#parade planning

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

And a pretty quick run into Gatlinburg, come to think of it

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE PARKWAY (US 441) BETWEEN PIGEON FORGE AND GATLINBURG, TN: Between Cincinnati and Gatlinburg via I-75 (to Knoxville) and US 441 is about 230 miles, particularly allowing for the narrow north/south axis of Kentucky and Tennessee ... meaning about five hours' or so drive from the Queen City to the Queen Mother of Tourist Traps.

And with such eclectic company on top of other fellow Funtastics making their way unto the Great Smoky Mountains for what cometh Easter Sunday--no less than The Cattanooga Cats' Gatlinburg Easter Parade on The Parkway, the main tourist district of Gatlinburg, as anyone who has visited Gatlinburg heading into Great Smoky Mountains National Park will tell you.

Yet you wonder what makes Great Smoky Mountains such a popular national park to begin with, especially when you have a gateway like Gatlinburg and its kitschiness inherent in contrast to the unspoilt serenity expected of national parks, to begin with.

=============

So anyway, our company--yours truly, Huckleberry Hound, Crazy Claws, The King, Sheena and Ruff and Reddy--are at a gas station/convenience store on The Parkway within eyeshot of Dollywood. It seems Country, with the Cattanooga Cats, wanted us to meet the feline quartet there and get some directions to be led to as much accomodations as Cattanooga Klatsche, their Gatlinburg coffee shop and artisan roastery. Refuelling was more or less a subsidiary activity.

Considering the early traffic for the Easter weekend heading into Gatlinburg being what it was, it somehow required Kitty Jo, who was driving a modest little commuter car, to use back roads to reach our rendezvous.

"Uh, hello boys!" was how Kitty Jo, otherwise the female vocal and dance lead for the band, introduced us with that somewhat chirpy Southern accent of hers. Not to mention Teeny Tim by her side, and leashed, obviously. And pretty much everybody left the motorhome to extend greetings.

"At any rate, on behalf of the Cattanooga Cats as well as Cattanooga Klatsche ... may I just extend to you 'welcome' here to the Smoky Mountains--"

"Obviously," adding my own touch of levity to the proceedings, "not to be confused with Little Smokies sausages!" (Which got chuckles galore, guaranteed.)

"At any rate," Kitty Jo continued, "a little later in the evening, back at the Klatsche, we're gonna set up a buffet and discuss some of the plans for the parade weekend, which is also the Easter weekend."

Which had Reddy wondering "what exactly will the tourists otherwise be thinking, seeing us characters more or less along the Parkway?"

"We'll naturally cross that proverbial bridge at that time" was how Kitty Jo explained it. "As a precaution against rain," she added, considering that likelihood, "should rain ensue on Easter Sunday, we'll issue rain ponchos to participants."

"I just hope she knows what she's talking about," Huck remarked.

"And while there may not be a marching band as part of the Easter Parade," Kitty Jo quipped, "I certainly hope our characters' presence will make this Easter especially interesting! Especially with the meet-and-greet angle more than anything!"

After a few minutes more, Kitty Jo was able to lead our motorhome to a private parking area such as the Cats themselves have outside Cattanooga Klatsche in a modest alley just off the Parkway, and close to where the tourist trolley shuttles meet, even! And upstairs to a modest little apartment the quartet keeps above Cattanooga Klatsche, Crazy Claws, Huck and yours truly were directed to a modest little guest bedroom--if it could be called as much, and our presence stunning the band's drummer, resident wit and jock, Groove, who set up the sleeper sofa such as would serve as our sleeping quarters.

"Oh--and don't forget your bags," Kitty Jo chimed in as she and Country, the band lead and romantic interest of Kitty Jo, brought our modest luggage in and got things ready. (The others who came along with us found motel accomodations along the Parkway.)

So how do you think things will turn out?

