#I started this one before 395 but life got in the way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year

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So, I think I’m going to go back and finish The Bugle. It’s a bit weird that I haven’t finished it already, given that it’s one of my favourite things in the world. I left it off after episode 4200, which means 200 episodes into the post-John Oliver era, because for reasons that Andy Zaltzman thinks are funny, he labelled the first post-Oliver one as episode 4001.

The John Oliver era had 295 official episodes, 383 if you count all the filler episodes during off weeks, from October 2007 to June 2016 (395 if you count the entertainingly opinionated daily special reports that Andy Zaltzman did during the 2012 Olympics). Then John Oliver left to go be famous or whatever, and Andy Zaltzman re-invented it as a thing he’d host with a rotating cast of guests from various countries (mainly still England and America, but Australians Alice Fraser and Tom Ballard are among the most common guests, and there are a few regular ones from NZ and India as well).

The first of these, episode 4001, aired in October 2016, but there was a longer gap than there seems based on those dates. By early 2015, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight commitments got significant enough so episodes became sporadic at best, they put out a lot of filler episodes at first, but eventually the gaps were so long that they gave up on that and just had breaks. Breaks that were interrupted by more filler episodes in which Andy Zaltzman would tell us that they’re going to be back soon because John Oliver swears he’ll have time next week, and then there’s another gap of like three months. The final proper Bugle episode from that era was in March 2016; they then came back with a filler episode in April to tell us they’d be back soon, and finally, one June to say they were giving up on it. I listened to all of those 2015-2016 episodes within a couple of days, and fucking hell, it was painful. By the end, I was shouting Monty Python quotes at them: “This is an ex-podcast! Stop nailing it to its perch and trying to sell it back to us! For the love of God, put it out of its misery with some dignity! Let Andy Zaltzman go roam free in the fjords, or whatever the message of that sketch was!”

Anyway. I listened to all those John Oliver-era episodes in one go, almost literally. It took me just under three months, and that might have been a level of fixation that went too far even by my standards. I had The Bugle playing during every second of my life that I wasn’t asleep, or doing something I absolutely had to do for work. It was probably too concentrated a dose, which would be why I felt genuinely depressed when I got to the end of it. Well, that and the inherent tragedy in the way someone can spend so many years building up something amazing and then outgrow the project and their collaborator, everything beautiful ends, nothing gold can stay, and in the words of Andy Zaltzman, if the sun is going to run out of fire at some stage in the future, what’s the fucking point of doing anything now? I might have been projecting my own issues a little.

I didn’t go back to it for a while, because I knew that if I went straight into the post-Oliver Bugle, I would immediately hate it for not being the old thing, and I wanted to give it a better chance than that. I eventually did start from episode 4001, which aired a few weeks before America’s 2016 election, and was a stilted conversation between Andy Zaltzman and a fairly confused Hari Kondabolu, who clearly did not quite know what he’d signed up for. I spent the whole episode trying not to hate Hari Kondabolu for the crime of not being John Oliver, and it only sort of worked. Since then, The Bugle has found its stride, Hari Kondabolu has figured out what it is, and he’s now one of my favourite guests for them to have on, I’ve even gotten into his own stand-up off the back of his Bugle appearances.

Andy Zaltzman himself has admitted it was a rocky transition. He’s said it wasn’t easy to go from the rapport he’d built up for years with John Oliver, to trying to create something similar with people he didn’t know nearly as well. It got better when he stopped trying to make it another version of what it was before, and let it be something else.

It helped when they started occasionally, and then regularly, having two guests at a time, so they could bounce off each other as well, and the chemistry between Andy Zaltzman and one guest didn’t have to carry the episode by itself. Which is good, because Andy Zaltzman had pitch-perfect chemistry with John Oliver, but does not appear to have that with anyone else in the world. It really is amazing, how the John Oliver/Andy Zaltzman thing is the best chemistry I’ve ever heard (not just between two double act partners, but between any two people who’ve tried to do comedy together in any way), but Andy Zaltzman seems incapable of having a natural-seeming interaction with any other human.

Andy Zaltzman has this combination of a fairly niche sense of humour (vaguely surreal in a way he never explains), a penchant for relatively obscure topics and references in his humour, and just a socially awkward personality, that means that isn’t going to work with almost anyone. In several interviews, I’ve heard him stop just barely short of actually saying he knows he got lucky in 2002 to work with the one person in the world who fit perfectly into his style, and that’s why he created a way to stick with that partnership for as long as he possibly could, even when his partner moved across an ocean and pursued different career directions.

It’s difficult to explain exactly what made the Zaltzman and Oliver thing work so well, but I’m going to try. I think it’s the way they could play off each other during pre-written material as easily as most people do when improvising. Normally on a podcast or TV show or anything like that, you get one or the other. Either it’s pre-written, so it’s dense and high-quality really funny stand-up, or you get the spontaneous back-and-forth of two people just talking to each other. Zaltzman and Oliver managed to do both at the same time, which I’m pretty sure is only possible if two people know each other’s comedy styles incredibly well, and have those styles fit together.

They’ve said that the way they did The Bugle was a phone call a few days before recording to agree on what topics they’d discuss, and then they’d separately write material on those topics, and then take turns reciting that material and mutually riffing on it in the actual recording. I don’t think I know of anything else that does things that way. Gets in solid chunks of properly written material, and then does improvised back-and-forth on top of it. I’m going to guess that the reason most people don’t do that is it’s really really difficult.

It's impressive just to write that much material. Yeah, they sporadically take weeks off in which they release filler episodes. And there have been a few extended gaps – they were gone for much of 2015/2016, and they took the summer of 2014 off. But aside from that, Andy Zaltzman has been regularly writing enough new material to fill his half of a 30-45-ish-minute episode on a weekly basis since late 2007. Obviously not every single second of it is solid gold, but still. A hell of a lot of what he comes up with is very good, and that’s a lot more than most comedians write in a year.

This is why when Daniel Kitson starts talking shit about podcasts, and I immediately find myself getting defensive and saying “Okay, okay, I’m all for complaining about the newfangled internet media that those young people are doing these days, but let’s not start disparaging Andy Zaltzman’s life’s work here,” I then remind myself that this isn’t what he means. Most podcasts are just people talking, mostly unscripted, and it probably is fair to suggest that it’s kind of bullshit for that to be considered on par with actually writing strong material (though also I do think unscripted podcasts can be great fun, and some cover important topics and can say important things, and some are just funny because completely unscripted back-and-forth can be very funny even if that isn’t fair to the people who work hard on crafting material, improv is a skill too, and also Daniel Kitson has done much of his complaining about podcasts on his own unscripted radio shows, though to be fair to him, he also talks about how he doesn’t get paid for those radio shows because he knows they don’t count as actual art or work or whatever, anyway this is another subject). But The Bugle does use carefully written material, and add the other stuff that makes podcasts good, and it’s brilliant. It’s fucking brilliant.

But that goes back to what makes the Zaltzman and Oliver thing special, because you just couldn’t do that with most pairs of comedians. They’d worked together a lot before starting The Bugle – on a few joint Edinburgh shows, hosting the Political Animal gig together in Edinburgh and London for a few years, writing and performing the radio show The Department together, getting joint writing credits on a few TV things like that Rory Bremner sketch. And that pretty much was their careers, from 2003-2006. They had a few other things – I assume they did separate stand-up gigs sometimes; John Oliver did Mock the Week a few times, did guest spots on a few other TV things like Armando Iannucci’s Gash, and had “additional material” writing credits on a few TV shows; Andy Zaltzman had a few Radio 4 guest spots – but just about their entire careers were built on stuff they wrote together. Anything either of them wrote at that time would be heavily influenced by the other.

That did change a bit after that, but only on one side. John Oliver had really really significant other things going on, like writing and performing in the premiere political satire show in America, and Andy Zaltzman was doing the same stuff they’d been doing before, stuff that John Oliver has since described as shit (I do understand why the compulsively self-deprecating John Oliver likes to say his career in England was terrible, but hearing him do too much of that does, once again, trigger my “Okay, let’s not disparage Andy Zaltzman’s life’s work here” defensiveness). Which would be why John Oliver described his experience on The Bugle as great fun and because he got to listen to his friend and brilliant comedian Andy Zaltzman be funny for an hour every week, and Andy Zaltzman has described The Bugle with the words “It saved my career.”

This would also be why, when they talked a lot of shit about Rupert Murdoch in 2011 and then got their funded pulled by TimesOnline (not saying there’s causation there, but definitely correlation) and it looked like The Bugle might not be able to keep running, John Oliver said he’d hate to lose thing he loved doing, and Andy Zaltzman used the words “I’ve got Jack K. shit else going on” to explain why he sounded palpably more desperate to find an alternative funding source.

Honestly though, it is cool that even if the desperation wasn’t nearly as significant, John Oliver did still sound invested in finding a way to keep The Bugle going into 2012, and once they did find a way, he stayed with it for a few more years. He barely needed The Bugle when they started it in 2007, and definitely did not need it by 2012. By then was one of the most successful Daily Show writers/correspondents and regularly traveled all over the United States to perform stand-up – no way did he need the money or any extra fame he’d get out of The Bugle. He was just doing it for the love of the game by then, the world got way more years of John Oliver doing a trans-Atlantic topical podcast than they had any right to, which I try to remind myself when I’m annoyed that it didn’t last forever. I’ve just said it’s impressive that Andy Zaltzman writes as much material as he has to for The Bugle – John Oliver was doing that as his side gig next to the Daily Show.

Having said that, that is why, while they were definitely equal co-hosts and no one was anyone’s sidekick (fuck you, Dominic Maxwell), Andy Zaltzman tended to have more minutes of prepared material in most episodes, and why he was the one doing things like the Bugle blog, finding a lot of the stories, coming up with the more complicated concepts and conceits to try out. Which means that while John Oliver was writing with lots of different people and for lots of different audiences and in lots of different mediums, almost everything Andy Zaltzman wrote was for The Bugle, and therefore for getting picked apart with John Oliver. They established their comedy styles together, and then they kept developing together, with everything Andy wrote and at least some things John wrote getting tested out on each other each week. They didn’t just learn each other’s humour, they created it. Obviously there had to be some compatibility to start with – they both had a few years of trying comedy before 2003, and they both just brought different skills to the table, and at some point figured out that what they already had fit together well. But after that, they had years of taking something that worked, and developing it in the direction of working more and more.

I am convinced that all of this was required to create the magic in those first seven-ish years of Bugle episodes. That’s how they could come to the table with material they had not already tested on the other person, and be confident that it would work. They’ve said they never heard each other’s material before the actual recording, which was a cool way to make the reactions natural, but they didn’t plan it that way specifically to manufacture that effect – it was just done because Johnny Showbiz (as Andy affectionately nicknamed him for seven years, and then repeated with at least a little genuine bitterness in his voice during some of the low points of 2015) could only carve out so much time.

That’s how they were able to create lightning in a bottle with the quality and precision of something pre-planned, and the fun of spontaneity. They were each so good at knowing when to pause in their material to let the other come in on something, and knowing when to keep going because what they had next was going to be better than the interjection. And they knew when to interrupt and when to let the other stay on their roll. They knew how to elicit certain reactions out of each other, and how to react in ways that set up the next bit, even when they didn’t know exactly what the next bit would be. They knew when to go off script and how to go back. They knew how to add bits of their material into the middle of the other’s monologue. They knew how to write their bits so they not only wouldn’t clash with what the other one would write, but would build on it.

Every once in a while there would be some little awkward misstep, like if one of them read out their material on a topic and the other admitted… “Well that’s basically what I had, so no point in me doing mine.” But that sort of thing almost never happened, and when you think about it, that’s fucking impressive. The existence of a few missteps just highlights how impressive it is that they were rare.

They also had other sources of natural double act chemistry. It helps that they clearly find each other genuinely funny. Every Andy Zaltzman monologue is made more delightful by the sound of John Oliver stifling giggles in the background, and every John Oliver rant is made better by hearing Andy Zaltzman choke on his words a little as he tries to respond. You know that thing where people on panel shows will laugh too loudly at someone’s joke, and sometimes I’ve heard that joke said on a different show and those people were both there at that time so they’re clearly just pretending that this is their first time hearing it? I don’t even really mind that, I know that’s how panel shows are going to work. But The Bugle was the absolute opposite of that, and it’s great. No one was pretending anything. They had so much shared history, and if one of them said something the other had heard before, the other would point that out, probably accompanied by some story of who scored the last goal in the football game at which they first told that joke or something like that.

I’ve compared it to a sport before, and I maintain that that comparison. Sometimes, when they get into a really good rhythm, listening to it is exactly as impressive as watching two people who are really really good at a sport do that sport at each other for an extended period of time, with no interruptions, just the purest form of what they do.

In my own sport, you sometimes get that kind of magic when you have two training partners who’ve known each other and worked together for a long time. Person A learns exactly how to respond to everything Person B does, so Person B has to learn how to counter those responses, and then Person A learns how to counter that, and so on and so on. We talk in the sport about first-line/second-line/third-line defence, but if two people work together for long enough, they get into seventh-, eighth-, ninth-line defense. What do you do if you do this and then they do this and then you do this but they do this and you do this and they do this? No matter how good two athletes are, they don’t get that far against opponents they don’t know. The highest level of the sport I’ve ever seen in person has not been in the finals of national championships or at the international tournaments I’ve attended, it’s been in a practice room between two high-level athletes who are longtime training partners.

That’s the best analogy I have for why Zaltzman and Oliver worked. They kept trying to find ways to impress each other and surprise each other, kept finding different ways to respond to the other’s material, kept finding new ways to fit their ideas together. Learned exactly which way to go when one person tries one thing, and then how to respond to that, and they sound like they could go forever.

I’ve found it really sad, in my time in sport, when longtime training partners get split up because one moves away or moves on or something else. It’s a loss to the sport. You can’t just create that again. They were doing something that most people can’t do, and I hate seeing a dynamic that pushed the sport’s boundaries get dissolved.

I did think that when the initial era of The Bugle ended. Though I have to admit… okay, I hate ever admitting that any kind of change might have any upsides, because as a rule, I am no fan of change. But I have to admit that Andy Zaltzman’s comedy did start getting noticeably stronger in the few years that followed that. It had been getting better at a steady rate before that, you can hear it develop as the early Bugle years progressed, but there was a steep incline around 2017, as he began the new era of The Bugle. He jumped a couple of levels all at once.

I’m sure there are multiple reasons for that. He’s a topical and political comedian doing a trans-Atlantic podcast, and this did coincide with some major political shake-ups, trans-Atlantically. So he had new stuff to work with, and maybe some genuine emotional responses that created a more visceral feel to the comedy.

But also, as beautiful as a longtime training partnership can be, I have also, as a coach, sometimes moved around an athlete who’d been working with one person for too long. Told them that I know what they do with their main training partner is great, but there are massive holes in their game in the shape of all the things that one partner doesn’t do, and they need to work with other people to be more well-rounded. I’ve sometimes made the mistake of not doing that in time, and then taken an athlete who did amazing things in the training room with their one partner, sent them into a tournament they should have been good enough to win, and watched them get caught in something easy and obvious because they’d never learned how to respond to it.

I realize I’m stretching the metaphor here, possibly beyond the point where it makes sense, but that might have come into play with Andy Zaltzman. Like I said, John Oliver had other shit going on, but Andy Zaltzman, for years, wrote everything with the intention of fitting it into John Oliver’s contributions. I’ve heard his stand-up from those years – clips of it were often released as Bugle filler episodes, and a few other recordings of it are floating around – and it sounds like pretty much all his stand-up shows consisted of stuff he’d originally written for The Bugle. Which makes sense – he wrote so much for that podcast, he’s not going to write a whole extra hour for Edinburgh every year. He’s going to take the best of what he has.

Andy Zaltzman started trying new things when he wasn’t working with John Oliver anymore. He started combining the surreal stuff with the grounded political points in ways he never had before. Started injecting a little more real emotion into it, possibly because he was no longer playing the dispassionate foil to John Oliver’s grandstanding. I think he might be a better individual comedian now than he would have been if that hadn’t changed.

So he had the new and improved material, and he had new partnerships. Lots of new Bugle co-hosts, all of whom brought different things to the table, and gave him different things to play off. It was awkward at first, but he figured it out. Not really by getting less awkward, but by learning to work around it. Having multiple co-hosts who could play off each other. Starting live shows so they could play off the audience. Making the show about the variety of personalities and comedy styles, about the new features and the advances in Andy Zaltzman’s comedy, rather than the rapport between just two people.

And it’s not like he never had anything going with anyone else. I’d say the real turning point for The Bugle, back into something great, even if different, was when Alice Fraser got on board. She became a regular, and now appears in most episodes, alongside whoever else is there that week. Having that consistency again is good, and of course it’s good that it comes with someone who’s so individually funny, and who fits into The Bugle. Because she is, and she does. She has a similar sense of humour to Andy Zaltzman. She knows Andy’s sense of humour, she’s talked about having listened to The Bugle in the Zaltzman and Oliver days, she knew what she was getting into.

But still… Zaltzman and Fraser are very funny together, I would not call it the same level of “chemistry” as Zaltzman and Oliver. Same with Zaltzman and Kumar, even though Nish is on there a lot as well, and with his longtime friendship with Andy and longtime fandom of the original Bugle, he definitely knew what he was getting into and was the right fit for the show. Alice Fraser and Nish Kumar play effortlessly well off each other when they’re on together. And they clearly both have massive respect for Andy Zaltzman – I get the impression that they would both die for him and/or throw hands to defend his honour, if necessary. And they clearly both find Andy very funny. But still, there is a bit of a beat missing in their back-and-forth with him.

That still works, though. Andy Zaltzman’s relentless lack of chemistry with anyone in the world who isn’t John Oliver (and maybe Mark Steel) can be very, very funny. Awkwardness is funny. The awkwardness that stubbornly sticks around in Andy’s interactions, even with fellow comedians he likes and gets along with and shares a sense of humour with, can definitely be funny. There’s a difference between the awkwardness in early 4000-series Bugle episodes, when Andy clearly had no idea what to do with this Hari Kondabolu person, and the awkwardness of Andy Zaltzman just trying to talk to someone he knows and likes but isn’t quite in step with. The latter is quite entertaining.

