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[rennarenofao3]

Since finding out the news of Atsushi Sakurai’s passing I’ve had so many thoughts and emotions that it’s taken me until now to begin to sort them all out. I first began listening to Buck-Tick several years ago and have fallen more in love with the band and their music as time goes on. …Occasionally, you’ll come across a band or an artist that embodies a feeling of magic. For me Sakurai and Buck-Tick are just such a band, and in the time that I’ve listened to them, I have experienced so much magic from their music and have so many memories that are connected to their songs. Whether it’s memories of my late grandfather and father whenever I listen to Angelic Conversation or Message, and the comfort I found from Buck-Tick's music during that time. Or the magic of watching the beauty of the sunrise while listening to Cosmos, and of taking in the landscape of the countryside while driving through it with any number of Buck-Tick’s songs playing on my car’s radio. I also think of the magic of being inspired by Buck-Tick’s music while writing my stories and listening to them as I bring scenes to life with words. Or in coming up with ideas for modifying the shirts I’ve purchased from their website to make a unique piece of clothing for myself, and in some small way having my own creativity fused with that of Sakurai and Buck-Tick. Which in itself is a very special sort of magic. I’ve sometimes heard that magic is a form of energy, and if so then it can never be destroyed but only change form. So now rather than being embodied by Sakurai himself, a piece of that magic will continue on as long as he is remembered and as new and old fans continue to listen to and enjoy the art he created during his lifetime.

Thank you for all the magic you have given to me and all the other fans of Buck-Tick, and may you rest in peace Atsushi Sakurai.

[rennarenofao3]

I don’t see the controller I truly started with pictured (an interactive vision one) but otherwise it’d be #6

Me, #1.

@therealpoesdaughter​ @flowerynameslover​ @shockapella-sweet​ @iceangelmkx​

[rennarenofao3]

Life has been a bit busy lately with work, so I’m just now getting around to sharing these pictures a week later. My birthday was this past Sunday, but since I was working my family and I had celebrated it the Friday before. We went out to eat at Red Robin, and I got to try their prickly pear lemonade which was good in addition to being pretty. There was also some cool rubix cube art at the restaurant. The theme for my birthday cake this year was D Gray-man. I got some cool gifts including a new wig, a movie a really liked as a kid and the book it was based on, and a duplicate of a mug that I had already bought for myself about a month earlier.

I also got a Howard Link plushie, and had him photobomb the picture my mom took of the pieces of cake, lol.

[rennarenofao3]

I recently got a job after several weeks of job hunting, so I decided to treat myself by purchasing some new teas from Adagio Tea to “celebrate”. This time around I got Saito, Okita, and Shinpachi’s teas. And since I had been asked to try Okita’s tea when I got more, I decided to start with his first.

When I opened this tea I noticed right away that it had a fairly spicy scent, which at first worried me a bit as I’m not as fond of teas with a spicy flavor. Especially after I’d seen the peppercorns in it. However I ended up not having to worry since it actually has a fairly sweet taste and the spices in the tea blend smoothly and aren’t especially prominent above the other flavors. I added a bit of sugar to it (since that was the form of sweetener I had on hand) and decided to forgo adding milk until after I had tasted it, which in the end is how the tea stayed since I decided it didn’t really need to have milk.

I used the ‘sea life’ mug I had picked up a couple months ago, and to accompany the tea I had some of the glazed apricot Italian puff pastries I’d bought from a local international grocery store. The puff pastries went really well with the tea and I think their flavors might have actually enhanced each other a bit. I’d totally recommend trying Okita’s tea with some, if you can find them.

Overall, I liked Okita’s tea pretty well, and I think I would rank it as about my third favorite of the Hakuoki teas I’ve tried so far.

[rennarenofao3]

Hi everyone,

I’m back!

...Lol, this has been a really long time coming but I have finally managed to get a new chapter of my Sannan-centric Hakuoki fanfic Until Death..., written and uploaded for you all. You can check it out on AO3

I really hope you enjoy it, and that you’ll stick with me as I attempt to get back in the habit of writing and slowly begin putting out chapters for my stories again.

