#chicago whales

[gummyartstradingcards]

[heliological]

live on 4/10/24 (transcript under the cut)

This is a very old song that I seldom play anymore. (excited crowd sounds)

I can't play old songs with a pick. I didn't use a pick for a long time, I was very, very macho about this sort of thing. If you're not bleeding for it, it doesn't count. That is the dumbest way of thinking (laughs), absolutely—absolutely the dumbest.

The old songs don't work as good unless I'm fully doing the thing.

That woman set herself on fire

They said it on the radio

They said she lit up the skies of Palestine

(guy in crowd: Free Palestine!)

(crowd cheers)

I could not stand to hear them say so

I saw the stars come out

Smelled the oranges on the breeze

Later on they played some Caribbean song

Man, they sure know how to pick 'em

The rich voice burning like a fuse

The syncopated rhythm

I saw the stars come out

Saw the oranges cracking open

I saw you standing there

Orange blossom in your hair

Going to Palestine (crowd cheers louder)

Going to Palestine

(crowd cheers)

Thank you!

[city-flag-tournament]

✯ Round 3 ✯ Match 17 ✯

The current flag of Chicago, Illinois, United States

Propaganda:

It’s beautiful—simple yet iconic. If you go to Chicago you will find it frequently echoed and used in other designs—because it’s truly well-loved by Chicagoans (and not just some meaningless symbol on a pole). The North American Vexillological Association, an organization devoted to the study of flags, stated that Chicago sets ”the standard by which all US city flags should be judged.”

vs.

The current flag of Tikiraqjuaq (Whale Cove), Nunavut, Canada

Propaganda:

None

Tournament Policies: ✯ Choose the flag that's more meaningful to you! ✯ Be respectful of place names and cultural symbols in your commentary! ✯ If you want to submit propaganda, you may do so at the submission form linked in the pinned post. It will only be included if it is submitted before the next post with that flag is drafted and will be included in all subsequent posts the flag is featured in.

[stardustedknuckles]

Years I've spent as friends with people who have Real Taste in music, feeling vaguely defensive and embarrassed about how the autism seems to only like the kinds of songs that register as basic to everyone else, with few exceptions.

Then I met another lesbian and every time she turns on her music, half the songs are on my playlists.

[baebeylik]

Basilosaurus. Cast of an extinct whale’s skull. Eocene period.

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois

[nighttimepotato]

I was rewatching the voyage home and...

I mean there has to be a way to make this in to a Shaw joke, right?

[trainer-aer]

The Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL

Abbott Oceanarium - Whale Harbor

📸Taken by me ( @trainer-aer ) at work!

[walls-to-the-ball]

Joseph Healy, 25, scales the Sears tower in Chicago to unfurl a banner against whale hunting. More here, here, here (look at this one for the text as the video seems to be for something else, sadly), and the above beautiful text written by Healy himself.

[mcconnellart]

Something honest

I was flying back from Chicago last night and the flight had The Whale (2022 movie) available. I didn’t catch many of the “award movies” this year, so I ended up watching it and I liked what it had to offer. I had just spent the weekend promoting my Ancient Futures graphic novel series at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) with my collaborator author Steven White and his circle of…

[papas-majadas]

[curiouspupsicle]

