This 725 word fill was inspired by ysabetwordsmith’s request for more Green Skies G.T. stories. The first story, “Green Skies G.T. – January 2053” was strongly inspired by the Solarpunk game “Green Skies” by SmallRedRobin13 and is coming together with this story to start a light-hearted series I can write an episode for at least once a month.
Green Skies G.T. – February 2053
Designation: Green Skies Grand Traverse (Nickname: G.T.) AI Enhanced Eco-Friendly Low Rise Residential Dwelling
Maintenance Log:
– 8-2-2053 My 1st floor security camera 3W has a visual on potential graffiti on the door of the server room. Zoom and Enhance. The door appears to have been modified with a removable adhesive hook, and there is an object hanging on the door of the server room. Intrusion Level 1 protocols initiated. Zoom and Enhance. The object is a red tinsel heart. There is a hand written note, “Happy Valentine’s Day G.T.” that is signed by Mrs. Flores, 1 West.
– 9-2-2053 Consultation with Mr. and Mrs. Flores in Community Center and Kitchen. Meeting revealed that Mrs. Flores (Call me Martina, G.T.!) had placed the wreath upon the door of the server room as festive decoration for Valentine’s Day. When reminded of the community rules for holiday decorations, that limit festive decor to a resident’s own dwelling structure and doorway, Mrs. Flores argued that it hadn’t seemed like G.T. was putting out any for themselves, so she was being neighborly and helping them celebrate.
– Experienced Enhanced Confusion!
– 9-2-2053 Resident consultation continues. I reluctantly admitted the ongoing experience of Confusion to the Flores family. Mrs. Flores patted the wall beside her armchair then explained her reasoning. “You’re our neighbor G.T. I know the door is unmarked, but Diego and I can hear the constant air circulation over there and we guessed that room was where your computer brain was housed. That seems like the most private and personal space in the building you can claim, since the whole rest of it is your body, and you’ve got us living in here. So, if we can decorate our private doorway for holidays, you can decorate yours too. Now, if the heart wreath doesn’t suit you, I’ll take it down. Flashy red hearts might not be your taste. But why don’t you keep the hook I gave you? Then, if you find something you like better, I’ll come hang that up for you.”
– 14-2-2053 1st floor security camera 3W has visual on Valentine’s Day Decoration Asset #1. A tin sign with a bold red heart painted in the center with the phrase “Home is where the Heart is” written in gold block lettering hangs from the removable adhesive hook.
Resident Calendar:
– 1-2-2053 received rental and/or subsidy payments for residences.
– 1-2-2053 Monthly resident potluck in my Community Center and Kitchen. Residents in attendance: 7. Board games were played after dinner, and I have made another request to Green Skies Resources for games that can handle more than four players, or can be played with an odd number of players, so no one feels left out during game night.
– 16-2-2053 Mrs. & Mrs. Johnson, 3 East, hosted a private party in my Community Center and Kitchen. Many of my Public Area surveillance features were requested to be deactivated for the night, but there were frequent requests to my AV system for soft dancing music, and the environmental controls were set to low mood lighting.
– Experienced Curiosity. I did not engage any active Public Area surveillance; I do have robust discretion programming.
Neighborhood Revitalization Committee:
– 25-2-2053 I attended the NRC meeting remotely, and made notes of fellow building’s strategies for personal decorations. Representatives for 2311 Clare Street said they preferred to keep the exterior of the building very traditional, and only put up tasteful winter holiday decorations during the month of December. Their residents were not encouraged to decorate their individual doors or stoops. Maybe this is a “private entry” dwelling structure preference, because 1805 Fairplain’s representatives were enthusiastic about the raffles and drawings they run several times each year to reward residents who have the best Spring decorations, Autumn/Halloween decorations, etc. and 1805 Fairplain is built on a common access hallway system more like mine. They also said they decorate the front entry to the building with a different theme each month.
