#genie slice of life novel

[the-golden-comet]

Writing Share Tag

Thank you for the tag, @deanwax ! I’ll tag a few myself: @mr-orion , @wyked-ao3 , @minamaybe , @fortunatetragedy @froggy-pposto @autism-purgatory @gioiaalbanoart

From my WIP, Your Wish Is My Command

‼️ ⚠️ Trigger warning for Detailed Panic Attack. The events before this triggered a near mental breakdown of the MC ⚠️ ‼️

“I-I c-c-can’t….!!” Noah was gasping for air. “….B-b-breathe….!!”

“Breathe, Noah.” Ali commanded.

“I-I can’t—!!” Another raspy, tearful cry from Cauldwell’s throat. The warm pressure moved around his upper and lower back.

‘Breathe.’ Ali cut through Noah’s panicking mind in a calm, gentle voice.

‘I-I CAN’T!!’ Noah screamed in his head. ‘I-I-I’m going to d-die!!’

‘Breathe.’ The genie repeated. ‘You’re safe now. Breathe.’

Noah felt a manual force around his ribcage. His shallow, panting breaths were slowed for him. In….out……he felt his chest relax and loosen its constricting hold. ‘In….and out….’ Ali’s voice echoed in his mind.

With trembling fingers, Noah felt around the warm, organic surface. His fingertips traced the soft fabric of the djinn’s deep blue shirt. The warm pressure on his back, which Noah could now register as Ali’s hand, continued petting down the length of his spine.

‘Relax…..’ Ali’s tone hummed in his ears.

Noah’s tight shoulders slacked as he pressed himself into his roommate’s torso, as if he were falling into a hammock. Safety, security. Warmth. Protection. His pounding heart slowed. It beat normally, pulsing gently in his ribcage. Cauldwell felt his body shift up, as another pulsing brushed against his chest. Another heartbeat, syncing with his own. Or rather, his own syncing with Ali’s.

The djinn pressed their chests together, hoping to return Noah’s heart to its natural rhythm. He held his master to his body, strong biceps locked around him tightly, his hand still smoothing on Noah’s back. By this point, Ali had reached his arm up Noah’s hoodie, pressing his palm over the left side of his back, to give skin-on-skin contact and hopefully provide additional warmth and soothing.

Ali felt Noah’s heart beat hard against his palm, yet gently calm. As the panic washed away, swept up like Noah in his arms, Cauldwell finally took his wet face from Ali’s neck. He looked down Ali’s back, as well as his tight grip on the back of his roommate’s shirt. His blinking slowed, as he finally realized he was out of danger. Then, looking up and around at the scenery, Noah took a deep breath.

His apartment. His living room. His couch. His home.

[etheralisi]

𝚃𝚎𝚊 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘

Ao3

“Will you take me on a date?”

---------------

  “Hey, Hanako-kun?”

 The sun’s setting, a bejewelled spectacle on a horizon of blood orange and amber, just as bright and entrancing as the eyes that stare down at her, sprawled across his lap as she is. There’s a fire in her eyes, a fierce determination you could mistake for the reflection of a dying sky. But it’s there, kindling through to her bones, sparks begging to be let free.

 One of her many wishes.

 “Will you....” Nene finds herself trapped in a cycling loop of hesitation, has now for a protracted slice of time with a throat that catches on the words that she should by all means quash into nonexistence. But now — oh now — she refuses to swallow them into the bitter taste of silence. It’s metallic on her tongue. “Will you take me on a date?”

 His breath hitches, lips part, and a strangled laugh escapes Hanako, slipping past the wrangling of a tumultuous mind. There’s tremor to his vocal chords that leaks into his words.

 “A... date?” He asks, uncertainty plaguing him into reiteration. Nene can hardly believe she’s asking herself. “With me? You’re sure? Is this really the time to...”

 “Yes!” Nene punctuates with a laugh. She’s certain, she knows this now. Like the sky is blue, and the seven rumours are true. She’s never been so certain of anything more in her life. Not when it came to choosing Black Canyon in the pet shop (because although those adorable little eyes spoke to her heart, she had been stuck debating for a good portion of two hours, and they had but only five hamsters present). Not even when it came down answering question one on her latest exam — and that one had been a cakewalk (which she wishes she could have said the same for question two). This is what she wants. “I’m sure... take me on a date, Hanako-kun! Please!”

 “I don’t....” Hanako’s doing his best to avert his eyes, off to the side and hesitant to meet her own. When they do, all nervous and jumpy, there’s something pained that lurks in their depths, hidden by the half of the dark side of the moon. He’s a mystery this way. “You’re making that face again that I can’t say no to...”

 Is she? She can’t tell. “I’m not hearing a no.”

 “And you’re not going to,” Hanako acquiesces. He’s gone and closing his eyes again, but when they reopen, the mask he’s painted upon himself is calm, complete with the crescent half smile as if everything else prior had been a trick of the light. She can almost believe it. “I’ll take you on that date.”

 Nene nods slow, once, twice, pleased as punch on a summer afternoon. The smile Nene graces him with is as gentle as the rose petals that colour her eyes, beautiful delicate things that glisten with dew. 

 So radiant. So at peace. So full of life. 

 “I mean, I’m bound to the school, Yashiro,” He continues with a frown, “Unless you want a romantic starlit dinner in the girl’s toilets...”

 There’s so many locations she’s wanted to visit, sights to see, all these romantic locations straight out of novel worthy dates. She’s always wanted those, but Hanako... Hanako’s shown her wonders beyond the realms of possibility. She wants that. With him. 

 Every other dream will have to take a rain check. She’s one for wishing for too many things, anyway.

 “It may be clean in there because of me,” She says, because like hell is she about to put down her countless hours of labour, scrubbing those floors so much they may as well be mirrors, “But, no. I’d rather you take me to a boundary again!” And just to clarify that she doesn’t mean one with scissors snipping at her heels and a high risk of death: “You know, like the festival! Or the beach? A beach date sounds... really nice...”

 Nene’s thoughts are a little fuzzy at this point, like her mother’s favourite soup is sloshing through her brain, or the intense rays of her imagined sun already inflicting a wave of heatstroke against her. 

 She wonders if the moon is out now, or if that’s just Hanako’s eyes. 

 She still can’t tell.

 “Yeah, Yashiro,” He speaks in an unbelievably soft dulcet of a tone, tender to a degree she’s always wanted someone out there to direct at her. But when her heart should be fluttering up butterflies, an amorphous glob of wings carrying her all the way to cloud nine, all that surfaces is a longing ache, her words and breath chased elsewhere, bright, bold feelings slipping away with the sun.

 She fears she’ll sink far too close and burn, but his touch tethers her back from fantasy to reality, cool but grounding in only the way Hanako’s hands are. He’s cupping her cheeks now, herself leaning in before she even has time to think. It’s just one of those things now. One of those them things.

 “Wherever you want in the school, we’ll go. I know a few skimpy swimsuits that will look great on you~” He tries for a teasing tone, but Nene’s known him long enough to realise his heart's just not in it, as much as he tries for it to be. To be fair, neither is her own, for she knows, had she really felt like it, there would be an elbow implanting itself into his ribs round about now. Instead, they’re haunted by a breath’s width of silence.  

 It’s enough to hear a pin drop.

 Or two.

 When Nene almost gets to counting the third metaphorical pin to pick up and pop in the pincushion, Hanako sighs, wistfully bittersweet, like he knows exactly what’s coming. 

 (In some way, at the back of her mind, so does she.)

 “It’ll be the best date you will ever go on.”

 (She wants to believe him.)

 (Really.)

 “My first date....” Nene blinks back droplets, so sure it hasn’t been raining. The sky’s perfectly clear, devoid of the rainclouds that linger in fogged thoughts. “Thank you, Hanako-kun. It’s.... all I could ever wish for…”

 (She’s selfish, to be wishing for more, and more and more and more. But she can’t stop.)

