D’awwuuuugh

japanese-diver-wrass-fish-youtube-screen-shot-great-big-story

A Japanese man has been friends with a fish for over thirty years, including hand-feeding it when it was injured and couldn’t feed itself.

My studies of the genre have assured me that Yoriko is actually a woman of the shrine guardian-species and will one day take human form to say good-bye to her dying friend….

(Plus or minus a romance subplot with his grandchildren.)

MidJourney: Dragons are a girl’s best friend

Poetry Corner – Ishmael

AND Ishmael crouched beside a crackling briar 
Blinded with sand, and maddened by his thirst, 
A derelict, though he know not why accursed. 
And lo! One saw, and strung the dissonant lyre, 
Made firm his bow unto the arrow's spire, 
And gave him dates and wine. Then at the first 
Flushings of dawn Ishmael arose, and burst 
To triumphing freedom, ran, and eased desire.

His domain was the desert. None tamed him. 
None bought or sold his spirit, though his hand 
Dripped red against the dawn and sunset stain.

Thrones melted, kingdoms passed to the world's rim. 
But Ishmael scourged the lion in Paran land, 
And kept his faith with God. And he will reign.

- Herbert Edward Palmer

Frazetta Girl Friday – Eowyn

“Eowyn and the Nazgul” by Jorge Carrerro
http://www.craigspearing.com
(Nice, because I got it off somebody’s tumblr, uncredited.)
Adam Schumpert adam.schumperts.com
“Eowyn and the Nazgul” by vbagid
“No Mere Man” by R-Tan (??)
My actual favorite here.

The actual Frazetta “Eowyn vs the Nazgul” pic is laughably pathetic. As is the original lineart, which I would heartily not recomend any one look up on the Frazettagirls.com website and then purchase.

Poetry Corner – The Riders of Babylon

The riders of Babylon clatter forth
Like the hawk-winged scourgers of Azrael
To the meadow-lands of the South and North
And the strong-walled cities of Israel.
They harry the men of the caravans,
They bring rare plunder across the sands
To deck the throne of the great god Baal.
But Babylon's king is a broken shell
And Babylon's queen is a sprite from Hell;
And men shall say, "Here Babylon fell,"
Ere Time has forgot the tale.
The riders of Babylon come and go
From Gaza's halls to the shores of Tyre;
They shake the world from the lands of snow
To the deserts, red in the sunset's fire;
Their horses swim in a sea of gore
And the tribes of the earth bow down before;
They have chained the seas where the Cretans sail.
But Babylon's sun shall set in blood;
Her towers shall sink in a crimson flood;
And men shall say, "Here Babylon stood,"
Ere Time forgot the tale.

- Robert E. Howard