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quietwings-fics · 7 months

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tight-knit boys (brothers in more than name)

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: N/A Fandom: Supernatural Ship: Gen (Gabriel & Lucifer & Michael & Raphael) Additional Tags: Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Human, Human Michael (Supernatural), Human Gabriel (Supernatural), Human Raphael (Supernatural), Human Lucifer (Supernatural), Role Reversal, Siblings, Road Trips, Good Older Sibling Michael (Supernatural), Angst and Humor, Mild Hurt/Comfort Summary:

Finding their Dad is going to involve a lot of driving, and Michael does almost all of it. A snapshot of reverseverse archangels in the car.

“I spy with my li-”

“It’s corn,” Raphael interrupts, “like the last time and the time before that and the-

“Time before that!” Gabriel finishes for him. “Because there’s been nothing for the past three states except for corn!” He flops against the car door on his side. Michael absently makes sure the doors are all locked, even though he never starts driving without checking at least three times, the same way he looks over all of his siblings to see that they’ve put their seatbelts on.

“It hasn’t been states,” Michael tells his little brother. “We’re haven’t left Iowa yet.”

“It’s been hours!”

“Two hours.”

“Can’t you go faster?” Michael rolls his eyes, but he’s used to this. Gabriel might have been able to keep his mouth shut when Dad was driving them across the country, but he’d always gotten squirmy by the time he’d been locked in for an hour. Michael doesn’t mind hearing him complain. If nothing else, it passes the time.

“I’m going 70,” he says. He’d been going slower until thirty minutes ago when the car he’d been matching had pulled off onto an exit and left them alone on the open road. The road is smooth enough under his tires that Raphael can work in the backseat without any trouble. Michael peeks at him in the rearview mirror. His head is bent over one of the newspapers he picked up before they left the last motel. Michael can catch glimpses of his red marker running through different sections.

His hair is getting longer.

Maybe, more accurately, Michael has allowed it to get longer. He hasn’t offered to cut it because he knows Raphael would say yes and refuse to meet his eyes for the next hour when he was done.

He was happier with it growing out, and if their father would have thoughts about that, well… They’d have to find him first to know.

And they were no closer to that then when they started. Michael will admit that to himself, even if he’ll never tell his siblings about it.

“I spy-“ Raphael starts, the first time Michael’s heard him initiate the game this trip.

“Corn,” Gabriel grumbles.

“No,” Raphael says, and if Michael chances another look back, he can confirm that the note he can hear in his voice is a smirk. Gabriel sits up straighter and peers out the window.

“The road?” Raphael shakes his head, letting a sheet of newspaper slide down into the footwell when he’s done with it. “A bird? The sky? …A billboard?”

Lucifer takes that moment to snore, loudly. Michael resists the urge to poke him in the side and startle him awake. As funny as it might be to watch his brother flail and snort as he drags himself up to consciousness, Lucifer needs the rest. He barely sleeps when Michael isn’t driving, but deep down, he’s still the little kid who conked out at the first notes of a Rolling Stones album. Michael knows how to take care of him, even with their years apart existing as a wound they still haven’t completely stitched up.

He reaches across the bench to adjust the blanket he’d draped over Lucifer at the last rest stop. He draws it up to Lucifer’s collar. Sunlight dusts across his whole body, but the tint of the window will keep him from getting burnt if they drive for longer. One of his legs is scrunched up against the seat while the other sprawls onto the floor among half-empty water bottles. He’s got his arms and face smushed up between the door and the glass of the window in a way that’s going to leave him sore when he wakes up, but there aren’t any comfortable ways to sleep in the truck. At least, not with Raphael right behind him blocking his seat from tilting back too far.

Gabriel groans. “You can’t pick him!”

“I can see him,” Raphael argues. Lucifer snores again, unbothered by the bickering he’s the cause of. Michael adjusts his grip on the wheel and smacks his own cheek a few times to wake his brain back up. He should have drunk more coffee that morning. Raphael got to it first. He tries his best to keep his eyes on the road, but between the wavering illusions of false water scattered across the asphalt and the sound of his siblings sniping at each other in his ear, its difficult to keep himself on track. He has no idea how he used to manage this years back when he didn’t have the experience he does now. Dad didn’t let him take the cross-country hauls until he was eighteen.

Eighteen. Michael remembers being eighteen. He had his whole life ahead of him.

He’s twenty-six now. Raphael and Gabriel make him feel old.

He told Lucifer that once, and Lucifer looked at him like he was crazy. He’ll understand in four years. He’ll regret his wasted youth. Or not. Michael’s scattered thoughts briefly coalesce into something more bitter. Lucifer didn’t seem to regret anything he ever did, no matter how much the rest of them got hurt.

“Anything, or anyone, in the car is off-limits. That’s the whole point.” Michael shakes his head and focuses back in on the argument between his youngest brothers. I Spy is the most common game that’s been played in this truck, followed closely by 21 questions (Lucifer is reigning champion of that one) and everyone’s favorite, I Just Saw A Cow.“Pick something else.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know! Not Lucifer and not the corn.” Raphael glances out the window just in time to see what Michael swerves in the lane to avoid.

“There’s some roadkill.”

“Your face looks like roadkill,” Gabriel mutters. Raphael glares at him.