 (No.)

 (Is it selfish to ask for longer?)

 (For just one date?)

 “Yeah, Yashiro.” Hanako smiles, a little broken, a little rueful at the universe’s sick idea of a joke. Nene wonders why the world gave them a chance at love when she’s doomed to leave it, cradled in blood soaked arms that hold her like a prayer, a lifeline to the one who has none. There’s a lot. Too much crimson. “See you then.”

 The sky isn’t the only thing that will die this night. Not when Nene’s so suddenly short of breath, incapable of passing another wish from her lips. Not when roses wither, dull and fade on the cusp of death. Not when irony gifts her with the hope of life and broken promises, shattering with every inch of her bleeding heart.

 Not when a ghost boy witnesses death from the other side, the calm facade withering with a wobble to the mouth, a drop from his eye, and suddenly he can’t lie that life has no value to those who no longer have it.

 Hanako wants to scream up a banshee’s wailing river until even he’s hoarse — if ever a ghost could achieve that — to fulfill her wishes with a mere genie’s flick of a hand. To indulge in selfish greed and make a wish of his own, to grant back her life she should be living. He wants to tell it all to her, in the audience of a single girl with the kindest of beating hearts, alive as ever.

 Hanako’s met with nothing but the chill of silence. Never has a sky looked so tainted with blood.

[madscientistjournal]

Our Stories Are Full of Voids: What Time Travel Points Out

Guest Post by Tucker Lieberman

Time travel can be a challenge for novelists to handle, but it also delivers rewards. Three novels by Charles Yu, Kate Mascarenhas, and Lindsey Drager are great examples of how time travel can be used to explore important themes. In these stories, the technology is a way of exploring a character’s longing for a missing part of their own history, patching gaps in their knowledge of what happened, and allowing the beginning, middle, and end of a big story to be told out of order.

Reconciling with one’s past

Charles Yu’s novel, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010), is the internal narrative of a network technician for time travel machines. He tries to reconcile with his parents, from whom he has been separated. The time machines are limited: they only take people back, not forward, and only as nostalgia tourists, not as change agents. Since the past cannot be changed, time travelers tend to trap themselves in loops. They keep going back, and their story is always the same.

Yu’s character sees no real reason to jump forward. What could you do in the future, he asks, “that would be so different from all the days that came before?”

He finds a physical copy of “the magical book that you somehow read and write and it transcribes what you say and think and read all at the same time,” a book with the same title and author as this novel itself. It’s a comment on his process of making fiction. The imaginary book exists to solve problems: “How to determine which events occur in what order? How to organize the data of the world into a sequence that appeals to your intuitions about causality? How to order the thin slices of your life so that they appear to mean something?”

Mining ourselves for insight is a common driver for novelists, but we will never know everything we contain. First of all, “we break ourselves up into parts. To lie to ourselves, to hide things from ourselves.” And despite all that compartmentalization, “You are bigger than you think. More complicated than you think … There are a million versions of you, half a trillion. One for every particle, every quantum coin flip. Imagine this uncountable number of yous.” To the time traveler, this infinity becomes more visible.

Figuring out what happened

In Kate Mascarenhas’ novel The Psychology of Time Travel (2019), a group of women who pioneer time travel discover it is not possible to change the past. This leads to the perceived obsolescence of the entire field of psychology, now that “internal states and environmental influences” no longer seem relevant explanations as to why people behave as they do. A person might still want to go back in time to learn more historical facts about which they are unaware, and, in this respect, there are similarities to the premise of Yu’s novel.

One of Mascarenhas’ fictional time travelers goes into the future to view a completed artwork and then travels repeatedly back in time, bit by bit, “to undertake the preceding brush strokes…until finally the canvas was blank, and she had to paint the first line. She made this first line with a fresh, directly experienced memory of how the painting would look. At no point in the process did she feel the image was of her choosing; she was always responding to what was already on the canvas, or what she had seen in the future.”

“Every time traveler,” it is said, possesses a book in their native language—but nevertheless often incomprehensible to them—that is sent back in time to the younger self. Also, manufactured objects (coins, erasers, pill boxes, forks) sometimes pop up mysteriously, called “’genies’—because they appear out of nowhere.” These, like the books from the future, are “acausal matter.” On some timeline, they were created by someone, but the cause is no longer apparent.

In this situation, many people adopt a deterministic worldview. Those who seek spiritual meaning create “maps of people’s life events, and searched for patterns computationally.”

Experiencing everything all at once

Lindsey Drager’s novel The Archive of Alternate Endings (2019) is a story told as a series of snapshots taken in human history every three-quarters of a century. (Specifically, during the sightings from Earth of Halley’s Comet.) It’s an illustration of the idea that, “to record a tale, something must always be lost,” which makes storytelling a question of “where and how to leave the voids.”

Some stories “start in the center of the maze. The first question the beast inside the labyrinth asks is, ‘Why are you here?’” This should sound familiar. Stories often begin in medias res, at least for the entertainment value that provides. And are we ever anywhere else except the center of wherever we are right now?

The question “Why are you here?” is followed by a practical question: How will you exit the labyrinth? A person obeying a certain poetic logic may already have dropped breadcrumbs along the exit path to form “a set of clues that are only helpful for one who knows how to look.” In the fable of Hansel and Gretel, this tactic falls apart, however, because wild birds eat the dropped breadcrumbs before the lost children are ready to follow them home again. We cannot remember the path and our footsteps have been erased. We remain at the center of the maze.

Wherever we are now is the center. The gaps are the places to which we can’t return. If some of our story threads are in the gaps, those are threads of which we must let go.

In fiction, time travel is not only a technological device, but a way of exploring the significance of memory and our assumptions about free will. It is a way of allowing ourselves the experience of everything happening all at once. Maybe this sensation is not just an illusory side effect of nostalgia and regret, but the actual structure of time. Maybe, through the intensity of our desires, we have finally hacked it.

Tucker Lieberman wrote the memoir Bad Fire and the literary criticism Painting Dragons. His short fiction is in I Didn’t Break the Lamp and several other anthologies. He typically travels at one second per second. If you don’t see him, something happened. www.tuckerlieberman.com

Our Stories Are Full of Voids: What Time Travel Points Out was originally published on Mad Scientist Journal

[knightsims]

Week 19 in Rosedale is over, so let’s do the weekly recap! :D Week 19 was the time of the great ‘Bandican folder failure’ so I lost quite a lot of pictures, so apologies that some of the recaps are so short!

Births: 13 Deaths: 6 (-1 for a genie revive)

SOMERSET:

Nicholas gave birth to his and Costel Couderc’s baby girl Sadie.

Costel moved in.

Sadie turned into a toddler.

EVANS:

Iola turned into an elder.

Bellamy turned into a teenager.

Vesuvia turned into a child.

They adopted two pets; a puppy named Jynx and an adult cat named Citrine.

Asher turned into an adult. He then entered a relationship with townie Vera Chambers, and they moved out on Monday morning.

RAY:

Tharen and Rigel turned into adults. Tharen entered a relationship with Sofia Bledel, and they all moved out at the end of the week.

Joseph’s alien abduction from the week before resulted in the birth of another son, Vega!

Leia turned into a teenager.

COUDERC:

They adopted a new kitten called Chai!

Socks ate some Kibble of Life.

Jason and Kelly went on a date. Kelly then immediately died, causing Jason to have a conflicting line of memories about her dying, the date being horrible and then inheriting some money.

Hera turned into a teenager.

Jason rolled some wants about finding a new girlfriend, so he went on a handful of dates with downtownie Davina Cofield.

Hera spawned a social bunny that made fun of her while she was sleeping.

Hera tried to fix the computer and started a fire! She then caught the whole room on fire and died as a result! Thankfully, Jason used the genie lamp and brought her back to life (successfully; no zombies this time!)

Jason rolled a want to propose to Davina, so they got engaged and quickly married in the kitchen.