@warnerbrosentertainment @indigo-corvus @jellystone-enjoyer @funtasticworld @zodiacfan32 @restroom @archive-archives @thylordshipofbutts @thebigdingle @gatlinburgvisitor-blog-blog @themineralyoucrave @screamingtoosoftly @warnerbros-blog1 @ultrakeencollectionbreadfan @iheartgod175 @groovybribri @theweekenddigest @warnerbrosent-blog

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

Percy, flirting: As a bisexual myself, I would like to be your bi awakening

Jason: I've been out for the past four years

Percy: What?!

Jason: Where have you been??

[ex0toxin]

matsuri 🏮🕺🎇

jsys week'24, day 2

[somethingsgottasaveyou]

my safe space is literally anywhere with music in my ears

[maomango-doodle]

(13 pages) Forlorn

[artistic-antics]

cheers, queers!

[arsenicflame]

steddyhands modern au inspired by this post:

(1828 words, themes of kink but nothing explicit, established blackhands & gentlebeard-centric. Happy Pride!)

Stede picks up leatherworking in the wake of his divorce. He's not exactly sure how it ended up being such an important hobby for him, only that he had always admired the intricate designs on his horse's best bridles, and with little else to do with his time, he decides to give it a go.

It's rocky going at first, but he's having fun working with his hands for the first time in his life, and there's a sense of satisfaction in seeing the design come to life as he works. With practice, his skills improve, and he learns how to make things that are truly one of a kind.

He starts off posting his pieces online, as a way to reach fellow enthusiasts, but quickly finds himself with a rather large audience. Stede’s style is unique, and, after many requests from his followers, Lucius encourages him to make some more basic pieces he can sell. It's not about making money for Stede, but another way to meet new people who share his interests- as Lucius keeps telling him, it's sad that his personal assistant is the main person he talks to these days. 

So Stede sets out on a new adventure, and has quite the time designing a new range of patterns for the market. He makes purses, belts, bracelets, and, most importantly, dog collars- all still with his unique designs embossed into them, of course. He rents a booth at his towns monthly craft fair, and very quickly finds himself with a new group of friends in the other regulars- Pete, his usual neighbour, who sells an array of wooden figures he carves, Roach, who runs a stand for his bakery, and Frenchie, who isn't actually a stallholder, but is almost always busking near his friend Wee John’s stand of knitted goods, bringing life to the market even in the pouring rain. There's also Buttons, another regular at the market. Nobody is exactly sure what he does there- he doesn't sell things, or seem to buy anything either, but rain or shine, he's there with the birds.

Stede’s been doing this a few months by the time June rolls around. As he's setting up his stand, he notices that the area is much busier than it’d normally be at this time of morning. Lucius, who got roped into helping run Stede’s stall somewhere down the line (despite his protests that this is not what personal assistant means… But hey, he got a boyfriend out of it, at least), reminds him that there's the parade today, too- not realising that Stede had no clue there was a parade today, and especially not that it was pride. Stede immediately jumps to fretting about the amount of stock he’s brought, and Lucius takes the cue to escape, saying he’ll go and grab them coffee (but really, he's off to flirt with Pete)

Lucius is still missing when Ed stumbles across the little leather stall. Stede’s just ran back to his car to fetch his last boxes of inventory, and by the time he returns, Ed’s already begun to narrow down his choices. Stede greets him, starting to tell him that they're not actually open yet, but before he gets more than a couple of words out, Ed’s exclaiming “You're a Kiwi!!!”

The two of them smile at the shared recognition, and Stede says he’ll make an exception, just for Ed, and asks him what exactly he was interested in. Ed tells him that he's looking for a collar “for his boy”, and points out the particular design he was looking at. It happens to be one of Stede’s favourites from this latest run of work, a fact he mentions to Ed. It leads them into a discussion about Stede’s craft, and Ed’s Izzy, and then everything in between. Ed’s listening intently to the things Stede’s telling him, completely drawn in by the process, and by Stede himself. He watches as Stede stamps Izzy's name into the collar, and Stede even lets him have a go at one of the stamps. 

