#t: prairie 4

[courtney-ganhador]

@prairiefirequartz

The worst part was the screaming.

The countdown had been oddly quiet. Perhaps that was to be expected, but Courtney had anticipated some sort of noise - Tributes shouting to each other, trash talk, anything. But it had all been silent.

The opening buzzer had sounded, and still things were quiet. Maybe the soft thudding of feet on stone, the quiet huffs of determined breaths. But then someone, somewhere, had gotten their hands on a weapon - and used it on someone else. Not lethally, not quickly, but effectively. And the person who hadn't won that fight screamed. It was animalistic, curdling, and, importantly, short. Who it had been, Courtney had no way of knowing. But his senses had snapped to the present when it was cut short.

Was he bleeding? Sweating? Crying? Who knew - but he was without a raincoat and who he now recognized as Ripley was dashing away. As good of an idea going for the raincoat had been, he realized - as the screams intensified around him - that she had an even better idea: get away. He clawed at whatever was getting in his eyes in attempt to clear them before attempting to scramble to his feet.

He was halfway up when he got hit from the side. It was unexpected. Who could have still been behind him? Hadn't he and Ripley been at the edge? A scream ripped out of his throat, only to be cut short as an arm wrapped around his neck from behind and squeezed - hard.

No. No no no. No, not this early. Not here, not after he couldn't win a single fight. He was too determined, he had made too many promises. This couldn't be the moment, in the first few minutes of the Games. He slapped at the arm around his neck, finding it surprisingly thin and weak. That couldn't be right - was this person actually winning? No. Courtney put his hands on the ground and forced his knees under himself, and then, with a concerted effort, flipped.

The air rushed back into his lungs as he landed hard on his back, crushing whoever had been attacking him. He rolled sideways, wheezing. It was a moment before he could catch his bearings, but the flurry of movement to his side snapped him back into focus. He lashed out with a fist, and connected with something solid.

Now things were clearing up. He could see a male form in front of him, rolling slightly on the ground. No - no - this would not be his end. Courtney sprung forward like a bear and grabbed his opponent by the shoulders. With a primal scream, he lifted the boy and bashed him down. All around him he could see people bleeding, dying, crying. No cannons would be sounded during the Bloodbath - someone had told him that. There was no way to know if he was safe.

Again. Again. Again. Courtney picked this boy up and smashed him down until he could see the blood pooling under him. His hands slipped in it, and Courtney fell on top of the other. The boy underneath him did not move. Courtney found his way to kneeling and looked properly at what he had done. It was someone he had seen in training - the boy from Eight.

He wasn't moving. Court stayed there, on his knees, staring. He wasn't moving. Screams continued, screams got cut short, screams started anew. He wasn't moving. He wasn't moving. He wasn't moving.

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - May 22-28

Like these weekly compilations? Support me on Ko-fi or $Kaybarr1735! Also, if you tip me on Ko-fi or CashApp (and give me some way to contact you if it doesn’t automatically), at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week - almost double the content!

1. Scientists Invent Healthier More Sustainable Chocolate

“The new chocolate recipe from researchers at ETH Zurich uses more materials from the cocoa pod that are usually discarded, including more of the pulp as well as the inner lining of the husk, known as the endocarp. […] The resulting chocolate also [was “deliciously sweet” and] had 20% more fibre and 30 percent less saturated fat than average European dark chocolate[, and] it could enable cocoa farmers [to] earn more from their crops.”

2. Vermont Is Coming for Big Oil, Making It Pay for Decades of Climate Pollution

“Legislators in Montpelier are on the brink of enacting the "Climate Superfund Act," modeled after the federal Superfund law, that seeks to make oil, gas and coal companies pay for damages linked to historical greenhouse gas emissions. […] Companies would be held liable for the costs associated with […] floods and heat waves, along with losses to biodiversity, safety, economic development and anything else the treasurer deems reasonable[, that were caused by their emissions].”

3. Important bird habitat now protected in the Rocky Mountain Trench

“Grassland-reliant species in the Rocky Mountain Trench now have more protected habitat thanks to a new [270-hectare] conservation area near Cranbrook. […] About one-third of the Skookumchuck Prairie Conservation Area is forested[…,] Most of the site is a dry grassland[…, and] Three hectares of wetlands add to the landscape diversity and offer crucial benefits to wildlife and water systems in the area. This conservation gem also provides habitat for endangered American badger and excellent winter range for elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.”

4. Lemur Week marked by 70th breeding success

“A wildlife park has celebrated its 70th lemur breeding success ahead of a week raising money to help save the endangered primates. […] The park's open-air Madagascar exhibit is home to 31 free-roaming lemurs and was officially opened in 2008. […] Females are only sexually receptive for just one or two days a year, leaving a small window of opportunity for males to father offspring. […] The two playful siblings, one female and one male, were born to father Bernard and mother Hira.”

5. Innovative material for sustainable building

“Researchers introduce a polymer-based material with unique properties. This material allows sunlight to enter, maintains a more comfortable indoor climate without additional energy, and cleans itself like a lotus leaf. The new development could replace glass components in walls and roofs in the future.”

6. Isle of Wight eagles don't pose threat to lambs as feared

“While there had previously been fears that the eagles would feed on livestock, such as lambs, the project has found no evidence of this. [… “W]hite-tailed eagles effectively steal meals from other predatory birds[, which is] a really important ecological role that had been lost within the landscape and is being restored.” [… The birds’] population was boosted by a chick last year – the first time the species has bred in England in 240 years.”

7. Breakthrough discovery uses engineered surfaces to shed heat

“Cheng's team has found a way to lower the starting point of the [Leidenfrost] effect by producing a surface covered with micropillars. […] The discovery has great potential in heat transfer applications such as the cooling of industrial machines and surface fouling cleaning for heat exchangers. It also could help prevent damage and even disaster to nuclear machinery.”

8. New malaria vaccine delivered for the first time

“A total of 43,000 doses arrived by air today from UNICEF, and another 120,000 are scheduled to show up in the coming days. […] They're the first vaccines designed to work against a human parasite. […] Across four African countries, these trials showed a 75% reduction in malaria cases in the year following vaccination of young children. […] The Serum Institute of India, who will be manufacturing the new vaccine, says a hundred million doses will likely be available to countries by the middle of next year.”

9. Urban gardening may improve human health: Microbial exposure boosts immune system

“"One month of urban indoor gardening boosted the diversity of bacteria on the skin of the subjects and was associated with higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the blood. The group studied used a growing medium with high microbial diversity emulating the forest soil," [… whereas] the control group used a microbially poor peat-based medium. [… N]o changes in the blood or the skin microbiota were seen. […] “This is the first time we can demonstrate that meaningful and natural human activity can increase the diversity of the microbiota of healthy adults and, at the same time, contribute to the regulation of the immune system."”

10. Cities Are Switching to Electric Vehicles Faster Than Individuals

“[M]ost large cities have adopted some kind of climate goal, and some of them are buying EVs for their municipal fleets at a faster rate than the general public. And that progress could speed up as more EVs enter the market and as cities get educated about grant funding and tax incentives that were passed over the last four years.”

May 15-21 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[bts-trans]

230310 Big Hit's Tweet

[네이버 포스트] 슈가에게 취하는 타임,, 오늘은 화보천재 민윤기에게 취한ㄷr,,, (@ https://naver.me/I5cnoxSW) #BTS #방탄소년단 #SUGA #슈가 #민윤기

[Naver Post] Time to get drunk on SUGA,, Getting drunk on photobook-genius Min Yoongi,,,

Naver Post Translation

Keep reading for a plain text version of the blog post! For a picture edit version, please check out our twitter post or the HD version on our website!

[BTS] Me, Myself, and SUGA 비하인드 포스트

[BTS] Me, Myself, and SUGA Behind-the-Scenes Post

아-하!

Hi-A!

(T/N: Stands for ‘Hi ARMY’, which is how Bangbell always starts these posts.)

아미들 안녕하세요! 방림이 입니다. 요즘 아침에는 춥고,, 낮에는 덥고,, 밤에는 다시 춥고,, 옷을 어떻게 입으라는 건지,,~ 차암나,,,

Hello ARMYs! It’s Bangbell. These days it’s very cold in the mornings,, hot during the day,, then cold again at night,, What clothes am I even supposed to wear,,~ Sigh,,,

(대충 아미들은 머릿속으로 떠오르는 계절감 모르겠는 유닛 라이브 짤)

(Most ARMYs are probably thinking of that clip from the unit live where you couldn’t tell what season it was)*

(T/N: A reference to Jin’s birthday live on December 4, 2018, when he, Jimin, and RM were all wearing such different styles of clothes that fans joked they couldn’t even tell what season it was based on how they were dressed.)

저는 오늘 진 처럼 맨투맨을 입었는데 딱이더라고요,, 아미들은 진? 지민? RM? 누구처럼 입었나요,,, (아니 이게 주제가 아닌데)

Today I’m wearing a crewneck just like Jin and I think that’s just right,, ARMYs who are you more dressed like? Jin? Jimin? RM?,,, (No wait this isn’t the main topic)

아무튼 방림이가 아미들에게 금요일,,! 곧 다가오는 주말을 위해 조금만 더 힘을 내라고 포스트를 들고 찾아왔읍니다,, (찡긋)

Anyways Bangbell has brought ARMYs this Friday,,! a post telling you to keep going for the sake of the fast-approaching weekend,, (wink)

Special 8 Photo-Folio의 마. 지. 막. 을 장식할 주인공이죠! Me, Myself, and SUGA ‘Wholly or Whole me’ 비하인드 포스트입니다! (박수) (함성)

The person who will grace the very. end. of. the Special 8 Photo-Folio! It’s the behind-the-scenes post for Me, Myself, and SUGA ‘Wholly or Whole me’

(Applause)

(Cheers)

이번 화보는 바쁜 일상 속에 진짜 “나=민윤기” 를 만나볼 수 있는 순간을 화보로 풀어보았다고 해요! 화보의 전체 콘셉트 및 아이템들을 슈가의 의도와 취향이 반영된 것들로 꾸미고, 가장 슈가 다운 모습을 촬영하여 아미와 함께 공유하고 싶었다는데요!

In this photobook it’s said that we’ll be able to meet the real “Me = Min Yoongi” within his busy daily life through this photobook! The photobook’s overall concept and items are decorated according to SUGA’s design and style, And I wanted to share this with ARMY because they captured SUGA in his most authentic form!

