#anyways we'll get back to regular stuff next post!

[atleastpleasetelephone]

Little Darling

Chapter 2 - Love's in hiding

It's 1997, and Elvis is still alive and well. He quit music in 1972 after a successful world tour, and now he runs Presley Studios - teaching people karate across America. His daughter and grandchildren are regular visitors at Graceland, and when he’s in Memphis he likes to do a little teaching. His life is quieter now, though. Most of the Mafia have gone - going to live their own lives - and after his divorce from his second wife, Elvis is sworn off women for good. Will a Welsh girl with a wicked sense of humour be the one to make him break his promise to himself not to fall in love again?

Need to catch up? Go here.

Pairing: Old Man!Elvis x OC - Tegan, a Welsh girl he meets at karate.

Word count: 4.3K

TWs: Angst, body image issues, thigh riding.

A/N: Thanks all for the lovely comments on the last part. I'm planning on posting every other day so that I can make the Christmas part line up with Christmas... but we'll see!

“We need to make you look so good there’s no way he can say no.”

Maria is a woman on a mission. She’s standing with her hands on her hips, eyeliner pencil between her teeth, looking like she’s planning a military operation. When she’d heard from Tegan what had happened she’d been annoyed and her protective instincts had kicked in, suggesting not going to Graceland and even not going back to karate until Elvis left again. But that wasn’t what Tegan wanted, not really. So she switched to second best, which is making Elvis sorry he’d said he just wanted to be friends. This had led her to turn up bright and early at Tegan’s flat to make her shower, shave, bluff, pluck… and anything else that she could think of. Nails are painted and whilst they wait for them to dry she tries in vain to get her friend to wear anything on her face other than a little mascara. 

Tegan shakes her head. “I’m terrible with make-up. I’ll just get it everywhere and eat all my lipstick off.”

Maria sighs but eventually decides to let it go, knowing she’ll have a battle on her hands anyway when it comes to choosing a swimsuit. And when the other woman comes out wearing a frumpy-looking one piece she knows she was right. 

“You can’t go in that. Why don’t you wear a bikini?”

“Lisa said swimsuit.”

“I think you’re taking that a bit literally. I’m sure she just meant swimming costume generally. She definitely didn’t mean that ugly thing.”

Tegan grumbles, looking down at her swimming costume. She doesn’t think it looks that bad, but she’ll have to let Maria win on something. She already conceded the make-up thing, she’ll probably make the clothes her hill to die on. She goes back into her room and changes into a pink two piece, which does look better, though it’s a bit bright. She’s not sure what possessed her to buy it in the first place, really. 

“Oh that looks good. What about that?”

Tegan screws her face up. “I dunno, Mar. It’s a bit… garish.”

“You’re a bit garish,” Maria jokes, gesturing at Tegan’s extensive tattoos. 

“Hmmmm. I don’t have to go in the pool, you know. I can’t swim. Maybe I’ll just conveniently forget my swimming stuff.”

Maria shakes her head. “No. He’s going to know what he’s missing out on.” She gets up and bodily pushes Tegan back into her room again. “Why don’t you try the black one on?”

The black one seems like the best option, even though Tegan can’t quite get her head around the idea of stripping off to what she considers her underwear in public. She’s never been big on bikinis on the beach either. After some debate she decides on a long floral summer dress, and spends the next half an hour curling her hair. 

“I don’t know why I’m doing this. I have to put it up anyway.”

“No you don’t. You look good with your hair down.”

“But it’s hot. And you want me to go in the pool.”

“Why don’t you arrive with your hair down and then put it up if you want to get in the pool?” 

Tegan groans. “Okay. Fine. But it’s your fault if I get there looking like a sweaty mess.”

Maria just decides to take that, resisting the temptation to talk about the air conditioning in the car. Some things just aren’t worth it. 

When she’s finally ready Tegan makes herself a gin and tonic and waits for an hour before leaving, chatting with her friend and drumming her fingers on the table impatiently. Maria had suggested it was better to make Elvis wait and she’d agreed, but she's nervous and she doesn't want all this extra time to think in. Graceland seems like such a fabled place, almost the stuff of dreams, that she can't quite believe she's going there. 

Maria gives her a big hug goodbye and some encouraging words before she sets off. She offers again to go with her, but Tegan thinks she should go on her own, since she was the only one who was strictly speaking invited. She doesn’t love talking to strangers, but at least Lisa will be there. And Elvis. He did say he wanted to spend more time with her, even if it was as friends. 

***

Elvis spends most of the day pacing about the house and trying to find things to keep his hands busy. And then when guests start to arrive, he insists on answering the door himself, every time wondering if it will be Tegan. On more than one occasion Sonny tries to tell him that he can just look and see who it is on the CCTV, but he’s not listening. The house is getting full and she still hasn’t arrived. Why did he let Lisa invite her? Or, more to the point, why did he say he wanted to see her as a friend? He doesn’t want to see her as a friend, that’s bullshit and he knows it. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he stands in the living room, watching people mingle. A friend is all she can be. He’s been down this road before and it ended terribly. He can’t put himself through that again. 

When the doorbell goes at around 4pm, Elvis strides over to the door as usual and flings it open. He’s so used to it not being Tegan, that when he looks and it is her he almost doesn’t recognise her. That, and the fact that she looks completely different out of her karate gear. Her dark brown hair is streaked with grey and frames her face in a sea of loose curls, and her eyes somehow look especially green. His eyes dart over her face and then trail down her body, and he can’t help noticing how good her breasts look in the long summer dress she’s wearing. He clears his throat and quickly looks back up again, but not before he sees her painted toenails. Cute feet, he thinks. He’d noticed them during class, but she didn’t usually paint her nails. 

“Well hi here.”

Tegan smiles. It’s hard not to smile at him. “Hi yourself. Can I come in?”

Elvis gestures dramatically with one arm, making her laugh a little. She steps inside the house and lets him lead her around, his hand on her elbow. He immediately starts introducing her to people, a sea of names she has no hope of remembering. Then he takes her outside, where there are sun loungers and even more people. She looks around, feeling a little overwhelmed at the sheer number of strangers, as he sits down on a lounger, striking up conversation with a couple of guys near him. She stands there awkwardly for a minute, before realising he’s expecting her to find somewhere else to sit. 

She wanders to the nearest free one, looking around for Lisa and sitting down when she fails to see her. People nearby introduce themselves and make a little idle chit chat, and then go back to talking to one another. She feels like everyone knows each other, and she’s the odd one out. Lying back on the lounger with her sunglasses on, she wonders why on earth she didn’t bring Maria, who absolutely thrives in this sort of situation. That’s why they were such good friends. Tegan doesn’t think of herself as an introvert, exactly. But she feels awkward in situations like this, and Maria definitely doesn’t. She just didn't expect quite this many people. Sighing softly, she thinks about how she's misinterpreted him again somehow. Will she ever learn?

Elvis isn’t that interested in this conversation with Sonny and Joe but he felt like he had to do something to stop Tegan sitting with him. Although now that’s all he wants, stealing little glances at her lying on her lounger, basking in the sun. He might’ve thought of her as a little cute before, but in that dress her body is becoming a bit of a distraction. He needs to take his mind off it. 

“Hey Charlie, let’s start a pool game!” He calls over to his old friend. 

Charlie’s enthusiasm for following Elvis’ instructions hasn’t dimmed over time, much to his wife’s irritation. He immediately shouts “yes boss!” strips down to his trunks and grabs the nearest inflatable ball. Elvis continues with the instructions, telling people to get into teams and explaining the rules which he’s mostly just made up on the spot. The noise and general jostling of her lounger make Tegan open her eyes again and sit up, trying to work out what’s going on. One of the women nearby turns to her. 

“You wanna join? They’re playing some kind of ball game in the pool.”

She doesn’t. She doesn’t want to strip off in front of people and she also doesn’t really like swimming pool games, since she can’t swim. But then she thinks of Maria’s voice in her head, telling her she has to show Elvis what he’s missing out on. And how long it took for the two of them to agree on a bikini. She should probably try and show willing, and at least this seems easier than making small talk about other people’s small children. 

“Yeah, why not.”

There are so many people chaotically stumbling around, taking their clothes off, shouting and some even pushing each other into the pool that Tegan feels like she gets in fairly unnoticed. Elvis notices though. He has to make an effort to keep his mouth from falling open. She has the most tattoos of any woman he’s ever seen, and as she turns to fold her dress up and place it on the lounger, he notices she has the best ass he’s seen in a long time too. He watches her get into the pool slowly and carefully, standing at the shallower end. This is actually not less distracting than her being on the lounger at all. This is a lot more distracting. The only solution is to cause as much chaos as possible. 

“Alright, let’s go!” He shouts, and then absolute pandemonium breaks loose. 

There are people diving for the ball left, right and centre, people being tackled, pushed under the water and all the while they’re shouting for some kind of judgement from Elvis as if he’s an impartial referee. But he just keeps changing the rules. Tegan looks in disbelief as it all unfolds around her. A lot of the guys are the same sort of age as Elvis and not all of them look in as good health as he does, so it’s somewhat alarming to see them behaving in such an unhinged way over a beach ball. He continues to make arbitrary decisions on scores and yells at the top of his lungs whenever one side seems to be clearly winning against the other. Tegan has a strong urge to put her fingers in her ears. She had imagined a much more sedate affair when she’d heard the words Saturday afternoon barbeque. She knew that Elvis and his friends had a reputation of being loud and even a bit obnoxious when they were younger, pulling pranks and playing games, but she hadn’t thought they’d still be doing it in their sixties. When everyone starts to slow down due to obvious tiredness Elvis suggests a five minute break and Tegan breathes a sigh of relief.

