#may 2024 continue to be the year of the bear for me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

midnightbears · 1 month

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✿ tell 'em how the crowds went wild! tell 'em how i hope they shine!

⎯ in which you look back on how grateful you are for the opportunity bestowed upon you. aka: you joined the opla's cast!

#STARRING. iñaki godoy, mackenyu, jacob romero, taz skylar, emily rudd ft. fem!reader [elle fanning 4 faceclaim but u can imagine y/n anyway u wish!].

#TAGS. sfw, kind of context, a bit of smau but its tiny. mentions of covid just in case it's triggering?

#NOTE. pardon my rusty writing but i really wanted to get this out!!! i added an oc from one piece for the sake of the story but she's barely mentioned so uuuh yuh! timeline may be wrong but i work with what i'm given please bear with me. let me know if you would like more fics of this y/n??? ALSO IGNORE THE WATERMARKS ON THE PHOTOS I NEEDED TO MAKE THEM NEATER

In the past, if someone were to come up to you and tell you that you’d be a part of the One Piece Live Action main cast in the future, you would’ve probably laughed in their faces despite your wishful thinking.

At that time, you were content with your work, doing short theatre plays with companies or gaining minor roles in musicals. Everything changed when you landed the role for the one-woman show Fleabag for a limited time on London’s West End after the leading actress underwent emergency surgery for an appendectomy. You only acted as the sex-obsessed mess of a woman for about three weeks, but it was enough time for people to notice you, to really see you.

You believed your career had reached its pinnacle when you were cast as Katherine Howard in Six: The Musical in London. Your name had become somehow well-known in the musical theatre world, and you had a small but dedicated fan base who liked uploading edits of you being a dork during the Megasix on YouTube and TikTok.

Months later, you were bound to play as Fantine for Les Miserables when COVID abruptly struck, and you were dismayed that your job was ripped from you so abruptly. Your best friend, the sweetest person on earth, insisted on you moving in with her in fear that you’d be evicted from your apartment.

Months passed, and you eventually found a small way to help your friend pay rent by offering singing and acting lessons online to musical-aspiring teenagers. Since you had gained many followers from your earlier work on social media, it didn’t surprise you when the classes became sold out.

Your friend also convinced you to create a YouTube channel for you to upload videos of yourself (sometimes joined by her) where you watched and commented shitty movies, followed DIY tutorials just for the fun of it, performed covers of your favorite songs, and just generally vlogged your life (along with reactions to Taylor Swift’s (From The Vault) songs).

At first, you thought it was pretty stupid, but you were delightfully proved wrong when your videos harbored over 200k-300k views on a bad day, so you found no reason to stop as COVID-19 continued, growing to gain a little over five hundred thousand followers. Your reactions were often used for TikTok audios or clips, so you found your popularity growing and evolving during that year.

You believed yourself to be a general, simple woman. People liked you because you were elegant and levelheaded, although you could sometimes be chaotic. You also had a subtle sense of humor that many found charming. But mostly, you grew a steady fan base because your videos and presence comforted countless young adults and teenagers.

You were an optimist and a reassuring one, so during the times when COVID was so prominent, people sought refuge from the monstrosities of the world in your videos, where you seemed to connect with them even though you were on the other side of the screen.

However, everything changed somewhere in 2020-2021. That evening, your best friend got home from work with excitement practically oozing out of her every pore. You and your best friend were avid anime watchers and manga readers, so you couldn’t help the face you made when she told you that One Piece was getting a live-action.

Although you were skeptical, your friend practically insisted you send an audition tape. You grimaced at that. It was well-known that live anime actions were almost always corny and cringeworthy compared to the original work, and people never liked them. You had learned that much from Death Note and a couple of others. However, your best friend convinced you with this argument:

“If it’s that bad, then at least you’ll gain more followers out of the memes that people will make, and if it’s good, you’ll still get famous anyway!”

Eventually, you sent a video of you performing one of the lengthy monologues from Fleabag to your agency and simply hoped for the best. Your friend was practically rooting for you to get the role of Anastasia, one of the first integrants of the Straw Hat crew, joining before Sanji and after Usopp. You adored her as she greatly reminded you of your late mother, although you would be happy with any role.

Somewhere in November 2021, you remember a lot of screaming and crying. When you try to look back on it, all you remember is the happiness you felt when you received confirmation of the role of Anastasia. You were practically over the moon, and you and your friend celebrated inside your small apartment. You were entirely alone, just two drunk girls dancing and cheering, until one of the neighbors knocked on the ceiling with a broom.

liked by inakigo, emilyrudd and 574,949 others

yourusername actually lost for words and filled to the brim with gratitude...... i cannot express how excited i am to play my girl anastasia and bring her to life. from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported me. your faith in me means everything. congrats to iñaki, emily, jacob, mackenyu and taz, thank you to onepiecenetflix, thank you to my best friend for convincing me to audition for the role, and thank you, oda sensei, for putting anastasia's heart in my hands. love u all <3

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November 10, 2021

y/nsfanclub.02, AAAAAAAA SO EXCITED FOR THIS I ACTUALLY CANT BELIEVE IT

⤷ starl6ighwnb, LIKE FR IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE THIS IS INSANE

user8392y3r927y, HELLO YOUR GRACE ANASTASIA

inakigo, Congrats!!!!!!!!

taz_skylar, 🔥🔥🔥

The One Piece fan base dearly loved the character of Anastasia, a well-mannered, bubbly, upbeat, fashion-loving duchess who always spoke in a Transatlantic accent but also had a quick wit and a bit of a sweet tooth. Anastasia’s dream was to become the most dangerous pirate to ever grace the seas and prove everyone who doubted her wrong.

Of course, with a big character came a big responsibility.

Sometimes, insecurity nearly got the better of you. You had to fill huge shoes, and there were many people to convince and impress. However, your love for this project was bigger than the gnawing uncertainty on the back of your neck, so you continued strongly until the end of Season One, finding comfort in your cast mates and the countless people who counted on you and, most importantly, believed in you.

Oda handpicked you, and that argument alone was enough to shoot any insecurities away.

Well, needless to say, people loved you!

Critics acclaimed your portrayal of the character, as well as the commendable chemistry you shared with the rest of the cast. The fans found it incredibly funny that your character was the complete opposite of how you actually acted in real life, and you often found yourself blissfully immersed in the fan base's love and praise.

Your channel and social media suddenly grew tenfold. Although you had stopped uploading videos every week due to the recording of season one, your followers were more than happy to wait for your return, and as one would expect, they were thrilled to have you back once you did upload a vlog explaining everything.

Over the course of the six months, you had been recording from time to time for a YouTube video in the set. Previously, you had asked the producers for permission to record some behind-the-scenes for your channel and your usual interactions with the rest of the cast with your personal Sony camera, as you felt it would be a nice way to bring the fans and the cast closer.

The producers gave the okay on the condition that you would wait until the first season aired on Netflix. You happily agreed and carefully began recording some scenes of your dressers and hairdressers as they prepared you, a few shots of your instructor showing you how you were supposed to use the guns that Anastasia employed... simple things.

Back in the day, you were still getting acquainted with the other cast members, and you didn't want to seem rude by forcibly making them appear on your videos, so you waited for a few weeks until you could properly call yourself companions. Then, you invited them to appear in the videos.

Iñaki, Taz, and Jacob liked to take advantage of the little free time they had between scenes they didn't appear in to innocently steal your camera and use it to their heart's content. One day, you got home only to find the memory card was completely full. It was an extensive video of them walking around the set, with Taz recording while Kiki and Jacob pointed out random stuff to the people who lived inside your camera, as Jacob liked to call them.

Mackenyu, being more reserved and introverted, mostly liked to act as a cameraman for you as you showed the props you used and other things, often making comments or turning the camera around whenever you referred to something.

Meanwhile, Emily had a natural knack for being in front of the camera. Whenever you asked her to join in, she effortlessly slipped into the co-host role, bantering with you and adding her own insights into the behind-the-scenes world of the show.

With the first season out of the way, you took the time to carefully pick what videos you wanted to use in the final tape, and it took you a little over a month and a half to properly edit it and turn it into a wonderful thirty-minute-long behind-the-scenes. You even sent it to the producers and your co-stars in case there was a scene they wanted deleted. Fortunately, they all gave you the okay.

You teased the video a bit on your Instagram before uploading it a few days later, and the support it received was out of this world. It gained over two million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

You were kind of expecting this. While some BTS had already been uploaded on YouTube, yours was different because you were showing it from your perspective. The fans loved every second of it, and even started asking for a second or third part. You even saw new videos on YouTube of recompilations from your video with the titles being silly things like The One Piece Cast Being Chaotic for Seven Minutes.