민윤기,,,,, 오늘도 GOSO,, 하기 전에!

Min Yoongi,,,,, before I sue you*,, today as well!

(T/N: *An inside joke that came from when an ARMY playfully threatened to sue SUGA at a 2014 fansign for being too handsome.)

바로 비하인드 사진 만나러 가봐야죠!

Let’s go check out the behind-the-scenes photos!

혹시,, 혼자 오셨을까요,,,? 저도 혼자인데 같이 캠핑하실,,ㅋ? 물론 요리도 님이 하셔야하고,,, 운전도 님이 하셔야하지만,, 님과 함께하고 싶어요,,, 저 푸른 초원 위에,, ㅋ (그만)

Did you perhaps,, come alone,,,? I’m also by myself so would you maybe want to camp togeth,, ha? Of course you sir have to do the cooking,,, and you have to do the driving but,, I want to be together with you sir,,, On the prairie*,, ha (stop)

(T/N: *Referencing the lyrics from the song “With My Love” by Nam Jin)

민윤기 레전드 머리 등장 방림이 심장이 멎다. -삐—……

Min Yoongi’s legendary hairstyle has made an appearance Bangbell’s heart has stopped. -Beeeep—……

민윤기 얼굴 걍 기절이야.. 뭐야.. 나 이제 지도도 부러워해야 하는거임?

Min Yoongi’s face could just make me faint.. What even.. Should I be jealous of the map now too?

내가 이제,,, 무슨 말을 더 해야 하니,,,, (지침) 갱얼쥐야,, 너는,, 좋겠다,,,

What more,,, could I even possibly say,,,, (exhausted) Puppy,, you,, must be very happy,,,

자연광 + 민윤기 = 재질 걍 미쳤음 그냥,,,, 미쳤다는 말 밖에는,,,,, 할 말 X,,,

Natural lighting + Min Yoongi = Insane quality I just,,,, have X words left to say,,,,, except that it’s insane,,,

민슈가 사진 치과에 걸어두면 좋겠다… 보는 내내 입을 다물 수가 없어서 치료에 효과적일 듯 (;;) ㄴ ㄹㅇㅋㅋ

I wish I could hang up Min Suga’s photos at the dentist’s office…It seems like you wouldn’t be able to close your mouth while looking at them so it would be effective for dental treatment (;;) ㄴ For real haha

민윤기,, 세상에 있는 멋짐을 다 가졌구나,,, (안 무겁나?;;)

Min Yoongi,, I see you’ve taken all of the coolness in the world ,,, (Isn’t it heavy?;;)

방림이 힘들어요,,, 지금 벌써 고소장 309개 째 쓰고있단말이예요,,, (퀭)

Bangbell is going through it,,, I’ve already been writing 309 complaint forms,,, (sighs)

좋다,,, 이거 바로 그냥 배경화면 해 버려.

Nice,,, Just gonna make this my wallpaper.

엥 ? 누가 마쉬멜로우고 누가 민윤기란말임 도대체 누가 더 말랑하단말임?

Huh? Which one is a marshmallow and which one is Min Yoongi Which one would be the squishiest?

하 분위기 뭔데,, 방림이 인생에는 위기만 있는데,, 민윤기 사진 분위기 뭐냐고,,, ㅠ,,,,??? 저 옆자리에 방림이만 있으면 아주 그냥 딱 인데 ㄴ 아미 : ??? (흐린눈)

Ha what is this mood,, There’s only chaos in Bangbell’s life,, What’s the mood of Min Yoongi’s photos,,, ㅠ,,,,??? If Bangbell was in that spot next to him then it’d be just absolutely perfect ㄴ ARMY : ??? (blissfully ignores)

바람에 날린 앞머리 마저 귀.여.워. 민. 윤. 기. 귀. 여. 워. (기절)

Even his bangs fluttering in the wind are c.u.t.e. Min. Yoon. Gi. Is. Cute. (faints)

슈가만의 분위기와 무드가 가득한 Me, Myself, and SUGA ‘Wholly or Whole me’ ! 방림이의 비하인드 잘 구경하셨나요?! 포토북 기다리는 아미들은 방림이 포스트 보면서 조금만 기다려주기!

Me, Myself, and SUGA ‘Wholly or Whole me’ was full of SUGA’s unique ambiance and mood ! Did you enjoy Bangbell’s behind-the-scenes look?! For the ARMYs who are waiting for the photobook please wait a little more while you look at Bangbell’s post!

주말 잘 보내고, 기분좋게 마무리 하길 바라요 아미들! 이번주도 고생 많았어요! (하트)

Have a great weekend, and I hope you end the week on a happy note ARMYs! You’ve worked hard again this week! (heart)

아-뿅!

A-Poof!

(T/N: Short for “Bye ARMY! Poof!”, which is how Bangbell always ends these posts.)

[Note]

본 포스트는 BIGHIT MUSIC에서 직접 운영하는 포스트입니다.

This Naver Post is personally run by BIGHIT MUSIC.

[End Note]

Trans cr; Ali Typeset cr; Archillea @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 12, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 13, 2024

At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort built on an artificial island in Charleston Harbor. 

Attacking the fort seemed a logical outcome of events that had been in play for at least four months. On December 20, 1860, as soon as it was clear Abraham Lincoln had won the 1860 presidential election, South Carolina lawmakers had taken their state out of the Union. “The whole town [of Charleston] was in an uproar,” Elizabeth Allston recalled. “Parades, shouting, firecrackers, bells ringing, cannon on the forts booming, flags waving, and excited people thronging the streets.” 

Mississippi had followed suit on January 9, 1861; Florida on January 10; Alabama on January 11; Georgia on January 19; Louisiana on January 26; and Texas on February 1. By the time Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861, seven southern states had left the Union and formed their own provisional government that protected human enslavement. 

Their move had come because the elite enslavers who controlled those southern states believed that Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860 itself marked the end of their way of life. Badly outnumbered by the northerners who insisted that the West must be reserved for free men, southern elites were afraid that northerners would bottle up enslavement in the South and gradually whittle away at it. Those boundaries would mean that white southerners would soon be outnumbered by the Black Americans they enslaved, putting not only their economy but also their very lives at risk.

To defend their system, elite southern enslavers rewrote American democracy. They insisted that the government of the United States of America envisioned by the Founders who wrote the Declaration of Independence had a fatal flaw: it declared that all men were created equal. In contrast, the southern enslavers were openly embracing the reality that some people were better than others and had the right to rule. 

They looked around at their great wealth—the European masters hanging in their parlors, the fine dresses in which they clothed their wives and daughters, and the imported olive oil on their tables—and concluded they were the ones who had figured out the true plan for human society. As South Carolina senator James Henry Hammond explained to his colleagues in March 1858, the “harmonious…and prosperous” system of the South worked precisely because a few wealthy men ruled over a larger class with “a low order of intellect and but little skill.” Hammond dismissed “as ridiculously absurd” the idea that “all men are born equal.” 

On March 21, 1861, Georgia’s Alexander Stephens, the newly-elected vice president of the Confederacy, explained to a crowd that the Confederate government rested on the “great truth” that the Black man “is not equal to the white man; that…subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.” Stephens told listeners that the Confederate government “is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”

Not every white southerner thought secession from the United States was a good idea. Especially as the winter wore into spring and Lincoln made no effort to attack the South, conservative leaders urged their hot-headed neighbors to slow down. But for decades, southerners had marinated in rhetoric about their strength and independence from the federal government, and as Senator Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana later wrote, “[t]he prudent and conservative men South,” were not “able to stem the wild torrent of passion which is carrying everything before it…. It is a revolution...of the most intense character…and it can no more be checked by human effort, for the time, than a prairie fire by a gardener’s watering pot.”

Southern white elites celebrated the idea of a new nation, one they dominated, convinced that the despised Yankees would never fight. “So far as civil war is concerned,” one Atlanta newspaper wrote in January 1861, “we have no fears of that in Atlanta.” White southerners boasted that “a lady’s thimble will hold all the blood that will be shed” in establishing a new nation. Senator James Chesnut of South Carolina went so far as to vow that he would drink all the blood shed as a consequence of southern secession. 

Chesnut’s promise misread the situation. Northerners recognized that if Americans accepted the principle that some men were better than others, and permitted southern Democrats to spread that principle by destroying the United States, they had lost democracy. "I should like to know, if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it, where will it stop?” Lincoln had asked in 1858.

Northerners rejected the white southerners’ radical attempt to destroy the principles of the Declaration of Independence. They understood that it was not just Black rights at stake. Arguments like that of Stephens, that some men were better than others, “are the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world,” Lincoln said. “You will find that all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden…. Turn in whatever way you will—whether it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent….”

Northerners rejected the slaveholders’ unequal view of the world, seeing it as a radical reworking of the nation’s founding principles. After the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for 75,000 to put down the rebellion against the government. He called for “loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.”

Like their southern counterparts, northerners also dismissed the idea that a civil war would be bloody. They were so convinced that a single battle would bring southerners to their senses that inhabitants of Washington, D.C., as well as congressmen and their wives packed picnics and took carriages out to Manassas, Virginia, to watch the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. They decamped in panic as the battle turned against the United States army and soldiers bolted past them, flinging haversacks and rifles as they fled.

For their part, southerners were as shocked by the battle as the people of the North were. “Never have I conceived,” one South Carolina soldier wrote, “of such a continuous, rushing hailstorm of shot, shell, and musketry as fell around and among us for hours together. We who escaped are constantly wondering how we could possibly have come out of the action alive.” 

Over the next four years, the Civil War would take more than 620,000 lives and cost the United States more than $5 billion. By 1865, two-thirds of the assessed value of southern wealth had evaporated; two-fifths of the livestock— horses and draft animals for tilling fields as well as pigs and sheep for food— were dead. Over half the region's farm machinery had been destroyed, most factories were burned, and railroads were gone, either destroyed or worn out. But by the end of the conflagration, the institution of human enslavement as the central labor system for the American South was destroyed. 

On March 4, 1865, when a weary Lincoln took the oath of office for a second time, he reviewed the war’s history. “To strengthen, perpetuate and extend [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it,” he said. “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph and a result less fundamental and astounding. 

“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.”

“Both parties deprecated war but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish,” he said. 

