When I was writing this special chapter, it was envisioned as a movie, were New Trials an anime, and I realized it's pretty long for a special, but that's becauymose, it's not really a side story per say, but envisioned as a feature film. I had been preparing more, including artwork, (and Chapter 73.5 Side B) but with work emergency situations, I didn't get as far as I intended. But I noticed on ff.net word count that New Trials is getting very close to the 2 million mark. I'm pretty sure it might pass it with the next chapter posts. It probably has passed the mark already, if you count the Kaitou Magician Origins and Legacy of the Five Force side stories. Not that length is what matters, but it will be a landmark, nonetheless, because our readers have read over 2 million words of this story!
This one is in dedication to all the fans of New Trials and Card Captor Sakura, for celebrating the 19th year of this humble fanfiction. Happy International New Trials Day. And let's make next year, the 20th anniversary a big one! Thank your for sticking by this story for all these years and much love to you all!
Music Spotlight:
Akeboshi - "Haikyo no Sofa"
I feel like I haven't done a music spotlight in a long time. I've hit another one of those stumps where I've been trying to find fresh music to listen to when writing. I had to go back and dig out a lot of old music I loved as well. I've mentioned multiple times how much I love Akeboshi over the years and included "Akikaze no Uta" in the New Trials OST before. He is one of the rare artists that I own all the discography for. He's probably most famous for his Naruto endings, "Wind" and "Yellow Moon," the best songs in the franchise in my opinion. His songs has been on the NT playlist on repeat for numerous years, since the first album, because his music always puts me into a particular mood. I love both Naruto endings to pieces, but really, I love his whole albums to listen to--you know there are a lot of artists who only their singles are good, but I can listen to all of his discography on repeat over and over again without getting sick of it after all these years. I love the way he blends Japanese and English lyrics as well because he studied music in Liverpool, and I love the Celtic influence in his music as well. The best of "Haokyo no Sofa" is when he transitions seamlessly to Japanese lyrics.
If I had to choose, his first album, the eponymous "Akeboshi," will always remain my first album, but it's really hard to pick.
Akeboshi - "Green Eyes"
This one may not be my favorite song by Akeboshi--simply because he has too many great songs, but I think the title is self-explanatory.