ARBON:

Grimmy and the Hula Zombies came in a ‘two for one’ deal for Mae and Carlos!

Vivienne continued making robots until she reached the gold badge! She then made herself a robot girlfriend named Claire!

SWAFFORD:

Dean entered an informal relationship with Hayley Brewster!

Someone set the kitchen on fire again.

Grimmy came for Ronica one five consecutive nights, but she beat him at the game of chance every single time.

Hayley left Dean an ElectroDance Sphere after their date.

Teagan and Lane turned into teenagers.

Colt woohooed with Apple Brewster.

Lane got a womrat.

Dean and Colt turned into adults. Due to the ROS roll of needing to get someone pregnant, Colt invited over the most attractive townie he knew called Tameko Clarke, fell in love, asked her to move in and successfully got her pregnant.

Dean moved out with his cat Bella, and Colt moved out with Tameko and their unborn child.

COUDERC II:

Ethan got chased by bees.

Nova drank straight from the bottle at their new bar.

Evelyn turned into an adult. She then went on a blind date and fell in love with townie Candice Barnett! And when I wasn’t looking, Evelyn fell pregnant.

Kayla and Zenith turned into teenagers.

Evelyn and Candice moved out.

BREWSTER:

Gwyneth and Leland went to her restaurant to serve dinner to townies. Once again, Gwyneth and her max cooking skill burnt the cake slice.

Hayley turned into an adult. Thanks to ACR, Hayley saw Lirit Wheatley on the side of the street and immediately went to woo her. They made out, woohooed and got Hayley pregnant...

The quadruplets turned into teenagers.

Hayley gave birth to Lirit’s newest daughter, Cheyenne, to an audience of most of her siblings.

Someone set the kitchen on fire!

Apple turned into an adult.

Aeryn and Garrus got into a fight in the bathroom, then both glared at their older brother Saros like he’d done something...

Not wanting her sister to raise a daughter on her own, Apple moved out with Hayley and Cheyenne.

MAZZA:

Due to ROS, Bailey had to have a 2-day affair. Most of the two days was spent trying to get her to romantically interact with Ronica Swafford, local marriage-ruiner.

Emmett turned into an adult. He had a string of bad luck trying to find a girlfriend.

Ali the cat died!

Joel turned into an adult and went into immediate aspiration failure.

Bailey set the kitchen on fire.

The matchmaker left the family a genie lamp! Emmett then wished for beauty.

After his genie wish, Emmett went on a successful date with townie Jessica Ingham.

Grimmy came for Daryl!

HARRISON:

Danica used the treadmill to get fit.

Roman turned into a child and started painting.

VILLIERS II:

They lost §17,500 in a stock-market crash (thanks ROS).

Kaylyn turned into an adult.

She entered a relationship with townie Anya Colville, who ended up getting her pregnant.

Grace sold some paintings.

LAUPER:

Maximilian turned into a teenager.

They got another cat named Skittles.

Valentina got started on a novel.

DIRGE:

Alexis turned into an adult.

She entered a relationship with Joel Mazza and they got married at the end of the week.

Grimmy came a few times for Kit but as he’d wished for the ability to cheat death, he didn’t actually die.

GREEN:

Angelica turned into a toddler and then a child.

Rose turned into an elder.

Lirit was caught cheating with townie Marietta Sanna. She then rolled a want to get engaged to her, so she and Marietta moved out, leaving Rose and Angelica behind.

COUDERC III:

The ROS roll for the week was for good witchcraft, so Regina turned into a witch.

She and Bernie got married at the park.

HASSOURAS:

Lucas and Lucio moved into a tiny home after leaving Regina the week before.

Lucas entered a relationship with townie Leonie Olsen.

They got married, and Leonie fell pregnant and gave birth to a baby daughter named Astra.

AGUILERA:

They moved into a much larger home.

Deigo turned into a toddler and then a child.

Isaiah kept working at his toy shop and gained a few business levels.

TERRANOVA:

Kat and Kent moved out of the apartment and into a proper house.

Kent woohooed with townie Yvonne Ki.

Kat befriended local-high warlock Trey Girdler.

O’BRIEN:

Noah went into multiple aspiration failures.

Altair turned into a toddler then a child.

Jonathan gave birth to his second alien son, Vulcan. He then turned into a toddler later in the week.

Noah fell pregnant but didn’t give birth.

Jonathan sold some paintings.

NOYES:

Victor, Anthea and their young son James moved into their own house.

Grimmy came for Victor!

Anthea made money where she could, but spent most of her time looking after her son and the garden.

James turned into a toddler.

EVANS-SWAFFORD:

Sian Evans and Audrey Swafford moved into a small house together as roommates as neither of them could afford a house on their own.

Sian got into a poking match with a townie.

Sian angered the bees.

Audrey woohooed with townie Edward Wren.

Sian woohooed with townie Holly Goth, and also local evil witch Lyndsay Browne after Audrey wanted to learn the witchy ways from her.

Audrey then turned into an evil witch herself.

Sian and Audrey eventually woohooed with each other.

ALLISON:

Lizbeth, Nathaniel and Marilyn moved into their own home.

Lizbeth gave birth to a son named Asra! He then turned into a toddler later in the week.

Marilyn turned into a toddler then a child.

Lizbeth proposed to Nathaniel!

SHAYE:

Micah and Joy moved into their own tiny home; one built by Micah’s own father Ethan many weeks before!

They went on an outing to Mountain Lake, where they saw Micah’s father and a couple of friends and extended family.

While Micah was at work, Joy woohooed with townie Benito Rossi!

LYE:

Andy and his fiancée Odette moved into their own house (there’s a lot of that this week).

Odette found some buried treasure!

Andy woohooed with local servo Claire Arbon while Odette was off saving people from fires!

Due to the ROS roll, Joseph Villiers came over and turned Andy into a werewolf!

Andy cheated again, but this time with the newly-married Davina Cofield!

Andy and Odette got their Garden Club application rejected.

BROWNE II:

Once again, Davina Cofield was involved in cheating drama as she and Toby woohooed multiple times while Gillian was at work.

Gideon turned into a toddler then a child later in the week.

Gillian gave birth to twins, Valentine and Tallulah! They turned into toddlers later in the week.

Gillian fell pregnant to risky woohoo literally seconds after giving birth. She went into labour a second time in one week and gave birth to another daughter, Demeter.

LAUPER II:

Uncle/nephew warlock/vampire combo Sawyer Couderc and Gabriel Lauper moved in together.

Gabriel nearly combusted in the sun twice.

Sawyer went on a date with townie Payton Dyer, and during the date rolled a want to fall in love with someone completely different - his best friend, townie Chantelle Dynamite! So after his date (and natural woohoo) with Payton, Chantelle was invited over for one.

After a couple of dates, Sawyer proposed to Chantelle and she moved in.

Chantelle opened Pleasant Post so that she could open up the Business career track. Pleasant Post was awarded a good review and the Best of the Best award on its first day.

Sawyer and Chantelle had their wedding party, with many family and friends attending. Toby Mazza was one of them, and naturally cheated on his absent girlfriend and mother of his four children (again) with Payton Dyer, Sawyer’s ‘ex’.

Newly married Sawyer and Chantelle moved out.

ST MARTIN:

Leia and Zephyr moved into a beautiful beach lot and built their house.

Leia gave birth to a baby girl named Brigitte, who turned into a toddler later in the week.

Leia then fell pregnant again and gave birth to a second daughter named Nadia.

NORTON:

Rachael and Bella moved into a house of their own.

Bella gave birth to a daughter named Amber, who turned into a toddler later in the week.

Due to the ROS roll, Rachael was abducted by aliens. She came back with a little green present and gave birth to another daughter, Alya, later in the week.

Bella’s uncle Frankie and her father Kit came over for visits. Kit spent most of the time watching sports on the TV and yelling, like most old men do.

