.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, sleeps contentedly with her latest victim. Ralph the Raccoon made the mistake of dissing her. pic.twitter.com/8TfiVvTsE5

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 14, 2017

17. The time she visited Mordor.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, discovers one ring to rule them all, one ring to bind them. It was in Mordor, where she is a frequent visitor. pic.twitter.com/7PmPsUlzCE

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 13, 2017

18. The time she was the most evil of them all.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, is in training to take on Pennywise and the Man in Black in a tag-team match. She says they'll both float. pic.twitter.com/jDem8jH5lo

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 1, 2017

19. The time she prepared to greet salesmen.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, lies in wait for any salesman foolish enough to approach the door. Her attack is silent; her jaws are deadly. pic.twitter.com/ts66spQVVQ

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 16, 2017

20. The time she took a short rest in order to plan new and unspeakable deeds.

Molly, aka The Thing of Evil, spends an afternoon thinking up new acts of wickedness. pic.twitter.com/NQKKldpvYZ

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 14, 2015

21. The time she celebrated New Year's.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, did a few too many Colt .45s on New Year's Eve. Still recovering. Loved Mariah Carey, though. pic.twitter.com/frswLaxbFQ

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 3, 2017

22. The time she longed to meet her owner's fans.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, wishes she were on tour with me, so she could eat snacks and bite a fan or two. pic.twitter.com/NbIssoPdy8

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 13, 2016

23. The time she got a new bed.

The library ladies gave Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, a new bed. She has decided not to hurt them. pic.twitter.com/ybPSMbrmjO

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 21, 2016

24. The time she did NOT want to be called cute.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, waits to bite the next person to tell her she's "such a cute little doggy." It's all in the eyes. pic.twitter.com/hVbjsjR7SX

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 21, 2016

25. The time she refused to play nicely.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, rests contentedly beside the corpse of her latest toy. pic.twitter.com/BawIbWlDU6

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 24, 2016

26. The time she went into hiding.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, hides from the FBI after stealing the mailman's bag of dog biscuits. Federal crime. pic.twitter.com/5Czav6alZt

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 9, 2016

27. The time she enjoyed Thanksgiving.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, enjoys her favorite Thanksgiving dessert: Zombie Cat Eyeball. pic.twitter.com/f70ILBhpH8

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 26, 2016

28. The time she inspired fan art.

Molly poses for her portrait after biting off the hand that feeds her. Painting by Matt McAllister. pic.twitter.com/9yuBYwVGzR

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 29, 2016

29. The time she went straight to jail...

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, finally went too far. Jailed for stealing cat food. Third offense. No parole. pic.twitter.com/MWBO4FIZFB

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 3, 2016

30. ...But then immediately busted out again.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, freed from jail. Certain feline witnesses disappeared. Molly says "I know nothing." pic.twitter.com/IIpIOGXLsL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 8, 2016

31. The time she mourned Bill O'Reilly's departure from Fox.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, falls into a depression after finding out Bill O'Reilly has left TV. Vet prescribes Zoloft. pic.twitter.com/JJMZl2hOGr

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 21, 2017

32. The time she colluded with an accomplice...

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, discusses new forms of bad behavior with her Uncle McMurtry, Joe Hill's dog. pic.twitter.com/08KVX50NHV

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 27, 2016

33. ...And was forced to put him firmly in his place.

34. The time she refused to get into the Christmas spirit.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, stakes out Santa's probable landing site, hoping to bite the ass out of that red suit. Good idea. pic.twitter.com/sbCgm2ooY0

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 6, 2016

35. The time she began work on a novel.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, takes a break from writing her 1st book, THE DOGSHIT CHRONICLES. A sure beast-seller. pic.twitter.com/MdUl87J2MQ

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 8, 2016

36. The time she took her untamed rage out on a new ball.

37. The time she made a tactical decision.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, considers ripping my throat out and decides to wait at least until after din-din is served. pic.twitter.com/0WonRShPvb

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 28, 2016

38. The time her terror reached monstrous new heights.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, prepares to eat the entire State of Maine. This takes villainy to a new level. pic.twitter.com/sdahOZiizM

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 26, 2016

39. The time she got a chilling new portrait.

Molly's portrait, now hanging in the Hall of Evil. You may visit it in Derry, Maine. pic.twitter.com/clPi4mGIlN

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 26, 2017

40. The time she made her political allegiance clear.

Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, after believing Donald Trump was the CANDIDATE of evil, switches her allegiance to someone even worse. pic.twitter.com/ZkvrfPffE5

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 2, 2016

41. And finally, the place where it all began.

Molly, 2014: The origin of evil. pic.twitter.com/ZSlKM7uBdX

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 27, 2016

Molly: keeping things evil since summer 2014.

WATCH: ‘The Shining’ book and movie were terrifying in very different ways

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Wanderer’s Necklace, A. Bertram Chandler, Hyperborea RPG

Anime (Kairos): Contrary to many anime fans’ hopes, the fanatical, totalitarian Cult that’s usurped pop culture isn’t letting a little thing like an ocean get in the way of their conquest. Funimation, the American dubbing and distribution house that made news last year thanks to a defamation lawsuit brought against them by voice actor Vic Mignogna, now has a seat on the production committee of three anime series slated for 2020.

Fiction (DMR Books): Haggard wrote many different types of stories, which Deuce groups into the category of “exotic adventure stories,” a label that works as well as any. Among his stories were the Icelandic Saga-inspired Eric Brighteyes, and the Viking historical adventure The Wanderer’s Necklace (1914). While we don’t have much evidence that writers like Fritz Leiber or Michael Moorcock themselves read Icelandic Saga (though both have cited the influence of Norse mythology on their works, and we do know that Robert E. Howard read at least one of the Sagas as early as 1926).

SFWA (This Way to Texas): Tempest Bradford jump started the hate campaign against me, then Jim Hines jumped in. Bradford is Joe Goebbels to Nora Jemisin, who’s basically turned the SFWA into her own self-promotion racket, just like Tor Books turned the Hugo awards into its own little scheme. Hines is the same to John Scalzi, who is the single person the most responsible for the politicization of the SFWA. Most recently, Teresa Neilsen-Hayden jumped into the fray.

Fiction (Strange at Ecbatan): Today would http://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2020/03/birthday-review-stories-of-bertram.htmlhave been Arthur Bertram Chandler’s 108th birthday. He was born in England, became a seaman and eventually settled in Australia. He started writing SF in the 1940s. By the ’60s he was producing novels at a high rate, many of them about a spaceship captain named John Grimes. Here’s a look at a few of his early stories, and one 1967 Ace Double.

