#behind the scenes at foxhole court

[chryseiswriting-blog]

MEANWHILE IN THE FOXES GAME ROOM:

Wymack: Another Raven is dead.

Kevin: Who?

Wymack: Grayson Johnson.

Nicky: How?

Wymack: Toaster in the bathtub.

Neil: Huh.

Wymack: The fuck you mean huh.

Neil: I didn’t pay for the soap and spark package. They must have given me an upgrade.

Dan, Matt, Kevin, Nicky: WHAT

Neil: what?

Wymack: For fuck sake, how many times do I have to say it? Next person to confess to murder in the game room will be running triathlons until the day they die.

[starry-night-ly]

Now that we’ve been blessed with dual pov Miss Nora, I am so curious to know just a little bit of Andrew’s POV. Seeing Neil and Kevin from Jean and Jeremy’s pov makes me want others pov! Give me Andrew when Neil calls him out for not being drugged! When Neil wore the club clothes! When Neil payed a waiter to knock him out! I WANT IT SO BAD! I need to know how many times Andrew or anybody else just think “wtf is with this kid”

[otdiaftg]

BTS content of the organization process:

[ilovedilfs228007]

OH I KNOW

A biiiiiiig post about all the books i have, because I like talking about books.

1. Comics. 2 about doctor Strange, 1 about loki and 1 about tony stark. Those about dr strange were a gift from a friend. Im afraid to ask how much did they cost.

2. Tomas Harris' Red dragon, The silence of the lambs, and Hannibal. There should be 3 books but i started to reread the third one. I liked them all so fucking much i recommend them to everyone i know. It was very hard to find them all in my native language and the first two are second hand but hey. At least they look fine on the shelf.

3. The picture of Dorian Gray. Basil Hallward deserved better. Loved it a lot but was a bit boring from times to times. Live laugh gay men.

4. Just after sunset by Stephen King. A lot of different short stories, some of them are scary, some of them are not, but i liked the one about the Akkerman field and the things they left behind

5. The shining by Stephen King. Sometimes boring but only sometimes. And please, stop describing the carpet, we understood that it is blue, okay? And i wanted to know more about Roger the Dog Man. A sad story about gay man.

6. The Witcher. The first book. I can't say that i liked it very much. Some stories are okay but ehhh... I just don't think i like fantasy.

7. The Good Samaritan by John Marrs. Eeehhhh... Well, depressing, sometimes boring. Didn't like it.

8. The Master and Margarita. I. Love. Fagotto. And. Behemoth. I want you to know, that in russian Fagotto's name is Fagót. Lol. I love him so much it hurts. He is such a gentleman and, in my opinion, has a lot of in common with supernatural gabriel. I laughed a lot when i read this. Also boring sometimes but it's alright. And i named this motherfucker ↓ Behemoth, sooo.. yk. I like it, like, a lot

9. Taras Bulba. Well, i needed to read this, can't say that i liked it very much. Not that bad actually. I just ehhh feel sorry for Andriy. He is... Well... I don't think i understand the concept of the patriotism. So yeah. And lol little silly man

And the book's cover is magnificent. Just look at it

10. The foxhole court. Didn't like at all. Don't want to read the two other books, sorry.

11. Books about medicine. Have finished none of them. The white one was a secret from parents because say the words "sexual differentiation" and my dad's in coma. It was quite interesting tbh. The green one is about forensic medicine. Interesting but not so much. The grey one was a huge mistake because its name was translated as "the neurosurgeon's prayer" and i thought it was about the neurosurgery. No. It's about praying with your patients. 🥲

12. Books i haven't read because they are not interesting or that are not mine.

13. Call me by your name. Haven't read yet. Im going to ignore the existence of the poop scene.

14. The Divine Comedy. Haven't finished. Too boring and i have abusive relationships with long poems.

15. The Surgeon by Tess Garritsen. BOOORIIING. And i know who is the killer from the very beginning. In my opinion it's a problem. Have read for the sexy Saint Tomas but uh. I have seen that the other books from this library are about the woman detective. She is way better than Jeanne from the previous post. But still BOOOORIIING. Maybe will finish it one day.

16. A collection of fairy tales, plays, poems and short stories by Oscar Wilde. Including the picture of Dorian Gray and De Profundis. Haven't read all of it, just some poems and have started De Profundis but haven't finished. I felt like it's a talk show and they are arguing in front of everyone. Well, not they, just oscar saying that his boyfriend is an abusive bitch.

Im a bookworm as u can see. Well, sort of.

And the big black book on the right is the Resurrectionist the lost work of dr Spencer Black. Bought it because of the pictures.

[thespineoftherighteous]

aftg show bloopers like

the scene where Neil throws the glass at Aaron (it's not glass glass, it's that softish, breakable material used in filmmaking that looks like glass) and Aaron's actor ducks too late so it hits him straight in the face. nobody moves for a second (they're still rolling) until Neil's actor moves toward him going "oh my god I'm so sorry" and everyone starts laughing and Aaron's actor is like I'm fine dw

Allison's actress tripping in her heels during what's supposed to be a badass entrance and she drags herself out to redo the take, cursing the shoes

so many bits of the cast just pretending to club each other over the head with their racquets

Coach's actor accidentally switches up a whole bunch of words while shooting one of his inspirational speeches. but he just keeps talking as though he didn't just passionately tell the kids to "get out on that floor and- court- show them how real a Fox floors- plays...after tonight they will- they will not ever discriminate- underestimate you again" and you can hear the Foxes' actors quietly break character one by one in the background