Rachael went to work pregnant and in her underwear...

[vintagegeekculture]

I was doing some research for a paper about scientology and I started to wonder. How does L. Ron's books hold up against his contemporaries.

I hate to say this, because L. Ron Hubbard is a monsterwho created a horrible cult responsible for ruining people’s lives, but…asa pulp writer, he wasn’t half bad. I would love to hate him, but his stuff is notunreadable dreck, and a lot of it are brainbending great reads and adventure yarns. A lot of the pulp scifi ofthe time was about square jawed wisecracking engineers who are always drinkingbooze and are traditionally heroic, but Hubbard’s pulp era output tended to beabout neurotics, nervous everymen who show fear and who get wrapped up in situationsthey don’t entirely understand, kind of like Alfred Hitchcock’s characters in movieslike North by Northwest. Like many nervous people, he was fascinated by post-apocalyptic scenarios.

I hate armchair psychoanalysis, but I find that fascinating.A lot of people in Hubbard’s organization say that Hubbard would constantly usethe e-meter on himself for auditing, and the feeling I get is that he wasn’t somuch a scam artist as much as he was someone who believed his own scam.

“Typewriter in the Sky” was a Philip K. Dick story beforePhilip K. Dick, switching between a neurotic pianist in modern day and a piratestory a friend of his is writing, and the characters in the story heartypewriter clacking and reality changes every time the story is revised. Theinability to tell between fantasy and reality and passing between two worldsare major themes of Hubbard’s (considering his life’s story, that’s kind offascinating), and you see it again in his horror novel Fear where it’s notclear if a man fascinated by witches and demons is actually seeing witches anddemons, or if he’s hallucinating another horrible nightmare world. Another onethat dealt with these themes is “Slaves of Sleep,” an Arabian Nights fantasy wherea modern day guy who lives with his Aunt travels to an Arabian Nights worldwhenever he falls asleep thanks to a genie’s curse, and meets a Queen of theIfrits.

If I have a critique of most histories of Hubbard andScientology, it’s that they don’t see Dianetics as an extension of scififandom, and they don’t analyze the context that produced Hubbard. The thingthat you have to remember about a lot of science fiction fandom of the 1940sand 1950s is, it was kind of like InfoWars, with a lot of people who have veryfringe beliefs who were selling things that didn’t work. An example would behow John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction (and Hubbard’s goodfriend), who stuck his neck out and pushed fandom on something called the DeanDrive, a reactionless thruster that ended up not working.

Dianetics is the other ultimate example of this; it wasoriginally published in Astounding (with a monster on the cover!) and it was one of fandom’s greatcontroversies gone over and over in letters pages and fanzines, with somewho believed it’s the best thing since sliced bread and others who found the wholething malarkey; basically, Dianetics was the GamerGate of its time (and mighthave been even worse, considering how it all ultimately turned out). And thenyou had the Shaver Mystery, which I’ve heard people describe as a “malformedtwin to UFO hysteria that died in the womb,” and which is too insane topossibly summarize.

[mysteryshelf]

SPOTLIGHT - The Cop Who Wouldn't Die

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by the author, who is married to the site administrator. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Find out more about this e-book follow-up short story to Kevin Paul Shaw Broden’s first full-length story, CLOCKWORK GENIE!

  ABOUT THE STORY

In this paranormal murder mystery short story that is a follow-up to the novel CLOCKWORK GENIE, Manning finds that the genie’s influence didn’t end with that first adventure. She wasn’t even supposed to be there when the bullet struck her chest. Detective Whitney Manning should be dead.

EXCERPT

Whitney knelt behind the rear of a Ford Focus, and braced her gun hand on the trunk.

“No clear shot,” the radio squawked again from the sniper.

However, the suspect did have a very clear shot, or just didn’t care, as he opened fire once more with a spray of lead.

In the next half second Detective Whitney Manning’s mind registered two things: the rear window of the Focus shattered and a hot stinging sensation in her chest.

  ###

  The microwave beeped.

Albert Kramer popped the door open and peeled back the plastic covering to stir the potatoes and gravy in the side compartment alongside slices of mystery meat and the small bits of broccoli and carrots, put it back in for another two minutes. Before pressing the start button he caught his reflection in the glass door. He brushed back his greying brown hair. It wasn’t the first time he wondered what Whitney saw in this old man, compared to the strapping and handsome partner of hers. Even if Marcus was out of reach, she could do so much better than a tired old lawyer.

They had talked about getting married, but it just hadn’t happened yet. Besides, they were happy now, and in love, wasn’t that enough? Or was it that Albert kept expecting someone better, younger, to come along and take her away from him? He didn’t want that to happen, again.

He took out the finally heated meal and placed it at the end of the large dining table. The large empty dining table. Three paperback fantasy novels lay in a pile at the other end of the table, each about a half way finished. Whitney was one of those who could read more than one book at once. They looked as lonely as Albert felt. Like him, her books competed for her time away from work.

This wasn’t the first time Whitney was staying late at work. Oh, the life of a homicide detective. She had only moved in with Albert a few weeks ago, leaving her apartment along the canals in Venice, but his home felt empty when she wasn’t here. Far more so than all the years he had lived alone since his wife up and left.

He didn’t deserve Whitney; he was nearly twenty years older, yet she made him feel so young.

Albert had just cut into what was supposedly Salisbury Steak when the side door off the driveway opened. He turned to see Whitney enter, and her dark African-American skin looked pale.

“Albert.” It was like a child’s whisper. He leapt to her side. She was looking down at her hands; they were shaking.

“Whitney, is everything all right?”

Finally she looked up at him. “I’m alive.”

Suddenly she was on him, planting the biggest, most passionate, kiss upon his lips and pulled him down to the floor. As the kiss continued she tore at their clothing and shouted.

“I’m alive!”

      E-BOOK PURCHASE LINKS

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden first fell in with the masks as a child while listening to old time radio and the adventures of Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Lone Ranger and many others. They were soon followed by the four-color heroes of comic books, not the heroes of the modern age, but those of the Golden Age. Roy Thomas’ run on All-Star Squadron introduced Kevin to heroes long past. It would be those heroes he would dream of and want to write about; all that led to his pursuit of a career in comic books. He took art courses throughout his education – and his first professional job was as a background artist in the early issues of SUPREME for Image Comics – only to discover that no matter the media, he was a storyteller at heart.

  He would never be far from his first love, the masked heroes. For over fifteen years Kevin has been illustrating and co-writing (with Shannon Muir) the online comic book FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY which can be found at http://www.flying-glory.com about the granddaughter of a golden age heroine known as Flying Glory. He has also written for television animation, including the Japanese series MIDNIGHT HORROR SCHOOL. He is a member of the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America. Kevin also digitally paints book covers, not only for his own books, but for other authors, including the cover art for Pro Se Productions’ NEWSHOUNDS. In 2015, he also contributed artwork for LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION for Airship 27.

  Kevin’s first novel, CLOCKWORK GENIE, was released in 2011, followed in 2012 by REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST, his homage to the golden age pulp heroes that got him started. In 2013, his work appeared in two anthologies from Pro Se Productions. In BLACK FEDORA, he wrote about the villainous Maestro Mechanic in “The Man Who Stole Manhattan”, and in NEWSHOUNDS printer’s ink mixes with blood in the tale “Stop The Presses!” He’s since followed this up releasing several short stories on his own, including “The Cop Who Wouldn’t Die” from the CLOCKWORK GENIE universe, “A Scarlet Spirit Tale: In the Clutches of Convicts” which expands the world of the MASKED GHOST, and the stand-alone “No Easy Way to Die.”

    CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

Site:  http://www.friendsofthemaskedghost.com

  Twitter:  http://twitter.com/_MaskedGhost_

  Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheMaskedGhost/

  Blog:  http://kevinpsb00.tumblr.com/

SPOTLIGHT – The Cop Who Wouldn’t Die was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

[tune-collective]

Every Song From the Disney Renaissance (1989-'99), Ranked: Critics' Take

Every Song From the Disney Renaissance (1989-'99), Ranked: Critics' Take

It’s 2017, and generations young and old will get to relive a slice of the glory days of the late-20th-century Disney Renaissance, with live-action remakes of ’90s classics Aladdin and The Lion King reportedly in the works, and even a non-Disney reboot of The Little Mermaid in the pipeline. But first up is the highly anticipated Beauty and the Beast revival hitting theaters Friday (March 17).

If you’re not familiar with the Disney Renaissance, it’s the wondrous period from 1989 to 1999 during which the studio created 10 iconic animated films — in chronological order, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan — thus resulting in some of the most classic Disney songs ever made.

We mostly have the composer and lyricist team of musical masterminds Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to thank for that, with additional contributions to the canon coming from composer/producer Hans Zimmer, as well as legendary musicians Elton John and Phil Collins. Not including the films’ scores, there are 45 songs in total from the Renaissance (not counting the super-slight “Court of Miracles” from Hunchback or “Listen With Your Heart” from Pocahontas), though none come from Rescuers, which featured no original songs. In honor of the new Beauty and the Beast coming, we felt it was only right to rank all of these classics.

Take a look at where each song ranks on this list, and listen to our playlist below to really get you in the zone. Let the Disney debates begin.

45. “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” Mulan

Disney wasn’t exactly known for it’s politically correct content at the time of its Renaissance, but this one is likely the one to most trigger the feminist viewers. Although the suitor song sounds cute in melody, its lyrics mention men’s expectation of women fawning over their strength and preparing meals for them. And when Mulan tries to sneak in a line about women with brains that like to speak their mind, their response is even more frustrating: “Nah.” – TAYLOR WEATHERBY

44/43. “Savages,” Pocahontas / “The Mob Song,” Beauty and the Beast

Despite having very different storylines, Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast happened to feature extremely similar scenes of angry crowds gathering and chanting about the subjects whom they were ready to attack. Both were led by the movies’ antagonists — Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas and Gaston in Beauty — but neither song really added a spark to their respective films that made them worthy of singing along to. In fact, both songs inflict enough fear that the little kids watching probably never want to hear the songs (or witness the fiery scenes) again. – T.W.

42. “God Help the Outcasts,” The Hunchback of Notre Dame

It’s arguable that the storyline and songs in Hunchback focus a little too much on protagonist Quasimodo’s deformities, so hearing the gorgeous gypsy Esmeralda sing a song about the less fortunate – and seeing Quasi’s touched reaction to her prayer – is endearing. The only thing is, amidst the other classic Disney songs of the time, the somber vibe of this one makes it a fall a little flat. – T.W.

41. “Heaven’s Light/Hellfire,” The Hunchback of Notre Dame

A duet of sorts from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, sung by Tony Jay and Tom Hulce, the song juxtaposes Quasimodo’s innocent longing for Esmerelda and Frollo’s contempt for the gypsy girl who has bewitched him with impure thoughts. But in a mostly overlooked film, it’s one of the least memorable tunes. — DENISE WARNER

40. “Honor to Us All,” Mulan

The obligatory Everyone’s Excited About Something Except the Protagonist song from Mulan, “Honor to Us All” is a little too expository to be all that catchy, and the traditional Eastern musical influence feels well-intentioned but clumsy. The musical round the second verse is presented in is a nice touch, though. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

39. “Mine, Mine, Mine,” Pocahontas

Disney has a way of making its villains super unlikable, but some of the bad guys do get their moment in the spotlight with epically catchy tunes, like Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in The Little Mermaid or Scar’s “Be Prepared” in The Lion King (both featured later in our list). When it came time for Governor Ratcliffe’s big moment in Pocahontas, his greed overpowered his evil, and frankly his voice is too much like an opera singer rather than a mean spirit. Unfortunately for the governor, he failed to even compare to his villainous peers. – T.W.

38. “A Guy Like You,” The Hunchback of Notre Dame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0UlAZT09IE

The three lively gargoyles of Notre Dame (Victor, Hugo and Laverne) offered some positivity in Quasimodo’s otherwise rather depressing tale, and really did so with this ego-booster of a tune. Sure, they made a little mockery of his unique stature, but Quasi’s trio of pals meant well in reassuring him that he’s a catch — especially in Esmeralda’s eyes. – T.W.

37. “The Bells of Notre Dame,” The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Setting the scene of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is no easy feat, but the musical’s opening number fares quite well, employing Latin choruses for tone and effect. Compared to the highest heights of the Disney canon, however, the song lacks a certain je ne sais quoi — to use the language of Victor Hugo’s original novel. — D.W.

36. “One Last Hope,” Hercules

When Danny DeVito voices a little goat man in an animated Disney movie, obviously something pretty silly is going to come of it. His role as tritaognist (and in this song, Hercules’ advisor) Phil is comparable to Robin Williams’ Genie in Aladdin, adding hilarity and hopeful motivation to the film’s eventual hero. While this song does have a jazzy, bounce-along beat — and DeVito deserves some kudos for trying his hand at singing — his voice and hype doesn’t quite measure up to Williams’ in “Friend Like Me.” – T.W.

35. “Two Worlds,” Tarzan

Disney doesn’t do movie openings without an epic number, and the dynamic drums (and vocals courtesy of Phil Collins) deliver just that for the final movie of the Renaissance. “Two Worlds” provides the perfect summary soundtrack to the intro montage shown of Tarzan’s family and his soon-to-be gorilla family, but as a song, Collins pretty clearly managed to outdo himself with other tunes throughout the film. – T.W.

34. “Topsy Turvy,” Hunchback of Notre Dame

When Paris gets turned upside down, Quasimodo becomes a king. That’s what happens on Topsy Turvy day (also known as the Festival of Fools), as narrated in song by jovial gypsy Clopin Trouillefou, making for a lively and colorful scene in the movie – perhaps the best and most Disney-like of the entire Hunchback film and soundtrack. – T.W.

33. “Something There,” Beauty and the Beast

For a song that accompanies such a climactic cinematic moment — falling in love — this song has little spark, especially in comparison to the film’s grandiose ballroom scene. As both Belle and the Beast sing their internal monologues while realizing their true feelings for one another, the arrangement falls short; particularly when compared to the film’s more obvious fan-favorites. – LYNDSEY HAVENS

32. “Arabian Nights,” Aladdin

“It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” Aladdin’s intro song might not be the karaoke classic that some later jams rightly became — and the lyrical broad-stroking was culturally insensitive enough that they had to alter some of the lyrics for future versions – but it sets a tone like few others. – A.U.

31. “Son of Man,” Tarzan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcHPFUwd6U

Not the undeniable smash that “You’ll Be in My Heart” was, but arguably more reminiscent of peak Phil Collins – a multi-drum-track banger of self-discovery with a propulsive synth hook that gets you swinging from vine to vine. Given what we know of Phil’s own absentee relationship with daughter Lily, though, lyrics like “There’s no one there to guide you/ No one to take your hand” take on a slightly more bitter irony than he likely intended. – A.U.

30. “Out There,” The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Perhaps the only good thing to come from living life in a cathedral with dancing gargoyles was Quasimodo’s “Out There,” an emotional, people-watching number that expressed his longing to join society. Loners, this one’s for you. – ADELLE PLATON

29. “Prince Ali,” Aladdin

Menken proved to be a master of memorable songwriting, incorporating the catchiest of inflections and melodies that also happen to seamlessly fit the theme of whatever movie the tune was part of. “Prince Ali” is a prime example, serving as the extremely sing-along worthy soundtrack to Aladdin’s Prince parade. – T.W.

28. Poor Unfortunate Souls, The Little Mermaid

Beyond voice-snatching, Ursula had a knack for whipping up supervillain anthems. Enter “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” a wicked diss track to merfolk that nonetheless isn’t quite as lethal as Scar’s bad-guy theme in The Lion King. – A.P.