Review (Don Herron): When I was young I read everything I could find on ancient civilizations. Edith Hamilton, with her books on the great mythological hero-warriors, only furthered my desire to read of fabled, half-forgotten kingdoms that never were, but should have been. So, around 1966, when I discovered Robert E. Howard and Conan through the Lancer paperbacks, it was apparent to my youthful mind that truly I had been born at the right time.

Robert E. Howard (John C. Wright): Jewels of Gwahlur is neither the best nor the worst of the Conan Canon, but is somewhere in the middle. There is little to make it stand out from the other Conan stories, aside, perhaps, from the number of unexpected turns of the plot. There is a web of deception, with the deceivers being deceived in turn. Conan prevails due to his catlike stealth and lionlike courage more than his cunning wit — which he also uses. The side of the mighty Cimmerian on display in this yarn is the pilfering scoundrel rather than the barbarian mercenary or world-weary king.

Robert E. Howard (Adventures Fantastic): In a letter to Lovecraft from October 1931, Howard relates the story of Mrs. Crawford, a woman who survived a Comanche raid, and whom he knew that shows up in both of these women’s characters, and even in details in BBR involving other plot points. Again, the telling starts off with a restatement of the savage fighting history in the area of Texas between the two rivers.

Comic Books (Tentaculii): Back Issue! #121 (due in two months, 10th June 2020) is in Previews, and will be a special issue on Conan and similar in the comics. Includes among other items…the 50th anniversary of Roy Thomas’s Conan #1, the Bronze Age barbarian boom, top 50 Marvel Conan stories, Marvel’s not-quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Joining Roy Thomas are Kurt Busiek, Ernie Colon, Chuck Dixon, Mike Grell, Ron Randall, Dann Thomas, Timothy Truman, Marv Wolfman, and many more.

Review (DMR Books): Although DC certainly followed suit once this successful formula became codified. Will Murray’s Tarzan, Conqueror of Mars is such a crossover event, which has been a hundred plus years in the making. Murray’s novel is a classic fish out of water tale, which slowly builds up steam, culminating in two Edgar Rice Burroughs protagonists, Lord Greystoke and John Carter, locked in a collision course. Conqueror is basically an Edgar Rice Burroughs universe crossover story in the tradition of Marvel Team Up or DC Comics Presents.

Fiction (Pulp Archivist): The Kickstarter for Jim Breyfogle’s Mongoose and Meerkat as now live. He’s a bit of a bravo, ready to knock a few heads for some coin. She’s a mysterious wanderer with more than her share of street-smarts and a head for ancient history. Together, the Mongoose and the Meerkat are a pair of rogues looking for coin to keep their bellies and wine skins filled and are sure to appeal to fans of classic Sword & Sorcery. This volume collects Kat and Mangos’ first five adventures with illustrations by the incredibly talented DarkFilly and is available in four formats.

RPG (Jeffro’s Space Gaming Blog): Well I don’t think I have ever run AD&D before unless you count that one disastrous attempt to run “Roarwater Caves” from Dungeon Magazine issue #15 a long, long time ago. Times have changed! With many years spent studying the ancient texts and an all star crew of players on hand, now was a great time to seize hold of gaming dreams from another time.

Pulp (Karavansara): What happened was this: Pro Se Productions, a publisher so reckless they even publish my stories (I mentioned Explorer Pulp a few days back, but there’s more), apparently went and licensed forty-two characters that were intended to form the stable of a little-known pulp magazine publisher based in St Louis, Missouri, a fly-by-night publishing company that was born and fizzed out in a matter of a few months, back in ’38. And I say “were intended” because the whole thing was over before it began, transitioning in the blink of an eye from the newsstands to the hazy memory of footnotes in pulp-collectors’ fanzines.

Cosplay (Tellers of Weird Tales): I noted in July last year that 2019 was the 80th anniversary year of what is now called cosplay. The first cosplayers were Forrest J Ackerman and his friend Morojo, who went to the first World Science Fiction Convention dressed in character. The dates were July 2-4, 1939. The place was New York City, including at the World’s Fair. What I neglected to mention is that the characters they were portraying were from Things to Come, a movie that had been in theaters just three years before. What a powerful influence it must have been on young science fiction fans of the time.

Gaming (Elf maids and Octopi): Will do a few more d100s for this space archaeology. Alternative for Traveller, star frontiers or other exploration SF. So this is some simple notes for a space archaeology campaign. Characters are mission specialists or ship crew (ex scouts). Funding bodies often nominate chosen experts for key jobs. Juggling funds and sponsors is mostly administered before an expedition. Factions continue to get involved in onboard conflicts. Expedition leader can usually veto votes from rest of the expedition. Ship crew in matters of safety and flight of ship are senior. Crew or team might have the past experience you wouldn’t expect.

Gaming (Swords and Stitchery): Today is one of those days where thoughts have been turning to introspection & especially about Jeffrey P. Talanian ‘s ‘The Sea Wolf’s Daughter’. The reason why is the implications that this module has for the future course of Hyperborea as a setting. A player of mine & I got into a discussion of this module last night via the phone. The question became what the Hell happened to Nodens & why are the nightgaunts attacking people in ‘The Sea Wolf’s Daughter’? The short answer is that Nodens is dead & the nightgaunts are running amok in Hyperborea.

Publishing (13th Dimension): But now the company is in a bit of a jam. Earlier this week, Diamond announced that next week it would temporarily suspend shipping new books because of the coronavirus crisis. Companies like Marvel and DC will be hurt by this, but they’re likely to survive. Smaller companies, however, face an even greater challenge. Right now, to help things along, TwoMorrows boss John Morrow has instituted a 40 percent off sale on all print mags, except new and upcoming releases and subscriptions.

Creativity (DVS Press): The Corona-Chan quarantine might bless us with a baby boom, but it will also bless us with a creative boom, and in the “right” direction. Hollywood has had to halt its productions. They might lose 20 billion dollars. They’ve put their feature movies onto streaming platforms, just so that they get seen and the brands can maintain some value. Hollywood and its giant apparatus represents the last remaining tower, however dark and menacing, of the corporate period in art.

Sensor Sweep: Wanderer’s Necklace, A. Bertram Chandler, Hyperborea RPG published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[thisislizheather]

May Musings

So this is the first post in what I hope to be a new series of posts that I’m going to try to do. (Have I said that before? About other things? Oh god, maybe I have. I have a tendency to start something enthusiastically and then immediately forget about it and sometimes even forget it ever even existed?) I will really try to not let that happen here.

ANYWAY, what I’d like to do here is talk about the new things I’ve done this month. In the old days, I’d devote whole posts to individual things that I’ve loved or hated, but honestly, some times a few sentences could suffice. So here are some of the things that I’ve encountered in the month of May.