At that moment, your life felt so full. You were getting contacted by industries who wanted you to appear on their videos and their stages, thousands of fans who loved you, and a feeling so peculiar that this would be eternal.

liked by taz_skylar, morganlogoff and 1,523,199 others

yourusername missing my wig and my gang hours ☹️

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November 10, 2023

morganlogoff, love love love you💗💗💗

curlikaqy, NO ONE KNOWS I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

emilyrudd, GIRL I WANT TO SEE YOU COME BACK TO AMERICA

bookofjacob, missing your camera hours💔

#one piece #one piece live action #one piece la #opla #one piece x reader #one piece x you #one piece live action x reader #one piece live action x you #iñaki godoy #emily rudd #jacob romero gibson #jacob romero #taz skylar #mackenyu #one piece x y/n #opla x reader #opla x you #midnightbears

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karahalloway · 4 months

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WIP Update - 2024

Happy 2024! 🥳

Hope everyone had a great holiday period - got the chance to see friends and family, relax a bit - and is ready for the new year!

Harper and Drake certainly did! Thank you @nestledonthaveone for these pics!

Unfortunately, I was too busy to put together a 2023 Year In Review post, or something similar, but now that things are getting back to normal after the festivities, I wanted to take the time to let anyone who is still around (and reads my stuff) about a few updates.

Tumblr Projects for 2024

My overall plan for 2024 is to try and finish off my outstanding WIPs. These are (in no particular priority order):

(Less Than) Noble Intentions (including Extraction)

Thanksgiving

Mission: Cordonia

If I have time / the Muse feels supportive, I may post an additional installment for Tales from the Gypsea as well. I also have The Highwayman for January's Song Rewrite Challenge to write (at least the first part).

Please bear with me, as my posting will probably be chaotic. I was supposed to be working on the next chapter of Thanksgiving (as there is only one part left), or possibly the first installment of The Highwayman given that this has a deadline 😬, but instead, my brain decided that I must focus on the next chapter of Intentions 🤷‍♀️

So, I may be dropping one chapter of one fic here, another chapter for another fic there... or there could be a glut of chapters for one particular fic while the other ones gather dust in the corner. Who knows... I certainly don't!

Original Fiction Project(s) for 2024

In parallel to my TRR fanfic, I am also working on some original fiction in the background, that I hope to publish (as actual books) once they are done (I currently have 3 projects in progress or in pre-planning - I know - my brain is crazy - I blame my association with @angelasscribbles 🤣)

Definitely no ETA on this yet, but if I randomly go silent on Tumblr, then this is why.

Reading

In addition to this, there are several series that I want / need to catch up on, but again, please bear with me, as my primary focus will be wrapping up my outstanding series, so my reading/reblogging time may end up being limited (especially if work is also busy).

Thanks for your continued support and interest in my fics (I know the fandom is not quite what it used to be, but my OCD will not let me leave projects unfinished! 😅) and best wishes to everyone for 2024!

PS: If anyone wants on or off my taglist, please message me! I will not be offended - I know real life is busy, and most of us don't have as much free time anymore as we did during the successive lockdowns (kinda miss those, tbh 😅)

Permatags

@twinkleallnight @lovingchoices14 @kingliam2019 @petiteboheme @angelasscribbles @aussiegurl1234 @nestledonthaveone @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tessa-liam @alyshak92 @secretaryunpaid @princessleac1 @walkerdrakewalker @tinkie1973 @twinkle-320 @knaussal @nikkis1983 @lunaseasblog @ficloverevie @indiana-jr @differenttyphoonwerewolf @kristinamae093 @eversoaringqueen12 @peonierose @3pawandme @alexabeta @veebug8 @fanfiction-she-wrote @queenmiarys @lancelotsimp @coco-lina-s @lolablackwrites @ivyflowers13 @persephone13 @hollygirl1269 @adri-ja-96 @harleybeaumont @katedrakeohd @uneravine @alj4890

#kara halloway #wip update #new year 2024 #harper gale #drake walker #trr fandom #best laid plans

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 days

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 11, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 12, 2024

If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society.

The Civil War years taught naïve Americans what mass death meant in the modern era. Soldiers who had marched off to war with fantasies of heroism discovered that newly invented long-range weapons turned death into tortured anonymity. Men were trampled into blood-soaked mud, piled like cordwood in ditches, or withered into emaciated corpses after dysentery drained their lives away.

The women who had watched their hale and healthy men march off to war were haunted by its results. They lost fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers. The men who did come home were scarred in both body and mind.

Modern war, it seemed, was not a game.

But out of the war also came a new sense of empowerment. Women had bought bonds, paid taxes, raised money for the war effort, managed farms, harvested fields, worked in war industries, reared children, and nursed soldiers. When the war ended, they had every expectation that they would continue to be considered valuable participants in national affairs, and had every intention of continuing to take part in them.

But the Fourteenth Amendment, which established that Black men were citizens, did not explicitly include women in that right. Worse, it introduced the word “male” into the Constitution when it warned states against preventing “male inhabitants” from voting. In 1869, the year after the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, women organized two organizations—the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association—to promote women’s right to have a say in American government.

From her home in Boston, Julia Ward Howe was a key figure in the American Woman Suffrage Association. She was an enormously talented writer who in the early years of the Civil War had penned “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” a hymn whose lyrics made it a point to note that Christ was “born of woman.”

Howe was drawn to women’s rights because the laws of her time meant that her children belonged to her abusive husband. If she broke free of him, she would lose any right to see her children, a fact he threw at her whenever she threatened to leave him. She was not at first a radical in the mold of reformer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who believed that women had a human right to equality with men. Rather, she believed strongly that women, as mothers, had a special role to perform in the world.

For Howe, the Civil War had been traumatic, but that it led to emancipation might justify its terrible bloodshed. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was another story. She remembered:

“I was visited by a sudden feeling of the cruel and unnecessary character of the contest. It seemed to me a return to barbarism, the issue having been one which might easily have been settled without bloodshed. The question forced itself upon me, ‘Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone know and bear the cost?’”

Howe had a new vision, she said, of “the august dignity of motherhood and its terrible responsibilities.” She sat down immediately and wrote an “Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World.” Men always had and always would decide questions by resorting to “mutual murder,” she wrote, but women did not have to accept “proceedings which fill the globe with grief and horror.” Mothers could command their sons, “who owe their life to her suffering,” to stop the madness.

"Arise, women!” Howe commanded. “Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.’”

Howe had her document translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Swedish and distributed it as widely as her extensive contacts made possible. She believed that her Women’s Peace Movement would be the next great development in human history, ending war just as the antislavery movement had ended human bondage. She called for a “festival which should be observed as mothers’ day, and which should be devoted to the advocacy of peace doctrines” to be held around the world on June 2 of every year, a date that would permit open-air meetings.

Howe organized international peace conferences, and American states developed their own Mothers’ Day festivals. But Howe quickly realized that there was much to be done before women could come together on a global scale. She turned her attention to women’s clubs “to constitute a working and united womanhood.”

As Howe worked to unite women, she came to realize that a woman did not have to center her life around a man, but rather should be “a free agent, fully sharing with man every human right and every human responsibility.” “This discovery was like the addition of a new continent to the map of the world,” she later recalled, “or of a new testament to the old ordinances.” She threw herself into the struggle for women’s suffrage, understanding that in order to create a more just and peaceful society, women must take up their rightful place as equal participants in American politics.

While we celebrate the modern version of Mother’s Day on May 12, in this momentous year of 2024 it’s worth remembering the original Mothers’ Day and Julia Ward Howe’s conviction that women must have the same rights as men, and that they must make their voices heard.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#letters from an american #Heather Cox Richardson #julia ward howe #Elizabeth Cady Stanton #Mothers' Day #war #women #women's rights #human rights #Civil War #mother

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edupunkn00b · 27 days

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Progression: Chapter 7, Traitor

Photo by edupunkn00b

Prev - Traitor - Next - Masterpost - [ AO3 ]

The Muse (and his twin) turn twenty-one. Written for @imnotgrimimjustagrumpyreaper's @dukeceit-week-2024, Day 7: Dive Bar. WC: 3287

The Muse paced the length of his room, a heavy tome gripped in both hands as he forced his eyes to follow the hand-lettered text. Since the Purge, volumes like these were a treasure and though the edges of his pants were ragged and frayed, his hair shorn short at the back of his neck to stop himself from yanking it out, he cradled the book like the precious rarity it was.

"’A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then. It is something to—’” he muttered aloud, shaking his head. He closed the book, slowly, carefully, just like Jannie had showed him and he stroked the woven cover. His feet stopped in front of the shelf and he scanned the other spines before swapping one for the other.

“‘And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick,’” he read as he paced, gaze fixed on the book as his body led him over the well-worn path. The carpet had begun to fade in long meandering strips, marking off the longest contiguous trails around the room.

The words wobbled with each step, or maybe it was Orwell’s text.

“‘And that you just said it to make them stop and didn't mean it. But that isn't true.’” His voice fell away as he continued to read for three more laps before making a gagging sound at the back of his throat and changing that book for the next on the shelf.

His mouth twitched as his fingers trailed over the embossed title of the next book. A hundred years, huh? "’El mundo era tan reciente que muchas cosas carecían de nombre, y para nombrarlas había que señalarlas con el dedo…’” The words flowed off his tongue, falling into little drops of honey along his path. Perhaps you only had to point at things to name them, but The Muse could name a thing to make it. “‘"Saca esos malos pensamientos de tu cabeza", le dijo. "Vas a ser feliz".’”

The Muse frowned and closed the book, not as gently as the first. “No, you won’t.”