27. “Just Around the Riverbend,” Pocahontas

You can almost feel the chilling wind on your neck and splash of water on your face as Pocahontas sings this song while paddling down the river. What starts off as a rousing and rallying song about dreaming big takes a turn towards the end, as the tempo slows and the lyrics become far less assured. – L.H.

26. “Trashin’ the Camp,” Tarzan

Phil Collins’ joyful romp from Tarzan owes its visuals to “Under the Sea,” with an array of animals playing instruments found in the jungle camp. You can’t help but sing along when Rosie O’Donnell breaks out into all those “doo bop she doo”s. (And the version with *NSYNC is just as fun.) — D.W.

25. “Zero to Hero,” Hercules

This sonic narration of Hercules’ rise to hero status soundtracks a pivotal point in the movie. With catchy and clever wordplay (“Who put the glad in gladiator?” the muses sing), and a tempo shift midway through, this song has plenty to offer. – L.H.

24. “One Jump Ahead,” Aladdin

An impressively jaunty, enjoyably frisky ode to street-ratdom that had six-year-olds across the country asking their parents what the hell a “nom de plume” was. “I steal only what I can’t afford / That’s everything!” The stuff of Republican nightmares.  – A.U.

23. “Strangers Like Me,” Tarzan

Although this wasn’t the award-winning track from Phil Collins’ impressive Tarzan catalog (we’ll get to that soon enough), it has the same vigorous drums of the opening “Two Worlds” and bonafide jam “Son of Man,” combined with the heart and of the film’s most revered hit. The curious lyrics are in tune with the discoveries Tarzan makes as the song plays, making for an almost dreamlike experience, even just watching it in VHS quality. – T.W.

22. “True to Your Heart,” Mulan

Stevie Wonder and 98 Degrees together in one song is a pretty promising combination, and they certainly lived up to the hype with this playful, harmonica-flavored boy band jam that closes out Mulan. — T.W.

21. “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” Hercules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl0DMTlwLw4

There are plenty of clichéd love stories in the Disney filmography, and Hercules’ damsel Megara (“Meg” for short) certainly didn’t want to fall under the same spell as her predecessors. But as she hopelessly trots around the Grecian grounds soulfully belting out her little love ditty – accompanied by The Muses, who try telling her she’s in denial – she finally comes to a conclusion to which many a girl (or guy) can relate: “At least out loud, I won’t say I’m in love.” – T.W.

20. “Gaston,” Beauty and the Beast

The title theme for Beauty and the Beast’s chest-puffed antagonist punctures male entitlement and satirizes bro absurdity with such acuity you’ll end up looking for Kathleen Hanna’s name in the writing credits. “When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs/ Every morning to help me get large,” Gaston boasts in the song’s deal-sealing bridge. “Now that I’m grown I eat five dozen eggs/ So I’m roughly the size of a barge!” A couple centuries later, he’d be bragging about his new haircut and showering in Jagerbombs.  – A.U.

19. “Reflection,” Mulan

A lot of times when a Disney princess takes the screen for a solo, she’s singing about a male suitor, or one she longs for. But in Mulan’s case, her breakout spot was an expressive, insightful lyric that — while a bit heartbreaking — serves as a realization of what her next steps should be, even if her family won’t approve. It’s a monumental moment for the heroine, as it’s the first glimpse of what Fa Mulan really looks like underneath her required makeup. And after it received a pop makeover a la Christina Aguilera, the song became monumental for Mulan’s fans, too. – T.W.

18. “A Star is Born,” Hercules

This infectious feel-good song about an outcast-turned-hero finally being embraced by his community — as a star, no less — serves as a perfect closing track to this mythologically inspired film. “I finally know where I belong,” Hercules tells his parents, as a lush orchestra begins to play and the ever-present muses have the gospel-infused final word. – L.H.

17. “Circle of Life,” The Lion King

When you think of epic Disney openings, it really doesn’t get much more grand than this. Actually, forget that – Disney or not, there is no denying that “Circle of Life” is one of the most dynamic beginnings to any movie, period. As if the majestic images of the Pride Lands wildlife aren’t enough to get your adrenaline pumping, the bold drums and building chants combine for one of the most iconic scenes in Disney history. Even without the visuals, the roaring anthem is enough to bring you right back to Pride Rock, and that oh-so-unforgettable sunrise. – T.W.

16. “Belle,” Beauty and the Beast

We’re introduced to our heroine Belle in Beauty and the Beast in familiar-enough Disney Princess fashion, but once her lilting prologue wraps, all of a sudden we’ve entered a French operetta. The buoyant opening number (and title theme for the film’s protagonist) expertly layers vocals from various villagers to create a complex musical and lyrical tapestry that wouldn’t be out of place in Les Misérables — you know, aside from the lack of death and despair in this little town. Belle might not be too thrilled with this “provincial life,” but it doesn’t look so bad from here. – T.W.

15. “Be Prepared,” The Lion King

Scar’s plan for fascist domination didn’t end well, but don’t get it twisted — his anthem is the quintessential Disney villain song. Tim Rice and Elton John’s sinister, thunderous tune revs up Jeremy Irons’ baritone. And with just enough xylophone and hyena giggle (courtesy of Whoppi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings), “Be Prepared” roars as a towering, multi-faceted monstrosity. – CHRIS PAYNE

14. Friend Like Me, Aladdin

The Genie was easily one of Robin Williams’ best roles during his legendary career, bringing his kooky personality to life in an eccentric blue-bodied cartoon character. While his resume hadn’t included singing until Aladdin, Williams absolutely nailed “Friend Like Me” almost effortlessly — as Menken confirmed during a recent visit to Billboard —  which resulted in a wildly fun, jazzy and extremely memorable number. – T.W.

13. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” The Lion King

Simba’s anthem of youthful invincibility translates to pop banger more convincingly than just about anything else on our list. Those jubilant, piping whistles, the rubbery bass line, the subtle guitar groove — this one got compared to Billy Joel’s “The River of Dreams” in its time, but in 2017 terms, Vampire Weekend writing for Top 40 radio suits it just fine. – C.P.

12. “You’ll Be in My Heart,” Tarzan

While there is no denying that Menken, Rice and Zimmer had Disney songs on lock, Collins came in for the finale of the Renaissance and did the composers proud. Compositionally, “You’ll Be In My Heart” isn’t the biggest earworm, and it doesn’t have the most iconic hook. But what it does have is that pull at the heartstrings that all the Disney classics do, giving it the aww-inspiring musical and lyrical qualities that landed it both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best original song in 1999. – T.W.

11. “Kiss the Girl,” The Little Mermaid

In which Sebastian the Crab – who, with apologies to Robin Wililams’ Genie, you really never had a friend like – sets the mood for the title character’s contractually mandated kiss of true love with an addictive, calypso-tinged ballad that alternately lures and demeans her intended into action. No less a pop luminary than Brian Wilson covered it, and it was an inspired choice – “Kiss the Girl” echoed the confused, constantly battling sides of a young lover’s subconscious better than just about any song since “Good Vibrations.” – A.U.

10. “Go the Distance,” Hercules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgnHF2CwrPs

Similar to Mulan’s struggle in “Reflection,” Hercules has a moment of “I don’t belong” realization before heading on his self-discovery journey – which results in the movie’s most vibrant number. Despite its relatively short running time, the triumphant, trumpet-laced tune can serve as an anthem for anyone who needs a little motivation and feel like every mile is worth their while. – T.W.

9. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” The Lion King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25QyCxVkXwQ

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is rightly remembered as one of the great love songs of the Disney canon; with its towering chorus and climactic key change, the ballad earns its place as the soundtrack to a scene of greater animal intimacy than most pre-teens watching were prepared to process. But the song’s true brilliance, excised by the unavoidable Elton John version, is that originally, “Tonight” was bookended with laments from Simba’s buddy Timon, who understands that his friend’s new romantic union will undoubtedly weaken their own platonic bond. It gets at the sad truth a less-nuanced song wouldn’t have the guts to express: Every great young love story is also the story of one or multiple sideline casualties. – A.U.