“I don’t have to play with you.” All of a sudden, Michael is sixteen again, and holding back a very irate Gabriel from trying to grab Raphael while Lucifer watched with amusement from the passenger seat and their father very pointedly didn’t interfere. Luckily, feuding ten year olds hadn’t been much of a problem to handle for a boy who’d been going on hunts for the past seven years. They might be older, but they still fight the same.

“Calm down, you two,” Michael says in the sternest voice he can manage. He likes to think he sounds like their father. It never seems to have the same effect, though.

“Or what, you’ll turn this car around?” Raphael huffs a tiny laugh at his brother’s words. Michael taps the steering wheel.

“I have plenty of gas, Gabriel. I can survive driving back through farmland for a few hours. Can you?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Raphael, have you found any hunts yet?” Michael asks. Raphael kicks another sheet into the footwell.

“Nothing substantial.” With that, Michael smiles at Gabriel in the rearview mirror. His little brother scowls at him, but he settles back down against the car door.

Finally, peace and the thrum of a familiar tape. Michael breathes easy.

At least until Lucifer starts whimpering in his sleep.

Michael nearly swerves into the next lane. That sound is like a gunshot, pure pain and fear strangled out of his brother’s throat. Michael’s been tuned into it since Lucifer was a baby in his arms, and it makes his whole body go cold before he can pull the car back into the right lane and steady his driving out. A quick look in the backseat lets him know that Gabriel — who is not wearing his seatbelt like he should be — took that as an excuse to fall all the way across the seat until his head was in Raphael’s lap, cushioned by newspaper. Raphael doesn’t seem like he’s going to push him away.

Lucifer whimpers again. Michael’s hand shoots out across the bench to shake him awake.

“Lucifer,” he says gently. “Lucifer, shh. You’re alright, brother.”

“Maybe it’s just a wet dream,” Gabriel tries to joke, but his voice is small. He knows what this is. They all do. Michael is dreading what will happen when Lucifer’s eyes open, but he can’t leave his brother trapped in his own dreams. He shakes Lucifer again as the car wobbles to the right of the lane, enough for the wheels to bump along the side loudly and push Michael to fix it.

“Or a nightmare,” Raphael says, as quiet as his brother. He knows that Lucifer has always had his nightmares in dead silence, that fact alone betraying what was happening to him. Lucifer would toss and sniff and grunt in his sleep all unless he was having a bad dream, and then he was like a corpse, cold and still.

Michael shakes him again, and this time, Lucifer jolts and flinches away from Michael’s touch, his hands raising to protect himself from a blow that doesn’t come.

(Michael lifts his hand away, and Lucifer isn’t in the passenger seat but on the ground, eye already bruising and hands up to hide behind, Michael’s knuckles aching from the punch that he already regrets and won’t get a chance to apologize for before Lucifer tears himself out of their lives for years.

All Michael ever asked was for him to stay. Why did he have to fight so hard?

Why did Michael have to fight back?)

“It’s alright,” Michael soothes as the sound of Lucifer’s rapid breathing fills the car. Lucifer squeezes his eyes shut and curls in on himself. He’s trembling, and he would hate that Michael notices that. Once upon a time, it was him being a stubborn kid who wanted to stay up watching horror movies without his older brother bothering him. Then, him in the backseat, furiously scrubbing away tears because he thought that this time, Michael and Dad wouldn’t be coming back. Now, he doesn’t even want to tell Michael when he’s hurt, only take care of all his wounds himself. “What did you see?” Nothing makes Michael’s stomach twist the way that Lucifer’s visions do. They’re wrong in every way that Michael understands. Hunters aren’t supposed to be able to see the future or move things around with their mind when they’re scared or angry enough. If someone else ever found out…

Michael’s known how to hold a gun right since he was nine. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to keep Lucifer safe, even if his brother doesn’t believe that.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He’s sure Lucifer is aiming for standoffish and short, but he just sounds shaken. If Michael wasn’t driving, if Lucifer was someone who could still let him do it, he’d wrap his brother up in a hug and hold on tight until he wasn’t scared anymore.

“You didn’t see someone die again, did-“ Gabriel starts.

“I said, I don’t want to talk about it!” Lucifer snaps, managing to reach something like anger this time but just barely. Gabriel can’t tell the difference like Michael can. He winces and shuts up, turning his head to press his face against Raphael’s stomach. Raphael pats his head automatically. They fit together so well, no one would ever guess they were only half-siblings by blood. Then again, they’ve never really known a world where they weren’t together, not that Michael knows of. They were so little when Dad picked them up. Michael remembers them barely being at his knees.

Lucifer scrubs at his face. He looks up out the window.

“How long was I out?” he asks, taming the tremor in his voice until it’s almost non-existent. “Why is there still corn?”

“You were only asleep for ten minutes,” Raphael lies, the reason why evident in the muffled sound of Gabriel giggling. Apart, they’re fantastic liars. Together, one of them always gives the game away. Lucifer swings his head around to narrow his eyes at them before checking the truck’s internal clock. It’s only fast by about seven minutes. Lucifer huffs and stretches. Michael sees him wince when he pulls his arm the wrong way too quickly, probably yanking on that scar he got during his first hunt. It’s never stopped hurting him.

