A Lar by any other name

To my nephews and niece, I am known as Auntie Tech.

For awhile, I was just Auntie and my sister was Auntie Evil. When her hair is pulled back, it looks similar to the colorations and hairline of Syndrome from The Incredibles. Two-year olds are amazing at picking up on those similarities but they also don't remember names. Syndrome was evil so that meant my sister was dubbed "evil", as well. When they were two and three and four, it was a fine name and was a decent distinction.

Then the boys got older and realized we had names outside of Auntie but they couldn't remember them. Their mom and dad have long since tired of the "no, not that one. the other one" conversation and realized that our names weren't going to stick so they decided to give me a lengthened moniker. I'm the aunt that spends hours on FaceTime with them, playing Minecraft or discussing the ramifications of the new Spiderman suit on how well Peter Parker does his job or convincing two little boys (who are rapidly aging) that girls can be the strongest of the superheroes SO THERE! I think my brother-in-law was leery of calling me Auntie Geek so he came up with Auntie Tech.

I have spent the last nine years laying the groundwork of geekdom for the kids. It all started with convincing my rather straight-laced sister that being a geek wasn't all that bad. Instead of hiding my geekdom, I let it all hang out to the public eye. I took the boys to MegaCon when they were three and four, even though they don't remember it. They do both remember seeing Nightwing... he held the door open for us when we first entered the building and the boys were FLABBERGASTED to meet one of their early heroes. We mostly just wandered the main floor of the convention, soaking it all in.

Last summer, the boys came with me to a smaller, local comic con. The then 8 and 7 year olds were in their element. My geeky heart was overflowing. They also went to a smaller con in Florida as a family and the kids dressed up. My niece wanted to be Wonder Woman instead of sticking to the boys' Batman leanings (they wanted a theme!) so settled for Girl!Robin. Not Robin, she insisted. Girl!Robin. You could hear the exclamation point in her voice.

I have my geeks. I was pretty happy.

And then my oldest nephew decided he wanted to write an RP with me. "Do you know about RPs, Auntie?" he asked me one day as we were playing Minecraft. I did know about RPs but how did he know about RPs? They have a version on Minecraft that he sort of plays with some of his friends. Instead of playing make believe stories, they call it RPing now. My writing heart was bursting with joy.

"Let's play one," I exclaimed and we starting setting down the rules. It was a Minecraft world and it was very similar to the world of the Minecraft Story Mode. I thought I would have to guide the story but NO. My 9 year old nephew is a STORYTELLER to the core of his little being. And he's good!

Well, except for setting limits on his characters but, to tell the truth, both his character and the evil character are both pretty exceptional. So exceptional that we're confounded about how to defeat him. So that story is on the back burner.

And he's now writing Gravity Falls fanfic.

I want to nurture this but I'm so afraid of squelching the creativity. I want to train him without ruining him. It's lovely and nervewrecking, all at the same time.

My 4 year old niece loves Minnie Mouse and the Disney princesses... and she can name just about every Marvel character when shown a picture. There's nothing more lovely than playing Go Fish with the Marvel playing cards and hear her say, "Um... Auntie, you have Cappin Marble?" "I yike Yoki. He cute."

I have laid the groundwork for three wonderful human beings. I feel like this might be a mike drop moment.

Does anyone know of any long-term volunteer opportunities that come with room and board? I'm looking for anywhere in the world, at this point.

Title: Rip Apart the World
Fandom: Avengers
Characters: Clint/Natasha, Bruce, Darcy
Word Count: 4119
Rating: Teen and Up
Author's Note: This little bit of hurt/comfort is something I started in February for the promptathon. For anuna_81’s prompt: She would rip the world apart for him. And for inkvoices, who mentioned Florence in her comments. The first part, especially, owes a lot to Ceremonials. But then it got stuck in EDIT land (thanks to all the work that my beta, hufflepuffsneak, put into kicking this into shape!) where I was too lazy to get it out. Along comes another promptathon and I realize that I need to quit being lazy and get this thing out there! So this is also for sgteam14283’s prompt: Okay? Okay. (from The Fault in Our Stars by the wonderful John Green).

Summary: There are some things that are meant to stay private and unmentioned. There are other things that come out in a tense situation and change everything. Thankfully, Clint's there to help pick up pieces that this current op chips off Natasha, regardless of what comes out of her mouth.

Here at AO3

I've just recently gotten into the Kindle serials. Two have excited me so far! Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic: The Thirteenth Rib by David J. Schwartz may be complete. I can't tell from here. Give it at least through the first part because it isn't what you think it is! I'm really enjoying it. The other serial is Indexing by Seanan McGuire. I cannot gush about this book enough! If you like fairy tales, this book may be for you! It's on the fifth section and getting better and better. Also, follow Seanan on Tumblr because she is funny and insightful and definitely entertaining!

I could say that I've been a writing fool this weekend. Possibly even a crocheting fool. Instead, I think I was just a fool! One does not do so much and expect to not feel a little tired and cranky that it's Sunday evening and there is no more weekend left. I don't feel like I accomplished anything! But I did. I know I did.

In fact, I wrote two new stories, reworked another to be able to post and completed much needed edits on a story that I wrote for the February prompt-a-thon at be_compromised and can now put in the Summer Prompt-a-thon. Then I finished one afghan and started four more! FOUR!