8. “Part of Your World,” The Little Mermaid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXKlJuO07eM

When you’re a mermaid, apparently you don’t get too far just flippin’ your fins. But when you’re singing a song fantasizing over living a life you can’t, it makes for a moment that everyone can relate to. And when the song has impeccable rhymes, backed by a dramatic violins, it becomes one that no one can resist singing along to. Besides, what other songs can successfully incorporate the word “thingamabobs” and make you want to integrate it into your personal vocabulary? – T.W.

7. “Beauty and the Beast,” Beauty and the Beast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ0ODCMC6xs

A romance between a massive, wolf-like creature and a dainty brunette villager is one that’s really only imagined in a Disney movie, but when it’s soundtracked by a whimsically beautiful song as old as rhyme, it becomes a tale as old as time. Enough with the lyric play – “Beauty and the Beast” was an instantly dazzling tune from the moment that flute kicked off the romantic ballad. No matter if it’s Angela Lansbury’s Mrs. Potts, Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, or Ariana Grande and John Legend narrating the classic ballroom scene, the combination of the piano, full orchestra and sweet narrative is one that every generation can swoon over. – T.W.

6. “Colors of the Wind,” Pocahontas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk33dTVHreQ

Pocahontas and John Smith’s complicated love story reached a turning point in Pocahontas with the Native American princess’ wistful number “Colors of the Wind.” While Smith and his fellow settlers were on the hunt for land and riches, Pocahontas put her frustrating romance aside to whip up this artistic PSA to and instead respect nature and wildlife, embracing the diversity around you. – A.P.

5. “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” Mulan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcLIfSC4OE

After The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King dominated the Disney music scene for the first half of the Renaissance, Donny Osmond’s kick-ass training song and Mulan’s badass main character made for an unstoppable combination that landed it amongst the greats. If those watching weren’t convinced that Mulan wasn’t capable of being in the army when she set out, this scene provides all the proof necessary that she can keep up with her most masculine of militia mates. And with Osmond offering up intensely fierce vocals on lyrics like “With all the strength of a raging fire / Mysterious as the dark side of the moon” — especially on the epic power-note finish — Mulan (and anyone watching, for that matter) surely feels empowered enough to defeat the Huns. – T.W.

4. “Be Our Guest,” Beauty and the Beast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afzmwAKUppU

A good Disney love song is tough to beat, but when a singing candelabra is involved, it’s hard to not put this fun dinnertime tune up against the greatest of romance records. Lumière’s charming French accent sets the scene for the stunning song, crafting a perfect set-up for the vibrant melody and brilliant verses that are the heart and soul of “Be Our Guest.” Relax, pull up a chair and be the guest of Beauty and the Beast’s most thrilling musical number. Can you really contest choreographed routines by a chorus of spoons, honey pots, plates and feather dusters? The answer is… absolutely not, especially when the finale involves champagne showers and a sparking (dancing spoon-lined) chandelier. – T.W.

3. “Hakuna Matata,” The Lion King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB5ceAruYrI

Sure, When Harry Met Sally was a thing before The Lion King was, but there may be no better character introduction in recent film history than when Simba meets Timon and Pumba. As a young lion cub that finds himself completely lost in his own family’s kingdom, Simba needed some reassurance that everything was going to be okay. So, a meerkat and a warthog provide that guarantee, with perhaps the most relatable fake phrase ever created. If you first experienced the beloved movie moment as a kid, you probably didn’t notice the same jokes within the lyrics that you would as an adult (“He could clear the savannah after every meal” is likely more relatable as an elder…) – but perhaps that’s what makes this bouncy tune so lovable across all generations. Even after just one take, you’ll be singing this wonderful phrase all the way home, implementing the motto in your life anytime you need to tell yourself “no worries.” Oh, and that transformational log scene during the bridge? Yeah, there’s no way anyone is contesting “Hakuna Matata” as the best Lion King moment. – T.W.

2. “A Whole New World,” Aladdin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kl4hJ4j48s

The only song from the Disney Renaissance to top the Billboard Hot 100, “A Whole New World” goes for the gusto like few love ballads songs in history, having the distinct advantage of being able to offer a magic carpet ride that isn’t even metaphorical. “Don’t you dare close your eyes/ Hold your breath, it gets better,” Aladdin promises in aside, and the music backs him up, a sweeping, gorgeous, up-up-up arrangement of strings and harmonies that reaches the clouds and just keeps soaring. Like any number of Phil Spector songs did for young pop fans of the ‘60s, “A Whole New World” gave ‘90s babies impossibly high expectations for love’s (literal) otherworldliness — but for then, we were happy just to fly along with Jasmine and Aladdin and dream of our own future journeys to that “wondrous place.” – A.U.

1. “Under the Sea,” The Little Mermaid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_mV1IpjWA

This bubbly ditty sung by a spunky, red crustacean made underwater life the wave. While the aforementioned Aladdin duet is the G.O.A.T. of romantic Disney ballads, Sebastian’s epic ocean orchestra for The Little Mermaid flooded the ears of fin-less fans and warned that life by land is the ultimate snoozefest. Who’s to argue when the splashy performance not only scored an Oscar for best original song in 1990, but a pair of Grammys in ’91, including best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television. “Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter,” assures Sebastian, whose underwater jam session has kept kids and kidults both swimming and dancing for decades. – A.P.  

This article originally appeared on: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/03/17/every-song-disney-renaissance-1989-99-ranked-critics-take/

[the-golden-comet]

✨Wakey, Wakey~ It’s WIP Wednesday✨

Wow. Hooo boy. Good morning, everyone. ✨

I think I’m well rested. Only woke up once in the night but….yeah. 11 hours. After several nights of 4-5 hour sleeps. Needless to say I am feeling much, much, MUCH better.

Sleep is absolutely important. Now I need to tell my hyperactive brain that…. 🤔

Anyway, I have a snippet of YWIMC to share for WIP Wednesday. Comic sans because I like the font, even when the material may be a little more serious and sentimental:

Working on a big announcement soon, so stay tuned 💫

[the-golden-comet]

8 and 12 for the writing ask game :)

Hey man good to see you in the ask box! Have some tea 🫖 ✨

I wasn’t sure which ask game you meant so I’ll just answer for both ✨

🍒—What fruit matches the aesthetic of your writing the most?

Peaches. 🍑 they’re juicy, fuzzy, sometimes cute and soft, other times hard….but universally pretty delicious. Especially with added cream. 😈 🍆✨

👀—share a quote:

“I hear you, Noah. But….” Ali sighed roughly. “…..I wanna do something nice for you, ‘akh. You’ve been more than patient with me, you’ve let me roam outside the lamp….” He felt a small smile creep to the corners of his mouth. “…I just….want you to know how much I appreciate you.”

“U-uh….” Noah raised his eyebrow in confusion. “….A-Ali….are you sure you’re okay?”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re cutting into the counter….” Noah pointed out matter-of-factly.

Ali looked down. Sure enough, with his genie strength, he cut into the counter about 7 centimeters deep. “Ah, shit.” Ali cursed again, removing the knife and swishing his hand to repair the marble. “Sorry. All fixed.”

♻️—from YWIMC there were a few parties that didn’t make it to the drafts, as I figured I could put a lot of those plot conflicts into one or two parties, instead of dragging them out like Ali drags Noah to the frat houses 😂

And also, kudos to you!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Your stories LunuL and Loop of the Hollow are absolute bangers, dude. I’m excited to see where you go with them 💫

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Okay, Brain! Time to write today? :)

🧠: Nah. Art practice.

Okay! So, like…expression practice, right?

🧠 : :)

Oh boy….

