#Posting this at 3:45am and I have to get up in the morning.

[charnauk]

Squishing and wiggling The Maker around in my brain whenever I'm feeling a bit stressed..

[hedgehog-moss]

9am: Pirlouit & I are waiting for the farrier; it's Hoof Day! The farrier always tends to run late so I have a thermos of tea and a breakfast pastry to eat as we wait. Pirlouit has been offered some hay and has refused to eat it because he's sulking because it's hoof day.

Isn't it nice to get a pedicure, Pirou?

9:10am: The farrier is late and Pirlouit is worried, wondering what we're waiting for here on the road. Maybe he has been sold? to a sadistic new owner? who's going to shove him into a crate and send him to the salt mines like the donkeys in Pinocchio? Plus, he's more stressed than usual today because one of his hooves hurts (hence the farrier appointment), he's been limping for a few days and he doesn't know what the farrier will do to the hurt hoof. I told him there's only a 30% chance that he'll amputate it.

9:15am: Pirlouit's family is here to support him though! Or, in the case of Pampérigouste, here to puzzle out a vexing mystery.

9:17am: The llamas have grown bored of standing there in support and have started eating the brambles near the gate (supportively). Very good initiative, I approve. Also I thought Poldine was trying to eat the brambles outside the gate (greener on the other side and all that) but no, she was trying to fit her head through the bars for a little kiss </3

9:20am: Even Merricat is being supportive. (Well, she's waiting for me to go home so she can finally take her first morning nap in my lap.) Also Pirlouit has found some grass under the leaves and temporarily forgot all of his worries.

9:22am: Poldine is determined to kiss this cat.

9:24am: The farrier is here! As always he starts doing Pirlouit's hooves right there in the middle of the road, and if a car shows up well, "they can wait a few minutes... On n'est pas aux pièces" (this is a phrase for "there's no rush" that I've never heard anyone but my grandma use, it's nice to hear it again!) There aren't any cars anyway.

9:27am: Pirlouit's hurt hoof has been diagnosed: he has an abscess. Since this autumn has been relentlessly rainy I thought perhaps it was a fungal infection—but the farrier told me he's been treating a lot of abscesses lately, as the very wet weather softens hooves which allows bacteria to enter.

9:30am: The abscess was successfully drained and Pirlouit is now wearing a fashionable hoof bandage. He was very calm and brave throughout <3

9:35am: The farrier left his car by the side of the road, and after releasing Pirlouit we crossed the pasture to go home have a cup of coffee.

9:45am: The farrier is gone; end of the post :)

10am: Pampe is gone, too.

Well, she probably left around 10am but I didn't immediately find out as I had more pressing problems. After the farrier left I went to get a small apple to reward Pirlouit, and when I returned to the pasture and he came over for his treat, I realised he was limping. But on the other side. We've just treated his right front hoof, and he is now holding up the left front hoof...

9:57am: After giving Pirlouit his apple I go home in a hurry to call the farrier and ask him to come back. But there's almost no mobile service around here and I can't reach him. This is so frustrating, he can't be very far... On a hunch I call a horse farm not far from here, maybe it's hoof day for their horses as well?

10am: It's not, they have no farrier appointment today, but when I explain my predicament the woman on the phone goes "if it's just to drain an abscess I can send you a guy who'll do it, no worries!" Every time I've had someone from this farm on the phone to ask something or other, they've offered to Send Me A Guy. It's never the same guy too, they have an endless supply of guys.

10:05am: Having accepted gratefully, I return to the pasture to catch poor Pirlouit again, who thought I was done bothering him for today. As I wait for The Guy, I find a spot with some unexpected mobile service and start googling hoof hardeners, because maybe if Pirou's prone to abscesses it's worth having something in prevention for wet months?

10:15am: I receive a text from the guy.

"Is it normal that your llama is on the road with a dog? They are going to [village]."

10:16am: I reply to the guy.

"It's neither normal nor abnormal."

10:17am: I tie Pirlouit to a tree and run back to the barn to get some muesli. Then start running on the road, trying to figure out how Pampe escaped, and the answer seems obvious: after his coffee the farrier crossed the pasture again to get back to his car, and he knew about the Special Anti-Pampe Safety Knot 3000 but either forgot and closed the gate like a normal person, or didn't do it correctly. Pampe in her little llama brain knows very well that most visitors don't know about the Anti-Pampe Knot so she hurries to check the gate after a stranger leaves her pasture. Meanwhile I was busy noticing Pirou's limp and trying to call the farrier back and I didn't check the gate as I usually do.

10:20am: The guy has found me trotting on the road with my muesli and picked me up in his car. We go back to where he last saw Pampe. I apologise for wasting his time and he tells me "I've heard of your llama" in a tone half-sympathetic half-fatalistic.

10:24am: Pampe & Pandolf have been located; are having the time of their lives. Pandolf is a bit sheepish when I call him, though. He loves going on adventures with his best friend so much but he knows it's a bad dog thing to do for some reason :(

10:34am: The Guy is trying to push Pampe forward with his car while I try to attract her towards me with my muesli in a carrot-and-stick routine; Pampe occasionally veers off-road to eat some leaves, inspect the mud in the ditch, pretend to admire a cloud while secretly brainstorming strategies.

Guy's commentary: "This is worse than dealing with an escaped horse. I feel ignored. I feel powerless."

10:39am: Pampe is home! She didn't actually go very far. But since she hadn't locked the gate behind her, when we arrived we found Pampelune on the road as well, just sort of waiting for us like a sentinel. Pirlouit was still tied to his tree staring at his inexplicably orange foot, and Poldine was panicking because her mother had abandoned her for the millionth time and her grandma had left the pasture too and she couldn't figure out how :((( All she had to do was fiddle with the gate with her nose really, but it never occurred to her to do so, she's too innocent. She only inspects gates in order to figure out how to kiss someone through them. So she was alone in the pasture trotting in circles, making undignified sad goat noises when Pampe & I returned.

10:53am: Pirlouit's other hoof has been treated, hopefully he'll feel better and stop limping soon... I'll have to remove the bandages with scissors, clean both hooves and re-do the bandages in a couple of days which is probably going to be a whole Thing, considering he's suspicious of buckets of water and scissors and objects in general. But as for now everyone is in the pasture having some celebratory hay and Pampoldine is deeply relieved to find that she hasn't been abandoned by everyone forever (as she assumes every single time.)

Also I realised I only paid the farrier half of what I owed him... I had prepared the exact sum but I had half in one pocket and half in another which was a risky idea. And neither of us checked what I was handing him, or noticed. He called me back when he arrived in a place with mobile reception and I told him about the whole affair and he said it's a good thing I accidentally paid him half because he didn't see the other abscess and failed to make the Anti-Pampe Knot 3000 so "it's a fair discount." So I got a half-price farrier visit thanks to Pampe (partly)... I won't tell her because she already thinks she's doing the world a favour by escaping (free fence integrity checks, free cardio training for me by forcing me to do interval running, free entertainment for everyone, plus her modest contribution to cosmic chaos.)

11am: I meant to take an "all's well that ends well" photo of the whole family but I realised Pampe is making her angry hammerhead shark face because her adventure was very short-lived and I didn't even take a picture of her escape, as I'd left my phone in my coat pocket under Pirlouit's tree (& supervision) when I went after her. (I figured I was about to run for 15min and would not need my heavy coat)

She thinks I did it on purpose to demoralise her by refusing to document her victories. But she's not giving up.

[decaffeinatedgalaxyprince]

@highlyholding i decided i'll just make this bladder schedule its own post, for the rest of the omo sluts who want a schedule

it includes 6 pee breaks only because you're bound to miss some. you only have the allotted window to pee, so if you miss it, tough luck.

1st, 7:50am - 7:55am. a whole 6 minute window. but this being your morning pee, i expect you to have a couple drinks before you take this. it's important to hydrate in the morning. preferably at least 16oz total, before you can pee this first time.

after that, make sure you have a drink to sip on. drink at least 10 oz more before your second opportunity to pee.

2nd, 10:45am - 10:50am, another generous 6 minute window to pee.

at noon, make 2 tall drinks, one has to be water but you can choose the other. make sure you're stretching and snacking. you'll also be drinking a tall glass (12 oz at least) with lunch whenever you take that.

3rd, 3:15pm - 3:19pm. i want you to start drinking a cup / 8oz of something every hour or so. slow and steady.

4th, 5:56pm - 5:59pm. your window is down to 3 minutes, so pay attention. whether you get to pee or not, have an extra tall drink with dinner. keep drinking about 8oz per hour on top of that.

5th, 6:45pm - 6:47pm. aren't i nice? a little relief to weaken your bladder muscles & let you relax at dinner. have another extra tall drink (12oz+) when the sun sets, and at 9pm. and keep sipping something every hour.

6th, 12:37am - 12:39am. i'm not even making you wait 6 hours, see, i'm so nice.

also, obviously, if anyone offers you a drink you have to accept. and the moment those specific minutes are up, you should be off the toilet and back to corking it up. if you miss your chance, too bad, you can wait until the next one. i'm not even making you drink that much.

