#op has an abba obsession

[kings-of-newyork]

Personally, I like ralbert because they're best friends who happen to be dating. They don't really know when they started loving each other and they don't really know if they'll ever stop. They started dating because it felt right and it's either a massive reveal or something they've both been waiting for. For Years. They're reckless and impulsive to the core but know their limit. They stay up all night watching shitty movies and arguing about which High School Musical movie is the best because they can't sleep. They have unplanned dates at four am that consist of Race dunking chicken nuggets in Albert's milkshake whilst parked in a field listening to the one CD in Albert's truck (and it's Ariana Grande). They take dumb trips to another state that nobody believes actually happened until they see the photos. They wear silly matching couples costumes that make sense only to them. They have inside jokes and endless stories. They would get married in Vegas because they just so happen to be passing through Vegas one time randomly and, 'Hey, Racer, you know what'd be fucking hysterical?'. They get divorced for fun three years later. They know each other inside out but fuck if Race can tell you Albert's middle name and vice versa. They send each other dumb shit at 5am captioned 'us' and get a 'yeah' back. When they're around each other, Albert softens and Race quiets. They wholly, fully, completely and recklessly love each other.

And Sprace is cool too.

So real of you to say this. I am posing you a question, is ABBA featured in their "music for drives" rotation?

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Oooh how about top 5 favorite OP ships and characters? And Top 5 songs you've listened to this year?

(put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer)

top ships… well, number one should be pretty obvious.

shuggy - if i need to explain why, you have not spent much time on this blog, lol.

sanuso - you can blame beanie for this one, i vaguely thought they were cute before i followed her & ✨saw the light✨

zotash - tbh i'm not sure whether i still ship these two romantically, but i am always gonna be obsessed with their dynamic and hungry for more scenes between them, so they belong on the list.

frobin - yeah, it’s kinda basic, but imo that’s because it’s kinda obvious? that train ride to enies lobby, man—i’m still not over it. plus, the addams family vibes fanon entertains me.

hm. i feel like i’m forgetting a pair i’m really into. i like namivivi, i’m intrigued by crochawk, but neither one has a real tight grip on me atm. well, i can’t think of another ship, so i guess those two can share fifth place.

favorite characters! i’ve done a top 3 before, but top 5 gets a little trickier.

buggy

usopp

tashigi

luffy

ace

a couple strawhats should be ranked above ace if i’m being honest, but my marineford re-reads have had me getting weepy over ace, so he’s getting a tenderheart boost.

as far as songs go… i don’t use a service like spotify that monitors my most listened tracks or anything, so this is just broad guessing on my part.

something by mitski. i suspect if i could get the data for a top ten, she’d make up half of it—and only partly because i kept listening to her songs while trying to figure out which lyrics to use for my fics. “i’m your man” has the lyrics i think about the most, but “your best american girl” has been on my mind lately for… obvious reasons. (lmao, just remembered while pulling that link up that my reasons for lingering on “i’m your man” are similarly obvious.)

something by jack de quidt. the soundtracks they’ve composed for friends at the table’s various campaigns, one-shot games, and friends-of-the-show’s podcasts’ theme songs are all very good instrumental listening. the marielda album is a long-time favorite, while sangfielle and palisade are two recent albums of very different kinds of eerie music.

something off M A N I A. that album’s been my most played every year since it came out in 2017, oof, every song is at least danceable if not a bop. i’ve wanted a deadpool vid set to “wilson (expensive mistakes)” for so long, and a castiel vid set to “sunshine riptide” for longer.

something by abba. not sure what got me back on the abba train—the one song episode about gimme gimme gimme? the let’s learn everything episode about eurovision? generalized mamma mia nostalgia? whatever it was, i’ve been relistening to their music a lot this year. love a pop band with good harmonies.

”speeding cars” by imogen heap. she played this song during her npr tiny desk concert in 2019 and it absolutely made my week. no idea how i found this 2006 b-side, let alone listened to it so much that it produced that kind of reaction a decade later, but there you have it.

[volfoss]

how about ranking bucciarati's team?

regret to inform you that ur gonna get a very long answer bc i have passionate feelings about them all! also trish is in this bc she is part of the team and no one will tell me otherwise and will also include some rambling bc it is me and i have so many feelings towards these characters and none of them r cohesive

under the cut just in case (post writing yes it was long)

Giorno Giovanna:

way way more complex than ppl normally give him credit for (i will not go into feelings on how a majority of the fandom treats him unless ppl want me to then i will in fact make a very long ranty post and will not be stopped)

mildly op (esp at the beginning with how hes kind of able to just use his stand really well w no problems altho i think thats true of most of the jojos that we have seen animated?)

i am emotionally attached to him and want to give him a big hug

hes just a kinda goofy kid and is maybe a bit not good with figuring out hey this is a semi dangerous situation maybe i shouldnt be taunting him (leaky eye luca for example)

has the actual best theme

i love how he works off the rest of the team so well (even w members who do not like him)

is in my top 3 jojos i love this kid sm i would adopt him if he was real

7/10

Bruno Bucciarati:

the fucking way his character develops from licky man to best dad material is my favorite thing

his outfit is so so so good i would die to wear it

in general this man is one of my fave jojos characters and i get a lot of comfort from him

hes just really neat and has a good taste in music

he did his fucking best and i will always love him for that

imo the way that his death was drawn out was genuinely one of the most heartbreaking deaths in the entire series and fucks me up each time i think of it

i feel like he really is the one to hold the team together in a way that everyone feels cared for and saved

def has a savior complex tho for sure

dilf but im ace

also manga superiority bc he either makes the stupidest faces or looks very nice (anime has a lot of weird animation in regards to his face) and also because its lingerie there instead of a tattoo that changes thickness and placement every second

