Score a Direct Hit

“ Butterfly   ”

Photo by Ishikoro. Japan.

Bazen öylece rüzgarın ahengine dalar insan. silkeleyip dururken yemyeşil çimenleri..

It's something comforting and protective from childhood that lets you feel safe and soothed.

The original purpose of the Jack-o-lantern, according to the Irish legend, is to protect against wandering or evil spirits. They were a protection ward.

The earliest jack-o-lanterns were carved out of turnips but when pumpkins became a popular discovery from The New World (as they were delicious and easier to carve) Jack-o-lanterns evolved into the popular American-style pumpkin ones we see today. Jack-o-lanterns were originally not just for Halloween.

They could be carved any time (so long as you had pumpkins around) to ward off malevolent spirits. So to me an image of a house with many Jack-o-lanterns is warm and protected. They are a light in darkness.

It's also supposed to be very lucky if you can keep a jack-o-lantern burning all night long.

It's bad luck to blow out a Jack-o-lantern before midnight on Halloween and it is good luck for the whole year if it can keep burning until dawn.

Pop culture depictions of Jack-o-lanterns being used to successfully protect against supernatural threats include:

Trick 'r Treat (2007 movie)

The House with a clock in its walls (novel and movie)

Mervyn in The Sandman: The Kindly Ones (Graphic novel an The Sandman audio drama act 4.)

“go off bestie”? Okay, I will.

This is a plunger.

Classic red cup with a wooden stick. We all know it, love it, and have seen a cartoon character using it to unclog a toilet. Right?

WRONG.

The image above is actually a drain plunger, used on sinks, showers, and baths. Not on toilets.

These are a toilet plungers.

Take note of the variations. Each of them have a flange of sorts at the bottom, either connected via a cup or more accordion-like tube. These are designed to actually get down into the toilet bowl where it flushes down, giving it more space and leverage to unclog blockages. See the example below:

Notice how the flange allows it to go deeper into the toilet to provide more power to the plunge. Sink/drain plungers are far less efficient and effective at the task.

Sink plungers can also have an accordion shape to help with power in plunging, but crucially do not have or need the flange that toilet plungers do.

To recap: cup plungers are for sinks, showers, bathtubs, and other drains. Flange and accordion plungers are for toilets. Notably, accordion plungers are slightly harder to use, but are more powerful when used correctly than their flange counterparts.