Andrew's actor pulling out a knife to threaten someone but then dropping it and jumping back from it

just. the monsters all piled in the car for a scene and they're all in the zone, waiting for "Action" to be called when something happens and they all crack up in sync

Andrew and Neil's actors on an actual roof, trying to shoot an Andreil Moment but an airplane flies over and they have to wait for it to pass because audio. so in the blooper these two guys are just standing very close to each other, Andrew's hand fisted in Neil's hoodie, staring up at the airplane urging it to get out of the way

in one scene Dan's actress kisses Matt on the cheek as a goodbye before she leaves the room, and right after she does Neil's actor jumps up to kiss his cheek too

they're shooting a night practice scene and Kevin's actor keeps missing the mark and it's just a bunch of two second clips of him on set of the court, groaning and swearing and oof-ing. after he misses the action for like the tenth time he just turns to make direct eye contact with the camera, his face comically blank

(in the background you can hear Neil's actor go "thank goodness for editing and all that magic, eh?")

Andrew's actor forgets his line during the scene where the Foxes meet the Ravens at the banquet. he gets to the "Jean. Jean Valjean" line and then completely blanks, going "Jean Valjean. hello Jean Valjean. I'm supposed to say something to you now Jean Valjean. i do not remember what"

the actors for Aaron, Kevin, Andrew and Nicky all being crammed onto that couch in the lounge the way the monsters actually do and falling asleep on each other in between takes

Neil's actor is British who speaks in an American accent but one time accidentally lets the accent slip during a scene where he uses the phrase "strongest goalkeeper". he cuts himself off and it's silent for a beat and then he softly repeats "goalkeeper" to himself in an exaggeratedly British accent and cracks everyone up. Kevin's actor, who himself naturally has an Irish accent, goes "this is South Carolina, love"

it's a night shoot and it's cold and Aaron's actor steals Andrew's actor's (his brother) scarf going "how come you get a scarf and i don't. Aaron is getting the scarf for this scene"

Kevin and Neil's actors doing a scene where they get all up in each other's faces. and then start leaning in too much and make as though they're going to start kissing

just a solid two minutes of Neil and Andrew's actors fighting bugs away from their faces throughout various rooftop scenes

Nicky's actor being the mf king of improvised one-liners (in true Nicky fashion) and just constantly causing EVERYONE to break cause his quips are so random

not really a blooper but they're behind the camera, waiting for something to be set up, and Renee's actress has an acoustic guitar and she and some of the others make up really bad jingles for all the characters

Dan's actress is most likely to fumble her lines or trip over her tongue and she always does like a weird dance to shake herself out

Aaron's actor looking straight into the camera with a shiner blooming over half his face due to a badly executed "fight" scene: let it be known. here on the set of All for the Game, i do my own stunts

(his brother in the background: you DORK. Aaron's actor: shut up or I'm telling Mom you punched me in the face)

Kevin's actor doing a scene (perhaps that one on the bus in tfc) where he's downing alcohol and he's expecting the director to call cut at a certain point or tell him when he can stop drinking but that doesn't happen so he just kind of confusedly chugs the whole bottle and then the director goes "you didn't need to do all that but we got it thanks" and Kevin's like ?? but Neil's actor, who's in the scene, is stood there with his eyebrows raised, very impressed, going "oh my god that was amazing"

Dan's actress slipping on a line and then banging her head against the chest of Matt's actor in frustration and he just rubs her back, grinning

not a blooper but Neil's actor recites the Riko roast flawlessly and as soon as they call "Cut" on it he gets a little sitting ovation from everyone. even Riko's actor is like yeah okay shutting the fuck up and leaving you alone now

Neil's actor actually struggling to get the seal off the ice cream container in that one scene. he fake-struggles with it for a few moments and then starts actually struggling and looks over to the production people and goes "the bloody thing is actually not coming off"

so many bloopers of various cast members having too much fun hitting others upside the head like they do in the books

Andrew's actor accidentally spilling the tray of drinks at Eden's

Allison's actress being the one who can make others break character without getting caught herself

Matt's actor being the one who makes everyone, including himself, break character but doesn't get in trouble because literally everyone is cracking up

however. when they get into Moods, especially during night shoots, and they have scenes together, Matt and Neil's actors are IMPOSSIBLE. to work together. they just cannot control themselves. everyone hates them

see also: Kevin and Matt's actors. Nicky and Allison's. terrible pairings for long days.

there's a scene with coach and the monsters and after like the fifth time they restart coach turns to look at the camera and pours himself a drink using the prop alcohol while going "parenting....is tough"

anyway. call this an au of an au

[trashcherry]

look, I may even like some things from the extra content but I will die on the hill that says Andrew and Matt become bros

[chryseiswriting-blog]

“The Ravens are dropping like flies!”

Neil ‘oops, I killed that one’ Josten: “oh noo” ☹️

[morrithal]

Anyway girls.... Check Please/All For the Game live reaction starts here

Blacklist "college sports fuckery" if you want but don't because I'm funny

Installment 1: CP Episodes 1&2 and The Foxhole Court Chapter 1

(under the cut bc it's very long. Also warning for flashing GIF)

Hey Eric Bittle is a very cute young man and I am adopting him. But also you can tell this comic started in (checks date) wait 2017?? I thought for sure he'd be saying ermahgerd here

Southern people calling northerners Yankees.... Like I know Bitty is a good boy but. Triggering behavior

Like I read a romance book that takes place post-civil war and the heroine is a southern woman who tracks down the hero bc she thinks he killed her brother in the war... Anyway long story short she was REAL proud to be southern and no they did not bring up slavery the whole book

Anyway I hate the word Yankees it makes me feel like you're... You Know

One of the first instances we see of Shitty he's calling Bitty "ya lil fucker" sir, your hand in marriage NOW!!

