#biot writes

[driftward]

A FAMILIAR STORY

I never made a master post for this! This is essentially the end to the adventure that started with The Incident and continued into Junelezen: Echoes. Relative to the other two, A Familiar Story is shorter and simpler, but it ties up many of the loose ends established by the other two and finally sets Zoissette on the path to new adventure. Big thanks for my Free Company, without whose support I'm not sure I would've written nearly so much. I am glad to have been a part of the group for these past years.

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Collected Logs of Anima-Based Eos-Class Scholar Tactical Field Medical Assistant 'Lavender':

Log Entry 1

Log Entries 15-38

Log Entries 40-57

Log Entries 59-112

Log Entries 113-140

Log Entries 141-407

Log Entries 408-411

[awordsmith]

tangled up 𝜗𝜚 s.r

۶ৎ in which you and Spencer join forces to babysit both Jack and Henry.

who? spencer x bau!reader  when? s6 genre: novella content warnings: not proofed, contains nothing but pure fluff, reader and spencer get mistaken as Jack and Henry's parents... reid with warmth !!  word count: 4.9k a/n: first novella fic whaaaa....i've been wanting to write this one for a while, but i knew it wouldn't be that long, so this is perfect for my first novella fic!!; enjoy!

The morning was cold and frosty, and the only thing able to mend it: a large, hot latte. Hotch approached your desk as you set your things down. He leaned over and whispered conspicuously, “Are you sure you can come tonight?”

You rolled your eyes and whispered back, just as secretive, and perhaps some more to show how dramatic he was being, “Yes, Hotch,” you saluted him, “Jack will be in good hands.”

A gruff sound came from his throat–as if signifying his disbelief, “If you say so, do you remember what time?”

“Hotch?”

He looked around, glancing back at you with pressed lips. “Yeah?”

“I got this,” you pushed his hand–gripping your desk–off.

“Right,” he nodded, “no I know.”

You raised a brow and crossed your arms, “so why are you stalling? Is this about your date? Because if you don’t want to go–”

“No,” he dusted his suit off, “I’m–I’m walking away.”

“Uh-huh,” you biot back a smile, feeling Spencer slide up next to you, “and what was that all about?” He kept his inquisitive gaze on your boss.

“Hotch had a date,” you stated, turning to look at him, “I’m babysitting Jack.”

He raised his eyebrows and nodded–but when Penelope called you to the roundtable room and you began to walk away with her, you could hear him mutter, “Why didn’t he ask me?”

JJ rushed in, she apologized for being late as she took her seat. The team watched her; she was flushed, but her face showed clear urgency. She rolled her eyes, “Please do not question me today, I already have enough explaining to do.”

It was silent, but then you just couldn’t help yourself, “...JJ?” She looked at you with a slight warning, but you still asked, “What happened?”

The air in the room evaporated as JJ sucked in a breath, then deflated against her chair, throwing her head back, “Henry’s babysitter quit this morning.” You kept quiet, waiting for her to elaborate. “Will and I were going to go out tonight, we’ve been planning this for weeks now.” she huffs, running a hand through her hair.

Spencer caught your eyes, and though you shook your head, knowing it’d be a bad idea, he still said, “Well, hey, you know I could watch him for you–if you still wanted to go.”

JJ raised a brow and began to shake her head slowly, “I don’t know, Spence–”

“I wouldn’t be alone,” you noted Hotch raising an eyebrow as Spencer motioned toward you, “— is watching Jack, we could babysit them together.”

JJ glanced at you, then at Hotch–hopeful, “Would you both be okay with that?”

Hotch eyed Spencer’s grin for a moment, “Fine, but — has to keep an eye on Reid too.”

“Uh–what?” Spencer threw his arms up, “I’m a great babysitter–are you laughing?” He glared slightly at Morgan.

“Sure you are,” you reached over and patted the top of his hand, you held his gaze for a split second–the both of you trying to hold in your laughter.

You could hear giggling inside. Jack clung to Hotch, he was eight, and yet he still adored his father. The night was young, but starting to grow darker. Today, you had only been called to air a case, so you worked from the office, which you didn’t have the pleasure of doing most days, making it pretty unique.

“Oh, hey guys,” Spencer called, walking up behind you. You frowned, noting his relaxed attire.

“And I didn’t think you owned anything but sweater vests.”

“Oh–you just had to comment.” He sighed.

“That I did,” you nodded, “that I did.”

The front door opened right as Hotch checked his wristwatch, “you guys made it!”

“Would you believe it? Hotch hasn’t canceled yet.”

Your boss glared at you, but your remark earned chuckles from the others, “Yep, and I’ll be late if I don’t leave now.”

JJ stepped out of the house and moved aside, “come on in.” Henry popped his little head out from behind Will and motioned for Jack to follow.

Hotch leaned to the side, eyes only leaving Jack once the boys disappeared behind a corner. “Okay,” JJ approached you, hands on your shoulders, “I am trusting you.”

“Hey–uhm Hi!” Spencer waved, sticking his head over your shoulder, “I’m here too.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m telling her to be careful.”

After a bit of teasing Spencer, Hotch, Will, and JJ left in their cars. “Come, on, it’s freezing out here,” you stuffed your hands into the pockets of your zip-up.

“Let the night begin…”

Spencer stayed, feet glued to the floor for a moment as he watched you wander into the house. He couldn’t help the small smile that grazed his face; he covered it with a hand, closing the door behind him.

Inside you were asking the boys what they wanted to do. Hotch had picked you up from your apartment and you, him, and Jack drove over together–so when Henry suggested the movie theatre, you could only glance at Spencer, wondering if he’d be willing to drive.

He huffed, rolled his eyes, and fell back on the couch in the living room. “We can see what movies are playing, I guess.”

You huffed a laugh and gripped the couch with both hands as you learned over it, watching Jack and Hnery jump on top of Spencer.

“Okay, okay.” He pushed Henry’s foot out of his face and shot you a look when he heard you cover up a snort with a cough.

Upon scrolling through the nearest movie theatre, you found the newest Spider-Man movie was playing, but you had already missed the 7 o’clock one and the next showing was at 8:30. You, Spencer, and the boys agreed to that time, which left you about an hour before you had to leave. Spencer offered to pay and though you had debated with him about going half–he insisted.

You agreed, but only if he let you pay for the snacks. Spencer wasn’t a boyfriend and he wasn’t one of the girls, so it felt weird letting him pay for everything. He was older than you yes, but only by a couple of years, and though you had to remind him of that several times, he never once failed to pull that card over on you.

“What’s that?” Spencer motioned toward the bag you had brought–that you were now unloading on the kitchen counter.

“Ingredients,” you shrugged, “it isn’t real babysitting if you don’t bake something.”

“You bake?” He sat up, throwing something on the television to distract the boys before he made his way toward you.

You brushed it off, “Somewhat.”

“Okay,” he nodded, rounding the counter and meeting your hip with his, “so what are we baking tonight?”

“We?” You raised a brow. He nodded, lips forming a thin line to suppress a grin. “Oh, no,” you huffed a laugh, “we are not–do you even know kitchen etiquette?”

His face scrunched up, “I’m a quick learner.”

“Sarcastic Spencer never fails to amuse me.”

“Mmm,” he nodded, “what’s first?”

You shook your head, a grin escaping you. You snatched the butter he had picked up and smacked him on the shoulder as you went to go find a bow for it, “Wash your hands.” 