Lucius reappears sometime in the middle of this- only to immediately retreat again, seeing Stede engrossed with Ed. He sets up camp at Pete's booth opposite, watching this man flirt intensely with his boss- and Stede flirt back just as hard. Does Stede even realise he’s doing it? Lucius had known Stede was gay since before Stede even admitted it to himself, but this is on a whole other level.

The pair stand there so long that Izzy comes to look for Ed- the two of them are manning a float on the parade with their crew, and it's past time for them to get geared up. He's already worked up, frustrated to have been left to set up everything alone, when Ed had just gone to see if he could get them both coffee. So maybe he's a bit of a prick, approaching with a brash “where the fuck have you been, Edward”, to which Stede brings the same energy, giving a bitchy “Ed! Do you know this guy?” Izzy tenses, ready to snap, but then Ed cuts in, excitedly telling Stede that this is “his Izzy!” Which confuses the hell out of Stede. 

Forgetting his earlier attitude, he asks Ed if he “really named his dog after his friend”, only to be met with confusion right back from Ed at where the hell Stede got the idea he had a dog from. Stede gestures at the bag with the collar in it, to which Ed has to tell him, “oh, no, that's for him.” Ed tells Stede that they're here to run a float for their local leather society, and while Stede is certainly shocked by what Ed’s saying, he's not finding himself… uninterested. It's simply that he’s never even considered any of this before, especially not that people would use the things that he made for this, but Ed sounds so enthusiastic about it all. He tells him about how his friends would love to see Stede’s work, about how classic leather gear is always so fucking boring- but not Stede’s stuff, no, Stede’s stuff is “fresh” and “fascinating” and unlike anything Ed’s ever seen before. 

Ed's enthusiasm is incredibly infectious, so when he invites Stede to come back to see their float, he readily agrees. It’s a concept Izzy’s less than enthusiastic about. He doesn’t really want to bring this man who’s dressed like he just walked out of a HOA board meeting to their kinky little corner of the world, but he is having a lot of fun watching Stede squirm, so decides not to raise a protest. He does demand he gets his long-overdue coffee first, though (Stede pays for it- as “compensation for him distracting Ed from his job”, he says, not giving Izzy a second to process before he's tapping his card)

By the time they return to the float, Fang, Ivan & Jim are waiting for them, all already geared up. Stede is stunned silent at the sight for about 5 seconds, before he starts actually looking at the quality of Jim’s harness, and proceeds to go off about the poor quality of the craftsmanship, about how the hardware is tacky and completely the wrong choice with this leather, how his “ten year old daughter could do a better job!!!” 

There's complete silence from the group, until Izzy, of all people, bursts into laughter at Stede’s audacity (and, the fact he was staring at Jim's tits completely unabashedly, like he hadn't even noticed them in the first place). Izzy's laughter sets Ed off as he tells the group about Stede’s misunderstanding- “you didn't say he was a person!” “I mean, he's my dog”- and soon everyone's having a friendly giggle at Stede’s mistake.

It's somewhere in the middle of the retelling that Ed remembers that this whole thing happened because he was buying Izzy a gift. After a moments fumbling, he presents Izzy with the collar-  It's a rich, deep black, embossed with a rolling pattern that resembles waves. It’s made from a firm enough leather to take the tooling, and to remind Izzy that he’s owned while he’s wearing it, yet still soft enough for long term comfort. Izzy's eyes immediately lock on to it, an unreadable expression coming over his face, and Ed turns it; first so he can really see the design and Izzy’s name embossed into it, and then so he can see the small “Ed ♥” on the inside of the collar, right over his swallow tattoo. 

“I did the heart,” Ed says to him softly, intended only for Izzy’s ears. Izzy's eyes flick up to Ed’s, and he raises his chin to give Ed the room to put it on. Ed buckles the collar around his neck almost reverently, a test of the tightness turning into a caress of Izzy's neck. It's a perfect fit.

It's as though something comes over Izzy; so twitchy and abrasive earlier, now silent, staring at Ed with a look akin to worship in his eyes. He obediently tilts his head for a kiss as Ed's fingers move to his chin- It's a sight to behold, and one that has Stede intrigued. He wants to know more about this lifestyle, and these men in particular. He wants to be the one to put that expression on Izzy's face.