Also I'm surprised there weren't more instances of people making Bitty-and-Shitty jokes??? They are literally rhyming

RANSOM SAYS PUSSY?? TWICE RIGHT IN HIS INTEO PANEL HELLO??

Okay! Young love!

Conclusion: they are baby

.... Why am I scared to open this kindle book

I'm doing the hype up hyperventilation here we go

"Neil Josten let his cigarette burn to the filter without taking a drag. He didn't want the nicotine; he wanted the acrid smoke that reminded him of his mother. If he inhaled slowly enough, he could almost taste the ghost of gasoline and fire." so it really is like this from the very beginning

You put the killing thing in your mouth and you don't give it the power to kill you etc etc

Hello 2013 I've missed you

But really though I tried to read that to Roommate and I literally could not get through it. Everyone ask @esgaypism. I'm roping you into this

"It fell to the bleachers between his shoes and was whisked away by the wind. He glanced up at the sky, but the stars were washed out behind the glare of stadium lights." "A crew was already dismantling the court, unhinging the plexiglass walls and rolling Astroturf over the hard floor. When they were done it'd be a soccer field again" Nora Nora Nora. I am dying to know if we are fucking outside or inside. What is the purpose of putting an Exy field outside instead of inside except to have this scene where Neil is pensively smoking because he can't do that inside. I am in hell and my brain is also in hell

She wants me to believe that this town has less than nine hundred people and can still afford, and can scrounge up the players, to play this highly dangerous, clearly expensive, and /less than 25 year old sport--/

22 names in eight years... I love Neil Josten, I adore Neil Josten, he IS at the end of the day somebody's edgy 2013 oc

Immediately we know from this first chapter that his mom is dead and he associates her with cigarettes and gasoline, and that his dad is in prison and Neil will quite Literally Die if they meet again. Okay!

Again... If we are outside why is he trying to escape through the locker room... You manufacture scenarios to achieve images that appear in your head. I know this well

"Andrew Minyard didn't look like much in person, blonde and five feet even, but Neil knew better. Andrew was the Foxes' freshman goalkeeper and their deadliest investment." gotta admit. Short King Actual Murderer Rights. If I actually liked Andrew this moment would mean more to me

Every time Nora calls them "man" I feel the need to bite something. At 18 you are a baby. These are kids, my god

Girl there is literally so much exposition and backstory here. Also why are you, a man, watching so closely the careers of other men,

The fact that there are EXY LITTLE LEAGUES--

I was expressing my love of Kevin Day to Roommate and they were like "of course you love him, he's you" now what the fuck does that mean

"If Kevin remembered him, he'd know that file was a lie. He'd know about Neil's little league teams. He'd remember the scrimmage interrupted by that man's murder." I fully forgot about this. This is an insane thing to write and then immediately move on from what the fuck

Wymack... Dilf of the year 2013 I love this man

"It sounded like a dream; it tasted like damnation." Hey, it's the quote from the 5,000 orange and white and black edits!

Well! Um, this was not as nice and even as I would like, but as I recall the CP episodes get longer as they go, and I'll get quicker on the AFTG chapters as they get less Expository. For now though I'm going to rest my brain, and I leave you with this summary thus far:

Bitty: howdy YouTube! I'm a vlogger from the south, and I play hockey, and I'm clearly gay and I'm Not like the other boys. I hope they like me...

Wymack: join my sports team

Neil: NO I am eighteen and I have a batshit amount of trauma and I'm going to explain all of it and who two of the other major characters are in excruciating detail via internal narration

Wymack: join my sports team

Neil: fine. FUCK! Okay.

[crushpdf]

The Raven King review!

Like The Foxhole Court, this book is getting another 4/5 stars. It was better than the first installment in some ways, worse in some ways, but overall I was sucked into the world and fell head over heels for the characters in a way that made me really enjoy reading the book.

Let’s talk about the biggest failing: structure. As a late-comer to the fandom I’m guessing it’s been said before: Sakavic is so strong at building ideas and characters, but these books suffer greatly from a lack of a talented editor. TFC was an awkward book itself, and having read TRK now, it’s clear to see where fixes could have been made. The first half of the book is spent primarily on Exy. A little after halfway through the book, Andrew’s assault implies that maybe the plot will veer toward his struggles, or the relationships the characters have with him. But it doesn’t. Bizarrely, in the second-to-last chapter Neil visits the Raven’s Nest for the first time, and we finally earn the title of the book. We see one day of his two weeks there, and then jump forward in time.

So, structure. TFC could have benefited from including much of TRK’s early chapters. And that would have allowed this installment more room to breathe with the heavier, more intricate plotlines, not to mention, would have fixed TFC’s awkward ending. As for TRK’s ending, this seemed like the perfect time for Neil to reveal his identity to the Foxes. I'm curious how he'll do it instead. I was eager to see how Andrew leaving would kickstart the plot in a different direction, but this book seemed to be unable to make up its mind on what it was about.

Hell, let’s talk about the title! This book was most certainly not about the raven king. Riko played a big role in the book’s plot, but he did so all behind the scenes. Then, just when we think we’re finally going to meet him, Sakavic creates a huge time jump, and we leave Riko behind again.

