Saving the Cult (if not the World), Chapter Twenty-Three

Jun19

Saving the Cult (If not the World) "It's time." Manfield Lee knew he was good at sounding authoritative even when he didn't know what he was talking about - he'd turned a fortune into a megafortune doing just that, after all, not to mention running the Organization - but right now, he DID know what he was talking about. After all, it was just a date, wasn't it? And if the date turned out to be wrong, well, then he knew exactly what to blame it on, and that blame would fall on the scholars and the psychics, not on him. The other thing Manfield Lee knew how to do was to place the blame in very specific ways that were not him.

Silence reigned in the campsite.  Lina looked at her mother.  She looked at Jackson.  She looked back at Mr. Lee. 

Finally, Mr. Lee huffed.  

“I do,” he muttered.  He turned to look at Lina straight on.  “You are certain you stopped the first wave?  And you are sure there will be more and you can stop them?”

“The power plant-” Jackson began.  Lina caught his hand and squeezed it and he stopped. 

“I am certain I stopped the first wave.  I’m as sure as I can be that I can stop the subsequent waves with enough back-up.  My shields will hold.  I just need enough power to channel into them.”

“You were supposed to be a greybearded man,” Mr. Lee muttered.  “Someone with decades of practice behind them.”

“Sorry to inconvenience you?”  She raised her eyebrows at him. “This is me.” Continue reading →

Saving the Cult (if not the World), Chapter Twenty-Two

Jun12

Saving the Cult (If not the World) "It's time." Manfield Lee knew he was good at sounding authoritative even when he didn't know what he was talking about - he'd turned a fortune into a megafortune doing just that, after all, not to mention running the Organization - but right now, he DID know what he was talking about. After all, it was just a date, wasn't it? And if the date turned out to be wrong, well, then he knew exactly what to blame it on, and that blame would fall on the scholars and the psychics, not on him. The other thing Manfield Lee knew how to do was to place the blame in very specific ways that were not him.

Lina laughed in the face of the Organization’s leader, making him take a step backwards. 

“That’s really impressive.”  She grinned at him, because magic was real.  “I mean it.  How many people know?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Araceli, how did you raise such a rude child?”

“I don’t think she’s rude at all, Manfield.  I do believe that she has a valid question.  How many people do know?”

“Do you have any idea what she’s talking about, because I certainly do not.”  He huffed a little bit, but Lina could feel the way his power was pushing at her, trying to get her to shut up and to submit, to agree to everything he wanted. Continue reading →

Popcorn and … Chill?

Jun11

Once again I asked for prompts on the FediVerse; this one is from @Teryl_Pacieco@mastodon.social

Content warning: intoxication.

*~*

“I’m just saying, I’m just saying.  I’m just saying.”

Effie stared at her hand for a moment before aiming an accusatory glance at Will.  “What – what did you put in my drink?”

Will put up both hands.  “I swear, I swear, it was just what you asked for.  It’s a jack and coke with a big twist of cherry syrup, that’s it.  Same thing I made for you three weeks ago.”

On the other couch, Selene and Drick were giggling, not a look that was all that good on Drick.  “It’s not the drink.  It’s not, because I’m drinking straight tonic from the bottle.” Selene held up her bottle. “And it’s thus not Will.” Continue reading →

Malina and the Border Banners, Chapter 15 (A Story for B)

Jun10

Began here.
Chapter 2 here
Chapter 3 here.
Chapter 4 here.
Chapter 5 here.
Chapter 6 here.
Chapter 7 here.
Chapter 8 here.
Chapter 9 here.
Chapter 10 here.
Chapter 11 here.
Chapter 12 here.
Chapter 13 here.
Chapter 14 here.

 

A sensation washed over her, a feeling like the whole land was laid out in front of her. 

She’d thought of it like a big line, not all that wide, maybe the distance one could walk in a few minutes.

In front of her, the land spread out for days in all directions. 

Malina gasped.  “It’s huge.”  No, it was more than huge.  “It’s  – it’s impossible.  There’s not that much land on the whole continent.  There’s not that much land in one place in the whole world.”

“There never was.”  The cat’s voice sounded as if it was coming from a very long way away.  “There never was, and yet there always has been.  Forever and ever, and never, that’s the way of this place.”   Continue reading →

The Bellamy, Chapter 17

Jun8

📚

Veronika considered being offended, or, at least, she thought about considering it, but there was something about the way Amanana laughed that said she meant no harm. 

“Oh, oh, that is delightful,” she said, just when, despite her feelings, Veronika was about to actually consider getting offended.  “That is such a beautiful way to put it.  I believe I am going to write that down, if you don’t mind?  If you ‘re okay with being quoted as saying that?”

The residual irritation faded.  “I’m glad you liked it.” Veronika was smiling again.  “Go ahead and quote me, if you’d like.  I imagine I can’t be the only one to feel that way.”