[allforone-appreciation]

A Look Into All For One's Daily Routine (PRE-potato)

7:00 AM - Rise and shine, for the world trembles at the mere thought of my awakening. 7:10 AM - Morning cuddles and kisses with my precious wife, Inko and indirectly praising her for surviving another night beside the most feared villain-turned-family-man. 7:45 AM – Wake my baby son up, then have a villainous breakfast, consisting of coffee, eggs, waffles, and a side of intimidation. 8:15 AM - Conduct a nefarious board meeting to discuss evil plans for the day. Check on my ‘side businesses’ and make sure I’m ‘making’ money. 9:00 AM - Meet with underworld contacts. Expand my influence and power. Remind them who’s boss. 10:00 AM - Time for some "me" time. Attend an appointment with my personal tailor to ensure my villainous attire strikes fear into the hearts of heroes. A scheduled manicure is included every Wednesday. 10:45AM - Wreak minor havoc upon the city. A villain's work is never done and sometimes the blond idiot stops by. It's all about balance, you see. 12:00 PM - Lunch break: Consume the souls of those who dare oppose me. Wine and steak are the usual. Depends on my mood. 12:30 PM: While I’m having lunch, I usually log into my social media and contribute to All Might hate pages. The villain subreddit is my go-to. Update my Demon King fanfiction while I’m at it. (This entry is completely satire) 1:00 PM - Plotting session: Strategize with Tomura on how to conquer the world then make Kurogiri do all the work and babysit him. 2:30 PM - Business calls. Time to collect those debts and remind people why they shouldn't cross me. A few well-placed threats should do the trick. 3:00 PM - Pick up some "unfortunate souls" from the streets. Gotta keep the operation running smoothly. While I’m at it, I’ll supervise the training of Tomura and young villains-in-training. 4:30 PM - Time to head home. Can't wait to see Inko and my beloved son, Izu-baby. 6:00 PM - Dinner with the family. Nothing beats Inko's cooking, except maybe her smile. 7:00 PM - Quality time with Izuku: Help him with his homework, impart wisdom about the ways of the world, and play hero-villain with him. 9:00 PM - Bedtime routine and tuck my cute son into bed. Goodnight, little one. Daddy's gonna (hopefully) kill All Might tomorrow. 9:30 PM - Quality time with Inko. Sometimes the best evil plots are hatched ‘between the sheets’. 11:00 PM - Prepare for bed: Ensure all evil plans are in motion for the following day and that my reign of terror will continue unabated. Sometimes a book about totalitarianism and tyranny with a glass a wine is included. 11:30 PM – Time for a goodnight sleep. I need my beauty sleep to maintain this dashing appearance. Tomorrow, the world will tremble at my might once again.

Note: Schedule subject to change depending on hero interference, unforeseen villainous schemes, 'business trips' and holidays/weekends.

Please tell me what you think I had so much fun making this 😂😂😂😂😂 I might make a POST-potato schedule. I love this man so much can you tell.

😂 I'm laughing because honestly this very much seems like his schedule. Doing both evil stuff while also being dad for one at the same time is how he rolls. Like awww he loves his famil- Wait he picking up ORPHANS AND PLANNING PEOPLE DEMISE?

LOL, I need more of a Day in the Life of a Demon Lord. Because this is great also seems Inko gets quite a bit of attention at night. Though we can already see he definitely not going to see All Might coming when he comes with a Detroit smash.

But man I love how casual he is about his appearance and his affection for his family being quite wholesome. While also still doing evil things, you anon get it.

[wilbursprincess]

Readers morning routine With wilbur?

-✨

Wilbur And His Partner’s Morning Routine

Wilbur Soot x Gender Neutral Reader

Warnings: None, all fluff <3

Everyone, tell me your favorite jolly rancher flavors right now. And if it’s watermelon, you’re wrong /j

I got a blood test today and the phlebotomist was both hot AND so nice to me? I’m afraid of needles and he noticed, so he counted me down and kept me talking to take my mind off it <3 good medical professionals are worth their weight in gold

Is it obvious I’ve been posting so much I ran out of stuff to put in the intro? lol

~You have to wake up at 6am for work, and while Wilbur can sleep in, he likes to spend the mornings with you.

~Your alarm is set for 5:45am, giving you two 15 minutes to cuddle before you actually have to get out of bed.

~”No, no, baby, you lie in for a few more minutes while I put the coffee on”

~Stumbling downstairs in a bathrobe, Wilbur’s tshirt, and messy hair <3

~He’d kiss you on the forehead and hand you the mug of coffee, made just the way you like it.

~Yawning while trying to avoid bumping into each other in the kitchen, pouring cereal or making instant oatmeal.

~Brushing your teeth side by side in the teeny bathroom, sharing the sink and giving Wilbur a look when he gets toothpaste on the mirror.

~”Which shirt should I wear, darling?”

~Jokingly arguing about who gets the shower first, each of you telling the other to go first.

~He’d lean out of the shower to kiss the back of your neck while you get ready just to scare you.

~”You finish the coffee, baby, I’ll buy one on the way to the studio.”

~In the end, it’s a solid 15 minutes of rushing before you both have to leave.

~One of you lost their keys, the other having some sort of bad hair day.

~You both manage it out the door on time, somehow, Wilbur walking you to the bus stop and waiting for your bus with you.

~”Have a good day, baby. I love you.”

~You’d wave at him until the bus was out of sight.

[jvnluvr]

in the rain; scara ♡

school au, scara x f!reader

author’s note: the amount of time i take in between posts is horrifying, i deeply apologize. i’m here to make content based off my own soft thoughts, i hope you guys enjoy them. <3 as always, please enjoy this late night fluff.

- school; 7:45am -

“scara! wait up! for- for someone so short, you walk really fast.” you say, panting as you finally caught up to him at the end of the hallway. he turns around, looking at you with that very demeaning aura.

“and you’ve got a lot of nerve for saying that, when you’re shorter than me, love.” your eyes widen slightly as you look up at him, but the only thing visible on scare’s face is a wide smirk. clearly you are taken aback by his remark, so you quickly turn around and walk back to your locker down the hall- well, at least that’s what you try to do as he grabs your wrist to turn you back.

“what’s wrong? cat got your tongue? you just love to speak to me with such an attitude right? then how come you get so cut-.. flustered when i say something back? hm?” all you can feel is your ears turning red as he interrogates as you look down, only to realize that his hand is still on yours.

“huh.. his hand is so warm.. i kind of want to stay like this…” you think to yourself until you feel scara lifting your chin up with his finger.

“uh..! you can’t just call me those nicknames you know! i tease you like any normal person, but when you call me that it feels like my heart is gonna explode! it’s not the same!” your eyes widen again as he stares at you. coming to terms with what you said, you quickly tug your hand back and run. you keep thinking about what you said and your face feels hot. there’s no choice though, whether you like it or not, you still have to go through school.

on the other hand, scara is still stuck in the same spot you left him. “..hah, she’s so cute sometimes. what did she say? her heart will explode? hm.. if only she realized what she does to me everyday. oh well, it’s hopeless.” he sighs a bit and walks off to class too.

- lunch; 11:56am -

“i can’t believe i said that to him! what does he think of me now?” all of your friends chuckle as they hear you whining and complaining about your encounter with scara in the morning. your head is on the table, you fear that if you look up you’ll either be tomato red or scara will show up around you.

“i think you’re just overreacting [name], i mean, even if he theoretically found out you had feelings for him, i think he would say he likes you back.” one of your friends say, laughing as another one chimes in.

“yeah, [name]! i really don’t understand why you’re so worried. have you even seen the way he looks at you? you look up at the comment that your other friend just made. you saw everyone agreeing, while you sat there in confusion.

“what..? saw the way… he looked at me..?”

you and scara have known each other since school started. you both had a love hate relationship with each other. at least that was the best way to describe it. he would keep bullies away from you while also doing things that your bullies did. you always found him.. so confusing yet so fascinating. something about him grew on you. was it his eyes, his face, his hair, his hands, his warmth..? he treated you like you were special, like you were worth something. you just had to hide your feelings though, there’s no way scara would like someone like you.. he was.. you didn’t think he would like someone at all.

“oi. why are you staring into space? [name]?” you finally snap out of it when you see scara staring at you again. you quickly turn away in embarrassment.

“scara?! what are you doing here?” you yelp and you could have sworn you heard a soft chuckle from him.

“i’m taking you somewhere stupid. sure know your friends wouldn’t mind me stealing you for a little, ain’t it right?” all your friends giggle as they comply to sacra’s statement. you try and refuse but one of your friends is already pushing you into scara’s arms.

“we’ll see you afterschool, [name]! have funnn~” you can’t even form coherent words as scara grabs your wrist once again and dragging you out of the cafeteria.

-library- 12:07pm-

“why are we even-” the only time you’re able to form words is when scara has you pinned against a wall.

“you’re acting weird today.” he states. you look up at him and he has that same blank expression as he usually does. sometimes, you wish you could even try to comprehend his thoughts.

“i could literally say the same for you. why have you dragged me here, scara?” you gulp a little after saying that. your stomach is starting to fill with butterflies, you feel nervous. what if it’s bad news? what if he-

“can you relax, pretty? i’m not gonna hit you or anything.” your body tenses up again. why does he keep calling you these nicknames? it’s just making you more nervous. not to mention your bodies are barely centimetres apart.

“w-why do you keep doing that? can you just tell me what you want already?” it sounds a bit harsh coming from you, but you’re honestly dying to hear what he has to say.

“i like you, stupid. god. for someone so smart in school, you tend to utterly fail when it comes to human behaviour.” you can only giggle a little when he says that.

“i think this is the part where i say i’ve liked you for as long as i can remember.” he smiles softly after seeing your wide smile. scara loves seeing you happy, it’s so adorable.

“now i think this is the part where i kiss you.” he says leaning down. you wrap your arms around him as the distance closes between you two. the air is heavy but it just feels so right. like you have waited for this day. it was the one thing you were yearning for.

“you- hah- can no longer stay more than 5 centimetres away from me.” scara says while kissing your cheek.

“protective much? i much rather just be hugging you all day and everyday.” you retort and you can feel his smile against your shoulder.

“that would be been better.”

“shouldn’t we head to class now?”

“yeah, but meet me outside the side entrance right after class ends okay?” he says and you’re a bit confused by the specifics.

“alright then..? i’ll see you later.” you stand on your toes to give him another kiss. you hold hands until you depart to your separate classes, while your heart yearns to stay by his side.

-after school; 3:06pm-

you carry your bag as you open the door to the side entrance. you see scara sitting on the stair railway. then you notice that the sky is gloomy and the rain is pouring down. you wondered why he was sitting in the rain so normally.

“scara? why are you sitting in the rain?” his eyes immediately dart up as he sees you standing there, starting to take your umbrella out.

“leave the umbrella, come sit with me.” he says, grabbing your hand as he leads you to sit next to him.