Which. Is something I haven’t made my mind up on yet. I think Neil’s time jump from knife-in-the-chest to waking-up-in-an-airport-with-no-memories would have worked really well in film. I’m not sure how it worked here. I think it’s cool that we’re left to just make up horrible scenarios, that we see the extent of what he suffered written across his body. The shock we feel with him at seeing his face, his tattoo, was fucking lit. But it was just... awkward. It was so awkward to have Neil spend a single chapter in the Nest, and then wrap up the book so quickly after. This goes back to shove-the-early-chapters-at-the-end-of-TFC-and-give-more-time-to-this-fucked-up-shit.

What the book did really well at was explaining. A lot of details were muddy in TFC, and Sakavic clarified a lot of them (like Exy regulations) and also revealed information in a way that proved the muddy details were just plot twists waiting to happen (why did Kevin go to the Foxes?). This has me hopeful that all the wait-none-of-this-makes-sense moments will make sense in the last installment. (Why does she keep dropping Big Deals in one single sentence and then never speaking of it again for 300 pages 😭)

Why these books have four stars instead of three, is because I was deeply invested in the characters and their lives. Reading the Exy matches felt like being there live. When the characters broke, I broke (and damn did Sakavic break them 😭). They were funny, stupid, heartbreaking, thrilling. I loved getting more of their backstories. TBT to when I thought it was odd Neil revealed to the reader so soon who his father was—I thought it was too early to reveal such a big thing, and now I realize there was much more to reveal.

In the last book I'm hoping for backstories on all those we haven't gotten yet, and finally seeing how different Andrew is now!

[otdiaftg]

The King's Men - Chapter Nine

Day: Saturday, January 20th Time: 7:35 AM EST

Neil looked at his open locker again, then migrated to the lounge to wait. He walked the length of the walls, studying the photographs Dan had put up over the years. Neil never saw Dan add to it, but the collection had grown to include a couple dozen shots from this year. The majority were of the upperclassmen, since Dan rarely had a chance to catch her younger teammates off the court, but Neil spotted several from Halloween and a couple stray pictures of their team dinners in November and December. Right near the corner was a picture Neil didn't recognize at all: a shot of Neil and Andrew standing alone. They were bundled up in their matching coats and staring each other down barely a breath apart. It took Neil a moment to place it; the people packed into the background didn't look like a game crowd. The windows finally gave it away. Dan had taken this at Upstate Regional Airport on their way to play against Texas. Neil hadn't even realized she'd been watching them. Neil had gotten caught in a couple of her group pictures, but this was the only one up that had Neil's natural looks. Dan had even caught Neil on his right side, so the bandage over his tattoo wasn't showing. This was a picture of Nathaniel Wesninski; this was the moment Neil gave Andrew his name. Neil reached out to tear the picture down but stopped as soon as he caught hold of the edge. He'd come to Palmetto State to play, but he'd also come because Kevin was proof that a real person existed behind all of his lies. In May both Nathaniel and Neil would be gone, but in June this picture would still be here. He'd be a tiny part of the Foxhole Court for years to come. It was comforting, or it should be. Neil didn't think comfort should feel like such a sick knot in his stomach.

Art used with permission by Lunapiq. Thank you @lunapiq!

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of James Garner who Died: July 19, 2014  in Los Angeles, California

Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner on April 7, 1928 in Denver, Oklahoma (now a part of Norman, Oklahoma). His parents were Weldon Warren Bumgarner, a widower, and Mildred Scott (Meek), who died five years after his birth. His older brothers were Jack Garner (1926–2011) and Charles Bumgarner (1924-1984), a school administrator. His family was Methodist. After their mother's death, Garner and his brothers were sent to live with relatives. Garner was reunited with his family in 1934, when Weldon remarried.

Garner's father remarried several times. Garner came to hate one of his stepmothers, Wilma, who beat all three boys (especially him). He said that his stepmother also punished him by forcing him to wear a dress in public. When he was 14 years old, he fought with her, knocking her down and choking her to keep her from killing him in retaliation. She left the family and never returned. His brother Jack later commented, "She was a damn no-good woman". Garner's last stepmother was Grace, whom he said he loved and called "Mama Grace", and felt that she was more of a mother to him than anyone else had been.

After the war, Garner joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was voted the most popular student. A high school gym teacher recommended him for a job modeling Jantzen bathing suits. It paid well ($25 an hour), but in his first interview for the Archives of American Television, he said he hated modeling; he soon quit and returned to Norman. He played football and basketball at Norman High School, and competed on the track and golf teams. However, he dropped out in his senior year. In a 1976 Good Housekeeping magazine interview, he admitted, "I was a terrible student and I never actually graduated from high school, but I got my diploma in the Army."

Shortly after his father's marriage to Wilma broke up, his father moved to Los Angeles, leaving Garner and his brothers in Norman. After working at several jobs he disliked, Garner worked as a merchant mariner in the United States Merchant Marine at age 16 near the end of World War II. He liked the work and his shipmates, but he suffered from chronic seasickness.

Garner enlisted in the California Army National Guard, serving his first 7 months in California. He then went to Korea for 14 months, as a rifleman in the 5th Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War, then part of the 24th Infantry Division. He was wounded twice, first in the face and hand by shrapnel from a mortar round, and the second time in the buttocks from friendly fire from U.S. fighter jets as he dived into a foxhole. Garner received the Purple Heart in Korea for the first wound. He qualified for a second Purple Heart (eligibility requirement: "As the result of friendly fire while actively engaging the enemy"), but he did not actually receive it until 1983, 32 years after the event.