Anyway. That’s what The Bugle is. I listened to episodes 4001-4200, from October 2016 to July 2021, last year. I listened to it stumble as it tried to rebuild, and then slowly find its feet, and then turn into something new and fantastic in its own way. I listened to that relatively recent interview in which Tiff Stevenson sounded like she was kind of trying to lead Andy Zaltzman toward admitting that the reborn version of The Bugle is actually better than the original version, and he politely (and awkwardly, as always) declined to do so, saying they’re both excellent and too different to compare.

And then I stopped. It was October 2022, and it was getting too close to the present. I’d started listening to The Bugle for the escapism, and the topical stuff was getting close enough to no longer be escapist. I decided I needed a break, so I put The Bugle on hold while I got into other things. I knew I’d go back and finish it, and I expected to do so sooner than this. I got rather distracted. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting my search for, among other things, Daniel Kitson recordings, to be quite so successful (honestly I lucked into it being unbelievably successful, it got rather out of hand). I was a bit busy discovering the collected works of the greatest comedian of his generation, and telling him to stop being a dick about Andy Zaltzman’s life’s work (and occasionally coming across a recording of Kitson performing with Zaltzman, which is always hilarious due to the absolute dearth of chemistry between them, Kitson has one story about a time when hanging out with Andy Zaltzman for a night was so fucking awkward that he had to cut off a dead pig’s head just to salvage the evening – there were other factors at play to make that evening difficult, but I think Andy Zaltzman also just has that effect on people, they find out they don't have as many human buffers as they were expecting between themselves and Andy, and they start cutting up farm animals).

So I’m going back to The Bugle. I’ve listened to every episode they’ve put out between October 2007 and July 2021, and I really may as well listen to the last couple of years worth of episodes, and bring it up to date. Episode 4261 aired last week, so that’s 61 episodes to catch up on. As I wrote that, and realized there are only 61 more episodes out of the hundreds I’ve already heard, I remember that I also put it on hold because I enjoy it so much that I don’t want to get to the end of it. But it’s all right, because they’re still putting out new ones regularly. Andy Zaltzman has dragged this podcast through so many changes and so many threats to its existence, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be around as long as he still has breath in his lungs and that shed in his backyard where he does his writing and personally keeps political comedy in the UK alive.

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arhvste · 4 years

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❝atsumu, kuroo, tsukishima and bokuto playing acnh ❞

miya atsumu

→ first he called the game dumb but he eventually gave in because everyone and their aunts were playing it and he didn’t wanna be left out

→ mf tries so hard for raymond at first

→ he insists it’s just because he can sell him for a lot

→ he really just wants raymond because he lowkey reminds him of osamu

→ anyways this fool doesn’t get raymond but ya know who he does get?

→ pedro

→ atsumu was ✨disgusted✨

→ “a clown?! a fukn clown?! yer jokin me!”

→ “aw don’t cry he fits in so well on your island 😹”

→ “sHUT YER TRAP 😠😠😠”

→ he hated pedro at first and for what?

→ eventually he starts vibing with him though

→ he decides that perhaps... pedro isn’t a bad guy after all

→ so atsumu develops a soft spot for him and begins to favour him over the rest of his mediocre villagers whose names he can’t be bothered to remember

→ ya know whose name he can remeber though?

→ BELLA 😡😠😡😠😡😡😠

→ the name that sparks rage in him

→ atsumu hits his villagers with his net shouting “nice cut g!” as a joke

→ with bella he’s not joking 😐

→ he hits her repeatedly and grins maliciously when she gets angry eventually

→ LOVES shoving her into pitfalls for absolutely no reason

→ cusses her out under his breath

→ writes hate mail to her only to get fustrated when she sends a nice reply about the flowers she saw the other day that reminded her of him

→ honestly bella girl it ain’t worth it, pack your bags and get outta there sis 😔

→ he wants her to get tf off his island because he doesn’t like her but he also kinda wants her to stay because he loves annoying her and making her angry

→ literally goes out of his way to buy the ugliest clothes for her to wear

→ he also has all his villagers address him as “big dick man”

→ pedro is special though 😳

→ pedro is the chosen one who gets to call him “tsumu”

→ JUST PEDRO 😤😾😡

→ literally thinks it’s the funniest thing when his villagers say “hey big dick man! the weather sure is great today isn’t it!”

→ you can hear his cackling from down the hall

→ thinks it’s the peak of comedy

→ oh and you’re not allowed to visit his island on a saturday

→ saturdays are “for the boys”

→ and by that he means he’s just going to buy a ton of matching clothes for him and pedro and talk to him all day until he eventually annoys pedro by accident to which he genuinely gets upset about

→ he doesn’t really bother with the fishing tourneys or bug offs

→ does catch a few though just to make sure he beats bella earns nook miles

→ pretty average island, not too much effort put into it yet

→ atsumu prefers channeling his energy and game time into bullying bella interacting with his villagers

kuroo tetsurō

→ bangs. it. tf. out.

→ literally acts like he doesn’t care about the game but has 395+ hours game time

→ uses the excuse it’s to play with kenma but kuroo actually got into it before kenma had the chance to look at it properly

→ fishing tourney KING

→ has multiple gold trophy’s and built a whole extension just to show them off

→ also treats all his villagers equally

→ he was a bit picky and only wanted cats and dogs on his island though

→ if you’re anything but a cat or a dog, i’m sorry but kuroo will timeskip you tf off of his island

→ has a soft spot for lucky but doesn’t admit it

→ he likes to come across as a “fair dictator of the island”

→ just admit luckys your fav and go oh my god

→ his house is really nice too

→ pretty much paid off all his debt and is financially responsible 😼

→ he will send you money over a few times a week because he claims he’s a good boyfie virtually and realistically

→ LOVES opening the letters from ‘mom’

→ it’s a small detail in the game but it brings kuroo comfort when he opens the letters and sometimes receives gifts from his virtual ‘mom’ 🥺

→ keeps all the letters from her because that’s what he would do if his real mom ever wrote to him

→ he’s a shameless timeskipper

→ “tetsu?? where tf did you get all this the games only been out a week??”

→ “👁👁 idk what you’re talking about baby”

→ the thing that annoys him the most are the fossils

→ HATES the stupid little marks in the ground that appear every day

→ also HATES talking to blathers

→ “spit it out already! i have places to be and villagers to see!”

→ completely ignores blathers’ real name and refers to him as ‘bokuto’

→ because he’s an owl duh

→ and bokuto also talks a lot

→ you thought it was a cute friendship thing at first but took it back when you heard him muttering under his breath

→ “oh my god just analyse the fossils already you himbo bird!”

→ “did you just call blathers a himbo? 😳”

→ “...no? 😳👀”

→ all in all, kuroo’s pretty good at the game

→ you like visiting his island because he has a ton of extra stuff he just gives you

→ “i never want to hear you call me a bad boyfriend again 😐”

→ “okay fine...but oNLY if you give me an ironwood dresser 😏”

tsukishima kei

→ another one who bangs it out

→ doesn’t really care when you point it out though

→ “you’re just jealous your islands a dumping ground compared to mine 🥱”

→ “k-kei 😔”

→ also sprints near where you’re fishing to scare the fish off and be spiteful 💀

→ little shit KNOWS you only need oranges to complete all the fruits on your island

→ he also knows you’re out of nook miles tickets

→ “aw that’s a shame, maybe if you were a bit better at the game you’d find them quicker but good luck! 😀”

→ oranges are his native fruit 😐😑😐

→ eventually he gives you them because you’re relentless and his patience runs thin after a while

→ good at the bug offs

→ pretty good at scorpion/tarantula hunting too

→ convinced spike is in love with him after the amount of scorpions and tarantulas he’s donated to him

→ his fossil exhibition in the museum is completed already

→ when blathers tells him the facts about the dinosaurs he just rolls his eyes

→ “i knew that already you stupid bird 🙄”

→ why’s everyone bullying blathers damn 😿

→ now, he likes henry

→ one of the few villagers he doesn’t bully

→ tsukki doesnt particularly care for majority of his villagers

→ henry has a special place in his heart though

→ maybe it’s because henry isn’t overly perky or he isn’t rude like the cranky villagers which tsukishima doesn’t like

→ henry is just??? so??? nice????

→ he can’t hate him

→ all his villagers have catchphrases that are dumb af

→ tsukki thought he was being clever when he made them but he just looks mean when other people talk to his villagers

→ “good morning i am useless! i love your outfit!”

→ henry gets to call him tsukki though

→ only because he figured out that henry reminds him of yamaguchi

→ that’s the only reason henry’s the exception to his bullying

→ i feel like tsukki has a pretty nice house too

→ he makes a lot of bells from selling scorpions and tarantulas and spare fossils he’s dug up

→ doesn’t really care about the size but has very detailed rooms

→ like all the furniture in his rooms follow a scheme

→ mf never opens his mailbox

→ doesn’t care for what the other “peasants have to say for themselves”

→ terraforming isn’t really his thing tbh

→ doesn’t like how slow the process and be and kinda likes the natural flat land

→ he likes laying down paths though

→ cusses villagers out when they get in the way though

→ full on shoves them and will keep shoving them until they get annoyed just because they’ve annoyed him

→ tsukki doesnt put as much time into the game as kuroo but his island is still pretty good and aesthetically pleasing

→ he just won’t help you make yours look like that 💀

bokuto koutarō

→ weeds. everywhere.

→ get so confused when he’s told he has to pick them all

→ “really? why can’t i just let them grow though i kinda like them 🤩”

→ mf ✨struggles✨ at the first stages

→ “y/n, you know i love you, please give me 30 iron nuggets 🥺💖💞💗”

→ ofc you give them to him because you’re well ahead in the game and don’t need them as much as he does

→ praises you like royalty but then he’s back to begging for materials from you 💀

→ doesn’t pay his debts

→ you’re gonna have to help him out here

→ doesn’t like the idea of having to constantly pay them off

→ like?? he doesn’t want a bigger house so why is this damn raccoon always bothering him to upgrade like leave him and his 2 room house alone 😠

→ has a the same camp bed and lamp from when he first moved out the tent 💀

→ insists he doesn’t need another one because the furniture all functions the same

→ he has a point tbf but his house just isn’t aesthetically pleasing

→ he also hoards stuff

→ common butterfly? yeah bokuto has 37 sitting in his storage

→ doesn’t like letting the bugs go because he “caught them fair and square”

→ you show him how to pay his debts back and then he dedicates a whole room to his stupid bugs 💀

→ loves blathers and celeste just because they’re owls

→ doesn’t care about what they’re wittering on about he loves interacting with them just because they’re the only owls in the game 😐

→ his favourite villager is kid cat

→ literally follows him around and sprints circles around him

→ l o v e s the chaos outside the town hall

→ 2 of his villagers are singing, 3 are running around and 1 is just watching like 🧍🏻‍♀️

→ HYPES his singing villagers tf up

→ “yeah get it bianca! turn it up!!! 🥳🥳”

→ has to match his villagers clothes at least once a week

→ also makes them all refer to him as “the best ace”

→ it boosts his ego a little more each time they say it

→ bokuto actually got raymond out of luck but had no idea who tf he was and just how popular he was

→ lets that mf go without advertising that raymond’s in boxes

→ atsumu screeches when he finds this out eventually

→ bokuto doesn’t care what his villagers look like everyone’s welcome

→ bella should move to bokuto’s island and move from atsumu’s because bokuto will accept her with open arms rather than a net to the head everytime he sees her 😿

→ ALWAYS remembers birthdays for his villagers

→ and always shows up to their birthday parties insisting he’s the life of the party and they’d be bored without him 😹

→ which is true to a certain degree cause the party only really starts when the player arrives

→ bokuto is actually okay at terraforming

→ quickly changes his mind after an hour of building and digging and restarts it all over again

→ he can make his island look pretty good

→ theres just weeds and buried fossils everywhere though 👁👁

→ also forgets his turnips go bad

→ literally the least financially responsible out of them all

→ it’s okay though because you help him and he eventually gets the hang of it

general taglist → @atsumuwoah @bloody-bella @bbymilkbread @miracleboy420 @doggonudez @atsunakaashi @peteunderoos @saturnfarie @toffees-main @zumisace @boosyboo9206 @totorosleaff @27kei

please send an ask to be added / removed from my taglist

ALL CONTENT BELONGS TO @KUROOSKULT ON TUMBLR 2020 PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, CHANGE OR PLAGIARISE

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angelhummel · 3 years

Text

once again i spent hours of my life answering >5000 questions in order to sort almost all of the glee songs ever (there’s 683 songs in the sorter when there’s over 700 on the show) anyway if you wanna see my rankings for those then check it out <3 [also here’s the sorter!]