“today has been.. amazing. i’m really glad things turned out the way they did. i know me acting like this isn’t normal, but get used to it. i cant wait to treat you the way you have been deserving of it, princess.” he says while turning to you.

you are more than glad that is raining right now, cause the tears falling down your face are easily concealed by the rain. not for scara though.

“why are you crying, love? was it something i said?-”

“i love you. i love you so much.”

“i love you more.”

some people feel the rain- others just feel wet.

but with you,

as long as rains, my love for you will only increase.

- in the rain.

[missdollcouture]

hii do you know good ways to catch up in school (month or so) and maybe provide a schedule and ways to look forward to and motivate to do things?

im so open to changing my entire schedule and life bc what im doing isnt working!! my school starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:40. i have to get leave the house at 7:40am. tysm i hope you can help me ilysm and ur blog!!

yes ofc!

To catch up on school, I suggest waking up as early as possible to complete assignments. This will give you time in the morning without having to cram it into your afternoon. If you feel comfortable, try asking your teacher for extra help or advice.

To stay motivated in the future, think about how it would feel completing work. For me, having a to-do list works very well. If to-do lists don't work for you, try rewarding yourself for doing an assignment. For example, when I complete an assignment, I allow myself to talk to my friends for a little.

Another way you could stay motivated is to have a planner. Plan out what subject or assignment you will work on that day.

For your schedule this is what I recommend for you!

5:50AM- waking up around this time can be really challenging but I highly recommend it!! This will give you more than enough time to do things you need to do (I am planning on making a post about waking up early today!!)

5:55AM- Morning skincare, brush teeth, etc

6:10AM- Try to eat breakfast, even if it's small. This will help you have energy throughout the school day so you're not feeling drained!

6:30AM- Stretch (if you would like to), if not go ahead and change into your clothes

6:45AM- Work on some assignments/study

7:30AM- Reward yourself from working!

7:40AM-Leave for school

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not exactly sure what time you arrive home, but this is just an estimate

4:00PM- Go on a walk-if you already walk home from school, don't worry about this too much.

4:15PM- Grab a snack and do your homework before you shower and relax so you don't get lazy/forget

4:50PM- Start filling in your planner/making a new to do list for the day ahead

5:00PM- Shower and unwind

This is just what I recommend since this somewhat of my schedule!! So don't feel pressured to follow this

[potluckofmybrain]

Hi tumblr directioners,

So idk if anyone will see this but I want to share my personal experience as a directioner in the wake of losing Liam Payne.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a die-hard fan the whole time the band was together, but I was IN IT my freshman and sophomore years of high school.

It was 2011-2013, I was a teenage girl going through some tough stuff at home. And by “some stuff” I meant my dad was dying of brain cancer, and we moved to a new state where I didn’t know anyone. My dad passed away end of summer before my freshman year. I missed the first 2 weeks of school, got unenrolled, had to re-enroll, then got put on the counselor’s list of people to keep an eye on.

Of course I was depressed and antisocial and anxiety ridden starting at a new school. I moved from VA to TX and the culture shock was real I can’t lie. Then I heard some girls in my freshman English class talking about one direction. I had heard of the band but never really gave them any attention.

I remember going home that day and memorizing all the words to the Up All Night album in my living room. I remember making lyric art with the *skinny* crayola markers, and dedicating every tumblr post to 1D so that I could make friends and not feel like such an outsider. I remember having a common interest with other girls that made us feel like a community.

Then twitter got big and the #bring1Dtome challenge happened iykyk. (It was a really big deal okay) we stayed up all night and competed in a series of challenges with other directioners across the country. Long story short #bring1DtoDallas won the contest.

The only way to get into the private album signing before the concert (a prize of the contest and one directions first American performance) was to buy an album from the Barnes and Noble store in the mall. If you were the first 150? (Idk the number) of people in line then you’d be given a free poster and a WRIST BAND to get into the concert at the then named, Dr Pepper Ballpark, along with your collectors edition album.

So, naturally me and my 3 new (and only) friends piled into my 17 yr old older sister’s hand-me-down Yukon XL and slept at the mall the night before. (Duh). We blasted Up All Night songs with other directioners until after midnight and didn’t sleep at all because we were soooo excited.

Then morning came, people started lining up at 3am, news crews were there, mall security was there it was a big thing, this was at the Stonebriar mall in Frisco Tx for any of my older fans who know what I’m talking about.

So the doors aren’t going to open until 7am, mall opens at like 6am (don’t quote me on these times I’m guesstimating). 5:30 rolls around and we take a lap to assess if we can even get a spot in line… for those of you who don’t know— stonebriar is a two floor mall and the Barnes and noble has two entrances one on each floor, it’s one of the first stores near the parking garage entrance.

5:45am-The line is wrapped around the side of the mall at the bottom level. My friends and I start to lose hope of getting these wrist bands.

5:57am- our spot in line is shit my older sister realizes we’re disappointed and she says she “didn’t sleep in the car for no reason. You’re getting those wrist bands, follow me”.

5:59am: My friends and I haul ass to the second floor entrance and my sister says “when they open the door walk in, go down the escalator, sit in line and act like you were there the whole time.” And we did.

We got our wristbands and albums. We were on the news (in the background of someone else’s interview lol) and we started the countdown for the concert.

Let me add some additional context. I was a 14 year old girl who’s dad just died, who lived with a depressed mom, an unmedicated schizophrenic oldest sister who had just had a baby (so my niece, who was born 3 days before my dad died), a bipolar 17yr old older sister who had anger issues, and two younger siblings in elementary school that i’m trying to shelter. The living environment wasn’t great to say the least, cops were called multiple times (by me). No charges were pressed.

My dad was diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer when I was starting 8th grade, it was aggressive, treatments were expensive, our house in VA was foreclosed, my mom moved us to TX bc she had distant family there and available family grave plots, his cancer progressed and he passed away in August 2011.

We moved to TX in May 2011 at the end of my 8th grade year. Beginning of Summer before freshman year my mom moved my dad into hospice care. We would go to visit every other day and take turns feeding him and telling stories and it was heavy and sad. He passed away 2 days before school started.

One direction was the only thing I had to escape and bring any sense of joy in such a heartbreaking time. They brought me so much comfort, they brought me friends, they brought me a sense of being a normal teenage girl who’s dad didn’t have cancer, who’s sisters weren’t attacking each other, and who’s mom wasn’t threatening to 0ff herself.

So anyways, we got albums signed before the concert. it was very quick not like a meet and greet, they were all sitting in a row at a table, we walked through in a line and spoke to them all I was so excited I forgot to record on my camera, everyone was sweating bc it was 105 degrees outside, best day ever!! they were even cuter in person.

I just want to thank every Directioner who ever made me feel less alone as a struggling 14 year old. And I want to say that if you’re grieving Liam or one direction you’re not alone, I’m there with you. They were my safe space and loving them was…is a personality trait.

Anyways I stored those albums in a closet my junior year, then went through a house fire where everything got smoke damaged. We moved like 6 times that year. It was rough.

idk why I haven’t cleaned the albums but that’s what it is, and it’s a sobering reminder of the fact that I was going through so much but these boys were always there for me. I’ll clean them soon.

I’ll never be a boy-band obsessed teenager again, and I’m thankful to those boys for giving me happy memories during that time of my life.

If you read all that thank you and I love you 💓

[sonkitty]

Timestamp Notes for Episodes 2-5

(For reference: Timestamp Notes and Theory for Episode 1: The Arrival)

This post was last updated 08/29/2024.

(Theory)

...

Episode 2: The Clue

The present day scenes of this episode are all on Tuesday.

Minisode scenes happen for A Companion to Owls.

...

Aziraphale starts us off in the present day, seeming to have been thinking of the minisode events. Gabriel approaches and asks, "What comes after 'K'?" The main bookshop clock is at 10:35AM. Gabriel's been given some clothes to wear.

Crowley and Shax with the car. "You're in trouble." Crowley's turtleneck is his clothing indication that the day is Tuesday. In fact, it's Turtleneck Tuesday. Shax references last night's miracle.

Aziraphale goes to the record shop to talk to Maggie. Aziraphale references his previous scene with Gabriel by asking about the song though the lyrics he sings are different. Maggie references the previous night with getting locked in the coffee shop with Nina. Her watch has no clarity but trying to guess at what its vague, blurred hands might be saying is inconsistent. She gives Aziraphale a copy of the record.

Michael, Uriel, and Saraqael arrive in the street. Aziraphale is holding the record Maggie gave him.

Gabriel exits the bookshop to greet the group.

Aziraphale agrees to let the angels inside.

...

"Let the book selling commence!" The main bookshop clock reads as 10:45AM. The angels reference the huge plume of miraculous activity from the previous night. Aziraphale maintains touch on the record during the scene. Saraqael says they'll send someone to log and verify the miracle tomorrow morning.

...

Aziraphale playing record and examining newspaper clippings, 11:59AM.

Pub visit, Mr. Brown says the meeting will be on Thursday night, just after closing, then leaves. Crowley references last night's miracle. Aziraphale references it as well, specifying it was their Gabriel miracle. He tells Crowley about his lie to the visiting angels earlier. He tells Crowley about the record that might be a Clue.

Crowley and Aziraphale cross the street after exiting the pub, Aziraphale references Gabriel singing this morning.

...

After Crowley and Aziraphale enter the bookshop, Gabriel is putting books away. When the clock becomes visible, it is 4:28PM. The clock looks consistent throughout the scene.

Minisode scenes happen for A Companion to Owls.

...

Aziraphale after finishing Job memory up to restoring Job's children, bookshop main clock is at 6:30PM, indicating recollection was 2 hours long. Instead of seeming to have an ornate hand and a non-ornate hand, the clock looks like it has two ornate hands. They even look like one reflecting the other.

Crowley, pocket trickery (which does involve reflections by the way), talks to Nina. The coffee shop is closed. The record shop is open.

Aziraphale shows up at car with the record and proposes he borrow the car.

Crowley accepts this proposal through how he touches the thresholds.

Gabriel solo scene in the bookshop, organizing books.

