#music-and-social-life

[norahmusic]

Music and Social Life

Restaurants and Lounge Bars are social places, what we expect when we visit them is to have an unwind moment where we can relax and feel comfortable. We may be in a hotel lounge closing a deal while listening to nice music or just enjoying a drink. Whatever your purpose, music will make it easy always. A music enhanced ambience makes dinner or drink experience best as we feel happier and free during that moment of relaxation. Music can helps us to eat less if under soft lightning and music relax our system, since it regulates our organism and makes it function in a more relaxed way (1).

Ambient and live music in restaurants have social benefits for consumers and revenues for restaurants. Music is why consumers turn to loyal customers in restaurant or lounge bar (2). The reason for that is, that have a drink or a meal with background music creates a more gratifying experience and we tend to extend our evening event consuming more because we feel comfortable. When customers have the best possible experience your bar or restaurant will still be busy in the mid and long term ahead. Either if you like ambient, live music or live of DJ sessions, the fabulous experience will leave you the sensation of coming back again and bring some other friends along to show them.

In order to match your restaurant dining experience with your plates and the ambience of your brand you need to study closely your customer tastes. Choosing the best background music comprises sending the right message to customers through music at different moments in the day so they match the appropriate energy level with the right moment of the day. Breakfast and lunch may need more active music than for dinner and drink services and definitely more relaxed and engaging (3). Music with lyrics is not recommended during brunch or lunch time. The type of background music enhances the quality of food. Rhythm is vital on ambience music, the fastest, the more rotation on tables and bar, the slowest, will provide us the possibility of increasing customer engagement and higher dinner bills as well. Loudness is not recommended in lounge bars and restaurants, as it inhibits a relaxed conversation. Noise level under 70 decibels is quiet adequate (5). Restaurant theme, dishes served and music should be aligned in order to make customers repeat and stay. A satisfied customer will bring more stable customers that share same interests and tastes in the future. Hence, if promoting or improving loyalty and making new customers on a similar segment is among your business goals, aligning dishes, colour-decoration and music playlist or live performances on at your restaurant turn to be essential to raise your sales.

But what type of music makes the difference between a good and an extraordinary dining experience?  Cocktail bars can be classic or modern. A more classic cocktail bar music playlist or live music should match softy lighting and classic bartenders and at the same time create a distended atmosphere. So, playlists that would fit better in these places are warm jazz and soul music styles (9). Later on, and to get more upbeat, we can shift into electronic music (9). A modern cocktail bar music playlist will bring fresher and contemporary music highlights, according to ambiance decoration creating a more stylish background for drinks (10). Rooftop Bars’ most successful playlists trend into cinematic and emotive tunes that go along a nice sunset watching or a relaxed conversation (11). Pubs, taprooms and brewerieshave impulse craft beers as many independent breweries choose them to promote their brands. Music playlists for these places need to avoid anything too commercial. Instead, more classic soul or pops will do it to all age customers (12). Most successful playlists for Pool Bars and Beach Bars tend to be not too loud, subtle, making people feel breezy and casual (13).

Another categorization of background music can be made according to restaurant formats (5). Music background for a café, is full of lounge, bossa nova and nu bass among others. Fine Dine needs more instrumental melodies to encourage the diners order more for instance. Fast Casual Dining aims for fast-paced background music as this boosts table turnovers (tropical latin, pop hits, R&B, progressive house). For Casual Dine smooth jazz, country blues or soft instrumental playlists may be the best option. Playlists made of indie-pop, electronic music (acid jazz, french house, downtempo) or R&B tracks will make coffee and delicacies much better on a Coffee Shop. For Pubs and Bars a more loud and vocal music (pop, rock, techno or jazz) may increase excitement on customers adding energy to the atmosphere. Luxury restaurants playlists usually are around elegant and classical music and jazz that mates customers sophistication while vegan restaurants playlists are more bound to creating a positive atmosphere enhancing the healthy nature of their cuisine (5). Themed restaurants and lounge bars always will match directly service and the music played, so there is no surprise on these (Mexicans, Indians, Japanese, Portuguese, and Irish …).