I dry cleaned my winter coat and packed it away for the season. Do you do this when winter's over? You should. 

I really don’t go to the movies a lot anymore and I miss not going. I used to go constantly when I was younger, but the real fun of that was because I was going with my brother Robbie. There were a solid fews years in the early 00’s where we’d see everything that was playing in any given theatre. Just for the sake of seeing a movie. I mean, we had a lot of free time then so it just made sense. I go so rarely now that I really need to want to see a movie to get me into a theatre now. Thus, seeing RBG was an active decision, and a great one at that. I knew nothing of the woman before seeing it, and the trailer made it look great, so of course it was. If you’re a fan of women at all, you should see it.

I ate the banana bread with espresso mascarpone at Two Hands in Soho. And whoa. Here it is.

Above: Banana Bread with Espresso Mascarpone from Two Hands

I ate the fried chicken at Blue Ribbon Chicken. I know so little about good fried chicken, but this was pretty incredible. Maybe a smidge more expensive than I thought it should be, but a kid’s meal was a decently priced & sized pre-meal.

I attempted to read Jenny Lawson’s Let's Pretend This Never Happened and I really didn't care for it. I lasted about ten pages then gave up. I’m probably being too harsh here, but I found her tone… irritating. Also, not to boast or anything, but I’m a tiny bit proud of being able to put a book down and inwardly say, “No, thanks.”

I tried Farsali's Jelly Beam Highlighter. I'd never heard of the brand, but they have a tiny section at Sephora that has, like, three items. No idea why. Especially because the highlighter itself is pretty incredible. I bought it solely because of the fact that it was a “jelly” (meaning that it jiggles) highlighter because I’m simple and that sounded fun. I think it looks especially amazing on collarbones.

Nathan and I ate at Rosemary’s in the west village on my monthly Nathan-must-date-me night. He got the roast chicken and I got a kale and celery caesar salad. His chicken was insanely good and my salad just reminded me why celery should never be a main ingredient. It’s not its fault, it doesn’t know any better, but humans should know enough to understand that chomping on celery in any form sucks. Restaurant was beautiful and if I ordered better, I’d have more glowing things to say. My fault.

I went for dinner at L’Artusi with a friend and had probably one of the top five best meals I've ever had in this city. We did wait awhile for a table, but we didn't have a reservation and it was a Saturday night so duh. We ordered one of the specials as an appetizer (the steak tartare) which was incredible then followed it with the insane garganelli with mushroom ragu that I will remember for the rest of my life. They also sent out a kale ravioli that was mind-blowing. And I'm not typically inclined to call kale-ANYthing "mind-blowing," so understand me clearly here. These pastas will change you. I can't wait to take more people here. The service was incredible. I really can't say enough good things about this place. Go nowhere else for pasta.

I finally went to the Birch Coffee near my house and I'll keep this brief. A small iced coffee shouldn't cost $4 in 2018. A coffee shop should have a bathroom. A coffee shop that is "wifi free" shouldn't boast about that fact. Any business that is "cashless" is obnoxious and nobody likes you. The coffee tasted all right. That is all.

I got the banana-chocolate pudding at Magnolia Bakery. Remember how much I already love the original banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery? Yeah, this one is better. It just is. Of course it is. Adding chocolate to something that was already perfect just makes sense. Give the people what they want.

Tried some of the burger and the chicken sandwich at The Spotted Pig and MEH. I mean, yeah, they were good, but they’re ungodly expensive for what’s being put on your plate. And those skinny little fries that are piled up like a mountaintop? Deceiving. They tasted like air! They look like they're gonna be amazing, but you're left with a feeling of emptiness inside. Emptiness and hunger. A fry should taste like a fry. Basic physics here, guys. The main reason we went was because it was after midnight and for some reason their kitchen stays open late (possibly only to swindle you with $26 burgers when nothing else in the area is an option?)

Got an advance screening pass to the movie Gotti. I went. I lasted 25 minutes and then left. Good god, DID IT BLOW. But of course it did. Why didn’t I know that going in? Well, I kinda did but it was free. Wow, was it terrible, though. Comes out next month on the 15th. Don't go.

Last month I heard about Gofobo, which is a site that arranges free movie screenings near you and emails you to see if you want to go, it's amazing. I heard about it right before Nathan and I saw A Quiet Place last month (for free), so I just stayed on their mailing list. Unfortunately they also sent me my Gotti tickets, but I won't hold that against them since I'm the idiot who said, "Gotti? Sure, that seems fun!"

Tried the Ginger Scallion Noodles (with pickled shiitakes, cucumber, nori) at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I’ve been here only once before, years ago, and I really just was in a noodle mood so I came again. It wasn’t terrible, but again, I think I ordered bad. I really wanted the Chilled Spicy Noodles (with sichuan sausage, Thai basil, cashews) but I was dissuaded by my waiter because he said it was overly spicy and then made a face. But then I got a look at it when someone else ordered it and knew I should’ve gotten it because it looked amazing, so I’ll get it next time and then tell you if it’s too spicy. Also, the Soju Slushie that is Spicy Lychee flavored was crazy good. Although that makes sense to me because when I went here years ago, their Singapore Sling slushie was also pretty memorable. 

I went in looking for the s'mores pie slice that I've wanted to try for ages, but instead found the salted caramel brownie from Dean & DeLuca. And wow. Just wow.

I finished watching Ugly Delicious on Netflix. I really can’t remember why I put this off for so long, considering how much I like well-shot food shows. For the most part, I thought it was all right, I wrote down a few food recommendations from it (like Lucali in Brooklyn). There were a few parts that made me not really like David Chang, though. They were such small parts, but I don’t know, they stayed with me. Like how during this one segment where he’s doing pizza deliveries alongside a real Dominoes delivery person, they’re going to a bunch of houses and then at the end David goes, “Are we done? Yeah, I’m not doing another fucking delivery.” I don't know, I'm probably reading too much into it, but I just hated the way he said that right infront of the grown man delivery guy. It was rude and belittling and I really didn't like it. As I said, I'm probably reading too much into it, but it bothered me. Other than that souring part, it was an all right series to watch. There were lame parts sprinkled here and there. I feel like I progressively liked it less as each episode went on and I don’t really know why. You know what the problem is? I think he just thinks he’s really cool and funny and doesn’t have a real sense of self and if he were a little more humble or warm as a person, it could’ve helped the overall tone of the series. 

I also started watching Bill Hader's Barry on HBO because my brother Gary told me to. I'm only three episodes in and it's pretty good I guess? I mean, it is. I just haven't decided if I'll watch on or not.