10/10

Leone Abbacchio:

guilty pleasure liking man

i am obsessed with his vibes and wish to become him

i cannot physically express just how much i love him but hes one of my faves of all time (not obvious by my theme at all wdym)

i miss his manga palette but also the colored manga isnt my beloved but also black lipstick abba

hot take maybe but anime abba looks better than manga minus the lipstick debacle

hes so so tall and i will steal his height in a nice way

his past man his past it fucks me up

his death fucks me up normally but when i was rewatching recently, i saw he gave this tiny lil smile after helping the kids get their ball and i could not take it anymore

him and brunos relationship (canonically and out of canon too) is one of my favorites in the series

also fandom hot take as i guess i am doing those for everyone- but ppl either have him as cosntantly trying to murder giorno or being like good son and v out of character, and it is really weird? not sayign that ill do better when i write them but also like im convinced some ppl havent seen the show or smth

i will steal both him and bruno and marry them both <3

this man is beloved i love him to death

10/10

Pannacotta Fugo:

i cannot spell his first name to save my life

also fandom take- ppl make him constantly only angry boy all the time and it really irks me. ik araki did not give him 2 much to work w in terms of canon personality but its frustrating

the light novel purple haze feedback is so so so good and adds sm to his character and i really like it for that!

fugo is one of those that imo deserves a lot and didnt get that

genuinely the vibes between how he treats narancia is v interesting to me, like its clear he cares about nara but nara not doing great w math really frustrates him

i love their interactions and how he is genuinely a kind person at times

the manga colors r superior here, my strawberry boy <3

i just really love and appreciate him a lot and wish that ppl gave him more love

i keep getting assigned him on kin quizzes

very smart good boy

ALSO ok fugo did not do any wrong by leaving

unsure if thats a hot take but i genuinely dont blame the character one bit for leaving and again purple haze feedback really delves into that and why he did it

if ur a fugo fan go read it

his past is really upsetting esp in the anime i will cry over it

his stand is adorable and i wanna hug it

his vibes r fun and i wanna gift him strawberry dangly earrings

8/10

Narancia Ghirga:

this boy i am also adopting (i am adopting most of them sorry)

i really hate how ppl act as if hes stupid bc bad math skills do not equal stupid like did ppl not see the fight w formaggio??

the way he just fucking dove into the water after the boat and how brunos face went all soft and happy it will never not make me cry

he is constnatnly making me wanna cry if i think too much about him for 2 seconds i love him sm

how can anyone not adore him when he set an entire street on fire yk

hes just happy despite his past and it makes me sad i love nara sm

torture dance is one of my favorite memes from the show

ALSO ok the way he died so suddenly absolutely broke me bc the remaining team members r really just seeing everyone die in front of them so quickly

his goofy and laid back moments r my fave

i love just how loyal and caring he is to his friends

his stand is really cool and again the fight w formaggio was so fun to watch

8/10

Guido Mista:

probably my least favorite member of the team for a semi good reason:

the jokes towards trish are really really uncomfy and how fugo doesnt wanna be involved but he is pushing him to do something that makes him uncomfortable did not make me like him a lot

hes goofy but not goofy enough for me to be ok with the repeated jokes about that esp in the body swap episode (ik it was supposed to be funny but it just felt off)

his vibes r good but i wish we got to see his hair

the fandom interpretation is normally pretty good of him overall?

despite not loving him a lot, i really enjoying writing for him (one day might open up headcanon requests or smth but unsure)

hes someone id wanna watch movies w but his taste in movies and mine r very different

love how he and his stand get along

honestly has very very good comedic potential

i really like how he and giorno interact as the series goes on (in a platonic way i need to clarify that i love their friendship)

again him in purple haze feedback was really interesting

probably a 5/10?

Trish Una:

beloved and deserved better

her first outfit in the manga > outfit in the anime

actually in general i believe in manga trish superiority like her hair in the manga looks so cool

her stand her stand her stand i love sm

if u dont include trish in the group i am murdering u <3

HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! IS SO GOOD!!!!!!

fandom gripe is how people either pretend she does not exist or has the trish first introduction thing where shes using her defense mechanisms and acting a bit spoiled

OK but her in purple haze feedback!!! mild spoilers but how bruno was taking care of her post the ending of vento aureo makes me so happy each time i think of it

very mad that she canonically didnt really get an ending and yet again PHF my beloved actually gave her that

how spice girl starts out as a stand thats helping her thru a very stressful situation is so cool and i love it

DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO *frothes at the mouth*

but more seriously how she leans on bruno and begins 2 trust him and nearly point blank is referring to him as a father figure always fucks me up

esp because of the resulting fight afterwards

and the very ending of the arc that ends w bruno being like bye gonna go in the clouds and look ethereal now, oh man it makes me so sad

bc giorno is the only one that knew what happened and people that were closer to bruno due to knowing him longer didnt

i wanna see how trish coped w that personally

despite being introduced not at the beginning i think her arc and character in general were as well paced as it could be!

9/10

finally done! sorry that took so long but oh man i have so many feelings towards these guys its not even funny

[rfamess]

This cured my boredom for a little bit. Was making a few new music playlists and thought.. hmm. I wonder what kind of music the RFA listens to? So, I made this. For no reason at all.