On Friday, I went to the Relay for Life and walked the Survivor's lap but then helped my "team" (the one I get to still be a part of because I work there even though I wasn't officially a part of the walk) sell street tacos and yelled at the people as they walked by.

Saturday, I went with my parents to the Arts in the Park in a nearby town and spent money on frivolous things simply because I liked the people selling them. Today, I went with my mom to one of her friend's house so they could work on a quilt. I, of course, crocheted. Hence the four started afghans. Talk about Yarn Tribbles!

And now I can't figure out what to watch. I've been watching a lot of Eureka and enjoying it but I switched to Netflix movies for the night. I don't think that was a wise as I keep picking quirky comedies that are strangely maudlin! I hate that! I want comedy! I want to laugh! Quit making it weird!

Title: Somewhere, There Are Birds Singing
Fandom: Fraction's Hawkeye comic 'verse (but with a touch of movie!verse for sweetness)
Characters: primarily Clint and Kate but there's a visit from Tony and Steve
writerverse Table of DOOM Prompt: 05. sweets
Prompt: I have two! roadtrip from redbrunja at the Avengers Rare Pair but it turned into a buddy-fic instead of a couple (although it can be assumed that they are well on their way to a relationship but it really is gen) & this stunning bit of conversation from sweetwatersong:
"You know, when this day started off, I didn't think I'd end up breaking the law and nearly running the sheriff off of the road."
"He deserved it."
"He's sixty-five!"
Word Count: (minus prompt words) 1424
Summary: Clint and Kate go for a road trip. Things happen. Oh, yes, they do.

( Somewhere, there are birds singing. )

Okay, friends... tell me about Clint Barton/Jessica Drew. All I know is that it's ending. A lot of people ship Jessica with Carol. I know about Carol thanks to the new comics (that are great! you need to get them if you haven't already) and I know about Clint. I don't know about Jessica. What do I need to know? Where should I go looking for more info (other than the usual wikis because I'm not finding a lot there that humanizes her enough that I can get on board with the character)? What comic books should I be investigating?

Right now I'm a huge Carol/Tracy shipper but I can be swayed.

For the most part, I've been ignoring Jessica and pretending that she doesn't exist. I'm a third-grader like that! Help me have some sort of feeling for her!

First, have you seen the RESULTS FOR THE 2013 SATURN AWARDS?????? Check it out! I think a good majority of my FL will find the list interesting!

I want to sign up for the 2013 polybigbang. The rough draft is due in October... I think. So I could finish the two big bangs I have in the works.

I already have one "no" from enigma731 and I know Aster will narrow her eyes at me. Anyone else want to talk me out of it?

There's the Clint/Natasha/Bruce story that I've been aching to write for awhile. I'd love to try some version of Clint/Bobbi/Kate that came up when I was writing my random Kate stories. Um, what are my other ideas? My DCBigBang is Oliver/Felicity but there are also some Oliver/Felicity/Diggle feelings tugging at my heart. It would be an interesting time to try a crossover or some other AU. I started reading a John/Cam/Ronon story the other night that had me thinking of ideas.

It would be the third bang of the year and the year that I wrote that many, I had to take a lot more time away from the words. No one ever said I had to do these stories as a bang but I do appreciate the deadlines. I could use the ideas for my big story prompt table.

There are also stories to be written (and then read) for the be_compromised 2013 Promptathon that started prompting this week. I've flagged a bunch of them. Okay, it's like half. Since DCBang is at 4200 (I made my word count yesterday!), I feel better about writing a few stories this week. And then there's finishing up the TV_universe big bang type thing. I only HAVE to get to 50 points and I made some sig tags to pad out the stories that I get done or don't get done in time. There's other stuff, of course, but I can't remember it. Oh well! You win some... you go home early for the rest.

I'm at 2871 on the Arrow Big Bang story and my goal (MY GOAL! do you hear that plot bunnies?) is to be at 4000 by bed time. That means I need to get over to get my hair cut and NOT hang around just casually talking about nothing. That means I better not open Tumblr again in the hopes of being in and out quickly. Or, if I can't get out quick, I better find something that I can count as "research for a story" or it's going to count as a time waster! That means I need to be quick about picking up my "nesting pile" from the living room before my family comes home.

That last 2000 words is from the last two days. While the early credit is all for frea_o, this last part is all in thanks to the book I'm reading. Shiver by Karen Robards isn't anything like my story but it's given me some good ideas for what I'm creating so HOORAY!

Perhaps I should cut down on the caffeine a bit, too.

I took Rory to the vet today and I think she's not speaking to me any longer! This morning she was staying completely off the leg but it wasn't more swollen. Since I had to work and her appointment wasn't until afternoon and my house is nearly 45 minutes away from the vet, they let her stay there for the day. When I got there, she was walking on the foot again! Turns out, it was an abscess and it had started draining while she was there so all they had to do was clean it out (that did not make her happy!) and give her an injection of antibiotics. I didn't care about the shot costing more than the liquid because I didn't think she was going to let me give her the meds for 7-10 days!

She must be feeling better (or she's still angry) because she's not hanging out near me like she has been the last few days. I spoke too soon. Guess she's not that angry because she wants some attention. She's still stress shedding. Lovely.