Thanks for sticking with me! Happy Reading!

[rennarenofao3]

This past weekend I was at OMGcon. While I was there I commissioned some art of Kanda and my oc Grace from my D Gray-man fic Bloodstained Bonds, from @filromeroart I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

I also got some pictures taken of my Sannan cosplay in the fury version of his look. (which basically is just changing my wig) since I didn’t have any pictures of that yet. Photos are by Pense Productions.

[rennarenofao3]

Recently I did a some pottery painting again. This time I painted a mushroom lantern. (last time I’d painted a mug) I’m really happy with how it turned out, I just need to get some sort of light source to put under it so it will light up. I was thinking that I might use it as a light on a bedside table, once I move and have space for something like that.

[rennarenofao3]

I think my inbox may have eaten some of my asks... if you’ve sent me an ask recently, but I’ve not yet responded, please try resending it.

[rennarenofao3]

BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you’re supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you’re beautiful inside and out.💕 (Thank you for being such an amazing and dear friend over these years. You're absolutely amazing and I am lucky to have you as a friend <3 <3 Love you!)

Aww thank you @flowerynameslover ^^ That’s very sweet of you.

[rennarenofao3]

I was tagged by @flowerynameslover

Rules: Tag 9 people you would like to know/catch up with.

Last song: Peace by Buck-Tick

Last TV show: How the World Ends (it’s a cable tv show,... very cheery watching lol. But I’ve always like apocalyptic type stuff for some reason.)

Currently watching: Various stuff on youtube

Currently reading: The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted Dekker and Rachel Dekker One Last Child by Anni Taylor I’ll tag with no obligation: @nospringonions @victoriasfreespace @jediofbooksandsnacks @chickenswithsocks @dragonsrainbows

[rennarenofao3]

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated my Hakuoki fanfic, Until Death..., but while I was at Evillecon this weekend I commissioned a picture of Sannan and Kumiko from @jennsypuff I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and I’m happy to have another picture of the two of them. ...I hope that soon things will settle down and get into enough of a routine to allow me to catch my breath and try to resume writing it and my other stories. ...It’s one of the things I really miss doing. Please enjoy this picture in the mean time. and I’ll do my best to get back to writing as soon as I can.

[rennarenofao3]

I recently finished out another of my kimono upcycling projects, the kimono I used for this one came from the “motion of the ocean” box I’d mentioned purchasing in this post.

This kimono was in reasonably good shape, with just some staining on the white part of the lining and some holes scattered over the rest of the garment. So I was able to use the majority of it and had enough to make a dress with. After washing and letting it hang outside to dry, I took the garment apart and began trying to decide just which of my dress patterns I wanted to use. Since I try to use as much the kimono fabric as possible I tried to dye the white, stained part the lining to match the brown part of the lining. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the brown dark enough, so I’ll have to find another project to use that fabric in. I’d ended up buying some brown fabric instead to supplement what I was able to use of the lining. I’d had to change my plan of which pattern to use a few times but finally found one that would work. The fabric was kind of delicate so I found a thin, woven interfacing that would fuse to the back of the kimono fabric and give it some extra strength. Which also meant that I didn’t have to use as much bias tape to protect the raw edges, though I still used some.

The dress took me way longer to complete than it should have, but I guess was unavoidable with everything still going on in my life. So I’m really glad to have finally gotten it finished so I can wear it. I’m really happy with the way it turned out too. One of my favorite things about the fabric of this particular kimono is the way that different things about the pattern become more noticeable depending on how far away you are. And when you’re far enough away the pattern almost disappears entirely, which I think must mean that this garment’s design at least hearkens back to the old Japanese sumptuary laws. Though I don’t know if the garment itself is actually that old or not. The pattern also seems to be actually woven into the fabric, which makes it extra cool.

[rennarenofao3]

Last week I did a bit of pottery painting, and today I got to pick up the mug I’d painted. The first picture is from just after I’d finished painting and the other three are what the mug looks like now that it’s been fired. It’s amazing how much darker and brighter the colors get.