1 Being Alive 2 Rose's Turn 3 Baby, It's Cold Outside 4 Le Jazz Hot 5 Maybe This Time 6 And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going 7 Come What May 8 To Sir, With Love 9 As If We Never Said Goodbye 10 Valerie 11 Somewhere Only We Know 12 Cough Syrup 13 Teenage Dream 14 Not The Boy Next Door 15 It's Too Late 16 It's My Life / Confessions Part II 17 Start Me Up / Livin' On A Prayer 18 When I Get You Alone 19 The Happening 20 The Boy Is Mine 21 Home 22 Don't You Want Me 23 How Will I Know 24 Bad Romance 25 Not While I'm Around 26 Scream 27 Shake It Out 28 On My Own 29 Hate On Me 30 Bills, Bills, Bills 31 4 Minutes 32 True Colors 33 There Are Worse Things I Could Do 34 Go Your Own Way 35 Jessie's Girl 36 Proud Mary 37 Tongue Tied 38 Last Christmas 39 Somebody Loves You 40 Back To Black 41 Sweet Transvestite 42 For Good 43 At The Ballet 44 Gloria 45 Blame It (On The Alcohol) 46 Like A Prayer 47 So Emotional 48 Misery 49 Nasty / Rhythm Nation 50 Toxic 51 Don't Speak 52 Born This Way 53 Dog Days Are Over 54 Defying Gravity 55 Last Name 56 Womanizer 57 I Will Always Love You 58 Broadway Baby 59 The Lady Is A Tramp 60 I'm A Slave 4 U 61 Centerfold / Hot In Herre 62 Thriller / Heads Will Roll 63 Bust Your Windows 64 Candyman 65 Brave 66 Boys / Boyfriend 67 The Scientist 68 The Scientist (Acapella) 69 Dream On 70 Hey Jude 71 I Lived 72 I'm Still Here 73 I Believe In A Thing Called Love 74 Me Against The Music 75 Like A Virgin 76 My Man 77 Everybody Wants To Rule The World 78 I Have Nothing 79 Blackbird 80 Got To Get You Into My Life 81 Animal 82 3 83 I Follow Rivers 84 Just The Way You Are 85 Constant Craving 86 Don't Stop Me Now 87 Hung Up 88 Let's Have A Kiki 89 Love Shack 90 Marry The Night 91 Hit Me With Your Best Shot / One Way Or Another 92 It's Not Right, But It's Okay 93 I Want To Hold Your Hand 94 All You Need Is Love 95 Getting Married Today 96 Don't Rain On My Parade 97 Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals) 98 We've Got Tonite 99 Smooth Criminal 100 Uptown Girl 101 Sway 102 If I Die Young 103 No One Is Alone 104 Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee 105 No Scrubs 106 Mamma Mia 107 Papa Don't Preach 108 Teenage Dream (Acoustic Version) 109 Santa Baby 110 We Found Love 111 Roar 112 She's Not There 113 Spotlight 114 The Way You Look Tonight/You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile 115 Some Nights 116 Rumour Has It / Someone Like You 117 You Make Me Feel So Young 118 You Keep Me Hangin' On 119 I'll Stand By You (Amber) 120 Hand In My Pocket / I Feel The Earth Move 121 Crazy / U Drive Me Crazy 122 Funny Girl 123 Cold Hearted 124 Keep Holding On 125 Bye Bye Bye / I Want It That Way 126 I Know Where I've Been 127 I Kissed A Girl (Season Six) 128 Hopelessly Devoted To You 129 Homeward Bound / Home 130 Into The Groove 131 Hold On 132 Tell Him 133 Nutbush City Limits 134 Because You Loved Me 135 Perfect 136 Cherish / Cherish 137 Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) 138 Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead 139 You Are The Sunshine Of My Life 140 Tik Tok 141 The Safety Dance 142 Oops!... I Did It Again 143 Run Joey Run 144 Time Warp 145 Something's Coming 146 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 147 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 148 Vogue 149 Downtown 150 Diva 151 Dancing With Myself 152 Rockstar 153 Wrecking Ball 154 We Are Young 155 I Saw Her Standing There 156 Jumpin', Jumpin' 157 Just Can't Get Enough 158 Take Me To Church 159 Wannabe 160 It's All Over 161 Take Me Home Tonight 162 If I Were A Boy 163 Landslide 164 Pompeii 165 The Bitch Is Back / Dress You Up 166 Christmas Wrapping 167 Buenos Aires 168 Call Me Maybe 169 You Can't Stop The Beat 170 Seasons Of Love 171 Safety Dance 172 Dream A Little Dream 173 Alfie 174 I Want To Break Free 175 Baby One More Time 176 A House Is Not A Home 177 Daydream Believer 178 I Don't Know How To Love Him 179 Hungry Like The Wolf / Rio 180 Suddenly Seymour 181 People 182 Silly Love Songs 183 Love Song 184 Shout It Out Loud 185 Some People 186 One Of Us 187 Sing! 188 Up Up Up 189 Torn 190 Popular 191 This Is The New Year 192 Paradise By The Dashboard Light 193 Let It Snow 194 Let It Be 195 Never Can Say Goodbye 196 Touch A Touch A Touch A Touch Me 197 La Isla Bonita 198 Tightrope 199 My Love Is Your Love 200 Love Is A Battlefield 201 Losing My Religion 202 Total Eclipse Of The Heart 203 This Time 204 I Dreamed A Dream 205 Leaving On A Jet Plane 206 Locked Out Of Heaven 207 Chandelier 208 Girl On Fire 209 Telephone 210 Don't Cry For Me Argentina 211 Human Nature 212 Halo / Walking On Sunshine 213 Anything Goes / Anything You Can Do 214 Make You Feel My Love 215 Stronger 216 Nowadays / Hot Honey Rag 216 Pumpin' Blood 218 Papa Can You Hear Me? 219 Summer Nights 220 Sweet Caroline 221 Superstition 222 We Will Rock You 223 Alone 224 Hello, I Love You 225 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) 226 A Hard Day's Night 227 Mine 228 My Prerogative 229 Beauty School Drop Out 230 My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) 231 Extraordinary Merry Christmas 232 Every Breath You Take 233 Express Yourself 234 Everybody Talks 235 Everytime 236 Marry You 237 Moves Like Jagger / Jumpin' Jack Flash 238 My Favorite Things 239 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 240 River Deep, Mountain High 241 My Life Would Suck Without You 242 Be Okay 243 Applause 244 Cool 245 All I Want For Christmas Is You 246 American Boy 247 Cell Block Tango 248 Breakaway 249 Don't Dream It's Over 250 Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself) 251 Whatever Happened To Saturday Night? 252 Without You 253 Science Fiction Double Feature 254 Loser Like Me 255 I Kissed A Girl 256 I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You 257 I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) / You Make My Dreams 258 Don't Stop Believin' (Season 5) 259 Empire State Of Mind 260 Old Time Rock & Roll / Danger Zone 261 Take My Breath Away 262 You Get What You Give 263 Take On Me 264 Beautiful 265 It's Time 266 ABC 267 Afternoon Delight 268 Don't Stand So Close To Me / Young Girl 269 Don't Stop Believin' (Season 1) 270 Colorblind 271 Cool Kids 272 Dancing Queen 273 Songbird 274 Somebody That I Used To Know 275 Singing In The Rain / Umbrella 276 I Feel Pretty / Unpretty 277 Borderline / Open Your Heart 278 In My Life 279 I'm Still Standing 280 Blow Me (One Last Kiss) 281 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? 282 Do They Know It's Christmas? 283 Mustang Sally 284 Pinball Wizard 285 Anything Could Happen 286 America 287 Any Way You Want It 288 Higher Ground 289 Flashdance... What A Feeling 290 My Life 291 Let It Go 292 If I Can't Have You 293 L-O-V-E 294 Closer 295 Addicted To Love 296 Heroes 297 A Boy Like That 298 Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend / Material Girl 299 Holding Out For A Hero 300 Dinosaur 301 Disco Inferno 302 Party All The Time 303 Raise Your Glass 304 Push It 305 Lean On Me 306 Pure Imagination 307 Lovefool 308 Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' 309 Americano / Dance Again 310 All Of Me 311 At Last 312 Promises, Promises 313 Hair / Crazy In Love 314 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 315 Chasing Pavements 316 Don't You (Forget About Me) 317 Love Child 318 School's Out 319 Poker Face 320 Boogie Shoes 321 Bootylicious 322 I Love New York / New York, New York 323 One Less Bell To Answer 324 Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours 325 Rehab 326 I Don't Want To Know 327 Shout 328 I'm The Greatest Star 329 I Love It 330 Never Say Never 331 Juke Box Hero 332 One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer 333 Glad You Came 334 For Once In My Life 335 Here Comes The Sun 336 Baby It's You 337 Drive My Car 338 Last Friday Night 339 Roots Before Branches 340 The Only Exception 341 Survivor / I Will Survive 342 All Or Nothing 343 Time After Time 344 You're The One That I Want 345 Yeah! 346 Starships 347 You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 348 Story Of My Life 349 Something 350 We Need A Little Christmas 351 Gold Digger 352 Beth 353 Fighter 354 Forget You 355 How To Be A Heartbreaker 356 Get Back 357 Love You Like A Love Song 358 There's A Light (Over At The Frankenstein Place) 359 We Got The Beat 360 Make 'Em Laugh 361 Sing 362 U Can't Touch This 363 Try A Little Tenderness 364 Pony 365 On Our Way 366 Lucky Star 367 Loser 368 Over The Rainbow 369 Outcast 370 Stop! In The Name Of Love / Free Your Mind 371 What Makes You Beautiful 372 Will You Love Me Tomorrow / Head Over Feet 373 Wide Awake 374 Wishin' And Hoping 375 Yesterday 376 Out Here On My Own 377 You're All The World To Me 378 Somethin' Stupid 379 Someday We'll Be Together 380 River 381 The Longest Time 382 Somebody To Love 383 The Edge Of Glory 384 The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year 385 Lucky 386 Memory 387 Mary's Boy Child 388 Longest Time 389 My Dark Side 390 Taking Chances 391 The First Noël 392 Smile 393 Celebrity Skin 394 All That Jazz 395 A Thousand Years 396 Big Girls Don't Cry 397 Ain't No Way 398 Don't Sleep In The Subway 399 Doo Wop (That Thing) 400 Don't Stop 401 Uptight (Everything's Alright) 402 New York State Of Mind 403 Turning Tables 404 Vacation 405 Fire 406 Hold It Against Me 407 I've Gotta Be Me 408 Endless Love 409 Run The World (Girls) 410 Saving All My Love For You 411 Give Up The Funk 412 I Am Changing 413 I Melt With You 414 I Could Have Danced All Night 415 Fat Bottomed Girls 416 Hot For Teacher 417 Never Going Back Again 418 Imagine 419 Jolene 420 Arthur's Theme 421 Damn It, Janet 422 Control 423 Barracuda 424 Copacabana 425 Barely Breathing 426 I Look To You 427 Come Sail Away 428 Jump 429 Clarity 430 Friday I'm In Love 431 Jar Of Hearts 432 It's Not Unusual 433 Footloose 434 Here Comes Santa Claus 435 Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy 436 Help! 437 Greased Lightning 438 Hell To The No 439 All Out Of Love 440 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman 441 Candles 442 All By Myself 443 Hello Goodbye 444 It's A Man's Man's Man's World 445 I Say A Little Prayer 446 It Must Have Been Love 447 Just Give Me A Reason 448 Come See About Me 449 Born To Hand Jive 450 I Want To Know What Love Is 451 I Wish 452 I'll Remember 453 Get It Right 454 (I've Had) The Time Of My Life 455 I'll Stand By You (Cory) 456 Forever Young 457 A Change Would Do You Good 458 Smile (Charlie Chaplin song) 459 Best Day Of My Life 460 An Innocent Man 461 Dreams 462 All About That Bass 463 Home (originally by Michael Bublé) 464 Black Or White 465 Baby 466 Bad 467 Problem 468 Oh Chanukah 469 What Kind Of Fool 470 Wings 471 You're My Best Friend 472 You're All I Need To Get By 473 White Christmas 474 Whenever I Call You Friend 475 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 476 What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) 477 Wedding Bell Blues 478 More Than A Feeling 479 More Than A Woman 480 Our Day Will Come 481 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 482 Here's To Us 483 Honesty 484 Hall Of Fame 485 It's All Coming Back To Me Now 486 Teach Your Children 487 Night Fever 488 What The World Needs Now 489 Listen 490 Let Me Love You 491 Live While We're Young 492 Light Up The World 493 Trouty Mouth 494 Werewolves Of London 495 Kiss 496 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 497 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) 498 Mickey 499 Mean 500 Mercy 501 Merry Christmas Darling 502 Let's Wait Awhile 503 Man In The Mirror 504 Rather Be 505 Rise 506 Good Vibrations 507 Faithfully 508 Firework 509 How Deep Is Your Love 510 Fix You 511 Fire And Rain 512 Give Your Heart A Break 513 Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree 514 Little Girls 515 Cry 516 Bust A Move 517 Bridge Over Troubled Water 518 Bring Him Home 519 Cheek To Cheek 520 Break Free 521 As Long As You're There 522 Big Ass Heart 523 Bitch 524 Bamboleo / Hero 525 Away In A Manger 526 Deck The Rooftop 527 Christmas Eve With You 528 Angels We Have Heard On High 529 Creep 530 Crush 531 Make No Mistake, She's Mine 532 Lose My Breath 533 Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise) 534 What I Did For Love 535 Wake Me Up 536 Thousand Miles 537 Take A Bow 538 Still Got Tonight 539 The Music Of The Night 540 Stereo Hearts 541 The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) 542 Take Me Or Leave Me 543 I'm The Only One 544 Isn't She Lovely 545 I Just Can't Stop Loving You 546 I'll Never Fall In Love Again 547 Unchained Melody 548 You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch 549 You Have More Friends Than You Know 550 You Should Be Dancing 551 I'm His Child 552 You Learn / You've Got A Friend 553 Somewhere 554 So Far Away 555 Uptown Funk 556 The Winner Takes It All 557 They Long To Be Close To You 558 Tonight 559 Being Good Isn't Good Enough 560 You May Be Right 561 To Love You More 562 Don't Wanna Lose You 563 Do You Hear What I Hear? 564 Ice Ice Baby 565 Don't Go Breaking My Heart 566 Don't Make Me Over 567 I Won't Give Up 568 I'll Be Home For Christmas 569 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 570 I Still Believe / Super Bass 571 I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) 572 I Want You Back 573 Father Figure 574 Everybody Hurts 574 Gangnam Style 576 We Are The Champions 577 Stayin' Alive 578 Superman 579 The Rose 580 Don't Stop Believin' (Rachel) 581 Fly / I Believe I Can Fly 582 Gives You Hell 583 I Love L.A. 584 Mr. Roboto / Counting Stars 585 O Holy Night 586 Only The Good Die Young 587 One 588 Silent Night 589 Piano Man 590 Sexy And I Know It 591 Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band 592 Pretending 593 Physical 594 Danny's Song 595 Stand 596 The Final Countdown 597 You Can't Always Get What You Want 598 You Are Woman, I Am Man 599 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 600 Your Song 601 Say 602 No Air 603 Need You Now 604 No Surrender 605 Piece Of My Heart 606 Thong Song 607 Blurred Lines 608 Another One Bites The Dust 609 I Was Here 610 Bella Notte 611 I Know What Boys Like 612 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 613 Glory Days 614 Friday 615 More Than Words 616 Waiting For A Girl Like You 617 Welcome Christmas 618 You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) 619 You Give Love A Bad Name 620 We Built This City 621 Whistle 622 Who Are You Now? 623 You And I / You And I 624 Take Care Of Yourself 625 Tell Me Something Good 626 The Rain In Spain 627 Can't Fight This Feeling 628 Jingle Bell Rock 629 In Your Eyes 630 Hello 631 Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) 632 I Only Have Eyes For You 633 Jingle Bells 634 Joy To The World 635 I Wanna Sex You Up 636 Fight For Your Right (To Party) 637 Feliz Navidad 638 I'm So Excited 639 Uninvited 640 The Living Years 641 The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) 642 O Christmas Tree 643 One Love (People Get Ready) 644 Ohio 645 Only Child 646 Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love 647 My Sharona 648 Dance The Night Away 649 Poison 650 My Cup 651 Not The End 652 What It Feels Like For A Girl 653 Listen To Your Heart 654 Little Drummer Boy 655 One Hand, One Heart 656 Bein' Green 657 Big Spender 658 Billionaire 659 Ben 660 Gimme More 661 Burning Up 662 Hey Ya! 663 Hey, Soul Sister 664 Baby Got Back 665 Blue Christmas 666 Bohemian Rhapsody 667 Far From Over 668 The Trolley Song 669 Starlight Express 670 Whip It 671 You're The Top 672 Red Solo Cup 673 Next To Me 674 Rolling In The Deep 675 Rainbow Connection 676 La Cucaracha 677 (You're) Having My Baby 678 A Little Less Conversation 679 Happy 680 Highway To Hell 681 Same Love 682 Rock Lobster 683 Girls Just Want To Have Fun

#glee #glee song ranking #ranking #my thoughts #mine #umm so funny story #well first of all some of the mash ups werent even together #like anyway you want it and lovin touchin squeezin #they were listed as their own songs #i thought they'd end up being closer but they arent and thats hilarious #also there's the scientist and then the scientist acoustic?? idk what that is #but they're close together #umm home by michael bubbles #it did not tell me what the song was #it literally said (michael buble version) or something #and i did not think to look it up until after my results #sooo... if i knew it was a rory song it would not be that high lmao #anyway as you can see it is a bit of a mess #but my top ten is really solid again<3 #oh also there was only one 'just the way you are'#so i chose to pretend it was the s5 version which is why its higher #than if i were pretending it were the s2 version

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brokutosan · 4 years

Text

Title. We Are Your First, Last, & Only Line of Defense Against This World of Scum

Pairing. Seijoh 3rd Years x Platonic!Reader

Summary. In which growing up is hard, but it’s a lot less harder if you’re doing it with the bestest friends you could ever ask for in the world (and Oikawa Toruu). Or; a journey through the friendship of the third years of Seijoh’s volleyball club.

Warnings. Manga spoilers up to chapter 395. Lots of cursings and mentions of anxieties about growing up. Kind of incoherent and mostly ramblings + not much dialogue, but I’ve been enjoying writing these types of things. Full disclosure: this is completely based on that official art of them at a karaoke bar. Title is from Men in Black by Will Smith.

Oikawa Toruu was 6 years old when he was crying about some kid stealing his pudding cup. And Iwaizumi Hajime was 6 years old when he dreamt of becoming a cop once he grew up, so he sought to bring justice for Oikawa’s pudding cup. L/N Y/N, also 6 years old, had declared that she would marry Hajime once she was old enough to, so she thought it was her job as his future bride to be his partner in solving this crime. (Oikawa Toruu could care less, he just wanted his pudding cup back).

Long story short, Iwaizumi Hajime ended up scuffling with said kid after he called him “stupid porcupine head” and Y/N jumped in the fray to save her future groom, while Oikawa jumped in to reclaim his pudding cup. And that was just the start of their long series of getting into trouble together.

When Oikawa Toruu was 14 years old and in his last year of junior high, the ugly green monster had reared its head and caused hostility between him and a certain kouhai. Y/N, always the kind one, had called him out on his bullshit and told him to get his act together. Oikawa fired back and called her out on her “pathetic crush on Iwa-chan,” effectively setting off the cold war between them that lasted all of summer. Iwaizume recalls having to go back and forth between the two because they refused to be in the same room together.

By the time they were 15 years old and entering highschool, the two ended up being in the same class. Oikawa pretended not to know her and hung out with “Makki” from his volleyball team. Y/N tried branching out and making friends with the other girls in her class for once, but she was shunned out for being close to the Oikawa Toruu back in middle school.

Their three months of silent treatment ended on the second week of the new school year, when Oikawa was enraged by the nasty rumors spreading about his childhood friend. Some guy Y/N rejected during the third day of school had spread rumors that she was involved in a reverse harem with Oikawa and Iwaizumi and that he didn’t bother going out with her because she was “too easy.”

Oikawa, 15 years old, threw the first punch. Iwaizumi, also 15 years old, held back his friend until Oikawa shouted out, “This bastard’s running around calling Y/N-chan a whor-” Oikawa didn’t need to finish because by then Iwaizumi had thrown the second punch. Matsukawa Issei and Hanamaki Takahiro, both 15 years old, tried holding back their two new volleyball teammates.

And that’s how Y/N and Oikawa tearfully made up, and the two, “Mattsun” and “Makki”, as Oikawa affectionately named them, joined their little friend group. Y/N ended up joining the volleyball club as a manager per Oikawa’s request (command) and finally everything was back to normal, with everyone forgetting about the “cold war” between Oikawa and Y/N.

It didn’t take long for Hanamaki and Matsukawa to fit into the group because anyone that could tolerate Oikawa deserves a reward (and that reward is the friendship they’ve built over the years, but none of them actually liked to get sappy).

By the time the five friends were 16 year olds in their second year of highschool, Oikawa has made a name for himself as the great setter of the Seijoh volleyball team. The other three were close behind in terms of popularity, but none were quite as open with it as Oikawa was. Y/N, on the other hand, did not get to enjoy the joys of the glory brought by the four players. She made heads turn, but the sight of four glowering boys right behind her made them turn back.

But there were a few exceptions.

Y/N was 16 years old and in second year of highschool when she got her first boyfriend. It wasn’t Oikawa, or Iwaizumi, or Hanamaki, or Matsukawa, no, it was a fellow second year in the same class as her (she was lucky enough not to be put in the same class as any of her idiot friends that year).

All five of them have forgotten his name now, but when they do talk about him every now and then, he was given the affectionate nickname, “Pighead.” Because two months into their relationship, Pighead had the nerve to demand Y/N to completely cut off her four friends.

Because she was young and naive and under the illusion of puppy love, Y/N was thrown into a dilemma. She mulled over it for weeks, lost sleep over whether or not she should comply, until Iwaizumi snapped her out of it and made her spill what was bothering her.

Once the four boys found out they offered to wipe Pighead off the face of Earth, but Y/N just cried and apologized for even just thinking about cutting off her amazing friends. They had a sleepover that night and Y/N still remembers it as one of her best childhood memories.

(Because of that one incident Y/N had decided to completely cut off immature boys from her highschool days).

Come their third year of highschool the five were as close as ever (and Oikawa, regrettably, much more annoying). They’ve built up seemingly unbreakable bonds that would last a lifetime, and Y/N was glad that she was able to take part in it. Having the four boys throughout her teenage years certainly was enjoyable, and she wouldn’t trade the memories and years of friendship they’ve attained for anything in the world. As long as she had the four of them (even Oikawa), she believed she could face off anything and anyone in the world.

When Y/N began worrying about college and growing up, they were there to help cheer her up. When the boys lost to Karasuno in the Prefectural Qualifiers, Y/N was there to cheer them up. She still remembers the tearful afternoon spent in the gym they’d spent three years of their lives in. And despite not being as hurt as the boys were after losing, Y/N had found herself shedding a few tears of her own. As they closed the gym doors one final time, they’ve also closed the doors to their childhood.

Teenage years go by, and as quick as they’ve entered highschool they found themselves graduating. Growing up. Taking the next step into adulthood. The four boys she came to love as her found family were now four men, and they’ve done well growing up.

And just like that tearful goodbye at the Seijoh volleyball club gym, Y/N finds herself preparing for another one. All five of them are adults now. Iwaizumi is going off to California to study in an American university, Oikawa’s going to Argentina to play volleyball, and Hanamaki and Matsukawa are moving to Tokyo together to study in a university. For once in her life, Y/N finds that she’ll be all alone in Miyagi, while her friends take the next few steps to growing up.