Minisode scene happens for A Companion to Owls.

...

Episode 3: I Know Where I'm Going

The present day scenes of this episode are all on Wednesday.

Gabriel with hot chocolate, seems to be morning since I think he's supposed to be wearing pajamas.

Coffee shop, Mrs. Sandwich and Nina, Muriel visible from the window. Nina's clothing confirms we are on a new day.

Aziraphale in bookshop, listening to record and presumably working on his sketch of Gabriel.

...

Muriel visit, mostly 10:51AM. Note on the clock: For how most analog clocks are read, the hour hand is too close to the 10 for where the minute hand is. The hour hand should either be not quite at the 10 or closer to the 11, but it's neither. For now, I read this position as the clock trying to make itself easier to read for Muriel since Muriel's so unfamiliar with Earth.

...

Crowley entering with his box of plants has other clock at 1:20PM. All other contextual clues suggest the characters are in the same timeline. Crowley is bringing in his plants, brings up trains again for an option instead of Aziraphale borrowing the car. Muriel is seated and holding tea cup. The clock by Aziraphale's desk will consistently show the 10:51AM time during the rest of the scene. It's one of the clearest times given in the story.

Possible interpretations are that the plants think it's 1:20PM or the plants, usually inhabiting Crowley's car, have been in the supernatural zone so aren't adjusted to the standard Earth time other characters are experiencing. As such, the plants warped that clock. It is only when the plants are on screen that the clock time is so off.

Crowley has changed his sunglasses. His sunglasses are his door to himself, so this change is Crowley's way of acknowledging a big step in his relationship with Aziraphale by giving his door a new finish. It also just so happens to help out his Earthly Objects play during the story. These sunglasses are supposed to be another cue from the story that its events are happening mostly in the implied order given to the audience.

Another visual cue for this day is that Crowley isn't wearing a vest that looks like leather.

...

Private room scene #2. Aziraphale says he told Gabriel bookshops are always closed on a Wednesday, to indicate this episode's given day is Wednesday. That means the previous day was Tuesday, and most of episode 1 was Monday. Aziraphale says "the other night" instead of last night when referencing the miracle. Crowley's red streak makes itself known when Crowley comments on the measurement of the miracle.

Muriel intrusion to the private room.

Muriel at coffee shop, talks to Nina.

Aziraphale leaving in car for Edinburgh.

Crowley watching from window.

Aziraphale still leaving in car for Edinburgh.

Minisode scenes happen for The Resurrectionists.

Returned to present day, Aziraphale in the car on the drive to Edinburgh, "Now you're getting it," talking about the music. Daytime.

Hell, "Any news about Gabriel yet?"

...

Bookshop, "Gravity." 3:30PM.

Minisode scenes happen for The Resurrectionists.

Edinburgh, car parked, walk to The Resurrectionist, framing suggests Aziraphale walked around for a bit before actually going to the pub. The place is not busy. The sketch he shows has Gabriel with a different hairstyle and clothing than the sketch he was working on in the previous episode.

Aziraphale talks to pub owner or manager and leaves.

Minisode scenes happen for The Resurrectionists.

...

Returned to present day, graveyard, Aziraphale borrows a phone. The borrowed phone says 17:30 (5:30PM).

...

Bookshop, Crowley picks up phone, 5:28PM. Because of how the camera moves, the time is blurred. It also looks like the clock is doing that thing with looking like it has two ornate hands again. The coffee shop across the street is shown as still open.

Crowley's special windows sequence with the rain for Maggie and Nina happens. He uses the word tempest, and that triggers another reaction from Gabriel.

Shax shows up. Crowley exits the bookshop to interact with her.

Crowley returns to bookshop and holds door open for awhile.

After Shax leaves, Crowley shows frustration at Gabriel, stops short of threatening him. "It's always too late."

...

Episode 4: The Hitchhiker

The day is shifting from Wednesday to Thursday.

Aziraphale and Shax in car, middle of nowhere, guessing midnight. Shax exits.

Minisode happens, Nazi Zombie Flesheaters.

Returned to present day, Shax in Hell, talks to Beelzebub, gets command for attacking the bookshop.

Aziraphale drives up to park near the coffee shop.

...

Nina arrives on bicycle. Once she is inside, her phone shows 6:47 (assumed to be AM) as the time.

Crowley exits bookshop, passes box of plants to Aziraphale. Both carry plants to car, then are shown to be going in the direction of the bookshop by the end of the episode.

The episode ends on Thursday.

...

Episode 5: The Ball

The episode starts on Thursday.

Hell, Shax, "I'm requisitioning some demons."

Aziraphale exits bookshop. He has a clipboard and pen.

Crowley arrives in car. He shortened his sideburns through the drive. These events are timed to happen together due to the sound effects.

Mr. Arnold invitation. Crowley has longer sideburns as part of a Threshold Trick (the Single of The Bigger Thresholds Trick). Aziraphale has the clipboard and pen as clues that this scene takes place in the order being shown during the story.

Aziraphale and Crowley crossing street toward record shop for Maggie invitation.

Hell, Shax eventually accepts the 70 available demons.

Aziraphale and Crowley crossing street toward magic shop.

Mutt invitation.

Mrs. Cheng invitation.

Hell, Shax with microphone addressing demons, tells them of plan to storm a bookshop.

Justine invitation.

Hell, "So you can guarantee no angels, then?"

Nina invitation.

Hell, Shax says, "We leave at nightfall." These words confirm that the events in Hell have been happening during the day as Aziraphale and Crowley have been conducting their invitations. They show the demons intend to show up at night.

Crowley invitation.

Coffee shop, Nina with chalkboard, weird event of text messages showing up on chalkboard, Nina either doesn't notice or doesn't care.

Bookshop upper floor, Crowley interrogates Gabriel.

Heaven, Matchbox Muriel Scene #3. Muriel references Aziraphale's assistant, seeming to recall a memory we haven't actually seen in this draft of the story. Muriel was not shown as seeing any assistant for their visit on Wednesday.

Bookshop upper floor, Crowley gives Gabriel hot chocolate.

...

Aziraphale making preparations for the ball as Crowley enters from the stairs. Clock shows 6:00PM. The clock is still 6:00PM as Aziraphale brings down the big chandelier.

...

Mrs. Sandwich arrival at ball, 6:30PM.

Crowley knocks on window to record shop, informs Maggie the meeting is starting now.

...

Mr. Brown arrival at ball, 6:30PM.

Mrs. Cheng visible before entering ball, heavily implied to be touching a pillar.

Crowley approaching Nina outside coffee shop, senses something is wrong, eventually forcefully tells Nina to go to the bookshop.

Nina enters ball, everyone is acting weird.

Demons in street, now dark outside, Maggie entering ball, Crowley stopping the demons and talking to them before he enters the ball.

Mrs. Cheng and Mrs. Sandwich talk.

Maggie and Nina start dancing.

Crowley tries to talk to Aziraphale but can't just yet. He drops a platter and looks out the window.

Gabriel talks to some humans.

Aziraphale agrees to talk to Crowley while they dance.

Shax arrives through elevator into the street.

Maggie and Nina talk some more while dancing.

Crowley and Aziraphale talk while dancing.

The demons throw a brick through the window.

Gabriel tries to surrender; the demons do not accept.

Crowley convinces Shax to let him get the humans out first.

Mr. Brown tries to call emergency services but is instead pulled out of the ball for a forced exit and probably killed.

Crowley instructs humans on preparation for escorting them out. Then he escorts them out.

Aziraphale talks to Maggie and Nina about Crowley coming back with a plan.

Crowley finds Muriel. They leave for Heaven.

Shax is shown watching the elevator go up. The bookshop doors to are shown as still open.

The time is unknown, but I suspect this episode still ends on Thursday.

...

Episode 6: Every Day

I think this episode starts on Thursday.

Shax eyes the bookshop. The doors are shown as closed, instead of open like the end of the previous episode. I'm guessing Gabriel closed them since he's shown to be helping clean up and closest to the doors when everyone inside is first visible.

Aziraphale talks to Maggie and Nina about the dancing.

Shax probably kicks the doors open though the camera doesn't confirm the action. In any case, that's supposed to indicate the bookshop doors are opened while Crowley is in the elevator going up to Heaven.

Heaven, Crowley and Muriel talk as they enter Heaven, Muriel convinces Crowley to change his appearance.

Earth, demons throw trash into the bookshop. Maggie supposedly accidentally invites the demons inside.

Heaven, Crowley and Muriel pass by Michael and Uriel. No dialogue is exchanged. Crowley and Muriel arrive at Muriel's office. Crowley opens the Gabriel file.

Earth, demons in bookshop are entering the circle and being discorporated.

Heaven, Crowley and Muriel watch the plans for Armageddon and Gabriel's refusal to it. My guess is that this meeting took place on Saturday. My reasoning is very loose, but it's that the meeting is about ending the world. In season 1, the world was supposed to end on Saturday at 5:30PM, based on estimates from the clues given.

The story indicates that sometime in the previous scenes, the day has switched from Thursday to Friday because of the clock time below.

...

Maggie and Nina are using fire extinguishers against the demons, the bookshop clock most likely says 2:30AM.

Heaven, Saraqael arrives to talk to Crowley and Muriel.

Earth, Aziraphale charges Shax to leave. Shax taunts him about Crowley and sushi.

Heaven, Gabriel's trial, Gabriel is informed he will be demoted and have his memory of his time as Gabriel wiped. I think this part of the trial happened on Sunday. Again, I am referring to season 1 as a loose clue because Sunday in season 1 was when Crowley was put on trial in Hell.

Earth, Maggie and Nina start throwing encyclopedias at the demons.

Heaven, Gabriel footage is being watched to show his exit from Heaven. Given clues of my theory based on episode 1, these events happened on Sunday. They are after Gabriel's first visit on Saturday and before Gabriel's second visit on Monday.