[rennarenofao3]

The time has come for me to finish out my reviews of the Hakuoki themed teas I got from adagio tea for my birthday. The final remaining tea is the ochimizu tea.

The scent of this tea reminded me most of the smell of potpourri, which doesn’t sound the most appetizing for a tea I know, lol. But it was a very nice, and interesting scent. 

I decided to use a mug that I was given for Christmas, though I don’t know what the writing on it means. (If anyone knows, I’d be curious to find out) And I paired the tea with some lemon icing dipped shortbread cookies. As usual I also added some honey and milk to the tea.

Of the four teas I got, I was the most apprehensive about trying this one, since one of the components of it was peppercorn. But I ended up being rather pleasantly surprised as the lemon flavor of the cookies seemed to mask the peppercorn and/or mix very well with the flavor of the tea, so that at first I thought it might end up as my second favorite. As I got a bit further into the tea however, I started to pick up on the flavor of the peppercorn a bit more. The flavor of it wasn’t too prominent for the most part, but given that I’m not really a huge fan of peppery flavors in general I didn’t care for this tea quite as much as some of the others. Overall it wasn’t too bad of a tea though and I think that I would rank this one as my third favorite.

My favorite thing about this tea was the deep red color of it, which was fitting for this particular tea. And once I added the milk it took on a lovely creamy red color. ....So the final ranking of the four Hakuoki themed teas I tried is...

1. Heisuke’s tea 2. Sannan’s tea 3. The Ochimizu tea 4. Hijikata’s tea

[rennarenofao3]

I’ve gotten a chance to try out another of the Hakuouki themed teas from Adagio tea that I got for my birthday.

Of the two teas I have left, I decided to try the Hijikata themed tea first. For this tea, I used my new tea cup and saucer that I got with a gift card I was given for Christmas, and paired the tea with some chocolate chip cookies as a treat. 

When I first opened the box of tea, I initially noticed how sweet this one smelled in comparison to the two that I’ve already tried. (Sannan and Heisuke’s teas) In my opinion the scent of this tea is also a very ‘warm’ one, but not unpleasant at all. In fact it has one of the most interesting scents out of the three I think.

As per usual I added a bit of honey and milk to the tea, then started settling into the cup. The flavor of this tea is a somewhat spicy one, and that spiciness was the first thing I noticed about it upon taking a sip. Personally I found that I wasn’t as much a fan of that particular aspect of the tea, however I did find myself liking the tea more and more the further I got into the cup. ...And if you like a more spicy tea, then this one might be a good one for you.

Overall this tea was probably my least favorite of the three, so far. But it was still pretty good, and if I’m in the mood for something a bit outside of my usual taste preferences I could see this tea being a good one to turn to.

Heisuke’s very lemon-y tea is still holding on as my favorite.

[rennarenofao3]

I finished out my Sannan tea from adagio tea a while back, so I decided to try out the Heisuke tea next. The first thing I noticed was how sharp a scent it had when I first opened the box, Once I started letting it steep though the more lemon-y scent of it came through, which smelled amazing.

After steeping I added some honey and a bit of milk to the tea. I decided that my white tiger cub mug would be a cute match with the Heisuke themed tea and decided to pair it with a couple of M and M chocolate chip cookies.

Overall this tea is my favorite of the two Hakuoki teas I’ve tried so far, by quite a large margin. It will be interesting to see if either the ochimizu tea or the Hijikata tea I have left will be able to beat it.

[rennarenofao3]

I finished modifying my Christmas Buck-Tick shirt in time for me to wear it a few times before the holiday. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out and I think it may be my favorite one now.

Here are some pictures of the modification process and of me wearing the finished shirt. I especially like the way it looks with the green wig I wear whenever I'm out anywhere, now that my hair is so short. This one was a bit of an extra challenge since the shirt was made longer in the back, but I decided that I wanted both front and back to be the same length which meant that I had to cut off and re-hem the bottom edge of the shirt’s back in addition to all the other modifications.