Some tips to elaborate a nice playlist that matches your brand are, to update and renew playlist frequently, variety and dynamism within the same music style will trap your customer ears. Set different levels of energy to create different playlists for each moment of the day: more calmed for breakfast, live and bright music during happy hour, a mix of the previous two for dinner and more upbeat for late night moments. Breaks between two playlists or transitions are recommended between music styles. Volume and music tempo can be slowed down to make customers linger a bit more or speed up to dispatch them or increase the tables turn over. Search for advice service on music platforms and experts, there you´ll surely find a music service that fulfils your expectations, music platforms have massive data to extract accurate segmentation and statistics on customers, restaurants, and many other establishments that use their services and playlists already. Music equipment is crucial, quality of sound and acoustics may be seriously affected if sound locations, loudspeakers or acoustic panels are not well placed. Either if you get advice from a music solutions service (4) as a PRO subscriber or you prefer to use only a music platform and make your own playlists (14), it is good to have in mind your customer`s market segment and align that with your business goals, brand and organizational culture to avoid future mistakes that may end up on an income loss.

To spot your market segmentation in order to know the musical taste of your potential and actual customers it is vital to surround via online SEO and Social Media study, Strategic Marketing reports and Social Media Analytics to determine demographics, psychographics, economic and educational bandwidth and behavioural tendencies of your customers (15) as well as taking care of your online reputation. Once we have this data analysis we will be able to use it to cross this information with music platforms surveys results and reports about these segments we want to find out if our business is already running, or keep working on targeting and positioning if this is your business stage. Since we are not all the same, we do not have the same age, profession or musical taste, customer segmentation is extremely important before any other decision is performed around your business. Targeting and positioning cannot be advantageous if you don´t know to whom are you preparing your dishes or decorating your establishment, not even guess correctly your customer´s musical taste in the middle and long term, and, your sales increase may not happen. Successful menus, ambience establishments and revenues come after a good designed market segmentation to create target customer groups always.

A good skilled and customer oriented staff is the other key to customer excellence. Menu options, ambiance and music fulfil the rest of factors a customer perceives when dining at your restaurant. Loyal regulars and mouth-to-mouth marketing is the result of combining those factors into your service (6). Customer engagement necessarily goes through a good analysis of data collected via online customer satisfaction survey relating to quality service, food quality, ambiance, staff service and empathy among others (7).

A well designed customer satisfaction survey, a constant SEO and social media analytics feedback and an everyday skilling on service staff are the best resources to match every aspect of your brand and establishment alignment so that choosing the correct music does not turn into a mistaken decision. Information retrieved from these tools is valuable if it gives us a hint of trends on any product, music or ambiance decoration go or what we may improve in our lounge bar or music restaurant in order to improve customers’ loyalty and get to see them again at your facilities. Reservation platforms are of a high importance since they give an automated control of guests flow and provide quick satisfaction survey more than useful to have a good basis on service feedback and a good path to build up a good loyalty program (8).

Sometimes we come back to places to repeat a nice experience from the past, others because we have felt a bit like at home and sometimes we just need to escape from our routines for a while and hang out with friends. Music helps to have a better experience. The right piece of music at the right moment makes us come back home with a reconnected soul, a happier state of mind and healthier relationships. When tone, ambiance and human touch have a good combination for our souls we tend to be loyal and come back.

Thanks for smiling. Enjoy and Dream!

References

(1)      https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/10-positive-benefits-of-listening-to-music-according-to-science/ | https://soundsuit.fm/music-for-bars-soundsuits-guide-to-the-perfect-bar-playlist/ | https://medium.com/@maryboroughrsl/the-benefits-of-live-music-in-bars-and-restaurants-9e07f588fa38

(2)      https://www.barandrestaurant.com/operations/new-study-confirms-music-matters-bars-restaurants

(3)      https://openearmusic.com/blog/2023/02/01/the-ultimate-guide-to-music-for-restaurants/ |  https://www.academia.edu/65102331/The_Effects_of_Music_as_an_Atmospheric_Variable_on_Consumer_Behaviour_in_the_Context_of_Retailing_and_Service_Environments

(4) https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/14/restaurant-music-playlists.html | https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/best-restaurant-playlists-spotify

(5) https:/6 /beambox.com/townsquare/how-to-guide-customer-segmentation-for-restaurants | https://www.restaurantseatingblog.com/commercial-seating/restaurant-background-music-guide/ | https://www.posist.com/restaurant-times/restro-gyaan/how-to-choose-the-right-background-music.html | https://zerotodrum.com/music-for-restaurants/ | https://joinposter.com/en/post/how-to-choose-the-right-background-music-for-restaurants | https://www.startlemusic.com/blog/the-best-background-music-for-restaurants

(6) https://lesroches.edu/blog/customer-service-restaurant/

(7) https://forms.app/en/blog/restaurant-survey-questions | https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/restaurant-survey-questions/

(8)  https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/restaurant-survey-questions/