The five of them find themselves in Hanamaki’s childhood bedroom, for one last weekend sleepover before everything changes. They’ve strewn out blankets and pillow on the floor, and are laying down in a circular formation. They’ve been in this bedroom hundreds of times, in this same exact position, but now it’s completely different.

All his posters of celebrities are taken down and wrapped neatly on a pile sitting on his desk. His clutter of figurines and plushies collected over the years are in boxes, ready to move with their owner. His closet is empty, the clothes inside stuffed into their own labeled boxes. And his volleyball jersey that’s usually hung by the door is no longer there, no doubt already packed somewhere safe. Y/N tries not to dwell on the somberness of it all, and instead forces a laugh when Matsukawa makes a joke.

Y/N realizes she messed up when four pairs of eyes turn to look at her. “I know I’m a riot, but that joke wasn’t even that funny. I’ll admit to that.” Matsukawa speaks up.

“What’s on your mind?” Iwaizumi finally asks. His arms are behind his head and he’s staring up at the ceiling, no doubt lost in his own train of thoughts.

Y/N contemplates if she should ruin the peaceful vibes surrounding their group. They’ve already cried tons after losing to Karasuno, so do they even have any tears left for a goodbye? Y/N looks to her left and realizes all their attention focused on her, waiting for her to answer Iwaizumi’s question.

“Nothing. Just that maybe this’ll be our last weekend together.” She sighs, letting her emotions get the best of her. “We’re all going our own separate ways, who knows what could happen, y’know?”

It’s Oikawa that reacts first, but that’s no surprise since he’s Oikawa. “Y/N-chan! Are you trying to say you’re gonna miss me?” He asks with comical tears in his eyes. Y/N immediately regrets speaking up.

“I think I might miss you the least.” Oikawa feigns hurt at the comment, but he knows his friend better than anybody. ‘I’ll miss you more than you could even imagine.’ Is what she’s trying to say.

“Oi. No more crying.” Hanamaki finally says something. He can see the tears forming at Oikawa’s eyes, and a few that already shed from Y/N’s, before he feels the familiar burning sensation in his throat. “Damn it.”

“Nothing’s gonna change. We’ll all keep in touch, plain and simple.” Matsukawa announces, almost as if he was sure of it. “And if anyone,” Iwaizumi adds, looking directly at Oikawa, “decides to be a dick and try to cut us off, we’ll all personally fly out to South America to kick his ass.” A chorus of ‘yes’ sounded out as Oikawa gasps at his friends’ reactions.

“Why does it always get violent with you, Iwa-chan?!” He whines like a child, causing an outburst of laughter from the other four.

Hanamaki notices Y/N staring off into space again before he sighs, placing an affectationate hand on her head. “Relax, loser. It’s not like we’re gonna totally forget Miyagi. If anything me and Issei are gonna come back home more than you think. You’ll get tired of us eventually.”

Y/N wipes a few stray tears and nods, finally showing a genuine smile. “I’ll kill all of you if you even try to forget about Miyagi.”

“Impossible.” Iwaizumi says with a gentle smile on his lips.

The next morning the five friends make their way to Narita Airport, where Oikawa’s flying off to Argentina to become a better player. Their eyes are bloodshot red from staying up all night crying and reminiscing old memories together.

The walk from the parking lot to the boarding gate is quiet, until Oikawa breaks the awkward air between them. “When I get back, I’ll wipe the court with Tobio-chan.”

“You’re still not over that? Grow up.” Y/N glares, suddenly remembering their childish fight during their last year of junior high. Hanamaki laughs first, followed by Matsukawa, and finally Iwaizumi. The people around them stare strangely as five teens laugh with tears streaming down their eyes.

“Try not to miss me too much, ‘k, Y/N-chan?” Oikawa winks, just barely dodging the fist swung at him. A boarding call for Oikawa’s flight fills the airport, and they finally remember why they’re there in the first place.

“I’ll miss you guys.” He finally says seriously, tears freely falling down his face. Y/N cracks first, flinging herself to his awaiting arms and cries as she realizes this is his goodbye. Hanamaki, Matsukawa, and Iwaizumi follow, forming a group hug in the middle of Narita Airport.

Oikawa pulls away, dragging a sleeve to wipe away his tears. He opens his mouth to say one final goodbye, but is interrupted by a plethora of voices overlapping each other,

“Try not to make your teammates hate you too much. Make some friends.”

“Don’t even think about calling me at midnight about your stupid problems.”

“If you come crying to me about your knee, I’m just gonna say I told you so.”

“Once you get back, I’ll be sure to give you hell.”

“Oi, what kind of curse are you all placing on me?!” Oikawa whines, the somber atmosphere replaced by their usual energetic one.

With one last ‘goodbye,’ Oikawa strides towards the airport gates, and away from the ones he’s grown to love over the years. He looks over his shoulders, taking a mental picture of all four of his closest friends waving and giving him nods of encouragement so that he’d never forget what he’ll always have back home.

The world can throw anything it wants at them, but as long as they had each other, nothing’s ever too scary or too tough.

A/N. Thank you for reading this totally self-indulgent fic with my fav third years! A Miya twins version of this fic is in the works! Also, I’m thinking of making a mini series off of this oneshot where you chose a route with one of the boys (romantically). Let me know if you guys would also be interested in that. - chuu

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hyggeligbirch · 3 years

Text

On The Phone

An EXO Fanfiction pairing: jongin x baekhyun word count: 2 395 warnings: Major Character Death: Suicide summary: Jongin has nightmares. Luckily his boyfriend's only a phone call away

Jongin holds his phone to his ear, wrapping Kongju’s long fur around his free hand as he listens to Baekhyun babble in his softest, sleepiest, you-woke-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night voice. He slowly stops trembling, the dual action of his dog’s warm presence next to him and his boyfriend’s voice in his ear easing him out of his panic.

Once his voice finds its way back, he rasps his way into Baekhyun’s sleepy monologue. “Thanks for picking up,” he says, and he means it.

He can hear Baekhyun’s sleepy hum as he smiles on the other end. “Yeah. Feel better?”

“Yeah,” and it isn’t a lie, because he’s stopped shaking, but he still can’t think of stopping the call. “Can we stay on the line until I fall asleep, though?”

Baekhyun sleepily laughs and agrees. It’s not the first time they’ve done this, and it probably won’t be the last. Jongin has nightmares; Baekhyun has bad days. Both are easily helped with a simple phone call, the sound of the other’s voice, the rhythmic breathing as they each fall asleep. Sometimes they skip the nightmares, late-night panic attacks, and just stay the night together. Not frequently, but sometimes.

Jongin always falls asleep last. There’s comfort to him to hear the way Baekhyun’s sleepy babble slowly fades into half-whispered syllables, then just random hums that give way to soft breathing. Especially since his nightmares have changed.

For months they had been simple, normal. Stage fright, performing a routine that he’d never learned. Learning about a class he’d never been to only during exam week. Sometimes, it was just a normal day, walking down past a park and suddenly everything would go dark and he’d be running away from an unseen monster. Normal things.

But the past few weeks had been different. The nightmares had started simply enough, morphed versions of the day they’d all gotten the news about the plane crash. He’d go to Baekhyun’s apartment to check on him, and everything would be fine, but then he’d be in the hospital, shaking as he sat next to Baekhyun, held his hand, prayed. Listened to doctors telling him things he didn’t want to hear from the other side of a glass wall. Hearing that his boyfriend might never wake up. Hearing that his boyfriend was as good as dead.

And then he watched the day unfold in Baekhyun’s apartment, unable to interact, unable to do anything but watch. Jongin saw himself feeding Baekhyun, making quiet promises and leaving. Baekhyun’s phone ringing. Baekhyun answering it and the what little life was in his eyes drain out. Watched Baekhyun go – and the dream always stopped right there. Baekhyun walking out of the room, and never coming back.

Even his own mind was never cruel enough to make him watch Baekhyun die.

It’s through late night phone calls that Jongin gets through the next several weeks, always waking up in cold sweats and tight muscles, calming against the breathing of his boyfriend, the assurance that Baekhyun is still there, still alive.

Where the nights are terrifying, the days are calm and peaceful. It’s the middle of summer, and Baekhyun’s working an internship six days a week and Jongin’s dancing seven, but they spend as much time as possible with each other, in the early mornings before Baekhyun goes to work and after Jongin’s taken Kongju out for a morning run; in the evenings when they’re both exhausted and just sink into the couch to mindlessly eat dinner and watch tv.

It’s during one of these late evenings – Kongju sent to her crate to keep her from jumping on Baekhyun, Jongin icing down his ankles, and both of them eating more pasta than they probably should – that Baekhyun makes an offhand comment about just crashing there, some half-hearted comment about how small and dark and dirty his apartment is in comparison.

“Sorry,” Jongin responds, “I mean, you can, but I have to leave in half an hour. I won’t be here, the studio’s got that thing tomorrow morning, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine, I’ll just – my apartment’s fine.”

Jongin frowns, not satisfied. Crashing at each other’s places is usually reserved for very bad days. “Baekhyun, if you’re having a bad day or something, you’re welcome to stay here with Kongju. She’s really good company in bed. And we can talk on the phone – I don’t care.”

“No, no, I’m fine!” Baekhyun insists, and elaborates at Jongin’s patient stare. “I just thought that maybe, your nightmares, maybe they wouldn’t be so bad if I was right there.”

And that’s probably the most thoughtful thing Jongin’s heard all week, but there’s still that little twist of his gut at making Baekhyun – Baekhyun, who has so many problems of his own – worry. “Thanks. Are you sure…?”

“I’m great. Promise.”

And they both are great, that night, Baekhyun in his own bed in his own apartment, Jongin passed out in the back of a van somewhere, thanks to a couple of sleeping pills. The next day goes well, too, and Jongin finds himself falling face-first into his bed, finally home, body aching sore and doesn’t even think about putting his phone somewhere he can access it easily, because he’s so tired.

He thinks that might have been a mistake, when he’s trying to find his phone and dial Baekhyun and his limbs are terror-locked and it feels a little like someone punched him in the stomach with a rocket. He gets half a second of bile in the back of his throat just as Baekhyun’s phone starts ringing before he’s vomiting all over himself, little more than bile and acid because his last meal’s been so long, but it burns his throat and his nose and he thinks he can hear Baekhyun’s sleepy “hello” turning into worried words, but he’s not sure because all he can focus on for a few minutes is not choking on his own vomit.

When his stomach finally stops rebelling against him so strongly, he can actually hear Baekhyun’s worried, “Jongin? Jongin, are you okay?”

Jongin spits some of the sour taste out of his mouth and tries to focus in on Baekhyun’s voice. “Are you?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine? What about you? You called me, and then you were vomiting?”

Baekhyun was fine, and that little bit of information let Jongin center himself a little more. “I had another nightmare.” He paused for a moment as the smell of the vomit on him and his bed sinks in. “I should go…clean this up. Will you…?”

“Yeah, of course,” Baekhyun agrees so quickly, and Jongin puts the phone on his bedside table and strips out of his ruined clothes. Baekhyun starts up a light-hearted monologue, like he usually does, like he knows helps, as Jongin picks the phone back up and heads into the bathroom to wash up.

He can’t bring himself to go back into his bedroom and deal with the soiled sheets after he’s all washed, so Jongin slides down the wall to sit next to the toilet, Baekhyun still chattering away from the counter. Eventually, Baekhyun grows tired and starts to trail down into his sleepy hums. Jongin doesn’t mind, the cool tiles of the bathroom helping to keep him grounded, but his stomach lurches the quieter that Baekhyun gets and he’s happy that he decided to stay in the bathroom. He doesn’t vomit again, though.

Jongin’s been listening to Baekhyun breathe for what feels like hours, the quiet breaths and the cool porcelain working in tandem to keep him grounded, keep him from thinking about his dream, when the call abruptly disconnects. His brain short-circuits in his exhausted state, and, instead of intelligently grabbing for his phone and redialing, his nightmare starts replaying itself behind his eyes.

It’s not very clear, everything hazed with soot-black edges. One instant, Jongin is sitting on his couch, happy, calm, and the next he’s on his feet with his heart beating like crazy and then he’s standing outside of Baekhyun’s apartment, lungs seizing trying to draw air and the crash of breaking mugs echoing in his ears. And then he’s frozen, with one hand on the doorknob, unable to open the door, unable to make himself leave. He’s frozen there for what must be hours, if not days, and he can hear noises in the apartment and there’s a burning in his stomach to just open the door. Kick it down. But he can’t. He can’t do anything until everything is so, so silent that he’s not sure his own heart is even beating anymore. And then the door swings open. Jongin sees three things and only three things inside of Baekhyun’s apartment. A white floor. Red blood, enough for two people. And Baekhyun, broken and splayed across the floor like a ragdoll. Then everything goes black.

Jongin must fall asleep at some point that night, because he is woken in the morning by dog breath in his face.

He groans and rolls to his feet, every muscle protesting the motion after a long night on a bathroom floor, then pushes on Kongju’s head to get her to leave. With a couple of hard blinks, he follows after. Groggy from sleep, he barely notices that the sheets have been changed on his bed and that Kongju shouldn’t even be at his house. As such, he’s a little startled to find Baekhyun sitting on his couch with a bowl of cereal.

“Morning!” Baekhyun greets him, and Jongin just scowls because it is way too early in the morning to deal with anything resembling cheeriness.

“What’re you doing here?” He manages to grumble out.

“I’m returning your dog.”

Right. That was a thing that needed to happen. Jongin’s cool.

He’s slightly less cool when he finds out that Baekhyun has eaten the last of his cereal, though.

And Baekhyun’s still there when Jongin gets home from work, playing fetch with the dog in the apartment that is decidedly too small to play fetch in.

“I bought more cereal,” he says as way of greeting, “and I’m staying here this week. If that’s cool with you.” He sees Jongin’s brow furrow and jumps to cut him off. “Nightmares. Even if it doesn’t help for me to be here, at least you won’t have to sleep on the bathroom floor because you puked in your bed and didn’t have anyone to clean it up.”

Jongin has to admit that it’s nice to have Baekhyun in his bed in a halfway decent state of mind. It’s even nicer when he wakes up in the morning without any dreams to speak of.

After a week of dreamless nights, they’re sitting around eating breakfast, Jongin using Kongju as a footrest to keep her from jumping up to eat their food.

“Thanks for staying, Baekhyun,” Jongin says, “Maybe you should just move in.”

Baekhyun laughs around a spoonful of yogurt. “Maybe. Can I ask? What the nightmares are?” It’s something they’ve never actually discussed, because even thinking about them tends to set Jongin’s muscles tight and breathing sporadic.

He takes a deep breath in an effort to head off the panic, and answers. “Yeah, you can ask. I…I don’t know how to say it.” He takes a moment to gather the right words, stirring his cereal. “It’s always you. Killing yourself.” He stumbles over his words as he tries to push the next sentence out over Baekhyun’s surprise. “And I think that’s why you being here helps? Because you’re right here so I know you’re not dead.”

Jongin takes the chance to look up at Baekhyun and is surprised to see nothing but a quiet sadness on Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun sighs and puts his yogurt down on the coffee table, sitting straighter. Jongin sits straighter in response, biting his tongue in confusion as Baekhyun reaches out and puts his hand on Jongin’s knee, leaning close enough to snuggle against his shoulder like he likes to do during serious conversations.

“Jongin,” he says, and Jongin’s not sure he’s ever heard Baekhyun so sad and so serious, “I’m not sure how to say this, either.” He squeezes Jongin’s leg as he swallows, and continues. “But I guess you already know this, anyway, so I shouldn’t be so worried about telling you, I mean –“

“Baekhyun? What is it?”

“I’m already dead, Jongin.”

“No,” Jongin tries for, but it comes out a little more like a whistling gasp as the air leaves his lungs. Everything drops a dark shade of grey and he’s pretty sure he’s hyperventilating.

Baekhyun tries to squeeze his leg, but he can’t feel it. “Jongin. Jongin. I killed myself a long time ago. I’m already dead.”

“No. But you’re right here. Baekhyun. Baekhyun. Baek-“ The hyperventilating catches up with Jongin and everything goes deep, deep black.

Jongin comes to in a world that is so much darker and so much colder than the one he has just left. There’s an incessant vibrating next to his head and he’s splayed out on the floor of his bedroom. He can hear Kongju scratching at the door and just wishes all of the noise would stop.

When it doesn’t, he groans and sits himself up, a pounding headache immediately starting from the rush of blood out of his head. With a few choice words, he gives in to the vibrating of his phone and picks up, not even bothering to check caller ID.

It’s Junmyeon, with a happy, fast tone to his voice and Jongin honestly doesn’t hear a word he says while he starts to find himself back. There’s only two things that Jongin knows at the moment: that Baekhyun is dead, and that there’s blood dried on Jongin’s face. It’s obviously something that’s not sustainable. He huffs as he figures out what he should do. Asking for help was never his strong suit, but still – “Junmyeon?” he interjects at the first pause, “Can I stay with you for a while?”

Junmyeon is understandably surprised on the other end. “Sure. Your apartment getting fumigated or something?”

“Uhmm, no. I just don’t think I can be here alone right now. Baekhyun.” And he hopes that’s enough.

“Yeah,” Junmyeon replies, and his voice is soft and Jongin’s wondering what he’s thinking about. “As long as you need.”

When Jongin hangs up, he sees the date on his phone. 12 April. It’s been a year.

#exo fanfiction #exo fic #exo fanfic #kaibaek #jongin x baekhyun #kai x baekhyun #jongin #baekhyun #exo

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northwind4 · 4 years

Text

Dearest WingDings（22）

*It's a story about HandPlates! Gaster and Wing! Gaster

*I’ll appreciate it very much if you point out the mistakes I made in the translation, all kinds of help are welcomed!

*previous & next

*Handplates by @zarla-s

Wing!Gaster by me

—————————————————

Chapter22

“You have my word.”

395

G: We should develop a touch screen suitable for skeletons

G: It’s really inconvenient to wear finger cots every time when you use your phone

W: So let’s add it to the to-do list

He leaned over Gaster’s shoulder to watch him typing.