Lucifer kicks the volume of the cassette deck up a bit. He lets his eyes slide shut as he leans back in his seat, breathing in deeply. He’d almost look like he’s over whatever he saw, but his hand is wrapped so tightly around his own wrist that his knuckles have gone white. His nails dig into his skin, leaving little pink crescents whenever he relaxes them. Michael frowns, but he can’t say anything.

It isn’t until hours later, with the sun a bleeding scratch across the horizon and darkness falling over their sleeping siblings in the backseat, that Lucifer speaks up about it at all. Michael’s feet are almost numb, and his eyes and neck ache. They only stopped for lunch, dinner, and a bathroom break in the woods (that, as usual, devolved into snickering and claims of ‘bet I can shoot farther than you.’ His little brothers were gross. Besides, they could never beat his record.) Michael could have handed the wheel over to Lucifer at any time. He probably should have. He grips the wheel tighter and keeps them on the right road forward.

“You think we’re going to find him?” Lucifer asks. He’s leaning forward against the dashboard, at the edge of his seat with his belt dangling off unused to the side. Michael feels the urge to push him back and buckle him in. The dying sunlight barely lights his face, leaving deep shadows around his eyes that make Michael uncomfortable. He flicks on his headlights. That brightens Lucifer up and scares away the dark red pallor across his features.

“We will,” Michael says, with utmost certainty. “Dad’s out there.”

Lucifer shifts awkwardly. “Right,” he says. He pauses. “I meant the demon.” Michael turns his face to hide the way his mouth twists and only looks back when he’s got his expression back under control.

“We’ll find it, too,” Michael says, “and kill it.” Lucifer digs his nails in against his elbow. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Lucifer says, in a voice that has always meant the exact opposite.

“Lu,” Michael warns. Lucifer curls in on himself more.

“The other… people like me. They get visits from him- from it in their dreams.” Michael’s heart stops. He forces himself to breathe. “It just talks. I know not to listen to what it’s saying, Michael. I’m not stupid.” That last bit comes out sharp, too defensive, like he really thinks Michael would believe he would trust a demon.

“…What does it say?” Lucifer hides his face in his arms and doesn’t respond. Michael swallows.

“You’re going to kill it, right?” Lucifer says.

He sounds small and scared, and Michael can’t do anything else but promise him, “Yes. I’ll give you its head on a platter if you want.” Lucifer breathes out a shaky laugh. When he raises his head again, he keeps it turned away like Michael won’t recognize him wiping his eyes.

There’s a horrible part of him that thinks of Dad’s theories about Lucifer, the ones all scribbled down into his journal that Michael told the rest of them he’d lost. The entries where special turned to cursed, where disobedience and teenage snark became signs of something terrible growing inside his son, where Michael’s actions were dissected down to bone every time he sided with Lucifer. Michael trusts every other scrap of knowledge in that journal. He puts his life, the life of his little siblings, in the hands of the information their Dad gathered over the years.

But he can’t be right about Lucifer. He just can’t be.

Michael tentatively reaches over and touches Lucifer’s shoulder. Lucifer jumps a little in surprise, but when Michael doesn’t pull back, he relaxes again. Accepts it. Michael presses his thumb into his brother’s shoulder, rubbing up to the corner of it that once used to be small and bony and is now layered well under muscle, and then he lets go again. It’s not much, but the way Lucifer stares at him, wide-eyed, confused, like he would beg for more if his pride would let him, before he swallows all of that down and faces forward again, makes Michael’s chest ache.

“Do you want to drive?” Michael asks.

(Enjoyed it? Any interaction is welcomed. You can even support me on Ko-Fi <3)

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mightyflamethrower · 16 days

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Most Americans have been shocked by recent images of violent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests on college campuses. Jewish students at America’s top universities, including Columbia, NYU, and MIT, are being physically attacked and intimidated. Jewish students are fleeing Columbia University because campus police cannot guarantee their safety.

How can this happen in America in 2024? Why are we seeing the return of the vile prejudices and hatreds of the 1930s at our leading universities? Who is responsible for this?

The leadership of America’s colleges and universities bears most of the blame.

Many of these student protesters are not high-minded crusaders for justice but lazy, ill-informed morons who know little about Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East. They are also cowards who are hiding behind masks because they don’t want their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel radicalism to prevent them from getting high-paid jobs in corporations and law firms. These student protesters are afraid that heroic organizations like Canary Mission will put their names and faces on mobile billboards and list them in databases to hold them accountable for their hateful extremism.

Anti-Israel/anti-Semitic professors are the source of much of the violent protests and are egging them on. On Monday, hundreds of Columbia University faculty members staged a walkout to protest the school’s decision to have police arrest student protesters. Also in New York City, police blamed faculty and professional agitators for causing heated standoffs after university officials asked the police to remove a protest encampment and arrest 120 protesters, according to the New York Daily News.

One has to ask: if these student protesters are actually demonstrating for justice and peace, why didn’t they begin their protests on October 7, 2023, after Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust—slaughtering babies, raping women, burning whole families alive, and taking hundreds of innocent Israelis hostage? More than 1,200 Israelis were killed. The Hamas terrorists also took about 240 hostages and imprisoned them in tunnels in Gaza. Israel believes about 100 of these hostages are still alive.

Where’s the outrage on college campuses over the rapes, murder, and brutality committed against innocent civilians in Israel on October 7? Where are the demands that Hamas immediately free its hostages?