The next book was no better. “‘She used to give me a thrashing every morning—’”

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope…

This one he slammed shut and shoved back onto the shelf, whispering a quiet apology before selecting one last volume. He started at the end, eyes dancing over the page. “‘This funeral wasn't about honoring truth, but about honoring a memory.’”

He mouthed the words again and tried to imagine what the author might’ve sounded like. Sinking to the floor, he sat with the book cradled in his lap and continued to read. “‘‘It was about honoring the friend they had lost, whether they had lost that friend a day ago, or five years ago.’” A slow smile spread over his face as he flipped the slim book to the beginning to start at the start.

The Muse was on his third re-read when warmth rippled toward him from the hall, soft and wispy, smoke after you blow out a flame. He hugged the book to his chest and leapt to his feet. He’d nearly reached the door controls when Jannie spoke.

-”May we come in, Muse?”- The warm trickle turned into the comforting blast of the furnace, opening the oven on a frosty day. The scent of fire and vanilla, burnt sugar and those tart winter berries Papa Bear like to pick. Jannie was in a good mood, which meant the ‘we’ was him and Lucas.

“Fuck, yes, you can come in!” The Muse shouted and stepped back from the door, ready to fling himself at Jannie’s arms. The door panel lit up and, as Jannie stepped inside, he remembered the book just in time and laid it on the little table by the door before he threw himself at Jannie. “You’re here!”

A bubble of heat enveloped them, pushing away the sticky cold sadness just under the surface of Jannie’s skin. “Of course I’m here, Muse…” His voice was shaky, like he hadn’t spoken aloud in a while. He had to tell Jannie his trick, reading out loud to keep his throat limber and smooth and—

“It’s your birthday,” Jannie continued, one gloved hand carding through his hair. He wished Jannie would take them off. Maybe later. Maybe that was the plan, especially with Lucas here. Lucas always helped them both stay calm when, wait, it was his birthday already?

“It’s not my birthday, Jannie,” he argued, laughing, and pulled back, only a little, only enough to look into Jannie’s eyes. “My birthday’s not for another week, it’s…”

His smile froze in place as Jannie’s hand slid down and over his cheek, the soft material of his gloves—his good ones, the old cotton ones he used to keep in that box in his dresser he and Ro had found—his gloves, they were soft but they caught on the thick growth on his jaw.

He’d shaved this morning. Hadn’t he?

“It’s… it’s been a week?” Jannie looked down and their little warm bubble shrank, ice fizzling on the edges.

“It has, Re.” Lucas stroked Jannie’s cheek, his bare cheek, the skin soft at the touch and glowing white hot so bright The Muse had to close his eyes. Static brushed his mind. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting on the floor, Jannie and Lucas in front of him.

Lucas’ eyes glowed softly.

“Where’s Ro?” he asked, eyeballs bouncing between the elder Mad Lads, waiting for one of them to speak. Jannie’s shield was strong and The Muse danced around the border, the tingle of static tickling his fingers with each little poke. “Can I see him, maybe just for…”

He couldn’t see past Jannie’s shield but his silence spoke for him.

“He’s not ready,” Lucas answered instead and gripped Jannie’s hand. Slowly the static eased and Jannie smiled up at him. Sad and small but a soft smile. A good smile. A strong one that wouldn’t break if he pushed at it.

The Muse nodded. “Yeah, I… I figured. Is he… is he having a good birthday?” The room grew brighter, daffodils and honeysuckle sprouting in the corners. “I… I was gonna make him something, I…” He blinked and looked around the room, a large box covered in red cloth he’d stitched together sat by the door. “Oh, I did make him something. Will you give it to him?”

Jannie reached for him, patting his arm through gloves and his shirt, too, too much between them to really feel it. “Of course we will, Muse,” he spoke and said, the words flooding his mind and raising it up, wind under wings.

He floated, a feather on the breeze. “But first, Muse, we wanted to do something for your birthday. Even if…”

Even if he couldn’t be with his brother.

“I’d like that. I’d really, really like that!” The Muse leapt to his feet, swaying slightly. If he hadn’t really shaved this morning, had breakfast not been this morning, either? His sink was empty, the stove cold and spotless. Maybe not. “Can…” What if they said no? A little lump of ice grew just above his stomach. “Can you both stay? I’ll make us something yummy and—”

“Actually, Muse,” Jannie caught Lucas’ gaze, eyebrows high in a question The Muse couldn’t help but hear. Not that he tried very hard not to listen in. -”Do you think he’s ready?”-

Lucas nodded and Jannie’s smile grew, just a bit. “We thought we might try something different.”

Luc's gentle touch still tingled against his skin, long after he'd turned his attention—and the focus of his power—to The Muse. Janus knew he'd been concerned, remembered the tight twist in his chest as they'd taken the elevator down to The Muse's rooms, remembered the icy spike in his gut when the Muse admitted he had lost an entire week. The warmth of Luc's touch spread through his skin, a whisper of reassurance.

He watched Luc's hands glow where he touched The Muse's temples, the deep amber bleeding out from between his eyelashes. After a long while, Luc lowered his hands and smiled at The Muse. “How do you feel, Re?”

“I feel great,” he smiled back and held out both hands, soft gaillardia blooming in his palms. They grew slowly, waving gently in a breeze none of them felt. He closed his fingers around them, gently and when he opened them, the flowers were gone. “I’m in control,” he grinned. “Look at that!”

Luc’s eyes glowed next to him. “You are,” Janus smiled. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

The trio flew the smaller transport north. Not far, just looking to get a little further from the hubbub of the migrated seaports and cities sprouting up around the new Federated Capitol Building. The Muse sat buckled in his seat, face pressed to the window as he watched the sun set over the lakes. Luc laughed from the pilot seat. “ still there, love!” He pointed at a flickering blip on the main navigation screen and grinned. “Still transmitting! I can’t believe they’re still open! Do you remember?”

Lucas shared a flash from their first visit to The Inn. Younger then, they’d danced together long into the night. In the dim light of the bar, surrounded by Powered and Traditionals alike, couples and constellations had drawn together and celebrated all they shared instead of clashing over all the distinctions carved between them in final throes of The Purge.

Over”hearing” the shared vision, The Muse hummed in his seat. Under the heavy dose Lucas had used, The Muse’s eyes moved a little slower, his smile a little… Janus’ mind supplied the word dull but it was merely less sharp than it usually was. Less jagged. Softer. Like his face moved through water to change with the thoughts racing through his mind.

They landed smoothly, The Inn’s old system recognizing Luc’s old stolen—borrowed—transport beacon. “Where everybody knows your name…” Muse sang quietly, where he’d heard that melody was beyond Janus’ understanding. He barely remembered the old passphrase.

Luc grinned and lowered the ramp. “After you, ma cheri,” he murmured, offering an arm to The Muse in turn. “Ready to dance?”

The bar’s exterior hadn’t changed much. The faded, sagging awning was still there, though a closer look underneath revealed the old metal frame had been replaced by cheaper plexisteel. Bartered for scrap during the worst of it, Janus guessed. Same for the old glass window panes. He’d be nearly anything they’d been bartered in exchange for the licensing board looking the other way when the tumult had ended.

A rumble of heavy bass rattled the chipped sign above the door, beckoning them in with a simple, Welcome, All.

The Muse’s gaze went far away, seeing through the bar’s façade, seeing through his own façade. He grinned, broad and… spacey. “I like it here, Jannie.”

“I thought you might,” he nodded, the tightness in his throat and his chest easy to ignore. He opened the door and ushered them both inside.

“Hey! Haven’t seen you all in a long while,” Andrew called from behind the bar. “‘Fraid you’d… Y'know—” He made a cutting motion across his throat and pulled a face.

“Nah, we’re too bitchy to kill,” Luc laughed, leaning over the bar to hug the wizened owner. “You know that.”

“Glad to see it. You brought some young blood with you, too,” he said, coming around the bar to accept a long hug from Janus. “Well, even younger than you two,” he added with another laugh.

The Muse stiffened, eyes locked on Andrew’s face, reading him. He shuddered, knees twitching in the darkened club. Andrew didn’t catch it, but Luc did.

“This is Re,” he said and wrapped an arm over The Muse’ shoulders, fingers grazing the back of his neck. His fidget disappeared, the spiky energy pouring off him smoothing out at the edges.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, palm outstretched with a tiny green orchid blossom nestled at the center.

Andrew’s eyes widened and he took a half-step back. “Oh, he’s—” Features carefully schooled, Traditionals wouldn’t’ve noticed his fear.

But Janus wasn't a Traditional. “He’s with us,” he said, voice low.

Andrew nodded slowly, looking between the three of them as he wrestled the flurry of thoughts spilling from his mind. Finally, he smiled, nearly genuine, and returned to the taps behind the bar. “First round on the house, then.”

“Water for me,” Luc smiled.

“How 'bout the D.D. special then,” Andrew laughed, and poured Luc a purple fizzing beverage before passing two glasses of beer to Janus.

The Muse grabbed his arm, spilling a bit of foam from one of the steins. “Can we dance first?” he asked, eyes bright.

“I was hoping you came here to dance,” a low voice behind them rumbled.