In 1954, Paul Gregory, a friend whom Garner had met while attending Hollywood High School, persuaded Garner to take a nonspeaking role in the Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, where he was able to study Henry Fonda night after night. During the week of Garner's death, TCM broadcast most of his movies, introduced by Robert Osborne, who said that Fonda's gentle, sincere persona rubbed off on Garner, greatly to Garner's benefit.

Garner subsequently moved to television commercials and eventually to television roles. In 1955, Garner was considered for the lead role in the Western series Cheyenne, but that role went to Clint Walker because the casting director could not reach Garner in time (according to Garner's autobiography). Garner wound up playing an Army officer in the 1955 Cheyenne pilot titled "Mountain Fortress." His first film appearances were in The Girl He Left Behind and Toward the Unknown in 1956.

In 1957, he had a supporting role in the TV anthology series episode on Conflict entitled "Man from 1997," portraying Maureen (Gloria Talbott)'s brother "Red"; the show stars Jacques Sernas as Johnny Vlakos and Charlie Ruggles as elderly Mr. Boyne, a librarian from 1997, and involved a 1997 Almanac that was mistakenly left in the past by Boyne and found by Johnny in a bookstore. The series' producer Roy Huggins noted in his Archive of American Television interview that he subsequently cast Garner as the lead in Maverick due to his comedic facial expressions while playing scenes in "Man from 1997" that were not originally written to be comical. He changed his last name from Bumgarner to Garner after the studio had credited him as "James Garner" without permission. He then legally changed it upon the birth of his first child, when he decided she had too many names.

Nominated for 15 Emmy Awards during his television career, Garner received the award in 1977 as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (The Rockford Files) and in 1987 as executive producer of Promise. For his contribution to the film and television industry, Garner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1990, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was also inducted into the Television Hall of Fame that same year. In February 2005, he received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role that year, for The Notebook. When Morgan Freeman won that prize for his work in Million Dollar Baby, Freeman led the audience in a sing-along of the original Maverick theme song, written by David Buttolph and Paul Francis Webster.

Garner was a strong Democratic Party supporter. From 1982, Garner gave at least $29,000 to Federal campaigns, of which over $24,000 was to Democratic Party candidates, including Dennis Kucinich (for Congress in 2002), Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and various Democratic committees and groups.

On August 28, 1963, Garner was one of several celebrities to join Martin Luther King Jr. in the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom". In his autobiography, Garner recalled sitting in the third row listening to King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

For his role in the 1985 CBS miniseries Space, the character's party affiliation was changed from Republican as in the book to reflect Garner's personal views. Garner said, "My wife would leave me if I played a Republican."

There was an effort by California Democratic party leaders, led by state Senator Herschel Rosenthal, to persuade Garner to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor of California in the 1990 election. However, future United States Senator and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein received the nomination instead, losing to Republican Pete Wilson in the election

Garner was married to Lois Josephine Fleischman Clarke, whom he met at a party in 1956. They married 14 days later on August 17, 1956. "We went to dinner every night for 14 nights. I was just absolutely nuts about her. I spent $77 on our honeymoon, and it about broke me." According to Garner, "Marriage is like the Army; everyone complains, but you'd be surprised at the large number of people who re-enlist." His wife was Jewish.

When Garner and Clarke married, her daughter Kim from a previous marriage was seven years old and recovering from polio. Garner had one daughter with Lois: Greta "Gigi" Garner. In an interview in Good Housekeeping with Garner, his wife, and two daughters, conducted at their home, and published in March 1976, Gigi's age was given as 18 and Kim's as 27.

In 1970, Garner and his wife briefly lived separately for three months. In late 1979, Garner again separated from his wife (around the time The Rockford Files stopped filming), splitting his time between living in Canada and "a rented house in the Valley". The two resumed living together in September 1981, and remained married for the rest of his life. Garner said that the separations were not caused by marital problems, instead stating that he simply needed to spend time alone in order to recover from the stress of acting. Garner died less than a month before their 58th wedding anniversary.

Garner's knees became a chronic problem during the filming of The Rockford Files in the 1970s, with "six or seven knee operations during that time". In 2000, he underwent knee replacement surgery for both of them.

On April 22, 1988, Garner had quintuple bypass heart surgery. Though he recovered rapidly, he was advised to stop smoking. Garner quit smoking 17 years later.

Garner underwent surgery on May 11, 2008, following a severe stroke he had suffered two days earlier. His prognosis was reported to be "very positive". Garner was a private and introverted man, according to family and friends, On July 19, 2014, police and rescue personnel were summoned to Garner's Los Angeles-area home, where they found the actor dead at the age of 86. He had suffered a "massive" heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. He had been in poor health since his stroke in 2008.

Longtime friends Tom Selleck (who worked with Garner on The Rockford Files), Sally Field (who worked with Garner in Murphy's Romance) and Clint Eastwood (who guest-starred with Garner on Maverick and starred in Space Cowboys) reflected on his death. Selleck said, "Jim was a mentor to me and a friend, and I will miss him." Field said, "My heart just broke. There are few people on this planet I have adored as much as Jimmy Garner. I cherish every moment I spent with him and relive them over and over in my head. He was a diamond." Eastwood said, "Garner opened the door for people like Steve McQueen and myself."

[orangedayy]

Hmm... I’ve made a grave mistake of starting something I’ll struggle to continue.

There’s just something about the beginning of The Foxhole Court that left me feeling nostalgic everytime I re-read it.

So here’s a thing/comic/drawing/illustration I made. I also have lots more already drafted. Idk if those ones will ever see the light of day since my drawing/work ethic is practically nonexistent.