Nathan and I have started watching The Twilight Zone (on Netflix) and it's one of the best shows I've seen in such a long time. Obviously not every episode is a great one, but the ones that are? Watch out. We've seen about 40 episodes or so already and there have been at least 20 really great ones, and we're only a quarter of the way through the series. Love watching these at night before bed. This was the final quote from a recent episode we watched that I just loved, "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own - for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone." I mean, that's pretty good, yeah?! Love Rod Serling's voice so much, too. Such a great show. I wish I'd seen it when I was a kid.

Writing all of this down makes it seem like I have a great life, when in reality... oh my god I do. Excited for June!

[rafablogs]

Website Blog Posts (August 2004-August 2008) - Part 1

The following blog posts have been copied from https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com forum. I have no way of confirming whether they are genuine or not since Rafa’s old website is long gone and I have been unable to retrieve any captures of the website from that time on internet archives.

AUGUST 9TH 2004 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES, SOPOT (POLAND), CLAY

I won my first ATP tournament! An International Series in the Polish city of Sopot. In the final I beat the Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-3 6-4 and although that year I would achieve other successes that would leave this one as an anecdote, I will always remember it with the warmth it deserves.> DECEMBER 5TH 2004 - DAVIS CUP, SEVILLA, CLAY

I have never hidden my admiration for Moya, a brother to me and a marvel with the racquet. Masterful on clay, his service rivals that of the best specialists and he managed to reach the final in Australia. It is hardly surprising that he has been a true number one.

The G3 captains confided in me in the clash against Roddick. I came to the team as a substitute and jumbped to the Cartuja Olympic Stadium as the second on board to be matched up against the most powerful service on the circuit in a final. Charly wished me luck, which he said I would not need to beat him, though frankly outside the team nobody believed I could beat the world number two.

But I managed to do it. I notched up the 2-0 which placed the final in our favour. The fans were not only witnesses but also accomplices: they took me in the air and I could feel the public's breath surrounding me on court... and that shook me until then I had been a practically an anonymous player.

In the fourth clash, Roddick lost to Carlos 3-1. The Salad Bowl stayed at home and the Cartuja led to delirium.

Acapulco and Costa do Squipe belong to the the Latin American clay tour, and are excellent tournaments for preparing the season on clay. I won both titles, and above all my feelings on court were entirely favourable: I was not only reaching the main courses hungry, but also at a sweet moment.> FEBRUARY 21st 2005 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES, ACAPULCO (MEXICO), CLAY

Acapulco and Costa do Squipe belong to the the Latin American clay tour, and are excellent tournaments for preparing the season on clay. I won both titles, and above all my feelings on court were entirely favourable: I was not only reaching the main courses hungry, but also at a sweet moment.> APRIL 17TH 2005 - TMS MONTECARLO, CLAY

I got my first vicotry in a Master Series against Guilllermo Coria, my first significant triumph and the first of my three consecutive conquests of this tournament. It was also the first trophy I bit, and since then this has been my sign of identity. You will understand that I remember it as a first step.> APRIL 24TH 2005 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES GOLD, OPEN SEAT GODO (BARCELONA), CLAY

This was the final that the crowd demanded, a Spanish duel between two good friends. I was matched against Ferrero, one of the greatest racquet talents of the recent years, former world number one, who was hungry for titles after a complicated season and seemed to recover his best form in Barcelona.

And he confirmed this in the final.

Juanca's right hand is privileged, and his passing shots down the lines are unique on the circuit. He played at a very high level and showed his enormous class; "el mosquito" is a master on clay.

You will wonder how I managed to beat him. Well, everything went right for me that day, or maybe I should say everything went in...

After this match, the Spanish press labelled me as favourite for Paris, an awkward praise, as it was my first participation.> MAY 2ND 2005 - TMS ROME, CLAY

In 2004 I was going full sail with the wind in my favour. Hardly a fortnight had passed since Monte Carlo and I was getting my teeth into my second Master Series, after an exciting final against Coria. I felt I was in a state of grace, with complete confidence with my sight set on Roland Garros> MAY 31ST 2005 - ROLAND GARROS, CLAY - SEMI-FINAL

I am honestly making an effort to explain what I felt. Euphoria? Satisfaction? Ecstasy? No, it was something more than this. Sometimes words do not do justice, they are not enough, and this is one of those times.

In the semi-finals, I faced Federer, and it is true that I felt plethoric on clay... as true as the match seemed intimidating, I felt respect. I am not saying fear. Never.

My start was explosive. I knew that Rogerio (as I friendly call him) was not used to hitting so high and would take a few games to get used to my lifting. I had to exploit this. I won the first set comfortably, aware that Roger had now got my measure.

The next set was different. The Swiss started his showtime and made it clear that he could play a sublime tennis on a gravel court. However, I also noted a couple of things, I had to get him off the court. Roger would not waste any short ball, I had to make sure that it would impact in conditions that would not allow him to put this speed to the ball only his wrist is able of. 'Let's see what you can do hitting above your shoulders', I thought.

The third set fell to me. Roger took out the set square and the triangle, sending the ball into unreachable angles, and then I reached it. I ran as never before, trying to unsettle him, counter-attacking on each of his winning rights. I knew the premise: keep him away from the net.

Fourth set, I was exhausted, as if that was important. I was caressing my first Grand Slam final and was prepared to run to it. Literally. 'Who said weariness?', I repeated. In the last set I managed to beat him and get a ticket for the final.> JUNE 5TH 2005 - ROLAND GARROS, CLAY - FINAL

I found it hard to believe that it was actually happening, getting into a final after beating a certain Federer on my first participation in the tournament.

There, Mariano Puerta was waiting for me, a player coming back to the circuit after a two-year suspension for doping, and he gave positive once more after the test in Roland Garros, although the result would not be known until months later.

The Argentine was also a left hander, and as a specialist in opening up the court. In my favour my physique and a deep conviction of victory. These were not enought to submit him in the first set, which he won after a tight tie break. Puerta felt worn out and I imposed myself in the following games without giving him any options. First match ball, he was at service. I was ready.

His first service failed. I wasn't counting on this, I could almost touch the cup and the tension was suffocating me, the instant Puerta was preparing his second service seemed to go on and on. Dry mouth, mental block, stiffness numbness... and then the ball crossed the net.

I did not return as I should have, I gave back a tame ball, easy for a volley. I was nailed to the court, calling for a miracle, I couldn't stand playing another game: I felt the trophy, my dream, within reach of my hands and I feared it would slip away between my fingers. When Puerta hit, my head was frenetically repeating one word...