“Something smells good.” Jack rounded the counter.

“That would be the cookies.” You spun around and bent to your knees, pulling the oven open. 

“When’s the movie?” Henry came waddling in, Spencer not too far behind.

You glanced at him, expecting him to answer for the both of you. You smiled to yourself, pulling off the oven mitts when he said, “uh…we have about five more minutes before we should leave.”

You nodded and began searching for a container to put the cookies in, “boys, do you wanna go outside and help Uncle Spencer start the car?”

“Awesome!” Henry shouted, running off to find his coat.

“Can we really start the car?” Jack looked between you and Spencer.

“Of course,” you smiled, nodding.

“Cool,” he too ran off.

“If either of them wrecks my car, I’m holding you responsible.” He jabbed a warning finger in your direction.

You scoffed, wiping your hands on a rag, “right. Spencer, you drive a van.”

“An SUV,” he corrected.

“Yeah, well, you don’t seem the type to care about messing things up.”

He held a hand to his chest, mock hurt flashing across his face, “–and what is that supposed to mean.”

You shrugged, but a cheeky smile pulled your lips upward.

“I’ll see you in the car,” he wandered off in search of the boys. You grabbed three cookies and set them aside on a napkin.

When you walked toward the door, you found Spencer and the boys already secure in the car. You locked the door and made your way down the drive.

“I have something delicious,” you handed each boy a cookie, promising to help Spencer clean out his car if it turned out they made a mess.

You took the third cookie and bit into it. Spencer watched you and he pulled off, turning onto the street. He hit a red light when you were halfway done with it, “were you not going to offer to share?”

Your eyebrows shot up momentarily, “you like sweets?”

“Half you met me?” he shot back.

You huffed, yanking his hand from the steering wheel and toward you, placing the cookie into his hand. The light turned green, so he steered with one arm and used his other to eat the cookie. It was a darling sight, truly. You giggled when a few crumbs fell onto the floor.

“I blame you,” he muttered, his mouth full of cookies as he made his proclamation.

Spencer had bought the tickets online, so as you parked, you made a game plan with the boys. Spencer and Henry would go to the bathroom because he forgot to say something back at the house and you and Jack would stand in line. There were a few games around–and of course, the boys asked to play when they saw them–but you only had ten minutes till the movie began, so you promised when the movie was over, you’d stay a bit longer to play.

There were only three lines open and from what you could tell, pretty long. Jack stuffed his hands into his tiny jacket pockets–he looked comfortable. “Do you know what you want to get?”

He pressed his lips together and notably looked around at the freezers and small box-like shelves separating the lines. They were only about two inches higher than him, maybe three or four higher than Henry.

“I’ve never been here.” You frowned. Jack had never been to a movie theatre or he had never been to this theatre? 

“What do you mean?” You stepped forward as the line moved up. A father and his daughter–probably around fourteen–stepped behind you. You took notice, but only because you’ve programmed your brain, they weren’t really important.

Jack shrugged, “What kind of snacks do they have.” You understood Jack didn’t want to speak more on the subject and because you cherished him, you dropped it–but you made a mental note to speak with Hotch about it later.

“Well, I think they have…gummy bears and��oh look–they have cornetto–personally I prefer the cup version–but that’s just me.” Jack laughed and stood on his tippy toes, trying to get a better look at the ice cream flavors.

You caught Spencer walking toward you, Henry skipping a few feet in front of him. He caught your wave and nodded toward Jack, who now stepped to the side of the counter–looking through the glass. “How much time do we have?”

Spencer checked his watch once more, his casual attire contrasting. He wore his glasses–which you absolutely adored–a pair of blue jeans substituted his normal khakis, and he wore a black hoodie with red writing on the back. He wore tenashoes instead of his work shoes and his silly socks were hidden beneath the fabric of his jeans. It made you frown slightly: you couldn’t tease him about it.

“Do you want anything?” You asked as the boys began listing off candy to the cashier.

“No, I’m good.” He shook his head, stuffing his hands into the singular pocket of his hoodie.

“Wanna share a bowl of popcorn?” You pleaded and eventually, he gave in.

You asked for two smaller bowls so you could split the large bowl between you, Spencer, and the boys. Spencer physically winced when you swiped your card–you saw it happen. It sent a flutter through you and your face reddened as much as it could. You covered it up with a laugh, hoping Spencer didn’t find it weird, though the look he threw you said otherwise.

You found your seats, the boys settled in the middle of the two of you. You separated the popcorn between the boys, but then realized it’d be an issue sharing with Spencer if he was all the way on the other side, so instead, you gave him one of the smaller bowls, filled his and Hnery’s, and shared the big bowl with Jack.

You made it in time for the credits which you hated, but Spencer loved. It put a goofy smile on his face as he explained every ad,s aying how they were trying to tug at your heartstrings or logical side. “But we’re too smart, aren’t we?” He met your gaze.

The boys turned toward you, where you now adorned a serious nod, “oh, yeah, we’re way too smart to fall fo that, right boys?” 

“Yep!” they nodded triumphantly. 

“And why is that?” Spencer rounded the question back to him.

“Because we’re profilers,” Jack asked hesitantly.

“Exactly,” you jabbed a finger at him, messing with his hair a little. He laughed and leaned away, pushing your hand toward the popcorn bowl.

Spencer watched you–but not just your person. He wanted your actions, your facial expression, the way you interacted and spoke to Jack, the way you joked with Henry, the way you took every opportunity you could to tease him about absolutely anything. 

He felt his heart tense and then fall to his stomach once he realized what was occurring. Was he falling in love? Was this what that feeling was? Was this how falling in love happened? You noticed minuscule, insignificant things about a person like the way they laughed? Or the way smiled? You analyzed them so thoroughly that you could tell what they would say before they said it. Or know the action they’re about to take before they make it?

He couldn’t tell. Spencer had never been in love before. He had never fallen in love. But was that what this was? He didn’t have a definitive answer, he just knew he wanted to be closer. To you. To you in every way. He wanted you to want to be close to him and he wondered if that was love.

Because if it was, wouldn’t that mean he’d already fallen? But it didn’t feel right.  It felt…like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Like he had been searching for an answer he knew was somewhere in his brain, but hadn’t figured it out until just now.

The movie played and he tried his best to watch it–he grasped the general concept, but he was more focused on, well, you.

Did he love you? Could he say that with genuine confidence? He wouldn’t know until he tried it out, but he couldn’t. Because what if he didn’t? What if what he felt for you was simply pure friendship–he’d be making a crucial mistake, one) if you didn’t like him you’d be weirded out and if you did he chanced hurting you, two) you worked together, that was an issue in and of itself.

He jumped when you stood, watching as you stretched. “What?” You raised a brow, a tired smile forming you mouth.

He found himself smiling back, his stomach flipping, “nothing. Just…tired.”

“Ugh,” you rolled your eyes, yawning, “me too. We should head back now, it’s pretty late. We need to take them baths.”

“Yeah,” Spencer glanced at Jack, who was now standing, and Henry, who was fast asleep in his seat.

Spencer tried waking him slightly, but he wasn’t budging, “just carry him,” you suggested.

Deciding it was the only option, Spencer gripped Henry’s armpits and heaved him upward as gently as he could. You watched him as he laid Hnery’s head on his shoulder, the boy snuggling into the crook of his neck, hugging your coworker tightly. 

