Dreaming in Digital

RIKERSENSE™ Gluteus Maximus Detection System (LCARS UI) 🖖🍑

Making a real multi-sensor demo: capacitive + pressure + distance + thermal.

Thank you @shonasof been thinking about how to make this for 10 years :)

What should the next Adafruit x Starfleet made-real module detect?

… RIKERSENSE™ Quick build notes for makers :) Capacitive touch pad for “finger vs… not finger” FSR / load cell for pressure ToF sensor for distance Temp sensor / thermal proxy UI can be LCARS cosplay for screens ..

.. "It's safe to do this thanks to the gluteus maximus sensor which distinguishes fingertips from asses. was invented by Syrill Soong in 2288 after an "incident" involving a Bolian, a Deltan, and three Tribbles. (details deemed unsuitable for public release) This incident resulted in a weather control network going down on a Vulcan colony, and the theft of the Starship Enterprise by a Vulcan named Sybok. Soong claimed that this would be the greatest legacy of his family." ..

The dam is breaking.

After a few months of absolute chaotic life shit, things are actually starting to settle down to allow me to write at something approximating the speed I am used to. I'm going to pace myself a little so I don't immediately burn out again, but the path is starting to clear to reach the end of book 13 and get back to Reignited.

I did want to call out the Storytellers' Speakeasy, the Discord server I co-own. It's the official Firebird hangout, where we talk about the story, I sing Ranko's songs, and we harass the characters in AMA sessions. We also support more than 100 other writers there, so if you write your own fic (or want to) and are looking for beta readers, advice, or just a place to promote, we got you. If you just want to read, our stable of Storytellers will ensure you are well-fed.

The Speakeasy is a 150 percent safe and supportive space for LGBTQ+ folks and plurality systems, is adult content-positive, and bustling with activity nearly 24 hours a day. Our writers produce content in nearly 200 fandoms.

Sorry this has been so long in coming, everybody. The last few weeks have been an absolute gauntlet for me IRL. I have about one more week of hell ahead of me, and then I am hoping things are gonna slow down.

“Mmn? Are we…” Ranko blinked the sleep from her eyes, lifting her head gently from Akane’s chest. The seat under her shook violently as the jumbo jet rapidly decelerated on the tarmac.

Akane closed the red Chinese phrasebook in her hand, stroking her lover’s back surreptitiously in the darkened cabin. “Hey there, baby. I thought you said you don’t ever fall asleep on planes. You weren’t lying to me, were you?” Giggling, she left her book in her lap, reaching down and poking Ranko playfully on the tip of her nose.

“You’re never on them with me to make me feel safe,” the young singer replied through a blush and a yawn, stretching her arms skyward and sitting up in her seat.

A loud bong sounded overhead as the seat belt light above the cabin aisle blinked out, and the plane rattled to a languid taxi on the runway. The tiny speakers embedded in the ceiling over each seat crackled to life. “Hey there, folks, it’s the captain speaking. On behalf of everyone in the flight crew, ni hao, and welcome to Chengdu. We’re going to be pulling up to the gate here in just a moment, and we’ll get you on your way. Again, thank you for flying Air China.”

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“Hey. You okay?” Akane reached out, rubbing Ranko's back supportively through her purple Minato Mystics Cheerleading tee shirt. “We gotta…”

Ranko shrugged, her mumbled response interrupting her wife. “I… yeah. I'm just… never gonna see it like this again.” The redhead's forlorn gaze panned the empty wooden stage platform on which she and her wife both stood. She motioned with her hand to a spot at the center of the stage, not far from Akane’s feet. “The first time I performed Rise, I was standing right there.”

The melancholic young singer took a few steps to the left, pausing and looking down at her feet. “This is the exact spot where I married you.”

Akane nodded, reaching for her partner’s hand. “Yeah. It is. But you've performed Rise in lots of places. Lots of countries, even. And, I mean… your new stage is next door, and technically, you married me there, too. Try not to be so hung up on what's going away; focus on what you're getting in its place. This is an upgrade, princess.”

“I know,” Ranko replied quietly, fidgeting with her wedding ring. “And I'm not saying the new stuff won't be great. Just… I'm gonna miss this stage. I have a lot of good memories up here.”

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Feeling like I might be coming down with something and not sure how much I'll be online tomorrow, so have today's chapter a day early!

“Hey! Take it easy! You’re gonna break something!” Yui rolled her eyes as Akane pulled a clean stock pot from the dishwasher and slammed it down hard on the front burner of the gas commercial stovetop.