It is important to recognize that the recent outburst of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred on college campuses were not spontaneous or organic events. There are clear signs—such as students setting up dozens of identical tents at Columbia—that these protests were organized and well-funded by radical leftist organizations. Journalist Ira Stoll claims in an April 25, 2025, Wall Street Journal op-ed that some of the student anti-Israel protesters have been paid with funds from Rockefeller and Soros Foundation grants.

But even more important, U.S. college and university leadership are directly responsible for the outbreak of violence and hatred on their campuses because, for years, they have incubated and tolerated extreme left-wing ideologies that led to the current anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests.

Our colleges and universities have been taken over by far-left professors who have imposed radical and divisive concepts like cultural Marxism, intersectionality, “diversity equity, and inclusion,” and hatred of America into the curriculum.

A 2023 survey found that 50% of professors identify as liberal, 17% as moderate, and 26% as conservative, with 58% of conservative professors self-censoring themselves for fear of retribution if they express thoughts that go against their schools’ reigning far-left ideology.

This has turned colleges into hotbeds of far-left and intolerant extremism. A conservative University of Iowa student recently told a congressional committee that “students who hold opposing views are often subjected to frequent, violent threats and other forms of harassment with no accountability.” Conservative speakers on campus are unwelcome and routinely canceled or shouted down. Conservative students are forced to pretend to support their professor’s far-left views to get good grades and avoid being harassed by other students.

Major universities have long tolerated professors who hold and teach far-left, hateful ideologies. These include professors who enthusiastically praised the genocidal Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. Some examples:

Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad called the October 7 Hamas attack “awesome” and a “stunning victory of the Palestinian resistance.”

Cornell University Professor Russell Rickford called the Hamas terrorist attack “exhilarating” and “energizing.”

Yale University Professor Zareena Grewal said after the October 7 terrorist attack, “My heart is in my throat. Prayers for Palestinians. Israel is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle, solidarity.”

On the other hand, conservative professors who spoke out against the October 7 terrorist attack or criticized the recent protests have been ostracized.

Columbia University Professor Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, recently was barred from campus because of his outspoken criticism of the student protesters.

University of Southern California Professor John Strauss was suspended last October after he said about the Hamas terrorists who committed the October 7 attack, “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are killed.”

Aggressive efforts are needed now to protect Jewish students on college campuses. There must be no tolerance for violent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations by college administrators or local, state, and federal officials. The National Guard must be sent in to break up these demonstrations when they turn violent or threaten Jewish students. Violent student demonstrators and those who threaten Jewish students must be expelled and prosecuted. Foreign students who engage in violent protests or threaten Jewish students should have their student visas pulled and deported. Radical professors who promote anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate should be fired immediately.

But these are short-term fixes. Intolerance and violence on campus, like the current anti-Israel and anti-Jewish demonstrations, will continue and grow until there are fundamental changes to banish the radical and intolerant radical ideologies that cause them. This will be a huge undertaking that will require major initiatives to reform college curriculums and culture—including hiring moderate and conservative professors—that college administrators and faculty will fiercely resist.

Parents and potential students should boycott colleges and universities that refuse to implement reforms to deradicalize or condone intolerance, anti-Semitism, and anti-American ideologies. If a school employs anti-Semitic radical professors like Joseph Massad, Russell Rickford, or Zareena Grewal, college seniors should apply elsewhere.

Donors to schools that refuse to reform should redirect their donations to other schools committed to providing students with a meaningful education and teaching about character, citizenship, and freedom. (Some good examples: Hillsdale College, Liberty University, New College of Florida, Brigham Young University, Franciscan University of Steubenville, College of the Ozarks, Pepperdine University, and Grove City College.) Federal tax dollars should be cut off from colleges and universities that promote radical-left ideologies, intolerance, and hate.

I don’t see any prospect right now of forcing America’s colleges and universities to implement much-needed reforms to deradicalize and end anti-Semitism and left-wing radicalism. But this may change next January if there is a new president in the White House.

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hornpoint · 1 year

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I am once again recording my thoughts as I pass through now cedar Rapids Iowa there is a sign an electronic sign I just passed that said 69 highway deaths this year and then there was another another oh shit hang on there was another I guess frame you might say of the sign it was one of those electronic billboards that said Hawks are in the final years that final four go buckle up Baby Woo

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whatevergreen · 1 year

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'There's no way like the American Way'. Louisville, Kentucky, 1937 - Margaret Bourke-White

- Similar irony laden images of the 'American Way':

(not sure these are all by Bourke-White)

Jobless and homeless - Dubuque, Iowa, 1940

“World’s Highest Wages”, 1937

“World’s Highest Standard of Living” ...with shacks. Birmingham, Alabama, 1937

“World’s Shortest Working Hours”. Highway 99, California, 1937

A family camps out behind one of the "World's Highest Standard of Living" billboards on Highway 99 in Kern County, California, 1938

Source for some of the above: The billboards that sold the American Way, 1937-1940 - Rare Historical Photos

#depression #1930s #capitalism #irony #cost of living

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zannolin · 5 months

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🥺🤡🎢🎶🌞👀

<3 <3 ur the best liv

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

mm reassurances that they're not going anywhere (i guess the it's rotten work/not to me moment, you know) and also any kind of grounding touches. and talking about how you're different, and they're different, and whatever is between you is different too, but maybe that's a good thing. or maybe we can make it a good thing. clenches fist. i'm fine.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

well i've already shared this one with you but i'll share it with the general followers as well:

The most entertainment Jason gets when they’re walking is Ferrin reading off the billboards every few miles, which is—well, it’s interesting, to say the least. (“Who is Jesus,” Ferrin asks back in Iowa, gesturing to a faded billboard across the highway, legible but still a long way off, “and who exactly is he saving?” Jason rubs his temples and sighs. He has a feeling this is going to be a long, long trip.)

and frankly i was giggling my way through ALL of when life gives you lemons.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

probably somewhere in my memory bc that one just went off the goddamn rails. maybe the rails were never there to begin with. who knows? but also three's a crowd too bc like. can a 15.5k national treasure polycule fic be anything BUT a wild ride?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

mostly answered here but lately in addition to what i said there, i've had "joy" by george winston on a lot, and i've been listening to "re-do" by philip labes thinking about band aus.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

mornings actually. there's been a few fics i wrote this year where i was SO excited to work on them i woke up at like five or six in the morning and started writing. i usually end up having to write in the afternoons or evenings though because you know. work. school. being an adult. bleck.

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

[slamming and banging around in my wip folder] okay so. it's all uh. it's all brandon mull at the moment. minus finishing split ends anyway. but in my head i am ann patchetting a post-canon mona lisa smile giselle/betty fic involving all my art history knowledge i retained from freshman year (this is not what my professor meant for me to do with my jackson pollock knowledge) and some boobs probably. (i know. so unlike me.) i am also going to go completely bonkers balls to the wall unhinged about warren and kendra's protector-friend dynamic in fablehaven and something about big brothers patching up scraped knees and having no idea how to fix the fact that you're a kid who keeps watching people around you die. mmm. need a title for that one but it's COMING.

send fic asks!

#answered asks #beautyofsorrow

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thelasttime · 1 year

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My most unhinged swiftie moments are probably a tie between staying up until 3 am for both the midnights release and last night of midnights mayhem, booking tickets to an LA loverfest show (rip) when I live in Iowa and had no plan at the time for how I'd get there, and getting a wonderstruck billboard from a local sears that I kept for 10 years including when I moved even though it's huge HDKDJS

A BILLBOARD 😭😭😭 we used to rip out pages of magazines with Taylor on them and use them as posters so we have a wonderstruck perfume ad on my sister’s bedroom wall that’s still there

also it’s always tickets first, travel plans later

#asks #asking you this*#treacherous

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ramtracking · 2 months

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Mega Millions has a $1.13 billion winner [ Progressive jackpot ]

Mega Millions has a $1.13 billion winner [News Summary] The Garden State just got a little greener: Someone won the $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday, and the ticket was sold in New Jersey,… An electronic billboard advertises the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots, Monday, March 25, 2024, in in Des Moines, Iowa,… Is today your lucky day? The Mega Millions lottery jackpot was an…

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taylorwollenberg · 2 months

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Where Travis is now

Travis took some time off of music to allow for him, his fan base and all those involved with Astroworld to recover from the tragedies and grow from them. Since then, he just released his latest hit album “UTOPIA” on july 28th, 2023. This new album had a lot of buzz for it being Scott's first music since Astrowrld and for the quality of the music. It debuted at number one on Billboard 200 chart, in which it earned 496,000 album-equivalent units, of which 252,000 units were pure album sales. All 19 songs from the album debuted in the Billboard Hot 100, making Scott the 15th artist in the chart's history to log 100-plus career entries. He has also been making himself more known as a family oriented person despite him and Kylie breaking up, by being more present in his children's life in the media. He has made himself a lot more personable since the controversy, for example, he attended a University of Iowa's women's basketball game in support of Caitlin Clark and uprising women's basketball player breaking national records for women and all of basketball history.

Travis Scott and other popular artists are able to continue their music careers despite their controversial backgrounds because of their strong fan bases. I personally have attended his post-Astroworld album concert “UTOPIA” and had an amazing time and bought merchandise. Without a strong fan base keeping Travis Scott in business, his Astroworld incident could have ended his career.

#utopia

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thelensofyashunews · 2 months

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RISING INDIE-FOLK SINGER HANS WILLIAMS PRESENTS DEBUT EP MORE THAN ONE WAY HOME

Continuing to carve his path and create buzz, Indie-Folk singer songwriter, Hans Williams, presents his debut EP More Than One Way Home.

“I wrote and recorded ‘More Than One Way Home’ between Vermont, Georgia, and New Orleans over the past year and a half,” says Hans. “Creating this small project has helped me lean into the unfamiliarity of my future while reconciling with my past. It’s for anyone who’s feared they won’t ever find the same sense of belonging they once felt in their hometown. For anyone who’s ever felt paralyzed by self-doubt. Or anyone who has lost touch with themselves somewhere along the way.”

With five tantalizing tracks, the project was introduced with previously released singles “The Trek” and “Skin,” an imposter syndrome anthem that quickly amassed over 600K streams. Upon release, both tracks received acclaim from the likes of Ones to Watch and Sheesh, as well as landing spots on editorial playlists including Fresh Folk and Juniper. Now with arrival of his More Than One Way Home EP, Hans presents the full picture into his world with three new tracks, sharing with listeners the chronicles of leaning into the unfamiliar aspects of life and finding peace through that process.