“Awww,” you sounded like Penelope but you didn’t care, this was too cute a moment not to capture. Whipping out your phone, you ignored Spencer’s pleas and snapped multiple photos from every angle.

Heading to the lobby of the theatre, you nudged Jack, “I’m guessing you don’t want to play some of the games anymore?”

Jack shook his head and rubbed his eyes, “no. m’just tired.”

You nodded, pulling him into your side as you walked, “Me too, buddy, me too.”

You passed an elderly couple on the way out, Henry slightly waking up when the cold air hit his face. “Are we home?” He asked.

The elderly couple snickered and said, “You’re a cute family.”

You opened your mouth to correct the woman, but her husband added, “You look just like we did, don’t they?” before you could. He turned to his wife, made clear by the matching rings.

“Oh, they do,” then she bent over and asked Jack, “What movie did your mommy and daddy take you to see.”

Instead of correcting the couple, Jack glanced at you, then Spencer, and grinned–though it was sleepy– “Spider-Man 2.”

“Ah, I’m afraid I haven’t seen that one, is it good?”

“Really good,” Henry answered from Spencer’s arms.

They laughed again, then apologized for keeping you and made their way inside.

You and Spencer said nothing as you made your way to the car. Jack and Henry were silent as well. You wondered just what was going through Jack’s head. Maybe he was too tired to understand or care about the women’s words. Yeah, that must have been it.

You decided you would ignore it just as you would ignore the flutter that continuously courced through you the entirety of the night.

With much prodding, you were able to get Henry into the bath. Jack didn’t take much convincing, but he assured you he could do it himself, which you shouldn’t have believed because he ended up getting shampoo into his eyes.

Spencer finished helping him, though it was hard because Jack insisted on showering. Eventually, the two boys were tucked into Henry’s twin-sized bed, and you and Spencer had a little free time before the others arrived.

You grabbed the bowl of cookies that you’d tucked on the counter near the fridge before you’d left. You meant to eat them at the kitchen counter, but Spencer wanted you to watch some movie he had put on. You would blame and hold him responsible for any crumbs that didn’t land in the bowl.

His chuckle was low and light, just like every other time you found yourself making him laugh. It sent a flutter through your chest and you had to turn away to keep from letting him know just how flustered that one sound could make you.

You shivered, you typically brought a sweater with you everywhere just in case, but you were going to JJ’s house, and you knew she’d let you borrow a few blankets. 

“Where are you going?” Spencer caught your wrist as you stood. Your heart jolted and you couldn’t help but stare at it. You blinked a few times before he let go. He sucked in a breath as if you’d stung him. You weren’t sure what he meant by that or if he meant anything at all by it. Spencer was normally an awkward person, but this didn’t feel like something he’d be awkward about, in fact, Spencer would never be put in this situation simply because Spencer hated physical contact.

Maybe that’s why he had such a reaction. You brushed it off, letting a shy smile replace the longing frown, “Just the hall closet to find a blanket…want one?”

Spencer shook his head and wanting to escape the atmosphere, you bottled toward the hall. You retrieved the first blanket on top. It was white with little blue bunnies. Cute. You thought, it must be Henry’s. 

“I’m back,” you hopped on the couch, keeping a cushion between the two of you, for fear of making him uncomfortable.

He declined your offer of a cookie and opted to lean back. It might have just been your imagination, but you were sure Spencer kept sneaking glances at you. You thought he must be bored, he’d put on a '90s romcom. Though you loved the, you were surprised when Spencer put it on. But then maybe he put it on for you and that’s why he kept glancing at you.

You huffed under a cookie, that’s so like him. 

Halfway through the movie, you’d discarded the bowl of cookies with four left and began to feel the lights dim. Or maybe it was just you. You took a moment and laid your head back but it was uncomfortable. As you shifted on the couch, a yawn escaped you. 

Spencer caught it, attention now fully focused on you, he smiled at your dreary state. He moved one leg under him and without really thinking much about it–if it’d make you uneasy or not–he took you by the shoulders and lowered your head into his lap. You noticed, but barely. He pulled the blanket over you as your arms wrapped around his thigh. Your head snuggled into him and when a satisfactory hmm released itself from your throat, he snorted a little. 

He loved you, or at least he thought he did. Spencer had never loved anyone. Well, he loved his mom, but he knew he was programmed that way. He loved quantum physics and math and chemistry and psychology, but those were very broad terms, and still not a being. He liked cats, but he couldn’t love a cat–well, he could–but that was a different discussion.

You, on the other hand, he always wanted to be around. You, on the other hand, he always wanted to talk to. You, he fell asleep thinking about; you, he dreamt about; you, he woke up to.

You were always on his mind, there was no way around it. In every conversation–though he rarely voiced it–he could always draw back to you. Penelope bought a new pink fluffy pen? You loved pens. Dereck couldn’t sleep at night because of his neighbor. You could sleep anywhere–it was a skill. Spencer couldn’t sleep at all, really, and when he did–well, he’d already know what he’d dream about.

He couldn’t escape you–but well, he didn’t want to.

The biggest evidence of his feelings for you? He hated–absolutely loathed–the thought of you talking to/dating/marrying anywhere else. He made a face, the thought disgusted him;; it made him sick.

The front door unlocking jolted him out of his thoughts… how long had he sat there watching you? Going back and forth in is mind? His mind began wondering and the lights began to fade. His shoulder drooped and he began pushing you backward, fixing you until you were both comfortable. 

“Just for…a bit…” he yawned before the lights went out.

Spencer jerked when he heard the front door unlock. He was always keenly aware of his surroundings–it was a bad habit he picked up in his years at the BAU.

JJ and Will stepped through the door as quietly as they could, the credits were rolling. The movie must have just ended. 48 minutes?

“Hey–” JJ whispered walking toward him.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up, but was weighed down, and upon looking–found you still sound asleep. He smiled, but when he realized JJ could see him, he fixed it to a plain expression.

Spencer held up a hand and pressed a finger to his lips, his eyes widened slightly in concern when he looked down at you. Which was ridiculous, he couldn’t stay in this position the entire night, much less on JJ’s couch. You both had work in the morning and you needed to get home. Right…but where was Hotch? How would you get home?

He was startled by your shifting movements. Upon glancing at you again, he found you stirring. JJ covered up a small laugh, and turned back to Will, shushing him as he stalked over.

“Hotch texted, he should be here soon,” JJ whispered.

Spencer nodded as you lifted your head, he raised his arms just enough for you to have free reign, if you pushed out of his hold, he’d have no choice but to let go.

But you didn’t, you pulled him closer and buried your face into where his thigh met his hip. “Five more minutes.”

JJ snatched her phone from her pocket and began snickering, “Penelope is going to love this.”

“Hey–come on, JJ–don’t–” Spencer’s protests went ignored as JJ clicked a few photos and slipped her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans.

A knock sounded on the door not a moment later, Will went to open it while JJ sat on the arm of the couch and smiled down at her two coworkers. “Do you think she can hear us?”

Spencer opened his mouth to say no, but raised a brow and glanced at you questioningly, he wasn’t sure you knew where you were, let alone could make sense of a complete sentence. “I’m gonna go with probably not.”

They chuckled to themselves. Hotch waved, before following Will down the hall toward Henry’s room. You yawned and rolled onto your back, stretching over Spencer. “Hi,” you blinked up, a slow smile turning up your lips.