A cold itch crawled up Janus’ spine and he moved between the interloper and Muse. He was a Powered, a strong man like Pat, as far as Janus could tell. Very low Esper, which made it easy for Janus to prod, to see what beyond the typical ick of a bar pick up was hidden in the man’s intentions.

Looking just over Janus’ head, he smiled at The Muse. “Unless you’re otherwise occupied tonight?”

“Nah, I’m not with them,” The Muse laughed, taking the other man’s hand. “They’ve got each other to keep them company. Right?” he added with hopeful eyes at both Janus and Luc.

“Enjoy yourself, Re,” Luc said, threading his fingers through Janus’. -”He can handle himself, love,”- he added silently. -”Besides, we’re right here.”-

-”Yeah, Jannie,”- The Muse jumped in with a little dance of his shoulders and absolutely zero decorum. He blew them both a kiss and followed the man out onto the patch of carpet that served as a dance floor. “Happy Birthday to me!” he cheered when the song transitioned to a faster tempo.

Janus pointed to a table as far from the speakers as he could manage without putting any other tables between them and the dance floor. He sat facing the dancing couples and Luc settled into the seat closest to him. “He’s having a good time,” he said, nudging Janus’ knee under the table. “We're in a safe space. You can relax a little while."

"Perhaps," Janus nodded, a golden bubble wrapped around his worries. He sipped at his beer before the bubble popped. Setting aside all pretense or propriety, Janus locked in on the thoughts swirling around the dancing pair. He just needed to know.

The Muse was… nervous, but giddily so. Happy. Happier than Janus had seen him in years. Not since he’d been a child, playing with his brother or pranking teenage Virgil. Janus watched The Muse dance before nodding and taking another sip.

“He’s having fun,” Luc whispered behind his glass, nursing the purple concoction. “And look—” As the music slowed, The Muse took one of the man’s hands and traced colorful shapes against his skin. “He’s in full control.”

“Thanks to you,” Janus said, focusing on the man’s expression. He looked unsurprised. He'd probably clocked Muse as a Powered before he’d even approached them. The implications twisted in his stomach, cold and prickly. Luc’s hand on his forearm was warm, though, and after a moment he sighed, all but a spot of worry leaving him with his breath. “You’re right, he’s having fun.”

“He is,” Luc murmured, leaning closer to kiss his cheek. “Now,” he grinned and slid his now-empty glass into Janus’ hands. “Why don’t you get us a refill while I keep watch. We can take turns.”

Janus laughed and took Luc’s glass. “I see Andrew’s mixology skills haven’t faded with time.” He stood, then leaned over to swipe his own small kiss. “Either that or you’re just as cheap of a date as you ever were.”

“Bah!” Luc scoffed, one lovely hand pressed to his chest. “I resemble that remark!”

Still chuckling, Janus sauntered over to the bar, eyes forward but his thoughts stretched out toward the other patrons, the other dancers. To The Muse and his dance partner. The music had slowed, a steady, undulating beat that traveled up from the floor and through Janus’ shoes. He hummed, following the cover-of-a-cover-of a song that had been an oldie when he was still a child, young enough his Powers had not yet been discovered.

Look at the way… We’ve got an eye on what we’re doing Cause what would they say If they ever knew and so we’re—

“Lucas likes this mix, yes?” Andrew grinned from behind the bar, sliding over a full glass before Janus had even asked. Something itched at the base of his skull, fighting past the calm Luc had given him.

‘Re’s completely keyed in to your moods, love. If he can feel you scared, if he can feel you worried, he’ll feel like you don’t trust him and he won’t trust himself.’

Luc’s words had been soft. Certain. He shook his head and the itch grew. Luc’s refill cradled in his hands, he looked over his shoulder. Luc was blinking slowly, a crooked tipsy smile on his face. Janus whipped around and stared at Andrew. “What’s in this?” he demanded.

But Andrew wasn’t looking at him. No, he was staring past Janus’ shoulder at something on the other side of the bar. He followed the bartender’s gaze.

Just in time to see Muse slip outside with his dance partner.

“Luc!” he cried over the music and ran toward the door, sidling past the sudden surge of patrons crowding his path. -”Luc! Luc, let’s go!”-

-”What’s wrong, love?”- The fuzziness in Luc’s response shattered his calm. He was closer to the door than to Luc, though, and he pushed through just in time to be hit with a wave of fear.

Muse’s fear.

-”Muse! I’m coming!”- He stepped out into the muggy night air. The landing pad was lifeless, a few airskiffs and smaller transports like theirs dark and idle. He closed his eyes and a light bloomed from the dark alley next to the waste bins. Muse!

Janus ran, following the faint scuffling sound and the overpowering sense of panic. He staggered under the weight of it, heavy ropes tightening around his chest, squeezing his heart. His pulse pounded in his ears, a syncopated thud, his own layered with Muse’s. The bar door slammed open just as he reached the alley.

“Jan! Jan, wait!” Luc called after him, heavier footfalls catching up fast.

A cry more animal than human pierced his mind and Janus dropped to his knees, both hands over his ears. Strong hands—Luc’s?—helped him up and together they followed the shadows in the alley. Leaning heavily against Luc’s side, Janus fumbled in his jacket for a light. Finally activating it, the beam bounced wildly until it landed on the man from the bar, doubled over and gripping his own head.

Muse towered over him, shirt ripped and eyes closed. He didn’t speak and when Janus reached for him, pain ripped through his mind until he pulled back, wrapping his mind in his own strongest shield.

“Please, Muse, no!” he shouted, fighting to be heard over the cacophony in his own mind. The man’s cries intensified and he began to bang his forehead against the dirty pavement. “Stop it! Stop, Muse, you’ll—”

And in the next breath it was over. Suddenly silent, the man slumped over. Deadweight. His head struck the pavement with a loud, wet thwack and Janus’ light trembled, illuminating dark blood seeping from his eyes in its shaky beam. Muse knelt before the man's body, shoulders shaking and a horrible high-pitched sound spilling from his lips.

Muse laughed.

#Progression #dukeceit #dukeceitweek2024 #sanders sides #demus #platonic dukeceit #ts janus #ts remus #ts lucas #i will make that a tag if it's the only thing i do in this fandom :D #we're getting close to the end and this chapter…#well‚ yeah #sanders sides fanfiction #janus sanders #remus sanders #lucas sanders

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teneleven12xiii · 1 month

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Snippet from my To Oscar, With Love au because I haven’t had the motivation to write in a while,……….

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼ ✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼ ✼　 ҉ 　✼　

[email protected]

8 August 2024

My Helios,

I’m sitting here, stuck on a plane reading about you thinking of me as the moon god, well, greatest love of mine, if I am the moon then you are the sun. you who are so bright and beautiful, bringing life to not just me but the world, you who glow golden, and you who shine through every cloud. Oscar, my love, you are radiant and alluring, your smiles sweep away all my pain, your kisses take away all my sorrow, and your embrace a security for my heart and soul.

Oscar, these past 6 months with you have been the greatest 6 months of my life. It terrifies me that one day we could part again, like we did all those years ago, the thought of leaving you makes me sick to my stomach, darling, I can’t bear the thought of being apart again, loving you had become such an essential part of my being that I don’t think I’ll survive without you.

Please allow me to love you for the rest of time.

Your Fides,

Logan.

P.P.S. Do you think we moved too fast?

📬💌

[email protected]

18 August 2024

My Fides,

Logan, I’m not very good at words but I wanted to put my thoughts into writing for you. Please let me assure you that there is no timeline for love. No matter when, 6 months ago when we got reconnected by chance or when we met for the first time after years apart in May, or the day we met as children, that first shared podium in Speilberg, yesterday, today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now. I would have fallen in love with you eventually, and no matter how far apart we are I know fate would bring us together again– always.

Logan, I know your mind and the struggles it goes through, I know you can’t help the doubts and the sorrowful thoughts that crosses that beautiful, brilliant brain of yours, but please never doubt that I will always be there for you, through every sadness and sorrow, through every delight and pleasure, every win and loss, every podium and dnf.

My heart and soul lies solely in the palm of your hands, my love.

Your Eros,

Oscar.

P.S. Ludwig Van Beethoven to his Lover,

I can live only wholly with you or not at all. No one else can ever possess my heart – never – never. Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together. Be calm – love me – today – yesterday – what tearful longings for you – you – you – my life – my all – farewell.

Oh continue to love me – never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

#loscar au #indycar driver logan x f1 driver oscar #f1 fanfic #logan sargeant #oscar piastri #they write love letters to eachother via email #loscar

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eldritch-nightmare · 9 months

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the rules.

— > by default, considering the nature of this blog, there will more than likely be dark content such as yandere behavior, kidnapping, toxic behavior and relationships, and things like that. if that makes you uncomfortable, then this blog probably isn’t for you.

— > you're free to send smut requests but i don't write it often bc it's not something i'm personally interested in. do not send non-con requests or anything in relation to incest. i’m okay with kinks but certain ones make me uncomfortable so if you request one of those, i most likely won’t write it.

— > as of feb of 2024, im only just starting to write for slashers and dbd so bear w me as i get used to writing all these new characters!!

— > please send yandere requests to @unearthly-doting, please and thank you.