What Kind of Music the RFA + V/Saeran Listen To:

Saeyoung/707:

- (I always see people writing that he’d listen to all star or other cringe meme songs because that’s what seems to be his entire personality, but I like to think he has more substance than that and listens to songs that don’t have to do with memes.)

- He definitely listens to rap/hip-hop.

- Can you not imagine him driving down the road in his cars, windows down, music blasting?

- He listens to his music uber loud in his headphones while working.

- His favorite artist is probably Tyler the creator, i mean, how could you not love him.

- Listens to Mac Miller when he’s sad :(

PLAYLIST:

Who Dat Boy - Tyler the Creator

Stutter - Freddie Dredd

Evil Fantasy - Freddie Dredd

Sweatpants - Childish Gambino

Bounce - Logic

Dead Wrong - Notorious B.I.G.

Movement - Oliver Tree

Stick to Your Guns - Watsky

Both - Gucci Mane

No Sleep Till Brooklyn - Beastie Boys

Can I Kick It - A Tribe Called Quest

No Limit - G Easy

Circles - Mac Miller

Broke Bitch - TMG (lol)

Bonfire - Childish Gambino

I THINK - Tyler the Creator

Good News - Mac Miller

I - Kendrick Lamar

FACE - Brockhampton

King Kunta - Kendrick Lamar

Lovely Things Suite: Knots - Watsky

Zen:

- (Similar to Saeyoung, I don’t believe Zens entire personality revolves around musicals, he probably doesn’t listen to them that often imo.)

- I like to think he’s a... well rounded individual when it comes to music

- Listens to anything and everything.

- I could see him listening to the same music as Seven, but is also very into 70s-90s rock like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the like.

- He runs listening to all of his music on shuffle and doesn’t have a specific playlist so there’s never a certain vibe to it— it really is all over the place.

- In addition to Seven’s playlist, here’s Zen’s

PLAYLIST:

Funny Face - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Santeria - Sublime

Badfish - Sublime

The Luck You Got - The High Strung

Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas and the Papas

Heart of Glass - Blondie

Come as You Are - Nirvana

Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

Machu Picchu - The Strokes

Dirty Harry - Gorillaz

Love of Your Life - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Adults Are Talking - The Strokes

Bailee - The Licks

Where is my Mind - Pixies

Hurt Like Mine - The Black Keys

Gap - The Kooks

Give it Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Hoops - The Rubens

Conquest - The White Stripes

Ten Cent Pistol - The Black Keys

Yoosung:

- Yoosung likes more upbeat music, maybe more new age/alternative pop

- Listens to music every time he tries to study, but usually get distracted by it and starts to sing along instead of actually doing his work

- Is probably trying to branch out of his style, Seven and Zen try to convince him to listen to their favorite genres

- The three of them always argue about who has the best taste in music lol

- He’s constantly wondering if his music is “manly” enough (it’s okay yoosung it’s just music)

- If this dude gets drunk and hears any of this music he goes absolutely wild and dances all over the place

PLAYLIST:

Bambi - Hippocampus

Turn - the Wombats

Paris - Magic Man

Chronic Sunshine - Cosmo Pike

Death of a Bachelor - Panic! At the Disco

Silvertongue - Young the Giant

Brazil - Declan McKenna

Unbelievers - Vampire Weekend

Baseball - Hippocampus

Australia - The Shins

Prune, You Talk Funny - Gus Dapperton

Honeypie - JAWNY

Alien Boy - Oliver Tree

Satellite - Guster

So Young - Portugal. The Man

Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

Circles - Post Malone

Unbearably White - Vampire Weekend

Tiny Umbrella - Coast Modern

Way it Goes - Hippocampus

Electric Feel - MGMT

Jumin:

- this guy has 2 modes and that’s it: classical bitch or music that has words

- He appreciates the fine art of classical music and listens to it when he has work to get done or when he’s trying to relax.

- If he’s in a good mood he’ll put on a playlist that includes “music with actual lyrics!”

- It’s a dad playlist. Billy Joel, Billy Joel, Billy Joel, Elton John, The Beatles, Billy Joel.

- He likes Billy Joel. Jumin has a dad personality you can’t convince me otherwise lol

- He tried to branch out but can get very picky in his interests. “I don’t like this guitar riff— change it”

- Either way his 2 modes are apparent in his playlists

PLAYLIST:

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

California Dreamin’ - The Mamas and the Papas

Don’t Ask Me Why - Billy Joel

Starman - David Bowie

Miss You - The Rolling Stones

Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest

Come and Get Your Love - Redbone

It’s Too Late - Carole King

Movin’ Out - Billy Joel

A Horse With No Name - America

I Want to Hold Your Hand - The Beatles

Honky Cat - Elton John

Vienna - Billy Joel

The Stranger - Billy Joel

Waltz in A Minor - Chopin

Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor - Brahms

Waltz No. 7 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 - Chopin

Souvenir de Paganini - Chopin

Solfeggietto in C Minor - Bach

Prelude in B Minor, Op. 32, No. 10 - Rachmaninoff

IV. Allegro Molto From Quartet - Yo-Yo Ma

La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin - Debussy

Porz Goret - Yann Tiersen

Carnival of the Animals: VII. Aquarium - Camille Saint-Saëns

Carnival of the Animals: XIII. The Swan - Camille Saint-Saëns

Jaehee:

- We all know her obsession with Musicals (specifically zens)

- Other than this she listens to...well honestly I don’t know

- Her music doubles as something she can get hyped up with and something she can listen to to relax.

- She loves to dance, so a lot of her songs and just songs that she’ll never be able to refuse to move her feet to!