He met your sleepy gaze with one of his own, “hi,” he answered.

Hotch came back out with a very asleep Jack, calling out your name, You sighed, forcing yourself upward. “Guess I better go.”

Once again, Spencer felt his subconscious take hold of his body as he held an arm across your stomach, “I could take you…I mean I wouldn’t mind, besides,” he nodded toward Hotch and Jack, “he should get Jack home.”

JJ watched in silent awe. It was one thing for Spencer to shake hands with someone let alone hug them, so when she stepped through her doors and found you snuggled up to him, her suspicion-radar was going off. Spencer definitely had a thing for you, or at the very least felt most comfortable with you. In her mind, you were his person, and that didn’t have to be romantic, it was just how it was.

Now, though, watching his eyes, there was no doubt in her mind. Spencer Reid was in love. She wondered what kind of catastrophic event occurred for this to happen.

“You sure?” You murmured, rubbing your eyes. You were halfway leaning against his chest, and halfway using his shoulder to stay steady.

“Yeah, of course.”

Hotch seemed to get the gist of the conversation, whispered a few goodbyes, and headed out the door.

“You made cookies,” JJa noted.

“Yep, there’s four left, but they’re probably all stale now.”

“Well, maybe you two can babysit again and make me fresh ones.”

“I helped, you know,” Spencer added.

“Yeah, ‘helped’ so much I almost had to buy you a new pan.” After a good laugh, you stood and stretched, catching Spencer’s yawn, “well, it’s getting pretty late, we should head out.”

“Alright then, drive safe.”

“I’m always a safe driver.”

“I know you are, Spence.” She pressed her lips together, glancing at you, wondering if you even felt a smidgen of what Spencer felt for you.

The car ride was smooth, Spencer had been over a few times, and with his memory, he knew the way by heart. “Thanks for doing this.” You grabbed his hand as he pulled into your complex.

Spencer jolted, his head jerked down: his focus on where your hands connected. “Oh–sorry, I forgot–”

You snatched your hand away, but Spencer was quick to grab it back. “No–no it’s…” he stared at you. He could lose his mind and still be able to put a name to your eyes. They were like none he’d ever seen–which is opinionated, of course, in his mind, you were all there ever was. “It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” You frowned, “I…know how you hate people touching you.”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged sheepishly, “but when it’s you it’s okay.”

Your heart leaped at that and maybe it was because you were half-awake and when you were half-wake you became even more delusional than you were daily. “So, you don’t mind if I touch you?”

“No, not at all.” He replied immediately as if he had been programmed to.

You couldn’t help the goofy grin that made its way onto your face, “good to know.”

You opened the car door and started exiting his vehicle. “Hey, —?”

“Yeah?” You yawned again, the sky a blue-black kind of color.

“What does that mean?”

“What does what mean?” You frowned.

“You know,” he tried motioning with his hands, which only made you snort.

“Nope,” you shook your head, “no idea.” You spun around, starting the path to your apartment, “see you tomorrow, Spencer.”

Spencer frowned, he knew he would think about this the rest of the night, if he could sleep he’d probably dream about it, and when he woke up, it would most definitely be the first thing on his mind.

a/n: lol i've been working on this forever (like a month) and i cried in my maths a few days ago because i couldn't understand it–#mathisnotforme

@darkmatilda @theylovemelody

[caseyjones-junior]

so ive been working on this au for the past couple of months. theres a lot more to him but this is the basic run down. my nickname for him is kasey (kase, kj, ext). i wanted to make a version of casey jr that was a tad feral, a menance, and a vilian to the future mad dogs. his story mirrors his own mothers in some way and i took some inspirations from 2012 karai too.

he isn't always evil and working for the krang tho. at some point because of certain things that happen that I wont write about here, he joins the resistance at around age 18

krangbiote is a deliberatly similar to symbiote from venom because the biote and caseys dynamic is heavily influcened by that. other lowkeycharacter inspirations being zuko from atla, catra from she-ra, peridot from steven universe.

heres some additional character interactions including some crossovers and canon movie events.

[autumnslance]

(@driftward) Oh, let's see, one per inbox item defeated per blog, correct? Of course I'm correct. Gimme dat Little Brother Thing; self-indulgent on my part going to ask after The Effects of Wine (Y'shtola); It Ends Where It Begins sounds ~interesting~; Hilda Ideas, for both me and a friend; X'rhun and F'lhamin (eyebrows eyebrows eyebrows); and a bonus just out of sheer curiosity, Biot's Antecedent Musings

Good job defeating the inbox boss. Why were you awake at hours only reasonable to me and our local Australian?? Anyway.

Little Brother Thing - Stormblood 4.3. As Alphinaud accompanies Maxima, Aeryn reflects back on key moments in their journey together, and how much he's grown and changed from the arrogant boy she shared a cart with but didn't properly meet until the Remembrance Ceremonies, to the confident young man he is at this point--and how she's still going to worry for him regardless of how capable he is, because that's how it goes.

I should revisit this actually, it's got some good bones. Hrm.

The Effects of Wine - ARR, Company of Heroes chain, Y'shtola POV. After the Feast, Y'shtola and Aeryn rest in a bungalow and have a late evening talk about Aeryn's growing reputation, why the Company did what they did, and how she just ever meant to be a common adventurer to help people--not a primal slaying hero. Aeryn says more here than usual at this point in the story; maybe the wine, maybe the growing trust in her comrade.

I should get around to cleaning it up and posting it somewhere, honestly. It was a noodle-thought from very early on as I was figuring out voices and relationships, but it's not too bad.

It Ends Where It Begins - is a post-5.0 Shadowbringers. Something that the Exarch said in the cliffside convo before Mt Gulg reminded Aeryn of Papalymo's words post-Ultima Weapon (it's a click text when everyone's gathered in the Waking Sands to congratulate you before you turn in the final 2.0 quest in to Minfilia). Given all that happens to WoL in 5.0, and the revelations in general, Aeryn ends up thinking of the words as she looks back on her journey, and ends up in Gridania. And it leads into what then became a seaswolchallenge prompt in 2020, Metamorphosis, where she tells Miounne and Bremondt stories of her adventures.

Hilda Notes - Literally just a list of notes about horny Hilda moments for some reason. There's a draft for a fic of her and a touch-starved Thancred I can check off. Ideas for a cop vs vigilante fic with Sidurgu (maybe something sexy there, maybe not). And an idea for a Hilda solo as she fantasizes about a hot Highland lass met while dealing with Ala Mhigo stuff. It's not even a real fic draft, it's just a list of random ideas written up while apparently hormonal.

X'rhun and F'lhaminn - Oh this is from back in I think Book Club days and a rarepair challenge month. Find a relationship that doesn't already exist on Ao3. Write something. Back then there were no tags joining these characters in any way. I was going to try to write the duelist and songstress in a light friendly adventure of their own, maybe get in some witty flirty banter for the fun of it, but the mystery never quite gelled and so I shelved it. Maybe someday. And add in Nashmeira.

Biot's Antecedent Musings - Discord convo on 12/28/22 where you were having thinky thoughts about Thancred and Minfilia and being the person she confided in about the Echo and I accused you of trying to bait me into writing something about that.

[rosemelodyshah]

glad this helped.

I have a few for valentines and I think I've a couple for Christmas time too but I couldn't find them. I kept them in the same place as a couple of creature and murder/death pranks but can't find any atm.