'Out'. He failed it. I was the champion of Roland Garros. Suddenly everything stopped, the world seemed to hold its breath while I fell backwards, covering myself in the red dirt.

Maybe there is a word to describe it: 'indescribable'.> JULY 4TH 2005 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES, BASTAD (SWEDEN), CLAY

After the Roland Garros hangover, it was time to get back to the grind. The clay season had not finished and I had to get the most out of the good moment I was enjoying. In Bastad, I fulfilled my role as favourite by imposing myself over Berdych in the final; maybe it is not a highly renowed tournament, although a handful of points will always be welcome.> JULY 18TH 2005 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES GOLD, STUTTGART (GERMANY), CLAY

In the final I came up against the one and only: Gaston Gaudio, a tennis player, who awakens as much praise as criticism: a potencial top 5 going downfall by a harshly censured mental fragility, and the winner of Roland Garros in 2004. 'The Cat' came to Germany way off form and I beat him comfortably in three sets. In any case, it is always gratifying to compete with a rival of his quality.> AUGUST 8TH 2005 - TMS MONTREAL, HARD COURT

I have always had self-confidence, believing myself capable of anything I proposed, and even my dreams fell short of a season like this. Nevertheless, Toni insisted that I should rid myself of the role of a clay court tennis player, and he was right. How many tennis players control clay, but never achieved important victories on fast surfaces? I did not want to be one of them, I could not afford it.

In the Master Series in Montreal I won my first title on hard courts against a legend the like of Agassi. It would not be the last.> SEPTEMBER 12TH 2005 - INTERNATIONAL SERIES, PEKING (CHINA), HARD COURT

Guillermo Coria is given the name of The Wizard. Nothing more to say. He played in the final of Roland Garros last year, he was the former world number three and has been the standard-bearer of Argentine tennis for years.

He won the first set after a tie break, and then I reacted and overwhelmed him pitilessly in the following two. One month after Montreal, I was holding my second cup on hard court, inconceivable months earlier. This made Toni as proud as Rolland Garros did.

[aboardthessbae]