- She likes the old classics and then she likes Doja Cat. Lizzo? Queen.

- She’s a barb let’s be real please. you can never convince me that she’s not

PLAYLIST:

Adore You - Harry Styles

She - Harry Styles

Call Me - Blondie

Starships - Nicki Minaj

Hey Mickey - Toni Basil

Juice - Lizzo

Say So - Doja Cat

Voulez-Vous - ABBA

Waterloo - ABBA

Cuz I Love You - Lizzo

Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack (LOL the memories associated with this song after Killing Stalking..... hahahaha BUT ITS STILL A GREAT SONG!)

Only - Nicki Minaj

Boss Bitch - Doja Cat

Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac

Beez in the Trap - Nicki Minaj

Woman - Harry Styles

9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

Blame it on the Boogie - Michael Jackson

One Way or Another - Blondie

Tia Tamera - Doja Cat

Truth Hurts - Lizzo

V:

- indie boy indie boy indie boy indie boy

- Cmon just look at him he’s an indie boy

- If you’ve ever met a film student that gatekeeps music, they have the same exact taste but V won’t say shit to make you feel stupid. It’s just music bruv

- If you’ve ever been to an indie concert you know the fuckin dance you know what I’m talking about. he does that.

- Rolls a joint, pops the music off and he paints, does photography, whatever. Either way he straight vibes every single time the tunes come on.

- Low key thinks he has the best music taste. that’s just how dem indie kids roll let’s be real here.

- For some reason knows everything about every type of music. will spew facts about artists and songs at random

PLAYLIST:

Shuggie - Foxygen

Necessary Evil - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Homage - Mild High Club

Another One - Mac DeMarco

Plants - Crumb

What Once Was - Her’s

Heart and My Car - Summer Salt

Cottage Roads - The Walters

Moonlight on the River - Mac DeMarco

Work This Time - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Like Yesterday - Paul Cherry

Call it Fate, Call it Karma - The Strokes

Knowhere - Nick DeLaurentis

Escargot Blues - Guantánamo Bay Surf Club

A Side / B Side - Tipling Rock

Dark Red - Steve Lacy

That I Miss You - Vansire

Top Tier Love - Lonely Benson

Driving to Hawaii - Summer Salt

Taking Up Space - Mustard Service

She’s the Only One - King Guru

Saeran:

- emo boy emo boy emo boy

- We all know it

- As much as I’d love to say he listens to heavy death metal, there’s a part of my mind saying NO he’s not like that.

- Well he is, but he’s got more than a few single interest

- Probably listens to Nirvana, Cage the Elephant, anything similar

- Is always trying to listen to new music

- Kind of sick of Seven blasting his music all the time and listens to the opposite of hip hop whenever possible

- Honestly enjoys all types of music, but sticks to his favorites

PLAYLIST:

- All Apologies - Nirvana

- Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene - Hozier

- Soma - The Strokes

- Black Madonna - Cage the Elephant

- Hysteria - Muse

- Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High - Arctic Monkeys

- I Got Mine - The Black Keys

- Supermassive Black Hole - Muse

- Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

- Back Against the Wall - Cage the Elephant

- Creep - Radiohead

- Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana

- Demon Days - Gorillaz

- Bulls on Parade - Rage Against The Machine

- Matador - The Buttertones

- Holiday - Green Day

- RIP - The Licks

- London Calling - The Clash

- Loser - Beck

- What I Got - Sublime

[dulwichdiverter]

An East Dulwich side story

1970s East Dulwich will come to life in a major new Broadway production next year. Local resident Terry Ronald tells us more

Words Seamus Hasson; Photo Alexander McBride Wilson

During a recent excursion to Lordship Lane, the legendary Broadway director Jerry Mitchell remarked with slight bewilderment “it’s really posh around here.” If he was surprised to find a choice of gastro pubs and an organic butchers it may be because the East Dulwich he had envisaged was circa 1970s as depicted in Terry Ronald’s novel Becoming Nancy.

Set in 1979 and based on Terry’s life the novel tells the story of David Starr, a pop obsessed teenager and his quest to play Nancy in the school production of Oliver. So impressed was Jerry when he read the book that he immediately got in touch with his lawyer to buy the rights and next year he is set to bring it to life as a Broadway musical.

Ahead of its debut in New York however Jerry decided to make a visit to the backdrop of the whole play. “Jerry and the writers all came to East Dulwich to spend a day here and to get a vibe for it which was really good fun,” Terry explains sipping on a glass of red wine. He’s having a relaxing evening at the East Dulwich home he shares with his partner Mark.

The following day he’s off to New York, where he will see a complete run through of the show for the first time. “It was really funny to hear this big Broadway director say ‘I want to see the minimart,’ (now A J Farmers) I want to see where the bus stop was, Terry laughs, ‘I want to see Brockwell Park’ so it was great having him here.

“I mean he’s been to London a million times but he probably hadn’t been to the suburbs a lot. I showed him around my old street and the other surrounding streets. Lordship Lane is featured a lot in the book so I talked to him about that.”

So is East Dulwich really so different today to the one Terry writes about in Finding Nancy? “You know, it’s funny because the first song in the show is called East Dulwich and it’s all about how boring it is and how if you’re passing you should just pass on through.

“I suppose for a kid who grew up dreaming about pop stars and Hollywood movies it was a bit drab. It was just an ordinary suburb, that’s what it was for me but knowing what East Dulwich is now and how magical it is, it’s hilarious really.”