Also these are some of the more moderate ones (seriously wondering where the darkness in my mind came from. maybe the crime thrillers amd the lets see more blood biot of my mind?)

I also believe I had a few against Lily somewhere but I have a thousand places where i've written idea so don't have it

I went like Sirius gets tired of Lily doing something and then he makes her live in an alt dimension where she realises exactly how wrong she has been or something. It was for a PF fic a couple of months ago but I don't remember the plot of the fic so...

And I think there was one in which either/both make Snape admit really dark/secret thought aft he did something to them or something? Again if only I had started writing the fic in which it was supposed to be or even remembered the plot of said fic.

Also tag me once the fic is ready☻

writing a prongsfoot prank war au for my @marauderswithpalestineproject prompt.

lmk if theres any specific pranks you want to see

(creative juices are running low)

(@lostwriter--xx3)

[flashhwing]

magic fields are to ley lines and magnetic fields are to electric currents

strength of the field is proportional to 1/r^2

direction of the field can be found using the right hand rule

existence of the field is conditional on the existence of a current i.e. motion of source particles

if the current is steady, the motion is constant in time

[snarky-badger]

just saw venom, might fuck around and write fanfics 🤡👉🏻👈🏻

venom: bitchin

me: simpin; a simp-biote if you will

WAS IT GOOD?! I'm downloading a pirate copy as I type - Can't go see it cuz Covid and I live with someone that's high risk. But I'mma pirate the hell out of it!

(And I may be writing a one shot fic that's inspired by the rave scene *coughcough*)

[pompadourpink]

hi can you recommend French books that take place in the 20th-21st century?

Hello, here are a few:

20ème:

Aragon’s Aurélien, Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu (super duper long, I suggest Le Temps retrouvé), Camus’ L’Etranger, Breton’s Nadja (pretty), Beauvoir’s Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée, Céline’s Voyage au bout de la nuit, Cohen’s Belle du seigneur, Ernaux’ La Honte, Kundera’s L’Ignorance, Duras’ L’Amant, Pagnol’s La Gloire de mon Père, Sarraute’s Enfance, Le Clézio’s Procès-Verbal, Perec’s W ou le souvenir d’enfance, Boileau-Narcejac’s Celle qui n’était plus, Butor’s La Modification, Robbe-Grillet’s Les Gommes, Vian’s L’Ecume des jours, Colette’s Le Blé en Herbe, Malraux’s La Condition Humaine, Mauriac’s Thérèse Desqueyroux, Sartre’s La Nausée, Ionesco’s La Cantatrice Chauve, Cocteau’s Les Enfants terribles, Kessel’s Les Mains du Miracle, Nothomb’s Hygiène de L‘assassin (she’s belgian but come on), Cixous’ Dedans...

21ème:

Beigbeder’s 99 francs, Pancol’s Les yeux jaunes des crocodiles, Barbery’s L’Elegance du hérisson, Vigan’s No et moi, Louis’ Qui a tué mon père, Bellanger’s La Théorie de l’information, Bordage’s L’Evangile du serpent, Angot’s Le Marché des Amants, Thilliez’s L’Anneau de Moebius, Ono-dit-biot’s Plonger, Huston’s Lignes de faille, Houellebecq’s Sérotonine, Enard’s Zone, Orsenna’s Princesse Histamine, Winckler’s Le Choeur des femmes, Vargas’ Temps glaciaires…

And probably loads more but I’m not a fan of modern literature and much more knowledgeable about XVIII/XIXth lit. Feel free to check out more of Nothomb’s and Thilliez’s (crime) stuff for XXIth century action, as well as the winners of literary rewards (prix Renaudot, Goncourt, Fémina…) from time to time - I did myself and authors seem to prefer writing about the past. 

Hope this helps! x 

[aki-draws-things]

Okay, me again 😂 Hope you're having a good day 💜 So, can I ask for another prompt, let's say, homesickness for Tymeo?

Hello again, my dear!! Worry not, you can ask all the prompts you wish, really… It’s much easier when people asks me prompt for a ship or another… on my own I get stuck most of the times trying to decide who should I write on.

Now, about this one prompt, it became a biot of an abstract concept, the homesickness. Especially because home is not the place but the person. also, the ending is open, because I couldn’t chose how to end it, actually. What Romeo will find in the end is up to you.

(Also, Catarina is the sweetest woman. she cares so much…)

***

@badthingshappenbingo

Prompt: Homesickness

Fandom: Romeo et Juliette

Ship: Tymeo

Venice wasn’t that bad, Tybalt had to agree; it was a bit wet, and humid, yes, but not entirely bad. Except for the part where he did not chose to spend the rest of his life there, alone. Not that he was truly alone, just –

“Are you ready?” He raised the head from the letter he had spent the last two hours writing and looked behind himself at the red haired woman on the door, looking smiling at him. He sighed.

“Yes. I just need to sign it and it will be done.” She nodded and laughed softly, hair bouncing slightly at the movement.

“Must truly be someone special if they receive a letter from you every week, my dear.” He nodded again and stood up, letter in hand and walked to her.

“My apologize for making you wait, again. - He took her hand and kissed her lightly. - We may go.”

Catarina took his arm and led the way, never stopping smiling, they left the letter to a courier and walked away.

“You don’t make me wait, you save me from all those small talks women will make during the party. Not even one that could understand politics or, for the matter, beauty. They’re so boring, so if your precious friend is worth all that time for a letter, then it’s perfectly fine for me.”

She was nice, and understanding, Tybalt liked her. But he couldn’t love her, that was beyond his abilities. First, she was ten years older than him. Normally it would have been the man being older, normally his uncle would have looked for a young lady, in her fourteens or something. But Catarina was, in his uncle’s opinion, the perfect match. - Yes. Perfect because she was still unmarried despite her beauty, and daughter to the Prince of Venice. That union would bring so much power to the Capulet’s family, more than anyone else except for the Escalus’  family. -

Second, he simply couldn’t give her his love since that was already taken by someone else, in Verona. His mysterious friend. His Romeo. - Same Romeo who, in the past letter, accused him of cheating on him. It took all of his calm to explain in the letter that he never chose that life and union and would return to Verona, and probably run away with him, any time, if only he could. -

Third, but that was mostly a secret Tybalt wasn’t completely sure of and preferred to keep for himself for the time being, his wife was quite in love with her personal maid.

Now he could only hope Romeo would understand.

Romeo sighed and clutched the letter at his chest, how stupid he had been, thinking Tybalt actually cheated on him, thinking he would go and marry that woman out of love. How stupid and childish. He knew better, deep down he knew, and yet he had let jealousy take over his hand during his last letter. Now he wanted to take that paper and replace every single word he had written with something better, words of love and kindness.

“I feel so stupid…” He sighed again, and Juliet laughed lightly.

“You were, yes. Just a bit. But I know my cousin, and I know for sure that once he loves someone he gives them everything.”

“I miss him.” He sighed again and she hummed.

“You could come with me next time I go visit him.” She proposed absentmindedly.

“Yeah… Like my family would let me go to Venice just because I want to… I appreciate the thought, Juliet, really, but –”

“If you were to be my husband then you would have every right to accompany me.”

It was sudden, incredibly sudden. Romeo turned to her with his eyes wide open.