Good Omens Fan Fiction Friday (12/13/24) - Smooth Criminals

People around the world are celebrating a plethora of winter/summer holidays. And I'm thinking about fan fics featuring criminals. What can I say? I'm a contrarian (come back next week for some Christmas recs). Here are a few favorites featuring criminal undertakings. Let's start with the one I couldn't put down--that made me feature this theme: Protect and Serve (E) by snae_b tells the story of Chicago cop Aziraphale Fell on the hunt for master thief, the Serpent. But is all as it seems? This fic offers surprises from the very first chapter (go ahead, read it; I dare you to not keep going). And keeps the tension going through the entire work with several twists and turns. Mind the tags. The story is violent at times and references trafficking and abuse of children. But, if that is not a deal breaker for you, absolutely worth it. After the tension of my last rec, you'll need something a bit more fluffy. So may I recommend The (Wedding) Arrangement (T) by Sonnet 23? Private detective Aziraphale McFell and the thief Anthony Crowley are close friends--and maybe more? They team up to catch the criminals targeting grand weddings all over London. For readers who like their capers with a heaping helping of fluff. In Thieves of Mercy (T) by Fyre, art thief Anthony Crowley is casing the museum for a job when he's hauled in by security with a tracking tag on him. The only person who could have framed him was that chatty art conservator with the halo of platinum hair. Thus starts a hilarious game of wits. Father Crowley is asked to take over directing the choir in Father Gabriel's church, replacing Aziraphale in Take Me to Heaven (M) by TawnyOwl95. Yes, it's a Good Omens take on a popular movie with singing nuns. And it features some fun art by NettleThistle. Set in Australia, A Season of Whale Song (E) by @drconstellation features botanist Aziraphale bunking with leader of whale tours Crowley when his accommodations get messed up. Both are keeping secrets. But manage to become quite close. This is a WIP but it's one chapter from finishing this first part of what's going to be a trilogy. Don't want to give too much away about why it's on a list of criminal fics. But I can tell you it's one of those stories that entertains while teaching about all kinds of cool things--whales, indigenous culture, astronomy, plant life, and more.

In the 14th Century, Crowley is a thief. And Aziraphale is the kind nobleman who befriends him in The Weight of Memory (E) by @missunderstoodlyrics and @searching4sarahtonin. Unfortunately for our pair, Aziraphale's suitor, Gabriel curses Crowley to separate the pair. But the curse doesn't work as expected. This magical story is loads of fun. And very romantic. It's a lovely fantasy.

In Eros, Philia, and Other Misunderstandings (M) by @thinkinginscripts, Aziraphale is a celibate administrator in his family's mega-church trying to stay true to himself without rocking the boat. Crowley is an East London barman trying to make a better life for himself. They meet at the library. I adored the slowly unfolding relationship for these two. And that's what you'll get for most of the work. Don't want to give too much away about why it's in this theme. But let me just say you'll get a satisfying glimpse of BAMF!Aziraphale and BAMF!Crowley. One of my all-time favorites. And finally, Stalwart Sun, Wily Moon (M) by @dustandhalos is back on my list again. I recommended it before in my list of works with stunning art work. But this story of Crowley as an art thief at the top of his game and Aziraphale, the art conservator drawn into his dangerous world is worth another mention. It's a top notch heist story, well plotted and beautifully written. Reblog and add your favorite fics featuring criminal activity.

[baebeylik]

Whale by Carl Walters. American. 1927.

The Art Institute of Chicago.

[tags-ohara]

CHICAGO FIRE 7.21 THE WHITE WHALE

[hernakedmuse]

Eddie Munson x Horror!Bimbo Reader 🦇 💕 Part One

Headcanons about Horror!Bimbo

Horror!Bimbo isn't Harrington rich but she isn't Munson poor, she's lower middle class. Her dad is very distant, he manages the grocery store in town. Her mother is a part time librarian, and is there for reader as much as she can be.

She has an older sister who is studying pre med at The University of Chicago, they were once close but her sister became snobby once she started living in Chicago and only visits on holidays now. She thinks reader is stupid and hopeless with no future.

Horror!Bimbo!Reader is 18, a senior while Eddie is 20.

Horror!Bimbo!Reader has a white German Shepherd called Pyewacket.

Pyewacket hates everybody except for reader, she rescued him from a mean neighbor who would chain him up as a puppy. They've been thick as thieves ever since.

Pyewacket doesn't even let her parents into her room without some growling and snarling.

Horror!Bimbo!Reader also has a white rat called Socrates who often rests on her chest while she watches movies.

Pyewacket was the name of a famous witch cat in the Salem Witch Trials and a familiar in the 50s film Bell, Book, and Candles. AND Socrates was the name of Willard's white rat in Willard(1971).