Sakura approached down the hallway from her office, resting her hand on Yui’s back to let her wife know she was behind her. Her voice was soft and soothing. “Akane, honey, you need to calm down, now. We can’t have you going off like this in here. What happened?! What can we do to help?” Akane growled, slamming the dishwasher shut with her foot. “Ranko’s hiding something. Again! Something happened while she was away, and she won’t tell me what it is. She hasn’t acted right since she’s been home. She doesn’t wanna be intimate, and she doesn’t want to talk. She’s just… distant, and every time I try to talk to her, she just gets this look like she’s ashamed of herself. She swore to me that she wouldn’t keep secrets from me anymore, after the whole fiasco with Eiji.”

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Here ends Phoenix: Reignited Edition Book II. With a final wordcount more than double its counterpart in the original Phoenix Saga, the new-and-improved Embers stands as a testament to exactly what I was hoping the Reignited project could be at its best. I am so proud of this book, and I feel confident that it's gone from one of the two weakest in the series to one that can proudly stand among its siblings.

That said, the addition of nearly fifty thousand words was the equivalent of adding a whole Book I's worth of content, and coupled with trying my best to keep up the timelines on Book XIII too, it's taken a lot out of me. Reigniting a chapter is a more intensive effort than whole-cloth new chapters; for every word that the final wordcount change reflects, it's a change of 10 words by the time you figure deletions and rearranging things. Every plot twist has to be meticulously researched to ensure it doesn't break established future canon. Every description has to be checked to make sure the table that was pine in book IV isn't cherry in book II. It's a lot of mental gymnastics to write, in the same evening, the same characters three years apart in the same timeline without creating any butterfly effects.

Reignited is an amazing project, and I'm glad to be doing it, but it's exhausting, and at the end of the day, I don't really feel much like I've got a lot of new storytelling to show for it; just, telling the same story better. Book II was a hell of a lot of work, but Book III was the only weaker book in the original series. It will likely double, if not triple, in wordcount, and that's an undertaking I don't feel mentally ready for.

So, I'm going to take a little break. Not huge - we're not going on hiatus or anything! I'm giving myself a couple of weeks to recharge, catch up on sleep, take a mental health day or three, and try to build up a little bit of backlog for both book XIII and Book III of Reignited.

The Reignited Edition of Phoenix Ignited Book III, "Flames", launches on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Of course, if you can't wait, you're welcome to continue on starting with book III of the original Phoenix Saga. Look for book XIII chapters to continue to drop on Mondays in the interim. And, of course, if you want to discuss all things Phoenix, and hang out with an amazing crew of nearly 200 Firebirds, you're welcome to join us in the Storytellers' Speakeasy, my official fan Discord.

See you in a few weeks!

“Huh. Sony’s down again. I should buy a few more shares, I guess.” Nabiki popped a piece of fried tofu into her mouth with her fingers, chewing as she turned to the next page in the business section of the newspaper. She idly scratched an itch through her orange tank top, swallowing and reaching blindly for another bite.

“Where are you even getting the money for all that, Nabiki?” Akane looked up incredulously across the dining room table at her sister, having just finished her own breakfast. 

Chuckling, Nabiki snapped the paper closed, tossing the folded broadsheet to the table with a confident smirk. “Oh, please, little sister. My portfolio’s performing wonderfully. Plus, I’ve already got the market cornered on recycled term papers at Shibuya Academy, I still get a piece of the action I passed down to Midori at Furinkan, and then I have my… other ventures, to boot.” The brunette snickered, wagging a finger in the air with the spark of an idea. “Speaking of which, you mind being a doll and wearing that new green skirtall you got for Christmas today? Kuno hasn’t seen that one yet, and with as cold as it’s been, the poor boy hasn’t seen any decent leg in months. Oooh, I bet I can even charge him extra!”

“NABIKI TENDO!” Akane crossed her arms over her chest in her beige gi, growling loudly over her elder sister’s mirthful laughter.  “Aww, come on! Don’t be stingy, Akane.” Nabiki shot a quick wink at her sister, making sure neither of the men in the room were looking before doing so. “After all, our dear pigtailed girl is nowhere to be found, so somebody has to pick up the slack in the modeling department. A girl’s gotta make a living, after all.”

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Sorry for the delay in posting this. And, about that... here's a word about the posting schedule going forward for a bit. I'm sorry, everybody. I'm doing my best, I swear.

Ranko nodded softly, another quiet sigh escaping her lips. “Yeah, I… used to go to school around here.” 

“That’s right,” Mrs. Chinen said, slapping her thigh gently with her hand. “I remember! You’re one of Mayor Tendo’s girls, right?”