“It – It wouldn’t – I wouldn’t … couldn’t – I…”

“I’m not asking you to love me, Romeo. - She said kindly. And a little amused too. - You’re cute, and with time I’m sure I would learn to love you, but I can’t ask you the same. It would be a way for you to come with me to Venice, be with my Tybalt for a little.”

“And we should simply say that… we will marry? That I asked you and you said yes… or something?”

“Or something. Yes.”

The plan was easy, so easy nothing could go wrong. - Except maybe for her father trying to change her mind first, threatening Romeo later and, lastly, trying to speak to the Prince about this absurd turning of things. The Prince gave them his blessing instead and threatened Lord Capulet of exile if he did anything against them. Maybe that would’ve been the thing that would finally bring peace, he though hopefully. -

“I thought you loved –” Romeo almost jumped at Mercutio when he opened his mouth.

“I did – I do. I still do. It’s complicated but like this I will have a chance to spend time with him, somehow. It’s… Complicated.” He repeated, and it was, indeed. It took him and Juliet hours to properly write their plan in a letter and send it.

There was just one small problem. Lord Capulet wrote him too.

Tybalt felt sick, he felt a pang in his heart, he felt tears forming in his eyes. He crumbled up the letter and threw it in the fireplace. In truth there was no anger nor rage in him, he trembled slightly and fell on his knees.

“I miss home.” He said to Catarina just the day before, both sitting in the library, almost distracted. “I miss the people, the air in Verona and its streets. And I miss him. Like air.”

“The one you always write to, my dear?” Tybalt nodded.

“He’s like home. Feels like home, tastes like home. I feel so lost. - He looked up suddenly worried. - Not that I’m not happy here. Everyone is kind, you are kind and I like you, very much. But –”

“But you’re homesick, I understand. He must be truly amazing, maybe next time you should invite him here.”

“No one knows about us. Or I would’ve been already dead.”

“They don’t need to know. - She casted a quick look at a maid collecting some cups from a nearby table, Tybalt saw the way she looked back. - You’ll just invite a friend in our house, so that this will be home for you too, for a little.”

The day he arrived to Venice to marry Lady Catarina he thought he wouldn’t even like her, in any way. He had been wrong. There was no love between them, not the kind of love one expected from husband and wife, they simply were friends. And it was enough, for both of them.

He should’ve known better, he thought sadly, he should’ve known better than trusting a Montague.

And yet he did trusted him, he loved him, he gave him his heart, and what for? To have it crushed like this?

After all of his words about betrayal and cheating he went and married Juliet. How hypocrite of him. How –

Tybalt felt sick. Actually sick, physically sick.

The fire burned every single word his uncle wrote him, slowly he felt his body getting more and more tired and heavy, tears falling down his cheeks silently. He slid on the floor on his side and the world darkened upon him.

- Oh, the fear Catarina felt when she walked in the room only to find her husband lying unconscious on the floor! -

She eyed Romeo doubtfully when he appeared before her next to Juliet. That was him, then. That was the boy.

“Welcome to Venice.” She force a smile standing from her armchair by the large window and leaving the open book on the table. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” She had to be kind, if not for him or herself than for her husband.

“Thank you Catarina.  But tell me, where is my dear cousin? I’m sure he’ll be so happy to have us here.” Romeo looked around, almost hoping Tybalt to suddenly appear. But he didn’t and Catarina’s eyes darkened just a little.

“My husband is very sick right now. - She confessed. - A strange sickness, something doctor’s can’t explain.” Romeo felt all color drain from his face. He couldn’t be sick… They were supposed to spend the whole week together, he –

She led them to the bedroom and Romeo followed almost automatically until she stopped in front of a closed door.

“He feels like his home had been destroyed leaving him with nowhere to go. Lost. - There was a light accusation in her voice but all Romeo could see was the door. He yearned to enter, to be with his Tybalt, to make things right. Whatever happened he must have not believed their letter. Or maybe he didn’t even receive it. He had to change that. He had to fix that. He had to explain. - Maybe you can cure him. I hope you can.”

She took Juliet’s arm and walked away as Romeo gently pushed the door, entered and closed it behind himself. He hoped he could do it too.

[justanotherdumpingground]

Kickstarter Visual Novels

Lately, I’ve been playing demos of four visual novels on Kickstarter. One of them has a successful campaign that’s already over while the other three have ongoing campaigns.

The Divine Speaker

Developer: Two and a Half Studios @thedivinespeakervn

The crowdfunding campaign for this visual novel is over, and it managed to raise AU$29,499 (about US$20,415), more than the set goal of AU$16,060 (about US$11,114).

It’s a BL game, meaning that the protagonist and all love interests are male, so I’d expect MLM players to get interested in this. The current demo hasn’t presented the third love interest, a blond guy named Cyne, yet.

The story’s about an orphan named Raen who just turned 18, encountered some secrets from the local leader with the power to determine every newborn’s fate, and gets kicked out of the city and into the woods in the process, leaving behind the only known civilization in the setting. Along the way, he encounters some guys around his journey around the woods and learns that there’s some thing out there and there’s more to the civilization than meets the eye.

One thing that got me intrigued about the story is the mystery behind Aurelia Cavella’s history and the mystery of the woods marking the end of civilization. That got me interested in how the story will unfold as Raen uncovers the mystery. Another thing I like is Fawn, whose adorkable nature towards Raen and love for animals has endeared to me so far.

Since funding for the game is over, that means there’s nothing else I can say about this other than the fact that I look forward to its release next year. In the meantime, the extended demo will be out soon.

Whiteheart Woods

Developer: NoBread Studio @nobreadstudio

The campaign for this visual novel has about slightly less than a day left to reach its goal of €15,000 (about $16,917), yet the amount pledge has reached about two-thirds of its goal as of this writing. The story’s a supernatural mystery, so anyone who likes that stuff are in for a treat.

The protagonist is male, and his name can’t be changed. Moreover, his personality, background, and characterization are set in stone. There are four love interests: three female and one male.

The story starts with the protagonist having a dream about being in the woods with two girls named Sylvia and Marie, only to wake up during class. He meets and reconnects with the two girls in his dreams and a boy (Noah) who shows up late to class. Afterwards, they fly to an old cabin in the woods, and the demo ends when they reached the cabin and opened up the mailbox.

I enjoy the demo and its setup. The first scene left me wanting to know about the mystery about the cabin in the woods. The primary characters shown so far (the protagonist, the three love interests shown, and two supporting characters) are interesting in their own right, and the interactions are good so far. Only one love interest hasn’t been shown, however. I like how Sylvia (the redhead) has an outgoing personality that contrasts neatly with Marie (the blonde) and Noah (the white haired guy), who are more reserved.

I feel a bit sad that this campaign most likely won’t reach its funding goal in time. I just hope they won’t give up regardless of outcome.

Silver:Line

Developer: CodeV

This one’s interesting. The artwork for the characters are 3D instead of 2D, we play as a supporting character of each of the love interests’ stories, we can play as a male or female, and there are six love interests (four of them are present in the demo, and all of them available for both genders). Funding has reached about 47% of its goal of S$23,000 (about US$16,907) as of this writing.

The beginning of the story reminds me of The Crown & The Flame, one of the stories from Choices: Stories You Play @playchoices. In this case, we play as a scholar who was framed for killing the king and queen. There are also classical tropes like your friend’s the long-lost son of the king, one of the love interests is the last surviving member of her kind, and whatnot. Nevertheless, I still enjoy what the demo has offered so far, and I look forward to more of it. My only concern is that the narrative should be mindful of the setting, because one scene is described as “something from a horror movie”. That turned me off a little because this is a setting where movies don’t exist, so I suggest fixing this to something more in-line with the setting. Still something I’m checking out, though.