“And the war came.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[babydollfairy333]

My Personality Info

Inspired by @sienablackwood

Sun Sign: Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces

Moon Sign: Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces

Rising Sign: Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces

Myers-Briggs: ESFP | ISFP | ESTP | ISTP | ESTJ | ISTJ | ESFJ | ISFJ | ENFJ | INFJ | ENFP | INFP | ENTP | INTP | ENTJ | INTJ

Life Path Number: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 33

Four Temperaments: Sanguine | Melancholic | Choleric | Phlegmatic

Enneagram: The Reformer (Type 1) | The Helper (Type 2) | The Achiever (Type 3) | The Individualist (Type 4) | The Thinker (Type 5) | The Loyalist (Type 6) | The Enthusiast (Type 7) | The Leader (Type 8) | The Peacemaker (Type 9)

Instinctual variant: sp/so | sp/sx | so/sp | so/sx | sx/sp | sx/so

Tritype: 125, 152, 215, 251, 512, 521-The Mentor, 126, 162, 216, 261, 612, 621-The Supporter, 127, 172, 217, 271, 712, 721-The Teacher, 135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531-The Technical Expert, 136, 163, 316, 361, 613, 631-The Taskmaster, 137, 173, 317, 371, 713, 731-The Systems Builder, 145, 154, 415, 451, 514, 541-The Researcher, 146, 164, 416, 461, 614, 641-The Philosopher, 147, 174, 417, 471, 714, 741-The Visionary, 258, 285, 528, 582, 825, 852-The Strategist, 259, 295, 529, 592, 925, 952-The Problem Solver, 268, 286, 628, 682, 826, 862-The Rescuer, 269, 296, 629, 692, 926, 962-The Good Samaritan, 278, 287, 728, 782, 827, 872-The Free Spirit, 279, 297, 729, 792, 927, 972-The Peacemaker, 358, 385, 538, 583, 835, 853-The Solution Master, 359, 395, 539, 593, 935, 953-The Thinker, 368, 386, 638, 683, 836, 863-The Justice Fighter, 369, 396, 639, 693, 936, 963-The Mediator, 378, 387, 738, 783, 837, 873-The Mover Shaker, 379, 397, 739, 793, 937, 973-The Ambassador, 458, 485, 548, 584, 845, 854-The Scholar, 459, 495, 549, 594, 945, 954-The Contemplative, 468, 486, 648, 684, 846, 864-The Truth Teller, 469, 496, 649, 694, 946, 964-The Seeker, 478, 487, 748, 784, 847, 874-The Messenger, 479, 497, 749, 794, 947, 974-The Gentle Spirit

Socionics: LII, LSI, ESI, EII, IEE, SEE, SLE, ILE, ESE, EIE, LIE, LSE, SLI, ILI, IEI, SEI

Big 5 (SLOAN): RCOAI, RCUAI, RLUAI, RCOEI, RLUEI, RCOAN, RLUAN, RCOEN, RLUEN, RLOAN, RCUAN, RLOEN, RCUEN, RLOAI, RLOEI, RCUEI, SCOAI, SCOAN, SLOAN, SLOAI, SLUAI, SLUAN, SCUAN, SCUAI, SCOEI, SCOEN, SLOEN, SLOEI, SLUEI, SLUEN, SCUEN, SCUEI

Attitudinal Psyche: FVLE, LVFE, VLFE, VFEL, VLEF, LVEF, FLVE, LFVE, VFLE, VEFL, VELF, LEVF, EVLF, EVFL, ELFV, LFEV, FLEV, FVEL, ELVF, EFVL, EFLV, LEFV, FELV, FEVL

Classic Jungian: IN(T), IT(S), ET(N), ES(F), IN(F), IT(N), ET(S), ES(T), IS(T), IF(N), EF(S), EN(F), IS(F), IF(S), EF(N), EN(T)

Celtic Zodiac: Birch (The Achiever) | Rowan (The Thinker) | Ash (The Enchanter) | Alder (The Trailblazer) | Willow (The Observer) | Hawthrone (The Illusionist) | Oak (The Stabilizer) | Holly (The Ruler) | Hazel (The Knower) | Vine (The Equalizer) | Ivy (The Survivor) | Reed (The Inquisitor) | Elder (The Seeker)

Celtic Animal Sign: Stag/Deer | Cat | Cow/Bull | Horse | Butterfly | Adder/Snake | Seahorse | Fish/Salmon | Wolf/Hound | Fox | Wren | Swan | Falcon/Hawk

Soul Type (one test): Hunter | Caregiver | Creator | Thinker | Helper | Educator | Performer | Leader | Spiritualist

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor | Hufflepuff | Ravenclaw | Slytherin | Gryffinpuff/Huffledor | Gryffinclaw/Ravendor | Ravenpuff | Slytherclaw | Slytherdor | Slytherpuff

The Animal in You: Lion | Tiger | Dolphin| Bear | Wild Cat | Fox | Weasel | Badger | Dog | Otter | Wolf | Sea Lion | Wild Dog | Walrus | Gorilla | Deer | Rhinoceros | Hippo | Sable | Horse | Sheep | Mountain Goat | Warthog | Zebra | Baboon | Elephant | Bison | Giraffe | Cottontail | Mole | Bat | Porcupine | Beaver | Prairie Dog | Shrew | Mouse | Eagle | Rooster | Owl | Swan | Peacock | Vulture | Penguin | Crocodile | Snake

Brain Lateralisation Test: Left | Right

Cerebral Personality Test: 1-10% | 11-20% | 21-30% | 31-40% | 41-50% | 51-60% | 61-70% | 71-80% | 81-90% | 91-100%

Multiple Intelligences Test: Kinaesthetic | Linguistic | Logical | Interpersonal | Intrapersonal | Musical | Visual/Spatial | Naturalistic

Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (Primary Psychopathy): 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 5

Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (Secondary Psychopathy): 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 5

DISC Profile: D | I | S | C

VIA Character Traits: appreciation of beauty, bravery, curiosity, creativity, forgiveness, fairness, gratitude, honesty, humor, hope, humility, kindness, leadership, love, love of learning, judgment, forgiveness, perseverance, perspective, prudence, teamwork, social intelligence, spirituality, self-regulation, zest

Alignment: Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good | Lawful Neutral | True Neutral | Chaotic Neutral | Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil

Aura Color: Red | Orange | Magenta | Yellow | Logical Tan | Environmental Tan | Sensitive Tan | Abstract Tan | Green | Blue | Violet | Crystal | Lavender | Indigo

[7] Soul Types: Server | Artisan | Warrior | Scholar | Sage | Priest | King

Deadly Sin: Wrath | Envy | Gluttony | Greed | Sloth | Lust | Pride

Nerdy Personality Attribute Scale: 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70

Helen Fisher’s Personality Test: Explorer | Builder | Director | Negotiator

MOTIV: Materialistic | Ascetic | Offbeat | Conventional | Thinking | Haphazard | Interpersonal | Withholding | Vital | Depressed | Easygoing | Rigid

Holland Code: Realistic | Investigative | Artistic | Social | Enterprising | Conventional

Defense Mechanism: Regression | Displacement | Denial | Repression | Intellectualization | Reaction Formation | Projection | Compensation

R-Drive Personality Test: Narcissism | Unconventionality | Empiricism | Vitality | Othercentricism | Independence | Integrity | Intellect | Stoicism | Orderliness | Dynamism | Activity | Romanticism | Hedonism

[thecoziestbean]

FANFIC ROUNDUP 2023

LIST OF FANWORKS

POSTED

The Venus of Valinor | Haladriel art heist au | E | 9/13 (wip)

Missed Connections | Haladriel ficlet | G | 2/2

meet me at the edge | Haladriel prairie gothic au | E | 4/? (wip) | dead dove

My Way or the Highway | Haladriel road trip au | E | one-shot

Hellbrand & Ghouladriel Week Drabbles | T | 8/8

Looking Glass | Haladriel horror au | E | one-shot | dead dove

Haladriel Winter Solstice Ficlets & Drabbles | M | 5/5

Yuletide fic to be revealed Jan 1!

For a total of 102,060 words. I'm blown away by this. I hadn't written for fun (outside of notes for d&d games) in over a decade before this past year. Haladriel truly has done wonders for my creativity.

UNPOSTED WIPS

run through the forest (settle before the sun) | BG3 Halsin x Reader dark fairy tale au | E | one-shot (??? - this keeps threatening to turn multi-chapter)

sharp as a razor, sweet as honeysuckle | Haladriel rodeo au | E | one-shot

skin i been through, dies behind me | Haladriel western au | E | one-shot

grow with a hunger | Haladriel arctic isolation horror au | E | multi-chapter dead dove

Untitled Haladriel Moulin Rouge au | E | multi-chapter dead dove

Untitled Haladriel newsroom exes au | E | multi-chapter romcom

TOTAL # OF COMPLETED WORKS/FANDOMS WRITTEN IN

6 completed works written in 2 fandoms

5 in LOTR: The Rings of Power for Haladriel

1 in [redacted until Jan 1]

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I sure do love a woman teetering on the precipice of something.

PERSONAL FAVORITE?

It's really hard to choose, but I think meet me at the edge. It started as a goofy little brainworm about what if Tevildo was a Black Phillip-esque figure trying to lure Galadriel away from the light, and here we are 40k later, and I think it's some of the best writing I've ever done. I love westerns, I love horror, I love stories about girlhood and womanhood and where the boundaries between the two are, and I especially love stories about women hanging on by their last thread and then saying fuck it and letting it all go.

MOST UNDERAPPRECIATED?

I guess maybe my little ficlet duology Missed Connections? I'm really proud of that strange little story. I wrote it for Haladriel Week last spring. It's inspired by the old Missed Connections ads that used to be in the paper (and I think are still on craigslist). Anyway, these two are set during the first age in Valinor, one each from Mairon and Artanis' perspectives. I keep thinking about expanding it to add new ones for each age. Maybe that's something I'll do in 2024.

MOST POPULAR?

Just by straight kudos, The Venus of Valinor.

STORY WITH THE SEXIEST MOMENT?

Eek! I don't know, I find it kind of hard to assess the sexiness of the smut you write yourself. It's probably something from meet me, though. The scene at the creek when Halbrand feeds Galadriel the peach still gets me a little flustered when I reread it:

The air grows heavy and still around them. She feels like she’s moving through honey as she leans forward and grabs his wrist in her slender hand, before lowering her lips to wrap around the slice of fruit in his fingers. His nostrils flare as he feeds the peach into her mouth. He drags the rough pads of his fingers across her tongue and then her lips, smearing juice in their wake. The salty tang of his skin mixes with the sweet bite slithering down her gullet to feed the twisting creature nestled deep in her belly.