The redhead flushed, her smile widening. “Yes, ma’am! You got it!” I really should stop in and say hey to Dad and Kasumi while I’m in this part of town, she thought. Her brow furrowed, and she looked down to her silver cheerleading sneakers. But… they’re the last ones I need to be bringing all of this crap to. They’d lose their minds. “I need to get going, but, you have a good day, now!”

“You too, dearie,” the sweet old lady replied, waving creakily before returning to her daily uchimizu ritual once the young woman had continued along the sidewalk. After another few moments of walking, Ranko closed her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose. I could navigate from here on scent alone, she thought with a smile as she hurried across the street to a strip mall. At its far left end was a storefront with a long red awning, though the signage hung from it had changed since the first time Ranko had set foot in the little restaurant. Not gonna miss that ramen place, she mused as she slid open the door and stepped inside.

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“So, how was it?” Yui smirked, bending her knees a bit so she could elbow her much shorter sister in the ribs gently through her pale blue hoodie. “Details, girl!”

Blushing, Mei picked up the three flaming Dragonfire cocktails Yui had crafted, carefully balancing them on her corkboard tray. “It was… fine, I guess. I dunno.” Before Yui could reply, she darted off to deliver the burning libations to the waiting collegians at table thirteen.  

Izumi shook her head, bopping along with the rock music blasting from the sound system. It was running on random play mode, as the Phoenix’ new stage still sat vacant. “Should’a let me dress you, girl,” she yelled to Mei as the blue-haired server returned to the bar area. “I could have picked you out something that would’ve ended up on the floor, guaranteed.” 

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Better late than never! I'll be posting a few words on the posting schedule here in a bit, but for now, let's get into the action!

“What do you want to do today?” Akane respectfully turned to face the kitchen as she spoke, this time not peeking as Ranko removed the bath towel wrapped around her breasts and began searching for an outfit. 

Ranko grinned as she pulled on her old black gi pants. “Honestly? When’s the last time you had a good spar? I don’t really ever get a chance these days.”

“Seriously?!” Akane laughed heartily as she rinsed her empty teacup out in the steel sink of the little kitchenette. “If that’s really what you want to do, that’s what we’ll do. I don’t suppose your karaoke bar has a dojo in the back?”

Ranko shook her head, not that Akane could see it with her back turned. “I work out up on the roof sometimes, just for exercise and stuff. The roof’s gravel, though, and not really great for sparring. Don’t worry, though. I know a place.”

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A few minutes late, but here's an extra-long Reignited chapter for ya! I know I missed yesterday's Book XIII chapter, but I'm still going to try to get it out this week, hopefully tomorrow.

The last few days have been quite the rollercoaster for me, and most of us in this community. But if there's anything I hope Phoenix has taught you all, it is that you are wanted, you have worth, and you have people who care about you.

Together, we will fight. And we will win. It will be slow, and it will be hard, but we will prevail. Period. We have something they don't: courage, honor, determination, and a just cause.

Wake brave, my lovelies. I love you all.

Akane grabbed the brass handle, pulling open the heavy glass front door of the Phoenix to the sound of thundering applause. Under her breath, she cursed her calculus teacher for holding her late after class and making her miss the first hour of Ranko’s performance. She hadn’t even taken the time to go home and change clothes, so she was still in her blue and white school uniform. Akane wished she’d thought to bring a change of clothes, as she worried that her Furinkan pinafore reminded Ranko too much of the life she’d left behind. She’d promised Ranko - by way of a message delivered via Nabiki the day before - that she’d be there, though, and keeping her word had been the most important thing. She didn’t want her new girlfriend to think that she’d been stood up. 

My girlfriend. Holy shit. I have a fucking girlfriend, Akane thought, her cheeks flushing hotter than the flaming Dragonfire cocktail Mei carried past her with a wave and a smile. The flustered high schooler was barely coherent enough to return the gesture. Does that mean I’m… gay? I mean, I don’t like girls. Not like that. It’s not like she and I have… Somehow, her face warmed further still. I don’t think I could ever do that with a girl. I’ve never even done anything like that with a boy! Never really wanted to either, though. Wait, does that mean…? Shit.

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Look at me, posting shit on time like a good girl!

The commuter train hissed to a stop, and the redhead stood, picking up her white peacoat from the seat next to hers and slipping it on over her blue tee shirt. She’d paired it with her black jeans and black heeled boots. It was unseasonably warm that Friday afternoon, and Ranko was glad of it; after the frigid December, she thought it might take until May to get the chill out of her bones. Part of her had wanted to dress up for the occasion, to make as good an impression as possible and hopefully balance out the disdain she expected to receive as soon as she walked in the door. Ultimately, she’d decided that if she was going to go into battle, she needed a little bit of armor, and fidgeting with her uncomfortable clothing would only have made things worse. 