W: By the way, it looks good on you.

396

W: You also have a Webiter account

G: The world’s largest social networking site will help collect information

G: ...and the strong demand from Alphys.

G: Besides, for the students in the academy, I have to know what they are thinking in their inexplicable human brains.

G: I still don’t understand why we have to spend half a day on them every week. This kind of thing can obviously be given to Alphys. She thinks that her class time is too short—

Wing hugs him from behind.

W: Really?

W: Look into my eyes and tell me that you hate those young people calling you “Professor”.

W: You can’t_(:з」∠)_

397

G: What...

G: I haven’t posted anything yet, but many people have followed me.

W: Let me see?

W: Hmm...

W: It may because Alphys has introduced you on her page.

398

G: Hmm

G: Alphys must enjoys this life.

G: Robots and artificial intelligence, large ANIME EXPO, cat cafe, global shopping sites, thousands of flavors of instant noodles and soda...everything suits her taste.

W: And so many fans on social networking sites.

399

G: I remember you also have an account

G: What’s your Nickname there...

G: Don’t say anything, let me guess

G: ...

G: Blacky.

W: You know me(/ω＼)

400

W: I remember

W: I think I’ve seen you before...“you” in another world

Gaster didn’t mind spending five minutes listening.

W: Humans and monsters coexist peacefully there, and everything is completely different...

W: Asgore runs a flower shop called “Flower King”, he doesn’t earn much money because he prefers giving than selling

W: Toriel teaches in middle school, which is like nowadays

W: Alphys and Undyne don’t even know each other! But I think they will meet one day

W: Sans opened a grocery store, and Papyrus seems to be much quieter

W: And, uh, “you” in that world...

W: You have nice relationships with all your families, including the brothers

W: On the other hand...you never step into science.

W: You work in a library where aren’t many things every day, but that’s good, because that “you” also like reading...

Wing started to doubt if he should talk about this, compared a scientist who is shining like stars, this Gaster seemed...too ordinary.

He did not become WHO or achieve SOMETHING.

Gaster seemed to be thinking, and Wing was nervous. Facing his love, he was always unable to maintain extreme rationality, which could make some of his behaviors not get strictly analyzed and judged.

G: ...

G: That’s good.

The young scientist smiled lightly.

“He has everything I have lost.”

401

Wing urged himself to think about some words—comfort, encouragement, sorry, love, or just switch to another subject.

Gaster talked before him.

“But I'm the best.” He looked at Wing, with his words full of unique confidence and pride.

Wing felt like being lighted up.

“Of course,”he couldn’t help kissing him,“of course you are the best.”

“The best one in every time and space.”

402

W: Another successful experiment?

G: A major breakthrough! Resource utilization efficiency has reached to a new level!

G: The energy loss in the process of material conversion is getting lower and lower. If combined with magic, there may be no loss...even without magic!

This kind of topic could always lift Dr.Gaster’s mood. Wing couldn’t tell how much he liked him now.

W: Speaking of materials and energy

W: Well, my body can neither be ignited nor frozen, it won’t react with any reagents, if I want, my weight can become 0

W: What am I?

There was a bit of bitterness in his smile.

W: Sometimes I think, my existence may—

Gaster interrupted him.

G: You are WingDingsGaster, a genius scientist, a mystery man, a hobbyist of dancing, a thermos user, a super cook and a father of four young skeletons

G: And my love.

403

G: When did you become so self-doubtful?

G: Leave the philosophy questions to philosophy

G: And in my place

He pressed the other one on the desk.

G: ...sometimes you are a bit too tall, you should know

Wing was stared down by him.

W: ...

W: I remember you are against dating during working hours?

Gaster shut him up with action.

404

*You were invited to a party hosted by the Monster King.

*You saw the king cut a heart-shaped pie for the queen

*You saw a flower talking to someone you couldn’t see

*You saw the Royal Guard leader picked up her Royal Scientist and shared a Pocky with her

*You saw the tall skeleton playing games with his brother

*You saw the famous star robot feeding the grapes to his cousin

*You saw a Royal Scientist sitting with another world’s Royal Scientist toasting marshmallows

*All these filled you with determination .

405

G: (*fell into the bed) Party must be the most tiring activity

W: But it’s also happy

G: Maybe...

*A message

G: An invitation...to the new energy exhibition NEXT MONTH

W: ...

W: Hm...

He moved over and helped Gaster take off the coat.

W: I suddenly remember I have an extra class for my students tomorrow

W: Sorry...but I have to go check my lesson plan now

He left the room a little too quickly.

406

Wing stood on the balcony. Before Gaster spoke to him, he didn’t even notice his approach.

W: Ah...why are you...

W: I, uh, I’m—

Gaster walked over and hugged him with deep breath.

W: What’s up? Is it a nightmare?

W: Sorry, I should wake you up in time, I-

G: Nothing

G: You’re still there, that’s enough.

Wing felt himself being frozen.

407

G: I dreamed of a world without you

G: The barrier had not been broken, we had collected 6 human souls

G: I still treated the children as subjects, a lot of things happened...a lot of bad things

G: When I opened the cracks of the void, it was not you who came out of it, but a dark...gloomy monster

G: ...

G: Finally I fell off the bridge of the core—then I woke up

G: Everything in the dream is too real. When I woke up, I didn’t even know which side was the reality.

G: What if everything really goes that way

G: ...

G: But it’s just a dream. Look, you are standing right here

G:......?

G: Hello?

408

Wing didn’t respond, and Gaster snapped his fingers to make him back from the unknown imagination.

G: Are you okay?

G: Don’t tell me that you are freaked out by this dream

W: ...

W: No...nothing.

W: Maybe it’s because you ate too much whisky chocolate tonight...?

W: Let’s...go back to sleep.

Gaster stopped him.

409

G: Look at me.

Wing turned away subconsciously, so Gaster forced him with the magic hands.

G: I can feel it

G: When did these start? Your...pessimism, your self-doubts, there must be something troubling you, I can feel it.

G: What happened?

G: WingDings “Blacky” Gaster.

He called this funny full name, the other one tried to step backwards, but he couldn’t.

G: You are making me worried.

410

W: ...

W: I...

Gaster waited for him to continue.

W: I...I’m not sure, just...

His voice was shaking, and his expression reminded Gaster of some poor little skeletons.

411

G: ...

G: Something bad happened to the children?

W: Of course not

G: You got terminal illness?

W: No

G: The end of the world?

W: No

G: You fell in love with others?

W: NEVER!

G: (sigh)

G: Is there anything worse?

412

Wing took a deep breath.

W: The break of the barrier had some effect on the space-time

G: Yes, I remember you’ve said it

G: Did you find out what it was?

W: ...yes.

G: That’s not a bad thing.

G: Or...?

He thought of something, but he didn’t want to follow that line.

He didn’t even want to listen to Wing.

W: I found that the effect was not on the machine that can open the crack.

W: But...

W: ...

W: ...me.

413

W: It was like...the world’s self-cleaning system

W: And I don’t belong here, you know

W: I’m, I-I don’t know when it will-I can feel-

W: I’m......disappearing.

These words almost exhausted all his strength.

414

W: ...

It took him a long time to speak again.

W: I’m sorry.

The other one stopped him from apologizing. Besides the sound of breath, the only thing could be heard was the wind.

After a long silence, Gaster looked up into Wing's eyes.

415

“You owe me a dance.”

#wingdingses #wing!gaster #handplates #gaster #dearest wingdings

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as-write-as-rain · 5 years

Text

Once Upon A Dream (remix) - Chapter 3

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Summary: A Sleeping Beauty/Winter Soldier remix, featuring the reader as a SHIELD agent who might have powers (or just a really finely tuned intuition)

Warnings: None. If you’ve seen and enjoyed the Captain America films, you shouldn’t find anything troubling here.

The third chapter of my Fairy Tale AU for @moonbeambucky’s 5k Writing Challenge! Life seems to be keeping me pretty consistent at publishing a chapter every two weeks, despite my attempts to go faster. That bug I picked up laid me low for longer than I would have liked -- that’s an unfortunate side effect of fibromyalgia, stuff hits me harder and lasts longer than it would for regular people. I promise I am working hard and hopefully will be able to publish more frequently in the near future ❤️

Chapter 3

Less than 24 hours later, you were rendezvousing at Pentagon City mall with Steve and Natasha, and trying to come up with a plan on the fly. While they headed to the Apple Store in an attempt to decode the contents of the zip drive, you were tasked with finding a getaway car. As you scoured the parking structure for the perfect vehicle, your mind was racing with the events of the last 12 hours – Director Fury was dead, and the three of you were now on the run from the organization you’d once considered your safe haven.

I still can’t believe he’s dead, you thought, shaking your head. Your thoughts kept drifting to those final moments, watching helplessly as the doctors struggled vainly to save him. If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, you wouldn’t have believed it. If only I’d gotten in touch with Maria sooner, or been able to really make her understand.

Yet, even as these thoughts floated through your head, the rational part of your mind reminded you that you had contacted her with plenty of time to initiate a contingency plan. You’d definitely done everything you could.

Unfortunately, sometimes that’s still not enough.

You sighed and tried to refocus. You hadn’t even slept well, because of course you hadn’t had one of those nice dreams where you and Bucky cuddled in hammocks on the beach. No, instead you had to dream that you were wandering the dimly-lit hallways of a creepy old building, searching for someone, becoming more and more desperate to find them. You always woke up from those kinds of dreams feeling disoriented and horribly, terribly alone.

Which was definitely not helping things right now.

You finally targeted the perfect truck – a Chevy Silverado Z71 that would be able to handle whatever terrain or road conditions lay before you, all without calling attention to itself or its passengers – and were in the middle of hotwiring it when your phone beeped with a text from Nat.

Hope ur rdy 4 us, company’s here [kissy face]

You chuckled. Of course, even when she was in mortal danger, Nat always had time to send an emoji.

You hurried to finish your task, praying that whoever had been dispatched to bring the three of you in would stay busy inside the mall instead of wandering out here. At the very least, you were confident that your intuition would let you know if you were in immediate danger. Finally, the engine roared to life, and you dove into the driver’s seat.

You pulled up to the 1st floor mall exit, the squeal of the tires echoing throughout the garage, just as your friends came barreling through the door.

“Howdy, Strangers. Need a lift?”

Steve didn’t even react to your pithy greeting; instead, he opened your door, taking you by surprise for once. “Hop in the back, I’ll drive.” When you didn’t move immediately, he clarified, “I know where we’re going and how to get there; we’ll fill you in on the road.” With a nod, you clambered into the backseat, and in minutes you were on 395 headed (roughly) north.

“So…” You leaned forward between the seats and blew a bubble with the gum you’d stolen from Nat’s pocket. When it popped, you prodded, “What’s the plan?”

Nat stretched a leg up on the dashboard and smirked, her eyes on Steve. “We’re taking a little trip down memory lane.”

“What, like Brooklyn? That’s like…” You tried to calculate the distance, but quickly gave up. “…a million hour drive.”

Steve rolled his eyes at both of you, but the split-second twitch of his lips told you he wasn’t really mad about your teasing. “We couldn’t crack the zip drive, but we were able to trace where it came from: Camp Lehigh.”

At the blank look on your face, Nat took pity on you. “New Jersey.”

You sat back with a huff.

“I think I would have preferred Brooklyn.”

Steve shook his head and glanced at you in the rearview mirror. “Me too, to be honest.”

You sagged against the window, watching trees and cars speed past. At least the drive would be somewhat scenic; that’s something, right? You were just about to ask Nat to turn on the radio, hoping to find some good road trip tunes, when she spoke up again.

“I have a question for you, Rogers.” She studied him for a second before quickly adding, “Which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?”

He cut off her rambling. “What?” His tone, while exasperated, didn’t sound annoyed so much as amused.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?”

You almost swallowed your gum. “WHAT?!”

Grabbing her arm, you practically yelled in her ear, “Did you kiss Steve???” You turned to the now bright-red super soldier. “Did you kiss Nat?????”

“No! I mean, yes, technically, but – ugh! It was a diversionary tactic!!” Flustered Steve was always your favorite, and you fought to hide your grin.

“Aww come on, no need to be coy. I know you felt something,” Nat cooed flirtatiously, fluttering her eyelashes, and he looked like he might combust. You would have started cracking up if you weren’t so eager to hear more details.

Your grip on Nat’s arm tightened and you shook her a little, and you couldn’t resist adding a little teasing of your own. “All this time we’ve been wondering why he won’t go out with any of the girls we try to set him up with. Now we know, it’s because he’s been sweet on you!”

Steve squawked, turning even redder and clenching the wheel so hard you were afraid he might wrench it off. “It – it’s not like that!! We saw the Strike Team, they were searching the mall for us, and we needed to avoid them so the civilians would be safe….. And then we were about to pass Rumlow on the escalator, and then Natasha here said that public displays of affection make people uncomfortable and…” He trailed off, and the whole thing was so funny, you couldn’t hold your laughter in anymore.

Camp Lehigh was abandoned and overgrown, and definitely far from welcoming. You tried to squint your eyes and visualize a skinny pre-serum Steve running laps or striving to complete an obstacle course, using pictures and footage you’d seen in the Smithsonian exhibit to help anchor the scene. The image never quite crystallized, though; you always had trouble truly envisioning Steve as that small, scrawny figure in the photos. He’d been such a solid, powerful figure for as long as you’d known him.

Plus, from the minute you entered the camp, your senses had been on high alert, which really didn’t help your imagination either. You were overwhelmed with a really bad feeling, and knew danger was lurking somewhere nearby. You couldn’t identify the source, though, because it didn’t seem to be coming from a specific direction.

Except maybe…down? But that didn’t make any sense.

“What is it?” Nat had been in the middle of announcing that this was a dead end, when suddenly her tone changed. You turned to see Steve stalking towards a bunker, Nat trailing behind him.

“Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place.” Thank goodness Steve knew rules and regulations like the back of his hand, or you might not even have noticed anything was out of place.

He smashed the lock with his handy shield, and the three of you entered the cold, musty building. Shivering, you brought up the rear, severely disliking the way it felt like a mausoleum.

Steve flicked a switch, and ancient fluorescent lights flickered aglow, illuminating an unassuming office space of some sort. Clunky old desks, filing cabinets, and office chairs were arrayed throughout the room; thick dust and cobwebs coated every surface, making it clear that no living being had been in here in a very long time.

And, inevitably, your feeling of impending doom increased.

Glancing around, you spied a large symbol on the wall just as Nat did, and realized that this must have been where SHIELD began, all those years ago. You supposed it made sense; Captain America began here too, and this had been their homebase of sorts. Of course when they came back from overseas, they would have chosen somewhere familiar, somewhere the seeds of SHIELD had already begun to sprout.

You followed your partners into a library or storage room of some sort, where a trio of prominently displayed photographs confirmed your hunch. You recognized all three people from the Smithsonian exhibit; but apparently Nat had never been, because her next question made you cringe.

“Who's the girl?”

You purposely avoided making eye contact with Steve, because you already knew how he must be feeling. This camp, the place where they first met and got to know each other, was already brimming with memories of her – and now her face was on the wall. Young. Vibrant. Fierce. Just the way he probably remembered her. He’d been to see her just yesterday, confronted yet again with the fact that a lifetime had passed him by in the blink of an eye; and he was left with an obsolete snapshot of a moment in time, and an ache for what could have been.

There was a long, awkward pause, and then Steve literally sidestepped the question by striding deeper into the room.

You’d just opened your mouth to whisper a quick-but-vague explanation to Nat, when he pointed to a cobwebbed bookshelf and pondered aloud, “If you're already working in a secret office...” He paused to insert his hand into the space between the bookcases, and then, with surprising ease, slid them apart, revealing a hidden alcove. “…why do you need to hide the elevator?”

A sudden spike of anxiety shot through you, and you knew that only danger waited below. But the feeling was different than the one you usually got when you were about to be physically attacked – and before you could pinpoint what was different about it, the elevator ride had ended and the doors were already opening into a cavernous basement filled with ancient computer relics.

#taras5kwritingchallenge #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #fairy tale au #marvel #once upon a dream (remix)

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acaseforpencils · 5 years

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Arnie Levin, Part One.

Today’s Case is not in the usual survey format, because a little over a week ago, I called Arnie up on the phone, and we had a wild conversation about cartooning. I’m posting the interview in two pieces. The first part (which you’re currently reading!) is focused on his background, and the second part will be mainly about his art supplies and drawing process. Arnie has lived a life just as colorful as his art, and I hope that you have as much fun reading about it as I had interviewing him!—Jane Mattimoe

Jane Mattimoe: Hi Arnie!

Arnie Levin: Hi Jane, I was just talking to you in my head before you called.

J: Well, I hope this interview lives up to the interview you were just having!

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J: How did you get into art?

A: Well, my grandfather was paralyzed, so when I was very small, he used to paint and draw—he could move that part of his body—so I watched him. My uncle was a commercial artist. He did very tight controlled stuff. He had a great hand—he was a specialist in hand lettering, so he had a very formal way to work. I went to a high school—it was a trade school— and I just happened to luck into an absolute incredible instructor, whose thinking was that you draw to your feelings, and that not every artist draws the same way. So there weren’t any tight rules for how to draw.

J: So it was very different than your uncle’s style.

A: Yes, and my uncle’s style of drawing— he once tried to hire me...he had a perfect hand, you know, and he tried to hire me and get me into the business, and I was so loose, and I just couldn’t do what you had to do to do real hand-lettering.

J: Well, you were too creative, probably!

A: Yes, which was fine for me. I decided I was gonna be a painter. We were taught drawing exercises, and they were just to get our hands and our mind working and there was no, “This is what you do, and you have to do this, and you have to do that...” I was very fortunate that there were hours and hours of learning to just do gesture drawings— drawings that were very quick, but that were able to catch the feeling and the movement, rather than particular incidents. So it was a fine arts direction.

J: I think I read somewhere that you were a competitive dancer in high school, and I was wondering how that informed...dancers are very grounded in their body, and they have a really good sense of motion— do you think that affected how you viewed motion in your drawings?