Terry is born and bred East Dulwich and after a number of years living in various other parts of South London he returned in 2005 when he and Mark set-up a home together. He says that Jerry and the writing team really enjoyed their visit and that a lot of the East Dulwich he captured in Becoming Nancy can still be found today.

“I think it’s still got that quaintness which Jerry really liked,” he tells me. “The weird thing that I always say about East Dulwich is that’s its maintained its character. When I was a kid I used to go shopping with my grandad on a Saturday morning and we used to go to the butchers, the fishmongers, the little grocers and all the different little shops.

“The supermarkets were quite small, like the Co-op that has always been a supermarket, Wallaces’ it was called at one time, and there was always a market down North Cross Road so in that way none of it’s changed.

“That scene is gentrification now but when I was a kid that’s just what it was like. I think that’s why people like East Dulwich, it hasn’t really changed.”

The book is in many ways a classic coming of age tale, set against a backdrop of 1970’s prejudices at a time when the National Front were making their presence felt. “It’s basically about a boy that gets to play Nancy in the school production of Oliver,” Terry says.

“He falls in love with the boy whose playing Bill Sykes so there’s a whole coming out story and it’s about how his family react to that in that era. When I was a kid I used to go to Rock against Racism gigs in Brockwell Park.

“So there’s also that aspect to it because his best friend in school is a young black girl; it’s about the journey both of them go through and how they confront that 70s sort of prejudice that was around both their stories. I’m not saying it’s easy now (coming out) but back then there were no (gay) role models, there was no one in TV in soap operas.”

The book, published in 2012 was a success critically and received a Polari first book prize nomination. By Terry’s own admission it “wasn’t exactly 50 Shades of Grey sales wise” so it was a pleasant surprise when he got a phone call from his agent to say that Jerry Mitchell had expressed an interest.

“I was working on a one woman show with Denise Van Outen in the West End the day I found out and when I told her she got so hysterical and completely excited,” Terry tells me. Van Outen has previous with Jerry having worked with him on the West End show Kinky Boots.

To say he’s musical royalty is a massive understatement. A Tony Award winning director and producer Jerry has enjoyed success in Broadway and the West End with other hits such as Legally Blonde and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The music and lyrics for the production have been written by acclaimed writers Stiles and Drew whose past work includes Half A Sixpence and Betty Blue Eyes.

“They were going to do it here first in the West End because obviously it’s very London centric,” Terry says, “but when they did the workshops in America they decided to do it first in Broadway. There’s a feeling that new musicals are working better there than they are here at the minute.

“Also they thought that American audiences would like it because it’s very British.” The cast boasts a number of Brits including Sally Ann Triplett and legendary West End star Jenna Russell who plays Aunt Val. The actor playing David who Terry describes as having the “most flawless British accent I have ever heard” is from Alabama.

One of the themes that runs through both the novel and the play is David’s dreams of pop stardom. For Terry growing up in the 1970s it was an important means of escapism. “I was obsessed with pop music as a kid, I was mad about Debbie Harry and Kate Bush and ABBA.

“I was a real pop person and in fact all those characters feature in the show. The posters in his bedroom come to life and it’s like a funny Debbie Harry who is his kind of spiritual guide in the book.” As our conversation has moved onto music I take the opportunity to ask him about his own pop career which I discovered while doing a Google search. Did he have any chart hits I might recognise?

“Not in this country,” he tells me with a rueful laugh. “My ‘big in Japan kind of thing’ was Spain and Italy and Sweden, I had hits there. I was sort of culty here but never had chart hits.” Naturally self- deprecating he’s being slightly disingenuous when he says he didn’t have chart success here. He has in fact written several chart hits for other artists and even toured with Robert Palmer in the early 90s.

I press him a bit further about his work with other artists. “My biggest hit I wrote was so uncool, “he laughs. “S Club Juniors, Automatic High.” Embarrassing hits aside Terry’s contribution to pop music history is considerable. He has also worked as a voice coach on xfactor and The Voice and since moving from pop to literature he hasn’t stopped writing.

He has collaborated on five bestselling celebrity autobiographies with the likes Pauline Quirke, Tulisa, Michelle Collins and his friend Dannii Minogue. He was also behind YouTube sensation Oli White's bestselling novel, Generation Next, and the #1 bestselling follow up, Generation Next: The Takeover.

A self-confessed musical fanatic has Terry been impressed by the team behind the production of Becoming Nancy. “I think I’ve been lucky because I got on well with the guys doing it, they’ve always let me be involved in the process.

“I’ve had my little ‘Oh, maybe this should be like this’ moments but I’ve really kept out of it because it’s not my show, it’s my book but it’s their show and they’re doing a really good job. I think they’ve done a really beautiful job with it.