I’ve never really made comics before and I’m actually shit with colours and out of practice with drawing, but this is self indulgence if anything.

I just want to see as much of aftg visualized as possible.

A couple of points that came up while working on this page(?):

Neil’s early look is so boring. (Black hair and brown eyes. Blegh)

I couldn’t decide if Neil’s hair is straight or curly. (He just have shitty shaggy hair bcs I doubt his homeless ass knows what a saloon is)

I’ve never. NeVEr. Drawn backgrounds before. It was a struggle trying to figure this one out (I don’t think I’ve ever went to a school with a proper stadium?? Or spend much time at a stadium, period. So like, trying to figure out this scene was confusing)

know this can be polished more but... eh, too lazy.

Oh yeah, the characters will definitely not be consistent. Lmao.

But yes trying not to make this long. But that’s me.

Oh, if anyone knows where the hell that locker room door is supposed to be located with it behind the bleachers?!? (Bcs the coaches came up behind Neil?? Im so confused?)

[percontaion-points]

Foxhole Court chapter 2

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions.

Chapter 2

Finally he followed signs down a hall and up a flight of stairs to Arrivals. Friday afternoon meant the small lobby was comfortably crowded, but spotting the ride Coach Wymack promised him was easier than Neil expected.

So the entire first chapter was just what? Just pretty cake decoration or something? What was the point even if Neil was just going to turn around and sign anyway?

"Maybe you'll forgive me for not reacting well."

"Maybe I won't. I don't believe in forgiveness, and it wasn't me you offended. That's the second time a recruit has told [Kevin] to fuck off.”

I don't know. Maybe if Kevin learned how to understand the meaning of the word “no”, less people would say rude things to him.

Aaron pulled at the wheel, sliding the car from one lane to the other without bothering to check the traffic around him. Horns blared behind them. Neil watched in the rearview mirror as cars swerved to avoid hitting them.

"It's too nice of a car to wreck," he said pointedly.

"Don't be so afraid to die," Aaron said as the car kept gliding across the four-lane road to an exit ramp. "If you are, you have no place on our court."

I have a feeling that this is going to be a reoccurring thing I say a lot during this series but: JFC dude. Maybe go to therapy instead of dragging others down into the muck with you.

Kevin Day and his adoptive brother Riko Moriyama were hailed as the sons of Exy. Kevin's mother Kayleigh Day and Riko's uncle Tetsuji Moriyama created the sport roughly thirty years ago while Kayleigh was studying abroad in Fukui, Japan. What started as an experiment spread from their campus to local street teams, then across the ocean to the rest of the world. Kayleigh brought it home with her to Ireland after completing her degree and the United States picked it up soon after.

Kevin and Riko were raised on Exy. When Edgar Allen's massive stadium Castle Evermore, the first NCAA Exy stadium in the United States, was little more than blueprints, Kevin and Riko had custom racquets. After Kayleigh's fatal car accident, Tetsuji took Kevin in, but the Ravens' new coach had no time to raise children. Riko and Kevin spent their formative years at Evermore with the Ravens instead and were considered the team's unofficial mascots. When they weren't being coached by Tetsuji, they were coached by the team, and tutors were brought onsite so they wouldn't have to leave the stadium for school.

Kevin and Riko grew up in front of cameras, but always with Exy as a backdrop and always together. Until Kevin transferred to Palmetto State, he and Riko were never seen in separate rooms. Their unconventional childhood led many to worry about their psychological well-being but also fueled a rabid obsession with the pair. Riko and Kevin were the face of the Ravens. To many, they were considered the future of Exy.

Last December, Riko and Kevin vanished from the public eye for weeks. When spring championships started in January, neither man was on the Ravens' starting line-up. It wasn't until the end of January that Tetsuji Moriyama addressed the topic at a press conference, and the news was a cruel blow to Exy fans everywhere: Kevin Day had broken his playing hand on a skiing trip.

Ski trip. Riiight. And not the crushing reality that your sole personality trait is a sport that doesn't give a fucking shit about you.

Andrew was smiling, but Neil knew his cheer didn't mean he was going to play nice. He'd been smiling when he smashed a racquet into Neil's stomach, too.

Friendly reminder that that happened. And despite that, Neil still decided that he wanted to spend the next five years with these people.

"This is where Coach lives," he said unnecessarily. "He makes all the money, so he gets to live in a place like this while we poor people couch surf."

Sports are a goddamned drain on our economy. College sports are even worse.

I have a lot of opinions about sports, and I'm not going to be shy about expressing them.

He'd been on his own since his mother died, and the last man he'd lived with was his father. How was he supposed to let Wymack lock the door every night with both of them under the same roof?

This book is doing nothing to stop me from thinking Coach has a habit of grooming vulnerable boys so that he can molest them.

Holding down one corner was a hefty prescription bottle. Nicky scooped the bottle up with a triumphant sound and twisted the lid off.

"That's not yours," Neil said.

"Painkillers," Nicky said, ignoring that implicit accusation.

[…]

He shook a couple pills into his hand, screwed the lid on, and put the bottle back.

Just casually takes some pills.

Although in the grand scheme of everything that's happened so far, I'm barely even blinking over the implication that, on top of everything else, there's going to be drug use in this, too.

"Ready," Neil said, and started after his teammates.

Chapter 2 summary: Despite the entire point of the first chapter being “I don't want to get involved with this; go away”, Neil sets off for North Carolina in the second chapter. I mean, we knew that he would because it's literally in the title, but his random flip-flopping is already annoying.