Earth, Aziraphale uses his halo. When the halo lands, the bookshop clock does not show its full face, but based on the position of the visible hands, it's 2:31AM, which doesn't add up for how much time is implied to have passed since the last time the clock was shown. Nothing in the story indicates a time stop happened otherwise.

Heaven, alarms go off. Crowley, Saraqael, and Muriel exit, eventually joined by Michael and Uriel.

...

Crowley and angels enter bookshop, 6:01AM or 6:02AM.

Gabriel recovers his memories.

...

Maggie commenting, "That's really sweet." 7:59AM.

Crowley escorts Maggie and Nina out of the bookshop. Nina's comment about being open half an hour ago suggests opening time is supposed to be 7:30AM. That would match being past her 6:47AM arrival the previous day and the bookshop clock showing almost 8:00AM.

The Metatron is in line at the coffee shop.

Crowley resurrects Mr. Brown.

Nina opens the coffee shop. Maggie offers to help. Nina sends her to pick up some items from the mini-mart.

...

Angels and demons arguing. Crowley quietly returns to the bookshop. Due to the blur and lack of a minute hand anywhere else, my guess is at 8:39AM.

Gabriel and Beelzebub leave.

In the coffee shop, the Metatron orders coffee. Maggie arrives with items from the mini-mart.

Michael starts to threaten Aziraphale. The Metatron arrives in the bookshop.

...

The Metatron asks if Crowley knows him. The clock, again, does not quite work the way most analog clocks work. The hour hand is between the 8 and the 9, but the minute hand is at the 12. The hour hand should be more decidedly on the 8 or the 9 then, but it's not. Either way, story is implying the time is between 8:00AM and 9:00AM. It's probably supposed to be 9:00AM.

The Metatron tells the angels to leave, except Muriel. The angels leave. The Metatron and Aziraphale exit the bookshop.

...

Crowley stands up from chair, now the hour hand is more decidedly at the 9 to indicate 9:02AM.

Crowley and Muriel talk with Crowley eventually kicking out Muriel.

...

Crowley tidying bookshop, 9:24AM or 9:25AM, the minute hand seems to go missing in one cut that's a closer view of Crowley near the clock.

Maggie and Nina enter. The other clock in the bookshop, behind Maggie at first, indicates 9-something as well but does not give the minute it's on. They talk to Crowley.

The Metatron tells Aziraphale to tell his friend the good news.

Aziraphale crosses street and enters the bookshop. Maggie and Nina leave.

...

Crowley removes sunglasses. "Look, um..." The clock by Aziraphale's desk says 9:26AM and stays at that time whenever it is shown clearly until Aziraphale walks closer to Crowley.

The other clock behind Aziraphale is also shown, but I cannot confirm where its minute hand is to my satisfaction. I can only gather that it's indicating the hour hand at 9.

Once Aziraphale draws closer to Crowley and says, "Come with me," the clock by his desk is too blurry for me to confirm its minute hand to my satisfaction. It does at least read to me as still indicating the hour is at 9.

...

When the Metatron enters, the clock by Aziraphale's desk is 9:41AM.

...

While Crowley is standing at the door to his car, his watch seems to read 9:15AM.

Aziraphale and the Metatron leave the bookshop, eventually enter the elevator.

Crowley looks through windows and starts to drive.

Muriel enters the bookshop.

Crowley drives away.

Crowley is shown driving while Aziraphale is in the elevator during the closing credits.

The story ends on Friday.

The End.

[cassandralie]

What if Maggie and Nina are memory wiped Sister Theresa and Sister Mary?

Good morning/afternoon/night, everyone! It's Crack Theory O'Clock!

I was thinking about @amuseoffyre's post regarding Greasy Johnson as Jesus, and at 3:45am remembered this:

as far as we know, Crowley isn't aware how the baby swap went wrong, just that it did. Not even the nuns are/were aware it went wrong.

But if anyone could figure out what happened, and where each baby ended up, it would be Sister Mary and Sister Theresa (who also miscommunicated).

Now, sure, Sister Theresa is dead. But since zombies are now a thing in the Good Omens universe, does that even matter?

This is also a death that would be easily retconned as knocked unconscious or even faking (one of the ways to tell if someone faked fainting is they catch their head with their arms).

So, maybe the only two people who--if they rubbed their respective single braincells together (that's what we're calling it these days) and talked beyond winking--could figure out they messed up the baby swap, had their memories wiped in order to keep that information hidden? Perhaps by God Herself?

Maybe they were given new lives in Soho, near the two people who could be trusted with that information? With new fake memories and personalities and backstories?

And maybe Maggie knew everything would be better as long as she was near one particular person, Nina, because Nina is the one person she knew from her old life. And that feeling turned to love (which Sister Theresa would hate if she ever gets her memories back lol).

So then, in Season 3, they finally get together and kiss (which they notably didn't do in Season 2), and the kiss triggers their real memories to return.

They figure out the location of Greasy Johnson/Jesus the 2nd, and provide it to Crowley and Aziraphale, who might have gone on a wild goose chase road trip through America looking for Warlock, as they were not aware of a third baby and thought he was Jesus.

Then they all go to Tadfield to find Greasy. And end up back at the airbase*, with Adam, Dog, the Them, Anathema and Newt (also it would be hilarious if both Tracy and Shax were there at the same time) and stop the apocalypse again, bringing everything full circle.

*Also, the fact that Tadfield has an airbase and that Jesus was meant to return on an airplane is something, right? Is this anything?

Anyway, that's my crack theory for the day. If anyone needs me, I'll be over here smoking it :)

[freckled-words]

One Way Ticket To Hell - Part Two

I received an ask from @elias00o not too long ago asking me about this fic. When I gave my reply, I could have sworn that I'd posted everything I'd had written for it.

Feeling Ego nostalgic recently, I'd went and found the document. Turns out, I am a lying, liar-pants that completely forgot to post the rest of what I had available.

Now just to warn you all, this story is still not going to be updated after this. If anything, this can even be left off with this part and considered an open-ended thriller piece to prompt others.

But I didn't feel it fair to not share this part of the story, especially with how proud of it I am. This is going to be a REALLY long post too.

You can find part one HERE

You woke with a start, breathing hard and shivering. 

Looking around your room, you found your bedside clock and checked the time. 

3:45am.

You forced yourself to sit up, and wrapped your blankets around yourself. You ignored the cold sweat on your skin, and the feel of your pyjamas sticking. 

This was the 3rd nightmare this week. You’d lost count of how many times it had been this month all together. 

There was no explanation for these on-going nightmares that made sense to you. 

That nightmare from three months ago had shaken you, especially with that burn that had appeared after having it. As it healed, you did your best to convince yourself you’d gotten the burn from the oven or something else hot earlier in the day, and you just hadn’t noticed. That your nightmare pain had bled through to alert you to it.

It was a weak explanation, but it did the trick to calm your unease.

Just as things seemed to be calming down for you, the nightmares had started.

It was their voices. Whispers in the darkness that sounded like Anti’s maniacal cackle, NateMare’s sing song teases, and Dark’s enraged baritone at your avoidance of them.

Then it had phantom touches. You’d be coming out of sleep, and have the faintest feeling of a cold hand brushing your cheek. Or a set of sharpened fingernails down your arm. The worst had been the overly warm grip on your scar, causing it to sting long into the morning after waking.

This was the 3rd nightmare in which you’d seen them, and had to run. 

The first had been through a forest, where NateMare had managed to catch you. His eyes had swum with thick grey smoke, and pulsing black cracks had appeared in his skin the moment he’d touched you. Thankfully, he’d made the mistake of grabbing your scar too tightly, and the pain jarred you awake.

The second had been a short lived, mad dash through a dystopian city street. The buildings had been crumbling, spray painted on every inch, and overgrown with ivy. The roads were splitting with plants growing up through the cracks. The most unnerving part had been the sky. There was no sun, or moon. There weren’t any clouds or stars. There had only been pitch black, with no means of telling if the sky or some sort of ceiling was even there. 

Anti had managed to corner you in an abandoned apartment, and you escaped by  pushing into the wall and falling out and into the open air. The gut twist of falling had snapped you awake, leaving only the sound of Anti’s swearing in your ears.

This had been a true nightmare. If not for the ground being devoid of texture and temperature, you would never have snapped to the conclusion of it being a dream.

These nightmares were getting so surreal, it was leaving you disoriented and fatigued when you did wake.

You brushed your hand over the scar on your arm, ‘What happens when they do catch me?’

This question, and the unknown answer, weighed heavy on your mind each night. 

As you had the other times, you opted to forgo sleep for the rest of the night. Choosing instead to get up and pass the time doing something productive. All the while, drinking as much coffee as you could stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the sun beaming through your windows, you felt a bit more human. It didn’t hurt that being in the sunlight was also where you felt the safest. The warmth of sunlight was better than a fireplace, as it wasn’t sequestered to a single space that slowly spread out. In a few short minutes, an entire space was warmed once the sun was out and touching upon it. To you, it felt as though it did the same to your body. Rather than warming from the outside and going in, you felt the tension in your chest ease, and your muscles relaxed, until you were cozy from the inside out.

You had all the curtains and shades drawn away from the windows, letting in as much sunlight as possible while you worked.

Boxes were scattered around the apartment, some closed and labelled with large black lettering. Others had their flaps open, either half full or still empty. 

You’d been considering moving for the past couple months. You’d been let go from work not that long ago, as the small grocery store you’d worked for had to unfortunately close. Their sales had dropped over the years, and then a WalMart had opened nearby, and they were finished.

You’d been living in the same small city for the past year. You’d never been fond of larger cities, as the number of people surrounding you could trigger an anxiety attack. Plus with the looming buildings, and crammed traffic down narrow lanes, everything just felt too compressed. You learned at an early age that you were your happiest when you can swing your arms around and not worry about hitting someone right next to you.  Being able to walk or bus to everything in under a half hour removed the stress of deadlines. Your favorite places to eat and shop all knew you by face and name, and you never got tired of them, since they kept their selections up to date. It boggled your mind that people can thrive in places where everyone else was right at their elbow.