— > do not rush me into writing requests! i am a human being and i write on three separate platforms so it may take a bit for me to get around to your request.

— > i reserve the right to ignore and delete any requests sent in if they make me uncomfortable.

— > this blog is a safe space! if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, ableist, etc then i highly implore that you leave my blog. you are not welcome here.

— > you can request platonic stuff if you don’t want to read anything romantic!

— > given the potential nsfw content of this blog, coupled with other factors, i would prefer if minors didn’t interact with any nsfw posts. they're free to interact with this blog and any of my other posts so long as it's not nsfw.

— > be as descriptive in your request as you want! if you request an x reader, then please make sure to send in the pronouns of the reader or i will default and make them gn.

— > i also write for the marble hornets character! i do not write for the creepypasta adaptation of masky or hoodie; i only write for tim and brian.

— > i write for just about any and all creepypastas, excluding pokepastas and offenderman. i will not write ben or sally in romantic scenarios. platonic is fully fine, but if you request something romantic for them then i will delete your request.

— > continuing on, i write both janes. and finally, if a character has a canon sexuality [jane richardson; lesbian. jessica locke; lesbian. jay merrick; gay] then i will only accept requests that are nblw/wlw or nblm/mlm for them. this also applies to amanda young and susie from legion.

— > you can request for ships, i don’t mind!

— > i do not have DID, CIPA, or tourette’s syndrome. i will do my best to accurately portray all of this in my writing, but if my portrayal is incorrect or offensive then please do not hesitate to let me know!

— > i haven’t been in the [creepypasta] fandom in years so my knowledge may be a bit outdated and i more than likely don’t know any new creepypastas or anything like that so like… feel free to educate me or something if you want. i love learning new things.

— > my inbox is always open if you want to chat or share your thoughts about certain characters! but please refrain from venting in my inbox.

— > i do try my best to be realistic with my writing but sometimes a girl just has to be a little delulu y'know, and that’s okay. i’m embracing that.

WHAT I WRITE.

— > creepypasta/slasher/dbd x reader. [request ex: can i request eyeless jack w a male!reader who has trouble sleeping?]

— > creepypasta x creepypasta. [request ex: can i request ticcihomicidal going on a cute little cemetery date?]

— > headcanons.

— > matchups. [i.e: you describe yourself to me, physical appearance or personality or both, and i assign you with a creepypasta or mh character that i personally think would look cute with you.] [indefinitely closed bc people keep sending them in even when i ask them to stop lol]

WHO I WRITE.

creepypasta/mh: — > slenderman, jeff the killer, jane the killer [richardson + arkensaw], nina the killer [og], homicidal liu [and sully, together or separately], the bloody painter, nurse ann, eyeless jack, laughing jack, hobo heart, ticci toby, clockwork, jason the toymaker, the puppeteer, zalgo, x-vrius, tim wright, brian thomas, alex kralie, jay merrick, jessica locke, uh. others. like i said, i write for like any and all, these are just a few off the top of my head.

slashers: — > amanda young, michael myers, bo sinclair, vincent sinclair, lester sinclair, bubba sawyer, thomas hewitt, jason voorhees, sissy [tcmg], johnny [tcmg], brahms heelshire, billy loomis, stu macher, tiffany valentine, billy lenz, charles lee ray, asa emory, jesse cromeans, xenomorphs, baby firefly, otis driftwood, mary mason, candyman, mark hoffman, leslie vernon, pinhead, corey cunningham, quinn bailey, ethan landry, and probably more once i watch more movies nd stuff :thumbs up:

dead by daylight: — > every killer minus freddy and every survivor.

#rules.#creepypasta x reader #marble hornets x reader #slashers x reader #dbd x reader #dead by daylight x reader

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nicholsroy · 4 days

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April updates & May goals

Hello! Me again. I come bearing some updates from the past month or so. Nothing major, but I'm happy to report steady progress on most fronts.

In April, I printed out the first 100 pages of LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE's manuscript for its final consistency read prior to querying! 🎉

LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE progress updates

Act I: ~90% complete. Edits/partial redrafting remain on three chapters (10, 11 and 15) and minor alterations, which I’m hoping to get done entirely this weekend, remain on three chapters (8, 19, and 21). If things continue to progress at the current rate, I anticipate being able to start consistency reading Act I later this month. Yay!

Act II: ~75% complete. No progress to report as I focused entirely on Act I in April/early May.

Query prep: As mentioned in last month’s update, a batch of test queries will be sent out once Act II is 90% complete. This being said: I plan to complete Act I’s consistency read prior to further progress on Act II (unless strong inspiration strikes me for Act II edits between now and then, of course) so I can send Act I out to those very patient readers who have been waiting to read this version for months now.

Other writing

I have one flash piece (horror) on submission, and another (suspense) entered in a contest (results in mid-June for that).

I have two prose poems on submission.

I will be participating in another flash fiction contest beginning at the end of this month.

Some scattered drafting for THE DOTTED LINE has occurred between editing sessions for LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE. As of now I still intend for THE DOTTED LINE to become my main WIP after the completion of LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE’s edits – I know I will need to focus on something else while I’m querying, plus I would certainly like to actually finish this draft at some point. You know how it is.

Reading

I have read 12 books so far in 2024 (ie. the same number I read over the entirety of 2023), and have changed my goal from 20 books to 30 books for the year.

Read in April (a few of these were already mentioned in the last, very late, update):

WHEN THE STARS ALIGHT by Camilla Andrew

IF WE WERE VILLAINS by M.L. Rio

THE SANGUINE SORCERESS by Camilla Andrew

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde

Currently reading:

ANGELS BEFORE MAN by Rafael Nicolás

Up next:

THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US by Eliot Schrefer (this month’s book club pick)

DEAD GIRLS DON’T SAY SORRY by Alex Ritany

MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell

THE BONDS THAT BIND US by Stephanie Johnson

#update #writeblr #blog

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swanqueengranger-writes · 2 months

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Hey all,

I’ve had some comments and questions recently about No Other Shade of Blue but You and where I’ve been/how I am. I am actively still working on NOSoBbY - this work will never be abandoned. Many of you know I’ve been battling health issues and one in particular has been causing problems. I’ve sat with it for a long while and I am a firm believer that darkness, even personal, dies in the light, so it’s time to just share.

At the end of last year, after going numb on my entire body multiple times and experiencing cognitive issues, I underwent a brain MRI and my doctor was incredibly concerned when it came back abnormal. The scan showed that my brain “looks like that of an 80 year old” according to my doctor. I’m 42, so that’s incredibly alarming. What that meant was the white matter demyelination in my brain was incredibly, alarmingly high. She isn’t aware if it’s a direct result of COVID, MS, or early onset cognitive decline of some kind.

Regardless, it’s there.

I was referred to neurology and scheduled to have an appointment in October of 2024. Exactly one year from the MRI date. I can’t begin to discuss the disgusting, debilitating feeling of knowing something is seriously wrong, my doctor being incredibly worried, but neurology saying, “Sorry, we’re that backed up” because of COVID.

Since then, I have had increasing cognitive issues with losing words and thoughts, as well as difficulty remembering things I’ve just taken part in. It’s scary to say the least, but through it all, I continue to do what I have always done. I now do cognitive workouts of sorts to help, take vitamins, and try to get plenty of sunshine when I can. I’m already working with my energy healer and medicinal plants.

All of this to say that I’m still here - I promise. I’m still trying to write NOSoBbY actively but some days it’s harder than others. Sometimes simply because I am saddened by the fact that this brick wall is seemingly inscalable.

But, through it all, I keep looking for ways around it. I’ve been actively recording scenes on my phone as I think of them, so I can listen to those and write them. I have a good portion of the next chapter finished and I’m excited to see reactions to it, but I’ve got to push off the resistance that my own brain is going through.

I had a lovely conversation with a reader this week and it touched my heart so much that I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and keep on going. So, today and this weekend I am attempting to finish that chapter.

I will ask that you please bear with me and my writing style as it may have changed a bit. I’m not sure. I actively do go back and reread so I can immerse myself back into the world that I love very much to ensure I catch everything I’ve already planted. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you keep on keeping on through the things in your lives that are trying to stop you.

Know that I’m here for each and every one of you and that your comments, check-ins, and messages mean everything to this determined woman. We all have to be there for each other. That’s something in fandom that I know is irreplaceable and unable to be found in many other places. So, that said, let’s all don our climbing gear together to scale our brick walls. I’ve got you if you need help with yours.

Much ❤️ to all of you,

Swanqueengranger

#no other shade of blue but you #author update #swanqueengranger writes

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7grandmel · 2 months

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Todays rip: 08/03/2024

Reach for the Submission, Immortal Fes

Season 5 Featured on: Bloodstained Bounties ~ The SiIvaGunner All-Star Summer Festival 2021 Collection [Event Side]

Ripped by minindo, Myeauxyoozi

youtube

Requested by crickqt! (Ask Box)

And so we reach the third installment of this, I guess "Trilogy" of Minindo Touhou rips. It's fascinating, especially as someone who doesn't really know much about the games, to see how Touhou music gradually became more and more prominent on SiIva over the years - it began as mostly just Princess Sylvyspirit's passion project on the channel back in Season 1, yet gradually grew into becoming one of the channel's most known sources for good ass rips. Touhou creator ZUN was featured in both King for a Day Tournaments, we finally got the long-awaited Touhou album right before Season 5 began, and as Season 5's big summer festival event drew to a close, it was a Touhou rip - Reach for the Submission, Immortal Fes - that co-signed its ending.