“Why don’t you get in here, E?” Someone calls. 

“Nah. I’m good.”

Sonny shakes his head, deciding he’s had enough of being told what to do for one day and getting out of the pool. 

“You’re going in. Up to you whether you take your shirt off first.”

Tegan watches as the pair of them scrap, laughing and slipping around on the edge of the pool before Sonny jumps back in and pulls Elvis, fully-clothed, in with him. 

“Sonofabitch,” Elvis laughs, whipping his head round to get his wet hair out of his eyes. 

Tegan can’t help smiling to herself seeing him so wet. It seems like justice since he’d been one of the primary instigators of making so much noise. 

“That’s what you get for not joining in,” she mutters. 

Elvis spins around, finding her right behind him. “Oh. Is that so, Queenie? Ya don’t look too wet yerself.”

Before she can say anything in response he starts splashing her. She squeals and jumps up to sit on the side of the pool, wiping her face with both hands. Grateful she didn’t take Maria’s advice and put a full face of make-up on. 

“You’re going to ruin my hair,” she tells him as he stands between her legs, a hand on either side of her hips on the side of the pool. “It took ages, you know.”

“It still looks good,” he tells her, unable to help himself gazing into her eyes. 

“Well I’m sure it looks better than yours right now,” she replies, a teasing smile on her face. 

“What d’ya mean?” He demands, fake outrage in his voice as he pushes it back from his face and tries to style it into the way he used to wear it in the 50s. “Ya don’t like this?” He curls his lip into a sneer and she cracks up immediately. He looks like one of those impersonators she sees at the seaside when she goes home. A middle-aged man pretending to be something he’s not. 

“I love it,” she replies, still sniggering. 

His eyes trail over her body almost against his will and hers linger on the way his wet shirt is clinging to his torso. He breathes out a little sigh. She looks so damn good in this bikini, he thinks. He has to move before he does something he regrets.

“Right, that’s enough rest for you reprobates. Back ta the game!”

Tegan lets go of the breath she didn’t realise she was holding, and slides back down into the pool for another round of fight to the death over a beach ball. She looks over at him a few times, now playing as well as deciding all the rules, and feels a tingling start between her legs. He looks good all wet, she thinks. She breathes out hard and narrowly avoids being hit in the face by the ball, dodging to the side and then getting out of the pool. That’s enough watersports for one day. 

She pulls on her cover up and lies back down in the sun, wondering again what’s going on with Elvis. He had looked so close to kissing her, but then changed his mind and went back to the game. She just can’t figure him out, and eventually she gives up trying, unable to work it out with just pure logic. Instead she wonders when this so-called barbeque will actually start. She tries asking a few people but only gets vague responses. She’s getting really hungry, but it seems like everyone else is just content to drink and play pool games, and she still can’t find Lisa, though she’s afraid to venture too far into the house. Elvis is still avoiding her, so she starts to wonder exactly what she’s doing here at all. She decides maybe it’s time to leave. 

“Elvis.” She stands next to his lounger, her bag on her arm. 

“Yes, honey.”

“I’m gonna go. I um… yeah I think I should go.”

She sees his face start to screw up in confusion and then decides she can’t manage this conversation and turns on her heel, quickly striding through the outdoor area and into the house. 

Lisa sees her walking through the house with her bag on her shoulder, heading for the door, and runs to where her dad is still sitting, dumbfounded. “If you don’t go after her, I will. And there’s no telling what I’ll say.”

Elvis sighs and gets up, picking his way through the people and their possessions, all strewn about the place. 

“Tegan! Tegan! Wait!”

She’s right at the front door, and she knows she could just open it and leave. But there’s that pull again, that magnetism. It’s like she’s powerless to resist him. She turns around, reluctantly, and finds him much closer than she’d imagined. He puts a hand on either side of her shoulders, against the door, almost pinning her there. He’s panting a little from moving so quickly and she can feel his breath on her face.

“Don’t go, Queenie.”

His wet hair flops down into his face and his blue eyes stare deeply into hers. She feels like a tiny insect under a microscope, trapped beneath his gaze.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Elvis. I can’t take these mixed signals anymore and I… I just want to go home. Everything here is so… loud.”

As if to prove her point, there’s a loud bang from outside and then a cheer. 

Elvis carries on looking at her in that intense way, really wanting her to stay now.

“Okay, they are a little loud,” he concedes. “Sorry, honey. And I… I’m sorry ‘bout the other thing, too. But I don’t want ya t‘leave.”

His eyes flick down to her lips and then back to her eyes. He can’t help himself. The way her cover-up is sticking to her wet bikini top, making it see-through, is driving him crazy and all he wants to do is kiss her. And then run his fingertips all over her body.

He’s so close she can feel the heat radiating off him. There’s something in his eyes that makes her think he’s going to kiss her, and then when she looks back at him he does, soft lips pressing gently against hers. He pulls back, and before he can ask if that was okay, she’s tugging his head back down to crash their mouths together this time. Elvis Presley is kissing her in the doorway of Graceland. And he’s just as good a kisser as the girls’ annuals and gossip magazines when she was a teenager suggested he might be. His tongue explores her mouth patiently and gently whilst hers presses urgently deeper and deeper, her hand on the back of his neck pulling him in closer. She wants all of him. She wants this kiss to just go on forever. 

When they eventually pull apart, they stare at one another breathlessly for a minute and then both giggle, like teenagers. 

“C’mon. Yer not gonna leave now, are ya?” Elvis asks.

She smiles. “No, I guess not. Although I’m going to have to have some of this promised barbeque food soon, I’m starving.”

“Thought ya seemed a little hungry,” he teases, taking her hand and pulling her back outside. 

***

Elvis instructs someone or other to fire up the barbeque and manages to tear himself away from talking to everyone else to spend some time with Tegan. After actually being fed and drinking more than a few cocktails, Tegan and Lisa get to talking and by the time she looks around the party has really thinned out. She sees Elvis laying back on a lounger, surveying the mess and listening to the dying sounds of the party inside. She gets up and wanders towards him and he spreads his legs, patting the space between them. 

“C’mere.”

Despite the kissing and the cocktails, Tegan is still not about to sit right up against someone unless they specifically ask, so she settles somewhere near the bottom of the lounger. Elvis shakes his head and clicks his tongue, grabbing her hips and pulling her towards him so that she’s right between his legs, her back against his chest. It’s one of his old moves that he barely thinks twice about, although he really hasn’t tried it for a long time. It works though, she relaxes against him, smiling at the feeling of him wrapped around her, his arms around her waist. 

He kisses her temple. He’s missed touching a woman like this, but he can feel it all coming back to him like riding a bike. “Y’look so good, Tegan,” he murmurs in her ear. 

She giggles. “It’s Teh-gaan,” she teases. 

He squeezes her more tightly and exaggerates the Welsh pronunciation in her ear, his breath tickling her. “Teeeeehhhh-gaaaaan.”

She keeps giggling, trying to wriggle away from his tickling lips. “Stop it! Ha!”

He kisses underneath her ear and thinks of something. “Is it Welsh? What does it mean?”

She nods. “It means darling. Or, loved one. Or, literally, toy.”

Elvis’ eyes light up and he nuzzles her neck. “Little Tegan,” he murmurs. 

“Tegan bach,” she replies. 

“What?”

“That’s “little darling” in Welsh.”

“Say it again.”

She turns her head to look at him. “Tegan bach. You have to make a noise like a cat hissing. Chhhhhh.”

They both snigger, and Tegan thinks that this is her favourite way to be with him. When his face is all scrunched up with amusement and his eyes are shining. When he’s looking at her like she’s the only girl in the world.

“Tegan bach,” he tries, and it’s not a bad attempt. 

“Yeah. That’ll do.”

She lies back down again and he nuzzles into her neck again too. There’s something very comforting about it for both of them, and part of both of them wants to stay in this position forever. But that’s not practical. 

“I should go home,” she says, after a while. 

Elvis sighs. If he were much younger he’d definitely have asked her to stay. But she’s probably right about going home. 

“Can I drive you?”

“Yes please. I’ve had too many margaritas to do it myself.”

They walk towards the front door together, Tegan gathering her things on the way. Elvis tells Sonny what he plans to do, and that he’ll call when he gets there so someone can pick him up and take him back to Graceland. Luckily Sonny had decided not to drink, having the feeling he might be needed for some foolish task or other. He doesn’t like Elvis doing this kind of thing, although he’s bothered a lot less by fans than he used to be, it still seems like an unnecessary risk. On the other hand, he hasn’t shown this much interest in a woman for a long time. So Sonny just nods and says he’ll wait for the call. 

There aren’t many dedicated gate fans nowadays, and certainly not at this time of night, so no-one sees Elvis driving a woman out of Graceland in her car. As soon as they’re clear of the gates he pulls Tegan closer to him, his arm around her shoulders for most of the journey. She’s not sure that’s exactly safe, but she likes the way it feels so she doesn’t say anything. 

She lets him into her apartment so that he can use the phone, and once he’s got hold of Sonny he sits down in her armchair. 