(9) Classic Cocktail Playlists, Jazz and Soul https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/6yrnPCDXguFp5eZTGmZawc?go=1&sp_cid=02cc96f73c63ea6baa24c69174c6da63&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=977015e63cc343c7 | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/3uwjxxGgmVoGyAm4EIKt19?go=1&sp_cid=0b82315bea940b5ddc4056667814f774&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=094c172554544315 Electronic: https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/06URTR3ZGKjB9MKpV9JxSQ?go=1&sp_cid=864e639fbf7de892df9a495f23567ba4&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=38f08b11e8664378

(10) Modern Cocktail Playlists https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/7xkRfnn9VM74l98qoF44OJ?go=1&sp_cid=4687a9b29526efabfc4b5e7294abd956&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=649295cd9037443d | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/3sJCADvtbzgKPzEBHhHSLY?go=1&sp_cid=288bebdc00dd96ed9cadd75104bbf8bd&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=e4e438c5c2fc407d

(11) Rooftop Bar Playlists https://www.therooftopguide.com/ | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/5BxHfyGk49gqbg5BdW6FO4?go=1&sp_cid=61e1e35f326c8f4c72da8660d0786ce9&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=a81b10878408404e

(12) Pubs, Taprooms and Breweries https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/5lmGgOaixbwKHtpTzjJoqx?go=1&sp_cid=2fbac1f6b01faeb87fc4212780c22a48&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=e067025c7e354429 | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/3NfxSdJnVdon1axzloJgba?go=1&sp_cid=7845ddad676dbd3ca7699ac3a156e8fd&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=e5f0871f415b47d7 | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/3C542UknrX76XSRXTyQ1Qg?go=1&sp_cid=52945450793d32bd05842e6140028a53&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=e7056c6778dc4bd1 |  https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/1YAPymH9iJsrybzxvNhBdg?go=1&sp_cid=23888fa282ca920d923efe64a0427641&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=b3eb832803b04af1

(13) Pool and Beach Bars https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/0AYl5nMugFsfR26LpRN791?go=1&sp_cid=3ec14e222e0215c02c29bd5a73f03f2b&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=ba24c85e51644e0e | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/5wL7QN2f19UEC6gx2tzGr4?go=1&sp_cid=93c94ac8133c2f2306e2f3cc7a6e403a&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=9f50204ce49a4834 | https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/3C542UknrX76XSRXTyQ1Qg?go=1&sp_cid=52945450793d32bd05842e6140028a53&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=e7056c6778dc4bd1 |

(14) Music Lists App for Businesses https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fm.soundsuit.app&pli=1

(15) Spotify Target Market Segmentation: https://www.start.io/blog/spotify-target-market-segmentation-user-demographics-audience-targeting-strategy/ | https://research.atspotify.com/2020/12/just-the-way-you-are-music-listening-and-personality/

[tuttle-did-it]

I don't want to see any images of Sieg Heils-- or any other revolting images like that.

This is what I think we should be seeing on our dashes instead. This is what I want to see when I open this app. This is the image I think tumblr should be flooded with right now.

Especially as we have new folks coming from other platforms.

What about you? Do you want to see Sieg Heils or do you want to see someone angrily ripping a swastika flag in half?

[monowritestoomuch]

Riptide

Art belongs to @saixria

Notes: I said bet motherfuckers. Never doubt me. I always deliver, even if I end up taking a year (I’ve done that before, we all have) Count how many times I write divine, lmao. Regardless, enjoy this as I’m still locked out of my main writing account. Yes, my Hamilton fic is being worked on, don’t worry. They’re all being worked on. 

Another thing, I’m no doctor of medicine, so I apologize for any medical inaccuracies.

Foretime = yesterday (in context of the story)

Word Count: 2460

Athena sat in one of the many plush beds in Apollo’s infirmary upon Olympus, staring down at the scars on her hands. They resembled lightning, a strike in the night. 

Athena knew how many mortals had received similar scars upon being struck by lightning, but none had it as harsh as herself. The scars, gold in color, stretched out over her body, up her arms and around her neck, the phantom pain of the injury still residing in her memories. 

A shriek sounded down the corridor outside the room, followed by shouting in one voice. Apollo’s voice. He seemed to be scolding whoever it was that had appeared at the infirmary. Sure, Apollo was easy to startle, but to make him shriek like a child, which hadn’t happened in many centuries.

Athena listened as she heard something, likely a body drop on Apollo, likely driven to unconsciousness. She listened to Apollo struggle and drag the body down the corridor and into the main room of the infirmary, where Athena herself lay recovering. 