The moment breaks as Ed and Izzy pull apart, and Ed calls for the crew to finish the last bits of set up. Izzy shakes himself a little before running off to bark orders again, but even still, there remains a softness to him that wasn't there before. 

Ed turns back to Stede with an apologetic smile, already obvious that he has to get going. Before he can speak, however, Stede jumps in -“My business numbers on the card in the box… I'll be around all day”- Ed’s smile turns more genuine at that, promising to stop by if he gets a moment, and that he’ll send his friend's Stede’s way- “if he wants that kind of business.” Stede says that he does, actually- that he's seen a whole new world already today, and, while he was a little taken aback at first, he can feel the passion Ed and his friends have for this life. If there's one thing that's ever mattered to Stede, it's other people's enthusiasm. Maybe he doesn't completely understand yet, but he would like to try.

One year later, Stede’s back at the market on pride weekend again, far better stocked for the crowds this time around. Lucius is finally free to spend the day flirting with Fang & Pete to his heart's content, now that Stede’s roped his own boyfriends into helping him run the stall- and into modelling the merchandise. Ed loves that part, while Izzy needs a lot more convincing, but the puppy eyes Stede & Ed weaponise against him make a very good argument.

[tacogoats]

Unwell about the idea of Orin using Durge's face to keep the charade going of the Durge still being around, so Gortash doesn't get suspicious.

He does anyway because she didn't understand how real their relationship was - and she slips up. Often. He knew immediately when the Dark Urge became so, so very cold. Nothing like the warmth he has known for years now behind closed doors; because it isn't them.

She is good at fine details of the body; she gets every scar, every little blemish perfectly, but she can never truly imitate the person behind the Urge.

She couldn't have hoped to anyway, because she didn't know who they really were. Only Gortash could, because he is the first to ask.

It surprises her, and infuriates her, even! The mighty Dark Urge, debased into some lovesick puppy yearning after this little Lordling!

And the mistakes that follow are how Gortash learns the Dark Urge is gone.

[thegreenleavesofspring]

I am currently searching for someone to protect my children. From their father. The person who is supposed to protect them.

I am looking at organizations of bikers. Charitable organizations. NGOs. DSS partners.

You know where I'm not looking? The Church. I know good and well that there is nothing like that in the local churches.

Where is the Church?

Where is the Church?

Where is the Church?

WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Where are the deacons and the elders and the pastors and the Christian men? Where? Where are they? Where? Where where where why have you abandoned your duties to the secular society to fulfill WHERE ARE YOU where is the Church?

[spread-the-influence]

The whole askbox when ppl found out the influencer was a woman kisser

// ... yeah that was my inbox for a bit //

[lavenderjewels]

Compilation of my favorite Kenjaku expression, aka being completely caught off guard by a special grade

[arabela25]

Past Eurovision artists from Ukraine perform during the Flag Parade

Go_A (ESC 2021)

Jamala (ESC 2016)

Tina Karol (ESC 2006)

Verka Serduchka (ESC 2007)

[theborzoiarebackintown]

Happy slightly belated Krampusnacht from my Krampus to your’s!!

[onlyforalwayswith]

FIRST PENGUINS GOAL !!!!

[somethingsgottasaveyou]

blasting your comfort album on full volume through your headphones on a bad day is a must

[yonpote]

wait are ppl theorizing abt dnp beats lol... i read thru a generic creator contract for lowave records around when all or nothing dropped, the basic gist is: lowave makes music for a creator essentially for free, the creator uses the music in videos, the streaming revenue is split, and if the revenue is good enough theyll keep dropping beats. idt theres any like Plan for it other than more bgm for videos and therefore less necessity to dip into the copyright free Classic Youtuber music bucket (especially cuz all those old imovie soundtracks they used to use are actually copyrighted! i tried using a song from imovie in my own video and youtube kept saying there were copyright issues)