“He’ll be fifteen or so. Why don’tcha c’mere?”

Once again, Tegan isn’t sure exactly what he means, and she thinks it’s a bit forward to just sit on his lap, so she walks towards him until she’s stood between his spread thighs. He shakes his head a little and with what she considers to be a surprising show of strength, picks her up with his hands on her waist and plonks her down so she’s sat straddling his thigh. She rests her hands lightly on his shoulders, trying to steady herself as she feels her heart beating out of her chest. 

“Can’t take my eyes off ya,” he tells her, his hands running all over her body. 

She blushes, then leans forward and captures his lips in another kiss. Smiling against her, his big hands run up her thigh, her back. 

“Can ya take this off?” He mumbles against her lips, pulling lightly at the sleeve of the cover-up. 

She nods and pulls it up and over her head, sitting there in just her bikini now. He can tell how much she likes kissing so he pulls her into another passionate one, feeling as she responds, her hands on the back of his neck, tongue exploring his mouth. She starts to rock her hips just a little, enjoying the feeling of rubbing herself against him. She loves the way his hands hold her, with just the right amount of pressure. One makes its way to her hip and starts to help manoeuvre her, dragging her against him. She breathes a little harder and presses her body against his, leaning her head on his shoulder. His fingers grip her hips as his other hand moves there too, rolling her pussy against his leg. He tries to listen for her reaction, but she’s so quiet he can’t tell if she’s getting anywhere. 

“Is it good, honey?”

Tegan breathes out a little sigh. “Yeah.”

He kisses her neck as he carries on moving her, bouncing his leg a little at the same time, listening as her breathing gets faster and louder and she lets out a tiny moan. 

“Relax, baby. Yer all tense.” 

He can feel her body, taut like a bow, like she’s straining for something. She is. It’s good, but it’s not getting her anywhere, and she can feel herself getting frustrated. Just then, there’s a bang at the door. Sonny. She jumps up and reaches for her cover-up, pulling it back over her head. 

“You better go.”

Elvis is stunned at how quickly she moved. And he can’t remember the last time he left a woman unsatisfied. 

“I uh… Sonny can wait y’know. If ya wanna finish.”

Tegan laughs. “Sonny’ll be waiting until the sun comes up at this rate.”

She sees Elvis’ reaction and immediately realises what she’s said, putting her hand over her face. “I didn’t mean… it’s not your fault. It’s me. I’m like this.”

Elvis shakes his head, getting up and putting his arms around her. God, he really wants to stay. If only he could. “Not your fault at all honey, I rushed it. I’ll take my time, next time.”

Tegan looks at him, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, next time, is it?”

“Mmmm.” He pulls her into another kiss and she feels dizzy. 

There’s another bang at the door. 

“You better go.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Elvis puts his lips to her ear again and murmurs, “think of me while ya finish, hm?”

Tegan grins, letting him kiss her goodbye and then watching as he walks down the stairs to the door. 

It wouldn’t be the first time, she thinks to herself.

***

Part 3

Taglist:

@vintagepresley @arg-xoxo @from-memphis-with-love @msamarican @blursedblegh @returntopresley @eapep @everythingelvispresley @i-r-i-n-a-a @sissylittlefeather @arrolyn1114 @jhoneybees @cattcb @polksaladava @lookingforrainbows @jkdaddy01 @ccab @epthedream69 @lustnhim @elvisslut @pomtherine @that-hotdog @ladelinee @angschrof @fairybloodsucker @deltafalax @makethemorning @elviswhore69 @ilovequeen978 @wildhorseinkansas @pocketfulofpresley @dkayfixates @iloveelvisss

[steamberrystudio]

08/06/2025 Devlog

Hello everyone! Back to update here again though it's been longer than it should be. I really thought I'd updated here like...a couple of weeks ago but turns out...no.

It's been over a month. How it's been a whole month, I don't know. That timeline does not make sense in my brain.

So you might be asking why I don't just set up reminders for myself. And the answer to that, my friend, is...I have reminders. The problem with regular automatic reminders is that over time they stop being effective. I literally do not notice them.

And that's kind of where my google calendar reminders are at the moment. I get them and my brain refuses to acknowledge them. I do update Patreon weekly (most of the time. I won't pretend I don't occasionally forget over there too) and Itch monthly. It's just that juggling multiple update avenues is tricky.

ANYWAY. I went through recently to clean up some of my reminders because I hope that getting fewer of them will make it so I actually notice the ones I'm getting.

We'll see.

Life with ADHD. Huzzah.

But let's jump into the actual update.

Summary Bullets:

Finished both new sprites for Chapter 6

Released the Chapter 6 beta

Made some corrections based on testing

Worked on the Ch 6 game guide

Made a Ch 6 teaser *points*

Finished Yren's character teaser.

Started somewhat working on Ch 7 here and there to get a head start.

Art:

Since my last update, the big "art things" I've done include - finishing the character teasers. I don't even know which was the last one I posted here. I may have only posted like...two on tumblr. But they all exist so there's that!

I finished the teaser for Chapter 6...Again. *points*

And I completed the two sprites I needed for Chapter 6.

Since Ch 6 doesn't have any CGs, I didn't have to worry about doing any of those so I've been able to focus elsewhere but there wasn't, ultimately, much art to worry about this time around in the first place.

Writing:

Finished and coded all of the POV scenes - about 10,000 words of content total.

The POV scenes this time around revolve around the love interests reflecting on the events of Chapter 5 and how they are beginning to feel (or how they have been feeling for a while now) about the MC.

The Chapter 6 update - including the bonus scenes - ends up bringing around 43,000 words of new content to the game, pushing the total released content to over 250,000 words.

A bit under 50% of the current total.

Of course, because the scenes are tied to Chapter 5, you have to replay to unlock them. I still haven't figured out how to do that retroactively yet. Since I haven't even decided what all the bonus scenes will be or where they will go.

Though I guess a slightly clunky method does come to mind.

Anyway, that's a problem for Future!Me.

Other Stuff:

Since my last update, I obviously did a ton of coding - finished all the sprite expressions, finished setting up the flowchart, finished glossary articles and translations and all of that. And just basically got the route fully functional.

I also fixed some errors and bugs - like one that was breaking the glossary.

I added a new toggle for the sound notification for the glossary articles. Because there are now glossary articles with descriptive text that unlock for every location and person you meet (for accessibility reasons), the sound notification is a bit intense at the start of the game. So I thought it was best to allow people to turn it off.

And of course, the fact that I released the beta version to testers on Patreon means I have been correcting some typos in that as well.

Fortunately it doesn't seem like there are any huge bugs this time around.

...SO FAR. LoL

But it's only been a week so...who knows?

Upcoming Weeks:

I will probably be releasing the EA version before my next update here even if I post the update on time. I am thinking within a week or so.

I need to focus on getting the game guides done before EA so that will be my main focus for the next couple of days, and beyond that I'll continue to fix any errors or mistakes testers find.

And, of course, also getting the preliminary parts of Chapter 7 set up in advance of really buckling down to work on it..

(Currently working on staging the sprite positions and appearances in Chapter 7)

If Chapter 6 is the set up for upcoming plot events, Chapter 7 is where things start falling into place and some of the many, many theories people have come up with start being proven or disproved.

Chapter 6 is likely to be the shortest episode I release. I had thought about releasing it along with Ch 5 or with Ch 7. But the problem is that Chapter 5 and Chapter 7 are both *really long*

Chapter 9 is technically shorter than Chapter 6 but I think I'm going to release Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 together.

If I do that, it means 4 more episodes and each one will be...really big.

Chapter 7 - 75k

Chapters 8 & 9 - 90k

Chapter 10 - 89k

Chapters 11, 11, & 13 - 114k

And that's without any bonus scenes or additional endings or anything.

I think it's a nice breathing space for me before we get into the monster episodes which is...all that's left (unless I break up the two multi-chapter episodes, which I may end up doing for sanity. WHO KNOWS. There are pros and cons either way.)

Anyway. That is all for now.

I will see you guys in a few weeks. *wave*

[fetching-sketching]

long-ass post ahead so i'll put it under a cut but basically this is a ninjago superhero au with drawings explaining stuff because i couldn't get it out of my head ok lets go

it's kind of a fusion between regular ninjago, movie ninjago and superhero elements. the ninja work as a protective force of ninjago city and are in some sort of superhero training program where the dr kids are the underclassmen and some of the other realms are basically rival training programs. the main six ninja are essentially on a work study (the costume designs are very first pass here, i just wanted to get ideas onto a page and i'll work on them from there).

we'll start with zane since he was the first one i drew. when he activates his power it slows time down for him and speeds up his cognition, so he's essentially moving at 2x speed and thinking at 4x speed compared to everyone else. he can't activate it for long, however, because it very rapidly drains his body heat. his costume is designed to keep him warm and there's heating pads in the coat he can turn on and off. he's the best guy for time-critical crisis situations, but he can hold his own in a fight, too.

next is nya! she can turn her body into water, fully or partially. when she's in full water mode, she can travel through regular water as well. one of her signature moves is turning a single arm into a water whip. she also uses her water form to evade attacks as well. her suit is pretty similar to that of a scuba suit for ease of transporting and getting back into her suit when she goes in and out of her water form. she can't control water that isn't 'her', but she can move it around if that makes sense? like how we can move water with are hands but if our hands were also water. anyways she mainly works around the shoreline but can help in a lot of other situations as well. her favorite trick is instead of taking the stairs, she'll jump from a roof and turn into water before she hits the ground so she doesn't get hurt. (i'm not the most pleased with her suit since it is basically just a scuba suit, so i'll revise it to something more interesting).