Slipping the strap of her black leather purse over her torso and stepping off of the train onto the platform, Ranko looked around with a resigned sigh. The thick heels of her boots made a metallic rattling sound as she strode across the steel grating of the station floor, the noise giving way to a rhythmic clacking when she stepped outside the station and onto the sidewalk. Ranko winced, shielding her eyes as she emerged from the subterranean transport hub into the mid-afternoon sun. Man, I gotta get some shades, she thought as she blinked the sunspots from her eyes. She remembered the heart-shaped pink sunglasses she had back in her little studio apartment, though she’d never thought to wear them other than onstage. I mean, I guess they’re cute, the redhead mused as she scanned her surroundings to get her bearings. Her foot tapped the asphalt with nervous energy as she waited for the signal to enter the crosswalk. When the light indicated it was safe to cross, she scurried across the busy street and into a wide expanse of grass. It was one of the largest green spaces in the Minato district, and there was a peaceful air about it that permeated Ranko’s anxiety, if only a little. She hummed to herself as she rounded one of the winding bridge trails that made their way across Imperial Pond, smirking to herself as she spied a brilliant blue kingfisher perched on one of the bamboo poles jutting upward from the surface of the murky water. In another life, another day, I’d have jumped across those just to prove I could, she thought with a chuckle and a shake of her head. And today, I’m just worried it would mess up my hair if I fell in. I guess a lot of things are different than they used to be these days.

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A few moments ago, I made an announcement about the release schedule of Phoenix Reignited and Phoenix Odyssey going forward. TL;DR: I'm doing my absolute best, but life is kicking my ass, and I'm gonna miss chapter drops now and again while I figure it out. I promise I will continue to work on Phoenix every day, and I'll keep content coming just as fast as I can while holding myself together with duct tape and chewing gum.

But in the meantime, here's the long awaited reignition of chapter 2.21: In With the New. This is one of my favorite chapters in the original Phoenix story, and it felt so good to give it a much-deserved glow-up. Enjoy!

As the sun rose on the first day of 1990, the young singer-in-residence of the Phoenix swayed behind the service bar humming an upbeat Japanese pop song. She made quick work of arranging the Collins glasses she extracted from the dishwasher onto the back bar behind her, readying them to be filled with the mojitos and Dragonfire cocktails of a Wednesday night service shift. The last week-plus since the Christmas concert had been a blur for her, a whirlwind of family activities, shopping, and work. Her throat was still a little scratchy after spending most of the previous night’s New Year’s Eve celebration on stage, though the performance had been nowhere near on the scale of the twin Christmas shows that had saved the little dive bar she called home from financial ruin. Must be the cold weather getting to me, she thought with a shiver.

Perhaps the biggest reason the days had run together since the Christmas show was that she hadn’t seen Akane since the morning after it, and Ranko missed her something terribly. She hadn’t even had a chance to give her girlfriend her Christmas gift yet. Ranko had never been anyone’s girlfriend before - despite all the boys who’d tried to claim her as such since her fateful trip to Jusenkyo - but she was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to feel as lonely as it seemed to. She closed her eyes, remembering the kiss she and Akane had shared in her bed that morning, and her left foot involuntarily kicked off the floor and rose behind her backside as she set about wiping down the bar counter with a light blue rag. 

It sucks that she hasn’t been able to get back here to see me, Ranko thought, her brow furrowing as she set about scrubbing out the steel sink basin behind the service bar. I hope I didn’t freak her out, and now she’s just hiding from me. I guess her dad might have just been running her ragged with holiday stuff too. I wonder if they had a big party again this year. I wonder what she wore. I wonder if anybody there missed me. I wonder if Akane…

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I. Suck.

This was supposed to be Thursday's chapter, and I'm only an hour away from not getting it posted in time for Saturday's release window. The last few weeks have continued to be amazingly hectic - the last few days in particular - but it has been amazingly good stuff. My life has been turning for the better in almost every conceivable way - and it's just been eating up a lot of time to do it.

With the Bad Times in October through December eating through all of my chapter backlog, and things still being insanely busy here in Anneworld, it hasn't been a great time to need to write whole-cloth chapters weekly for Book XIII and a four-chapter, fifteen thousand word brand-new arc for Book II of Reignited simultaneously. That arc now concludes, and I am so very proud of it. As soon as I get this chapter posted, I'm going to grab a quick bite and set about reigniting the chapter that was supposed to come out today, and with any luck, get that out either tonight or in the morning as well to get back on track.