Following the arrival of the EP, he will be hitting the road for his debut headline 26-date North American ‘More Than One Way Home’ tour. Kicking off on March 15th, the tour starts in New Orleans – where Hans currently lives – before making its way across North America, stopping in major cities like Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, as well as his home state of Vermont. With 26 dates in total, the ‘More Than One Way Home’ tour will culminate on May 4th in New Orleans at Jazz Fest. See below for full routing and get tickets HERE.

The singer-songwriter was also announced as a performer at Hinterland Festival in Iowa on August 3rd where he will be sharing a stage alongside the likes of Noah Kahan, Hozier, Lizzy McAlpine and Vampire Weekend.

With over 65 million streams under his belt, Hans Williams has been showcasing his talents for the last few years, finding success with singles such as “All Is Well,” “Checklist” and “Willows.” Completely independent, the singer-songwriter has landed coveted spots on editorial playlists such as New Music Friday, Folk Pop and Mountain Air, while garnering attention from Billboard, Ones to Watch, Sheesh and more.

#hans williams #10k projects #more than one way home #indie #indie rock #indie folk #indie music #indie pop #culture #rock #alternative rock #alt pop #alternative #alternative pop #Spotify

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 6 months

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FLYLEAF Singer LACEY STURM To Release 'Kenotic Metanoia' Solo Album

FLYLEAF vocalist Lacey Sturm will release her sophomore solo album, "Kenotic Metanoia", on November 17, 2023. Preorders are available at this location.

As the official follow-up to her Billboard chart-topping debut album, 2015's "Life Screams", Sturm's latest effort offers a deeply personal look into a matured season of the singer's storied career.

"All these songs have been for my own heart," Lacey, who has been very open about her Christian faith, offers. "When David sings the Psalms, a lot of the time he's telling his soul what to do. That's me too in this: telling my soul, singing what I know to be true."

"Kenotic Metanoia" is defined by Lacey Sturm's distinctive scorching vocal tones, married with husband Josh Sturm's broiling guitar riffs.

"Kenotic Metanoia" will be available on all major streaming platforms and in physical format.

"Kenotic Metanoia" track listing:

01. Intro (My Heartbeat) (2:17) 02. State Of Me (3:14) 03. Are You Listening (4:07) 04. The Decree (4:14) 05. Terrible Mistake (5:44) 06. Wonderful (4:42) 07. A Man Needs A Maid (4:12) 08. Thief (3:12) 09. Not Your Fight (3:39) 10. Awaken Love (4:27) 11. Reconcile (3:55) 12. (I Died) (3:56) 13. Breathe With Me (feat. Lindsey Stirling) (4:57) 14. End The Wars (3:36) 15. Outro (My Heartbeat) (1:11)

FLYLEAF played its first concert with Sturm in 11 years on April 27 at Schoepf's BBQ in Belton, Texas.

FLYLEAF, which hadn't performed live since 2016 prior to the Belton concert, made its final festival appearance of this year at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September in Alton, Virginia.

Sturm left FLYLEAF in October 2012. She was replaced by Kristen May, who recorded one album with the group, 2014's "Between The Stars", before exiting.

In an interview with Ned of Iowa's Rock 108 radio station at this past July's Upheaval festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lacey spoke about how she ended up reuniting with FLYLEAF for their first live shows together in more than a decade. She said: "Well, actually, my assistant that was on tour with us from the very beginning of FLYLEAF; we were called PASSERBY at that time. We were touring in an '88 Ford Club Wagon van, and we had a bunch of gear in the back with a mattress on top, and you could climb in there and sleep. She actually came on tour with us to be a stylist or a merch person — whatever we needed. She was with us from the beginning. So she got married. And we hadn't seen each other in, like, ten years, nine years, and so we all ended up at the wedding together. And that's how it started."

Sturm went on to say that her reunion with FLYLEAF came together in a "more organic" way than has been the case with some of the other high-profile band reunions in recent years. "I think it had to be that way," she said. "There were some offers for us to get back together, to do reunion shows, but we hadn't seen each other, and everybody has different lives, lots of children. So it didn't really make sense in those times, but because we were already connecting, we figured it out."

At several shows last year, Sturm joined SEETHER on stage to perform the FLYLEAF song "I'm So Sick".

#lacey sturm #Kenotic Metanoia #2023 news

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mixtapemag · 9 months

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HINTERLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL - AUGUST 4-6, 2023

The Hinterland Music Festival takes place THIS weekend - August 4-6 at the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in Saint Charles, Iowa.

This year's lineup is packed with more than 30 artists. One-day passes range from $100 to $150, three-day passes are $250 or $550 for VIP and a three-day SAINTS pass for $1,500 that includes parking, tent camping, free drinks, access to VIP and catered meals. You can pick up tickets to the festival over here.

This year's absolutely stacked lineup includes Bon Iver, Zach Bryan, Maggie Rogers, Sylan Esso, Angel Olsen, Noah Kahan, Alex G, Faye Webster and Tomberlin.

Here are just some of the sets that you have to see this weekend in Saint Charles.

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We're huge fans of Maggie Rogers here at Mixtape. We saw her last weekend tear it up at Newport Folk. Maggie is an incredible songwriter - performer - icon - she's an artist we are lucky to exist in the same universe with. Currently in the midst of a worldwide tour in support of her latest remarkable album Surrender, She headlines Hinterland on Sunday night. Make sure you're there.