I've gone on record saying that Season 5 was the time where I was...least engaged in the channel's activity. I believe I described the Season as feeling "aimless" back in my rip :), which in hindsight I wouldn't exactly say is accurate, It's moreso just that it was a period where the channel was doing things I wasn't quite as enthusiastic about. In a way the change was to be expected: the team had put the main narrative of the channel on hold since Season 3 and spent both episodes of Season 4 specifically on building up to, performing, and celebrating the King for Another Day tournament. Season 5 (and the final months of Season 4 Episode 2) was then, in a way, the first time that the channel wasn't really tethered to any recently set-up beats to follow through on, with the Christmas Comeback Crisis already long on hiatus and the King for Another Day tournament officially wrapped up. As a result, we got a ton of interesting, out-there projects that we likely wouldn't have otherwise: The beginning of SiIvaGunner Fusion Records/SGFR in snow halation but it shreds and Running Through Cookie Country, the debut of Friday Night Funkin' and the ridiculously high-effort rips made for it such as Epic Rap Battles of History: Funny vs. Funnier; and of course the continued emphasis on voice acted side stories, with various audio dramas such as Curse of the Fallen Angel in Knowledge of the Depths and today's topic, SummerFes 2021.

SummerFes 2021 may not have had as much immediate emotional pathos as its predecessor in Season 4 Episode 2, but used its standalone nature to great effect - a super distinct western theming with some of the best art on the channel, tons of left field events like Christmas in July with Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source and Dream's birthday with Five Dreams at Night 1.16, and so much more. In closing out this vast, varied fun time of rips, Reach for the Submission, Immortal Fes is more than just a meme medley mashup - most all of the jokes are, in chronological order, reflecting each part of this greater SummerFes event. The annual PSY Day, the Spirited Away anniversary event, the Dream event (synced with *Dream* Land's music from Smash 64 to also cover Super Star Symphony), Beatles Day...its a full-on journey, a trip down memory lane of the entire event and just how much fun it all was.

Minindo's ripping prowess is something I've emphasized before in the prior Touhou rips of his I've covered, particularly Beautiful Dreamer, but it absolutely bears repeating: a rip this varied and large in scope only works because the guy is exceptionally good at what he does. And while I definitely prefer Beautiful Dreamer as a listen due purely to how focused and refined it is, Reach for the Submission, Immortal Fes still manages to give me those same feelings that the smaller-scale Fusion Collabs on the channel have always done, of sending me on an audio journey through an super-event that, though less fondly than others, I do still hold very dear to my heart. A lot of people became fans of SiIvaGunner through King for Another Day and its subsequent celebration in the Season 4 duology, and SummerFes 2021 did an excellent job demonstrating just how good the team is at keeping you engaged even with seemingly so little to actually work with.

#todays siivagunner #season 5 #siivagunner #siiva #minindo #Myeauxyoozi #Youtube #touhou #touhou project #touhou music #woodman #wood man #king for another day tournament #kfad #mashup #mashups #ytpmv

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chaunceyandchumleysdad · 26 days

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youtube

We’ve lost another one of the original Allman Brothers. Lead and rhythm guitarist Dickie Betts passed away on April 18, 2024. He was the consummate foil to his guitar partner, Duane Allman. In any other band, Dickie Betts would have been an outstanding lead guitarist in his own right. He started out in the shadow of Duane, yet added a different and complimentary style that made the Allman Brothers Band unique. The mastery of Betts and Allman weaving their licks on the live albums At Fillmore East and Eat A Peach is, in my opinion, incomparable in Rock music history. In Gregg Allman’s memoir, My Cross To Bear, he talks about how the band honed their skills by playing constantly. When they were in cites to perform concerts, they would spend their free time playing free shows at local parks. They were, arguably, the tightest jam band in Rock history. (The Tedeschi-Trucks Band, with their Allman Brothers pedigree, may be the next best thing.)

With the untimely death of Duane in 1971 at the age of 24, Betts became the sole guitar player in the band. Reluctant to find a Duane replacement, the band instead added the young and blossoming Chuck Leavell as a piano player to be the foil for Betts. After the death of their bass player and Duane’s kindred spirit, Berry Oakley, they recorded the album Brothers and Sisters, which became the band’s best-selling album. Betts wrote four of the seven songs including their biggest hit, Ramblin’ Man and the FM radio favorite, Jessica. This was when I first saw the band. They played at the now defunct Chicago Stadium on November 1, 1973. (A memorable streak for me as at the tender age of 17, I went to three concerts in three nights; The Moody Blues, Frank Zappa – yes, The Mothers on Halloween, and Allman Brothers Band.) All these years later, I am still going to concerts and music festivals and have already lined up five over the next five months. Yet, after all these years, when I think back to my favorite shows, that 1973 Allman Brothers show still stands out as my all-time favorite.

The Allman Brothers eventually went back to the two-guitar format, first with Warren Haynes and later with Derek Trucks. In the end, Gregg Allman had a falling out with Betts, and the Allman Brothers continued without him until they called it quits in 2014.

With the loss of Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Gregg Allman and now Dickie Betts, drummer Jaimoe is the only surviving member of the original band. With the love I have for this band, I am kicking off the weekend in memory of Dickie Betts with Allman Brothers Band and the Dickie Betts song, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.

#dickie betts #allman brothers band #in memory of elizabeth reed #kicking off the weekend #allman brothers band at fillmore east #Youtube

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jeffhirsch · 2 months

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Super Boom Spring Break Easter Sale!

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maplecornia · 1 year

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chapter 59

infinite stars masterlist | BTS masterlist | masterlist | playlist

𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱: 3.78K

𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤: bts x female!reader

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: romance | slice of life | fluff | angst

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: sometimes the calm exists before the storm, and sometimes the storm was upon us before we even had a chance

When Namjoon ordered you that today you weren't supposed to do anything other than rest, and the rest of BTS exuberantly repeated that same order, you rationalized it to last in a few-hour timeframe.

That's why you find yourself waiting patiently for your order in your favorite cafe. It's right around the corner from your apartment and smells comfortingly of fire, ground coffee, and a slight taste of sugar consistently hanging in the air. When you first stumbled upon it, you were immediately attracted by the homey decor, the way the windows are set so that the light beams attractively, the plants they hang from the ceiling, vines draping over counters, and across the paintings they've hung up. But perhaps the more important trait this cafe has is the way it comforts you. It's a safe space to you, a place where no one knows you, where you can unwind and just bask in the presence of existing, without anything else weighing you down. Almost like a breath of fresh air after a tantalizing storm.

So when you accept your drinks, turning on your heel, and bumping into the person walking behind you, you think your annoyance is justified. Even if it may be at yourself more than your victim.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so--" But when you catch sight of his face, you wonder if you're allowed to be even a little bit satisfied at the collision, despite the bitter taste of disgust that starts to turn violently in your stomach.

"Yen?"

You had forgotten the way your name sounded on Alex's tongue. You wonder when the moment was that you grew to despise the way it sounded from his lips. Was it when he betrayed you? Or did it begin before that, before you even realized you were falling out of love?

"Goddammit, why is it always coffee?"

He's been dabbing at his stain for the past ten minutes. You've already received a replacement cup for your spilled drink, and have finished half of your boba in that amount of time, your annoyance quickly peaking into frustration.

"You're going to need to wash it." You snap as he snatches the millionth napkin from its holder, and he rolls his eyes, continuing the process.

"It seems so, doesn't it?"

And yet, you're still dabbing at it like an idiot.

You sigh at his intended ignorance towards your advice, folding your arms and leaning back in your chair. If he doesn't want to listen to you, that's fine, but you don't see why you should have to pay for his drinks if he doesn't have to be a decent human being.

"Why do you even have coffee?" Alex snaps himself, throwing down the napkin in his ever-growing pile, in his own frustration. "You loathe how bitter it is."

"Because it wasn't for me."

He looks up at you at the statement, clear embarrassment beginning to turn his cheeks a darker hue before he looks away, trying to hide how the statement hurt him.

"Oh."

You would be lying if you said you didn't feel a bit bad. After all, he was your friend before he was your boyfriend, and if you're being honest; a part of you still cares for the man you knew in your relationship and still holds onto that fantasy of happy moments spent together.

"Were you going to meet someone?" Alex doesn't meet your eyes as he asks the question, and you take a deep breath bracing yourself for the argument that is sure to follow.

"Yes."

The statement isn't exactly false, after all, you got the coffee as a peace offering in case any of the members found you at the studio after you snuck in from your two-hour break.

"Who?"

"A friend."

You intentionally remain bleak about just who the friend is, almost testing him and his current views on your relationship. After all, the last time the two of you met, he was adamantly pledging that the two of you weren't over. You need to make it clear that the truth is so far from that.

So when he nods, scoffing to himself as his eyes drop from yours, you're nervous. Almost afraid the same patterns that lead up to this breaking point will repeat once again, and you won't know how to make it out.