“It is kind of weird to see not only something you’ve created coming to life in a Broadway production, looking out of 42nd street but also seeing actors and actresses essentially playing your family. People I know as musical theatre actors and actresses that I knew and admired, that’s weird and nice and exciting, definitely. “

[reignbowarbiter]

ok adding more because i realized i missed some very important things here we go dni if you listen to conan gray phoebe bridgers or penelope scott, if you werent around for that summer where hxh was really popular on here, if you use snapchat still, if you skipped yae kokomi or ei for ayato, if you dont like abba, if you are not insanely obsessed with hit movie mamma mia!, if you dont have the app moomin puzzle, if youve never fought in co-op, if you dont have kazuha, if you dont like shamrock shakes, if you genuinely think chick fil a has good food, if you preferred barbie over lala loopsy monster high or bratz dolls, if you dont have a chair u dump all ur clothes in, if u arent madly in love with bayonetta, and if you dont play roblox

dni if u are a man who plays the sax or trumpet, listens to the chainsmokers, likes the new 5sos music over the old music, sleeps with less than 2 pillows or no blankets, brought a mac book computer to school, if ur cis and play genshin, listen to melanie martinez patd or 21 pilots, found mitski thru tiktok, call people mommy as a joke, call ppl mommy seriously, got ur license at 16, like mac n cheese, put mayo in ur food, make fun of ppl for how they make their coffee, choose to not wear a mask, like winter more than summer, dislike mahito, listen to lana del ray, never had a slime phase, have and actively use discord, still like voltron, have ever built thoma and actually used him, dont like mitskis new album, like or have ever liked dsmp (kys), like starbucks more than dunkin, and dni if you disagree with me about literally anything!

[khalilhumam]

Around-the-halls: Experts analyze the normalization of Israel-UAE ties

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/around-the-halls-experts-analyze-the-normalization-of-israel-uae-ties/

Around-the-halls: Experts analyze the normalization of Israel-UAE ties

By Natan Sachs, Bruce Riedel, Jeffrey Feltman, Tamara Cofman Wittes, Suzanne Maloney, Shadi Hamid On August 13, Israel and United Arab Emirates (UAE) struck a major diplomatic agreement, with a joint Israel-UAE-U.S. statement announcing that in exchange for “full normalization of relations” between the two countries, Israel would forgo, for now, “declaring sovereignty” over disputed territory in the West Bank. Brookings experts on the Middle East analyze the news and its implications.

Natan Sachs (@natansachs), Director and Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy: Normalization between Israel and the UAE is an excellent thing, in and of itself. It’s high time these countries have open, normal relations. But the context is of course key: the Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank, along the lines to be delineated by the U.S. and Israel after the release of Trump administration plan. The UAE-Israeli-U.S. deal allows everyone to climb down: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can avoid the terrible mistake of annexation while claiming he got something big for it (he did!). The UAE can claim it prevented annexation from happening — from UAE Ambassador Yousef Otaiba’s Hebrew-language op-ed warning of the move, to the big carrot of diplomatic normalization. Trump gets to avoid the annexation he himself sanctioned, and all the complications it could have produced, while showing a big win for two of his favorite allies. There is, of course, something odd about rewarding a non-blunder. Annexation could have been (and perhaps already was) avoided easily with a decision in Washington or Jerusalem alone, but the countries can now move forward with what they’ve long wanted: cooperation among two often-like minded countries, with common regional concerns. The losers, as often, are the Palestinians. The impatience in the Gulf with the Palestinians now comes to full daylight. The Gulf won’t wait for them any longer, asking of Israel only to avoid declarations of a major change to the status quo. A question is whether anyone else, and especially the Saudis, might follow. For now, though, the camp of Arab countries with peace or normalization with Israel grows to four: following Egypt (1977), Jordan (1994), and Lebanon, whose nominal leaders signed a meaningless peace treaty with Israel during the Israeli invasion in 1983. This latest agreement to normalize is not nearly as consequential as the first two. Hopefully it will have more meaning than the latter one.

Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy: Jordan’s King Abdullah is a big beneficiary of this deal. Annexation of the Jordan Valley by Israel would have required a harsh Jordanian response. The king had pointedly not ruled out suspending the peace treaty his father had signed with Israel 25 years ago. Many Jordanians wanted him to cancel the gas deal with Israel, which would have cost Amman a fortune it doesn’t have. So the suspension of annexation takes a ticking time bomb off the king’s plate. Adding another (very rich) Arab country to the peace camp, with an embassy in Tel Aviv, is also good for Jordan. It eases the isolation of Amman and Cairo. The king has been praising Muhammad bin Zayed for months.

Jeffrey Feltman, John C. Whitehead Visiting Fellow in International Diplomacy: Anticipating a potential Joe Biden victory in November, Netanyahu may have had second thoughts about large-scale annexation. But even smaller-scale annexation, while rejected internationally, would have established yet more Israeli facts on the ground that are difficult if not impossible to reverse. The UAE normalization offer provides Netanyahu a ladder to climb down from his annexation tree. Critics complain that this dissolves the Arab solidarity of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. But the presumed leverage of the Arab Peace Initiative has never translated into tangible gains for the Palestinians. Suspending annexation at least prevents a bad situation on the ground from becoming worse.

Tamara Cofman Wittes (@tcwittes), Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy: Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem each had their own good reasons for finding a way to open the door to formal relations, but there’s no question the announcement today is also a boon to Donald Trump as he faces a re-election with few concrete accomplishments to his name and many policy failures. Still, the White House should not take too much comfort from this outcome: Among other things, Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Muhammed bin Zayed (MBZ) have now positioned themselves well for the possibility of a post-Trump Washington. Netanyahu has taken off the table a step that the Democratic presidential candidate has said he firmly opposes, and for which other Democrats in Congress are threatening to impose consequences. And MBZ has taken a step that can only win praise and plaudits from any incoming U.S. administration, while separating his nation from Saudi Arabia in the minds of Democrats who are ill-disposed to Riyadh. It seems both Bibi and MBZ have placed their bets for November. The big losers in today’s announcement, of course, are the Palestinians — who are supposed to be grateful at being spared a de jure annexation of territory in the West Bank that many would say has been in place de facto for years already. Abu Dhabi, like Anwar Sadat’s Egypt in 1978, is putting its national interests above Arab solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The Emiratis are betting they can easily weather the storm of unwelcome reactions in the Arab world — and they have far more reason than Sadat did to make that judgment. The dynamic between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Arab states has been shifting for a long time. Ever since the end of the Cold War and the Gulf Crisis 30 years ago, Arab governments have become less concerned about Israel’s impact on regional stability and more focused on Iran and on their own internal troubles. Palestinian politics have become fractured, and have also been caught up in the regional power rivalries that now obsess Abu Dhabi and other capitals. When the Arab Peace Initiative was launched in 2002, amidst the violence of the second intifada and Israel’s reoccupation of Palestinian cities in the West Bank, the assembled Arab governments in Beirut put the power of the Arab states’ normalization offer at the service of the beleaguered Palestinians, led by Yassir Arafat. Today’s announcement cements a reversal of the dynamic. Now the Emiratis can claim that they have saved Palestine from annexation, when what they’ve really done is used a suspension of annexation (which was probably suspended anyway) as cover for their pursuit of their own national interests in ties with Israel. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas may not be able to do much about this betrayal of Palestinian interests — but Palestinians will remember.