Apollo practically dragged the body in, his hair a dastard mess and stygian shadows creasing his under-eyes. He placed the body down on the bed beside Athena, allowing her to gaze on whatever poor minor god who had somehow incurred a wrath so great that they could not heal themselves in their domains. 

Athena’s eyes widened, her body freezing. The god in the bed beside her was no minor god. No, it was her uncle. Poseidon, God of the Seas. Golden ichor dripped from the numerous wounds that had graced his immortal body. The main injury, that dripped golden ichor ceaselessly, was several, repeated stab wounds to the stomach. Three different wounds all dripped in tandem, equal in their intensity and violent nature. The markings of a trident. 

With the profuse intensity the ichor-bleeding wounds held, Athena could only guess that it was Poseidon’s own trident that had injured him. But the question still remained prominent in her mind, who would be able to take Poseidon’s trident and injure him profusely so? Athena didn’t know, not yet, at least, and not while Apollo fervently fretted over their uncle’s unconscious body.

Golden ichor covered practically every inch of her uncle’s injured body, the subtle rise and fall of his chest the only small indication of life still relaying it’s gift onto him. 

Apollo’s hands glowed a soft white over their uncle’s body, the smaller wounds on his body closing, leaving the larger trident-stab-wounds still dripping golden ichor onto the infirmary bed. This, in itself, caused Apollo panic. Athena knew how powerful Apollo was, she knew how capable he was, and yet the stab wounds in his stomach wouldn’t heal, no matter how much Apollo tried, over and over again.

Eventually, Apollo realized he couldn’t heal the wound, for the injury was given by the divine weapon of another god, a god more powerful than Apollo himself. The injury would not heal divinely, so as it was caused by the divine weapon of a god, the god of the seas himself. 

With that being the case, he stitched the wound, spreading a nectar balm over the injuries, before wrapping them up and finishing the wrap around his stomach, going over his shoulder and past his long, dark hair. Another bandage wrapped his left bicep. His head lay heavy on the pale ivory infirmary pillows, his body tucked under the tawny sheets. 

Apollo heaved a heavy sigh, short-term relief echoing in it. He pushed back the long, wavy, golden locks of his hair, a sheer layer of sweat on his forehead, shining in the soft glow of sunshine that graced itself through the windows of the room. He turned to Athena, his shoulders adjusting accordingly. 

“How are you, Athena?” he asked, eyes fleeting between each of his injuries, covered in bandage wraps and nectar balm. “The’ pain any more fleeting than foretime?” he inquired. 

Athena met his golden-eyed gaze. “The pain is–manageable, Apollo,” she answered. Her shoulders evened out as she spoke. “I can return to my duties–” she started arguing once more, being interrupted again by her divine physician half-brother. 

“No, Athena. We’ve had this argument every single day since you’ve awoken from Father’s. . .punishment,” he paused, pursing his lips and crossing his toned arms. “I have told you many times over, it will be another few weeks until you will be able to regain your strength and return to your duties, and until then, you will rest,” he scolded. “I don’t want you trying to sneak out one of the windows like you have tried prior, you are not strong enough.”

Athena shuffled back into the pillows of the infirmary bed, her head pounding and nerves tensing. Apollo’s shoulders sagged as he walked over to the side of Athena’s bed, conjuring up a glass of golden brown liquid. He placed it on the bedside, a wooden straw sticking out of the drink. He sat himself on the oak wood stool beside the bed, elbows on his knees. 

“Understand me, Athena,” Apollo pleaded. “Father’s wrath is hard to incur, and when one does, it never ends well. Father is not one for mercy or peace, and he gets insulted very easily, sister. He was not kind when giving you those scars, scars that I myself cannot heal,” he paused, his chin resting on his tanned hands. “All I ask, all I plead, is that you rest and heal. You cannot heal if you’re dead, sister.”

The word brought a heavy chill over the room. Dead. Death, a mercy for mortals and pitiful minor gods. But Athena dying? It was unlikely and unheard of. The frigid word brought a shiver up her frayed-nerve spine. 

Apollo stood up, walking to the arched doorway and turning to face Athena. “Rest up, sister,” he spoke, the sun emblem on his chiton clasp shining in the sunlight. “-and drink the nectar, you need it,” he finished, walking out of the room and down the infirmary corridor, leaving Athena alone, privy to her own thoughts.

She picked up the glass, placing the smooth wooden straw to her lips as she gulped down the sweet nectar, for it tasted like nothing else ever divinely made, dare most say, more addictive and divine than Dionysus’s own godly wine. 

It had been a few hours since her uncle had arrived gravely injured to the infirmary, the rays of sunlight through the window becoming dimmer, indicating sunset. Athena read a book, her eyes patiently focused on the words, although it caused her mental strain. Headaches, a new feature of her Father’s divine punishment.