Synthetic Lover

Developer: Irlana @knight–of–hearts

The campaign for this visual novel has slightly less than a week left, and it has reached about 71% from reaching its goal of CA$11,200 (about US$8,589) as of this writing. The story’s about some sort of robot called a biot who gains self-awareness after an altercation with a customer. Along the way, he tries to find answers for his predicament before his makers destroy him.

Like The Divine Speaker, Synthetic Lover is a BL game. Only this time, there are only two love interests: Bastian, a bartender and the customer who triggered the protagonist’s self-awareness, and Terrance, who works for the company who creates biots. This is going to be an interesting fuel for drama. The story kind of reminds me of Perfect Match, another story by Choices: Stories You Play @playchoices, except that the protagonist is a robot instead of a human.

Anyone interested in MLM romance is in for a treat with this one as well as The Divine Speaker.

If anyone is interested in any of the ongoing campaigns and can afford to back any of them, feel free to do so, and don’t hesitate to spread the word about them.

[driftward]

FFXIV Write 2024 Master Post

I wrote some words. Got a prompt in for every day, plus a bonus one that wouldn't leave me alone.

Steer: Is reality destiny?

Horizon: What lies beyond the future curves

Tempest: A short poem for Susano

Reticent: The annual reminder that Nyx Blackmoon is a walking war crime

Stamp: Desertwalkers AU. Reinhardt sure is having a day.

Halcyon: Karasawa Atraxae suspects she remembers Amaurot rather better than Emet-Selch

Morsel: Yotsuyu has a hunger she wishes to satisfy

Free Day 1 - Glasses: It always comes back to an artifact from a shared childhood moment...

Lend an Ear: Desertwalkers AU. The naturalist and the seer encounter each other for the first time. This will be a thread I come back to several times during this Write event

Stable: Dominants AU. Ozma has some problems

Surrogate: Aymeric leans on the Scions as babysitters

Quarry: Desertwalkers AU. Zoissette and Lavender get in some trouble

Butte: Desertwalkers AU. A continuation of the naturalist and seer thread. Thancred's been keeping an eye on things.

Telling: Desertwalkers AU. Chapter three of the naturalist and seer thread. The naturalist interrupts the seer's business

Free Day 2 - Contest: Zoissette fights for a reward from her beloved

Third Rate: Desertwalkers AU. Zoissette and Lavender get in more trouble

Sally: More of the naturalist and seer thread. Urianger calls out the seer on her blind spots

Hackneyed: Everyone's a critic, but especially Emet-Selch

Taken: What Zoissette takes with her, what she leaves behind

Duel: Desertwalkers AU. Lyse and Livia fight for a train on top of a train

Shade: Desertwalkers AU. Lavender has a way with new people

Free Day 3 - Caretaker: Y'shtola tends to Zoissette in the time after Ultima Thule

On Cloud Nine: Aetherwave AU. Riot has opinions about this gilded garden

Bar: Tony Hawk is not in this fic Bar (Another Take): Aymeric and Zoissette talk about Zoissette's new relationship

Perpetuity: Nyx watches on the journey to forever

Zip: Multiverse shenanigans. I will finish this one one day

Memory: Krile and Zoissette talk about the nature of people

Deleterious: Desertwalkers AU. The seer catches up to the naturalists' thread

Free Day 4 - Coda: Desertwalkers AU. And the thread with the naturalist and the seer comes full circle

Two Heads are Better Than One: Thancred is very punny.

And that is a wrap for this year, I hope to see everyone next year! I have enjoyed a great many of your stories.

[kevinscottgardens]

3 au 9 octobre 2022

Monday morning all the gardeners at l’Orangerie sat down with M. for a little meeting to plan winter jobs. Disappointingly Couli decided not to join us. It was polite. It was the closest I’ve been to the two groundskeepers in a very long time. We all know the olive harvest is looming as well...

Monday afternoon I met up with Emma, from CPG, in Antibes for a few hours; it was so great to see her. While we were walking around, we found several streets that had put a lot of effort to green them up, including an Euphorbia milii, that was a surprise.

That evening I watched a KMIS presentation on bonsais; oh how I miss those Monday gatherings in the Jodrell. After that was my monthly Quinta meeting.

I took a day of TOIL to join Dedereck on a Mediterranean Gardens France excursion to two gardens. I took the train to meet him and he drove. We visited Le Jardin du Réal in Puget Ville and Le Jardin exotique du Château Noir, a private garden, in Giens. I was asked to write a blurb about the visit which can be found here : https://mediterraneangardening.fr/october-octobre-2022visits-to-gardens-in-puget-ville-and-giens-var/

Ann and friend arrived at mine while we were driving back. Conveniently André and Denis were returning my car so Ann drove them home and then had a house key. Ann was super kind and came to collect me and my trottinnette at Carrefour. There are just too many steep hills between there and home for it. We had a nice catch up and I heard all about their week in Italy. Then we headed up to Biot for dinner. The food was great, as expected; however, the service was appalling. Thankfully some of the kitchen staff realised this and tried to make things go a bit smoother.

Wednesday I finished cutting down all the Iris unguicularis. Then I dug up an electrical cable that was only in a shallow trench connecting my garage to the mains. I had a good chat with Alek and he is sending a friend of his to see the garden next week. I also planted a dozen more white Cyclamen hederifolium around the sanglier statue. Hopefully these will survive. There were four flowers from last year’s planting. I had a good catch up with Ginny in the evening.

Thursday and Friday I started planting bulbs, lots of bulbs. I’m planting Tulipa, Narcissus, Galanthus and Silla to put on a spring show. I’m planting : Tulipa saxatilis, Tulipa sylvestris, Tulipa turkestanica and Tulipa urumiensis as well as Narcissus ‘Angel’s Breath, Narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’, Narcissus bulbocodium ‘Mary Poppins’, Narcissus ‘Sinopel’, Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’. I also found a few spots for Galanthus elwesii, Galanthus woronowii, and Scilla mischtschenkoana one of the first bulb names I had to learn at Kew.

I also played chauffeur to M. to the golf course and to the airport. I always enjoy doing something different, to keep my days interesting. He gave me a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet Les Meix from Burgundy; it was amazing.

Friday evening I went over to see Ilze and Daniela’s new place and trimmed their olive tree. It was a fun evening.

Saturday morning I couldn’t sleep, so at 05.30 I started roasting aubergines to make baba ghanoush, then roasted a chicken for a barbecue in the afternoon and baked a cake. It rained a bit while I was finally catching up on all my outstanding blog posts. Any rain is very welcome. Then, Mandy, Denis, Andre, Kim, Sophie and her mum all came over for what was supposed to be a barbecue on the beach. We had a great evening at mine instead.

Sunday I headed up to see Beth and David for a really nice afternoon, even with all the rain. They are still working to create a botanic garden of plants from Alpes-Maritimes.