A: Oh, absolutely. When I danced, it was all rock and roll dancing, which was different than the preceding years, which were more box step— you did this, you did that, you did the other thing. I created my own steps and just did them, and sometimes changed them in the middle, because I always wanted to create something that was live— not just, “here’s a pencil rough, and we trace over the pencil line very carefully, and we make a picture.” I also didn’t like the idea, especially when I got into cartooning, of so many situations where there were talking heads in cartoons. I like to do sight gags— ones that you just look at, that are funny.

J: So you don’t want it to be people delivering the joke, you want them to be part of the joke... like Sam Gross likes to say that there’s a difference between drawing funny and funny drawing.

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A: Yes, did he mention to you… We had a thing, where there were four of us, I don’t know if we ever mentioned this, I would get together with Sam Gross, Bill Woodman… once a month we’d all meet at Sam’s apartment, and we would sit down and we would open the phone book— we’d get the yellow pages, and then we would just blindly put our finger down. For instance we’d end up with plumbing,“Ok, we’re gonna do a plumbing gag.” We would drink afterwards. So we’d pick three topics to do cartoons on, and then we would just sit and just quickly sketch out cartoons and show each other.

J: That’s smart, cause that takes you out of your head— it forces you to consider things that wouldn’t have necessarily come to you if you were just sitting down coming up with gags.

A: Exactly, it was perfect to keep your head open. Though sometimes we’d get to the drinks slightly before we’d finish drawing, and so the drawings got looser as the session got on. But it was always a lot of fun. You’d spoken to Sam, and he’s just like... volatile energy. He’s a real character...brilliant.

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J: So you’re telling me this, and you told me you don’t like rules, but I read you went straight into the military after high school, which doesn’t seem like something I’d expect you to do.

A: Believe me, it wasn’t what the military expected when I got in. What happened is, at that time, men had to serve in the military somehow. You had to serve a certain amount of time. In high school, I’d go in on Saturdays and Sundays— there were certain times I had to go in and serve in the Reserves. So at sixteen, I was in the Marine Reserves. And it was sort of a maturing thing— the other kids my age were goofing around, but I was into… more serious stuff. You had to go two weeks in the summer, and just after I turned seventeen, I said “you know, I want to get out into the world.” I was living in Miami—we had moved down from New York. I had basically come from Brooklyn and Manhattan, and we moved down to Miami, which, to me, wasn’t that particularly a stimulating place to be in. I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Two weeks after I turned seventeen, I was in the Marines officially. They sent me to Jacksonville School.

J: That’s where I was born! My dad was in the Navy.

A: NAS Jacksonville! Naval Air Station Jacksonville. I know it well. The other reason Jacksonville was good for me was because I lived in Miami, and on the weekends it’s 395 miles from Jacksonville to Miami, and I used to hitchhike. Friday night, I’d leave the base, and I’d hitchhike to Miami, and then hitchhike back to Jacksonville.

J: I wouldn’t recommend that today!

A: Not today, no, but in those days... Hey, It was acceptable! I guess we were just fearless, or just stupid, I’m not sure which. It may have been a mixture of both. So I did a lot of hitchhiking in my early years, and I hitchhiked across the country— New York to California, from California all the way to Miami… I also felt that being an artist, you really should get a broad view of the world, not just a local situation, or one kind of thing.

J: Weren’t you a part of the beatnik crowd, with Jack Kerouac…

A: Yes, and another reason I got into the service was when you got out of training, you could go to school, and they supplied a certain amount of money, so my dream had been to go to the Art Students League in Manhattan, and just the name, “The Art Students League,” sounded so great to me, so that was my goal, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. So I started to go, and I took painting. The classes were little old ladies, and they didn’t take to me doing “action painting,” spraying paint all around the room— de Kooning! Pollock!

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There were lots of Japanese students there, and they befriended me, and I befriended them. I spoke absolutely no Japanese, and they spoke very little English, but they were sort of mature, which made me wonder why they were there. Well, it turns out that around that time, Japanese painters wanted to show in New York galleries on Madison Avenue. They had to have a reason for staying in New York, so they went to The Art Students League. They didn’t ever do anything there— they just signed in twice a week. These guys were already professionals! They were all sponsored by Kenzo Okada, who was a very famous Japanese action painter.

J: So that probably helped you, being around these professional artists, who were doing the style you were more interested in.

A: They were much more restrained. They were very organized, and they did more structured work. I made friends with the Japanese painters, and I had no idea that these were the top painters in the business! It was wonderful!

J: That’s really awesome!

A: Yeah, it was really lucky. I had also befriended a dancer from the Martha Graham studio, and I would come from The Art Students League with an oil painting, and one day she dragged me up to the studio to meet Martha…

J: What?!

A: The painting had just been done, and you know how oil paints reek, and so here are all these dancers, smelling this… so she showed it to Martha, and she liked it.

J: She was one of the preeminent modern dancers, and you were showing her your modern work...

A: Yes! She seemed to like it. She said, “This is very nice.”

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J: That was an incredible time to be an artist in New York, because the rent was so cheap compared to now.

A: Well, if you didn’t have much money, yes. One of the artists I met, who was actually a model at The Art Students League, we got to be friendly, and he lived on 9th Avenue, just below 42nd street, and one day, he said, “You wanna go to a great [coffee house]?” There was a great coffee house between 42nd and 43rd, on 8th Avenue, and [it] had painting and poetry and stuff, and I said sure, so I went [there]. It was run by just this incredible guy who was a dropout kind of person, and we would have art shows there at night, and I would serve coffee— I ran the coffee machine. And you can look this up on the internet, cause there’s pictures of me from that time, from 1959. We would sleep on the tables in sleeping bags. We pushed the tables together…

J: You lived in the coffee shop?

A: Yes! We slept on the tables because of the mice.

J: It doesn’t sound like you’d pass a health inspection!

A: Well, look, 9th Avenue is Hell’s Kitchen, you know, but the poetry— Allen Ginsberg came up, and Kerouac… all of the New York poets, and we had the painters and photographers. So I was right in the middle of it. And my partner— and I eventually became a partner in the coffee shop—had all of these great friends, and people we hung out with. My partner eventually became a character in one of Kerouac’s books, and he would go up to Big Sur... and I eventually moved to the Lower East Side, and hung around more with Allen Ginsberg, and so did a lot of the other poets on the the Lower East Side. We would all walk up in the afternoon, and we’d walk up to the Madison Avenue galleries-- and Ginsberg was incredible, he was just the nicest person in the world. And they all got a kick out of me, because I always kept a running commentary, and I was kind of goofy.

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J: You weren’t into cartooning at this time?

A: No, I wanted to be a fine artist. Eventually, I used my GI Bill, and started studying with Bob Blechman, with another cartoonist, Charles Slackman. I took night classes. I would do that, and I was a messenger in Manhattan, which I absolutely loved, for two reasons. One, I got to know the middle of the city very well, and two, I got to drop off people’s portfolios at different ad agencies and magazines.

J: So that got you a foot in the door, huh?

A: Yes, and I knew the secretaries, so if I dropped off a portfolio, they’d be like, “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

J: That’s awesome!

A: That was terrific. I did that for a while, and one day, I was taking night classes with Bob Blechman and [Charles] Slackman, and they gave an assignment to do a storyboard, to do an animation. I overdo things sometimes, but everyone came in with two pieces of paper, a little storyboard, or rough storyboard, and I did four full boards—248 pounds! [laughs] Meanwhile, Blechman had gotten me a job at Pushpin Studios... there was Milton Glaser, Seymour Chast, Isadore Seltzer, Jim McMullin... all the big illustrators that were in Pushpin, and I would get on the back of the bus to deliver things, and I’d take all of their drawings and study them.

J: People would kill for that!

A: Absolutely! You know, when I was hanging around, I had another friend, and he wanted to be an illustrator, and when I left Pushpin, I said, “Hey, would you like this job? It’s a great job,” and he said “No, I’m not a messenger, I’m an artist.” Never heard of him again.

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A: So I got the job as the messenger, and I was going to night school, and like I said, I did this huge storyboard, and the next day, or day after, I went into work to messenger, and they said, “How would you like to work in a film studio? How would you like to do animation?” And I said, “Let me think about this— messenger or be in animation… I said,”Yeah!”

So Milton sent me up, and I walked into the studio. They sat me down at a drawing table, and it had an animation field guide to do the stuff and they said, “Do a storyboard.” So I did a storyboard. I laid it out, I designed it, I directed [it]… the second week, the head of company came by and said, “How would you like to be an animation director?” And I said, “Yeah, that’s even more better!” So I got myself into the animation business.

J: It almost sounds lucky, but you put in so much work making these connections, and going to school... so while it seems like an overnight success, you worked so hard to get to that point.

A: Yeah, and I had a very deep background.

J: I’m sure the guy who rejected the messenger job said, “Oh, he got lucky,” but there’s more to just making art when it comes to being an artist, and I think that’s important for people who are reading this blog, and who are just starting out, to understand.

A: Yes, and like you say I was fortunate in a couple ways, and one of them is that I had the talent, but I was also able to have the instruction, and being able to understand what I did. A lot of cartoonists, start off when they’re kids, and all they draw are cartoons and strips and panels…

J: But you didn’t start cartooning up until the ‘70s right?

A: Well, on the way, I was living in Florida, and got into a car accident and I had dislocated both shoulders, and I had a pin in my hip, and bones knocked out of my eye socket, and I was pretty much a mess. And so I was recovering at home in Miami, in a little 6x6 foot room, sitting on the edge of the bed and not having anything to do. My mother had Writer’s Digest, because she wanted to be a writer, and so I sat down and it said, “If you wanna do cartoons...” and since I couldn’t move around, I figured I can’t make a mess, I’ll do that. So I asked my mom to get a bamboo pen, some india ink, and a bunch of typewriter paper. I started to draw cartoons, and [Writer’s Digest] said, “You put twenty in a batch and you put a return envelope, and you put postage, and blah blah blah…” So I said, “Okay!” And I just did these drawings. I did forty drawings. Then I started up for New York, and I gave my drawings to my mother, and she sent half of them.

So, I’m in New York, doing the messenger stuff, and suddenly, I get a thing, “Playboy wants three finishes.” So I immediately thought the obvious, “What is a finish?” So I said okay, so I did that, and so that was my first published stuff. I sent half the batch up to them, they bought a couple.. But what happened was, you’d send it, and it took months for this process to happen, and so one drawing you got 80 dollars, the second one you got a five dollar raise to 85, and then you got one for 90 bucks. The whole process was about six months, and I thought, “This is not gonna be a way to make a living.” So I stuck my hand in the cartoon world.

Find this print here!

J: How did you get into cartooning from animation?

A: I gave up cartooning at Playboy, but when the animation business went sort of down for a while, I talked to Bob Blechman once again, and he said, “Do you have any cartoons?” I said “No,” and he said, “Put some cartoons together.” So I put the cartoons together and some cover ideas. I wanted to do covers for The New Yorker. Also in the middle of this, I forgot, I had a rep, and she took my stuff around. I started to illustrate for all kinds of magazines, Life, Time, Business Week... doing spot illustrations in watercolor, and then everything just went flat, and I didn’t have anything to do, so I did these drawings at home, my own work, and my wife would go off to studios to do her own ink and paint work, and I showed them to Blechman, and [he] sent me up to The New Yorker.

J: To Lee Lorenz?

A: Yes, and I showed him some of my cover ideas and he said, “Ok, do a finish. We’re interested in buying two covers for The New Yorker. And I completely choked. “I said, Oh no, The New Yorker, what am I going to do?” I kept bringing in these drawings, and they just weren’t right. Meanwhile I had all these gag cartoons and little drawings. I was just doing funny drawings—they weren’t really cartoons, so I took them up, and they said, “We’d like to publish one.” So I started submitting cartoons, and I started selling.

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If there's anything that motivates me, it’s selling. I mean if you have a place… you’re focused, and I focused. By the end of the year, I sold a number of black and whites, but no covers, but it just kept going on. I just kept doing it and doing it, and ever so often putting in a cover... and finally I sold one cover, two covers, three covers… just doing New Yorker stuff

J: So you weren’t cartooning for anyone else?

A: No, but afterwards, sort of as I was doing this, I learned I could take the leftover roughs that they didn’t buy, and go to other magazines with them.

J: Wasn’t that kind of a social event, where cartoonists would go to all the different magazines in the city?

A: Well, Wednesday was called “Look Day,” and Sam [Gross] was very involved in that—of course Sam was involved in everything. And then there was the Cartoonists Guild, and I got involved in that.

J: Mort [Gerberg] was the president of that.

A: Yeah, and I got to be around cartoonists, and I was selling mainly to The New Yorker, so I just focused on that. After a while, they signed me to a contract, and I had years when I would sell 77 black and white cartoons.

J: That’s more than the issues they have per year!

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J: I was wondering, because you were already a mature artist when you started cartooning, did you experiment a lot with your style, or did it gel into place relatively quickly for you?

A: Well, there is a little space that I left out of this, which is while I wasn’t selling cartoons in the early days, I had notebooks, and I used to hang around in an art store in [Greenwich] Village, and I would fill them with funny drawings, and travel around, and when I was messagering… so I was really cartooning, but I didn’t have any place for them.

J: So as soon as you found a home for these drawings, everything came together?

A: Yes.

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J: With your career, you’ve been building towards things your whole life, and it almost seems like it just happened overnight, but it was actually years worth of working at it.

A: The first drawing that I sold, when I used to put stuff in the art show in [Greenwich] Village, the guys in the coffee shop, the beatnik guys, we would take some of my little sketches, and we would make little mats, and at the end of the end of the art show, people would leave, and leave spaces, so we would just throw my stuff up on the walls.

J: That’s one way to get into an art show!

A: I even got a write up in an Italian newspaper! But as soon as we’d make enough money for dinner, we’d head to the clam house—The Bocce House. That was a good time.

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Stay tuned for part two, which will be up next week! In the meantime, find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram! There is a Twitter as well. If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute a dollar or so to labor and maintenance costs, there is also a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi account as well!

#arnie levin #artists on tumblr #how to be a New Yorker cartoonist #cartoons #cartoonist #allen ginsberg #jack kerouac #martha graham #illustration #art process #cartoonist process

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justdrarryme · 6 years

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The 10 Longest Drarry Fics in my Bookmarks

Exactly what it says on the tin.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of rec list, so here you are guys, I hope you enjoy it, all of these fics are just amazing xxx

The Price of Valour by orphan_account, RomanyWalker, wench_fics (WeasleyWench) (Epxlicit, 406 K)

I’m just going to throw this out there because I know some people are a bit eh about it, but there is Ginny bashing in this. But man, this fic is AMAZING! Summary: What happens when someone you hate needs you more than anything else? When it's life or death, either battle to the end, or die trying. DH compliant, but ignores the Epilogue. (Rating for later chapters: for the avoidance of any and all possible doubt, this story features a lot of plot and character development. The smut is quite a long way off.) This is the original fic, without post-completion editing.

Secrets by Vorabiza (Biza) (Explicit, 395 K)

Yo, check out the Archive Warnings xx Summary: Beginning with Draco's unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry's summer after sixth year becomes filled with activity and many secrets. As his summer progresses, Harry generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side.

Foundations!Verse by Saras_Girl (Explicit, 364 K)

Summary: Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

Turn by Saras_Girl (Explicit, 306 K)

Summary: One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Number Seven by sara_holmes (Mature, 253 K)

Summary: Harry already has small children, an ex-wife, annoying colleagues and an international crime ring to deal with. So when Draco Malfoy reappears after eight years AWOL in France, of course Harry is going to leave him well alone...Right?

Draco Sodding Malfoy by Shewhxmustnxtbenamed (Explicit, 250 K)

Pleaseeeeeee read the Archive Warning and tags on this, there are some pretty heavy references to domestic abuse and violence plus one instance of abuse against an animal. Summary: Harry finds Draco outside a pub and takes him back to his place, only to find out that Draco is in an abusive relationship. Harry invites Draco to stay until he can get back on his feet. They go to Draco's ex-boyfriends house, and come back with more than they bargained for.

Mental by sara_holmes (Mature, 186 K)

Summary: Harry has had quite enough of sharing his mind with someone else, thankyouverymuch. A miscast Legilimecy spell says otherwise.

My Big Fat Pureblood Wedding by QueenyMidas (Explicit, 177 K)

Summary: Chaos ensues after Harry proposes to Draco on their three-year anniversary. The two must plan a wedding around their fighting friends, warring families, and each other's stubbornness. EWE, post-war, disregarding Remus, Sirius, and Colin's deaths and the fact that gay marriage is not legal in the UK.

Bond by AnnaFugazzi (Mature, 173 K)

Summary: I started to write this before HBP came out, and crossed my fingers that HBP wouldn't make it totally non-canon. No such luck, I'm afraid. This, therefore, is an AU story, where (SPOILER) still teaches (SPOILER), (SPOILER) didn't try to (SPOILER), (SPOILER) didn't succeed in (SPOILER), (SPOILER) never dated (SPOILER), and most importantly, (MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS) never happened.

Things Worth Knowing by Femme (femmequixotic), noeon (noe) (Explicit, 164 K)

Summary: After the Battle, Harry thinks he's left Hogwarts for good, but Minerva insists that all students return for an Eighth Year if they wish to sit for NEWTs in the spring, and Harry needs those NEWTs to go into the Aurors. Draco's just grateful not to be in Azkaban. Or the Manor. He's hoping he can steer clear of Potter this year and grapple with his own problems. Unfortunately for him, Potter appears to be one of those problems. And that's not even addressing the fact that Potter's got serious issues of his own, which Draco realises as he's forced to share an Eighth Year dormitory room and several classes with the Gryffindor Git. If only they can make it through the year without killing each other, it should be all right, shouldn't it?

#drarry #drarry squad #slow burn #fanfiction #fanfic #fic rec #draco malfoy #harry potter #draco x harry #harry potter x draco malfoy #justdrarryme #hp #ao3

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basicsofislam · 5 years

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THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET (PBUH) : Jabir bin Abdullah (r.a.)

The preparations for the Battle of Uhud increased day by day. On the one hand, the Muslims were completing the preparations for the provisions under the supervision of the Prophet (pbuh); on the other hand, they exercised fighting with the sword and throwing arrows. In the meantime, the young and brave Muslims who could use a sword applied to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked for permission to join the battle.