Her divine ears perked up as she heard groaning from beside her. The dark-haired figure beside her opened their deep blue eyes, pushing themselves up with a hiss of pain to sit back-facing the infirmary pillows of the bed. Her uncle was alive, and clearly awake, and pained. 

He clutched his stomach, the bandages over them wrapping tightly around his torso. He hissed as his own hand wrapped around his stomach, the bandages unmoving on his body. 

He blinked, taking in his surroundings as his eyes scanned the unfamiliar infirmary room, until they landed on Athena herself. 

“Uncle,” she greeted, closing her book and placing it on the side table. 

“Athena–where-?” he responded, clearly confused, if not surprised at the appearance of his niece, of whom had her right arm in a large wrap of bandages, scars covering every inch of visible skin, bandages over the others. A hand flew up to his lower chest, hissing at the pain moving brought him. “Right, that.”

“That?” Athena questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

“I was. . .injured,” Poseidon stated,, avoiding facing Athena, looking her in the eyes as shame echoed in his body language. 

“No doubt,” Athena responded effortlessly. “But to whom caused your injury remains a mystery to be solved.”

“It is none of your concern, niece,” Poseidon admonished.

“On the contrary,” Athena stated blankly. “Considering whoever managed to bring you to your knees and stab you with your own weapon, it could be a threat to all of Olympus.”

Poseidon seemed surprised at first at how Athena knew what had stabbed him, but it quickly faded away to but a feeling of irking. But Poseidon knew better not to question his niece, the goddess of wisdom itself, further than he already had.

“I got into a fight, and I began with the upper hand in my own domain,” Poseidon started, his voice without waver. “Until my. . .opponent used one of Aeolus’s wind bags, releasing a storm of my own creation to be able to battle me, tying the bag to the back of his chiton.”

Now this surprised Athena. Why in Gaia’s name would Aeolus give out one of their precious wind bags to someone to beat Poseidon? And even if they didn’t know it was Poseidon, shouldn’t they have been wiser than to give one of their wind bags to someone? 

But alas, wisdom itself was Athena’s domain, not the wind god’s. 

“My opponent. . .he fought me with a simple sword, but somehow wielded the power of a god, able to defeat me using whoever’s power he had taken, sending the full force of power through. . .five-hundred vengeful spirits, knocking me down onto a small cluster of uneven rocks,” he continued, causing Athena’s eyes to widen. 

Of course a minor god couldn’t have beaten her uncle, that would be both improbable and impossible. But someone wielding the power of a god, a seemingly powerful god, from her uncle’s description, could surely stand a chance. 

“Then how did they get a grasp on your own trident, Uncle?” Athena questioned, noticing a gaping hole in the story her uncle was telling her. 

“Once I had been knocked down, it occurred to my. . .opponent that my storm had been released, leaving them unable to depart,” he continued, a lump rising in his throat as his voice filled with more and more rage. “So he told me to call off the storm, and when I refused, what did he do, you ask? He picked up my trident from where it had dropped. . .and proceeded to repeatedly stab me with it, while shouting.”

This, to Athena, meant many things. One, her uncle wasn’t as strong as she had previously believed him to be. Two, that whoever had the gall to fight him, had beaten him with his own weapon. And three, that her uncle was still withholding information from her on the matter.

“And how did you survive then? How did he stop?” she asked, eyes narrowed.

Poseidon stayed silent for but a moment before speaking. “I told him I’d stop the storm and allow him to go where he needed as he pleased,” he answered. 

Athena could tell he was still hiding something. Lying by omission. 

“And who exactly fought you–and won?” Athena importuned, face as emotionless as she could manage it. She cut him off before he spoke again. “-and if you dare say that ‘it does not concern me,’ it concerns the safety of Olympus, ergo, in turn, concerning me, Uncle.”

Her uncle was silent for many minutes before interrupting the tense silence. “A mortal man.”

“A mortal man?” The words blurted out of Athena’s mouth before she could think properly. 

“A mortal king, who caught me off guard,” Poseidon attempted to justify, but to no avail. 

Athena could perhaps imagine a monster or a god of equal caliber challenging her uncle, but a mortal man? Even if it was a mortal king, his opponent had still been mortal, and he had lost to a mortal.

“Who, precisely, of the mortal kings beat you, Uncle?” she asked, using a tone that left no room for argument.

Poseidon gritted his teeth, aware that he had been checkmated by his own blood. “You might know him as your own student, Athena,” Poseidon answered, disgust clear in his expression.”