Home

Fifth trip report: Home 100ug LSD tab 25 June 2017 Self Took the tab at ID10T midday so I would still be peaking for Madeon whose set ended at 11. I was there alone, surrounded by people of all ages. As I came up, I kept repeating to myself to calm down because of how extremely easy it was to be overwhelmed there; I've never put big sarah so out of her element and on display. It was horrifying honestly, the knowledge that I could easily get caught on this drug. During the comeup, I passed a VR booth where they let people play a puzzle game with the goggles. After some consideration, I sat down at the end of the queue to play. I was so embarrassed when it was my turn because I was shivering and shuddering, so the left and right controllers on the screen everyone else was looking at were shaking a lot. The puzzle itself was so difficult for me because I felt so disoriented. One of the features of the game was teleportation because you can't physically move around too much and man oh man was that something else entirely. I never got the puzzle done because in my state, that was asking way too much of me even though in reality it was a simple task. I began to trip hard, and as much as I told myself to stay calm, I knew that would not be possible. I was surrounded by swarms of people, billions of judging eyes scrutinising my behaviours and waiting to get me in trouble. I was alone, already a pretty strange sight to see a solo attendee let alone the fact that she's tripping major balls. I was listening to music, and for the first time in a long time, I let myself be washed over by Porter's music. Scared of losing touch with reality and appropriate social conduct and knowing I wanted to let it overcome me and that my typical response would be overly conspicuous, I walked as quickly as I could to the bathroom and locked myself into a stall. During this entire time, I was typing down my thoughts as I typically do, and most of it at that moment was my paranoia that I wasn't acting normal. But I realised all I was doing was staring down at my phone typing as I walked to my next destination as quickly as I could and that in doing so, I was acting normal. That is so typical of people, maybe an extreme example, but still, just trying to get to their next task or their next conquest or their next source of what passes as happiness before they get their fill and are bored, staring down at their little screens and giving no time nor attention to the world around them. When I got to the bathroom, I began to sob, and I created a shelter for myself in that horrible little public bathroom stall. I quickly put down toilet seat covers, but found that sitting on the toilet further confused my body and its needs and functions. I climbed onto the tiny toilet paper dispenser attached to the left wall and put my feet up on the opposite wall's trash can. I began to heavily regret tripping in such a majorly public scene, feeling like I abused my beloved Lucy, and was dangerously considering staying in that stall for the rest of the day till Jai Wolf and Madeon. Alex got to the venue with his cousins. I convinced myself that to make the most out of the day, I'd have to enjoy the moment over the drug, even if it meant I couldn't listen to my own music. I asked myself when I would allow myself to listen to my music. And my answer was home. But what I had to settle for as home was either the bus back or Matt's house. And I realised, yes those are safe places, but they aren't home. My music is what makes a place home to me. I went to join them. I watched Alex buy something from someone, which was so strange. He asked the seller "How much for this?" "10 dollars" "Okay," and he handed him 10 dollars. I was baffled at the idea of monetary values. This useless piece of green paper that we collectively decide has some set worth that we use to exchange for real goods. It seemed such a foreign concept, though it's the only way I've known all my life. How does something that unnatural have so much hold over our lives, from the moment we're born to the moment we die? Being with Alex and his cousins, I felt the courteous thing to do was to be social and stay in conversation with them, but it was so overwhelming on top of the thousands of conversations that were already going on in my head. I had to remind myself that I can make myself alone whenever I want. It was strange that I was able to hear every word around me clearly and comprehend none of it. My inner voice seemed to drown out their meanings. It was so easy to get overwhelmed, anxious, frightened, and my mind would run in messy circles, amplified by the anti-introvert environment. But when I let myself listen to my music, it became my sole focus, all I could accept as existing as it left no room for anything else I could perceive or conjure. One of the most strikingly new opportunities this trip and my environment allowed me was the ability to observe people—friends, individuals, crowds— up close. And as uncomfortable as it made me, it intrigued me that much more. I knew that I'd feel perfectly fine around other animals, beings we can define as part of nature, but man? Man is so evolved, the species separated itself from nature, became wretchedly intelligent enough to dictate thoughts and motives and behaviours that go beyond mere existence. I wished so much for it not to be illegal to be on acid in public because all I wanted was to be outside but still be allowed to have my primal hysterical reactions to music. I love sobbing to music, it's a physical release of all the emotion I experience when listening, which is also why I feel compelled to heave and purge when that release comes to a peak. I realised that I actually love being emotional, having the ability to experience a wide range of emotion; it's one of the many privileges of being more than an animal. I felt like it was a waste to not use that ability and harness it to express myself. I compared myself to how I used to be, thinking it was pathetic to be empathetic, but I came to decide if empathy is at all part of the reason music moves me so deeply, it's serendipitous. I think a lot of my understanding of the way people think and behave comes from my own experiences being on multiple edges of the human persona spectra. I kept yearning to somehow maximise, capitalise my time, thinking I needed to make every moment meet its potential. I felt as though all around me was undulating, pushing and pulling my helpless self and controlling my circumstances. It was new, I was so used to being able to force things my way because I was alone. It was terrifying, and it stoked more internal chaos. But I realised that every moment is already at its best potential, I can be at my maximum happiness without changing my surroundings or circumstances but by changing my perspective. Then the fear turned to entertainment, and I started having fun just living. It was strange focusing my energy onto the external rather than the internal, felt as though I was a matterless spectre perceiving all things, an outside observer. The guilt that I felt before over having put Lucy on extreme display and throwing her into a sea of this strange alien species taught me a lot about Lucy and myself. I saw that I trip as a way to escape from people, that my sense of isolation is partially responsible for my superiority complex, why I see everyone as a plebeian. In the tent, I first thought festivals were just a mass gathering, a reminder, of human filth, but I constantly brought myself back down and prevented myself from believing I was better by reminding myself that just like me, everyone else is trying to maximise on their time and enjoyment too. When I engrained that idea in my head, criticism turned into observation, and observation turned into admiration. I stopped seeing people as cockroaches and began to really appreciate that they just want to have fun in their own ways. And when everyone's focused on having a good time and sharing that time with others, there is no malicious intent and people aren't so bad. And everyone looked so beautiful, exotic. Humans appeared as crafted creatures, each one so different from the last. This appreciation extended itself to individuals too. Usually I do a lot of introspection, study and learn about myself, but I was now trying to grasp the essence of who people were, especially the people in my life. I marvelled in the idea that sharing even a single moment with someone means you know at least a small part of him. I found meeting people so phenomenal—here's the same creature as the 7.3 billion minus one rest of you, and yet it's not the same creature at all because this thing has its own past and life paths, likes and dislikes, dreams and thoughts, ideas and outlooks, and I wondered how we are this diverse. I was a little sad to know I wasn't able to reach that transcendence and clarity and feel clever, but all I really cared about was music, so it was okay. Any trace of regret that remained was decimated the moment Jai Wolf came on. I made my way to the front of the crowd, where I could see his face as he created the art that I was consuming all at once. I was astounded by this creation I was witnessing as if it were a gift just for me. I was basking in the present and the present. As Like It's Over came on, memories of my first trip spilled into my mind and forced out more tears. When I experienced my first trip's egodeath, I was alone, inconsolable till I heard Like It's Over. It felt as though it somehow extended itself to me and enveloped me, and my devastations subsided, overcome by oneness and a quiet, serene kind of beauty. When Jai Wolf played it, I was overwhelmed by the privilege I had of experiencing that moment at such a deeply personal level. Jai Wolf's set ended, and I made it even farther forward to see Madeon. A lot of the time being there with Madeon made it feel like I had the gift of reliving Shelter Live. I was so happy to be drinking in his music next to a friend I made who was as much of a fan as I am. As Madeon performed right there in front of me, I laughed because I felt as though I was marrying him. As I searched for words throughout the day, forming coherent, maybe even eloquent, sentences felt as though I was flipping through my mind's dictionary at a rapid rate, scanning for the exact word I needed to wordsmith my thoughts. Getting back to Matt's was such a struggle. I walked to the bus stop to catch my bus, which was late, making me think I was stranded for a while. The bus ride was a few hours long, and my phone was barely on with its battery in the single digits. I worried about how Matt would pick me up from the bus station so I asked him for his number to memorise and use someone else's phone to call him when mine died. I quickly figured out that memorising a string of ten numbers in my state was a challenge so I used sign language, thinking it was at least worth a shot to use muscle memory. My phone's lack of battery brought up many dilemmas. I needed to keep it on for as long as I could to savour my music. I also was finally in a dark and relatively solitudous place and allowed to think. I came to great epiphanies and as a greater achievement still, I managed to connect all these ideas together in the most satisfying and encapsulating way. These ideas and connections and the significance of them all are lost to me now because as much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't afford to write them down. My phone finally gave out and I was forced yet again to make the most of my situation, on a bus playing music I disliked. When I got to the bus station, I borrowed someone's phone to call Matt, who came to get me promptly. I froze while I waited and deeply regretted not bringing a jacket, but when I saw Matt and Josh pull up, waves of relief and comfort and triumph came over me. I was proud of myself for proving my ability to take care of myself or at least find ways to keep myself alive for a day on acid in a strange, unbeknownst place called the Bay Area. The morning afters of my trips usually span at least a day but this one only lasted the morning as I lied in bed staring up at the ceiling, not even writing my report because I couldn't bring myself to. It ended when I got myself out of the room and was greeted by Matt and Josh downstairs. Having friends around really numbs the usual dense pain of loneliness that comes after Lucy has gone.

[walden-media]

Blog Tour: Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth

If you’re looking for an utterly charming read this summer, I cannot recommend Sputnik’s Guide enough.

Author Frank Cottrell Boyce, whom you may know from his other books The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Cosmic, Framed, and Millions, spins a whimsical tale about a lonely boy named Prez and his new space friend Sputnik.  From the jacket:

Prez knows that the best way to keep track of things is to make a list. That's important when you have a grandfather who is constantly forgetting. And it's even more important when your grandfather can't care for you anymore and you have to go live with a foster family out in the country.

Prez is still learning to fit in at his new home when he answers the door to meet Sputnik—a kid who is more than a little strange. First, he can hear what Prez is thinking. Second, he looks like a dog to everyone except Prez. Third, he can manipulate the laws of space and time. Sputnik, it turns out is an alien, and he's got a mission that requires Prez's help: the Earth has been marked for destruction, and the only way they can stop it is to come up with ten reasons why the planet should be saved.

In the spirit of Prez’s and Sputnik’s mission, your friendly neighborhood Walden Media Tumblrer presents now her own list of ten reasons why the planet Earth deserves saving:

The Rocky Mountains, or really all mountains ever.  I went to Colorado once and stood at the top of a mountain in Aspen and looked out at an endless cascade of jagged peaks that made me feel like a tiny, tiny hobbit on the edge of the Misty Mountains.  Sputnik might find this rather commonplace, and I’ll admit it’s a little trite, but I live for those moments that sweep me away to Middle Earth.

Chocolate.  Earth’s ambrosia.  I challenge the aliens of the universe to produce a more delectable substance 70% cocoa dark chocolate with sea salt.  I think Sputnik might like this one.