Her breath catches in her throat when he brings his hand back to his mouth. He uses the flat of his tongue to lick up the last remnants of juice in one broad stroke, from his palm to the tips of his fingers, eyes grown dark in the deepening shade of the cottonwood.

“Delicious.”

MOST FUN STORY TO WRITE?

They're all the most fun to write at one point or another, otherwise I wouldn't be writing them! I've definitely been on a meet me kick lately though. The last couple of chapters are parts of the story I've been excited to get to since I first came up with the idea and started outlining it.

HARDEST?

I've found my writing habits are definitely influenced by what's going on in my real life. There have been some really rough patches this year, and during those times it was next to impossible to work on Venus. I just couldn't get into a romcom headspace, but it was a lot easier and more natural to write meet me during those times.

BIGGEST SURPRISE?

That the Haladriel brainrot is as strong now, if not stronger, than it was a year ago. I've had my share of hyperfixations, but this one's on another level. I really enjoyed writing my Yuletide fic for another fandom, and I'm enjoying dipping my toe into the BG3 waters (will probably even go for a full swim), but I still have so many ideas for Haladriel and I seem to have more every day.

DID YOU TAKE ANY RISKS IN WRITING THIS YEAR?

Becoming active in fandom! I’d always been more of a lurker, and I’ve never shared anything I created, so everything about writing and sharing my fic was a risk. And it was so worth it. This is the most creatively energized I’ve felt in years. I hadn't written for fun in over a decade before Haladriel, so I'll be forever grateful to this pairing for helping me shake off the cobwebs.

MOST UNINTENTIONALLY TELLING STORY?

Alas, I can't get into it because it hasn't been fully revealed but my Yuletide fic. I stumbled into some stuff writing that one that made me go, huh, ok, file that away to reflect on more closely at a later date.

FAVORITE LINES/SCENES?

The smut in Chapter 9 of Venus was so much fun to write, but I'm particularly proud of this: He wanted to see the golden Noldor heiress unleashed. He wanted to see her claiming – no taking – what she wanted. Not in service of others, not to protect her family’s reputation or to cover up the mistakes of fucking Fëanor Noldor, but in recognition of her own needs, her own power. Well, here she was: feral, greedy, free. A wild, unfettered creature demanding to be fucked. And who was he to deny to her?

I wrote a lot of drabbles this year, and some of my favorites are: Hungry Roots, The Eye in the Storm, and The Frozen Wood. I see these three as connected.

And honestly, the entirety of chapter 4 of meet me: the calf, the fights with her brothers and father, the scenes with Halbrand in the barn, the storm... 14k of smut and violence that were some of the heaviest lifting I've ever done and I'm so fucking proud of the end result.

MY FAVE PART OF FANDOM IN 2023

Finding and connecting with the Haladriel fandom. I’ve met some of the kindest, funniest, more creative people through it. We’ve taken some hits, but all in all, joining this fandom has truly been a highlight of my year.

2024 WRITING AMBITIONS

Writing every day, or as close to as I can, even if it’s just a couple of sentences, so that writing is just a steady, regular part of my day to day life. I went over a decade without it, and never want to go back. I’m having way too much fun.

I’d also like to finish my two current big WIPs. I’ve got lots of other big, multi-chapter projects in mind, but I can only hold so much in my head at a time, so I want to clear a few things from my plate before I tackle a new big project.

2024 FICS ON THE IMMEDIATE HORIZON

Jan 1 - Yuletide fic reveal

BG3 Halsin x Reader dark fairy tale one-shot

The Venus of Valinor: Chapter 10

March - Haladriel Fic Exchange

Thanks to @liminal-zone for the format and inspo!

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Red: Haymarket Centennial

The history of the modern May Day originates in the center of the North American plains, at Haymarket, in Chicago - "the city on the make" - in May 1886. The Red side of that story is more well-known than the Green, because it was bloody. But there was also a Green side to the tale, though the green was not so much that of pretty grass garlands, as it was of greenbacks, for in Chicago, it was said, the dollar is king.

Of course the prairies are green in May. Virgin soil, dark, brown, crumbling, shot with fine black sand, it was the produce of thousands of years of humus and organic decomposition. For many centuries this earth was husbanded by the native Americans of the plains. As Black Elk said theirs is "the story of all life that is holy and is good to tell, and of us two-leggeds sharing in it with the four- leggeds and the wings of the air and all green things; for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit." From such a green perspective, the white men appeared as pharaohs, and indeed, as Abe Lincoln put it, these prairies were the "Egypt of the West".

The land was mechanized. Relative surplus value could only be obtained by reducing the price of food. The proteins and vitamins of this fertile earth spread through the whole world. Chicago was the jugular vein. Cyrus McCormick wielded the surgeon's knife. His mechanical reapers harvested the grasses and grains. McCormick produced 1,500 reapers in 1849; by 1884 he was producing 80,000. Not that McCormick actually made reapers, members of the Molders Union Local 23 did that, and on May Day 1867 they went on strike, starting the Eight Hour Movement.

A staggering transformation was wrought. It was: "Farewell" to the hammer and sickle. "Goodby" to the cradle scythe. "So long" to Emerson's man with the hoe. These now became the artifacts of nostalgia and romance. It became "Hello" to the hobo. "Move on" to the harvest stiffs. "Line up" the proletarians. Such were the new commands of civilization.

Thousands of immigrants, many from Germany, poured into Chicago after the Civil War. Class war was advanced, technically and logistically. In 1855 the Chicago police used Gatling guns against the workers who protested the closing of the beer gardens. In the Bread Riot of 1872 the police clubbed hungry people in a tunnel under the river. In the 1877 railway strike, Federal troops fought workers at "The Battle of the Viaduct." These troops were recently seasoned from fighting the Sioux who had killed Custer. Henceforth, the defeated Sioux could only "Go to a mountain top and cry for a vision." The Pinkerton Detective Agency put visions into practice by teaching the city police how to spy and to form fighting columns for deployment in city streets. A hundred years ago during the street car strike, the police issued a shoot-to-kill order.

McCormick cut wages 15%. His profit rate was 71%. In May 1886 four molders whom McCormick locked-out was shot dead by the police. Thus, did this 'grim reaper' maintain his profits.

Nationally, May First 1886 was important because a couple of years earlier the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, "RESOLVED... that eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor, from and after May 1, 1886.

On 4 May 1886 several thousand people gathered near Haymarket Square to hear what August Spies, a newspaperman, had to say about the shootings at the McCormick works. Albert Parsons, a typographer and labor leader spoke net. Later, at his trial, he said, "What is Socialism or Anarchism? Briefly stated it is the right of the toilers to the free and equal use of the tools of production and the right of the producers to their product." He was followed by "Good-Natured Sam" Fielden who as a child had worked in the textile factories of Lancashire, England. He was a Methodist preacher and labor organizer. He got done speaking at 10:30 PM. At that time 176 policemen charged the crowd that had dwindled to about 200. An unknown hand threw a stick of dynamite, the first time that Alfred Nobel's invention was used in class battle.

All hell broke lose, many were killed, and the rest is history.

"Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards," was the Sheriff's dictum. It was followed religiously across the country. Newspaper screamed for blood, homes were ransacked, and suspects were subjected to the "third degree." Eight men were railroaded in Chicago at a farcical trial. Four men hanged on "Black Friday," 11 November 1887.

"There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today," said Spies before he choked.

[danicruel]

Where the grass grows tall (18+)

Jess McCready x Lupe García fic

Alternate Universe - Cowboys Falling in Love

Summary: Lupe Garcia arrives at the McCready farm to do a job - shoe the horses ahead of the Moose Jaw rodeo and maybe stick around as a farm hand if she's lucky. But when she meets the farmer's daughter, Jess, she quickly realizes she's not only in it for the money.

(Or: Lupe Garcia falls in love with the dirty, feral farm boy Jess McCready.)

(Photo Credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Lupe arrives to the McCready farm in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan sweaty as all hell.

The leather upholstered steering wheel of her growling 1995 Ford F-150 is hot under her calloused hands, and both her thin cotton t-shirt and undershirt are clinging to her back. Her dark, chin-length curls are tousled around her face from the earlier highway winds, and she’s trying to get some air flow behind her by sitting forward in the driver’s seat.

“Fuck me,” she mutters under her breath.

It’s mid July, and the truck’s air conditioning has decided to die on the hottest week of summer so far. She’s driven from her little rental apartment in a town called Drinkwater, 30 kilometers southeast of the city, with both of the two-door’s windows cranked all the way down to no relief.

She’s also stressed, so that may be contributing to the sweat dripping from her hairline.

And Lupe knows she shouldn’t complain about today’s high of 29°C, but she hasn’t spent a summer in her home state of Texas for years now. Instead, she’s spent the past few years roaming the Canadian prairies, working as a travelling farrier in the springs and summers for rodeo season and then as a farm hand in the falls and winters when there wasn’t as much shoeing work. She’s built something of a reputation for herself across the prairie provinces, and that’s how Mr. McCready heard of her. Based off the phone call she had with him last week, it sounds like he wants Lupe to work both roles for him.

Today’s her first day, and with McCready being such a well-known name in the rodeo scene, Lupe is determined to prove herself. She could use some steady work and a place to settle for a while. Being on the road has started to wear on her.

She turns down the volume of her ‘50’s Country Hits’ CD as she rolls up the long, gravel driveway, passing several sprawling pastures on her way. When she reaches a fork in the driveway, she slows the truck to a crawl to take in her surroundings.

To the right, there’s a pale-yellow farmhouse with tall double-hung windows and a big, wrap-around porch to the right. A wall of sunflowers sway against the side of the house, and the fenced off garden at the front is teeming with growing produce. Upon closer inspection, Lupe notices there’s a younger man sitting on the porch stairs, hunched over, smoking a cigarette.

From under the brim of his cowboy hat, he gives her a nod.

“You the farrier my dad’s expecting?” he calls out.

“I am – Lupe García,” she hollers back.

“Nice to meet ya, García! I’m Matt. Dad’s in the horse barn,” he points across the driveway.

She raises two fingers on her steering wheel at him. “Thanks, Matt!”