But instead, his next words surprise you.

"I keep forgetting I don't get to know these answers anymore."

Even so, you can't let him off the hook that easily.

"You also forget you don't have a right to ask these questions."

Sighing, he looks up at you, almost pleading for a ceasefire. You can't help but notice the irony, of how the tables have turned between the two of you.

"Is this how it's going to be?"

You don't answer, you just stare at him, and if you're being honest, even if you wanted to answer the ambiguous question, you can't.

How do you want things to be? Do you want to go back to how they were? Do you want to go back to when he was just your friend? Do you even want him in your life anymore? How do you move forward from history like the two of you had? How can you even imagine a life where it could be different?

There was once a time when you thought the man in front of you would be the man you would marry. There was a time when you would have pledged on your life that he would never dare hurt you.

Now, where do the two of you stand?

"How long have you been here?"

Alex blinks, a bit confused as you change the topic so briskly.

"What?"

"I would have assumed you left after our last meeting."

At the memory of what occurred at your apartment, Alex sighs, chuckling bitterly to himself. It's clear that Yen doesn't want to talk about the current status of their relationship, which scares him. He doesn't want to lose her, and yet as she sits across the table from him, not even a few feet away; she feels farther than she ever has.

"My visitor VISA expires tomorrow, I was planning to leave today after a cup of coffee."

You nod at the statement, feeling a bit relieved, and trying your best to ignore the tiny part of you that still exists that despairs of his removal from your life.

"That's good."

And that tiny part of you, the part that longs to be held in his arms again, is still a big part of Alex's heart. He doesn't want to say goodbye, he doesn't want to let go of something he still remembers to be precious in his eyes.

“You know, I tried to see you again these past couple of weeks." Yen goes still at his statement, looking up at him. He's too afraid to meet her eyes, too afraid to face whatever is written on her face. Because if he faces it, it makes everything real. It confirms his greatest fear and the fact that he's lost you before he even realized you were gone. "I tried visiting your apartment, talking to your mom, hell I even requested a visitors badge to HYBE. And I saw you a couple of times, laughing, smiling...and when I saw you like that, content and living your life better, happier than when you were with me..."

You swallow hard as he breaks off, unable to finish the sentence. You both know what it means, and the unspoken realization that what the two of you had isn't there anymore.

"I couldn't bear to ruin that, show up again after everything I had done. I just didn't feel like it was fair. And you were right, I didn't have that right, I don't have any right to be in your life...not anymore."

And no matter how angry you may be at him, no matter how badly he wronged you, you still have the urge to deny it. Because even after everything, you still care about him.

"It's just...before all of this you were my closest friend. And a part of me didn't want to let that go. It didn't want to let you go."

He was your first, for everything. You dedicated yourself to him and planned your futures together. It would be hard for anyone to let that go, no matter how much they were hurt.

"I didn't want to let you go."

When you don't answer, he closes his eyes, bracing himself for what he wanted to say next. It takes all his might, but he finally meets your eyes, he finally faces you head-on. And for the first time, you see him as you saw him ever since he first told you he loved you. Stripped down to the very core, baring his very soul in his honesty. When was the moment he started hiding that part of himself from you? When did you look at him and say you had no idea who he was anymore?

"I’m sorry." You take a sharp inhale at the apology. You don't know what you were expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. He was never the one to apologize first, much less admit he was wrong. His pride was always too great for that. "I know you’re tired of hearing that from me, but I am sorry. I didn’t want an end for us, and even if I did I wouldn’t want it like this.”

Yen wasn't planning on forgiving him, she doesn't even know if she can.

But when he holds his head in his hands, when she sees him break down before her at the thought of losing something so precious to him, she realizes she never hated him. Though for a long time she wanted to, she never could bring herself to do so. And that was the reason it hurt so much because she still thought of him as the first person she allowed herself to love, the first person she trusted herself to spend the rest of her life beside.

It doesn't mean she has to forgive him, nor does she have to, but she does understand him. And as such, the least she can do is bring him some peace.

“Do you remember when you told me you loved me? You said that you would never hurt me, that we would have hard times, and that it wouldn’t be easy, but you would never hurt me.”

This was harder than you had expected, and as you take a shaky breath, you have to remind yourself you are stronger than you were back then.

“And it was hard. You had a temper and I had my pride. But it worked, we made it work because we loved each other. We were happy and we wanted to live our lives together."

As you look into his eyes, he already knows what you're going to say, as though he sensed it from the first moment you walked out of his life, and all he's been doing since then was waiting for it to be spoken from your lips.

"But you broke your promise."

Even now, you can still remember the way it felt when he hurt you. The nightmares you had, the terrible pain clawing its way into your heart, a torturous repeat of the same day, the same pain reminding you over and over again of what he had done.

"I loved you so much, Alex, so much that it hurt. And I really thought that you were going to be the person I spent the rest of my life with."

Just as real as your pain, was your love. The love which made it even worse to bear. The thought that someone could have treated you that way, discarded you in that manner for someone else, someone who didn't even know him. And then the constant doubts if you were enough, if everything you went through, every moment you shared meant nothing in his eyes.

"But somewhere, somehow, things became strained. Things were no longer balanced, it was just chaos." You look at him, making sure he's paying attention, and that he understands what you're trying to say. "If I’m being honest, maybe that’s how it was meant to be, maybe we were meant to break."

And maybe that thought is the worst thought of them all. That the only reason the two of you met, the only reason you even existed in the other's life was to be a lesson. An obstacle to teach you something you never thought you needed to learn. You wonder if that makes everything any less real, and if you knew what you do now back then, if you would make the same choices that led you to this point.

"I think you realized it before I had, you just hadn't admitted it to yourself. You still haven’t."

But how could everything have been any less real just because you weren't meant for the other? Why does that make your feelings, the way you leaned on the other, the happiness your relationship had, mean nothing? And why should fate decide what isn't and is meant to be?

This relationship, this bond the two of you had wasn't because fate decided it, it was because you built it on the love you found in the other, the potential you sensed that your love could bring forth a lasting foundation.

The only thing is, you were wrong.

"But that night? That’s when I felt everything come crashing down. And I’m looking at you now, and I can’t feel anything. No anger, no despair, no bitterness…I’m just numb. Everything has become a memory, and the funny thing is not all of it was bad. A lot of it was good, and a lot of our moments were beautiful, but that’s all they are now. Memories." You smile, a sad, forlorn smile, almost hoping for a better ending, but grateful that at least you can find a way to close your story without hating the other.

"As though that was all they were meant to be.”

Alex looks away as tears blur his vision because he knows you're right. And though you may be too kind to say it aloud, he knows he hasn't received your forgiveness, nor does he deserve it.

“So this is it huh?" he murmurs, his voice thick with emotion. "The end of us.”

You nod, clearing your throat, as though to dismiss the lump that begins to grow in your throat.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

"I know. But I'm still sorry."

And as you look at each other now, the smile you share is genuine. It's a look filled with your memories, a smile that reflects each and every regret. You know where you failed, and you understand that yours was a broken relationship before it even had a chance to start. But at some point, you still loved each other. And that's what mattered, and the reason why neither of you can bring it within yourselves to hate the other.

But sadly, the peace now found between the two of you is short-lived.

As Alex looks up, he notices something on the TV screen behind Yen. Normally it wouldn't have been much of an issue, after all, a million interesting things are happening in the world today, and all of those could have been accounted for the way his eyes widen at the sight.

However, it's the way he almost immediately looks your way after seeing it, that makes you curious. Something in the panic in his eyes, makes a trail of dread start in the pits of your stomach, making its way slowly, but surely toward your heart as you turn to see.

"Yen wait--"

But it's already too late, you've already seen it, and as you do, you go frigid in shock, one word repeating itself incessantly in your mind at the sight.

Not her, please not her.

"Rumors have been circling lately around the renowned kpop group known as BTS, as they prepare for their long-awaited comeback after their unfortunate hiatus. Fans and admirers alike are abuzz with what they could bring us next."

Yen can feel the looks, hear the whispers that arise in the cafe, can feel a burning heat on her back as she sits there, amid everything. As though a target were just painted on her back, ready to strike at any given moment.

"However, with their return has come rumors and speculation as to the changes they may have experienced in their absence. More specifically, talk about their personal lives and relationships have grown more prominent."

As the photos shown before once more appear on the screen next to the newscaster's face, Namjoon shares a look with Suga before looking Hoseok's way.

"Talk began towards the middle of October when their label, BigHit released some teaser images a bit early, this time with a strange feeling to them. One member, in particular, Jung Hoseok's concept inspired some controversy considering it included an unheard of model feature, and resulted in some intimate photos."

Hoseok can't even return the gaze for he stands still, staring frozen at the television, the remote falling from his hands and clattering on the floor in his panic, a silent confliction clear in his eyes.

"While the label refused to reveal the model's name, fans couldn't help their curiosity as earlier this month, another round of photos became quite popular. This time, of a supposed staff member and her presumed close relationship with another member, Kim Taehyung."

As images from what was supposed to be an unreleased article flash across the screen, BangPD throws his fresh newspaper at the TV from his office in his aggravation.