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The incredible and elusive Bon Iver headlines on Friday night. An artist who's sound has defined music popular or otherwise since the release of For Emma, Forever Ago, independently in July 2007, any time you have the opportunity to see Bon Iver you have to be there.

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Zach Bryan, the quickly ascending country music star, headlines Saturday night. Bryan's breakout, 2022's "Something In The Orange," has catapulted him into the atmosphere. In addition to earning Bryan his first Grammy nomination, "Something In The Orange" recently cracked the top 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 after 38 weeks on the chart.

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Faye Webster’s dazzling fourth album I Know I'm Funny haha has been on loop here at the Mixtape offices since its release in 2021. We are so excited to see Faye on Sunday afternoon.

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Joy Oladokun plays Saturday afternoon. Her music is beautiful and I'll let her words convince you to check out her set this weekend - "I hope these are helpful anthems,” she leaves off. “I started making music because I wasn’t hearing from the ‘everyday human being’ on the radio. I hope this resonates with anybody who feels normal and needs a little musical boost to get through the day. I’m average. I do this job because I love what I do. I put so much care, craft, and intention into it. I’m making music to live to.”

This is an unbelievable festival lineup and one not to be missed this weekend. Check out everything Hinterland here-> https://www.hinterlandiowa.com/

Christopher Hall tweets over here. Iowa.

#hinterland #iowa #christopher hall #Youtube

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concerthopperblog · 10 months

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The Remade in Misery Tour PT 2 feat Memphis May Fire, Norma Jean, SECRETS, and SAUL

Back on May 2022, Memphis May Fire announced that they would be going on The Remade in Misery Tour with support from Ashes to New, Rain City Drive, and Wolves at The Gate. I was super excited to hear that the band would be dropping a new album before they had even started the first leg of this tour. This tour is actually named after their latest album Remade In Misery. I was initially bummed that, there wasn’t a date coming to a city near me. But earlier this year that all changed when they announced that they would be doing a second leg of this tour with support from Norma Jean, SECRETS and SAUL. One of the stops happened to be at The L, located in Horseheads New York. The last time we got to cover Memphis May Fire was at Vans Warped Tour in 2017. I cannot wait to see what these bands have in store for the fans during the second leg of the tour.

Saul is an American rock band from Iowa, they formed back in 2007. The band was initially started by two brothers Blake and Zach Bedsaul, originally called Sequoia which was just a cover band. Saul has 3 EPs and 2 Studio Albums. The band teased the release of their latest album by dropping a single called “A Million Miles”. Keep an eye out for some new music. This Is It...The End of Everything is their new album which drops July 28th. Saul also gained popularity in 2019 on SXM Octane which features their song “Brother”, which talks about the loss of a brother and the coping process. The band also collaborated with David Draiman on their song “King Of Misery.” I had never heard of Saul before this show. I’m glad that we were able to catch their set. I’ll be adding some of their songs to my playlists.

Secrets is a post-hardcore band that formed in California back in 2010; they also went through quite a few band members. The band started out their career strong, within a year of being formed the band was signed to Rise Records. Two of their albums The Ascent & Fragile Figures hit the top 200 Billboard Charts. The current lineup comprises of Richard Rogers, Wade Walters, Connor Branigan, and Connor Allen. To date, they have released 5 studio albums and 1 EP. Their latest album The Collapse covers topics on anxiety, depression, hope, and loss. This album was written pre-pandemic and also during the pandemic. The song "Fade Away" focuses on losing a loved one and pays tribute to Aaron Melzer. When the band stepped foot on stage, I got super excited and was ready for their performance to rock the house.

Norma Jean is a metalcore band from Georgia. The band has gone through numerous line-up changes since the band formed back in 1997 under the name Luti-Kriss, currently, there isn’t a single original member in the band. But that didn’t stop Norma Jean from dropping nine studio albums and receiving a Grammy Award nomination in 2006 for their second album O' God, the Aftermath. A remarkable fact about Norma Jean is that the band’s name actually originates from Marilyn Monroe since her real name was Norma Jeane Mortensen. In an interview with previous drummer Daniel Davidson, he stated that they also decided on that name because they “were looking at a book” and saw that “Norma meant pattern and Jean meant God's grace and mercy” So when you put it all together it creates, patterns of grace and mercy. When it was their time to perform, the crowd went wild. The band played a variety of songs, old songs like “I Used to Hate Cell Phones But Now I Hate Car Accidents” and newer songs off their record Deathrattle Sing For Me which was released last year. The fans kept crowd surfing back to back, eventually, the band wanted to step it up a notch, having fans open up a giant circle pit. Cory Brandan (lead singer) jumped off the stage onto the barricades at one point to get closer to the fans and sing their songs together. I absolutely loved their stage presence; each member used every ounce of their being to make sure this was an amazing performance during this tour stop.