Suzanne Maloney (@MaloneySuzanne), Interim Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy program: The historic breakthrough between the United Arab Emirates and Israel would not have come without an assist from Iran’s Islamic Republic. The quiet ties developed over years of pragmatic cooperation between Israeli and Emirati officials around the threats posed by Tehran helped to overcome one of the most stubborn diplomatic schisms. The Israeli government’s suspension of the immediate threat of annexation was a relatively small price to pay in exchange for formalizing its security partnership with the Gulf states, and the move positions both countries — as well as those who may follow the Emirates’ lead — to simultaneously curry favor with the Trump administration, which sorely needed some tangible diplomatic achievement, as well as a possible Biden administration that would be more hostile toward the prospect of annexation. Tehran has already responded with predictably scalding rhetoric, no doubt hoping to exploit residual support for the Palestinian cause among Arab public opinion to enhance its own regional reach. For that reason, some within the Islamic Republic will view this as a victory for the regime’s abiding ideological opposition to Israel, especially since today’s move was preceded by a thaw in the Emirates’ approach to Tehran and coincided with the Iranian foreign minister’s triumphal visit to a shattered Lebanon. But for all the fulminations that will be delivered at Friday prayers around Iran, the creeping normalization of Israel within the Arab world exposes the fundamental disconnect between Tehran and the region it seeks to dominate. And even as Iranians wait expectantly for the prospect of a diplomatic opening under a more sympathetic Biden administration, the landmark new ties between the Emirates and Israelis mean that the strategic and financial environment will remain challenging for Iran no matter what happens in November.

Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid), Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy: In theory, who can argue against peace? In practice and principle, though, Israel is being rewarded for not doing something it should have never considered doing in the first place — annexing parts of the West Bank. This isn’t diplomacy, and it isn’t peace. It’s cynical, and it shows, once again, that Arab authoritarian regimes can’t be bothered to pretend they care about Palestinian rights. For the UAE, it’s a means to an end, formalizing increasingly warm feelings toward Israel, due to their shared enemy of Iran and their shared (and unusual) preference for President Trump over President Obama. The word “authoritarian” is worth highlighting here. It’s hard to imagine an Arab country, if it were democratic, striking a peace deal with Israel today. Whether that’s a strike against — or for — democracy is another question. Of course, it’s not exactly an accident that Israel, one of the region’s few democracies, prefers that its Arab neighbors not be democratic, and the deal with the UAE is a reminder why.

[herbalzee]

Get to know me tag!!!

Five Things You’ll Find In My Bag

   1. headphones (always!)    2. at least 50 hair ties    3. a full bottle of perfume    4. free pens from like everywhere    5. lots of tissues lmao

Five Things In My Bedroom:

a fish tank! i love my lil fishies

shoe cabinet

a Moriarty (from Sherlock BBC) calendar of him saying “Miss me?”. I love it

a small yellow chair!  

a color-coordinated bookshelf!!!

Five Things I’ve Always Wanted To Do In My Life:

learn sign language!

travel all over europe

write my own book

become a therapist

have kids!! and pets!!!

Five Things That Make Me Happy:

hanging with friends!!

listening to music, podcasts and ASMR

watching movies

doing artistic things?? idek what that means but like i love going to operas and theaters and taking aesthetic pictures and being creative, shit like that

talking, ranting, expressing my opinions comfortably, theorizing, brainstorming

Five Things On My To-Do List:

read books

hang with friends

write short stories- or write in general lmao

travel!!!

prepare for uni... i need to seriously do that

Five Things People May Not Know About Me:

i am passionate about psychology

i had an obsession with piercings and tattoos when i was younger

i had the yellow belt in karate when i was in practice

im very old school about silly things yet quite liberal about the serious stuff

im basically in love with malmo, sweden

Name?: zaina

Nicknames?: zee

Zodiac?: sagittarius

Sexual Orientation?: straight

Ethnicity?: middle eastern/ north african

Favorite Fruit?: mango!!!!

Favorite Season?: winter

Favorite Flower?: after a quick flower research, i found the soft pink spray roses and the blue hydrangea the most appealing to me

Favorite Scent?: vanilla! cocoa! banana-scented stuff (or generally fruit-scented stuff). old books!!! 

Favorite Animal?: bees!! or just any domesticated animals honestly (that can be kept at homes or farms)

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate?: tea

Cat or dog?: dogs

Dream Trip?: a boat travelling all around western europe!!!