It's becoming clear to me that at some point soon - the most logical point being the end of Reignited book II in a few more chapters - I'm going to need to pause for a few days to catch my breath and rebuild a backlog. I didn't want to have to do that, but when I set this schedule - and the even more ambitious one I've already scaled back from - I was not counting on the total and complete life upheaval I have experienced since October. Things are good now - better than I can recall them ever being - but I am just now starting to clear away the debris of the stability I had to bulldoze to create space for something new and improved, and thinking about what new palace is going up in its place. It's exciting, and terrifying, and very, very time-consuming.

Anyway. Enough rambling. Enjoy some belated Christmas fluff! I'm so sorry again for the delay, I appreciate everyone who has reached out with support (and insistence that I should look out for myself first and the story second, if that), and I promise I'm evaluating ways to do this that I can reliably deliver without continuing to fry my brain six ways from Sunday. I love you all, my wonderful Firebirds.

~ Anne

Ranko beamed, stealing a quick, victorious glance at Ayako. Toldja she’d like it. “Well, I thought, you keep dropping your Game Boy in the bar, and one of these days, it’s gonna break if you don’t have something better than your purse to carry it in.”

With an emphatic nod that sent the red bows in her long blue pigtails bobbing, Mei reached for the shabby yellow cloth drawstring bag that served as her daily driver purse. “I mean, this is the third one I’ve had as it is, so, you’re totally right!” She pulled the grayish device from her purse, tucking it into the padded main compartment before beginning to connect the periwinkle plastic clips of the shoulder strap to the matching loops on either side of the bag.

“At least she only cracked the screen on the second one,” Izumi said, giggling as she sidled back to her spot on the couch between her boyfriend and son, handing Kaito a disposable plastic cup full of eggnog that smelled strongly of cinnamon and rum. “The first one ended up in the freakin’ fryer.”

“Proof,” Yui said with a grin at Mei, “that not everything is better deep-fried. Most things, I’ll grant, but…”

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I'm so very sorry this is a day late, Firebirds. I have zero backlog right now after some grueling times during the holidays, and with a commitment to release four chapters a week - all of them new this week during this new arc in Reignited, it's been a tough slog. As soon as I'm done posting this chapter everywhere, I'm downing another energy drink and cranking out the finale to this arc, so you will get a chapter tomorrow too, even if it's late in the evening like this. 

“Yeah, maybe,” Ayako said, lowering her voice and widening her smile. “But you wanna be cute when the guys at the next table are checking you out, don’cha?”

Ranko’s eyes widened almost as much as her mouth. “They what?!” She snapped her head to the right, by which time both of the college-aged men at the next table over had averted their eyes. 

Laughing, Ayako shook her head and let her forehead fall into her palm, her elbow resting on the resin tabletop of their two-top in the mall food court. “Good gods, kiddo,” she whispered. “You have absolutely no chill for this kind of stuff, do ya? You’re not supposed to let ‘em know you caught ‘em looking!”

“Well, then they shouldn’t look!” Ranko glanced back at the table, where the two men were clearing their trash. They’re probably haulin’ ass ‘cause we noticed ‘em. She lowered her voice, leaning over the table. “Besides, I’m…”  “Gay,” Ayako whispered just as her sister finished her sentence with “taken.”

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Shrugging, Akane slumped over the table. “Wouldn’t matter if I did; I can’t afford to take one. I’m six orders deep, and there’s no sign of it letting up. Only reason it’s not worse is Ranko doing back-to-back sets and keeping them occupied, and she’s dragging ass, too. You can tell; she’s barely even dancing up there. How are you holding up in the kitchen?”

“You are a non-compliant, strong, defiant, self-rescuing princess!” came Ranko’s final declaration from the stage.

Mei rolled her eyes, exhaling heavily as she looked over her stack of yellow order slips. “Not too bad, I guess. Four pizzas, a couple baskets of chicken and some popcorn shrimp. I should be able to catch up in a few minutes,” she proclaimed at a shout over the crowd’s raucous cheers for her sister’s song.

The young server nodded in acknowledgement. “That’s good. We’re way behind on drinks, though. Izzi had to run home to help Kaito with Mioko, so we’ve just got Yui.”

“Awww, no. Poor thing still sick?” Mei frowned, her shoulders drooping. Akane nodded again. “Running almost a thirty-eight degree fever. Hopefully Izzi will be able to get her to sleep, and she said she’d come back if she could. We called Aya, but we got her machine. I think she had plans with Kage tonight. And as for Yui…” Akane glanced over at the main bar, where Yui was trying to serve drinks with one hand while holding the bar’s cordless telephone to her ear with her left shoulder. “I don’t know what the hell she’s doing over there.”

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