Memphis May Fire is an American metalcore band that formed in Texas back in 2006. Since its formation, the band has released two EPs and seven full-length albums, the latest being Remade In Misery which was released in June 2022. The band has had some awesome accomplishments in their career. The band was nominated for the Artist Philanthropic Award in 2014, they also had their song “Ghost In The Mirror” from the album Sleepwalking in Saw VI. The current members are Kellen McGregor, Matty Mullins, Cory Elder, and Jake Garland. Before Memphis May Fire even set foot on the stage, you could feel that the energy in the air was even more special. It was extra special because it was also Matty Mullins’ birthday. Between songs, he said to the fans that they had set the bar high for the rest of this tour and that got the crowd even more excited for the rest of their performance. Before the other photographers and I were able to leave the pit, there was a crazy amount of crowd surfers showing out all their love for Memphis May Fire. The band also played a wide variety of songs ranging from their album The Hollow to their most recent album Remade In Misery.

Setlist:

“Blood & Water”

“Left for Dead”

“Bleed Me Dry”

“Somebody”

“The American Dream”

“Alive in the Lights”

“Heavy Is the Weight”

“Miles Away”

“Vices”

“Make Believe”

“Misery”

“The Old Me”

“Prove Me Right”

Encore:

“The Fight Within”

“The Sinner”

#concert photography #concert #concerthopper #memphis may fire #metal tours #metal #2023 #photography #review #concert review #Concerthopper #Review

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quebectoalaska2023 · 11 months

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June 26. Ohio to Iowa. Lots of road construction and metropolitan areas

Still quite scenic out of the cities.

Plenty of billboards to read!

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coghive · 1 year

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For KING & COUNTRY Drops New Remix Version Of “Love Me Like I Am” Ft. Jordin Sparks

Multi-GRAMMY winning, Platinum-selling duo and Curb | Word Entertainment recording artist FOR KING + COUNTRY drops the new remix version today of their #1 hit single feat. Jordin Sparks, “LOVE ME LIKE I AM,” titled “LOVE ME LIKE I AM (R3HAB REMIX) FEAT. JORDIN SPARKS”, The song was remixed by internationally-renowned DJ R3HAB, and is available on all digital platforms. Listen HERE. Written by Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone, Josh Kerr, and Michael Pollack (BMI Pop Writer of the Year; “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus; Justin Bieber, Beyonce); and produced by FOR KING + COUNTRY, Josh Kerr (GRAMMY winning songwriter), and Jeff Sojka, the original track, “LOVE ME LIKE I AM,” is featured on their current GRAMMY nominated, AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD-winning studio album, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?, the duo’s second Top 10 Billboard 200 charting album (#7).

The RIAA Platinum-selling brothers made up of Joel and Luke Smallbone recently scored their latest #1 Billboard Christian Airplay Chart with “LOVE ME LIKE I AM” feat. Jordin Sparks, marking their 13th #1 hit single (and 8th consecutive #1 hit single) on the chart. Additionally, the Smallbones, with Hillary Scott of Lady A, recently garnered a 2023 GRAMMY Award nomination for “Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song” for their collaborative track, “For God Is With Us”. The song was co-written by the Smallbones, Josh Kerr, and Jordan Reynolds, with the official music video viewed more than 8.9 million times since its 2022 release. FOR KING + COUNTRY is currently on their 2023 “What Are We Waiting For? The Tour Part II,” and tickets for the tour can be purchased HERE. Love Me Like I Am - For KING & COUNTRY https://youtu.be/JN2qwgsCgvY For King + Country “What Are We Waiting For?’ The Tour | Part II *Indicates additional festival/fair performances. 4/14/23 Brookshire Grocery Arena Bossier City, LA 4/15/23 Bell County Expo Belton, TX 4/16/23 American Bank Center Corpus Christi, TX 4/20/23 Blue Cross Arena Rochester, NY 4/21/23 MVP Arena Albany, NY 4/22/23 Chartway Arena Norfolk, VA 4/23/23 Toyota Oakdale Theatre Hartford, CT 4/27/23 First National Bank Arena Jonesboro, AR 4/28/23 Hartman Arena Wichita, KS 4/29/23 United Wireless Arena Dodge City, KS 4/30/23 Baxter Arena Omaha, NE 5/2/23 El Paso County Coliseum El Paso, TX 5/4/23 Foster Communications Coliseum San Angelo, TX 5/5/23 Reed Arena College Station, TX 5/6/23 Ford Park Beaumont, TX 5/7/23 United Supermarkets Arena Lubbock, TX 5/11/23 Enmarket Arena Savannah, GA 5/12/23 iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL 5/13/23 Macon Coliseum Macon, GA 5/14/23 The Orion Amphitheater Huntsville, AL 5/24/23 Centennial Hall Winnipeg, AB 5/25/23 Elim Church Saskatoon, SK 5/26/23 ChristCity Church Edmonton, AB 5/27/23 ChristCity Church (2 shows) Edmonton, AB 5/29/23 WinSport Arena Calgary, AB 5/31/23 Queen Elizabeth Theatre Vancouver, BC 6/9/23 Spirit West Coast Stockton, CA* 6/10/23 Fishfest 2023 Irvine, CA* 6/11/23 Family Life Radio Fest. Glendale, AZ* 7/16/23 Hills Alive Festival Rapid City, SD* 7/20/23 Truist Park Atlanta, GA* 7/22/23 Wild Adventures Theme Park Valdosta, GA* 8/7/23 Wisconsin State Fair West Allis, WI* 8/10/23 Iowa State Fair Des Moines, IA* 8/12/23 Unity Festival Muskegon, MI* 8/21/23 The Alaska State Fair Palmer, AK* Read the full article

#forKING&COUNTRY #JordinSparks

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