The barn looks straight out of a picture book, complete with red wood, white framing, and two big sliding doors at the front of it. The doors are open, but the inside is too shadowed to see anything from the driveway. Further in the distance, on the far side of the barn, there’s a fenced-off outdoor arena, outfitted with a holding pen and chute.

Another smaller barn off to the left looks to be where the cattle are housed.

Straight out of the early 1900s, Lupe thinks. It's charming.

She parks her truck twenty feet back from the barn’s doors, leaning to grab her ball cap from the passenger seat before she hops out. Outside, the air is sweet with the smell of alfalfa and grass, and the gravel crunches under her chunky, lace-up leather boots. It feels cooler now that she’s not baking in her oven of a truck, and she pulls her shirt away from her skin with a sigh. Stretching her arms over her head briefly, she shakes out her hair before pulling her ball cap snug onto her head.

“García, is it?” a voice calls from inside the barn.

“Hey there!” she calls back, striding toward it.

She’s got her favourite pair of Wrangler jeans on, held up with a black leather belt and her chunky 1994 roping champion belt buckle. In her plain white t-shirt, she suddenly feels underdressed when she spots who must be Mr. McCready dressed in starched jeans and an ironed long sleeve button-up. He’s leaned up against the outside of one of the horse stalls, looking straight out of an 80s Wrangler advertisement with his crisply shaped straw cowboy hat.

He’s also wearing a wide, toothy grin on his face.

“Mr. McCready, I assume?” Lupe approaches him with her right hand out. “Lupe García.”

“Please, call me, Tom,” he says, grabbing her hand for a firm handshake.

Tom McCready is a tall man, at least 6’3 in his boots and hat. He’s lean and a little weathered looking, like most of the older generation farmers are, and there’s a warm friendliness to his tanned face as he regards her.

“Welcome to the McCready farm, Lupe,” he says, gesturing around him.

The barn is even bigger looking on the inside.

There are five stalls and one tack room on both sides of the red brick alley way, and the rich smell of leather lingers in the air. Directly over their heads is what looks to be a loft, accessible by a wooden staircase over to the right, and at the opposite end of the barn is two more sliding doors to match the ones Lupe just walked through. They’re open as well, and from here, she can see somebody riding a horse in the outdoor arena.

“It’s a beautiful place you have, sir,” Lupe says.

“Thank you. It’s been in the family for generations,” he sighs. “Why don’t I show you around?”

“Yeah, please.”

They head further into the barn, passing many empty stalls on their way.

Both tack room doors are open, and from the brief glance Lupe gets as they walk past, they look stocked. She counts eight western saddles, at least a dozen colourful saddle pads sitting on a rack, and upwards of twenty bridles hanging on the walls.

And that’s only what’s visible.

“Most of the horses are turned out today,” Tom says. “You would have driven past the big field they’re grazing in on your way here – you can see it from the highway. The broncs are in another field further out.”

Lupe makes a noise of acknowledgement, wondering to herself how many horses are on the property total, if 10 are just the ones that stay in the stable.

“A few of the horses belong to folks boarding or training with us, but most of ‘em are ours,” he explains. “All of my kids are still so dedicated to it … I suppose they don’t know anything different. They were born and raised in the industry, but it still makes an old man proud.”

“How many you have?” Lupe asks.

“Six – five sons, one daughter. In that order, too.” he says, smiling fondly. “The oldest is 33, married with babies of his own, and the youngest is 25, still living and working here with me.”

Tom McCready is guiding them in the direction of the outdoor arena, and Lupe’s watching the horse and rider circle around the pen at a jog. It’s a long-legged sorrel paint horse, muscled and built out. She’s pretty sure she can make out long blonde hair on the rider, bouncing to the rhythm of the horse’s stride.

“You got a family, Lupe?”

Lupe nods, immediately thinking of her own younger siblings, who she left behind in Texas five years ago when she had been 22. They’ve been able to stay in touch through email, but she’s made a point of being inaccessible to her parents, on the odd chance they did want to reach out.

“They’re in Texas, actually. I moved up here a few years ago and haven’t really looked back. Something about the prairies agrees with me, I guess. But it’s just me here, sir.”

Tom nods thoughtfully.

Now that Lupe isn’t stuck in her stuffy truck, the sun feels pleasant on her bare arms and the back of her neck. The light breeze and shade from the cover of maple trees – in combination with Tom McCready’s warm, pleasant nature – has put her at ease, and she can feel her heart slowing to its regular pace.

As they get closer, Lupe can see that it’s a woman on the horse, wearing dark-wash blue jeans and a white ribbed undershirt identical to the one she has on underneath her own t-shirt. She’s got on a pair of yellow leather work gloves, and Lupe thinks they look almost comically large at the end of her long, lean arms. But then her eyes travel up those arms, and she finds her gaze hesitating at the swell of well-used biceps and triceps, and then further up to tanned, broad shoulders. Lupe also observes the soft way she uses her hands to steer the horse, and how she sits deep enough in the saddle that really only her hair jostles to the rhythm of the horse’s trot.

“Jess, come say hi!” Tom calls out.

The rider – Jess – glances back over her shoulder then, before turning her horse to face them with a small adjustment of her wrist. She’s holding the reins in her left hand, and she brings her right hand up to shade her face and squint across to where they’re standing.

Lupe adjusts her hat on her head.

Jess trots toward them on the prettiest paint horse Lupe’s ever seen. Soft in the eyes, ears pricked forward with curiosity, their coat is a rich, dark red colour with white patches that look like they’ve just been scrubbed clean. Jess rides with a loose rein, and their heads hangs softly.

Then the details of Jess become clearer, and Lupe finds herself blushing.

Jess has a strikingly angular face, with a wicked sharp jawline and high cheekbones that appear to be in the early stages of a sunburn. The bridge of her nose is narrow, and she’s squinting in the afternoon sun, so that her thin, light eyebrows cast a shadow on her eyes below. From this distance, Lupe thinks they’re probably blue or green based off their lightness.

Then Lupe makes the mistake of looking down at Jess’s mouth – deep pink with pouty lips that are pulled up into a smirk – and her stomach drops between her knees.

Standing there with one boot raised up on the bottom slat of the fence, Lupe suddenly realizes it’s been a long time since she’s felt this kind of electric tension in the air – the kind that prickles along her neck and threatens to produce a shiver. Perhaps, she’s just been so focused on securing work and making ends meet that she’s regressed to some teenage-boy level of touch starvation, she thinks.

But despite her roiling feelings, she forces an easy smile on her face when Jess stops at the fence.

“Jess, this is Lupe García – our new farrier and, potentially, farm hand if she feels like sticking around for a while,” Mr. McCready says, turning to Lupe with a wink.

Lupe chuckles, like she’s not at all flustered by the way it feels to have Jess’s eyes – definitely blue – flit over her, up and down. They jump back up to her face, and the two share what feels like too intense of eye contact for a first meeting. Jess’s lips part, like she’s about to say something, and Lupe’s eyes flick down to them just in time to watch her lick them.

“And Lupe, this is my daughter Jess.”

Daughter.

Oh, fuck.

Note: Hiiiii, thank you so much for reading! This fic is on AO3, and I will hopefully be updating regularly, so please subscribe to get updates on it if that’s your thing. I will try to update it on tumblr, but I likely won’t be posting full chapters again. Love youuu, byeeee 💗💗💗

Link to AO3

[think-sims-yt]

Are your Sims Ranch Ready?

Horse Ranch Ready Lookbook

Hi Sim-ians, say hello to Roan Colt. Roan just loves horses. She can’t wait for the day when she moves to Chestnut Ridge and she’s up to her eyes in Prairie Grass & Horse Manure. Not to mention the mini Goats and Sheep!!!

Using outfits from a few sims packs she’s now Ranch Ready … are you?...

Aspiration

Friend of the Animals

Traits

Animal Enthusiast

Clumsy

Loves Outdoors

[ D O W N L O A D ]   

You can download Roan from the Gallery  and now on Curseforge

If you prefer, the tray files are available from Sims File Share

Please check out my YouTube Channel - For Lookbooks & Stop Motion Speed Builds.

Please subscribe and follow me on Instagram & Tumblr too!!

Take care of yourself

Sally 💋

[ P A C K S   U S E D ]

Expansion Packs:

Eco Lifestyle

Cottage Living

High School Years

Game Packs:

Outdoor Retreat

Strangerville

Journey to Batu

Dream Home Decorator

My Wedding Stories

Stuff Packs:

None

Kit Packs:

None

[ F A V O U R I T E   M O D S  &  C U S T O M   C O N T E N T ]

Better Build Buy and T.O.O.L by TwistedMexi https://www.curseforge.com/sims4/mods/better-buildbuy-organized-debug

Season Tuner by Carls Sim Guide - https://www.patreon.com/posts/60164381

CAS Background – Sonya Sims - https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=643480

No Fade by Mizore_Yuki - https://www.patreon.com/posts/mod-no-fade-on-30416620

OMSP Shelf by Amoebae - https://www.patreon.com/posts/41856381

Eyelashes – Kijiko * - https://kijiko-catfood.com/3d-lashes-version2/

Make-up – Urban Sims * http://www.xurbansimsx.com/p/downloads_9.html[SL1] 

Chroma Eyes – Golyhawhaw * - https://www.curseforge.com/sims4/create-a-sim/chroma-eyes

All the Outfits are CC Free and only use items from the EA Packs –

The Sims, however, may include the *CC above.

[ P O S E S ]

Katverse- https://katverse.com/category/custom-content/poses/

Cassandra Grussel - https://www.patreon.com/CassandraGrusel

Simmer Berlin - https://simmerberlin.tumblr.com/

Spirirock - https://spirirock.tumblr.com/

Sakuraleon - https://j-e-n-n-e-h.tumblr.com/

Jupo45 - https://juupo45.tumblr.com/

[still-single]

HEATHEN DISCO BEST OF 2023 SHOWS

They're in the can, check 'em out.

For those still wondering, the Ryan Davis record is the best release of 2023.

Set 1: Reissues/Archival + 20 Tracks from 2023

Arthur Russell – In the Light of a Miracle

Dorothy Carter – Autumn Song

Laurie Styvers – Imagine the Lights Have Gone Out

PG Six – Unteleported Man

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 – Flames Up Yours

The Dark – Resurrection 

Fury – Circle of Lies

INU – Don’t Eat Food!

