(Untitled)

[dreya_uberwald]

A little Aziraphale-centric ficlet that came about whilst a friend and I were joking about his potential - or lack thereof - as an academic librarian. Contains one rather large (and orangutan-like) Discworld reference.

Comments

[finnyb]

This seems very Aziraphale-like; I can just see him thinking those things, 'specially about the book-mistreating students. Wonderful job.

[dreya_uberwald]

Thank you :D

The poor angel would be absolutely horrified if he were ever to see the state of some of the library books at the university I attend. Many's the time I've gone to photocopy a chapter/journal article, only to find that it's been ripped out.

[finnyb]

I've had the same problem, at the library where I used to work (Emerson College in Boston). I lost count of the time pages had been ripped out, books and periodicals were defaced or missing entirely, and books were incorrectly placed with their spines facing upwards if they were too tall for the shelf. Yes, placing books that way makes it easier to read the call number (my library used the Library of Congress cataloguing system) and the title/author, but it also means that the weight of the pages will, eventually (particularly with hardbound books) break the spine, or so my bosses taught me

[dreya_uberwald]

Aziraphale would probably be horrified at the way my paperbacks are treated (many a book has been damaged by my insistance on reading in the bath). Though I am always very careful when it comes to library books. At both of the universities I've attended there's been a horrible tendency for articles on required-reading lists to be removed. One only hopes that some kind of library karma exists and the book defacers will one day find themselves in a blind panic with regards to acquiring the journal needed to write that paper they left till the last minute.

[onefrabjousday]

Ooooook!

[dreya_uberwald]

The perfect 'anti violence towards books' slogan.

[abernaith]

That little bit with The Librarian of Discworld makes Aziraphale oh so devious! ^_________^ This is such a fun read! And the footnote, oh God, the footnote...

[dreya_uberwald]

Thank you :D

Hehehe. Aziraphale is clearly far more cunning and bastardly than the mild mannered exterior lets on.

And the footnote, oh God, the footnote...

He really should have known better to encourage poetry writing amongst the teenaged and terminally angst-ridden.

[vulgarweed]

Heheheheheh. I like this a lot.

“Dear girl, I’m certain of it. This Nosferatu chap sounds positively ghastly. Sounds exactly like the sort that the real forces of darkness would be terribly embarrassed about.”

“He was really called Nathaniel.”

“Well, if he insists on changing a perfectly respectable name like that to something as utterly ridiculous as Nosferatu, then I’d say that it paints a very clear picture of what kind of person he is.” Although Aziraphale had to admit, if only to himself, that being embarrassed of the name Nathaniel would be perfectly understandable if one were aware of the chaos that ensued when the angel bearing that moniker had discovered mead for the first time.

I love the way Aziraphale winds up playing a bit of Student Advisor himself, to try to undo some of his counterpart's damage. (I wonder if Crowley has been doing a bit of recommending awful books.) Librarians are in a position a bit like bartenders that way...

And your footnote! *snort* I think I used to date that guy.

[dreya_uberwald]

Thank you :D

I love the way Aziraphale winds up playing a bit of Student Advisor himself, to try to undo some of his counterpart's damage.

"Dear girl, spending your entire student loan on a holiday to Ibiza really isn't a good idea. How on earth will you manage to afford to pay the rent?"

"Well, Anthony Crowley from the advice centre said that I shouldn't worry about that, and that loads of students were doing escort work to support themselves these days, and that I shouldn't be ashamed to try it."

*Aziraphale resists urge to bang head against desk* "Oh dear, he's been at it again."

The poor angel's going to be up against both Crowley's machinations and default student behaviour. I imagine that he'll counting down the days until the end of term.

And your footnote! *snort* I think I used to date that guy.

I'm afraid that on once meeting an aspiring poet of similar taste I was almost unable to keep a straight face.

[raistmimi]

That footnote made me giggle like mad! Poor Aziraphale. You can't even offer constructive criticism in those situations, because you'll just be accused of not understanding it. I empathize with him, I reall do. (Please don't take that last statement as a suggestion to be nicer to him, though)

Enrollment has two ls.

Squee, I'd really love to read about them recieving their letters of acceptance. I can just picture Crowley moaning about having to leave his flat.

[dreya_uberwald]

That footnote made me giggle like mad! Poor Aziraphale.

I am guilty of putting the poor entity in difficult and downright terrible situations, aren't I?

You can't even offer constructive criticism in those situations, because you'll just be accused of not understanding it. I empathize with him, I reall do.

Attempting to give concrit would be very likely to induce more bad poetry; this time about how one's powers of creative genius just aren't understood by the cruel and heartless world.

Enrollment has two ls.

*Mutters something about needing a Dreya proof spellcheck*

Squee, I'd really love to read about them recieving their letters of acceptance. I can just picture Crowley moaning about having to leave his flat.

This ficlet is a offshoot of a much longer fic I'm trying (but not really succeeding) to write about Adam and co. at university, so I have the bit where they receive their unwanted orders letters of acceptance in that.