onto lloyd! he can draw energy from any living thing and turn it into an energy blast. it's really simple, almost a bit too simple so i'm more open to changing it in the future. idk, if it works it works i guess. he can draw energy from things other than himself but he's paranoid of hurting others so he strictly draws energy from himself. he can blast the energy like he does in the show or he pop it when he's still holding it to maneuver himself when he's in the air. with enough concentration he can even double jump. he's kind of a generalist, working wherever he's needed, acting as a sort of comfort figure for people whenever they see him. i felt that if any of the ninja could have a costume reminiscent of their show gi, it would be lloyd.

jay's turn! whenever he generates static electricity, he stores it in his body until he releases it as a single bolt. the amount of electricity he can store is theoretically infinite, but he can only release the electricity all at once, so if he stores up too much its no bueno. periodically throughout the day he has to release whatever he's built up, which is rather annoying. once he learns how to control his output it's over for everyone, he'll be unstoppable. he used to have his regular combover hair but when his powers came in it got all curly and wild. no amount of water, gel, or brushing can tame it. his powers come with a rather neat immunity to electricity. he's a generalist like lloyd, although he skews a little towards more fights than anything else. one time the local hospital lost power and he spent three hours powering the backup generators before they got the power up and running again. he hates it, but one of the fastest ways for him to build up a charge is to rub his hair with his gloves on. he thinks it makes him look stupid. he can have a stereotypical hero costume. as a treat.

kai's turn! his is pretty basic too, but i feel like it fits him. he can light himself on fire. that's pretty much it. once the fire catches on something that isn't him he can't control it anymore, so he has to be careful about it. he has a flamethrower he uses mainly for combat, so he doesn't always go out with it on. the most useful part of his power is his immunity to fire and heat, so he responds to a lot of fire calls. however, he's not immune to smoke, so he keeps a face mask in his pack with him to combat that. since breathing fire is more of a european dragon thing rather than an eastern dragon thing, he has some knight elements in his costuming as well. tbh i'm not sure if i'm gonna keep it, ninjago is obviously very eastern-inspired and there's probably other motifs i could explore rather than medieval knight, but it was the first idea that came to mind and my main goal, again, was just to put pen to paper and get stuff down.

last and most certainly not least is cole! he can cover himself in a rocky outer skin, where the strength and durability of whatever areas that are covered are boosted. currently, he can't cover much of his body, his maximum is just about enough to completely cover both of his arms, but he's working on upping the amount. he works a lot of disaster situations, such earhtquakes, building collapsses, and other similar situations. his costume is based a lot on early 20th century mining uniforms, and same as nya it doesn't offer a lot more, so i'll do more with it in further revisions. cole is the one i've thought the most about with the story. his mother was a very well-known hero who protected ninjago city as well, but she sustained and eventually succumbed to an injury she sustained on the field. cole wants to follow her footsteps, but lou is pretty opposed to him going into the same field that killed his mother. he's being allowed to do the work study, but just barely, and it's an unspoken rule that lou will pull him from the work study if he gets injured whatsoever.

obviously i'm still working out a lot of the kinks but the powers, which are the most interesting part to me, are pretty much done and dusted! i have so many characters thought out you wouldn't believe. pixal and morro should be next, but after that i'm not sure. lmk if there's any specific character you wanna see done next because chances are i've thought them through!

[hawkland]

SciFi Valley Con, what a weekend!

I need to share this somewhere because it was all so amazing, I'm still a bit dazed .

First, behold this set up, because holy shit was it a lot of work!

So, on to the details. Back in Charlotte, I'd promised both DJ and Ruth tote bags with my Garth & Rowena art, respectively (they'd seen other people carrying them around but I'd sold out before they stopped by looking for one.) Didn't know if they'd actually remember BUT Friday at SFVC was fairly slow so I went to get my autographs and hunt them down. First I went up to DJ who, as soon as he saw the tote bag, came rushing out from behind his table to give me a big hug. "I don't care if it's egotistical I'm carrying this around all weekend!" All Friday he had it out on his table, too, so that it ended up in one of the con's promo videos on Instagram.

Next up was Rick...who was just a doll, taking his time with each and every person! I was just going to get an autograph for myself but as soon as I showed him the painting he was just literally speechless for a while, came around to give me a hug, asked his handler to take that picture he posted on Instagram, I gave him a print and we chatted a bit but I felt bad taking up too much time. (I did go back on Sunday to get an autograph for Mr. Hawkland's office and totally cracked him up with my/our usual request for something mentioning feet, since the hubster is a podiatrist.)

Then I saw Ruth briefly had no line so I dashed over and handed her her bag and she was immediately all "Oh! Oh! Emily, come over here!" (Emily Swallow was signing the next station over.) "This is the artist who has that lovely painting of the two of us I was showing you!"

I'm now like....wait a minute...they're showing each other MY ART?!?!?! I knew Ruth liked the piece — it was the one I did for the femmeslash bang claimed by @father-salmon — Emily immediately slips out from her table where she had a long line and was like, "Hi I'm Emily" to shake my hand and I'm like OMFG I KNOW YOU ARE and they were just both being so sweet I could've cried. Ruth was asking if it would be ok if they made copies of that piece available for signing (like, absolutely?!?! I'M the one skirting the edge selling these prints...) Anyway, Ruth let me pick out a picture to get signed for free, I ran back to my table to get the new Amara piece I'd done signed by Emily and to print her prints of each. And she wouldn't even let me pay for getting it autographed either, just was being so kind, I mentioned how Season 11 is my favorite and how much I've come to enjoy Amara every time I rewatch and then she wouldn't let me leave without a hug. *sob* Saturday morning she even stopped by the table to look at more of my stuff up close and tell me how Ruth was carrying her bag around everywhere.

Oh and Sunday morning before we opened for the day, I'd just set up and stepped out to get something to drink, come back in and Mark Sheppard is at my table by my Crowley prints and postcards talking with his handler. He was like "Yeah I've signed a lot of these" and was surprised the big banner print hadn't sold yet (so was I). He actually remembered signing the original paintings back in Pittsburg 2-3 years ago, I do not know how he remembers these things.

Anyway. Sales were kind of meh since the crowd was only very partially an SPN crowd BUT I cannot remember having such wonderful interactions with guests/actors ever like this. It's a little freaky because it hit that the Creation con regulars (DJ, Ruth, Mark) definitely know & remember me. And I guess that's a good thing? I suppose we'll see how it all unfolds next year as this was my last con for 2024 (next year I'm planning on doing SPN Boston, New Jersey, Novi, Philly and maybe Chicago too.)

[takerfoxx]

Hey guys, I'm back.

I'm fine. The break was good for me. Still having to come to terms with the fact that I'm going to be living in what is basically a christofascist state, and I'm deeply disappointed in the choices of a lot of people who frankly should have known better. But at this point, it is what it is. Probably not going to be talking anymore politics for a while while hoping that something happens so things change.

Anyway, did a lot of writing while I was away, and have some stories that I'll be dolling out over the new few weeks/months. Most of them will be (After)Life installments, because I guess post-apocalyptic polyamory is my go-to comfort topic when I'm in a bad mood, but there'll be some other things as well.

Speaking of which! If you'll recall, I said that I was going to step away from my main fics until I got a book published. The reason for that is I wanted to keep myself accountable and focus my work on original fiction. However, circumstances have changed. I'm currently working with both a professional editor and a weekly writer's group to keep things going on the book, which means the no long-form fanfiction rule isn't necessary anymore.

So, here's the plan for 2025.

First, I'm finally getting those spin-offs knocked out. Swiftly Descending Darkness is first on the docket, followed by the Walpurgis Nights rewrite. And when those are finally out of the way, we'll go back to the old schedule of alternating between Imperfect Metamorphosis and Resonance Days.

As for Blood Island, that's filed under, "Want to and will when I can, but I'm not sure when that'll be."

Okay, other stuff that I've been up to. Still watching Re Zero and loving it. Seriously, Subaru, Homura, Rika Furude, and Shinpei Ajiro should form a support group for torturous resurrection victims. Arcane season 2 came and went. Personally, I feel the first season was better, as this one had some pacing issues and way too many needle-drops, but overall it was still really damned good, and I'm still smug over how closely I called the CaitVi sex scene.

Started playing the Final Fantasy 7 remake and am liking it so far, though I'm so busy these days that I can only really play on my days off.

On the HoloLive side of things, I am bummed about Chloe and Fauna leaving, and I really hope that the management issues get smoothed out. On the other hand, I got tickets to Calli's California show, and am incredibly excited!

Been working out a lot, and am in probably the best shape of my life. Seriously, I know it's a cliche, but regular exercise and a healthy diet has done wonders for my mental health, though of course it's not the fix for everyone's problems, it just helped me a lot.

Anyway, it's good to be back, so let's focus on getting through the next few years together.