“Well.” Amanana’s expression went to something slightly more serious. “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve spoken to someone new.  I mean, ues, on occasion, there are new people still.  But most of them don’t make it all that far anymore.  You know, I’ve heard some of them don’t even make it past the front desk training?” Continue reading →

Saving the Cult (if not the World), Chapter Twenty-One

Jun5

Saving the Cult (If not the World) "It's time." Manfield Lee knew he was good at sounding authoritative even when he didn't know what he was talking about - he'd turned a fortune into a megafortune doing just that, after all, not to mention running the Organization - but right now, he DID know what he was talking about. After all, it was just a date, wasn't it? And if the date turned out to be wrong, well, then he knew exactly what to blame it on, and that blame would fall on the scholars and the psychics, not on him. The other thing Manfield Lee knew how to do was to place the blame in very specific ways that were not him.

She turned back to the tent.  Inside…

She found she was blushing. Inside was easily big enough for eight people, dimly lit in a sort of orangy-pink shade, the floor covered in cushions and blankets like a giant nest or some sort of orgy den. “You… unfolded the tent.”

“Of course I did. Shoes off, clothes on, go on in, in with you. I’ll see you in eight or nine hours with a big meal.”

Lina stumbled in; Jackson followed. Dylan and Ethan were still bowing.

“Come on in, come on,” she coaxed. Dylan stood first.

“You know — you know my dad’s going to be pissed.” Continue reading →

Work From Home Day ????, Sometime in Month 3

Jun3

Well, it’s June, friends.

At some point I stopped doing daily work-from-home blogs because, well, one, everything seemed mundane, so I was running out of things to talk about and two, it seemed – hey these are the same things.  *Laughs*  Two is supposed to be “working from home stopped seeming weird.”  Which is pretty much the same as one.

I am desperately in need of a haircut, I have been learning how to cut my husband’s hair, and I find myself wanting a pedicure, even though I’ve only gotten a fancy someone-else-does-it pedicure twice in my life. (It’s because it’s sandal season, and also because someone like washing and massaging your feet feels amazing, guys, try it.  Girls and folks of every gender, too.)

And that’s about it. Some days I desperately want my office back (yesterday), some days I can’t imagine going back. At least once every other day I think about the plusses or the minuses, so I suppose it’s not entirely mundane to me.

(Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck
Some nights I call it a draw
Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle…)

You know: Pros of working from home – short commute, take naps when I need them, take a half day of work when I’m feeling sick without having to fuss with driving or with breathing on other people.  Cons of working from home – constant distractions, no privacy, can’t really cope with bad things without an audience, no privacy, constant distractions, did I mention no privacy?

Also, I used to write on my commute to work and sometimes from as well.

(Pro of working from home – I can sit on the porch and work.  Now that is nice, I mean, when it’s not raining.  Another pro is working-from-couch, which it occurs to me that I could do from work, if the lounge wasn’t taken.)

Con of working from home, on the other hand, well, sometimes I just want to talk to other people.  I find myself chatting up folks in the grocery store.

How are you handling all that? I know our neighbor (the one whose husband is named after our cat) said she’s back at work now but she’s one of the few, even at her job – what about you folks?  I live in NYS; the university where I work has a branch in NYC – it’s unlikely I’m going to be back in the office before September at this rate. At least, I’ve picked out a porch umbrella and I’m thinking about some things like, what’s the summerweight version of my nice flannel pajama pants?  Also like “how do I get T to figure out how to cut my hair short again?” after that only-a-scorcher-in-comparison-but-still-unpleasantly-warm few days we had last week.

Is this a good thing, working from home? Is it maddening? Did you buy a new office chair?  One former friend tells me that his work offered a home-office-putting-together stipend, which sounds amazing. Where’s everyone at?

And if you’re back at work-in-person (or never left), what’s that like?

 

Saving the Cult (if not the World), Chapter Twenty

May29

Saving the Cult (If not the World) "It's time." Manfield Lee knew he was good at sounding authoritative even when he didn't know what he was talking about - he'd turned a fortune into a megafortune doing just that, after all, not to mention running the Organization - but right now, he DID know what he was talking about. After all, it was just a date, wasn't it? And if the date turned out to be wrong, well, then he knew exactly what to blame it on, and that blame would fall on the scholars and the psychics, not on him. The other thing Manfield Lee knew how to do was to place the blame in very specific ways that were not him.

“You never said anything at all about the Organization,” Lina pointed out to her father, glad she was too tired to sound anything but calm.  “Or about Mom being able to fold a house out of a suitcase, or about — about anything,” she trailed off.  There really were a lot of people here.  “Or about the way you can just — link your power to someone else’s.”  She paused.  She knew the woman kneeling in front of her.  She loathed her.  She was a business partner of her father’s, and she had always spoken down to Lina like she was younger than her brothers were now.  “Camilla Stane.”

“Miz Stane,” her father normally would correct her. 

Not today. Continue reading →

How it Should Have Ended

May28

I needed to write this to write something else, which I haven’t written yet. 

This is a roleplay fiction, written about a character I played back in the early 2000s.  The short version: Jhonny is an Eshu (Changling: The Dreaming) who has very strong connection to her past lives, which also happen to be her ancestors, in her case.  She has a very very long history of being connected with another, we’ll call him Xavier because I can’t remember how to spell his name, a connection which has often led to both of them dying young. 

In the life I was roleplaying, it was an amazingly bad relationship, which is, all things considered, not surprising.

Anyway, in order to write the story I wanted to write, I needed to end her story differently.  So here we go with a How it Should have Ended. 

Continue reading →