Athena’s eyes widened once more. “Odysseus of Ithaca,” she murmured. How long it has been, old friend? Her thoughts asked traitorously.

It was clear Poseidon was embarrassed, both his ego and his pride wounded from the loss to the mortal king of Ithaca, to Athena’s own student. 

Although Athena hadn’t spoken with her student since their argument over a decade prior, but she couldn’t have been more proud of him.

“Pussy,” she thought aloud, the person in question being her own uncle. 

“What did you just call me?” Poseidon demanded, hands curling into fists. He scowled, the pain in his ribs increasing as his anger increased. Deep down, he knew Athena was right, and that there was no way to fight her at this stage. “I am no pu–”

Instead of cowering, Athena chose to stand her ground. To fight in favor of her old friend. “You lost to a mortal king, Uncle. A mortal. You have lost your touch.” She dared to utter the final words, well aware of her uncle’s bitter wrath. 

Poseidon’s expression changed to one of anger. “Why you little–!” 

“That is enough, Uncle,” a newer voice interrupted. 

Apollo. 

“You are not to strain your injury, so until your injuries are fully healed, an argument turned fight is not in your best interest,” Apollo stated threateningly. “Am I clear?”

“Of course,” Poseidon responded, not wishing to irk his own nephew, the one who had chosen to heal him with his divine gift. To anger Apollo in a part of his own domain would not be wise of him, Athena was sure of it. 

“Rest, both of you,” Apollo demanded tiredly, massaging his temples. “And don’t let me hear arguing from either of you or so help me–” His voice raised at the words, before cutting off abruptly, meeting eye contact with each of his patients before exiting the room.

Poseidon grumbled, laying down achingly back in the infirmary bed, facing away from his niece. He mumbled something so quiet, Athena herself couldn’t hear it, as he adjusted the blanket over his body. 

Athena faced away from him, smiling to herself. For she could not have been prouder of her student–no, her friend. 

Before Athena succumbed to the gift of Hypnos, she remembered how she had been visited by Ares the prior day. He had promised her that he had kept an eye on her favorite little mortal. 

“Don’t worry sis, I’ll take good care of your favorite little mortal. Don’t you worry!”

She should’ve been wary of her brother’s enthusiasm.

Athena never expected Ares to help her, because of their due past. But despite their well established rivalry, he cared enough to help her friend. That alone, made her smile warmly, something she had not done for anyone in mere centuries, as she drifted off to Hypnos’s divine rest. 

Tag list: (none yet, but let me know if you’d like to be added!)

[tennessoui]

so i've been thinking about this premise for so long but it wasn't working for obikin (which of course i took as a challenge) and i think i finally got it where i want it so

au where 35 yo obi-wan is a music sensation across the world but he's recently divorced and going on tour again after releasing a very cutting, personal, and well-received album

and 19 yo anakin joins his tour with his very small band of two other people (ahsoka, padmé) to be his opening act - they have a small but loyal following, a pretty big social media presence, and there are even people who ship anakin and padmé which you know means these are die-hard fans

anakin has definitely looked up to obi-wan and his music for a good portion of his life and he's like. beyond excited that he's going to tour with The Obi-Wan Kenobi - this is big, not just for his music career but also for himself and the little boy he was listening to obi-wan's music for the first time!!

i'm just imagining like....obi-wan and anakin meeting after a few days of rehearsal for opening night, and it's not the most auspicious start because obi-wan's going through like 20 different emotions at any given moment (he's on tour, he's divorced, he's tired, he loves the music, he can't be the person he was in his twenties when he was first on tour but that's a whole different matter, he has all the media training and charismatic instinct to cover up these less than savory emotions with flirtatious empty words) and anakin is just like. sorta starstruck sorta shy sorta eager sorta awkward so:

"i'm uh, i'm a singer it's nice to meet you. hi yeah. hello. i'm on tour. as well. with you. actually." "ah no, are you one of my backing vocal artists? we can't have that - you're much too gorgeous and my ego is much too dependent on the audience focusing on me." "um 😳"

so it's a relationship that begins with a lot of flirting and being flustered and progresses through moments of vulnerability and honest emotion which turns into mutual affection which turns into anakin's celebrity crush becoming very real....meanwhile obi-wan googled anakin and the opening band after the first show/introduction and finds all the stuff about him and padmé being together and that's. that's fine. young love. how sweet. any sort of disappointment obi-wan feels is because he's recently divorced and bitter about it and he's going to have to spend at least half his tour watching the lovebirds snuggling up together.

and even when all the misunderstandings about relationship statuses have been addressed and the pretense has fallen away to leave just attraction, both have to think about their careers - it's all well and good for obi-wan to date someone sixteen years his junior, post divorce, but that's an image he's never wanted to deal with or be associated with. and this is the biggest shot of anakin's career - his best chance to make it in the music industry. in the words of his bandmate, is he really, honestly thinking about risking it for a chance to sleep with The Obi-Wan Kenobi?

but what his bandmate doesn't seem to really understand is that for anakin, obi-wan hasn't been The Obi-Wan Kenobi in a long time. he's just been obi-wan. and that makes a world of difference.