Rainy days.  Rainy days smell good, and feel calm, and the drumming of raindrops on the roof is very soothing, making for the best afternoon naps.

Guinea pigs.  They’re soft and squeaky potatoes who consider cucumber skins life’s biggest thrill (or was that just my guinea pig?).  Legendary.

Capture the flag.  The holiest of conquests.  Still my favorite game from childhood.  The only rules we ever followed without question or fault were the rules of capture the flag.

The Nintendo GameCube.  We’ve come a long way since the days of cell-shaded polygons, but this console will always have a place in my heart.  Lore says you can throw one of these guys out the back of a moving vehicle on the highway and still play Wind Waker on it later.  I think Sputnik would get a particular kick out of that.

Lightsabers.  An elegant weapon for a more civilized age - though I’m referring more to the collapsible cheap plastic lightsabers. There’s something incredibly satisfying about holding the release button and swinging the blade out like a real Jedi. I know for a fact that Sputnik would approve of this one...in a way.

Dunkin Donuts.  I’m from New England.

Maple Syrup.  I told myself I would only include one food item on this list, but maple syrup is more a way of life. I lived on the west coast for a hot minute and learned that some places in the world think “maple flavored” and “40% maple” syrups are acceptable alternatives.  No.

Stories.  I saved the best for last. Everything on Earth has a story. Everything in the universe has a story, I suppose, but the point is, all of our stories (fictional or not) are fascinating, exciting, beautiful, delicious...and important. Every one of them is worth saving.

Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth hits bookstores June 20, but in the meantime, you can read more about the book at walden.com, and follow the rest of the blog tour with our friends below:

June 5 Educating Alice

June 6 Walden Media Tumblr, Kirsticall.com

June 7 Litcoach Lou

June 8 Novel Novice

June 9 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

June 11 Librarian's Quest

June 12 Next Best Book

June 13 Mrs. Knott's Book Nook

June 14 Book Monsters

[blackkudos]

Donny Hathaway

Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American jazz, blues, soul and gospel singer, songwriter, arranger and pianist. Hathaway signed with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto", in early 1970, 

Rolling Stone

 magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music." His enduring songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", "Little Ghetto Boy", "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", signature versions of "A Song for You" and "For All We Know", and "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. "Where Is the Love" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1973. At the height of his career Hathaway was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was known to not take his prescribed medication regularly enough to properly control his symptoms. On January 13, 1979, Hathaway's body was found outside the luxury hotel Essex House in New York City; his death was ruled a suicide.

Early life

Hathaway, the son of Drusella Huntley, was born in Chicago but raised with his grandmother, Martha Pitts, also known as Martha Crumwell, in the Carr Square housing project of St. Louis. Hathaway began singing in a church choir with his grandmother, a professional gospel singer, at the age of three and studying piano. He graduated from Vashon High School in 1963. Hathaway then studied music on a fine arts scholarship at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he met close friend Roberta Flack. At Howard, he was also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Hathaway formed a jazz trio with drummer Ric Powell while there but during 1967 left Howard just before completing a degree, after receiving job offers in the music business.

Career

Hathaway worked as songwriter, session musician and producer for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records in Chicago. He did the arrangements for hits by the Unifics ("Court of Love" and "The Beginning of My End") and took part in projects by the Staple Singers, Jerry Butler, Aretha Franklin, the Impressions and Curtis Mayfield himself. After becoming a "house producer" at Curtom, he also started recording there. Hathaway recorded his first single under his own name in 1969, a duet with singer June Conquest called "I Thank You Baby". They also recorded the duet "Just Another Reason", released as the b-side. Former Cleveland Browns president Bill Futterer, who as a college student promoted Curtom in the southeast in 1968 and 1969, was befriended by Hathaway and has cited Hathaway's influence on his later projects.

That year, Hathaway signed to Atco Records, then a division of Atlantic Records, after being spotted for the label by producer/musician King Curtis at a trade convention. He released his first single of note, "The Ghetto, Pt. 1", which he co-wrote with former Howard roommate Leroy Hutson, who became a performer, writer and producer with Curtom. The track appeared the following year on his critically acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything, which he co-produced with Ric Powell while also arranging all the cuts. His second LP, Donny Hathaway, consisted mostly of covers of contemporary pop, soul, and gospel songs. His third album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway was an album of duets with former Howard University associate and label mate Roberta Flack that established him, especially on the pop charts. The album was both a critical and commercial success, including the Ralph MacDonald-penned track "Where Is The Love", which proved to be not only an R&B success, but also scored Top Five on the pop Hot 100. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on September 5, 1972. The album also included a number of other covers, including versions of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend", "Baby I Love You", originally a hit for Aretha Franklin, and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling".

Perhaps Hathaway's most influential recording is his 1972 album, Live, which has been termed "one of the best live albums ever recorded" by Daryl Easlea of the BBC. The album can also be found on the British online music and culture magazine The Quietus' list of "40 Favourite Live Albums". It was recorded at two concerts: side one at The Troubadour in Hollywood, and side two at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Donny Hathaway is also known as the co-composer and performer of the Christmas standard, "This Christmas". The song, released in 1970, has become a holiday staple and is often used in movies, television and advertising. "This Christmas" has been covered by numerous artists across diverse musical genres, including The Whispers, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Alexander O'Neal, Christina Aguilera, Chicago, Harry Connick, Jr., Dru Hill, *NSYNC, Gloria Estefan, Boney James, The Cheetah Girls, Chris Brown, Anthony Arnett (First Baptist Bracktown Christmas Celebration), Patti LaBelle and Mary J Blige (A Mary Christmas, album 2013), Seal, and Train.

Hathaway followed this flurry of work with some contributions to soundtracks, along with his recording of the theme song to the TV series Maude. He also composed and conducted music for the 1972 soundtrack of the movie Come Back Charleston Blue. In the mid-1970s, he also produced albums for other artists including Cold Blood, where he expanded the musical range of lead singer Lydia Pense.

His final studio album, Extension of a Man came out in 1973 with two tracks, "Love Love Love" and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" reaching both the pop and R&B charts. However, it was probably best noted for his classic ballad, "Someday We'll All Be Free" and a six-minute symphonic-styled instrumental piece called "I Love The Lord, He Heard My Cry". He told UK music journalist David Nathan in 1973, "I always liked pretty music and I've always wanted to write it." Added the writer, "He declined to give one particular influence or inspiration but said that Ravel, Debussy and Stravinsky were amongst whom he studied."