Horror!Bimbo!Reader has a big oral fixation, she's constantly chewing her Extra! Refreshing bubble gum, or sucking on heart shaped lollipops that she hoards a bunch of from Valentine's Day that last her throughout the year.

It drives poor Eddie insane watching her mouth like that.

And she has such a distracting mouth, especially with all her lip gloss and lip liner defined lipstick painted lips.

And she's a big lip biter too.

He has spent many a time jacking off to the thought of those lips wrapped around him. With her shirt bunched up above her perky tits that never seemed to wear a bra for some reason.

And her plush ass that was alwayss adorn with a thong that he could see under very short skirts when she would bend over, her pussy lips puffier than the average girl and would be straining against the lace or satin of her thong, a lot of the time not completely covered.

Eddie has shamefully bust in his jeans at the sight at least twice.

And when she wears her obscenely tight jeans, her whale tail of her thong would peak out from the top of the high waist cut somehow, and you could easily see the outline of her thick vagina through the crotch of the jeans.

And almost always you could see the nipples of her bouncing tits through her shirts.

She tortured poor Eddie, especially when she would always smile so sweetly at him through the hall with a breathy Daryl Hannah "Hi Eddie" that she always managed to sound suggestive.

And in class (they have English and Pre-Calc together) , she always managed to sit in front of him, leaning forward so he could see her whale tail, or her juicy pouty lips when she'd ask to borrow a pencil that she would chew on and suck on before giving it back to him. (He is a little ashamed to admit he saves a whole collection of those at home). He'd also get high off her succulent smells. Like her strawberry shampoo, rosewater body lotion, her apricot hand cream, either baby powder and vanilla body mists or spicy and fruity Poison by Dior that he knew she would shoplift from the department store at Starcourt.

Our little bimbo has sticky fingers. Her family isn't the richest and she is such a seagull. Sees something shiny, might be a little too costly, like expensive lingerie or luxurious perfumes and she HAS to have it. Flirting with sales men and women and stealthily swiping the goods.

Eddie remembers the day he first met reader.

First day of her senior year, she walks into English in an outfit he knew she would get dress coded for, faded blue daisy dukes that squeezed the life of her dump truck ass and accentuated the lewd shape of her cunt. A red cropped tank top that was a little loose with a strap falling off her summer-loved shoulder, but tight around her bouncing unbound breasts. She had on white socks bunched from black doc like combat boots, and her hair up in a messy but very pretty high half pony half bun she had pinned up on top of her head, tendrils and loks framing her face and sticking to the back of her neck for it was an Indiana September. Her bangs framing her face and silver gold hoop earrings adorned her ears, red lipstick daringly painted her lips and black self manicured nails adorned her hands. She looked like a centerfold and he couldn't take his eyes off of her, neither could the other guys.

He knew it wasn't just lust however when she complimented his Black Sabbath t-shirt and then commented how she loves Ozzy solo work and rambled about an alter she once had to honor Randy Rhoads.

No, it was safe to say Eddie fell in love with her after that.

She was never ashamed to be seen talking to him. Sure she wasn't miss popular, the boys only talked to her because of her bimbo appearance but they all saw her as a witchy slut. They found her creepy but hot because she loves horror films so very much.

She's a little bit of an airhead, things tend to fly over her head, but she does love reading surprisingly. She has been scolded by teachers countless of times for reading in class ironically, and sometimes ditched to read in the library because the librarians adore her.

She likes to get lost in books and be in another world because she felt lonely in the real one.

Reader doesn't have friends, she comes off odd.

She giggles too much and blinks rapidly and shakes her head when she doest get things which is often.

Her mom says she doesn't process things like everyone else but that doesn't mean she's dumb.

She stares a lot and kind of looks like she has no thought in her head as she floats on through but she is actually lost in her own fantasies constantly through the day.

Eddie finds it adorable, and when people make fun of her for her oddities and aloofness he will do something outrageous to take the attention off of her, to protect her.

He saw she had nowhere to sit at lunch and invited her to his table, he realized despite being so beautiful she's the loneliest person in school.

