#i just read crank palace and had to add to this after all this time

[thefoxtrot008]

The Reader's Blog

Since it's summer, that means it's book girl summer y'all! :)

So far I've read the following:

The Crank Palace - by James Dashner. One of my favorite authors, this one was good. Took me a long time to get to this one, even after it came out. The ending shocked me and made me cry. 8/10.

The Maze Cutter (also by James Dashner). I might have to reread this one to be honest. I honestly, didn't know that he came out with another series, so that was fun. I was hoping more of the OG characters, we got a little bit of *SPOILER* Minho, Frypan and Thomas, but it was brief. 6/10, sorry!!!!

The Engagement Party - by Darby Kane. This one was good, but had too many characters, hard to keep track. While the ending was predictable, it still had be a bit shocked. 7/10.

Currently Reading:

Unwholly - by Neal Shusterman. Also a good read. I've read it before, and I'm going to read it again for the 100th time. By far, also favorite author and the best of the books. There are five total.

The Fever Code - James Dashner. Sorry! Another add. I'm also rereading this one, mostly because I don't quite remember what happened in it. But it's good so far!

A Day Of Fallen Night - Samantha Shannon. She is absolutely brilliant! The Priory Of The Orange Tree is really good, so this one has got to be spectacular, right? Also, have not read The Bone Season by her quite yet, but it's on my reading list!

For me, personally, it's a tie between Minho, Gally and Newt. I can't choose, honestly, they're all great in their own way.

And that's a wrap folks! :)

"Fine. I'll just sit here in the common area and read my book. Which just so happens to be the very same book you're reading." - Andy.

"Alright, just know you're not in the Finer Things Club." - Toby.

"Why can't I be in the club?" - Andy.

[thesongofvillains]

newtmas quotes from the books.<3 pt1. pt2.

[fortunatelysweetvoid]

screaming about newtmas songs (long post)

a lot of these songs are from this playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4rfa3w0fo3oEq7UKVcAnBx 

this playlist was made by a tumblr but unfortunately, i can’t find the original post. huge thank you to the original creator though; it’s super amazing.

Photograph, Ed Sheeran

newt’s last letter being inside the necklace. keeping it “next to your heartbeat where I should be”. the reminder that they were only around 16 or 17 throughout the entire series. 

“And if you hurt me“- the flare, their last fight. the “i’m sorry tommy“ and “it’s okay“. IT FITS SO PERFECTLY.

Dancing With Your Ghost, Sasha Alex Sloan

a sad one, but this song really fits with thomas being alone in the safe haven. sleepless nights, just remembering what it was like when newt was still there.

the melody is kind of hauntingly beautiful and adds to the melancholy mood of the song so well. do give it a listen!

Please Tommy, Please John Paesano This isn’t a song, but a piece from the movie soundtrack. It’s one of my personal favorite orchestral pieces of music, ever. It’s around 10 minutes long and includes so many different mood changes, which are all amazing. 

It’s action-packed and exciting at times, mysterious at others, or ambient and wistful/longing at others. Please do consider giving it a listen:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1C3r2snScjilmjqKd6FjIQ?si=4c67a90288814eed

Kindly Calm Me Down

could be interpreted as relating to newt having the flare.

or it could be newtmas in the safe haven, comforting each other’s nightmares. there is an amazing fic by amatus_jj with this concept: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13937601

Pink in the Night, MItski

movie-verse au where newtmas pine for each other through the scorch, through the 6 months between tst and tdc. there are moments that could’ve been something, but they never talk about it.

and when newt (almost) dies in the last city, thomas realizes how little time they always had. wishing that they could’ve done something earlier.

maybe the last “And again, and again, and again” means a good ending in the safe haven  :)

Dancing After Death, Matt Maeson

How to Save a Life, The Fray

Happiest Year, Jaymes Young

the whole of tmr takes place over 6 months + a few more. less than a year.

from the fever code, it’s revealed that newt was one of the reasons why thomas wanted to go into the maze. he started his new life so that he could save newt. but it never worked.

All I Want, Kodaline

thomas grieving in the safe haven. that’s it.

Let Me Down Slowly, Alec Benjamin

i don’t even know how to describe it, but it just works with newtmas? IT’S THEM.

there is this edit with this song that hit me pretty hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWeCrRUAyd0

Arcade, Duncan Laurence

Loving you is a losing game, huh :’)

Just Add Water, Cavetown

book-verse newt leaving for the crank palace. him wanting the others to just leave him and continue on without him.

it happens in movie-verse too. at the end of tdc, when he says to leave him behind, and he gives the necklace to tommy.