[keepsmagnetoaway]

Amazing Spider-Man 203 (April 1980)

Marv Wolfman/Keith Pollard

If I'm reading my queue right, this post will publish almost a year after this whole project started, which feels like a good moment to get back into the swing of things with the main chronological X-Men storyline. Our long, mostly miserable slog through the prehistory of the X-Men is over, and we are finally back in the regular publication timeline, fresh off Days of Future Past, the arrival of Kitty Pryde and the transformation of the X-Men's status quo, preparing to read the comics of the early 80s, widely considered the defining era for the team, as they branched out into complex, far-reaching storylines, launched new ongoing books, and deepened characters and relationships. First, though, we're going to read a shit-ton of Dazzler comics.

How does she get involved in stuff like this? As we discussed when she was first introduced, incongruously, during the Dark Phoenix Saga, Dazzler was a strange piece of editorial fiat who Marvel were desperately trying to make happen in 1980 (some time after disco had died), and as a consequence she was showing up everywhere for a while. Which is why we are "returning" to the X-Men timeline by reading a Spider-Man comic.

The plot of this issue is not important - it involves Dazzler and Spidey battling a D-list Spidey villain - but Dazzler's appearance here is another example of the big push she was getting: here she is, appearing alongside Marvel's biggest hero, immediately before the launch of her own ongoing series (which is what we're reading next), being laboriously explained to readers.

I've talked at length about Dazzler alredy and and we'll talk more about her soon - oh boy, will we talk more about her soon - but really what struck me about this issue was how bad it is in general. Look at this art! Is this what Spider-Man comics were like at this time? Imagine picking up a John Byrne X-Men issue and this in the same week!

It's horrible to the point of being inadvertently extremely funny. What exactly is going on here, and should it be being shown in a comic aimed at children, hmm?

Keith Pollard drew this title for like twenty issues in a row, which is a pretty long run, and honestly yikes. Also - and this really is just a lead-in to the stuff we're going to talk about when we read her own title - but the sexual harrassment stuff here is just relentless. Here's how the issue ends!

That loveable old Peter Parker! So anyway, yeah, welcome back to my blog, 'All Dazzler, All The Time'. Next up, we read her solo title. Maybe someday we'll go back to the actual X-Men.

[iacyper9]

Structures of the Platoon and Leadership Roles and Responsibilities

Hello folks, welcome to Theo's Tactics Training Corner (name wip). Due to the amount of mildly insane "tactics" I have seen, both in action and on the page, I have decided to start posting these small "lessons" in tactics and the Army in general, so we fellow writers can be as accurate as possible in the future when writing combat and PLT level ops.

A note, you can find all of this information online, so I'm pretty sure it's fine to share. I guess we'll see, most of my stuff doesn't usually get to much traction anyway, so hopefully the US government doesn't come a-knocking.

I am using the TACSOP (Tactical Standard Operating Procedure) from my school, ATP 3-21.8 (Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad) as well as various other resources for this to make these as detailed as possible.

Now, to start. (This is a lot of words, prepare to read a bunch)

We will be talking about INFANTRY Platoons in this situation; things may differ depending on what the platoon (PLT) is. Signal or Military Intelligence is going to be very different from each other. So, in this scenario, we're talking infantry.

An Infantry PLT is made up of your PLT HQ, 3 Infantry Squads (SQD), and a Weapons Squad. Now, which squads are which depends on your SOP, but Tiger Battalion (my school) dictates that WEPSQD is always squad 3, Security is Squad 4 (in the back), and Assault 1 and 2 (ASS1 and ASS2) are squads 1 and 2 respectively. Each squad consists of a Squad Leader (SQDLDR), 2 Team Leaders (TMLDR), and two teams (Alpha and Bravo). Each team consists of a Team Leader, a Gunner (the M240), an Assistant Gunner (AG), a Grenadier, and a Rifleman. Each squad should have 9 (Marines have 13).

Side note: It's 2 fireteams to a Squad, 2 Squads to a Section, 2 Sections to a Platoon, 2 Platoons to a Company (2 is the minimum for a Company, there's usually more).

Here's a really blurry picture showing the breakdown, I apologize for the quality (or lack thereof).

From here on out I will be referring to positions with abbreviations, and regular grunts will be called "Joes"

Now, a TMLDR is the hardest working dude in the Army. He (I am using He as a general catch all, any pronoun can be used) is in charge of making sure all his Joes are good. He leads his team in fire and movement, controlling where and how much they shoot, ensures security of the operation area, assists the SQDLDR, enforces discipline among the Joes, determines combat load of the team and its available classes of supply, and understands the mission two levels up (SQD/PLT). Not only is the TMLDR expected to know all of this, but he is expected to step up as SQDLDR or PSG (Platoon Seargent) if they get shot.

The SQDLDR direct the TMLDR's and is the next in the CoC. He is a subject matter expert in the mission and drills, knows what his squad has for weapons and supply, uses control measures for direct fire, indirect fire, and tactical movement, controls the movement of the squad, selects the fire teams general location and temporary sectors of fire, fights the close fight by fire and movement with two fire teams, communicates timely and accurate situation reports (SITREPs) and status reports including SALUTE reports and SPOTREPs. Communicates status to PL (PLT Leader) including location, progress, situation, and security, supply status. Conducts TLP's (Troop Leading Procedures), assumes the duties of the PSG or PL, and understands the mission and commander's intent two levels up (PLT and Company).

The Weapons Squad Leader, the Weasel, is the senior squad leader, second only to the PSG. He does all the duties of a SQDLDR, but also controls fires and establishes fire control measures, recommends medium machine gun employment to PL, coordinates with PL for machine gun base-of-fire, monitors ammo expenditure, acts as PSG when needed, conducts TLP's, and understands the mission two levels up (PLT and Company).

The PSG (Platoon Sergeant) is the overworked dad of the PLT. He is the most experienced NCO and 2nd in command. He is in charge of the welfare of the troops, and is expected to be the standard. He traditionally is expected to do the following: ensure the PLT is prepared to accomplish the task, updates PL on appropriate reports and forwards reports to higher HQ as needed, takes charge of task organized elements in the PLT during tactical ops, positions where best needed to help with engagement, monitors morale, discipline, and health of PLT, receives SQDLDR's reports, requests supply, ensures maintaining of all equipment, manages unit's combat load, establishes casualty collection point (CCP), upholds the standard for PLT discipline, and understands the mission and commander's intent two levels up (Company and Battalion). He also takes over the PL spot if the PL goes down.

The Platoon Leader (PL) is usually the "new kid on the block". A 2LT, don't get his rank mixed up with the PSG's experience. As Captain Rex said, "Experience outranks everything.". That PSG has been in for 17 years, they know stuff. The PL works with the PSG to do the following: Lead PLT in supporting the higher HQ missions, conduct TLP's, Maneuver squads and fighting elements, synchronize efforts of the squads, looks ahead to the next "move", request and control assets, works with SQDLDR's that 360 security is maintained, issues accurate reports, works with the Weasel to control emplacement of key weapons systems, place himself where he is most needed to accomplish the mission, assigns tasks and purpose to squads, understands the mission two levels up (Company and Battalion), receives on-hand status reports from PSG and SQDLDR's, coordinates and assists in the development of the plan, oversees property management.

The Radio Telephone Operator.... We'll save him for a different day because there is so much to talk about on that. Same thing with the PLT Medic.

And there you have it, PLT organization and roles. Hope you enjoyed, @waywardwizzard this first one is for you.

Also, US Government, if you're reading this... please don't track me down.

[simmancy]

Happy Spooky Season, pumpkaboos! 

Here’s what’s happening this month / going forward on simmancy-dot-tumblr-dot-com.

𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜! 👋

Hi there if you’re new! My name is Kit, I am 32 now, this is my simblr, I am active on and off. If any of that bothers you, unfollow, it's okay! If you're here because I posted a mod list or a random piece of CC you like, then I have good news - I do those things occasionally! When I am actively posting, I usually dabble in gameplay. I don't do much storytelling anymore because... well, I don't have the time!

𝚂𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎 🍬

I have SOME stuff I've been poking at in my ~spare time~. I love Simblreen, it's the best time of the year imo and it's just... a tradition. It's a tradition. So I'm going to try 🤞

I have been writing out a mod list centered around occults/spooky gameplay at least. So that's seasonally appropriate????? If you have a mod list request hit my inbox because I still fucking LOVE WCIFs and that's a sort of WCIF.

𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 🎃

This year (and likely going forward), I'm going to try to use my blog to showcase the community. There's SO many cool things in the ts4 tag!! So I've been scouring it at the dead of night to refill my queue 👻 That's what you can mainly expect this month. No CAS challenges, no CC challenges, just some creepies and kookies from others around simblr.

𝚁𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 🌕

Hi regular followers!! I’m so sorry if you've been here a long time, because I don't have much updates on my ~classic~ gameplays and saves and they just...... won't be. For a while.

Not So Perry... I have a bit of Gen 4 but I haven't played in a whiiiiile so. I might revisit that/redo/we'll see.

Star x Crossed is indefinitely on hold - I will probably revise how that was posting because the full episodes just aren't possible right now. I might do it more as like... an edit type thing, where the edits tell the stories or whatever. It SUCKS because I had really big hopes and dreams for that save and instead I... had a child.

The Nobel ABCs will return because I have 10 generations done in game. I just need to queue.

Maggie's Wonderful Life WILL eventually be done LMAO. I'm hoping to get back into that save soonish. I LOVE farming gameplay! So I want to play/finish it. I had about half of the introductions shot before I got distracted with other things and then... well. yeah.

New saves? When I manage to play, I play a lot of newer saves LMAO. Mostly because when I have time right now I need... something easy.

𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚄𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 🔮

I decided I like doing this once a year Simmancy Newsletter during my favorite time of the year. Halloween remains the BEST season, and there's also no guarantee I won't drop off the face of the planet again.

Obv the main thing is that, as previously stated, I had a baby. A whole ass baby. She's now 3 months old, and she is so much in the best way. We're currently teething and if you're like "Kit that seems a bit early," you're absolutely right but this is the lot I've drawn in life. She likes to be sat up, and stood up, and to talk to the Baby in the Mirror. She also is obsessed with trees and the cat. I know new moms are annoying and I'm absolutely that annoying new mom, I literally cannot shut up about her and therefore make my sims blog also about her.

I go back to work next month and I'm absolutely dreading it. Can I just be a sim and have someone press motherlode for me? Please?

Otherwise, there's very little in Kit World. The past 6 simblr years remain wonderful, and I've met some of my best friends on here. I go between BG3 and Sims when I have game time (which isn't a lot because Baby Simmancy is increasingly awake and mobile). I WISH I had more time to hang around here but maybe in a year or so.

Anyway, that’s my update of the year. Happy spooky season everybody! I hope it’s a good one!

Stay safe & spooky out there!

[alex51324]

Spring Cabin Trip Report!

This time I stayed at Clear Creek State Park. It's right near Cook Forest--basically attached to it, except the parts that are attached don't have roads in them, so to get from one to the other you have to go the long way around, unless you happen to be in a boat. Anyway, it's in the northwestern portion of the state; same general area as where I was for the eclipse, just not quite as far.

Here we are on the approach to the cabin:

This park has several cabins arranged along the bank of the Clarion river, and thenuphill from those there's another row of four, which are the ones that allow dogs.

Here's the front view:

I picked this cabin in part because of its very convenient situation--you have the water point right there, and then the little building in the background, if you look between the cabin and my minivan, is the latrines. It also has a lot of stonework, inside and out, and the other best feature is the outdoor fireplace:

This ended up not being as important as I would have thought, because I had the best weather I've ever had on a spring trip. The only time it rained was after midnight going into Saturday morning. So I could have used the regular fire ring every night--but it worked out; it was pretty chilly the first two nights, and it was warmer than it would have been in the open, on the porch with that wooden settle drawn up to the fire. And then on the third night I made chicken and dumplings (thanks @griseldagimpel for the suggestion!) which required me to build up a big fire and let it burn all the way down to coals, so it was handy to be able to use the fire ring for cooking and the fireplace for sitting at.

Going inside, there's two rooms, a main room and a bedroom. First thing when you go in is the table:

And that's the bedroom you can see there on the right. Keep turning to the right, and here's the kitchen area:

These are the "rustic" cabins, which have electricity and kitchen appliances, but you have to tote water from outside. Continue rotating to the right...

This cabin is particularly well-provided with storage, with the dresser next to the stove and then the hutch beyond that. Rotate a bit further, and here's the fireplace:

This park has converted the old fireplaces to gas, rather than the woodstoves that they more often have, which is less picturesque, but a great deal more practical on cold nights. I also like the little stone ledge they have sticking out on the side there. I used it for my dishes & cutlery & tea things hamper:

And over on the other side I put my dishwashing station:

And here's a bit of environmental storytelling for you:

Really makes you wonder what people were doing with the beds! This cabin has one bedroom, containing two double beds and one set of bunks--not an arrangement I've ever seen before, in a state park cabin!

The bunk beds are there on the right; we'll turn a little that way...

I'm not really sure how else you could arrange the beds, if you were to decide to defy the three separate signs telling you not to, unless maybe people were moving one of them into the other room.

Now we'll head back out:

Oh look, there's a sleepy Sophie!

I will do another post tomorrow about Activities, but before we go, let's take a quick look at the river:

This was a short hike that we did on the first day, after we arrived and flung all of our stuff out of the car. You walk upriver for a bit, and there's this interesting little...I would call it a sandbar if there was any sand involved? A narrow strip of land about a yard/meter or so from the bank:

That's the upstream end of it, which comes to a point, and then the downstream end widens out like this:

I walked up and down there for a while, trying to figure out how something like that would form, and why it would stay there. Did not come to any conclusions.

Then on the other side of the trail there's the hill/mountain, which is a whole lot of this:

If I remember correctly, this particular section is one that Sophie found nasally fascinating; I don't really know why, but my best guess is deer. That night we took a nighttime walk down to the playfield next to the shower house to look at stars--here's what that looks like in the daytime:

And startled a very large group of deer who were grazing between the playground and the river. I first saw their eyes reflected in the flashlight, and thought there were maybe four or five, but then they decided they ought to run away--uphill and upstream, and away from the cabins and campground. They went more-or-less single file, passing through the beam of my flashlight, for what seemed like a very long time. I lost count of how many there were, and the sound of all of them bounding away through the leaves was like a much bigger and more active river than the one that was actually there.

Anyway, there aren't any pictures of that because it was dark, but this is approximately where it happened. I think that's why I took this picture, anyway.

[the-firebird69]

Here are all of the new Florida laws going into effect next month

These people are typically evil and today we can hear it clearly. They say the law is going to affected to go to stop the yard and all sorts of things and really people going to shoot them they don't take place until July 1st we'll see right now they're getting their butts kicked as it is this new gun law will allow most people to carry who have guns you really don't want that and it's going to get repealed but not until after a bloodbath this place needs it and we'll keep them off our son..

We have a couple of announcements

-you did not do well and were held out and you are dwindling and that's you Macklemore of multiple races the pseudo empire is pursuing you and areas where you're coming from get here and is actively now pulling you out

-another item, it came up this morning already. This guy next door needs to leave he's just sitting there bothering our son as he loses his battle anyways and we got to pull them out he's just seriously lame and just never became either he's just sits here looking staring at him when he said behind the pillar was Ken this idiot tried looking over and people cottage 50 times most people do it 8 to 10 times if you're monitoring someone you can do it 20 but he's an idiot and he's disgusting and he is obsessed and it doesn't do nothing we need to get him out of here he's a lunatic because quite insane and useless. We plan on running games through the bill because we have to but at the end of the line he's going to be possessed trying to boss us around and killing himself as he does and then we will collect the last piece that we need of his body was just his brain and it goes into the pyramid and concord Massachusetts. Now there's other people who are worried they will be joining him they should be they're right behind you and it's in the revolutionary war he was killed and he was held in some sort of tomb like area and it was actually not near there. He saw that her son was treated different a little and wants to pee him and stuff he says all the time and whether it's true or not he gets beat up but often and last night so I said I'm going to beat you up 45 times so far and they plan on doing it. Each time a different time and place. Several more things are happening

-along with the evacuation and build up mostly in the West in the south there's a growing animosity towards these idiots and it's global and they said we want you to go back home and they won't I don't want to run their plan especially the max plan and they don't want them running out there either and everybody abandoning their clothes their posts so that bothered them and angered them to begin with then when they get to the South and the west and even the East Coast now they are hugely annoying and they are getting arrested mostly in the east coast that's where that happens no all over the place no one can stand them and in the west and south there are new arrivals Nicole and if they can't stand them they arrest them and that's what they call him and they sent us a challenge that you can do it and things like that then try to get them to be civil a lot of them just don't have it in them to do it they got pushed around for years and at the end of the line they say we just can't do it and then get arrested and hold off and usually incinerated because he refused to do anything normal it's happened a lot recently and it is very very severely increased with this evacuation now there's huge numbers of them doing and that means coming out in harassing tried numbers of them die and it's causing problems all over the world they're unable to get their work done at regular jobs they're unable to see how they're unable to maneuver correctly and to do things right it takes forever and they're slowing their project down and they're causing infighting between all these things going on they're also in trouble for thieving and starting fights and doing their general miscellaneous mischief and that causes problems is not going to get fixed overnight because they say we know what it's for and we don't want to hear it and stuff like that but around a million times instead of once or twice and it's continuous and it's Non-Stop and it is a rancras crowd loud obnoxious people and they're running around in circles around people who tell them not to and they're trying to harm them and occasionally succeed and they beat each other up and there's death and it's got a bad blood has begun appearing. All over the world and it is a message the middle area corks and Trump stood differently but to their own they are very dissatisfied with the behavior and they can't stop it now that's what they're told by the Midwest people and it is gigantic and it's causing a lot of disruption and it's grinding them to a halt in some areas it is a nightmare for people and our people are stuck in some of those areas so they're being pulled out and huge teams were deployed to their locations.

-in the Midwest of the USA for example the line has gone to Northern Kentucky it's probably 70% up on the state and still working and today by the end of the day will be at the northern border which is 20 to 30 miles from the wall and it proceeds all the way across from that parallel even though it's massively industrialized is emptying very fast and people are itching to get out right now and they shall and all the way to the wall within the next two days we had just made them out it's a brilliant maneuver and we are pulling our people in for service and to protect them. It's going on because we have to.