Las Mordidas – Surrounded

Spike in Vain – Opus I & II

Africa Corps (Savage Republic) – Real Men (live)

Sonic Youth – I Love Her All the Time (live)

Masayuki Takayanagi – Mass Hysterism Part II

Milford Graves with Hugh Glover – March 11, 1976 III

Les Rallizes Denudes – Eternally Now (live CITTA ’93) 

Maxx Traxx – Reachin’ For It

High Rise – Sadducces Faith

Wolf Eyes W/ Spykes – 4

Tolerance – Sacrifice

Shizuka – 6 Gram Star

Rubber Blanket – Gandy Dancer

Khanate – It Wants to Fly (excerpt)

S*GLASS – Sorry About the False Bounce

Föllakzoid – V-III 

Monocot – The Voice Came

Daniel Villarreal – Chicali Outpost

Equipment Pointed Ankh – Late Night A.I.

Witness K – How Do We Count Your Poses

Coffin Prick – Town Without Pity 2

Olimpia Splendid – Jacksonin Paita

Terry – Jane Roe

Nusidm – Arm Unemployed

Dippers – Encouragement in Brackets 

Guardian Singles – Com Trans

Civic – Born in the Heat 

Married FM – I’m Gonna Find It 

Connections – Bird Has Flown

Son of Dribble – Shed

The Serfs – Club Deuce

Corker – Edge of Teeth

Set 2: 39 Songs from 2023

Stella Kola – November

Wheatie Mattiasch – Not the Angels

Maxine Funke – River Said

Suishou no Fune – A Rainbow Is Floating

Jana Horn – Love in Return

V.I.P.P. – Dancing

Famous Mammals – Like a Shadow

Non Plus Temps – Hide Away

Now – Rattray

Spiral Dub – High as Fuck

Violent Change – Whipping Boy 

Disintegration – Time Moves for Me

Home Front – Nation

Lifeguard – Alarm

The Toads – Nationalsville

Ulrika Spacek - Diskbänksrealism

Retirement – No Refund

Mother’s Milk – Xerox Cloak 

Glittering Insects – Remote Viewed Orgasm

FACS – Class Spectre

Skull Practitioners – Intruder

Los Mundos – Luz Perversa (en vivo)

Cheater Slicks – Fear

Emily Robb – Solo in A

The Sundae Painters – Thin Air

Animal Piss, It’s Everywhere – Pink Dolphin

Sparks – Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is

The Clientele – Garden Eye Mantra

Lewsberg – Debbie

Usurabi – Even If It’s a Lie

Luxor Rentals – A Hallway

Drop Nineteens – T

Melenas – K2

Exek – On the Ground Floor

Silicone Prairie – Mirror on the Wall

Feeling Figures – Movement

The Smashing Times – Tuesday, Coming into Time

Colleen – Les parenthèses enchantées (Movement III)

Jaimie Branch – Take Over the World

Set 3: The Last 41 Best of 2023

Chi To Shizuku – Kawaki

The Lewers – O Karina

The Native Cats – Suplex

Cuticles – Know Not What

En Attendant Ana – Wonder

Tirzah – 2 D I C U V

Seekersinternational – Caught Up (Heart Breaks)

Ron Morelli – Gun Smoke

Leda – 2

Zuli – Bussra

Smirk – Polyrhythmic Ticks

The Dissidents – Patronized

Consensus Madness – Animosity

Stress Positions – Flaming Sword

Life Expectancy – Land Worm

Collate – Guilty Collector

Blue Dolphin – Docile Jannette

Flat Worms – Orion’s Belt

Los Llamarada – Waiting For Your Eyes

Dion Lunadon – Diamond Sea

Natural Information Society – Immemorial

Quade – Measure

The Split Bell Chime – You Can Tell Me Anything

Matmos – Why?

GUB – 4

DJ Manny – Ooh Baby

Tyvek – What It’s For

Gaadge – Candy Colored

Surveillance – Obvious

Miss Espana – Lirio Blanco

Axis: Sova – Join a Cult

Al Karpenter & CIA Debutante – Fuck You All to Fade No More

Beau Wanzer – Warm Waterboarding

Thee Retail Simps – Wrong Direction

Wireheads – Persistent Resistance

Adulkt Life – Blackout

Sharp Pins – Bye Bye Basil

The Tubs – Sniveler

Meg Baird – Star Hill Road

Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – Flashes of Orange

Water Damage – FUCK THAT (Reel 13)

[qvnthesia]

hey, hey, hey! hope you're doing good <33 may i present to you, qvnthesia's ao3 wrapped (def better than spotify wrapped!)

How many words have you written this year? — 100,000+ (i thought i wrote less with the writer slump T~T)

How many works have you published this year? — 4; I'm more for a long-fic person lmao

What work are you most proud of? — See You In My Nightmares! *excited*

What work of yours has the most hits? — Definitely See You In My Nightmares (the amount of people that have subscribed to the fic more than YMH is mind-blowing 😂)

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? — It'd have to be Gently Into the Cold, Dark Earth. It was just supposed to be a one-shot, I didn't expect my inbox to blow up + See You In My Nightmares again 😂

Favorite title you used? — bespangled prairies (for my sw fic!)

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? — Mostly Taylor Swift

Pairing you wrote the most for this year? — Klaulena and Elejah are tied 😂

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? — Klaulena (they do things to me, okay? 😭)

What work was the quickest to write? — Time After Time (elejah oneshot that just burst out of me from nowhere)

What work took you the longest to write? — Well, considering I'm writing them right now, See You In My Nightmares and Yours, My Heart collectively take the prize. But, personally speaking, I think Yours, My Heart takes longer because there's a lot of mystery I've got to keep up with and crosscheck with my notes.

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? — 36 ahahahaha *dies*

What’s your longest work of the year? — See You In My Nightmares (one of the chapters is 21K+ words 😂)

What’s your shortest work of the year? — Time After Time

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? — My two on-going long-fics! + my sw short-fic

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? — Canon Divergence (I've said it before and I will say it again—I recognize that canon has made a decision, but given that it's a STUPID-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it)

Your favorite character to write this year? — Elena! 😭💖+ Anakin (he's a man tugging my own heart)

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? — Klaus, that man is both hot and insane.

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? — Dunno, probably Finnlena, since I have planned a series of one-shots surrounding the Mikaelsons and Elena.

Which work of yours have you reread the most? — See You In My Nightmares (to understand why people like it so much + a reminder that i need to update but i never do)

How many kudos in total did you get this year? — 991 kudos!

Which work has the most comments? — With a comment thread count of 122, See You In My Nightmares 😂

Did you do any collaborative works this year? — Unfortunately, no :(((

Did you write any gifts this year? — I'm actually writing one for @kaizsche!! a bit nervous but excited too!!

Did you receive any gifts this year? — @kaizsche and I are exchanging fics and I'm pretty excited! (nervous but excited, gahh, gotta write good)

What’s your most common category? — f/m

What do you listen to while writing? — First it was indie, then some dark moody songs but now it's a mix of the second one and instrumentals + slowed and reverb songs.

Favorite work you wrote this year? — Time After Time

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? — This one is from Chapter 12 of SYIMN. “My brother and I, we didn’t hate her for turning into a vampire, we despised her because we thought she was kind. We thought she might be like Tatia, we didn’t expect her to turn out so… different. Yes, even though I was going to sacrifice her, Elijah had a backup plan to bring her back to life. I wasn’t supportive of his plan, but my brother wears his heart on his sleeve for the women from your bloodline, no matter how many tailored suits he wears to shroud his true nature from the world. For Tatia, I did the same. For Katherine, I didn’t. At first, yes, even I considered a future with her, but—” he clicks his tongue. “—that strange emotion in her eyes made me reconsider. And after what she did, I was right. I didn’t see it coming, though. I didn’t see how desperate she was to trick us and somehow live. That betrayal stung deeper than my mother’s role in Tatia’s death. Ever since then, we realized it was a mistake to ever come to love a Petrova.”

Biggest surprise while writing this year? — Around the end of February, I got invited to join a server where a bunch of writers that I'd followed on Tumblr and AO3 were there and I was so excited and happy to actually get a chance to interact with them because the way we've interacted, the ideas we've exchanged and all the times we've listened and helped each other, it's happened to me for the first time 😂 + I've never actually improved so much in writing until I started writing on AO3 and this year just took it to new heights. My worldbuilding rates, writing rates, everything's just gone up in a good way and I'm really content with myself about that, and... yeah! 😂

And that's all from me! It's New Year's Eve and I'd like to thank all the characters I've got a chance to meet (except Susdious and the Salvatores), thank you for making me a better writer! And a very huuuge and special thanks to @kaizsche @sevensistersofsussex @katherineholmes @feralcherry @jennifersminds @elena-mikaelson @amandamonroe and @wazman, y'all are godsend <33

[edupunkn00b]

Decoherence, Ch. 1: Our Foundations

Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain

Our Foundations - Next - Masterpost - [ AO3 ] - Playlist

“A fire-eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.” - The Foundation, Isaac Asimov

WC: 1491 - Rated: T - CW: swearing, suggestive

2129, April 4 - CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

“I had the wildest dream about you, Love.”

Remus lay curled on his side, legs tangled with Lo's and one arm draped over his belly.

“Oh?” Lo looked back, eyes half-sleepy, half-teasing, and all-the-way-sexy. “Tell me more,” he murmured, rolling Remus onto his back and making himself at home on his chest.

Outside their flat on the 84th floor, dawn had set the sky ablaze in reds and oranges, the sun doing its damndest to burn through the haze of their shielded windows. Lo was lit in profile, the warm glow haloing around his bed-mussed hair and softening his already sleep-fuzzed features. He looked like a fucking oil painting on mornings like this and, as always, Remus was tempted to go digging through the closet to find his old set and try to capture his beauty.

“We were riding horses together,” he laughed and so did Lo, a little wistfulness in his eyes, like he could almost see it, too. “Ridiculous, I know,” Lo’s hair was soft, silk between his fingers. “We were out in a… a fucking prairie, cowboy hats and all.” He grinned. “No spurs. You didn’t clang when you walked.”

“I bet you looked incredible in a cowboy hat,” Lo grinned, bottom lip caught between his teeth like he was trying so hard to be good. “Chaps?”

“Mm-hm.” Remus couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Real leather, too!”