A young man who was suffering from the agony and sadness of not being able to participate in the Battle of Badr also applied to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to participate in the battle. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) told him he could join the war if he went and got permission from his father. This young man, who went to his father in a slightly sad and excited way, was Jabir bin Abdullah, who paid allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in the Second Pledge of Aqaba with his father at a young age.

Hz. Jabir's father, Abdullah bin Amr, answered his son's request as follows:

"My dear child! If there were anyone else to look after and protect your seven sisters, I would like to see you being martyred in front of my eyes at Uhud." [ Musnad, 3: 395. ]

Jabir’s father could not see his son as a martyr at Uhud, but he was martyred in the same battle by fighting heroically.

After his father's death, Jabir, who took over the leadership of the family, became a Muslim at a young age and was praised by the Prophet (pbuh) several times due to his distinguished qualities. The Messenger of Allah often visited him in his house and ate dinner with him.

Jabir inherited a lot of debt from his father. The creditors were Jews and they constantly asked their money from Jabir. Abdullah bin Amr left only a small amount of money; Jabir had a small date palm orchard; it was impossible for the income from this orchard to pay for the debt of his father in several years.

Jabir, who was in a very difficult situation, went to the Prophet with the hope of finding a solution. He said,

"O Messenger of Allah! My father was martyred at Uhud. He left a large amount of debt. The creditors constantly ask the money from me. Help me so that some of the debt is postponed to next year."

The Prophet accepted Jabir's offer. The next day, Jabir began preparations. The Messenger of Allah was going to visit his house. He said to his wife, "The Messenger of Allah is going to come to us; do not disturb him!"

The next morning the Prophet went to Jabir's house. Jabir slaughtered a sheep. The Prophet, Hz. Abu Bakar and some Companions were at Jabir's house. Later, the Prophet told Jabir to call the creditors. When Jabir’s wife saw the Prophet, she said from behind the curtain, "O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah for me and my husband." The Prophet said, "May Allah forgive you and your husband!"

What happened after that is described as follows in the book called "Mektûbat":

“Jabir offered the creditors all his father’s possessions but they did not accept them. The fruit produced by his orchard over many years would have been insufficient to defray the debt. The Noble Messenger (pbuh) said: “Pick and gather in all the fruit in the orchard!” They did so; then the Noble Messenger (pbuh) walked around the crop and prayed. Then Jabir gave from the amount corresponding to his father’s debt. What was left was as much as the annual produce of the orchard. And according to another narration, it was equal to the amount he gave the creditors. The Jews were amazed and astounded at this.”[ Mektûbat, p. 108; Musnad, 3: 373. ]

Hz. When Jabir heard later that his wife asked the Prophet to pray for them, he said to her, "Did I not tell you not to disturb the Prophet?" His wife said, "How can it be possible for me not ask the Prophet to pray for us when he comes to our house? We got rid of our debt thanks to the help of the Messenger of Allah."

Jabir, who always felt the sorrow of not being able to fight in the Battle of Badr and Uhud, took part in all of the battles after the death of his father; he participated in 19 battles together with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

After his father was killed at Uhud, Hz. Jabir married a widow. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was informed about this marriage, he asked Jabir, "Did you marry a virgin or a widow?" Jabir said,

"O Messenger of Allah! You know that I have seven sisters. I wanted to marry an experienced woman who would take care of them, comb their hair, nourish and raise them. Therefore, I chose a widow."

The Prophet liked this behavior of Jabir, who could have married any girl she wanted with his handsomeness and heroism. He said, "O Jabir! You did the right thing." [ Bukhari, 2: 580. ] Suhayma bint Mas'ud, whom Jabir married, served Islam a lot afterwards. [ Musnad, 3: 334. ]

Hz. Jabir, who was one of the notables of Ansar, lived about two kilometers away from Madinah but participated in all daily prayers led by the Prophet in the mosque. The tribe of Sons of Salama, to which Jabir belonged, wanted to settle in an empty place near Masjid an-Nabawi but when the Messenger of Allah heard this, he said, "O Sons of Salama! Do not leave your homeland so that your thawabs will be abundant.” [ Muslim, Masajid: 281. ]

During the Battle of Khandaq, the Muslims experienced the most troubled days. On the one hand, the Muslims were digging trenches and on the other hand, they faced the danger of starvation. The incident reported by Jabir is a clear example of the hardships and sufferings of the Muslims in this battle.

The Companions who were busy with digging trenches came across with a piece of rock but they could not move it. The Messenger of Allah told them to sprinkle some water on the rock; then, he took the sledgehammer and hit the rock with it three times; the rock broke into pieces. Hz. Jabir says, "When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was breaking the rock, I noticed that he had tied a stone on his stomach to suppress his hunger." [ Musnad, 3: 303 ]

On one of those days of distress and suffering, there was some barley and a kid in Jabir's house. He talked to his wife and decided to treat them to the Messenger of Allah and a few Companions with him. Besides, they did not have enough food for more Companions. Jabir went to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and said, "I have some food. I invite you and a few people to my house." The Messenger of Allah said, "All right. Tell your wife not to take the food from the stove and not to remove the bread from the oven before I come."

After a while, Hz. Jabir left the place of Khandaq and returned home. Meanwhile, the Prophet put his two hands around his mouth and shouted so that all Ansar and Muhajirs would hear: "O people of Khandaq! Jabir has prepared a meal for us and invited us. Let us go."

Hundreds of Companions who were trying to suppress their hunger by the stones they had tied on their stomachs proceeded to Jabir's house. The Companions filled Jabir’s house and the area near his house in groups. In the meantime, Hz. Jabir looked at the food that was cooked and the number of the people that came to his house and did not know what to do due to his astonishment. He could not help saying, "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun."

Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) arrived and ordered them to put the food in the middle. He started to distribute it to the people. He took some bread, put some cooked meat on it, and handed it over to each of the Companions who were in line. Although hundreds of Companions filled their stomachs, the meal, which had been prepared only for a few people, did not run out. After everybody ate, the Messenger of Allah also ate some. And there was still some bread and meat left. Hz. Jabir said,

“About a thousand men ate from that barley, which was about one sa’ (about three kilos) and the meat of the kid. Then, they left. There was still some meat in the saucepan and bread in the oven. For, the Messenger of Allah prayed for that bread and meat with his blessed mouth.“ [ Musnad, 3: 337; Mektûbat, p. 103. ]

Jabir, who received such compliments from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) several times, learned knowledge from the Messenger of Allah first, and from Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar, Hz. Ali, Abu Ubayda and Talha after him. He conveyed what he learned to others and taught them very generously; along with more than 500 hadiths that he narrated, he trained many valuable students who became scholars such as Imam Baqir, Muhammad bin Munkadir, Said bin Mina and Asim bin Umar bin Qatada.

He had a long lifespan. He acted very compassionately and mercifully toward all Muslims. He supported Hz. Ali related to the conflict between Hz. Ali and Muawiya but he did not support anybody in the conflicts that occurred after that. When conflicts between the Muslims were mentioned, he would report the following hadith:

"People entered into the religion of Allah in communities. They will come out again in communities in the future. "[ Musnad, 3: 343. ]

Toward the end of his life, he became very sad and got very weak due to the persecutions and inflictions by the governors of Hajjaj. He died at the age of 94 in 74 H. Thousands of Muslims including Hajjaj participated in his janazah prayer. May God Almighty not deprive us of the intercession Hz. Jabir, who caused the Muslims to come together both when he was alive and when he died!

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askauradonprep · 5 years

Text

About That Super Long Playlist

Long information post behind the cut! It’s pretty much the songs in the stages of the crew’s relationship.

First Round of Recruiting

1 What About Us 2 At the End of the Day 3 How Far I’ll Go 4 Brave 5 Anthem of a Runaway 6 Come Back (Ella Eyre) 7 She Got the Best of Me 8 Glad You Came 9 You Walked In 10 You’re Beautiful 11 You Don’t Know Me 12 Enchanted 13 Felt Good On My Lips 14 Girl Crush 15 Crashed 16 Do It For Her 17 Who Are You When I’m Not Looking 18 Wildest Dreams 19 Started With a Song

Rise to Power

20 You and Me 21 Bad Reputation 22 Playing With the Big Boys 23 I Bring the Darkness (End of Days) 24 Warrior 25 Let It Go

Descendants 2

26 What’s My Name 27 Here Comes the Thunder 28 One Way or Another 29 Greatest Show on Earth 30 The Edge of Glory 31 One Day More 32 Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad 33 You’re Going Down 34 Hit Me With Your Best Shot 35 Look Down 36 King of Anything 37 Rich 38 Fly 39 It’s Goin’ Down

Uma Leaving

40 Evermore 41 If Only 42 The Winner Takes It All 43 It’s Over Isn’t It

Rough Mental Health Period

44 Supergirl 45 Ring of Fire 46 Monster 47 Little Toy Guns 48 Mayday 49 Cry 50 Bad Day 51 Because of You 52 Burning House 53 Stilettos 54 Out of the Woods 55 Ask Me How I Know 56 Tomorrow 57 Landslide 58 Better Man 59 Done You Wrong 60 Stupid Boy 61 Chasing Pavements

Uma’s Return

62 Girl on Fire 63 Keep Holding On 64 Umbrella 65 Make You Feel My Love 66 If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows You’re There) 67 I’ll Stand By You 68 Safe & Sound 69 Dancing On My Own 70 Wanted 71 Innocent 72 Invisible 73 It’s Okay To Cry 74 Break On Me 75 Let It Out 76 Here Comes A Thought 77 She Will Be Loved 78 Everytime

Recovery

79 The Good Stuff 80 My Life Would Suck Without You 81 Just Give Me A Reason 82 For The Long Run 83 Shake It Out 84 I Ain’t Giving Up On You 85 True Colors 86 Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain) 87 Warrior 88 Here’s To Us 89 Little Girl 90 Mine 91 Fly 92 War Paint 93 I Won’t Let Go 94 Clean

Comeback

95 Royals 96 So What 97 Still Not Giving Up 98 Back in Black 99 Bad Blood 100 Angel With a Shotgun 101 Payback 102 Another One Bites the Dust

Second Recruiting Period

103 We’re Going to Be Friends 104 Worth a Shot 105 Enchanted (Owl City)* 106 Break Up In The End 107 I Would’ve Loved You Anyway 108 Replace Your Heart* 109 Come Back Song 110 Let’s Be Us Again 111 All Together Now 112 Jessie’s Girl 113 I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You 114 Both Of You 115 Bury the Hatchet 116 Team 117 Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now 118 I Will Follow You Into the Dark 119 I've Got Your Back* 120 Ain’t No Stopping Us Now

Hooking Up

121 Play It Again 122 Love Will Do That 123 Ready to Run 124 I Don’t Dance 125 Hold My Beer 126 As She’s Walking Away 127 Make You Mine 128 See About A Girl 129 Merry Go ‘Round 130 Johnny & June 131 Somebody to Love 132 She Won’t Be Lonely Long 133 Friday Night

Getting Together Officially

134 History in the Making 135 How to Love 136 Complicated 137 Heart Attack 138 Give Your Heart a Break 139 Strong Enough 140 Good to You 141 What Ifs 142 Yours If You Want It 143 Waterloo 144 Bring It On 145 Best Shot 146 Begin Again

Early Relationship

147 Love Me Like You Mean It 148 Cool With That 149 Just a Kiss 150 (Kissed You) Good Night 151 Feels Like That 152 My Girl 153 You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away 154 Dress 155 We Danced 156 Secret Love Song 157 The Fighter 158 I Like The Sound of That

Getting in Trouble on the Isle

159 Super Villain 160 Good Girls Go Bad 161 Came Here to Forget 162 Home Alone Tonight 163 Good Together 164 I’ll Be The Singer, You Be The Song 165 Bounty 166 Run 167 Bad Boys 168 Bad Girls

Partying

169 Fix A Drink 170 We’re All Right 171 What Was I Thinkin’? 172 Bonnie and Clyde 173 She’s My Kind of Crazy 174 Toxic 175 It Ain’t My Fault 176 Wild Things 177 Downtown Kids 178 Let’s Get Rowdy 179 Fastest Girl in Town 180 Somethin’ Bad 181 Me Against the Music 182 Somethin’ We Shouldn’t Do 183 Exstacy 184 Criminal 185 Like You Do 186 We Are Young 187 Setting the World On Fire 188 Die Young 189 Anthem 190 Kiss Me Quiet 191 Up All Night 192 Hurricane 193 Perfect Storm

Getting Closer

194 Quiet 195 Easy Silence 196 Soak Up The Sun 197 I Like Me Better 198 I Won’t Say (I’m In Love) 199 If I Ain’t Got You 200 You Are In Love 201 Clarity 202 Count Me In 203 Good Time 204 Halo 205 Just The Way You Are 206 Ours

Descendants 3

207 Not Ready to Make Nice 208 My Lullaby 209 Stronger (Under the Sea)

Getting Invited to Auradon

210 Long Live 211 Hall Of Fame 212 Peter Pan 213 That’s When You Know It’s Over 214 Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) 215 Just Like You 216 Wasting All These Tears 217 Since U Been Gone 218 I Wonder 219 Praying 220 If I Die Young 221 A Little Bit Stronger 222 Survivor 223 Be Wherever You Are 224 Anywhere With You 225 We Are the Champions 226 Let It Go (Demi Lovato) 227 Fight Song 228 Eyes Open 229 Change

Dating In Auradon

230 Kiss The Girl 231 Somewhere Only We Know 232 Always the Love Songs 233 They Don’t Know About Us 234 Blank Space 235 Womanizer

Going Public

236 She’s With Me 237 A Guy With A Girl 238 A Place In This World 239 Unforgettable 240 Fearless 241 Skydiving 242 Sparks Fly 243 Dirt Roads Scholar 244 Sunshine On the Line 245 Jumped Right In 246 This Is How We Roll 247 Cruise 248 Wastin’ Gas 249 Fast Cars and Freedom 250 Old Alabama 251 Shotgun Rider 252 400 Lux 253 Parking Lot Party 254 Beat Of the Music 255 L.A. Boyz

Auradon Partying

256 Here For The Party 257 Up All Night 258 Raise Your Glass 259 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) 260 Middle of a Memory 261 Cop Car 262 Crash My Party

Getting to the First ‘I Love You’

263 I’m Only Me When I’m With You 264 Can’t Say No 265 I See The Light 266 I Think I Love You 267 The Only Exception 268 A Thousand Years 269 Criminal 270 You Love Who You Love 271 Girlfriend 272 Hooked 273 I Hope You’re the End of My Story

Being Split Up By Auradon Prep

274 Stay Beautiful 275 One Number Away 276 Thinking ‘Bout You 277 I Hope You Dance 278 Sleepin’ Around 279 Think of You 280 More Than A Memory 281 Picture 282 Hung Up 283 Need You Now 284 I’m Comin’ Over 285 Just To Get To You 286 Hell Bent For Buffalo 287 Warm Safe Place

Feeling Hopeless

288 Like A Cowboy 289 Remind Me 290 Long Live The Night 291 Don’t You Wanna Stay 292 Runnin’ Outta Moonlight 293 Secret Love 294 Carrying Your Love With Me 295 Wherever Love Goes 296 I Could Use A Love Song 297 Colder Weather 298 Red 299 True Love 300 Highway Don’t Care 301 Say You Do

Fixing Things and Reuniting

302 Man in the Mirror 303 Die of a Broken Heart 304 Let’s Not Let It 305 I Won’t Give Up 306 Hey There Delilah 307 Mamma Mia 308 Where We Left Off 309 Stuck Like Glue 310 Style

Post-Reunification Relationship At Auradon Prep

311 Young Forever 312 Somewhere On A Beach 313 Cheap Seats 314 Firecracker 315 Somethin’ Stupid 316 My Best Friend 317 Lucky 318 You Won’t Ever Be Lonely 319 Do It With You 320 I Wanna Dance With Somebody 321 Somebody Like You 322 My Baby Loves Me 323 The Way You Love Me 324 Love Me Like That 325 Love Like You 326 H.O.L.Y.