I re-did a classic soup joke. Joke credit goes to PurpleEyesWTF and his Code MENT (Code Geoss Abridged) series

Ali and Noah from my WIP Your Wish Is My Command, performing that one soup skit (click on the picture for higher resolution ✨)

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What is 1. Your Wish Is My Command or 3. Tenshito about?

YWIMC!! ✨

Noah, a graduate student studying History and Architecture, comes across a mysterious lamp during one of his cohort’s field studies in Saudi Arabia. Just so happens, this lamp is the prison of Ali (✨🧞‍♂️✨)

Ali is thankful that Noah freed him, and as a reward offers him three wishes. Since Noah doesn’t use them right away, he inadvertently gains a roommate. And man, are their personalities VASTLY different.

Ali wants to experience how the world has changed, but Noah wants to stay inside, opting to focus on his studies. This has led to some…“convincing” on Ali’s part.

It’s a slice of life, magic-in-the-mundane novel set at WSU college.

A small excerpt:

“So….this is what you do ALL day?” Ali raised an eyebrow.

“…Yeah. I don’t have time to be goofing off.”

“Don’t you ever get bored?” The genie furrowed his eyebrows. The bright screen began to hurt his violet gaze.

Noah responded with a sigh. “Again, I can’t afford to get bored. I need to finish this.”

“And your scholar friends….” The genie questioned. “….Are they also doing this?”

“Not really friends….” Noah corrected. “….if you’re talking about class and work, yeah. It’s mostly remote. But occasionally, we have to get together for lecture…..” He rolled his eyes. “….Or field study. That’s where I found you, after all.”

“Ah….” The djinn backed away from the brunette’s work space, wandering into the kitchen as he raided the fridge and cabinets. “…..Noah, your fridge is completely empty.”

“Ramen’s in the upper-right cabinet.” The researcher rattled off.

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🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

Hi @aziz-reads ! Thank you so much for the ask! ✨

Yes, as a matter of fact. Some of my readers know that I add some pretty heavy topics and dark backgrounds to give the characters more realism. This further highlights how far these characters, these people, have come. How far they’ve had to climb out of the hole to get to where they are now.

There is a heavier topic in YWIMC that gets brought up, as one of the characters suffers from depression and works to try and improve his mental health. But it can be a bit gut-wrenching, especially after experiencing lots of these same feelings in my youth.

I have to take a lot of breaks when the harder chapters come up, for my own mental health and well-being. But after some tea, relaxation, and soft comfort, I’m able to get through and write some of these heavier, yet important topics.

As a highly empathetic person, this is hard for me. Although my characters are fictional, I still feel sad for their struggles. But, that just makes their comebacks all the greater. ✨

For the most part, however, my stories are very fun to write! Characters have wonderful strengths, weaknesses, and flaws that make them human, and that’s the goal 💫

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✨WIP Wednesday✨

Hello, all you lovely readers and authors! Happy Wednesday!

I wish you all the most imaginative and productive writing sessions you can muster. I’m still a bit tired today (even moreso after all those training videos 😰) so I’m probably gonna nap a lot. Restful sleep is very important to keep your brain and body healthy and happy, and to avoid burning out.

Here are snippets from my WIP, Your Wish Is My Command, put in picture form so you can see all the glory that is comic sans ✨

(The bottom picture is cut from a later part of the chapter. Didn’t wanna make this too long, but wanted to highlight more comedic moments between the two protags)

(Later…)

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Happy WIP Wednesday!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! To celebrate Wednesday, I’m including a small snippet of my current WIP Your Wish Is My Command

Your Wish is My Command

“So….” Ali hummed as he scanned the menu. “….No baklava?”

The tired barista sighed. “….No, sir. I can get you a croissant, or a cinnamon roll, but we don’t have baklava.”

Noah rubbed his temples in irritation as he pulled out his laptop and began getting a jump start on his assignments.

“I can show you how to make it easily—” The human-disguised djinn offered.

“—Sir, that won’t be necessary.” The barista cut him off. “Would you like a mocha? Or maybe a caramel latte?”

“I don’t know what any of those things mean...” Ali admitted naively. “….but, what would you suggest?”

Noah tried to tune out his roommate’s antics as he sent off a few papers. Payday was only a week away, and his weekly discussions would be due around midterms. ‘Okay, let’s see…. ‘How Mesopotamian Architecture Sparked a Culture of Controversy…..’ He read this forum post. ‘Seems odd, but sure….’”

Then, Cauldwell’s phone vibrated. It was the Grad cohort group chat. ‘Ugh….’

Noah grimaced. Usually he ignores those texts, but the incessant vibrating left him curious. Opening up the DM, Noah read the text conversations.

HIS521 Grad Group>

Jamal:

<Ugh. WTF do I even post this week?

Sadie:

<Just wing it, Mal. Harding’s not gonna read the whole thing.

Monica:

<Once we’re done, we should celebrate 🍺 🍸 🥂

Jamal:

<Fuck yeah! 😎

Flynn:

<You coming, @Noah?

Jamal:

<Bro, why are you even asking?

<We know he’s just gonna say no and shut in.

<I’d be surprised if he’s even reading this

Noah:

Yeah. I can see everything people post here, dude.

Jamal:

<Am I wrong, tho?

Noah sighed and put his phone away. ‘Yeah, sounds about right….’ He grumbled in disdain. ‘…..holding off on submitting discussions until the last possible moment. They could plan a party better than their own futures….’”

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🧠 with Ali and Noah?

Hi @albatris ! Thank you so much for the ask! Here, have some tea 🫖✨

🧠—Best and Worst memories with each other?

Trigger warning for self harm and ideations. Click away if this is a topic you do not wish to read about

🧠—

Ali: The best memory I have ever shared with Noah was when I took him to my hometown of Sharma. I showed him my old childhood home, we walked along the shore talking about our childhoods, and our dreams. And then…he grabbed my hand and lead me into the Red Sea to swim with him. The water was so warm, so many shades of blue…just as I remembered it.

And the worst….was on a cliff at the other ocean. The Pacific Ocean. How he stared out into the high waves, and his eyes were….glossy. I didn’t see any spark, any hope. His words held no warmth. He sounded broken….and it broke my heart. I held his wrists so tightly, not letting him out of my grasp, as the warmth that I was looking for, praying for, seeking in his heart….was soaking into my hands.

I—I don’t wish to talk about this anymore. Sadiq, let’s enjoy the sun a little longer.

Noah: Hmm, good question. The best? Well, let me think…Oh! He brought me to a peach orchard one time, and we plucked the ripest peaches…the sugary drips were so juicy we ended up squeezing a few of them into mini ice trays and freezing them on toothpicks for later. Just like what my Pa and I did…he really was listenin’….shit, my accent…Y-yeah, that one was a good one….

…I uh, don’t really talk about the worst memory. I’ve kind of….blocked it out? Yeah. I just remember numbness….the sound of waves….Ali’s face was twisted in pain and anger. I could tell he was screaming at me, and tears rolling down his eyes. But it…sounded just like a hum. Couldn’t even look him in the eyes too long….he was wearing some back leather boots. The gravel was…gray. Cold. I was heavily disassociated, and all that ran through my head was: What could I say to get him to leave, so he didn’t have to see me like this? So the only person who cared about me, and I cared about, didn’t have to witness what I was about to do?

He never left. Eventually, I looked up at the sun. The cold numbness started to lift, then. How the light danced off the waves, and gave a once gray ocean so many colors….the wind and gulls sung, the salt of the air rested on my tongue. I don’t think I was fully okay by then, but….at least the fog lifted, just a bit, so that I could truly see, truly, how life was beautiful.

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🥨

Thank you, @zackprincebooks ! For you: 🫖✨

For YWIMC, I will choose Baklava. A sweet exotic pastry, a little bit nutty, with chocolate drizzle inside and out. A tad bit of spice, but overall a delicious, sugary dessert. 💫