He returned to the charts in 1978 after again teaming up with Roberta Flack for a duet, "The Closer I Get to You" on her album, Blue Lights in the Basement. The song topped the R&B chart and just missed the number 1 spot on the Hot 100 (reaching #2). Atlantic then put out another solo single, "You Were Meant For Me" shortly before his sudden death.

Liner notes for later releases of his final solo album explain: "Donny is no longer here, but the song "Someday We'll All Be Free" gathers momentum as part of his legacy... Donny literally sat in the studio and cried when he heard the playback of his final mix. It's pretty special when an artist can create something that wipes them out." Edward Howard, lyricist of the song, adds, "It was a spiritual thing for me... What was going through my mind at the time was Donny, because Donny was a very troubled person. I hoped that at some point he would be released from all that he was going through. There was nothing I could do but write something that might be encouraging for him. He's a good leader for young black men".

Personal life

Family

Hathaway met his wife, Eulaulah, at Howard University and they married in 1967. They had two daughters, Eulaulah Donyll (Lalah) and Kenya. Lalah has enjoyed a successful solo career, while Kenya is a session singer and one of the three backing vocalists on the hit TV program American Idol. Both daughters are graduates of the Berklee College of Music.

Mental illness

During the best part of his career, Hathaway began to suffer from severe bouts of depression. It was found that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was known to take strong medication daily to try to control the illness. However, Eulaulah Hathaway has said that her husband was frequently less than diligent about following his prescription regimen. Donnita Hathaway has said that her mother gave her similar information about her father, saying that when he took his medication, he was generally fine, but that when he did not, it was impossible for her to deal with him. Over the course of the 1970s, Hathaway's mental instability wreaked havoc on his life and required several hospitalizations. The effects of his depression and melancholia also drove a wedge in his and Flack's friendship; they did not reconcile for several years, and did not release additional music until the successful release of "The Closer I Get To You" in 1978. Flack and Hathaway then resumed studio recording to compose a second album of duets.

Death

Sessions for another album of duets were underway in 1979. On January 13 of that year, Hathaway began a recording session at which producers/musicians Eric Mercury and James Mtume were present. Mercury and Mtume each reported that although Hathaway's voice sounded good, he began behaving irrationally, seeming to be paranoid and delusional. According to Mtume, Hathaway said that "white people" were trying to kill him and had connected his brain to a machine, for the purpose of stealing his music and his sound. Given Hathaway's behavior, Mercury said that he decided the recording session could not continue, so he aborted it and all of the musicians went home.

Hours later, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the window of his 15th-floor room in New York's Essex House hotel. It was reported that he had jumped from his balcony. The glass had been neatly removed from the window and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule that Hathaway's death was a suicide. However, his friends were mystified, considering that his career had just entered a resurgence. Flack was devastated and, spurred by his death, included the few duet tracks they had finished on her next album, Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway. According to Mercury, Hathaway's final recording, included on that album, was "You Are My Heaven", a song Mercury co-wrote with Stevie Wonder.

Hathaway's funeral was conducted by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Later in 1979, the Whispers recorded the tribute song, "Song for Donny", for their self-titled breakthrough album. The song reached #21 on the R&B chart.

Legacy and influence

Hathaway has been widely praised for his voice. Justin Timberlake calls him "the best singer of all time." Raúl Midón said that Hathaway is "the strongest soul singer that ever existed" and compares his vocal technique to a classical singer. "When Donny sings any song, he owns it," David Ritz quotes Stevie Wonder as having said. Amy Winehouse called Hathaway her favorite artist of all time. She mentioned him in her hit "Rehab” and covered several of his songs. Hathaway's work including Donny Hathaway Live, which featured noted R&B musicians Willie Weeks (bass), Fred White (drums), Mike Howard (guitar), Phil Upchurch (lead guitar side 1), Cornell Dupree (lead guitar side 2) and Earl DeRouen (percussion), has been cited as an influence by numerous other artists including John Legend, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly, Alicia Keys, Jon B., Chris Brown, Nas, Common, Beyoncé, George Benson, Victor Wooten, India.Arie, Jon Gibson, Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight, Anthony Hamilton, Usher, John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Freddie Jackson and Frank McComb. Hathaway's use of the Rhodes Piano on his early Atco R&B recordings has also influenced many neo soul artists & producers.

A second live album called In Performance, released in 1980 following his death, also included tracks recorded at venues in Los Angeles and New York between 1971 and 1973, showing Hathaway to be a fine stage performer. Later, in 2004, selected tracks from these two albums were added to previously unreleased live recordings for These Songs for You, Live!.

For Record Store Day 2014, Live at the Bitter End 1971 was released on 180g vinyl as a numbered, limited edition. This album marks the first time this 1971 performance at The Bitter End has been released on vinyl, previously appearing on the CD release of the 2013 career anthology, Never My Love. The 21-minute recording of "Everything is Everything" had never been released before on any format and was an exclusive track to this release.

Discography

Studio albumsLive albumsSoundtrack albumsCompilation albumsSingles

With Phil Upchurch

Upchurch (Cadet, 1969)

The Way I Feel (Cadet, 1970)

Tributes

On soul group the Whispers' 1980 self-titled album, the group paid homage with "Song for Donny", written by fellow soul singer Carrie Lucas. The song was set to the melody of Hathaway's "This Christmas".

In 1999 Aaron Hall recorded a brief tribute version of "Someday We'll All Be Free" on the third album for his group Guy titled Guy III, with Teddy Riley and Damion Hall.

In September 2001, Alicia Keys performed "Someday We'll All Be Free" on the 9/11 televised tribute concert America: A Tribute to Heroes.

In 2005, neo-soul singer songwriter guitarist, Raul Midón (Blue Note) worked with Hathaway's longtime producer Arif Mardin (known for collaborations with the Bee Gees, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Norah Jones, and Aretha Franklin) and created a tribute song to Hathaway called "Sittin' in the Middle".

In her 2006 song "Rehab", Amy Winehouse sings of learning from "Mr. Hathaway" instead of going to rehab.

In 2007, Deniece Williams covered "Someday We'll All Be Free" for her Love, Niecy Style album. Williams later shared that she broke down in tears in the studio while recording.

In 2008, Ed Pavlic published Winners Have Yet to Be Announced (University of Georgia Press), poems re-imagining the life of Donny Hathaway.

The song "What a Catch, Donnie", from Fall Out Boy's fourth studio album, Folie à Deux (2008), is named for Hathaway and mentions Roberta Flack, his writing partner.

Bizzy Bone's song entitled "A Song for You", is a track that includes an interpolation of Donny Hathaways's original recording of the same name.

In the 2013 song "Classic", band MKTO references writing songs "like Hathaway".

Wikipedia