“Leather?” He laughed with him, squinting with a little groan when the automated sun lights kicked in after they hadn’t moved enough to prove to their alarm they really were awake. “Lights down!” he ordered and they slid back down to a more reasonable 2000° Kelvin. “I think the day is calling us.” He scrunched his nose and pouted, that cute poof to his lips that he only let show when he was still sleepy.

“How about I finish telling you all about my dream while we shower?” Remus murmured, now doing his very best to be good. Today was the last day for final checks before they turned on the new collider. Lo would be furious if Remus took advantage of his sleep fuzziness and kept them in bed for much longer.

Lo laughed, the subtle attempt to get him out of bed kicking a few more of his neurons into gear. “If you insist.” Remus tucked one hand behind his head and smiled up at him, their weekday morning game of chicken in full play.

“We could always call out sick.” He gave him his best grin. “Fake our biosignals… Raging fevers, entirely too communicable to go in.”

That got him up and Lo leaned in for one more kiss before sliding out of bed. “When biohacking sounds like a reasonable solution to our problems, it really is time to get out of bed, isn’t it?”

“‘Fraid so, Love,” Remus smiled and followed him to the shower.

~

The full spectrum lights in the bathroom helped and by the time they’d showered and dressed, Lo was energized. “I am attempting to avoid placing too much optimism in tomorrow’s experiment, or too much emphasis on the importance of the results.” He nodded, mostly to himself. “We do not even know with certainty if it will work, let alone what it might mean or…”

His fingers tapped at the rim of his tea cup and he looked up with bright, worried eyes. Remus smiled. “You look like Virgil when he was afraid his dads wouldn’t like their Christmas gifts.” Holding his tea in one hand, Remus cradled Lo's cheek with the other. The muscles in Lo’s jaw quivered under his palm. He was coiled like a spring, ready to bounce down to CERN on his own energy. It was weird for Remus to be the calm one. Good weird, but still really fucking weird.

“I feel like it,” Lo admitted, cheeks pink and warm under Remus’ hand. Remus threw back the last of his cup and slipped behind him while Lo finished his. Both arms wrapped around his belly and chin on his shoulder, Remus felt the moment his whole body finally sank back against him. He let out a slow breath and tilted his head back, giving him a little ‘I know what you’re doing’ look. “You’re good at that,” he hummed and took another sip of his tea.

“Mm-hm,” Remus nodded. “Learned from the best.” 

That pulled a low, genuine laugh from him. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Dr. Prince.”

“I certainly hope it will, Dr. Sanders,” he laughed back. He snagged their empty cups and popped them both into the sanitizer. “C’mon, if we head out now, we’ll be first to the lab.” Remus picked up their bags and the lunch they’d made together last night. Lo grabbed the helmets. “Might even get in early enough to do a little snogging in the back or maybe a—”

Lo pushed his helmet down before he could finish. But even through the tinted visor, his eyes had softened, that sharp nervousness melting away as he tried to hide his smile. “If we get there early, we can fit in another test.”

“Or we could fit in something else…” Remus laughed. With the helmet mic off, he knew Lo couldn’t hear much of what he’d said, but his blush said he’d heard enough.

“Weren’t you the one who said it was time to leave?”

~

Leaning back in his chair, Lo sighed, a rumbly sound that, were he in a better mood, Remus might have teased sounded like a growl. Pushing up his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, blocking out the spiking red lines on the diagnostic screen in front of them. “Damn it,” he whispered.

It was well past 11 o’clock and they’d sent the rest of the team home hours ago. “It’s getting better,” Remus said from behind the synchrotron control panel, frowning up at the screen. He switched out two of the lead pickups and flipped another switch. Damn. The scale only dropped by .05% “Not a ton, but… a little.”

Lo sighed again, this time, definitely a growl. Just not the happy kind. “At this rate, we will not be ready for tomorrow’s attempt.”

“No,” Remus admitted and got up to stand behind him. “We won’t.” Fuck, his shoulders were like rocks. He worked at the biggest knots first and Lo winced, but leaned into the massage. “What if…” He kneaded Lo’s shoulders and stared at the array of screens. “What if it’s the test itself that’s causing it to fail?”

“You think it could be as simple as the Observer Effect?” 

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “Maybe.” Lo sat up again, energized with his second wind—third wind? Fourth? Remus had lost track hours ago. He wiggled his fingers over the green switches in the corner of the console. “We can always try it without the test controls. Look—” Remus pointed to the spot right before the lines jumped up into the red. “The sensors are maxing out way sooner than they do in real experiments.” He chewed his lip, brow furrowed. “We’ve done this enough to know they can handle a fuckton more cycles than that.”

“Meus, there is a valid reason for those controls—”

“Yeah, and they used to say you couldn’t use your phone on an airplane, too. And that vaccines made you gay.”

He rolled his eyes, a hint of his smile peeking through. “If only.”

“C’mon.” Remus grinned and pulled up the facility heat map. “We’re the only ones here. There are no other experiments going on, no other tests.” Lo’s fingers thrummed against his legs but his eyes kept trailing over to the green switches. His resolve was shifting. Remus smiled. “The controls are only there to reduce test interference,” he shrugged. “But if ours is the only test running….”

Lo stared at the switches for a long time then finally looked up, fighting a smile. “Okay, one run,” he said, his grin breaking through.

“You got it, boss!” Remus flipped up the lid and snapped down all three switches. The scale on the monitors immediately shifted, retroactively revealing the sensors had been cut off far below their real thresholds.

“Damn it,” Lo whispered and tapped at the screen. “If they’d stayed on just a little longer…”

“And now they will,” he nodded. “You ready?”

Lo swallowed and reached for the hand still resting on his shoulder. “Ready. You?”

“Fuck no,” Remus laughed, lacing their fingers together until their matching gold rings clinked. “Let’s do it!”

[redheadgleek]

WWW Wednesday, er Thursday

What are you currently reading?

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske - I got the last book of the trilogy from the library (A Power Unbound), started reading it, and realized my memories about what had happened in the last book were fuzzy, so I'm rereading.

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher. Again, the latest book in the series was just released (Paladin's Faith), and I needed a refresher. Such a hardship!

Know My Name by Chanel Miller (audiobook). I think I'll have to switch to another format to finish by book club on the 16th.

Upstream by Mary Oliver. I've been reading a chapter every night before bed as a relaxation tool. Her prose is as lovely as her poetry. 

What have you recently finished?

Since I didn't do this last week, here's the books I've finished in the last two weeks: 

Sweet Like Jasmine by Bonnie Grey. I tried to keep an open mind, I really did, but it was light on details and emotions and heavy on "Jesus saved me from my horrible life and everything is perfect now." Even the tidbits at the end of each chapter on Chinese culture were spun through a Jesus lens. Thankfully, it was short. Not for me.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. There was a lot that I loved about this book (Rocky was the best, the enthusiasm over the science was awesome, the ending was just right), pacing was a little odd, and at times the writing felt like it was for early readers, which isn't something that I expected with a book as heavy on math and physics as this one.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clark (audiobook). I loved getting back into this universe and the stories were fun.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. My friend recommended this book as I am always on the look out for the perfect "protagonist is a doctor" romcom. Overall really enjoyed it and the medicine was mostly accurate. Looking forward to the sequel.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White. I read this one because I heard she wrote it as a way to process leaving the LDS church and her dedication and author's note really resonated with me. The book itself fell flat for me about 2/3rd into it and I hated the ending.

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper. Started this one around Halloween and it took me a long time to get into it. It was fine as a sapphic Halloween Hallmark special. 

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher. I wanted to read a light-hearted, causal, fun romp which this was until it wasn't. The last 1/4 of a book was entirely different than the rest.

Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher. This is one of the books that got me into reading again and it's every bit as good as it was when I first read it two years ago.

What will you be reading next? 

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, Paladin's Hope and then Paladin's Faith by T Kingfisher, The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (the last of my "friend recommendations for 2023 project"), A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (still on the list), Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

[autumnalwalker]

Find the Word Tag

Thank you to both @oh-no-another-idea and @talesofsorrowandofruin for tagging me. Combining this into one giant word finding exercise.

My words from @oh-no-another-idea were sunshine, low, dusk, yellow, & chair.

My words from @talesofsorrowandofruin were cat, clash, crumble, clutter, & creak.

Passing the tag on to @thewriterghost, @affectionatemeconopsis, @blind-the-winds, @theprissythumbelina, @writingpotato07, and the usual open tag for anyone else who wishes to join in.

Since I'm doubling this up, instead of five set words, how about picking five (or more) from the following list:

delay, block, lock, rest, look, reach, vent, stand, rain, & drop

Sunshine: The Archivist's Journal, Day 120

I tried delaying my leaving this morning, but the rain kept going anyway.  At least I remembered to bring the cloak this time.  Had to sacrifice a towel to keep the rest of the laundry and changes of clothes for the next week dry though.  

It certainly could have been worse I suppose, for it was really only a light shower.  The kind where it’s paradoxically bright enough out where you can see the sunshine reflected off the raindrops and you come out the other side of it more damp than wet.  Honestly, between the gleam of the droplets, the patter on the broad leaves, and the soft tapping on my shoulders I might have actually enjoyed the walk into the Village this morning if it weren’t for trying to carry an unwieldy load of laundry the whole way.

Low: Empty Names Side Story - There Are No Dogs At The Dog Park

With the woman no longer blocking her view, Sarah can see just how obviously she’s no longer at the same bus stop she sat down at.  Behind the woman - “Eris” and “Volunteer”  the nametag sticker on her shirt reads - is a long, low concrete building with grass growing on the roof and adorned with an emblem above its door depicting the stylized red outline of a howling wolf overlaid on top of a blue moon with the letters NALSA in white.  The same emblem is replicated on the volunteer’s t-shirt with “North American Lycanthrope Sanctuary Association” in smaller print around it.  In any other direction is nothing but empty scrub-covered prairie as far as the eye can see, broken only by the faint outline of dirt road the bus stop is situated on and the tall, inward-curving chain link fence extending out from either side of the building.

Dusk: The Archivist's Journal, Day 8

Last night was… nice.  After locking up the archive for the evening I wandered the Village streets for a time looking for the home I’d been invited to dinner at.  Fortunately James had given me directions before we parted, saying it was towards the waterfront so I only got lost once on the way.  Still, it was just past dark when I arrived.  It’s an oddly festive sight, these Village streets at night.  The rooftops, awnings, and doors are colorful enough by day, but once the sun goes down and dusk mutes their hues the villagers uncover the crystals on their lamps and a veritable rainbow spills from the windows to paint the white walls of the winding rows.