Neil is picked up by one of the twins who beat him up at the high school locker in the first chapter, and they go to Coach's apartment. The other twin, as well as their cousin is waiting to take Neil into the apartment, since Coach isn't there at the moment.

We also get some backstory on Kevin: his mother and his mother's friend invented the sport of exy, and it spread across the world. Kevin and a boy his own age, Riko, were raised as team mascots for their parents. Except when Kevin's mom died in a car accident, Riko's dad tried to raise both of them. Except that he was more focused on being a sports star than being a father. Eventually, Kevin disappeared from the college exy scene for a while before Riko announced he'd broken his hand. To make matters worse, Kevin stopped playing for the Ravens, and instead joined the Foxes. It made a lot of fans very angry.

In the apartment, the boys are... well. Sociopaths little shits, and the author probably thinks that she's clever for writing such mental characters. One of them randomly pops some pills. One of them (I already can't tell them apart; they might as well be three different sheets of printer paper with names written on them) is supposed to be on parole for having attacked somebody at a club. He's supposed to be on heavy medication and thus, not drink. But he's literally drinking right then.

The coach comes home after a while, and allows Neil to stash his only earthly belongings in a lock drawer. Neil then leaves with the cookie-cutter boys, to go meet Kevin at the sportsball stadium. One of the twins threatens Neil, although for some unholy reason, Neil is surprised by this. Despite the fact that the twins had literally beaten him up at the high school.

[pallases]

the first chapter of the foxhole court would be so good on screen. imagine, the scene opens to one neil josten, smoke drifting up into the sky and eyes closed to remember. he sighs, and you’re not quite sure if the pale cloud breathed out is because of his cigarette or the cool air. imagine, “you signed kevin,” and the screen briefly clips out to show a young boy’s terrified face with the number two on his cheekbone, neatly printed but for the fact that it’s obviously marker, before it returns to wymack and neil as if nothing had been interrupted at all. you think, though, that you hear an almost imperceptible scream even as they resume talking. imagine, the frames speeding by as neil tries in vain to outrun his past and coming to a jarring halt when he’s hit in the stomach by andrew’s racquet. the details are out of focus, the colors disorienting. imagine, in the midst of neil and wymack arguing, an unknown voice cuts in — “true, but irrelevant,” and all goes silent. the camera, positioned to frame neil’s upper half, stays there for just a moment longer to make sure you can see his eyes widen fractionally before, without moving, it focuses out and in on kevin sprawled in the back behind him. the angle shifts only then to move in on his cool expression. it’s not marker anymore. imagine, andrew standing outside hernandez’s suv with his lazy posture and mocking smile — “too good to play with us, too good to ride with us?” his eyes track the camera even as it tries to move away from him, because really it’s neil trying to move away from him. the scene cuts in time with the sound of the car door slamming shut, but you can just pick up on the faint revving of an engine and the squeal of tires even as the screen remains black. imagine.

[wetalkaboutbooks]

The Foxhole Court- Nora Sakavic

Well, here it is, my full review of the first book of All for the Game, I went in to this more or less blind, so this is what I’d like to believe a rather unbiased review. I wasn’t really sure how to start this out, so I’ve split it into sections of the things I enjoyed and the things I did not enjoy. Spoilers for the first novel below, so read at your own risk!

Things I enjoyed:

Neil. I really liked his characterization, he was easy to connect to, I felt for him and all of the pain he was put through. He’s been through so much, and I really do want the best for him. I enjoyed watching him open up more as the book went on, and seeing him admit to his desire to belong broke me. His trauma was a bit mishandled, but we’ll get to that. Other things, he’s fun to read about, this kid is wild and I adore it.

Matt, he’s baby and I love him

Same goes for Abby and Dan

I actually really liked Seth as a character, which is a less than popular opinion from what I have seen.

The first big game, that scene is incredible. The character interactions are so well done. Gorilla and his interactions with the other characters brings such a lively change to the dynamics.  Seth flipping off both his and the opposing team. Neil getting called a whore, don’t ask why it made me laugh. Matt hiding behind Andrew. Just, wow, well done.

Neil calling out Riko, yes.

Things I did not enjoy:

The writing style. I am not the first person, nor will I be the last, to point out how poorly written these books are when compared to other’s in their genre, and just in general. The dialogue is jilted, with character’s randomly dumping exposition on your head whenever they can. This also leads the the mystery being erased relatively fast, as a reader wondering who Kevin really was to Neil it was disappointing to get the answer handed to me so early on. This is a problem that lends itself to destroy a good deal of the fun in figuring things out.

Beyond the writing style, the author chooses to over describe everything. I knew how Neil opened doors and how he walked, and how he moved his fingers, before I had a clear idea of what he looked like. At times this works, note the game scenes as well as the interview, but mostly it just drags the scenes on for longer than they should.

Seth. His death left me a bit shell shocked, and it was handled well in regards to mood. In regards to anything else, not so much. I was upset, to say the least, and can’t speak all too well on how she will choose to handle the aftermath as I have not started book two. But from what I have read, his death being treated like an ironic joke by Andrew was unsettling, and Neil’s indifference had much of the same effect. The real problem was in what happened next, Neil claiming to find home after hearing the person he’d been living with died. After spending the night with Andrew.

Andrew. Where do we begin? He’s got knife arm, so that’s pretty rad. But he is an unstable character, who will need a lot of work to get to a point where Neil can logically trust him, and even a longer time for him to be reasonably redeemed. He has physically and verbally assaulted, abused, and forced drugs upon Neil. He is violent, and vicious. I don’t like him. Maybe I will, but as of right now I don’t.