-Along with these idiots evacuating. There are Max and others and they go with them they are not very happy with what they're hearing when they get out they're not happy with these little kids and what they're saying is obnoxious and it's rude and it is a serious of threats is Non-Stop yes them mostly and they don't like it they don't want it and they are refusing these idiots on a daily basis they're now saying no to most of what they're asking for and they're telling them to leave and I mean it too they're saying you know we don't want you here in our midst so they didn't push around outside and it's dangerous so we decide a lot of people to it and we found out that these Roman groups they're getting in trouble that's why they're roaming around and they were just set on their own and to like find a place by themselves through like natural law at what's going on out there take a war he's just like a war between the Midwest and the outside area and they're equally as stupid but do people from the Midwest are living like Dert and they're told to return to their homes. Meanwhile the master plan is to have us take over the factories and they know it too and there's not much we can do about it and we have to take them over because they're not being run correctly so we're out there doing the job we noticed that they're fighting and it's increasing is Trump against Trump cork against Cork and now it's the three-way and this fighting is bringing them down they're disappearing so one and a half percent left so far and they're meeting up with one and a half percent and you're probably will down to 1% total if you had them together left huge huge fights.

-another note is there's enough space out there for both but they don't share and they don't bring stuff to do anything with it and they are free the Midwest they're running fast out of there it is the plan but bja did nothing to accommodate his own and is a fool and a weak thing and Trump too these people are failures and they're not leaders anymore and people are very upset with them and jenna she's going to report him to the FBI. So they're having a battle every few minutes because nobody does anything for people and they need them but we don't need them at all and good other things in the news

And we're going to print we're running out of room

Thor Freya

Olympus

[2030kamenriders]

Posting it anyway. Buckle up, buddies.

First: you will need some sort of container to brew the tea in. Something like a pot with a nice big handle, like you would cook ramen in. It doesn't have to be huge, but make sure it's more than big enough to hold the amount of tea you are making, so the tea is less likely to spill when it gets boiling.

Next: get the ingredients. The one required thing is some solid form of tea (we'll get back to this). You will also need some type of liquid, like water or milk or both (we'll get back to this too). If you like adding sweeteners, it's best to add those to your individual cup after the tea is brewed, especially if making tea for multiple people, so everyone can choose how sweet their tea will be.

For some reason, whenever I see chai pictures on the internet, it's always accompanied by a wide variety of spices. You don't actually need all those spices. If you are feeling fancy, you can toss in a cracked piece of cardamom, but that's honestly more for adding a nice warm smell to the tea.

So when buying the tea (solid), you can get tea bags (about one tea bag is good for one cup of tea), or you can get the big containers of loose unbagged tea. (The nice thing is that, once you use up a container, it can be reused to hold other household things). There's many flavours and stuff too, but honestly just a simple black tea will do.

There's also many brands. Some of them are more expensive than others, and some have certain certifications like "Rainforest Certified" and stuff. But flavour-wise, even a cheap one will still usually be alright. (Except Lipton. Don't get Lipton. I'm telling you, it's like it contains half the flavour of other teas or something. Anything but Lipton. Sorry Lipton fans)

Now the important part is the ratio of that solid tea to the water and dairy. Typically, one teabag is good for a cup of tea, but you can lessen it for a bigger crowd. From there, it depends on the type of milk you pick. Regular 2% milk? Use about half water and half milk. Skim milk? Use mostly milk and only a bit of water. You're lactose-intolerant? Just water, and no milk.

Disclaimer: the above ratios are just estimates. Usually you just sort of wing it. As you make the tea more often, using the power of trail and error, you'll be able to adjust the ratios to your personal taste.

So how do you actually put the ingredients together? Well on paper, it's really simple: you put them all in that pot from earlier and let it brew on the stovetop.

Don't leave the brewing tea unattended! There's a saying in French for when you are in a rush or something, that translates to "I have milk on the stove". This is because milk tends to grow when boiling. Then it spills. And it always seems to start boiling right when you look away. So when that starts happening, lower the heat and carefully mix the tea with a ladle (a giant spoon that's good for situations like this).

There's actually this specific motion that you often see people mixing the tea in at this stage. It's difficult to describe in words, but it's sort of like: scoop up a ladle-full of the tea, and then slowly pour it back into the pot. I don't know if that's really too important in this case, though. (Although with some more fancy chai types, like Kashmiri, it can be. But that's beyond my expertise.)

Again, the length of time you cook the tea is also up to your personal taste. But typically once it's boiled, it's good. The longer you cook it for, the stronger the flavour of the tea, and the richer the colour. But you don't want to overdo it.

Now you pour the tea into a teapot or thermos, or directly into cups and mugs. Let each person add as much sugar or sweetener they like. Tea goes well with a lot of things. Personally (don't judge) I like to dunk toast into tea sometimes. They actually make biscuits and related stuff specifically for dunking into tea as well, but that's a tangent for another time.

Anyway, yeah. 👍🏼

Um. Anyone want a guide to brewing a basic cup of chai?

[askhallowmic]

icons for u and ur banana bros

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 5/30/2023

I feel like I worked really hard last week, and yet I don't actually have much to show for it. I guess a lot of it is little stuff that piled up. I mean, I very much do still have a bit pile of dumb little tasks to do, but it's smaller than it was last week. I feel like I've had to do a lot of driving and socializing lately, too, which not only take up time, but wipes me out both before and after.

If you like extra features, I did finish up my go places addenda post last week. I have a lot of ao3 comments to reply to, but aside from that, I guess I'm pretty much done with that one. It gave me a lot of grief while I was writing it, but in the end, I think I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I have some good feelings about the end stages of sitting with it.

Onward and upward!! Sorry if this is old hat to my regular followers, but just to get everyone up to date, the new project is Ductwork, the next part of Heart is a Muscle. The preview summary I slapped on the end of What We Do with Our Hearts reads "Renji tries to not make it a big deal when he gets his long-damaged kidou ducts fixed; Rukia is having none of it. Byakuya would like to be removed from this narrative and yet can't seem to manage it."

I started it about a year ago, immediately finishing Hearts, and knocked out about 7700 words of it at the time. I'm kinda gun-shy, because last summer I really really wanted to finish a little in love and I tried and failed (tried and died, basically), a thing that has not been made better by the fact that people have started sending sad little messages like "i hope you finish this someday..." That being said, I am trying to be more realistic about my capabilities, especially because I have a lot more Mom-duties in the summertime. My goal is to make 20,000 words of progress before I fizzle out this time. I mean, if I do finish it, that would be great! I'm not gonna stop dead if I hit 20k. I do hope to participate in the Bleach Returns event this July, but whether that consists of a small break or a big break, I don't know. We'll see.

So, I already have a significant chunk of the first act done, but I'm having trouble moving forward, because I don't have a great idea of how the second act is gonna go. For now, it's two acts, it's evolving, and I'm letting it. I'm trying to let myself exist in creative mode and have some fun with that. In that vein, I just went ahead and let myself write The Big Scene, the scene that is the entire reason I am writing this fanfic. I wrote 3500 words on it this week. It's not done yet, but I am having fun. I've also been having little bursts of inspiration for scenes that follow and other things I want to do, so overall, I am in a good place. It's nice. This is good.

The overall document length at the moment is 12,617, which means I've done about 5k words since I started working on it, which is a quarter of the way there! That's distinctly Not Bad!!

In other news, I've been increasingly dissatisfied with Google Docs, so I am experimenting with writing this one in Microsoft Word. I don't deal with change well, so for now, I hate it, but I'm figuring out ways to make it more the way I like, and at least it doesn't constantly reload back to the top of the page. I will keep you updated. It's not like I can't just cut and paste it back into the other program, which I would end up doing anyway, because GDocs works pretty well for beta-reading and the AO3 auto-html script is handy.

[af1899]

FEH — Calendar for Nov/2021 is out + own thoughts and plans

(Twitter thread)

The calendar for the month is finally out, and we can plan ahead for who/what I want to pull on, as well as look out for other potentially interesting events.

I'll dump my own plans and thoughts as per usual below the cut, feel free to read on.

Banners

I didn't include links and mentions from the leaks' contents, in case you're avoiding those.

From the looks of it, the dates are still the same for my timezone, but I've read that'll change starting next calendar for some months, due to the Daylight Savings.

Anyway, as it turns out, Ryoma was indeed our next Resplendent Hero, he looks good, but I care very little about him, so I didn't make the usual thought post — but Ryoma being the next Resplendent upgrade candidate means that the leak for the whole month is turning out to be true, it's still soon to say it's trustworthy, but I'm assuming it is to motivate myself to keep saving, as there wouldn't be anything of interest coming for the remainder of November.

The only banner I'm worried about is [Heroes with Bonfire], there are 14 sources in the regular pool but only 3 will comprise the banner itself, and among them is Idoun (best girl 💜🙏🏻), if she's there (extremely unlikely doubtfully but who knows), I'll try to aim for at least one merge, otherwise I'm hard skipping this month; I even had to pass up on the other 3 tempting red stones from the monthly refines banner, Summer Tana doesn't need merges right away and I think pulling on her home banner would be best.

There's also yet another {Double Special Heroes} banner coming... what's with I.S. breaking patterns? That should come out every 2 months. 🤨

Anyway, last time we got a rerun for an assortment of seasonals released this year, from the Valentine's banner to the Young Heroes one, the next banner... well, here are my guesses, just what remains of some of the thematics that appeared in the previous one:

Red

→ Duo Young Eirika+Ephraim

→ Bridal Shanna

Blue

→ Bridal Juno

→ Young Lyon

Green

→ Spring Inigo

→ Summer Caspar

Colorless

→ Summer Duo Hilda+Marianne

→ Groom Saul

...