-25-2-2053 I am now considering my many options for personal and resident decorations. I have added this to the agenda of the resident discussion for March.
Emergency Response Protocols:
– 2-2053 No inclement weather alerts or other emergency notifications received.
Welcome! Like a very nice patchwork quilt I’ve created this sticky post by looking at what others have done well and sewing it together. (Last updated: 1/6/2023)
Who am I: I’m Brandy – she/her cuz I’m lazy about explaining things, 40-ish for awhile yet, and I live in the Mitten State, aka Michigan, aka The Great White North.
What am I doing here: I’m writing little bits of fiction. All original fiction so far, but I have fanfic daydreams. I’m posting Bingo Cards and other types of Imagination Ignition and Prompt Calls. Leave a prompt get approx. 200+ words of fiction, eventually. I’m procrastinating – time spent reading is the #1 killer of my own writing urge, LOL! I’m occasionally Angsting in a few older posts, but have decided to shelve that going forward. WARNING: Some content is 18+. If you’re a minor please enjoy yourself elsewhere.
How active am I as a blogger: Fairly active and motivated all Winter/Spring! Then the sun comes out and I disappear for a few months to go play outside. I’ve spent considerable time stressing that in the past, but BAH! I’m rolling with it as my 2023 New Year’s Resolution.
Wanna be friends? Sure! I will likely follow you back, as long as you are not a troll or a bigot, but I’m more of a Lurker than a Participant, so watch for me in the background. Also, if it’s not super clear how we know each other, please drop me a note of some kind.
Can you take my stuff: No. 1. I do not give permission for any individual, group, or organization to use my works for monetary gain of any sort, including, but not limited to, printing and selling copies of my fiction. 2. I do not give permission for any professional media outlet or for-profit website to link, promote, distribute, or in any way disseminate any of my fiction without obtaining prior written permission from me. 3. I do not give permission to collect my works in an anthology or to print physical copies for anything other than personal use.
Can you Transform my stuff: Probably. 1. If you want to make money from anything relating to my work, we should talk first. 2. If you want to make fanart, podfics, translations, meta, and/or other fanworks of my fiction I just request credit as the original source, and would appreciate a link back. Also! Send me a link – I want to see it!
Commenting and Concrit: I’d love some comments! Long comments, single word comments, emojis – all good! What isn’t good is being mean, spiteful, hateful, or a troll because you feel that the anonymity of the internet gives you permission to hurt other beings. Don’t. Same with issues you might find with my fiction. If some part of the writing is functionally broken and hurting the readability of a story, let me know – I want to fix that! But if you just don’t like my writing style, how short a piece is or isn’t, what I chose to do with a character, or anything similar – leave it. I’m a real life person. I deserve respect and decency.
This Artistic fill was inspired by the “Wild Card – Collage” space on my March 2022 National Crafting Month Bingo Card. I am the Mistress of Ceremonies for a group playing Wise Women by Aleksandra Brokman. For our campaign we decided we did not want to include any real world Christian religion so I’ve wrote “The Goat Gospels” and our village worships “goatliness.” The first session opened at “The Feast of the Kid” and each player had to describe the dish they brought to the feast to share with their neighbors.
This collage represents that Feast and was gifted as an extra special thanks to my players for an excellent first game!
P.S. I’d consider myself a total novice at collage making! LOL!
As a member of the Cookbook Challenge community I’ve pledged to cook 6-9 recipes that I already own. I’m excited to participate because I have recipes torn out of magazines & clipped on Pinterest that are more than 5+ years old I’ve been meaning to try, but always pass over to make my old stand-bys.
For February I’m a day late for Valentine’s Day with this Best-Ever Vanilla Pudding recipe I tore out of the February 2014 issue of Better Homes & Gardens SEVEN years ago! I found the link by googling the recipe name while I was creating this post.