Nicky. So, why is Sakavic’s only current openly gay character portrayed as being completely perverse. The amount of rape jokes made towards Neil are disgusting. Nicky forcing himself on Neil to push drugs into his mouth has made me so upset that I cannot even begin to put it into words. 

The night club scene, this was godawful. The way that Neil was treated, the way he is tossed about and forced into situations that he obviously wanted no part in, the way he is stripped of his consent, made me want to throw up. Andrew and Nicky acting like it was for the protection of the group, that this was Andrew’s way of looking out for them, is a cheap way to excuse the behavior of the characters. Neil gets himself knocked out to escape from the situation, and then hitchhikes back to the court. After, we get a poor reconciliation of sorts with Andrew, where Neil is forced once again to do something he doesn’t want to. I didn’t like this scene, I thought the removal of Neil's consent in every situation, giving him no choice but to keep moving, disrespected his trauma as a character

I think that’s one of my biggest issues with this book, the disrespect of trauma. Every single character is mishandled, every single one. Neil is forced into situations that remind him of his past, he is forced to open up, from showing his scars, to his eye colour, to talking about who he is. Seth, a recovered drug addict, overdoses and dies. Kevin and his experience on the talk show. Andrew and his drugs and his pain, the way it’s a joke and brushed off as just ‘how he is’. This is not healing, this is not growing over trauma, this is simply disrespecting the pain of others.

I just want these characters to be able to learn and heal and have the time to properly get better, and the way that things are going I have the strong feeling that i am not going to get that.

I understand that people are problematic, but this is beyond that in so many ways.

Conclusion 

The book has an evident appeal, but the topics are so poorly handled that it removes any possible potential the book could have. I feel like the characters have the capability to be well fleshed out and interesting in their flaws, but as I said, it is not well handled. I think you can still enjoy the books so long as you think critically about the issues brought up in it. Anyway, only two more to go! Overall, my rating for the first book is 3/10.

[littlespoonevan]

they say you can tell a lot about a person by their favourite lyrics or their favourite quotes. what are yours? 💛

oh my god anon this might be my favourite question ever??????? sajkdhs how much time do you have lmao okay this won’t even come close to all my favourite quotes/lyrics but here’s an unfinished list:

“But, dear me, let us be elegant or die.” - Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

“I have been frightened half out of my foolish wits, but I have somehow earned this joy; I have been waiting for it for so long.” - The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

“Must be the time of year for shooting stars. Looking for each other, like everything is.” - Days Without End, Sebastian Barry

“In the end, it is my belief, words are the only thing that can construct a world that makes sense.” - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson

“There is no hard truth, only truth on a given day by a given person. It is people who are hard or soft.” - It’s Not Yet Dark, Simon Fitzmaurice

“He is half my soul, as the poets say.” - The Song of Achilles, Madeleine Miller

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” - The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

“It’s a lot easier, she realised, to be on the verge of something than to actually be it.” - The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

“The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy who loves you.” - The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

“Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing but he thought perhaps he liked it.” - The Foxhole Court, Nora Sakavic

“I suppose...she makes me quiet. Like Henrietta.” - The Raven King, Maggie Stiefvater

“Whatever souls are made of his and mine are the same.” - Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

“What will survive of us is love.” - “An Arundal Tomb”, Philip Larkin

“The end of art is peace.” - “The Harvest Bow”, Seamus Heaney

“It should be enough. To make something beautiful should be enough. It isn’t. It should be.” -  Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors, Richard Siken

“Oh must we dream our dreams and have them too?” - “Questions of Travel”, Elizabeth Bishop

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering 'it will be happier'.”- Alfred Lord Tennyson

“When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.” - Caitlyn Siehl

“A mermaid found a swimming lad, Picked him for her own, Pressed her body to his body, Laughed: and plunging down Forgot in cruel happiness That even lovers drown.” - “The Mermaid”, WB Yeats

“There is no answer. But Eleanor is the answer.” - Chidi Anagonye, The Good Place

“People aren’t thinking about you the way you’re thinking about you.” - Alexis Rose, Schitt’s Creek

“I'd be the last shred of truth In the lost myth of true love

[...] Before he feels alone One final time And marries the sea Imagine being loved by me” - Talk, Hozier

“But you’re not what you thought you were,” - Liability (Reprise), Lorde

“Catch us in the mirror and it looks a lot like love Then you stop me talking as you kiss me from above” - Another Place, Bastille

“What a feeling to be right here beside you now Holding you in my arms When the air ran out and we both started running wild The sky fell down But you've got stars, they're in your eyes And I've got something missing tonight What a feeling to be a king beside you, somehow I wish I could be there now” - What a Feeling, One Direction

“Everybody's looking for love to start a riot But every time I look in your eyes The world gets quiet” - Silence, Before You Exit

“I can see you starin', honey Like he's just your understudy Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me” - Exile, Taylor Swift & Bon Iver

“How the faces of love have changed turning The pages And I have changed oh, but you, you remain Ageless” - Crystal, Stevie Nicks

“Her fight and fury is fiery Oh but she loves Like sleep to the freezing” - Cherry Wine, Hozier

“And if I ever see you again my love All I m ever gonna do is send shivers down That spine of yours” - Lover, Where Do You Live?, highasakite

“Would it really kill you if we kissed?” - Drive, Halsey

“Some love was made for the lights Some kiss your cheek and goodnight” - Slow It Down, The Lumineers

“This morning, with her, drinking coffee” – Johnny Cash about June Carter when asked his description of paradise.

“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.” - Leonard Cohen,