She was so honored to be invited having a crush on him since freshman year. How could she not? He looks like the boys on her wall. Like Hawkins own personal rock star.

She became of Hellfire and with DnD she had him explain it like twenty times. Some of his friends may have groaned when she said 'wait' for the twelfth time, but we're silenced by theor DM's lethal glare.

She loved creating characters so much and had fun creating hers The Enchantress.

Reader always made food for the club which made them take to her easily.

She loves to cook and bake, she could be in her own world like when she would read or watch movies all day.

Her favorite book is Flowers in the Attic, and her favorite movies are The Company of Wolves, Slumber Party Massacre, and The Wicker Man. She will watch any horror film.

Her favorite colors to wear a red, pink, occasionally black.

[lilypadlys]

Ghouls at the Aquarium

Headcanons about the ghouls at the aquarium. Inspired by a trip to the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. Had to shout it out because it was so frickin amazing. No one ask me my favorite exhibit because I will say all of them. But also definitely the belugas and the jellyfish.

Cirrus: She loves the dolphins. As serious and strict as she sometimes is, she’s like a kid at Christmas when the group reaches the dolphin enclosure. She admires how smart they are as well as how sleek they look darting through the water. And yes she knows what little shits they can be and she doesn't care. She still thinks they’re neat. She plans the day around making sure to catch the dolphin show at least twice. Cumulus buys her a dolphin plushie and she just about melts into a happy puddle.

Cumulus: As much as Cirrus loves dolphins, Cumulus loves beluga whales. She thinks they look majestic. And huggable. She would hug one if she could. The rest of the girls booked a behind the scenes beluga experience for her and they got to see them up close, feed them, and even pet them. By the end of it they’re all giggling at how cute the beluga’s are.

Sunshine: She thinks the lionfish are neat and likes how their spines look like sunbursts. Kinda sad that they’re an invasive species but understands why work to remove them from the wrong areas is important for the marine ecosystem. Gets a postcard from the gift shop with a picture of one to put in her room.

Aurora: She spent a solid half an hour sitting in front of the moon jellyfish tank watching them. It was one of those circular tanks that have a slight current to gently cause the jellies to drift in a circle. That and the color changing light had her mesmerized. She would have spent longer watching them but the others literally pulled her away so she could see the rest of the aquarium.

Dewdrop: He wasn't too sure about it at first. The aquarium kind of dredged up some melancholy and yearning for his water ghoul days. He's happy as a fire ghoul for sure, it suits him better. He definitely misses his water though. Fortunately he warms up to it; seeing how excited Rain and Phantom are playing a big part. He can’t help but crack a smile when Phantom starts mimicking the penguins. He ends up loving the eels and the caimans. Joins Rain in naming all this fish, offering increasingly unhinged suggestions.

Rain: His unglamoured form is pretty sharklike so it's not surprising that Rain has a fondness for sharks. The pile of shark plushies on his bed definitely isn’t a tip off either. Besides the sharks, Rain likes pretty much every exhibit. He gives silly names to every fish that catches his eye with help from Dew and discusses which fish would taste the best with Swiss much to the horror of the other patrons.

Mountain: He really likes the sea dragons because they look like plants. He didn’t know they were a thing until seeing them at the aquarium for the first time. Also really interested in the aquatic plants (of course) and the frogs and turtles.

Aether: He really likes the manta rays. He thinks they’re so cute. Loves how it looks like they’re flying through the water. Way too excited about getting to pet them but it's endearing.

Swiss: Phantom actually saw the piranhas before Swiss did, took one look between the two of them and dubbed them cousins. Swiss did not help his case by immediately baring his teeth in a grin. He then proceeded to chase Phantom around the room threatening to nibble on him while Phantom giggled. That is until Cirrus put a stop to that so they didn’t get kicked out.

Phantom: Loves absolutely everything but also the penguins and starfish. He asks the staff a million questions and they’re happy to answer every one. Leaves the gift shop with a stack of books on ocean facts that he and Rain end up reading aloud the whole ride home.