Post-Graduation Adult Relationship

327 Next Stop, Anywhere* 328 I Hate Love Songs 329 One In A Million 330 Now That I Found You 331 Because You Love Me 332 For You 333 Good Kinda Love 334 Loving You Easy 335 We Found Love 336 We Weren’t Crazy 337 Because You Loved Me 338 Mean To Me 339 The World 340 Alright 341 Doin’ What She Likes 342 Somebody Wrote Love 343 Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow 344 Yours 345 Hard To Love 346 That Kind of Beautiful 347 Jealous of the Sun 348 Never Comin’ Down 349 This Love 350 I Run To You 351 God Gave Me You 352 All About Her

Proposal and Engagement

353 That’s When You Know 354 Baby, I Love You 355 She’s In Love With the Boy 356 Amazed 357 The Rest of Our Lives 358 Lost In This Moment 359 It’s Your Love 360 Livin’ Our Love Song

Wedding and Honeymoon

361 For Just One Day Let’s Only Think About (Love) 362 Marry Me 363 Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? 364 A Thousand Years Part 2 365 I Do 366 It’s A Beautiful Thing 367 I Got the Boy 368 Hold It Against Me 369 Black 370 I’ll Name The Dogs

Married, Childless Life

371 Your Man 372 No Such Thing As A Broken Heart 373 Come A Little Closer 374 Sky Stays This Blue 375 Dear Life

Kids Being Born

376 It Takes A Man 377 Life Changes 378 You’re Having My Baby 379 Isn’t She Lovely 380 You’re Gonna Be 381 Chasin’ Girls 382 Laughed Until We Cried 383 Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me 384 Hey Pretty Girl 385 Who Would You Be

Post-Kids Life

386 Superman 387 I’m Already There 388 Home 389 Woman, Amen 390 Good Morning Beautiful 391 A Woman Like You 392 All of Me 393 She’s Good For Me 394 Forever Love 395 I Walk The Line 396 Forever and Ever, Amen 397 You Make It Easy 398 My Wish 399 In Case You Didn’t Know 400 You’re Still The One 401 Just To See You Smile 402 I’ll Still Love You More 403 If You Ever Stop Loving Me 404 I’ll Always Love You 405 Die A Happy Man 406 Love Like Crazy 407 Remember When

Older Adults, Post Kids Growing Up

408 Moments 409 I Go Back 410 Then 411 I’d Love You All Over Again 412 Still Into You 413 In Color 414 Bless the Broken Road 415 Greatest Love Story

Legacy

416 For Good 417 I Was Here 418 Don’t Blink 419 Forever Rebels 420 Legends

* = Not on Spotify

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little-panem · 5 years

Text

The Raven King - notes

«Richard Gansey III had forgotten how many times he had been told he was destined for greatness» ((paralleling Blue's prologue in TRB, uh?)) - 1

Excelsior: onward and upward

The prologue is #intense AF and Gansey Boy is a king three times and he knows he's going to die

«Time, like a story, was not a line; it was an ocean» - 4

Ronan «Ronan Lynch loved to dream about light» - 25

Chap 6 (47) has the most blessed Bronan exchange, the suspended Blue one

Adam «Adam had seen many of Ronan's dreams made real by now, and he knew how savage and lovely and terrifying and whimsical they could be. But this girl (Opal) was the most Ronan of any of them that he'd seen. What a frightened monster she was» - 57

Adam «Cabeswater didn't quite understand humans, but it learned. Happiness, it insisted. Happiness» - 62

Adam «[Ronan] caught Adam's eye. When Adam's mouth quirked, Ronan's expression stilled for a moment before turning into the loose smile he ordinarily reserved for Matthew's silliness. Adam felt a surge of both accomplishment and nerves. He skated an edge here. Making Ronan Lynch smile felt as charged as making a bargain with Cabeswater. These weren't forces to play with» - 63

Adam on Ronan's unprotected tone with Matthew and Aurora «This tone reminded him of that unshielded smile from before. Don't play, he told himself. This is not a game. But it didn't feel like a game, if he was being honest. Adrenaline whispered in his heart» - 64

Henry calls Blue Gansey's "child bride" - 105

Maura to Blue «"Private school boys? Using random pieces of fabric as apparel? That seems like exactly what you stand for these days"» - 111

Blue «In a Venn diagram where one circle held the words toga party and one held the words Henry Cheng, Gansey might possibly and up where they intersected» - 112

Maura «Consequences, as Calla often said, were a bitch» - 123

Henry to Blue «"Wendybird came!"» - 136

Ronan «His feelings for Adam were like an oil spill: he'd let them overflow and now there wasn't a damn place in the ocean that wouldn't catch fire if he dropped a match» - 141

Ronan «[Adam] allowed Ronan to lean in to compare his eyes – close enough that Ronan felt his breath on his cheek – and he allowed Ronan to study the palm of his hand. The latter was not strictly necessary, and they both knew it, but Adam watched Ronan closely as he lightly traced the lines there. This was like walking the line between dream and sleep» - 142

Ronan «He knew Adam had figured out how he felt. But he didn't know if he could step off this knife-slender path without destroying what he had» - 143

Chap 20 (153) is the Toga Party™ and Bluesey at its peak

Adam «Blue took Gansey's hand. Adam was glad she did. "Gross" Ronan said» - 195

"If you cannot be unafraid be afraid and happy" ((Cheng One with the knowledge!!)) - 210

Ronan «"Asshole," Ronan said. Adam smiled cheerily. Ronan would start wars and burn cities for that true smile, elastic and amiable» - 219

Ronan «"Miseria fortes viros, Ronan," Adam said. When he said "Ronan," it meant: Ronan. "Asshole," Ronan said again, but he felt a little better» - 221

Adam on Ronan's aversion for phones «Now that Adam knew him better, he realized it had more to do with a phone not allowing for any posturing. Ninety percent of how Ronan conveyed his feelings was through his body language, and his phone simply didn't care» - 236

Chapter 33 (236) is The Pynch Chapter™ and I fucking accidentally read The Kiss™ while Hurricane by 30stm blasted through my headphones and it hurts every time and I'm gonna need time to recover oh my goodness

Ronan after kissing Adam and running to a roof «Ronan felt that he had caught happiness without meaning to» - 244

Piper «"Let it be thus, or whatever"» - 249

Henry «He spray-painted the words PEACE, BITCHES on the dumpster behind a gelato parlour» - 267

Something more ~

Henry «"What do you mean Ronan's a magical entity? Is he a demon? Because this all makes sense if so"» - 275

Adam «When he opened his eyes, he saw Ronan was looking at him, as he had been looking at him for months. Adam looked back, as he had been looking back for months» - 297

Blue «It was terrible to see [Ronan] without any fire or acid in his eyes» ((my soul is broken)) - 321

T'ire e'lintes = tree-lights

Artemus to Blue «"All of the tire e e'lintes are full of potential"» - 329

Gwenllian to Gansey «"I stopped asking how. I just did it. The head is too wise. The heart is all fire"» - 338

Gwenllian to Gansey «"Godspeed, King"» - 338

«"[Gansey] can't go alone," Adam said. "He'll do something stupid." "I'm infinitely aware," Blue replied.» - 344

Henry on being Korean «"I am. I got that, and the vandal part, from my mother"» - 359

Henry to Gansey «"Jeong, bro." […] "We instead of you and me. That's jeong"» - 360

From April to November

Gansey «He remembered thinking that it would only ruin the party by reappearing covered with hornets» ((#priorities)) - 364

Gansey «He had meant to find Glendower, and now he was finding Glendower. Joy and sadness, too big for his body to contain» - 369

Ronan to Gansey «"You dumb shit"» - 373

Adam to Gansey «"You dumb shit"» - 373

Gansey «They'd come here for him. They'd come here for him. They'd come here for him» - 374

Gansey on finding Glendower «It felt exactly right»

«Gansey had to duck his head a little. Ronan had to duck his head a lot» - 377

Gansey «Gansey's heart stumbled inside him at the idea of trying to extract both a favour and a purpose for his existence before Glendower turned to dust» - 381

Gansey «If Glendower had not saved Gansey's life, he did not know who to thank, or who to be, or how to live» - 382

Gansey «It was over» - 383

Ronan «The choice was death or hurting Adam, which wasn't much of a choice at all» - 391

Ronan «[Adam's] head rested miserably on Ronan's shoulder, everything shaking, standing only because Ronan did not allow him to sink» - 394

On Adam being the sacrifice «"No," Blue, Gansey and Ronan said at once - 395

«"Do you ever feel like things are coming full circle?" Ronan said in a low voice. "Do you...?"» - 405

«"He's being unmade"» - 406

Adam «[scrying] was the only way he could survive being so close to Ronan's pained gasps» - 407

Demon «[The dreamer] shaped [dreams] into flapping creatures and earthbound stars and flaming crowns and golden notes that sang by themselves and mint leaves scattered across the blood-streaked pavement and scraps of paper with jagged handwriting on them: Unguibus et rostro. But he was dying» - 411

Gansey «Blue closed here eyes, and two tears ran out of them. She did not cry noisily, or in a way that asked him to say anything different. She was a hopeful creature, but she was also a sensible creature» - 413

Gansey «He fell quietly from her arms. He was a king» - 415

Noah «"Goodbye," Noah said. "Don't throw it away." He quietly slid from time» - 418

Adam «Adam was not Robert, but he could have been, and he forgave that past Adam for being afraid of the possibility» - 428

TRB TDT BLLB

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kenobiapologist · 6 years

Text

I was inspired by @gffa to put together my own little list of Star Wars novel recommendations because I saw theirs here! I love the formatting too so I tried to emulate it. I’m a fan, can you tell?

When I embarked on the journey of reading novels from the Star Wars universe, it seemed overwhelming. Which books do I read first? Is it better to read things in order? THERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS PLEASE HELP.

After 1.5 years of toiling in the novelization realm, I feel confident enough to compile a list. Not complete by any means. I still have a ton of books to read. But these were some of my favorites out of YA and adult novels.

My recs include Legends and Disney Canon novels, so I’ll indicate the Legends ones by marking them with a little *.

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn thrawn & palpatine & many imperial friends 427 pages

Painted as a villain by the tv show Rebels, this novel seeks to offer a different perspective of the intimidating admiral thrawn from his discovery as an outcast of his home planet to his ascension in the Imperial Navy. You will fall in love with Thrawn. And potentially ship him with his buddy Eli.

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover* anakin & obi-wan & padme & cast 451 pages

Anakin’s fall to the dark side is made even more painful by having access to his inner thoughts and his deep love for his friends and wife. You will cry. This whole novel is written like beautiful prose full of feelings and people dying.

Most Wanted by Rae Carson han & qi’ra & corellian gangs galore 400 pages (YA format)

Han and Qi’ra are kids that grew up on the streets of Corellia, doing errands for their crime lord Lady Proxima just to get a bite to eat. A dangerous mission gives them the chance to compete for a leadership position within the syndicate, but it also gives them a chance to get into a lot more trouble than intended.

The Clone Wars: Wild Space by Karen Miller* obi-wan & bail & anakin & ahsoka & padme 342 pages

Bail gets a mysterious message and Obi-Wan accompanies him on a trip to the Wild Space to investigate. Things quickly get dark-sided and Obi-Wan is forced to become friends with his least favorite kind of person - a politician. A fast-paced, quip-filled adventure with all the drama and humor you could dream of.

Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth & Siege by Karen Miller* anakin & obi-wan & ahsoka & bail organa & padme 395 pages and 382 pages, respectively

Obi-Wan and Anakin go undercover as natives of a backwater planet in the Outer Rim to investigate the Separatists next big plan for devastation: a bioweapon! It’s the perfect evil scheme, and The Team ™ is the only way to stop General Lok Durd from murdering billions. Get ready for awkward spying by two Jedi who definitely ARE NOT TRAINED for this kind of mission, pages of banter, and trying to make friends with the locals.

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray leia & bail & breha & many cute senator friends 409 pages (YA format)

Leia is sixteen years old and taking on the Alderaanian tradition of proving her skills in order to be named heir to the throne. She learns survival skills, hones her political prowess, and leads relief missions across the galaxy. What should be the most important time of her young life becomes overshadowed by her parents mysterious meetings and hush-hush work. Leia is stubborn, curious, and totally worthy of being Princess of Alderaan in this riveting tale that opens our eyes to Leia’s home planet and her upbringing in the Organa family.

Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden iden versio & gideon hask & del meeko & imperials galore 307 pages

After the Death Star explodes into bits, the Empire is understandably pissed. They assemble an elite strike force of agents and send them undercover to infiltrate and destroy Saw Gerrara’s freedom fighters. Among them is the daughter of Admiral Garrick Versio, the man responsible for bringing their home world of Vardos into the Empire. Iden Versio has a lot of pressure on her shoulders to live up to the expectations of her Empire, her new team, and her father. She’s already a kickass TIE pilot; now she’s taking things up a notch to protect the Empire. Her mission brings her and her team into close contact with people she is told to hate, and the ethics of what she’s been trained to do start to trouble her.

Rogue Planet by Greg Bear* obi-wan & young anakin & sentient prickle plant life-forms that cling to anakin like a magnet 336 pages

Obi-Wan and Anakin are just starting to get the hang of being on missions together as Master and Padawan. In a test of their bond, the pair is sent to a mysterious planet called Zonama Sekot after a fellow Jedi disappeared. Turns out the planet is alive and the people that live there make some dope ass ships. Obi-Wan and Anakin pretend to want one of these special ships in order to get to the bottom of this mystery. Chaos ensues, as always with these two. Anakin is a magnet for trouble, but also for cuteness because he has such a good heart and wants to do his best. I’d watch an animated show about this.

more details and screaming under the cut!

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn thrawn & palpatine & many imperial friends 427 pages

Let me be clear, I put off reading this because of assumptions I made about Thrawn as a character. And the fact that I’d read Tarkin and thought this book would be similar. I could not have been more wrong. You have to read this book. The characters are all loveable, the plot is interesting, and the writing style is by far the best part. As someone else mentioned in a review, you can tell that Timothy Zahn loves Thrawn (he created him after all). Thrawn’s inner dialogue is hilarious and his translator/sidekick Eli is quirky and shy, which is SO CUTE. The insight into the workings of the Empire are given from the pov of an “alien” instead of a human, leading to a unique experience of our favorite evil governing body. None of my favorite characters from the movies were in this book and yet it’s my number one pick, if that says anything about how awesome it is.

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover* anakin & obi-wan & padme & cast 451 pages

If you ship anyone from the prequels, I’m pretty sure you’ll love this novel. It’s long, but it’s worth it. The opening scene of Anakin and Obi-Wan in their starfighters will never be the same for me after reading this. The struggles and tensions between characters are strengthened by extra scenes and detailed descriptions. The perfect rendition of the compelling fall of Anakin Skywalker! If you didn’t like the movie because his fall felt too awkward or quick, this novel will change your mind. If you liked the movie because of the bants and great fight scenes, you will not be disappointed. There’s plenty of that too.

Most Wanted by Rae Carson han & qi’ra & corellian gangs galore 400 pages (YA format)

Get to know Qi’ra and fall in love with Han Solo...again, because he’s got a heart of gold and is stupid as hell. Many shenanigans in this book; a quick read! There are some loveable OCs in this story, and about 100 different moments where you’re like HAN STOP BEING PERFECT. I’m such a han stan after reading this. Wasn’t expecting much from this story but I was overwhelmed by how fun it was. There are awesome world-building details (usually glazed over by YA novels, but not this one). It’s the perfect companion to the Solo movie. A must-read before you see the movie or before you see it again ;)

The Clone Wars: Wild Space by Karen Miller* obi-wan & bail & anakin & ahsoka & padme 342 pages

This book starts out strong with some obikin moments: Anakin alluding to a threesome with padme and obi-wan, obi-wan and anakin sparring with mass sexual tension and anakin’s praise kink, and obi-wan getting his ass kicked (which leads to Anakin sobbing). But obi-wan getting ABSOLUTELY DRAGGED BY THE GALAXY doesn’t end here, because he quickly gets caught up helping his new bestie Bail Organa travel out to the space boonies to investigate some mysterious location. Get ready to rare-pair ship Obi-Wan and Bail because they have some pretty great banter and bond over almost dying. If Obi-Wan getting kicked in the face at least once in every star wars movie is your favorite, you’ll love this book. Karen Miller is the queen of writing emotional scenes and loves the cast of Clone Wars just as much as the rest of us. There is a deep focus on the relationships because the chapters give us real-time stream of consciousness from the characters. It’s the opposite of a James Luceno book, if you know what I mean.

Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth & Siege by Karen Miller* anakin & obi-wan & ahsoka & bail organa & padme 395 pages and 382 pages, respectively

Anakin is a total badass in this duology btw, with Obi-Wan coming in a close second for his self-destructive healing and NO SLEEP EVER. If you’re a fan of the The Clone Wars, these books encapsulate the feeling of each episode in novel form. It’s a longer assignment for them, and at points I felt like HOLY SHIT how are they still alive, but it wouldn’t be Anakin and Obi-Wan if they weren’t putting themselves in harm’s way at every turn. I love the force-usage and The Team in disguise. We even get a few moments with our favorite, Bail Organa. Tensions are high, emotions are all over the place, and you’ll remember star wars is a space opera with every turn of the page. It reads like a good fanfic, tbh. You’ll love it.

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray leia & bail & breha & many cute senator friends 409 pages (YA format)

Leia grows so much over the course of this story, both by completing the challenges associated with her claim to the throne, and by discovering the secrets of the newborn Rebellion spearheaded by her parents. She goes from a teenager with a good head on her shoulders to the incredible Rebellion leader we see in the OT. She meets wonderful friends, a cute boy, and everyone’s least favorite person: Holdo. (But she’s awesome in this story, and I think you’ll enjoy her part in The Last Jedi more if you read this book) There are tense moments with Empire officials, world-building for Alderaan, which makes it even more painful because you know it gets blown to bits. AS IF I NEEDED MORE SADNESS ASSOCIATED WITH BAIL AND BREHA. Fuck I love the unconditional love and support the Organa family has for their adopted daughter. And how Alderaan loves her too??!! It’s a beautiful story and we even see her Force-sensitivity come into play. This novel is a real page-turner with action scenes interspersed in political tension and heartfelt moments; never feels too slow and you’ll want to absorb every detail.

Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden iden versio & gideon hask & del meeko & imperials galore 307 pages

It’s a great novel from the Imperial perspective and not full of flat “evil” characters. Stories that seek to explore the minds of those who served the Empire wholeheartedly bring an entirely new take on a regime that originally looked like “space nazis.” How do people get involved in these things? Why are they complicit? What can be asked of a person before they crack? How far will an Imperial go to prove their loyalty? Iden is powerful and demands respect. Her interactions with the other members of the team are great, and also with the freedom fighters when undercover. The tension in this book is insane! The web of lies, the pressure to shut down the fighters, but also the pressure to blend in with them to avoid being exposed; wow it’s intense. I almost feel like this book was better than the actual Battlefront II story, but hey, I think I’m just a fan of Christie Golden. Her writing is wicked interesting and fun.

Rogue Planet by Greg Bear* obi-wan & young anakin & sentient prickle plant life-forms that cling to anakin like a magnet 336 pages

Are you sitting there thinking, I wish they’d give us some damn adventures about young Anakin and Obi-Wan? Why did they skip ten whole years worth of comedy gold and chances to show us what Jedi training is really like? Well read this book! It’s adorable; I screamed many times while reading it. One of my favorite themes in the novel is the exploration of Anakin being the Chosen One; he has all of this untamed strength and talent, but how can someone so young shoulder all of that weight? Obi-Wan and Anakin learn a lot about how to work together and you can see how much they care for each other during the mission. It’s really just another reason to love Anakin Skywalker, and who can argue with that? If you like Jedi Apprentice or Jedi Quest stories, you’ll love this. Another interesting side of this book is how to shows the growth of darker powers in the galaxy that build up into the Clone Wars. This is not the same galaxy that Obi-Wan grew up in. And no one has ever had a Padawan like Anakin.

#star wars novels #novel recs #obi wan #anakin #iden versio #leia #padme #bail #thrawn #qi'ra #han #i'm not used to recs like this #did i do alright?#I hope you've become intrigued by at least one of these recs because these are my favorite books and I'd love to scream about them with you #let me know if you've read any of them #canon #legends

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