Plant of the week

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbia milii Des Moul.

common name(s) - crown of thorns, Christ plant, Christ thorn synonym(s) - Homotypic : Euphorbia breonii Nois., nom. illeg.; Euphorbia milii var. breonii (Nois.) Ursch & Leandri; Heterotypic : Euphorbia bojeri Hook.; Euphorbia bojeri var. mucronulata Ram.Goyena; Euphorbia milii f. lutea Leandri; Euphorbia milii var. milii; Euphorbia splendens var. bojeri (Hook.) Costantin & Gallaud; Euphorbia splendens subsp. bojeri (Hook.) Denis; Sterigmanthe bojeri (Hook.) Klotzsch & Garcke; Tumalis bojeri (Hook.) Raf. conservation rating - Least Concern native to - Madagascar location - vieille ville Antibes leaves - straight, slender, densely spiny, up to 30mm long, help it scramble over other plants; fleshy, green leaves are found mainly on new growth, and are up to 35mm long and 15mm broad flowers - small, subtended by a pair of conspicuous petal-like bracts, variably red, pink or white, up to 12 mm broad; all year fruit - capsule 3-lobed-ovoid, ca. 3.5 × 4 mm, smooth and glabrous; seeds ovoid-terete, ca. 2.5 × 2 mm, grey-brown, reticulate; caruncle absent; all year habit - evergreen woody succulent subshrub or shrub, loose in form, growing to 1.8m tall habitat - grows on a variety of bush and forest habitats, but always on rocks (usually granite formations) from center, southern and western Madagascar at an elevation of between 20–1609 m pests - generally pest-free disease - generally disease-free hardiness - to 10ºC (H1b) soil - dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils sun - full sun; in hot summer climates, provide the plant with midday shade and moderate moisture for better flower bloom propagation - seed as soon as ripe, annually in spring gives a better flowering display that year; also keeps growth in check and improves overall plant health pruning - dead, damaged, shaping nomenclature - Euphorbiaceae - Euphorbia - for Euphorbus, physician to the King of Mauritania, who used the latex of a spurge for medicinal purposes; milii - commemorates Baron Milius, once Governor of Réunion, who introduced the species to France in 1821

References :

Gledhill, David, (2008) “The Names of Plants”, fourth edition; Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 978-0-52168-553-5

IUCN [online] https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44389/153299391 [13 Nov 22]

North Carolina State Extension [online] https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/euphorbia-milii/ [13 Nov 22]

Plants of the World [online] https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:347359-1 [13 Nov 22]

Royal Horticultural Society [online] https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/32739/euphorbia-milii/details [13 Nov 22]

Wikipedia [online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia_milii [13 Nov 22]

World Flora Online [online] http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000963364 [13 Nov 22]

[rose-icosahedron]

my dad told me that when its late and you are tired part of the brain that starts to tune out is the bit that lets you tell good ideas from bad(this was in the context of story ideas). i have to say on the other side when its late i loose the biot of anxiety that says to many things are a bad idea and then i can acctually write shit

[autumnslance]

You get two: ⭐ for Bearing Sins of the Past while it's still fresh in your mind; and a fresh ⭐star⭐ for something you've been dying to talk about, well, here is the invitation to do so and a venue to boot! (@driftward)

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines.  Or, send in a ⭐star⭐  to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

Who's the menace now, coming in here with 2 requests? But sure.

Also: this prompt was sent by my beta reader for the named fic, so they have seen the major parts of the revision in full!

Bearing Sins of the Past is something I have plonked at for the last 2+ years between other writing projects; sometimes editing and rewriting things there could help shake dust loose when another story had me stymied. But with Endwalker, This Home Wrested Forth for the DRKzine, and life in general, it just took awhile.

Part of that were some scenes I felt I wanted to add, and going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to keep the single sex scene in the Ao3 posted work. In the end, though it's not actually Aeryn's conception (I specifically made the timeline not match up even during the 24 hour prompts), I felt the scene did show not only some effects drinking Avengret's blood had on Corran, but how he felt about his wife, aspects of their relationship, and their conscious decision to have another child--without Corran knowing or thinking about the effect of his choices on said child.

Adding in a scouting scene with Heustienne took much longer to sort out, and it's still obviously a bridge chapter, but it gives her a little more time in the story when so much else is focused around Alberic and Corran, or from Estinien's POV. The scene with Tarresson and Gullinbursti from FFXIV Write is gone, but replaced with a new chapter after Aeryn learns the truth, one I'd already had half-written back during the 2021 challenge, actually, but found no room for in those prompts. I also wanted to keep Emelia's voice in there; Corran tends to put her on a pedestal in his POV chapters. Her chapter is heavily shuffled around, as it has to do with memories and what triggers them (and the later vignettes from Thavnair are gone).

I spent a good chunk of time moving sections of text around, recombining chapters; some were obvious, others were not. Some things shuffled around to many places before settling where they belong.

Also sorry, FCmates, but in interests of fairness and a tad less confusion, the cameos are gone. I may still tweak the climactic scene, actually, and remove my other OCs and stick to NPCs entirely. Haven't decided and I have time yet; I just posted chapter 1 yesterday and that's chapter 15, after all.

I really don't stop iterating and editing until I actually post. After that, it's generally just minor typo and wording fixes.

==

And I am making Biot send me separate prompts cuz there's always more to yell about but this is long enough!

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

Blame It On The Eggnog by Jami Davenport is now live! https://geni.us/BIOTE Get It on All Platforms Jacques: I'm a single father, and I've had all the change I can handle: Retirement from the sport I love, a crazy ex-wife in prison, and five kids who need me more than ever. I don't have time for a relationship, let alone one with the interfering mother of the best player on the hockey team I'm coaching. She’s annoying as hell, but she’s also equally on my mind. Serenity: I'm a hockey mom and proud of it. I'm also the over-protective mother of a talented daughter hell-bent on playing with the boys. I'm determined that my daughter gets a shot at her dream despite her gender, even if it means butting heads with the team's rigid and hot AF coach. I have no intention in falling for this brooding man with a houseful of children, but sometimes life doesn't stick to the plan. We wanted to blame it on the eggnog, but there's no denying our chemistry. Can two single parents find love and healing in the magic of a Garland Grove Christmas, or will our complicated lives ruin the best thing that's ever happened to us? Garland Grove is the creation of four friends and USA Today bestsellers: Jami Davenport, Kat Mizera, Kelly Jamieson, and Tess Thompson. Journey with us to the quaint town of Garland Grove set in the mountains of British Columbia as our characters find true love when they're least expecting it. Check out the entire Romancing the Rink Series! https://www.ellewoodspr.com/romancingtherink

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her two new indie endeavors: the Game On in Seattle Series and the Madrona Island Series. Jami’s new releases consistently rank in the top fifty on the sports romance and sports genre lists on Amazon, and she has hit the Amazon top hundred authors list in both contemporary romance and genre fiction multiple times. Jami ranked Number Seven on Kobo’s Top Ten Most Completed Authors, an honor bestowed on the year’s “most engaging” authors based on an average page completion rate by their readers. Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare. Jami works in IT for her day job and is a former high school business teacher. She’s a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan and is waiting for the day professional hockey comes to Seattle. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it’s the most beautiful place on earth.

Connect with Jami! Subscribe to my newsletter to receive a free novel and be notified of new releases, special sales, and contests: http://eepurl.com/LpfaL Website Address: http://www.jamidavenport.com Twitter Address: @jamidavenport Facebook Address: http://www.facebook.com/jamidavenport Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jamidavenport/ Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1637218.Jami_Davenport

[castroneves]

wow I love *looks at smudged writing on my hand* valtteri biot