Someone You Loved, Lewis Capaldi

I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved.

And Then We Get Hit With The Major Character Death :D

Before You Go, Lewis Capaldi

could be so many things. thomas watching newt attempt suicide in the glade, wishing he could’ve saved him.

thomas finding out that newt had the flare / wasn’t immune to the flare.

newt dying, and thomas wishing that he could’ve done more to save him.

Follow You, Imagine Dragons

“I would follow you anywhere“, of course.

The Light Behind Your Eyes, My Chemical Romance

newt repeating the names of their friends every night

newt knowing that he wasn’t going to make it, leading to him writing the letter, hoping that everyone else would.

Heather, Conan Gray

newt’s jealousy over teresa. him always thinking that thomas liked her more.

eventually, newt hating her over the betrayal. seeing that thomas is still attached to her somewhat.

---

thank you so much if you actually read this whole thing :0 hope you discovered some music or lyrics that you might like!

[mdhwrites]

Okay, I’d actually like to talk about how AMAZING these people actually show the Sonic cast is, and why there are so many, because I hear so many people claim that Sonic’s friends don’t matter, or don’t need to exist. Here is the thing: In gameplay they can be hard to implement. As characters... Well Sonic: He’s your normal,goofball, never give up protaganist. He’ll always do what’s right, but his belief in his own skills is both his greatest strength and flaw. He’s gullible, cocky, and if no one holds him back is likely to rush face first into danger with no plan to get out. It’s a classic and always a lot of fun. Tails: The obsessed engineer. Not a lot of stuff plays up how shy or socially awkward Tails can be, but when he has to interact with people outside of his field, his mission, or his team you can usually see it, and that’s because he is always working on the tech side of stuff. He loves his passion, but without someone to push him out of his comfort zone he wouldn’t ever grow. Knuckles: The serious hero. He can be silly, but that’s usually at his own expense. He isn’t the brightest, but he has a heart of gold... Or warm steel might be the better term for it. He’ll smash before he talks, but unlike Sonic will focus on the mission. There’s no distracting him because his goal is always the betterment of him and his friends, so he’ll also give up a victory of his own to give it to someone else. What matters is that things got done. Rouge: The prankster/flirt. She appears to not take anything serious, but it’s because she wants to have fun! Her tricks may be a little mean, but never to the extent that they’ll leave the recipient scowling for too long, and she is the one who’ll give a few heated, impassioned words in an ear to make someone’s day brighter more than anyone else. This isn’t just sexual teasing though. A prankster and flirt has to be able to read people to get under their skin (or other parts), and this makes her great for compassion, care, love, and bringing anyone up who is feeling too down. Just be careful, because she’s also the best in putting you back in your place should it go too far to your head. Omega: I don’t know this character very well, but I’ll still try with what I do know. He’s the outsider. The one who doesn’t know the world, but is trying his best. His intentions are never ill, but he wasn’t made to be good, so it’s hard for him not to do damage, despite how desperately he wants to keep everything safe. Fortunately, with the right-ish moral compass, his weaponry can be used for good and he is slowly learning how to be funny, sarcastic, and everything else that can make him increasingly human in the eyes of other people than his friends, who know just how wonderfully alive he is behind his awkward voice. Shadow: Yeah, he isn’t a hero. He is selfish, narcissistic, and ready to be an asshole to anyone to get his way. He doesn’t play well with others, but that’s because he is what matters... in the short term view. He is still a hero, but the kind that is harder to see the merit of. He would abandon his friends if he knew getting the job done was what mattered, and that he could do it himself. He wouldn’t technically like it (not if it actually cost lives. Here... Fuck em. They fucked up) but it’s what he would do for the job. He’s the best guy to work with, because he’ll always get it done, but don’t ask him to move or else you’ll be paying for the beer, pizza, and it better line up with his schedule or he’s just teleporting all of your stuff in a heap onto the roof because he missed your third floor apartment. Eggman!: The rapacious scoundrel! He honestly isn’t the best at world domination. It’s not his thing. He makes flawed creations because he enjoys creating doodads, thingamobs, and wants people to appreciate just how good his death laser is! At least, in a lot of his best incarnations. He’s of course older, more bitter, and all of this has been cranked up to an eleven, but come on. He names things like Egg Carrier, and puts a moustache on his car. If there isn’t a child somewhere in there wanting attention and a friend who understands him, then I don’t know what more they could do to show that. This is