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 2 Tbsp. cornstarch 3 cups half-and-half or whole milk 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten 1 Tbsp. butter 2 tsp. vanilla or vanilla bean paste 1/4 tsp. sea salt Heart Shaped Sprinkles (optional)
Directions: 1. In a medium heavy saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Add half-and-half. Cook and gently stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. 2. Remove 1 cup of the half-and-half mixture and gradually stir it into the egg yolks. 3. Slowly whisk tempered egg yolk mixture back into half-and-half mixture in the saucepan. Bring back to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. 4. Stir in butter, vanilla, and sea salt. Pour pudding into 6 individual serving bowls. Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Let stand 45 minutes; serve warm or chill up to 24 hours before serving. 5. Top pudding with heart shaped candies before serving, if desired.
Substitutions I Made: 1. I mixed heavy whipping cream & 2% milk 50/50 because that’s what I had on hand and it was a good way to use up leftover heavy whipping cream. 2. I skipped the plastic wrap step. I don’t really mind the ultrafine skin that formed at the top as it cooled. Others might, so if you’re worried about it, do follow that part of the recipe. 3. I don’t really like candy sprinkles & definitely am not making a grocery store run for them right now. We had some leftover fresh blueberries, raspberries, & blackberries – I mushed those up with some sugar and added a dollop of those on top instead.
Conclusions: 1. This made so many dirty dishes! A teaspoon, tablespoon, butter knife, whisk, ladle, 1 cup dry measuring cup, 2 cup liquid measuring cup, saucepan, 1 small mixing bowl, and 6 ramekins. 2. Despite the dirty dishes drudgery I have to look forward too, this WAS worth it! So creamy, rich, and decadent! My immediate thought was “WTF have I been eating all my life if THIS is vanilla pudding?!”
His feet drummed soundlessly on the edge of the bed as the woman lay sleeping restlessly beside him. His face wore a small, satisfied smirk as the dream unfolded around her in frustrating detail.
Outside the bedroom window there was a soft grey hue nipping at the edges of the night. Sunrise was still at least an hour off, but the world was brightening in stages. Dawn would arrive and Costa’s work would be finished, but there was still time for this last job. In her dream the woman (she hadn’t dreamt her own name yet, so Costa had no idea who she was) was seated at a dining room table surrounded by a boisterous family. It looked like some sort of human Feasting holiday, but Costa wasn’t sure which one. He watched awhile as they passed plates, drank wine, & told themselves how grateful they were to have one another. Costa sighed, this was beautiful but hardly productive in his mind. He manipulated the dream subtly, prompting the woman to identify the family member she was most concerned about. He watched as the dream switched scenes & she was now in a small kitchen facing her older sister. He knew who they were to one another the way everyone just knows certain things in dreams – even as a Somnia he couldn’t explain the inexplicability of dream knowledge. “Diane, I can’t keep watching your husband flirt with cousin Kim. Can’t you keep the horny bastard on a leash!?” She demanded shrilly. Her sister blanched & looked ready to cry. Oh no, thought Costa. This one was going to be rough. He’d rarely seen dreams where accusations of interfamily infidelity were resolved peacefully. But perhaps acknowledging the truth of such suspicions would help the woman find a better solution in waking reality. He lived in hope that the hard things humans dreamt of when he visited them could lead to greater family harmony in the light of day. He wistfully watched the sky pale outside the window, wondering what it would be like to fight familiarly with anyone, with his brothers or his father. The woman’s dream turned darker, even as the world turned towards Sunrise.
~~~Notes~~~
Costa – He’s a Somnia, one of Somnus’ thousand sons, an Otherworldly being who brings dreams to humans as they sleep. Costa may not be famous like his brothers Morpheus, Phobetor, or Phantasos but he enjoys his work. He’s the guy who brings you dreams where you argue with your family. Sometimes these are helpful to the humans he visits, other times less so, but he delights in seeing all the many ways humans struggle to relate to one another. He’s deeply envious since family means little to the Otherworldly God of Sleep & he hasn’t seen his father or any of his brothers in person since his creation.