Your plan was to move to the same, somewhat bigger city, that your best friend had moved to. They had reassured you that there were plenty of jobs, and that they could even get you in for part time work with the college bookstore. Things had worked out perfectly, as your friend needed someone to take the spare bedroom in their apartment and help cover the rent. 

Your savings were on the meager side, so the smaller rent payments would definitely be a blessing. Maybe, you would even feel safe enough to get a proper night’s sleep.

You taped up another box and labelled it, ‘LIVING ROOM.’ Next to it, was another box labelled ‘JO.’

You’d been putting that one off for as long as possible. Everything contained inside the box were leftovers from your ex. The relationship with Jo hadn’t ended messy, just cold, and awkward. You’d both tried to make it work, only to find that trying was doing more damage than helping. It took two weeks of lifeless texts, and finally, one solemn phone call to agree to call it quits. 

There were video games, books, a pair of headphones, and a hoodie in the box. Jo had never asked for any of these things back, but you knew at least two of the games had been a favorite of theirs. You didn’t have the heart to take these things with you. Other than the reminder of a failure, there would be a certain weight of guilt contained in that box.

The moving truck was coming tomorrow, taking away as many boxes as would fit, along with your computer desk, bed and small couch. If you didn’t bring the box back now, it might get brought along by accident. 

“You can do this. Just bring the box over, give it back to Jo, and say one more goodbye.” 

Your pep talk to yourself didn’t garner much in the way of courage. It did, however, make you realize just how much you were overthinking this. 

Shaking your head at yourself, you grabbed up the box and your car keys. On such a lovely day, you just needed to get this done and over with. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive took less time than you’d hoped. At each stop sign, and red light, you glanced over at the box and considered turning around. 

Your nerves about bringing the box to Jo seemed...intense. In a way that didn’t make any sense. Jo was in no way a threat to you. Despite how things had broken off, you’d never gotten any impression that Jo would want to retaliate in a way that would hurt you. So why did you feel the need to flee?

“It’s gotta be the lack of sleep and too much coffee.”

That was what you finally told yourself as you pulled up to the curb in front of their home. It was a logical explanation.

You had, in fact, drank an entire pot of coffee in a five hour time span. Your heart was just about bursting out of your chest from the caffeine.

Still, you felt yourself resisting the motions of grabbing the box and getting out of your car.

Jo was renting the basement suite from the house’s owners. Which meant going through the side gate, and to the back of the house, followed by a small flight of stairs that lead to the door to Jo’s apartment.

Standing in front of their door, you looked between the door itself, and the doorbell set to the side. Knock or doorbell? If you knocked, Jo might not hear it. If you rang the doorbell, they’d definitely hear it, but then so would the upstairs neighbors. It was early still, possibly too early. What if you woke the neighbors? What if you woke up Jo? They worked late hours and slept in on weekends. But what if Jo wasn’t even home? They’d gone out to meet with friends early on weekend mornings before.

Your anxiety was driving your thoughts into a chaotic circle. Needing to break the cycle, you rapped your knuckles hard against the white door. Too hard. Your knuckles smarted from the impact. 

Shaking out your hand and juggling the box, you didn’t hear the scuffle of feet on the other side of the door. Which was why you startled when the door was opened, and Jo peered out at you. 

The second Jo laid eyes on you, their complexion paled and they glanced over their shoulder, “What are you doing here?”

You’d been anticipating an awkward hello, or possibly a confused, “Hi?” Their dismay at seeing you, and their question, bled away all your anxiety, leaving behind a knot of discomfort in its place. This had apparently been a rather bad call. 

“I-I sent you a text a couple hours ago. I wanted to give you back the games you left at my place.” You lifted the box in both hands towards them.

Jo reached out and took the box, giving you a glimpse of their wrists beneath the sweater they were wearing. Was that dried blood?

With their apartment being set lower down, the sunlight didn’t reach inside the doorway. There were no lights on inside either, casting Jo in near darkness.

Your vision adjusted to the lack of light, allowing you to see the bruising on their neck, and a healing split in their lower lip.

Had Jo not taken hold of the box, it would have toppled from your grip.

“Jo, are you okay? What happened?” 

Jo’s lips pressed together as their eyes flicked to the left, where you couldn’t see past the door frame. They pulled the box from your hands and hugged it against their chest. Finally their eyes settled on you. A light of determination shining through where there’d been defeat a moment before, “You need to run. Now! Go!”

“Jo, what are yo-” You took a step towards them, and a visible line of grey appeared around their throat. It went taut, becoming a noose. Jo was yanked from the doorframe and into their apartment with a strangled cry.

The smell of thick, burning smoke drifted out from the darkness.

Some would argue that there was no way to identify smoke the same way you could identify a cologne.

You would prove those people wrong.

This smoke carried an exact hint of burnt flesh to it. It’s color brought to mind metal that could withstand all conditions. It would have to, in order to obey the impossibilities it could be shaped to.

Your eyes watered as you staggered back towards the staircase. 

“No.”

“We really need to stop meeting like this Sweetheart.”

More plumes of smoke billowed out from the apartment as one of your nightmares stepped outside.

Your hand went to your mouth, reflexively suppressing the scream that threatened to leave your gut.

The relaxed set of his shoulders didn’t match the hunger in his smoking, brown eyes. It was the hunger of a predator that had locked his sights on his prey, and knew he had it cornered.

Your free hand gripped onto the railing, steadying yourself as you lifted your left foot and stepped up. Slowly you shook your head, allowing words to get past your lips, “You’re not real...Th-this is another dream...Another nightmare.”

His grin softened in mock sympathy. Taking the three steps needed to close the distance, he leaned in close and whispered, “That was before Sweetheart, this is now.” His hand lashed out, grabbing hold of your arm, “I learned my lesson from that last time. I can’t go squeezing that tender spot too hard.” His hand had gone straight to your burn scar, which was concealed by your jacket. 

The fabric of your jacket smoldered, wisps of smoke drifted into the air, and your skin ignited into blistering agony. 

The nightmare of getting the scar flooded your mind. Dark interrupting the concert. Anti murdering everyone in the audience, and NateMare catching all the people trying to run away. Just before you’d woken up, his hand had latched onto your arm allowing him to burn your skin with his touch.

The last time NateMare had caused you this pain, you’d woken up. You weren’t waking up now. The pain continued, spreading along your arm as the sleeve of your jacket burned away from his hand.

Adrenaline flooding your veins along with panic, you managed to wrench your arm back hard enough to free it from his hold. You barely kept your balance as you twisted and scrambled up the stairs two at a time.

You didn’t dare look back as you shoved open the gate. Even in your rush, your fingers registered the rough texture of the wood, feeding you more proof that this wasn’t another nightmare.

You’d barely rounded the side of the house when you had to stop. You lurched forward, nearly toppling onto the cement driveway. 

A young man with green hair sat on the hood of your car. He tossed a familiar, wicked dagger between his hands as his luminescent green eyes found yours. 

“This can’t be real, this can’t be happening.” Your voice sounded distant to your own ears, but Anti’s delighted, warped, giggles sounded clearly in the still air.

Knowing NateMare was going to reach you any second from behind, you got yourself moving. You pivoted away from the car’s direction, and changed your course to the street and the next nearest house. If you could find anyone else about, then surely this would end. Surely they’d disappear.

Your feet remained firmly planted as your leg attempted to lift. Looking down, you saw shadows writhing over your feet. Shadows that extended in the direction of the sun, instead of away from it. Without following their trail, you knew who you’d find on the other end.

You pulled again, and again, desperately trying to yank your feet free. The force sent you back, straight into a set of waiting arms.

Anti’s cold dagger pressed against your throat, contrasting the warmth of his breath against your ear, “You’re a real pain in the ass to track down, but not impossible.”

His arms remained firm, keeping you upright and immobile as the shadows at your feet began to spread up your legs. With each inch they travelled, your legs became increasingly numb. You tried to twist in Anti’s hold as panic clawed at your mind. 

Freezing hands cupped your face, pulling your sight from the creeping shadows. Meeting Dark’s, flat near black eyes, brought reality crashing in.

This was not a dream. They were here.

“I warned you. You couldn’t escape us forever, not even in your own realm.” 

The shadows went over your hips, and rushed up to your chest. All the adrenaline that had been helping you vanished. Cold, lead filled your limbs. If Anti were to let you go, you’d fall to the ground.

Your eyelids fluttered as your vision darkened.

Dark’s right thumb brushed over your cheek, “Sleep Y/N. We’ll take care of you.” 

NateMare came into your field of vision, just behind Dark’s shoulder. 

You couldn’t fight the pull, your only protest a feeble, “No...Please…” 

You closed your eyes, and sleep overtook you.

[ellies-cycling-notes]

Day 2: Long Island to NYC

Distance Covered: 80.23 miles

Total Time (including rests): 9:47 (7:45am-5:32pm)

Time spent riding: 7:22

Average Speed: 10.9 mph

Apples Eaten: 3 (fuji - 7.5/10, fuji - 8/10, granny smith - 6/10)

Overview of Ride:

Today's ride was just a single long trek. The very beginning of the ride was on some of the best side roads I've ever been on (they were of similar quality to a bike trail), but after that, most of the rest of the ride was spent on state roads with cars zooming past.

Once I got into NYC, though, it got better. My route took me on multiple bike trails through parks, and even when I was on city streets, New York's bike infrastructure felt better than I'm used to (this was probably influenced by the fact I was coming from various state roads that had practically 0 bike infrastructure).

The worst part of the ride was the flat tires. I ended up getting 2 flats today, both on my back wheel. I think the second flat was actually influenced by the first, because I only have a hand pump and cannot fully pump up a tire unless I go to a bike shop, and so I believe the extra weight on the back wheel combined with a not-completely pumped up tire is what caused the second tube to pop.

I finished off the ride with 2 back-to-back bridges: the Kosciuszko bridge, and then the Williamsburg bridge. The Kosciuszko bridge wasn't that bad, but the ride uphill for the Williamsburg bridge was absolute hell. At least it meant that once I got to the top of the bridge, the last 1.5 miles I had to ride were smooth sailing.