also why he’s not usually the final boss in a lot of more modern Sonic games I feel. And now *cracks knuckles* The hard mode. Covering not only characters not in this, but also ones who are either less popular, or less canon. Warning: I have been exposed to a lot of Sonic, but I have consumed very little Sonic, so feel free to correct me on any of this. Big the Cat: Okay, going to admit it now: Could still use work. However, he is supposed to be the zen amongst the insanity. He is the one who, given the chance, would just relax, sleep, and play with his frog, even while everyone else is playing EXTREME, DEATH, CHILLYDOG VOLLEYBALL! He doesn’t want for much except his friends and trusts that his more capable friends can take care of themselves. He’ll do anything for his smaller, less defensible friends though... like Froggie. Cream: The shy, earnest girl. She’s more in touch with nature, she cleans the base while everyone’s out on mission, and develops a new anxiety disorder everytime the phone rings. You could want no one better to just listen to your problems, and she’ll do what is necessary if she must, Just don’t expect her to come home and be ready to squash a spider, even if she just saved the world. Amy: The tomboy turned girly girl. If allowed, she’d learned to cook, bake, clean, and sew, because to her those are the traits that have been ingrained into her by society as right for what she wants to be: A wife in a peaceful time, surrounded by those she loves and who aren’t afraid of her. This likely stems from losing a couple too many friends after she showed off she could break a mountain with her hammer. In actuality, she’d be at the most peace if she accepted who she was, while still trying to calm down and manage her anger, but what we get instead is someone filled with a lot of complex emotions, whose definition for romance do NOT fit with her knight in shining armor, and who will break you if you so much as lay a finger on her Disney Palace dream. Chaotix: Uuuuuuuuh, skip! Okay, to be fair, they are additional archtypes that aren’t there already, especially as less typical heroes, or heroes for hire. They follow something other than pure morality to decide what it is they care about, but they won’t turn to straight up criminal work in order to get paid either. They’re good guys, but they live in the real world, to each their own extent, and are trying to get by despite that. Princess Sally: This is my last one, because I pretty much run out of knowing enough at this point. However, I do want to touch on her. We have heroes, villains, anti-heroes, but they almost all have one thing in common. Confidence. Sally is the character who, when asked to put on a speech, takes a deep breath, wipes the nervous tears from her eyes, and steps out and performs spectacularly. Everyone knows she’s capable of moving the Earth except for her. The weight of her position and her situation weigh on every action she makes and it exhausts her, almost to the point of stopping her. Almost. Her reserves of strength make it so that even when she has to show she’s scared, she can keep going. And sorry if I am SUUUUPER off on that last one. But yeah, to everyone who says all of Sonic’s friends are stupid, blame that more on poor game writing. These characters have AMAZING designs and concepts behind them that manage to show themselves in spite of how rough the writing or time for character development can be in their games, and it’s part of why I can’t actually make that much fun of the Sonic community. You were given an entire season’s worth of anime characters to play around with and grow up with and you want to see them done well and given the characterization you know is there. Add to the fact that the games are fun (to some people, I am unfortunately not a big fan) and I entirely sympathize with you all, and I hope you get more good games in the future, and that they keep adding to this great rouge- OH SHIT! Silver: Yeah, if you thought Shadow seemed a little extreme, Silver is what you get when you have someone with literally nothing left to lose. He lost his planet, and he will destroy a galaxy to set it right. He doesn’t trust because he grew up in a time where that got you killed. He has likely lost friends, homes, everything to the future, and will do anything to get them back. This also leaves him in a reeeeally awkward position in peace time and treating paintball as a game instead of a training exercise. Blaze: Making the best of a bad situation. While Silver let him embroil himself in the rage of his world, Blaze still fights to temper it. To be able to manage a small smile from time to time, and find silver linings in failure. When something goes wrong, she’ll publicly tell everyone how great they did and how they’ll be a next time, but please give her a hug. She’s crying on the inside because she’s had it just as rough as Silver, but also thinks she actually has something to lose still beyond her life, and that fact terrifies her. Sorry for forgetting about those two, but that should be about everyone. If I missed someone you expect me to know, especially from the games, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all liked this, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!