Jojo, from her spot in the lobby, drops her coffee at the sight, startling the multiple people milling about and gaining the attention of other employees who rush to her aid. They ask if she's alright, but her eyes are glued to Jin's as he catches hers from across the room, and she cannot find it within herself to move, much less speak.

And as Jin turns to the massive screen hanging over the lobby of HYBE's building, his heart drops to the pit of his stomach, dread coursing through his body as though it had become a part of his very bloodstream.

"Comparing the two photos, it seems like this staff member had some similarities to the model from the photoshoot, and as such their fans have had an incessant talk about this figure on every form of social media, almost demanding to know who she is."

Jungkook can't help but look at Taehyung from where he sits perched on their couch glaring at the TV, his hands tightening into fists, and his eyes darkening in malice with every syllable and passing phrase.

"And now, as the rumors have reached their height, certain posts have become equally as popular on multiple forms of social media, this time concerning the BTS member, Park Jimin, and his relationship with the woman you see in these photos."

Jimin can feel his heart drop as he hears his name on the radio in the car. He lunges forward, begging the driver to turn it up, just in case he misheard.

He prays to God that he misheard.

"Unearthing a couple of weeks ago, these photos have been quite the talk amongst small groups in the fandom, and only recently have they received such notice after a photo of the suspected idol and this woman was revealed to show them involved in a very intimate manner."

You gasp as the most recent photo of your mother and Jimin is presented on the screen, a photo showing a precious moment between two people in love, holding cherished moments and feelings. A photo that no one, no matter who they are, should have the luxury of seeing, much less without the concerned parties' approval. And perhaps most concerning, is the fact that it is a photo that will procure malice and hatred, no matter how pure it may have been, or how true their feelings are towards the other.

You don't know how they managed to get those photos, you don't know how they could have been so careless, but what you do know is your mother is quite possibly in the most danger she's ever been.

"While many fans mourn, many more beg BigHit and HYBE to collectively make an official statement about the situation, if anything to ensure the safety of their artists and those who they hold dear. For there is one thing we are certain, whoever posted these photos did not do so out of good intentions."

Jimin's heart drops after the segment ends and the radio once more turns into bland news coverage. But Jimin is no longer listening, the world becoming a mere static in the back of his mind as his heart pounds loudly within his ears. Only one thought, one person taking up his entire being until he can no longer care nor understand anything else.

Jocelynn.

As you watch the TV numbingly, for longer than the interest of the cafe is kept, you have the same thought, the same worries, the same concern. Standing decisively, you turn to Alex to explain, but he's already shooing you off in understanding, knowing that this is more important than any unfinished business they may have had left.

So just as Jimin directs the driver to turn around, and back to Jocelynn's house, you rush out of the cafe. Away from the prying eyes, escaping from the growing whispers, and into the chaos of her mind as you quickly dial your mother's number.

And across the city, from within her small, calm apartment the flowers outside blowing gently in the wind, Jocelynn couldn't be more terrified.

It grips her, takes hold of her heart like a parasite, the images she had just witnessed replaying themselves over and over in her mind. And as she realizes what this means, not just for herself, but for her daughter, she shakes with the tantalizing emotion.

Dropping the remote she had gripped so tightly in her hands a few minutes ago, the clatter resounding violently around her empty house, and pounding deep into her skull, she collapses onto her couch, the entire world blurring and swimming as the noise grows louder within her head.

She stays there, unable to move, unable to breathe, as a singular chime from her phone sounds, unanswered and forgotten.

chapter 60 here

A/N :: since these next few chapters will be quite serious, I won't speak as much other than to thank you for reading, but I just wanted to comment on the fact that when it comes to idols, this is a real thing that very much so happens and is plausible to happen in the future, even if BTS were comfortable enough to come public about any relationship.

Just look at the way people reacted when rumors of Jennie and Tae came out speculating their relationship, or the way when a few photos of Jungkook with a female tattoo artist were released. Or even when Jimin was out in a club, having fun and recieved hate for flirting with a couple of people there.

Not even concerning BTS, there are multiple of other accounts where idols have gotten hate for being in a relationship, and for loving someone else that wasn't their fans. Dawn and Hyuna, Momo and Heechul, Baekhyun and Taeyeon, Jihyo and Daniel. But heaven forbid they actually want a future with them, heaven forbid they believe they can be happy with the person they love and still continue to be an idol.

Chen.

Bobby.

All of these are names amongst many who have faced the hatred and threats from the world just because they had found love, just because their number one priority was no longer their fans. What does that say about us? What does that say about this industry? What does that say about the way we treat idols?

I did this so that you can see it, feel it, in a different way. We've only ever understood, or emphasized, or hated through a screen. This time, I wanted you to at least try and feel what they go through, and how much this behavior affects them.

In any case, thank you for reading!

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kihaku-gato · 4 months

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BOOK THRIFTING RETROSPECTIVE 2023

2023 was the first year I got to really get into thrifting as an acquired pastime whenever in the time/place was available to do so. I’ve been checking for many different things while in thrifts (decorative trinkets, plushies, toys/figures, electronics, sometimes clothes) but the big main thing that is #1 on the huntlist has always been books; novels, general/info books, art books, manga, the whole works. I got to really buy and see quite a decent variety of them this year. So let’s look at what I got this year (thanks to libib I can fish out all/any of the books I added to my collection this year) and also fish out from my memory of what patterns I saw while scanning the thrift book shelves.

The biggest category covered was mostly Novels.

Guardians of Ga'hoole and Warriors were ones I did not expect to collect so many of them, but nostalgia is a bugger; if they still hold up as far a reading goes I'll probably still keep the ones I've gotten.

The gems for me were 3 books from the Earth's Children Series (Clan of the Cave bear is NOT among the images above cause I couldn't find the serial number in the book to have libib register it- I'll have to try again later) by Jean M. Auel, 2 Dragonriders of Pern series books by Anne McCaffrey, and the JP Duology by Micheal Crichton. Jean's books were a semi frequent sight this year particularly Painted Caves and Plains of Passage, Anne's were frequent both of the Dragonrider series and her other series (as you may notice I decided to grab one of her books from the Crystal Singer series to try out for the first time, I also got her Ireta planet related book for the same reason), and although Michael's books were an occasional occurrence- his JP books (especially Jurassic Park) were relatively rare with his other novels taking the forefront of thrift shelves instead. Oh and I also got the Lord of the Rings series but it appears it's not on my libib database, I assume that I had trouble getting the serial numbers for them too since they were a boxed set compared to the other books I got.

For frequent series/titles/names I had saw Terry Brook's Brooks' works on occasion, many time I saw the Dune series and occasionally lord of the rings. Star Trek and Star Wars is the one series (in novel form) I'd see the most often with entire collections being sold on the shelves of the thrifts at a time. There was a romance book author's works that I would always see in almost all thrifts all the time but I can't remember their name off the top of my head, and it'd always be a different novel title from what I've seen before.

For 2024 I will be continuing to hunt for more of the old Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern titles, Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy (which I have yet to see her name in any of the thrifts I've haunted), as well as ANY book of the Dinotopia franchise (not a single Dinotopia book has ever appeared on the shelves, and OG Author James Gurney of the first books I have not seen on shelves either!)

Although I only got 1 manga via thrift 2023, I will say the manga category has been the most fascinating to spot in thrifts despite not always being in the shelves; NO ONE EVER KNOWS WHERE TO PUT THEM. I've seen the most adult of manga series throw in the children's book section, miscellaneous sections, and one time a harem manga in the sci-fi/fantasy section!

The most surprising title I spotted was a brand new volume 1 of Witch Hat Atelier (if I wasn't gifted a vol 1 before I would've gotten it). I wish I could remember the various series I've spotted for manga in the thrift cause it has been truly various. The one series I REGRET not getting was the wave of old but otherwise decent condition Ranma 1/2 volumes; I should've followed my gut when I said to myself "while I wouldn't fully enjoy it someone would really want this" and I was right; one of my friends would've loved to get these. Each volume was about $3, with no tax since it was the goodwill thrift.

What manga thrift goals do I have for 2024? It's so wild its hard to call! Ranma 1/2 I will snap up from now on for my friend if I see them ever again, and any out of print manga I have in my collection I'd love to find as well to complete them (Venus Vs Virus and Chibi Vampire being the two titles to come to mind foremost).

General books category is a bit of a mixed bag of genres and age ratings; None of these were in my hunting list but they were neat enough to get anyways.

Book target goals of 2024- hmmm. For specifics, considering the odd tabletop RPG book I've seen in the thrifts it would be nice if I could get a beginners/general d&d, especially if it included dice (yes I know there's free online versions but it'd be nice to have a PHYSICAL copy that I can look away from the screen for) since I don't think I'd ever want to put money directly into WotC's pockets ever at its current state. Maybe a gardening or plant species specific books of plants I'd like to have more specialized info on (I did almost get a book on palm tree cultivation, that was unexpected to see up here)

Overall I am surprised at the sheer amount of books I got 2023. Here's to hoping 2024's book thriftings can be as successful!

#ramblings #wall of text #book collection #book collection ramblings #book ramblings #thrifting #retrospective

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