Number of Followers?: i dont really care about this stuff

What do I post about?: any posts containing message worth-spreading, funny content or aesthetically-pleasing stuff..

Do I get asks on a regular basis?: nope! so famous that i had to close my ask box 

Favorite Band?: twentyone pilots, little mix, imagine dragons, coldplay, hey violet, abba (almost forgot them omg)

Aesthetic?: cinematography, animals and nature, books and libraries, literally anything vintage, multicultures, feminism and femininity. i cant think of other stuff but im majorly into art

Fictional Character I’d Date?: john bender from the breakfast club!!!!

Hogwarts House?: ravenclaw

Rules: BOLD the statements that are true for you!

APPEARANCE:

I am 5'7" or taller

I wear glasses

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair

I have brown eyes

I have short hair

My abs are at least somewhat defined

I have or have had braces

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people

People tell me that I’m funny

Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

I enjoy physical challenges

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude with people I know well

I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it

There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well

I can play an instrument

I can do over 30 pushups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I can draw well

I have a good memory

I’m good at doing math in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for under a minute

I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch

I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports

I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else

I have learned a new song in the past week

I work out at least once a week

I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

I have drawn something in the past month

I enjoy writing

FANDOMS ARE MY #1 PASSION

I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting

I have been at an overnight event

I have been in a taxi

I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day

I have visited another country

I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I’m in a relationship

I have a crush on a celebrity

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least 3 relationships

I have never been in a relationship

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush on someone for over a year

I have been in a relationship for at least a year

I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend”

I live close at my school

My parents are still together

I have at least one sibling

I live in the united states

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with a friend in the past month

I have a smartphone

I have at least 15 CD’s

I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced

I know a person named Jamie

I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

I have dyed my hair

I’m listening to one song on repeat right now

I have punched someone in the past week

I know someone who has gone to jail

I have broken a bone

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what I want to do with my life

I speak at least 2 languages

I have made a new friend in the past year

Relationship status: single

Favorite color: purple, blue, green

Lipstick or Chapstick: lipstick!!

Last song I listened to: hard times by paramore

Last movie I watched: The Boss Baby

Top three TV shows:

(btw these three tv shows are the only shows ive ever watched and actually finished lmao)

BBC Sherlock

Clique

Yuri! on ice

Top three characters:

These are the ones that came to mind first, not top favorites

Sherlock (Sherlock BBC)

Todd Anderson (Dead poets society)

Savannah Karlsen (Girl, interrupted)

rules: copy/paste and replace my answers with yours and tag people :^)

a - age: 17 
b - biggest fear: my actual biggest fear is too personal so im gonna say my second biggest fear: not achieving anything valuable in my life  
c - current time: 3 am lmao 
d - drink you last had: a peach detox lmao 
e - every day starts with: checking phone  f - favorite song: of all time or currently? ive never had an all time favorite but right now my favorite song is hard times by paramore (mainly the chorus bc its awesome) 
g - ghosts, are they real: only the ones in our heads 
h - hometown: a.d. 
i - in love with: psychology 
j - jealous of: productive people 
k - killed someone: ... 
l - last time you cried: literally yesterday..  m - middle name: dont have one  
n - number of siblings: eins (one) 
o - one wish: to be satisfied with who i am and what i have p - person you last called/texted: im talking to my friend on the phone right now as im doing this.. shes the one who so kindly guided me to these fun questions q - questions you’re always asked: “why are you so quiet?” “what major are you getting into and at which university?”  
r - reasons to smile: youre very much well and alive!!

s - song last sang: i was having a fetus 1d songs marathon at like 2 am the other day so... definitely the entire up all night album

t - time you woke up: these days.. 12 pm, bc im tired and its my holiday 
u - underwear color: ohhhh boi v - vacation destination: anywhere cold filled with warm people 
w - worst habit: procrastination 
x - x-rays you’ve had: the most recent one i remember is a chest x ray y - your favorite food: pasta 
z - zodiac sign: sagittarius

post a screenshot of my lock screen, home screen, and last song played

RULES: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions. Then tag some friends.

I choose:

bbc sherlock

clique

yuri! on ice

The first character you loved:

ohhh, first was sherlock! then john almost 0.001 secs later

im pretty sure it was elizabeth. shes the cutest and i relate to her the most

probably Minako Okukawa, because shes so charming and funny

The character you never expected to love so much:

mrs hudson!!!!

louise!!! shes so smart and gorgeous and the least involved in the drama

yurio!!! i used to dislike him lmao but now hes my son

The character you relate to most:

molly hooper

like i said above, elizabeth!

ohh definitely yuri

The character you’d slap

john because sherlock suffered sooo much for him and opened his heart only to be abandoned because john is a naive idiot who still cant tell sherlock’s NOT a sociopath

SO MANY bc almost all of them did shitty things.. but the ones id slap right on sight are Alistair and the Steiner dude

ohmygod no, theyre all pure!! probably yurio bc that kid needs to love himself (but id immediately hug him right after)

Three favorite characters (these are in order of preference):

sherlock & john (one answer), mrs hudson, WIGGINS

holly, rachel, and fay (elizabeth and jude too)

the obvious trio: yuri, victor and yurio

A character you liked at first but not so much anymore:

mary lmao

alistair. i was a little suspicious of him but i liked him at the beginning bc he was cute and innocent. i HATE him now obviously

i love them all.. theres not a single one i dislike

A character you did not like at first, but they’ve grown on you:

ahahah mycroft

 uh georgia

christopher and JJ (but now i love them both so much)