Hm... assuming I got it right, I'd pick colorless, but unlike last time, we'll need to wait two weeks for the banner reveal, maybe less if it's datamined and shared, but as I've expressed before, these banners are [Orb] scavengers, so I'll skip it in the end.

The New Heroes were also leaked, of which none are my interest (again, assuming the leaks are true).

So yeah, gonna save and see what's in store this month.

Events

Just the usual without much of interest.

[Heroes Journey] (three days) and [Pawns of Loki] (two days) will run once like past months, [Røkkr Sieges] is also coming back and starting today, it's a fun game mode with rather acceptable reward value, but I don't have much motivation to aim for the top in my world, I'll just waste whatever [Stamina] and score as well as I can like usual.

We'll get [Limited Hero Battles] soon, perhaps I'll feel inspired to record a video of my own solution of an abyssal map unless it covers Three Houses units, of which I have very little and stand no chance.

Palla and Catria also get their [Bound Hero Battle], since it's the first run, I'm guessing their banner will have Est as the last unit? Minerva would fit too, but not as well. Either way, it reminded me Palla — best Whitewing! — is +9 among my projects, I'm looking forward to finish merging her.

No free unit will get a rerun after Veld until maybe later next month, but we'll get a few new maps and free units, the next New Heroes are also coming early next month, we can expect the next [Feh Channel] by then, to announce the theme for [Book VI], among the usual celebratory stuff and whatever, I'm quite thrilled to find out what's in store.

So... overall?

I think it's an average month without much of interest (not even the themed banners hold much of interest barring the [Bonfire] one), if you've seen the leaks, chances are you won't be as thrilled for which Heroes you'll see later on, and I can see that, specially since now it's gaining credibility so I don't feel the same thrill but I like planning ahead when given the resources... maybe the fodder will be interesting at least? Who knows, but I plan to skip all along.

Anyway, that's it for me, take care and thanks for reading!

[euphoriacrossing]

Why couldn't more focus could have been placed on the cherry blossom festival?

I am so sick of eggs. Really I never liked them but I tried to tolerate them and just... no. I finished making all the DIYs and I have no use for any more eggs yet it goes until the 12th.

The cherry blossom stuff is so difficult to collect I've spent HOURS attempting to and I still only have part of the recipes. I am missing at least two I really want, the clock and the wand, oh and the pile of petals I want too. And then I'm missing few others as well not even sure what they are. I did get the umbrella which I wanted and the little purse which I didn't even know was one you could get but I love it. And the thing is, despite it being difficult I am still having more fun with it than I did with the "Bunny Day" event and that goes on two days longer and has such a big focus compared to the cherry blossom stuff. I don't know why, really.

But anyway, yeah, I am pretty much doing the same thing as last night now. Wasting time and then checking the right beach on minutes that end in 0 or 5 for the regular balloons. It's been working pretty well I suppose, but it still takes a bit so I have to find some way to pass the time in between minutes.

Euphoria is getting better everyday. Today I was able to give Marina's house a fenced in yard and I prepared to move Biff's so I can do the same for him. I built the cherry blossom lanterns and put them at the entrance to my outdoor bath and they look pretty nice in the moonlight I think.

Wart Jr. is moving out! In exchange for Coco who I am excited to have join the Euphorian Club. I hate to be one of those people who kicks out ugly villagers just for being ugly, but I mean, the thought of warts makes my skin crawl. And these games are supposed to be enjoyable and if this is how I enjoy the game then this is how I'll play it.

I still have to pick who I want to invite next, because I have 3 I definitely want to move out and as much as I love some of the others, the only ones completely safe are Marina and Beau. And if Beau asked to move on his own i might let him, so really the only one i know i would beg to stay is Marina. But yeah, I think I have a deck of amiibo cards something like 16 packs thick with less than 6 doubles, so I have quite the decision to make. I don't know if I want to go for a certain type of villager... I think maybe I could go smug for smug and move Curlos out and another smug villager in, but I don't know, I'll have to see who I have in my deck.

Oh! And I have to share the letter Biff sent me this morning completely unprompted.

It's little things like this which make me love this game soooooo much. It's nice to be appreciated even by a fictional character.

I paid off my 758,000 bell loan today (or it was somewhere around there) and now the loan is over a mil? I feel like I won't ever be able to pay that back, but I need more STORAGE for clothes! And other things, but mostly clothes. Ugh, it got so expensive so fast. Was it like this in other games?

And I have gotten my paths done for the main middle part of the map where stores and things are. Now i need to figure out what kind of paths I am going to make elsewhere and honestly what I am going to do everywhere else. I think I want an outdoor library, but I need book shelves and such first. And I know I want to make my orchard more organized looking, but I don't know how to even start that. I want to do more decoration with cute pastel and dark spooky things (yes both) in the middle part of the map but I need to find more things like that that I can use as decor.

I guess I need to start seeing if I can get into the trading world. Or something like that where I can find more of the items I need and at least catalog them so I can buy them myself. I am kind of nervous about trying all that though because i am pretty socially anxious, and i get panicky even playing games with people i don't know. But then i have done so well playing with my new friends who weren't as familiar to me when we started playing, but I still didn't panic when we first played, so I am thinking I could do this. But I dunno. We'll see. First I guess I need to find a good place to go about such things anyway.

Anyway, I guess that is mostly it. There isn't gonna be a ton of new stuff to talk about since I beat story mode, but I am still enjoying the game and feel there is much left to do, so you know, I'll be around, wasting time in between balloons or shooting stars, or looking for helpful tips on different things.

I may be having oral surgery Wednesday, so I have high Hope's that when I can't sleep, AC will take away the pain. We'll see though.

Oh, like turnips. I found a good guide so I'm gonna read up on 'em for next week. The were selling pretty high here this morning like they seem to be every week so I put it off. But maybe next week.

So yeah, like I said I'll be around but I don't know how many more text posts I could squeeze out of doing a lot of the same things over and over.

I leave you with the weird stuff Puddles says when Wisp is around...

I would totally watch a show called "Ghosts 'n Stuff".

[bloodypeachblog]

MEDICAL UPDATE

Warning: this post will discuss stuff about kidney stones, urine, medical prep, body functions, that kind of stuff. If that stuff grosses you out, you have been warned.

Ok so you remember when I said a while back that I had kidney stones? No? Well, long story short, I had 3 of em. Anyways..

A few weeks ago, I felt what I believe was a stone moving, so I told my mom and we set up a plan: take the remaining tamsulosin i had from the last stone [the date was still good] and call my doctor.

Later on, one night, I was lying in bed sleeping and I then feel something akin to trying to push something through a hole but it got stuck. The next few days, I started having pains in the lower belly area and where my bladder is.

Then the dry-heaving began. It was time to go to the doctor.

The appointment comes, doc has me do a urine test, it came out normal. But he did think something was going on, so he scheduled an IVP and ultrasound to check things out.

Well, today was that day. And yes, I had to do prep. Which was the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I've had an oblong kidney stone go through me.

Let me just say this: you should NOT fuck around with magnesium citrate. That shit is so nauseatingly sweet that you will gag or feel sick at even thinking about it afterwards. Plus it BURNS going down. Also, by any means, DO NOT DRINK IT WHILE IN A MOVING VEHICLE. (My mom was looking after my grandma, so they picked me up to go to her house since itd be a shorter trip to the hospital).

(A side note, I had to do a clear liquid diet after I took the magnesium, so I felt so envious when I saw my mom and grandma eat solid food. The broth I drank tasted like Lipton's Noodle Soup, so it did help fake fullness).

And you thought the entry of the magnesium drink was bad, wait til you hear about the exit. It BURNS. You will be ABSOLUTELY RAW. You will cry. I sure did. It stings because the liquid coming out of you is the magnesium citrate, which is a saline solution. Saline, for those of you who don't know, is salt water. SALT WATER ON RAW SKIN. Now you can imagine the pain.

Also, my grandma's house has no AC whatsoever, at least upstairs where I slept (I had to sleep there because the room I had was the closest to the bathroom). I'm also heat sensitive, so that mixed with dehydration was not a fun time. When I fell asleep, I woke up thinking I was dead because I could hardly move. But that's my fault for taking my regular meds along with a Unisom gelcap. But I couldn't sleep well because of my constant bathroom trips and the constant burning from what I said before.

Now, the actual appointment. We get there, got me signed in, and I'm taken to the ultrasound room. The lady was very nice and friendly, but when she scanned me with the scanner and she pushed down, OH GOD THE PAIN. I think it hurt more because my body was still tender from the prep, I was very tired, and I'm sensitive to pain, so I'm not blaming the woman. She was just doing her job. But I was ready to scream. Luckily it wasnt long til it was done.

Then after that, i was sent back for my IVP. What they do is, they have you in nothing but your underwear, shoes, socks, and a hospital gown and you have to lay on this table under what looks like a sci-fi machine but is basically an x-ray machine. And they put an IV in you to inject a contrast dye so they can see everything clearer. Now I've always had difficulty with IVs and getting blood drawn because of my deep veins (it's genetic!), but the lady that did it was a champ, it barely even hurt. But the tourniquets were SHEER PAIN. After all of that though, it was smooth sailing. Some re-positioning, some more pics, a few standing pics, then we were done.

After that, I was finally able to eat and go home and sleep. Guys, food is a great thing. So is sleep.

I'm starting to recover and I'm doing better than before. My next appointment with my urologist is on the 6th, so we'll see what they find.

Anywho, that's that. Imma sleep now.