I took 4 breaks on today's ride: breaks #1 and #3 were short breaks where I had to fix a tire, and thus also had a little snack. Break #2 was in a park, where I had an early lunch (PB&J, as expected). My last break was a water break in Queens right before I got to ride on the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, a rather nice bike path.

Small Notes/Experiences on the Ride

Sunscreen - I almost forgot to put on sunscreen this morning! My campsite was in the shade and the sun was still low when I started the ride, so I just forgot. Luckily, I noticed another bicyclist who had stopped on the side of the road and was doing various prep, and somehow that subconsciously reminded me to apply sunscreen

Waking up - I woke up just before dawn this morning (around 5:30am). I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't, for 3 main reasons: (1) my sleeping bag was really hot, and I was overheating (2) there were train tracks near the campground and a train passed by just as I was trying to fall back asleep (3) roosters! I don't know where they were, but starting around 6am, you could hear a rooster's call every minute or two

Speed Limit - As a bicyclist, I always find it funny when I'm able to go faster than the speed limit. This is easily attainable on roads with a Limit of 15 mph, but my law-breaking was more impressive than that today. The road had a speed limit of 20 mph, and was on a short downhill, so I was able to pick up speed such that I was the fastest vehicle on the road (I capped out at around 24 mph on that road)

Railroad Avenues - I don't know why, but my maps kept having me take routes that ended up with me going right parallel to train tracks. More than once, said parallel road was called a Railroad Avenue.

Dogs - I usually don't care much for animals, but there were a few dogs of interest I noticed today. One of them was in a yard behind a fence and kept zooming back and forth from one end to another. I thought it was following cars, but then it just turned around and raced to the other end when it was already chasing a car, so that theory might be wrong. I also saw a wooden or plastic dog statue, maybe 1 meter tall, hyper-realistic, just sitting on the curb of a city street. There was a third dog I was thinking about mentioning, but I forgot why it was interesting before I had a chance to write it down.

Post Ride Notes

I'm now resting in a friend's apartment in NYC. I'm late to posting tonight because when I got here, I ended up just lying down for an hour or two because of how sore I was. I did not do Yoga today, but as tomorrow is my rest day, I'll likely do Yoga then.

Design Notes

Today's design notes refer to specific games I'm working on/want to work on, mainly focusing in from a mechanics perspective.

Game 1: Doubles Rowing

The idea for this is a micro card game, maybe 20 cards at most, where two players play cooperatively as the two rowers in a Double (a two-person boat where each person has 2 oars). The stroke seat would have to play cards to set the pace and keep the energy up, while the bow seat would have to follow the stroke and make directional calls (and maybe some other calls too). This idea hasn't really been fleshed out at all yet, so that's what I have so far.

Game 2: Bicycle Repair Minigames

A video game, probably using either a mouse-and-keyboard or a game controller, where the player has to perform various tasks that require precise actions in order to repair a bike. For example, when performing the mini-game to replace a bike chain, you would have to carefully line your new and old chains up, side-by-side, and then use a chain tool to shorten the new chain if it's too long. However, you still have to be very precise with this part, as you don't want to accidentally break a chain link. After that, you put the chain carefully on the bike cassettes, and have to line up the ends of the chain so that you can connect it, either using a master link, or by using the chain tool again. And that's just one example of a mini-game

Game 3: Cooperative UNO: Curses!

This game is based around a cooperative game-loss condition I've been wanting to work into a game for a while. I thought I'd test the mechanic/loss condition out with an UNO deck. I have a whole rules system for it, so here's how it works:

This game is for 2+** players.

Separate out the numbered cards (0-9) from the others.

Shuffle the numbered cards and deal each player 5 cards. Set the rest of the numbered cards to the side face-down (this is the deck).

Put the top card of the deck in the discard pile.

Set the other cards (reserve, +2 cards, etc.) to the side in a pile (doesn't need to be shuffled). This is the Curse pile. Any cards that are not number cards will be counted as Curse cards in this game.

Now, here's how you play the game. Players are working together, taking turns. Tabletalk rules are up to you, but I would suggest no talking.

On your turn, you start by drawing until you have 5 cards in hand (on your first turn, you draw 0 cards). If you attempt to draw from an empty deck, keep the top card of the discard pile, and shuffle the rest of the discard pile as the new deck.

Next, you play a number card to the discard pile that follows the rules of UNO (is either the same color or number value). If you cannot, you discard any number card from your hand to the bottom of the discard pile. Also, add a card from the Curse pile to the bottom of the discard pile.

At the end of your turn, discard any Curse cards you have in your hand to the bottom of the discard pile.

Winning/Losing the Game:

This is not currently a game that can be won. However, there are 2 ways to lose:

If every player must discard Curse cards at the end of their turn in a turn cycle, you lose.

If one player is neither able to play a number card nor able to discard a number card on their turn because their entire hand is Curses, you lose.

Game 4: Cave Explorer

This is the game I probably have the most to write about, but I'm getting tired, so I'm going shorten it to a summary today. Luckily, this is the game I'm most interested in working on/thinking about, so I'll probably have many chances to expand on this in future blog posts.

This game is a single-player video game I made in a class my Freshman year. It's a rogue-like game, where you have a large grid of colored squares. You have an avatar on one of those squares you can move around by using the arrow keys, and need to get them to the exit. However, there are 3 snags in this plan.

First, when you input a movement for your character, they don't actually move. Instead, your input is recorded in a log on the side of the screen and you can add more inputs. When you think you've made all the movements to get your guy to the exit, you can click "Enter", and they'll go through the movements you inputted one-by-one until they either reach the exit, or fail to do so.

The second trick is that each colored square has a differently ability. In the original version of the game, you start with four types of tiles:

Floor - light grey tiles that you can walk on

Walls - dark green tiles that you can't move through - they can be used strategically, though, if you think you'll forget one of your inputs.

Pits - Black tiles that if your avatar walks on them, it's a game over.

Falling Floors - Dark grey tiles that can only be stepped on once. After that, they turn into Pits.

Furthermore, as you get further in the game, more unique tiles will appear so you have to be able to carefully maneuver around, making use of the different tiles the best you can.

The last snag in your game plan is the timer. The game cannot actually be beaten, levels can generate infinitely. Your progress is instead calculated by how many randomly-generated levels you can get through before you run out of time, with each level more complicated/difficult than the last.

That's an overview of the original version of Cave Explorer. I have a rest day tomorrow, so I'll try to see if I can find the files for it and whether I'd be able to share it.

I have several ideas for ways to expand/re-work Cave Explorer. However, as mentioned earlier, I don't really want to get into all that right now. Instead, I'm going to give a list of terms, which will serve as both a notes board for myself, and a small bite of what I'm thinking about.

Gamemodes: Classic, Basic, Randomized, Region-based, Endless, "Deck-builder", Custom

Tile Types: Ice, Mud, Jump, Quicksand, Linked Teleport, Key, Hidden Room, Upstairs, Corruption, various "Points" tiles

Code Changes: Updated map-building, weight of tiles, tile definitions, ui formatting

"Out There" Ideas: new characters, enemies, race/fight mode

That's everything from me tonight! I'll be resting up tomorrow, and will still make a post, but it'll probably be shorter and more formal than normal.

Previous -- Today's Pics -- Next

[contentment-of-cats]

What they knew, when they knew it.

As I noted in a previous post, the North Atlantic is a nest of SONAR and hydrophones from multiple nations and entities. The news that a station detected an implosion on the Sunday morning that the Titan launched is not news to me. Sound carries under water very handily.

Do I think that the news was deliberately delayed?

Note that communication with Titan's base ship stopped about one hour and forty-five minutes into the dive which started at 8:00AM US-ET. Previous reports indicated that losing comms happened before, but did it happen often enough that this was disregarded? The sub was scheduled to resurface at 3:00PM. Polar Prince did not report the sub as 'missing' until 5:40PM - more than two hours later. I think that the crews from Oceangate and the Polar Prince knew. I think they had an idea at 9:45AM, I think they knew damn well by 3:00PM, and I think they were certain by the time they called in the cavalry. I think that denial is always possible - not wanting to believe that five people were crushed like little ketchup packets a soda can at 6,000psi is a valid reason for denial.

I don't think anyone else connected the dots until Sunday night. After all, there are sounds created by underwater volcanic eruptions, earth movements, animals, icebergs, and what have you. The agencies involved would have been queried, the information passed on to pertinent parties, and the band plays on. On Sunday night, people who understood the lack of communication and the abrupt cessation of same plus the noise captured that morning knew what had likely happened. However, at that point it would have been irresponsible to stop looking. The defenses of numerous countries depend on submarines, and a number of deep-sea submersibles and ROVs are on the bottom, coming up, or going down at any given time.

Timing is not proof.

So, they would have queried - anyone lose a sub? No? None of you guys? Okay. Maybe it's from someone who wouldn't tell anyone they lost a sub. Could it have been a narco-sub sinking? Unusual in the Atlantic, but possible. They would try to triangulate the most likely origin of the noise. How big did it sound? When the news came in of the Titan being lost 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod and the nearest USCG assets, I'd imagine the first thought being, "Oh. Shit."

Nobody wanted to be honest about the mission. This was recovery from the get-go. Not a rescue. Nobody wanted to say it.

There was never going to be a happy ending, but we're a hopeful species. It's just that nobody wanted to tell us,

[cry1ngpr1nce]

how did my morning go? glad u asked

- midnight - 1am, hang out with friend til she falls asleep. not tired

- 2am - 6am , fuck about, get upset over small shit, chat to bf

- 6am , boyfriend wants to talk ab shared abuser, says its fine to talk ab them (lie), he asks if im sure and i say idgaf

- "but iii gaf'

- doesnt vent but i still try to help

- 6:30am, he goes to bed

- 6:45am, vent about the friends of server G in server H

- everyone says these guys suck

- reaaallly unload months of pent up frustration and pettiness

- namedrop a guy

- owner of H threatens to ban bc of his paranoia

- shit.