[caturnmoon]

Viewing myself through the lens of ✨anime eyes✨

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Eridan seems like the type to me to say that video games are stupid and then get horribly hooked on one the second he plays

yeah. and unfortunately he would probably be really good at it too :/

[swamp-chicken]

i can imagine etho brainstorming how to get his rizz up, reading scientific research on human connection and realized "hmm people like you more the more you use their name. easy hack" and then he started making an effort to call people by their name more and thats why he's always saying people's name in conversation when he talks to them. bc its all calculated to make people like him more. and it WORKS

[moxyphinx]

please let me blow the smoke  into your open mouth  here in the light

[soggyburgers]

whenever 5sos go on a break or aren't active for awhile it's really weird because a lot of fans preach about how glad they are they take breaks for themselves but in the same vein will be "COME HOMEEEEE" and i think it's just really important to remember musicians and artists and actors and people with platforms are in fact REAL live people who have thoughts and feelings and hardships to deal with and it's important for EVERYONE to take breaks from social media every now and then without having to feel guilty or shamed for putting themselves first HOWEVER this may just be me idk

[eustasskiddsprosthetic]

I'm working on a kidlaw thing now where Kidd's the owner of a fashion conglomerate called Victoria Punk. They met in the flagship store and they flirt, yadda yadda whatever—that's not important. What is though, is how I immediately thought of how the Ace and Sabo would get involved in the (luxury) fashion industry since they're my favs alongside Kidd. Here's my takes lmao

Ace would own a shoe store. He sells a pretty small but reliable and beautiful collection of leather shoes and boots. As an athlete and hitchhiker, he understands the need for footwear that's durable, comfortable and fashionable. Since his target demographic are fellow hitchhikers who do insane shit outdoors, his shoes are good quality. They will live through avalanches, snowstorms, cyclones, rocky mountains, swamps—whatever—and the most you'd need to do is replace the laces. Aesthetically-speaking, they're plain, but if you're into the look of sturdy leather that smells wonderful (like me), his stuff is perfect for you.

I say this because I'm currently imagining Ace helping Law try the shoes on like he would delicately slip them on Law's feet like a princess and tie his laces for him. He would look up at Law and smile when he sees that Law feels very comfortable in these shoes.

Gah! The intimacy!

For funsies, he makes Law try on those high, knee-length boots and gets very turned on because Law has legs for days. It's like a kink of his now and he gets esp turned on seeing that.

For Sabo, I can't decide between a watch shop or a (pawn) jewellery store. Either way, I want him to be very involved with people, as in he would sit there and admire little intricate things with his clients. He loves listening to what customers like and helping them find what they're looking for. Rather than for practical purposes like Ace, Sabo's more interested in sentimental values. He's not interested in just a pretty watch or a pretty ring— he wants to help clients find the perfect watch for their children to pass down to their grandchildren; he wants to help clients find the perfect engagement ring for their loved ones. He's into the storytelling aspect of luxury marketing.

If we're talking Sabolaw, then maybe Law walks into Sabo's little run down store one day and asks if Sabo could help fix an heirloom from Corazon. Sabo agrees for a small fee and from there they talk about the thing itself, and then onto what Sabo does, and then what Law does. Amongst this heart to heart, they look at each other and go. oh.

I enjoy this person very much. (edit: I wrote more on Sabolaw here)

[brunetteaura]

going on a heavy restriction of the use of my phone because its ruining my life and genuinely not letting me do things that i want to do consistently bc they feel too hard. i wont live my best life and evolve if i check my phone first thing in the morning if i dont let myself be in silence for the most part of the day and have my hands free if instead of journaling before sleep i go on tumblr and ruin my sleep schedule due to procrastination of that and so and so. like yeah i get things done but i dont like the pacing and the fact that even an hour of my day is being wasted on this stupid device in a mindless way i really want to put my whole attention into this ive already been asking myself a lot of the times what is it that i wanna do so ive been using my phone way less compared to previous years but i need to be more concentrated more focused and serious about it its genuinely a problem like what sense does it make to want to do something and then do it half assed and lazily. feel/think -> action -> result i will put my heart into things because its what i deserve to give to myself

[shivroyscunt]

i’m always up at 12am like have u listened to this thing called music

[originalcatcheesecake]

Egobabyyy it’s my world I can’t do No wrong 😆🩷

when i saw Bladee in October. Best day of my life Srry if the vid suxs people were pushing so much..