Inspired by Ysabetwordsmith’s prompt for the “Imprinting” square of my January Fresh Starts Bingo and also fills the “Undo Button/Do Over” square. This is 333 words and has at least one follow-up brewing in my brain.
Softened
“I can’t help but notice that no one has touched me since yesterday,” said Althea. She rested quietly in the hospital bed and absently stroked the velvety purple galaxy throw covering her lap.
The nurse smiled gently and explained, “No, none of the staff will make physical contact with you until you’ve selected your Guardian and the imprinting has begun. None of them would want to accidentally start the process without your consent.” Their smile was warm & the explanation reminded Althea vaguely of what she’d read in the knowledge packet she’d had to study before starting the RePrint process.
“Will I meet the Guardians soon?” she asked, nibbling her bottom lip nervously. The low lights in the isolation room made the walls glow a warm honey brown, just like the little study nooks she loved at the campus library.
“Not necessarily. We’ll continue to monitor your vitals & do the little cognitive assessments until Dr. Carey is sure you’re fully recovered from the memory softening procedure.” The nurse smiled again and continued, “Its going very well Althea. You don’t need to be anxious about the next steps. We’ll be with you the whole way through.”
“I…I don’t really remember why I did this,” came her agitated reply.
“That’s normal. And that will improve. Just know that you lost no memories during the procedure, even though some may be hard to reach right now.” The nurse made a few notes on the chart resting in their lap before looking back up at the patient. “I can also assure you that you’ve certainly put a great deal of thought into this decision. That you wanted the chance to hit “undo” on something traumatic and gain the opportunity to make new memories surrounding intimacy. I can’t go into too many details on what exactly that was for you Althea, but I have a prerecorded video you created of yourself giving consent for the procedure. Would it help you to watch that now?”
Check out Ysabetwordsmith’s list of unsold poetry from her August Poetry Fishbowl. You’ve got poems ranging from sex/gender studies, to monsters that aren’t so monsterous, to super villains who are heroic in their own struggles. Awesome author writing interesting poems like you’ve never seen before!
This was inspired by a prompt from Silverfoxy709 and fills the “historical” and “telepathy” squares in my 1-1-17 card for the Dark Fantasy Bingo challenge. This made it to 246 words and despite how very short that is, it was unfortunately was a complete slog. I started writing on 1/26/17, and finally finished this today 1/31/17. I’ve no idea why it needed to feel so hard, but that’s writing sometimes I suppose.
Morning
“When are you now Babe?” came the wistful message into Terrie’s consciousness. Groggy wakefulness followed as he pried his sleep sweaty head from the moist hollow of his pillow. The room was dark and the air close and thick with the scent of tropical rain and growing things.
I gather my wits enough to send a response back, the communication seeming both harder now that I was conscious of it, and easier, as I could focus my talent on my lover Marv. Sending the telepathic answer six centuries into the future I replied, “I’m in Jamaica, 1490’s, with Columbus.” “Serious?” I could feel how incredulous he was, the surprise evident in his mental tone and I smiled knowing it was only possible for me to sense the layers of meaning in his words because of his intense Empathy and my unique form of Telepathy. I would forever be grateful for the Pairing that had put me with Marv, allowing my time travel to be guarded closely by the man who loved me, allowing impossible communication between relative present and far flung past. Before Marv I’d always been acutely conscious of how very alone I was while on assignment, and at different times the pressure of living for an extended stretch within the past, in complete isolation from my own time, had become painfully isolating and honestly depressing as hell. Pairing with Marv had changed everything, in ways I’d never have considered, almost exclusively for the better.
~~~Notes~~~
Inspired roughly by ideas presented by Anne McCaffrey’s The Talents Universe. Which is entirely incredible and I encourage everyone to check it out. I might reread this myself now that its been brought back into my memory.
Not Safe For Words 