- realise i was splitting on server G and i dont want drama and actually i still want to be their friends

- 8am, get breakfast and talk to friends mum

- 9am, get home, get dressed, grab wallet and start walking to town

- buy boxcutters

- walk to sainsburys to buy cookie mix

- they dont have cookie mix

- walk to tesco and buy cookie mix

- also donuts

- pay and leave

- eat 4 donuts (1000cals) on the way home so fast you feel sick and think about how youre gonna fix what i did during my pychotic break

- get home

- write this post

- cut <3

[darecruit]

I'm concerned with how late (or early) you're posting lol because from my state, it's nearly 3 in the morning and normally I'm not even up this late, but I've been really busy with stuff from work that I've had to bring home. What are you doing? 🤨🫵

HA! Are we talking about this morning? I believe I was liking and reblogging animals things this morning LOL. Anyway, that would have made it around 5:15-5:45am my time. And about when my wife woke me to make sure I'd be up and moving to wake our child to get her all ready for school.

It's 12:36pm my time now and honestly this morning feels SO LONG AGO at this point 😂

[luposlip]

Real world battery life: Samsung Galaxy S23

or: Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

NB: Due to popular demand, I'll update this daily for the first 2 weeks!

Wednesday the 1st of February Samsung presented their new lineup of Galaxy devices. The day after I bought the Samsung Galaxy S23.

The last year, I've had the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and before that the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

I've been really happy about the Ultras, because of:

their cameras, and

their battery life (especially the S21 Ultra!)

But I got tired of having such a huge phone. Would the battery life of the smallest phone in the lineup disappoint me?

Day 0: Thursday

I bought the phone Thursday afternoon, and spent the rest of the day transferring data to it from my previous phone. I have lots of data, so it took quite a while, even though the Samsung Smart Switch makes it very easy. But this day doesn't really count.

Day 1: Friday

My normal weekday comes with a few morning standup meetings using Teams, which is known to be really power hungry. During the day I've used my phone as internet connection, old school dialing, a fair share of messaging (primarily via Signal and old school SMS), reading news in the breaks and in the evening.

And my Fridays are even more power hungry than the rest of the weekdays, because I usually have around 1.5 hours of Teams meetings, the first part while commuting (thus using cell data).

The first full day with the new Galaxy S23 was a Friday, so I was really curious about the battery life (the S22 didn't really get great reviews on this account, but the S23 has slightly bigger battery pack, and according to specs a more power efficient processor).

By the way - I always turn on the battery saver function on my smartphones, to ensure the battery works for as many years as possible. This means the Galaxies only charge to 85%.

After the full workday - the S23 still had 40% left. And I spent more power than a normal Friday, because I had to post-install and setup 5-10 apps which I didn't auto-install via the Smart Switch app.

I got up at 7am, and before I went to bed at around 1am there were a little more than 20% left (I spent some time in the evening playing Chess.com).

My S22 Ultra usually had around 40-45% left in the evening - but perhaps 30% after heavy usage. For my usage, 20% vs. 30% after a day of heavy usage is fine - as long as it lasts a full day (and again - I don't charge to 100%).

Result Day 1

18 hours of above normal daily usage, 65% battery juice spent. This means I could use it for around 27 hours on a charge, if I charged it to 100%.

Day 2: Saturday

I've used my phone around what I normally do a weekend day, perhaps a tiny bit less.

I disconnected it from the charger 8 hours ago, and it still has 70% left. This means less than 2% battery usage per hour (15%/8h)!!

That's pretty awesome!

Turned off the phone at 1:30am with 47% left, that's 38% during more than 16 hours. I played a chess app for around 1 hour before going to sleep. Around 42 hours on a full charge.

Day 3: Sunday

Didn't use the phone much today, just some messaging, reading news, checking weather forecasts, a bit of googling, looking at old photos and playing a couple of games of chess.

Stopped using the S23 after 14 hours of no charging. Still 64% on the battery, which means 21% down, which again means 1.5% down per hour, and would mean that it could be turned on for more than 60 hours with this light usage, if charged to 100%.

Very acceptable!

Day 4: Monday

Off the charger at 7am. Checking a bit of news and messages.

Teams meetings using the phone from 8:45am until 10am around 30 minutes of these while commuting. At 10am the battery drained from 85% to 73%.

Leaving the phone in the charger until tomorrow, after around 16 1/4 hours, and battery is at 49%. Except from the above average Teams meetings in the morning, I've used it just like any other normal day.

36%/16h is approximately 2.25% per hour, giving around 44 hours on a full charge.

Until now I'm actually quite impressed!

Day 5: Tuesday

Started the day with 1h 15mins of Teams meetings, the first 35 minutes using cellular. 1h of the meetings was with video and/or screen sharing.

Then came a day of what is for me normal usage. Messaging, news, a short chess game.

During the day and afternoon I had some phone calls.

In the evening I had 57% left, before I attended a meetup via Zoom. The zoom meeting had video (mine was turned off most of the time though). The meeting was 1 hour, and half of that was over cellular.

After that I played a bit more chess and did a bit more messaging.

Now that I'll soon head to bed, the phone still has 41%, and has been on battery for 16.75 hours. That's 44%/16.75h = 2.63% per hour (38 hours on a full charge).

A good pattern is showing!

Day 6: Wednesday

Today was a day of a somewhat normal usage for me. Perhaps a tiny bit less than normal via Teams.

Had my daily standups, approximately 30 minutes in Teams via cellular. Then a couple of phone calls, Signal-calls, recorded some video, then another phone call on my way back home. Plus normal messaging use (remember that I'm not a teenager, so I don't snap 5 times every 5 minutes ;)).

I played a couple of chess games, and read a bit on the phone in the evening.

Now it's been on battery for almost 17 hours, and it still has 50% left, meaning 35% down, which is around 2.1% per hour. That totals around 47 hours on a full charge.

Sweetness.

Oh yeah - and today I picked up one of the original Samsung silicone cases. It's really nice and snug looking, super simple and clean. And now the phone doesn't rock at all when laying on a flat surface :)

Day 7: Thursday (again)

Today was super busy one, working, hosting a meetup and coming home late in the evening. So not much time to use the phone.

Not that I didn't use it - I used it for some meetings, phone calls, messaging, a bit of chess in the morning, emails during the day. A couple of photos and a video. But not much.

It's been detached from a charger for 17.5 hours, and has decharged merely 25% from 85% down to 60%. That's around 70 hours of light runtime on a 100% charge!

Day 8: Friday (again)

As usually I had lots of Teams meetings, first while communiting, then (still from the phone) from the office. Around 1.5 hours in total.

I had a meeting over Signal, heard some podcasts from Spotify and saw some tutorials from youtube.

Not a super busy phone-day, but just some heavy usage of screen and cellular/wireless.

This reflects on the consumption, but still quite good for a small(ish) phone: 35% left on the battery after 18 hours, which is 50% down. Giving a total of 36 hours of on-battery usage on a full charge. Much better than last Friday, but it's difficult to make a 1:1 comparison, since last Friday was my first full day of usage.

Day 9: Saturday (again)

Sort of normal Saturday today, normal usage, no meetings, but some streaming (of podcast/radio/music and a bit on youtube).

56% left after 14 hours of usage, 29% down, which equals around 48 hours on a full charge. Better than last Saturday!

Day 10: Sunday (again)

Long story short, probably pretty standard for a Sunday. 31% down in 14.5 hours, meaning around 46 hours on a full charge. It was better last Sunday, but I was on cellular all day today, which is probably the cause for the higher battery usage.

Day 11: Monday (again)

I didn't charge it last night. And now it's 24.25 hours later than yesterday. Used it a bit less than normally for Teams, but S bit more fif photos.

38.75 hours, and it's on 15%. That's 70% down, giving 55 hours on a full charge. Not bad at all (actually ver impressive)!

Day 12: Tuesday (again)

Long story short - it's now on 57% after 17 hours. That's around 60 hours on a full charge.

Day 13: Wednesday (again)

Long story short - didn't charge overnight.

After around 39 hours there's still 29% left. Which means around 69 hours on a full charge.

Day 14: Thursday (again)

I haven't used my phone as much as I usually do for the last couple of days. But for 2 nights in a row, I haven't charged it at all. Now 63 hours after pulling the plug to the charger, there's still 7% left on the battery. And remember - it's down from 85%!

That adds up to around 80 hours on a full charge.

If my usage the last days had been normal, it would be a bit less, which also reflects on the battery status, as shown here:

My Fortnight Conclusion:

The Galaxy S23 has amazing battery life for it's size! I'm very pleased with the results :)

It can easily last for 2 days (which in reality is just around 16+24 hours) - very nice if you can't find a charger if you need to crash at a friends place, work late hours or similar.

Just remember - before you compare my numbers with your own - that I'm _not_ a teenager looking at my phone and sending snaps every now and then! ;)

I can use my Galaxy S23 at least as long as my previous Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Oh yeah, you may have noticed, that I have the Power Saving feature turned on, on the screenshot above. That was also turned on, on my Galaxy S22 Ultra. This makes the comparison more accurate.

This is the settings of my Power Saving features:

If you have any questions/comments, let me know via Twitter - @luposlip.

NB: Why did I write this?

I thought I'd write this up, because I'd have been really interested in this myself, if I didn't already buy the new phone.

I really liked the cameras from the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and the new S23 Ultra is probably even better. But after many years being a user of "the biggest phone" from the Galaxy lineup, I really wanted something smaller, lighter, more discrete.

I chose the green S23 by the way - it looks awesome. And it's super nice to hold in the hand. I'm happy about the switch, and the smaller form factor is probably a perfect fit for me.

NB: I'm not in any way affiliated with Samsung, I just like their Galaxy phones (I've also had iPhones and Android phones from other vendors). I'd probably have considered an iPhone 14 Mini if it existed.. I really hope the smartphone manufacturers will stop making every generation bigger. The S23 has a perfect size IMO, and with good battery life and a nice camera lineup, there really is no need for bigger sizes. Don't make the next generation bigger!