The crystals used to light the archives (from which stock I’ve been lighting my own home) are all a near-uniform blue-white, neutral and good for reading by.  The color choices for lighting people’s homes however are more varied, although how much was personal preference of the residents, versus differing availability of crystal colors, versus some manner of social indicator, I’m not yet certain.  Blues, greens, and magentas seem to be the most common although warmer yellows and oranges are not uncommon.

Yellow: Empty Names - 4 - Prince In Gold

Sullivan examines the riesling resting in its glass on the table before him.  He’d always thought white wines were misnamed.  Yellow, or even better, gold, would be a far more fitting description.  Alas, he can no better change that ill-fitting naming convention than he can get drunk off the beverage before him, as much as he’d like to do both right now.  Either one would make this reunion easier.  

But since buying up vineyards and restaurants just to change the terminology on menus would be a waste of resources and taking a drink before his friend arrives would be poor form, he contents himself with leaning back into the richly upholstered chair and gazing into the chandelier above while he listens to the music from the band behind him.  It is a lovely little piece; a sonata that some two-centuries dead Frenchman left unfinished until the restaurant’s owner conjured up his ghost to complete it.

Chair: Empty Names - 6 - Background Checks

For all its gothic gloom during the night, Bridgewood Manor is surprisingly well-lit during the day.  Mostly this is due to Carnette having installed large windows looking out onto alien landscapes in most of the rooms and halls not directly connected to the building’s outer shell as a flex on visitors, but - much like her - that is quite literally neither here nor there at the moment.  No, Sullivan’s gaze is set on his laptop.  The vista behind him is only worthy of his attention insofar as it’s creating an annoying glare on his screen, and even that he’s pointedly ignoring.  To move from his overstuffed chair to a seat with less glare would be letting the window win, and he’s not about to concede to an inanimate object in a contest of wills.  

Cat: A Dream About Gifts

There are cats on the train that serve some sort of specific purpose.  The nature of that purpose is a matter of debate amongst passengers.

Just before reaching the town in the North, the train passes through a tunnel with the massive corpse of an angel hanging over the mouth of the tunnel, chained and nailed to the mountain.  This always upsets some of the cats, especially on the rare occasions the train brushes against the divinely tattered flesh.  

Clash Conflict: The Archivist's Journal, Day 39

It was Vernon who broke the silence several minutes later, venting about how he feared that he’d handled the situation with the brothers poorly and that it was his fault their father died without his family nearby.  That if he’d been more decisive maybe things could have been resolved sooner.  And what if the brothers started resenting one another for how things played out?  His job was to help resolve conflicts, but what if he’d just transformed it into a worse one?

Crumble: A Dream About Going Home

I’m standing atop the battlement of a crumbling keep of weathered stone, holding an open book.  The scenery is both familiar and strange.

A party steps out from a copse of trees below.  Their regally-dressed leader calls out to me.  “Pray forgive our trespass, mighty wizard, and refrain from striking us down!”

I close my book and reply “I am just a simple wanderer, passing back through the land of my birth.  You are as welcome here as I.”

Clutter: The Archivist's Journal, Day 152

Well, I took the cowardly route and left a note.

It didn’t so much stop raining as slow to a light drizzle, but I took that as good enough, waited for Cass to leave after cleanup (even with the children cleaning up after themselves they’re not perfect, and there’s still my own clutter to take care of) I quickly penned an invitation (“quickly” after twenty minutes of second-guessing myself on whether or not to even do it), threw on my cloak, pulled up the hood, and stepped outside.

Creak: The Archivist's Journal, Day 47

And when it put down that log I gained an inkling of why the villagers call it a god and not simply a giant or another spirit.  For rather than simply dropping the log or setting it down lengthwise it planted the former tree trunk upright in the ground.  As the being pressed the log further into the earth I could hear the sounds of strained wood creaking and groaning and mounds of dirt began radiating out from it as if displaced by rapidly growing roots.  A few moments later the Wandering God stepped back as if to gaze upon its handiwork and then turned its head to look at us.

[seronsalk]

Looking for some vintage clothes? Don't know where to start? I gotchu!

Photo credit: (i.pinimg.com)

Disclaimer: You will always find more vintage stuff by visiting vintage hauls/homes, stores, online website drops or thrifting, but if you're looking for just basic styles to look up, this post is for you!

You can shop wherever you like, I just am giving options that might support you in what you look for!

Women's clothing trends of the 70s

Flare clothing was very popular in the 1970s which would include flare pants and flare sleeved tops.

For more Denim Flare Pants and Bell Bottoms.

Reformation

Levis

H&M

Frame

Flare Leggings

Lululemon

Aerie

Zella

Alo

Flare sleeved tops can be found pretty much everywhere, I'd suggest more alternative stores to find more options.

Dresses and Skirts

Maxi Dresses, Prairie Dresses, 60s mini shift dresses, jumper dresses, drop waist dresses, sheath dresses, tunic dresses, sleeveless jumper dresses, mod dresses, shirtwaist dresses with tie belts, fit and flare dresses with large collars, A-line dresses, two piece tunic dresses, sheer floral tie string waist dresses, granny dress or peasant dress, corduroy skirts/velvet, polyester fabrics/skirts/dresses, suede skirts/dresses and denim skirts/dresses.

(You can find these everywhere, but here are big vintage clothing brands, that has some of these.)

1. Unique Vintage

2. Blue Velvet Vintage

3. ModCloth

4. Rose Gal

T-Shirts, Graphic Tees and Tops

Graphic t-shirts were very popular in the 70s also known as band tees. You can find a lot of band tees at alternative stores and pretty much everywhere. From Bees gees, to Bowie or earth wind and fire bands, if you're a more casual vintage band tees are your way to go!

Turtlenecks, striped long sleeve shirts, lots of patterns and colors were common during the 70s, so you could always search up 'patterned long sleeve top' or 'red turtleneck.'

Accessories, Jewelry and Shoes

Bags and Purses were usually Bohemian based or looking, suggesting suede or supple leather and shoulder bags with wider longer straps. These are more difficult to find non designer based brands for, so just remember Bohemian! (Lol)

Hats, oversized newsboy caps, tall homburg hats, fuzzy felt hats, western straw hats braided leather bands.

Jewelry, biggest jewelry trend was yellow gold, gold hoop earrings, gold necklaces, yellow gold all the way! It's all about feel good jewelry! Chunky rings, pendents, chokers, large studs, natural material made jewelry, lots of turquoise stones, gold chains, beads, crystals, bangles/cuffs, gemstones, ankle bracelets and sautoirs.

Shoes, CLOGS, CLOGS, CLOGS, (lol) platforms(of all kinds), fringe top boots, over the ankle boots, crinkle vinyl granny boots, tapestry boots, chunky heeled shoes, hi-rise pumps, feather moc-ankle boot, slip ons, evening sandals, denim boots, Moc-toe oxford, Ghillie lace boots, patterned cow girl boots and leather slides.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

That's all for Women's 70s, if you want a specific decade to be looked at request it, if you want to know where to find specific items, Request it!! Have a good day! My Masterlist!

<3

[charliesimss]

Evens for gracely

Odds for alexham

Grace&Bradley

2. Who does most of the cooking? Gracie she likes to cook things and bake things from scratch, Bradley will do clean up.

4. Who says creepy paper and who says crepe paper? I think they'd both say crepe paper, having only ever heard it said like that.

6. Who’s the sun and who’s the moon? They're both pretty sunny but if one had to be the moon it'd be bradley because he's more quiet

8. What are their cooking habits? Who cooks meals and who “cooks” insta-ramen? She cooks real meals and Bradley *can* cook, he just goes for easier dishes like frozen chicken nuggets and things that don't need a lot of prep, hashtag accessibility.

10. What are their love languages? They seem like the type to just hold hands really hard and say I love you a few times an hour.

12. Who says “party rockers” and who says “party rock is”? Grace says party rock is, and bradley is party rockers

14. How does their personal styles differ? Do they share clothes? gracie has done that "fit in your partners jeans" challenge thing on tik tok and bradley's fit her just fine. But Grace's style is very girly, dresses, no shoes, and bradley is also for comfort but won't be caught with his bare feet out ever.

16. Who takes charge during grocery trips? Who picks out all the silly snacks and munchies? Pregnant gracie really got into the habit of picking out snacky stuff, but Bradley does the grocery shopping and just gets what she circles in flip.

18. What’s a typical date night for them? Do they go out or stay in? They'd stay in and garden and play scrabble or something like the 20 something year old grandparents that they are.

20. Do they want kids? If so, who initiated the question about having them? They always wanted kids and they probably started talking about it after high school. And then struggled to get pregnant.

22. What do they bring out in each other? Bradley brings out her nurturing side and her little girl on the prairie side, and Grace brings out his ambitious side, makes him want to do better.

24. What’s their song? Long Live/Taylor Swift

26. Who asked out who first? Grace asked him first actually (well poppy more likely) 😳

28. How would they describe each other? Grace would say he's devoted, creative, and reserved, and Bradley would say she's loving, inclusive and angelic.

30. What are their nicknames for each other? (If any) Probably just baby and sweetie, and Bradley calls her gracie, but she never ever calls him brad. He's not a brad, don;t get it twisted.

32. How are they intimate with each other in a nonsexual way? Whispers!!!! Those seem very intimate, and like still holding hands while theyre just on the couch watching a show.

34. What couple from another media reminds you of them? Laura and Almanzo, in These Happy Golden Years book.

36. Who wakes up and falls asleep first? Bradley falls asleep first, Grace wakes up first.

38. What do they love most about each other? Probably their devotion and parental skills

40. Do they have any jealous tendencies over each other? Jealousy is a disease they are immune to 😌

42. Do you have a playlist for them? Gimme?????? They don't, they barely have a song 💀

44. How long have you been playing with them (or making edits with, etc.) Since 2021 I think

46. Who takes longer to get ready? Gracie. But now that they have babies they'll both take a long time because they'll each get a baby ready

48. What is something they have given the other that has a lot of meaning? Bradley giving her a promise ring and then an engagement ring with both of their birth stones in it remains to be one of the cutest things any of my couples have given each other.

50. What is their dynamic playing board games and video games? (versus each other and/or on the same team) They play really well on a team together and always want to be on each others team, unless poppy is playing something with them in which case grace has to be on the twin team. but they just play for enjoyment.