[weaselle]

let's talk racist algorithms

i have a weird relationship with music for reasons i won't get into, but as an example, despite loving music, i have not been able to make myself listen to music on purpose in about 6 months. Music is weird for me. BUT I DO LOVE IT

I'm a poet, if i'm really feeling myself i'd even say i'm a word-smith, so rap has a really special place in my heart

The first rap artists i heard and bought an album from them on tape cassette and would listen to all the time were Snoop Dogg, McHammer, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (that's Will Smith for you young ones) De La Soul, and Vanilla Ice

This was 7th and 8th grade. Rap was the new rock, the kids were going wild for it, and because my school let students select the lunchtime PA music, Vanilla Ice was played at lunch almost every day at school.

We had zero black students at that school.

(I still remember the exact day Vanilla Ice stopped being popular at school, but that's about the severe homophobia of the time and a different story)

Now let's come back to today. When I listen to music it's often on Youtube, or Pandora. And i noticed a problem with these platforms pretty early on.

See, I had taken a big break from rap. Like i said, i have a weird relationship to music i don't have time to get into, but i didn't pay much attention to what was happening in rap for a long time. I'd had a friend who was excited to get me to geek out over Eminem with her a few times, and i went through a phase where i was in love with Digable Planets (high key recommend if you like an indie feel with a smooth jazz sound and east coast vibes)... I had a secret love for that one verse by Left Eye in Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls, could sing every word of Shoop, and i adored every Missy Elliot song that i heard on the radio. And that was about it. As a lyricist myself, the one that stuck in my head the most from this time was eminem, because lyricism is his whole thing.

I don't go to concerts. I don't buy albums. I tend to like specific songs more than specific artists. I know, i know, but that's not the point. When i can listen to music without it fucking me up mentally, I listen to music on Youtube and Pandora

And lyricism is my main attraction to rap, so when i came back to it on Youtube I put in Eminem first.

And right away, Youtube started recommending other rappers to me. And very quickly, i discovered that i was being recommended mostly white rappers.

I really like Hopsin, I went through a Dumbfounddead phase, i was into Dax for a minute, i like Domo Wilson, the J. Cole songs i like I REALLY like, I'm obsessed with Snow tha Product, I love the first Janelle Monae album i heard, i still fangirl over Missy Elliot, it's no surprise i like Joyner Lucas...

All of these i discovered and listened to via Youtube.

But because i like eminem, because I had a phase where i enjoyed a couple indie artists like Watsky, Wax, and Dan Bull, and because my depressed ass was drawn to NF and now a little Ren, when Youtube recommends rap artists to me, 90% of the algorithm recommendations are white artists. White men, specifically.

I had a similar problem with Pandora.

I actually had to create a special Pandora station that i seeded with three black artists and then ONLY liked non-white artists AND disliked every white artists that came up, just to get a station that wouldn't turn itself into a white rap channel.

It makes me furious, because i don' want to care about who is a white artist and who is a black artist!!!! I just want to listen to music that i like!!! But these bullshit music platforms make me have to care a lot about who is white and who is black just to not be pushed into racist music tastes and i fucking hate it.

And, if i'm being super honest, one reason i really hate it is because i know i probably really do have some internal racist tendencies when it comes to music, because i was raised white in america, and i really resent having to fight these fucking algorithms instead of, idk, being helped by them. I need to be able to look at my feed and assess it for my own unacknowledged racism... like, if there was no algorithm, and i looked at my music history and saw all white artists, i could be like, OH. I need to look in the mirror about this. But instead i have to play this weird tug-a-war with the platform about it and i can't tell what's my own deficiency and what is being forced on me. But SOME of it is being forced on me.

I mean for fucks sake, Snow tha Product does half her lyrics in spanish and the algorithm sees me love her and STILL recommends mostly white men. Hundreds of hours of listening to her, and zero spanish artist recommendations. Its infuriating.

Anyway, if you're curating your music tastes mostly online, and you start with white artists at all, then you really really gotta work to not fall deep into the bias.

And if that's what's happening with the music, how much more insidious must the social commentary content bias be

[incomingalbatross]

Happy Easter, friends in my computer!!