Archive | February 19, 2013

The ClockWork Collar, or The Princess of Al-ben, a kink-bingo mini-story in 25 (27) parts. Part 23

First: The Collar (LJ)

Previous: The Throne (LJ)

“Blood.”

Her master turned a little pale. Stavanna found this intriguing.

“Just a pinch, Master, Daran. Just a pinch. But the blood is necessary.” She stroked his hands, until, unwillingly, he opened them out. Another lever, and the mechanism grabbed each of his fingers.

“Necessary? Why?” He wasn’t trembling, quite, but his voice was quavering.

“This machine was made in the dark days after the collapse, Master. It needs fuel.”

He twitched. She kissed each of his fingers in turn, and then again, as ten little needles pierced him. “A soul machine.”

“Yes, master.” Behind him, the Mechanism awoke.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/480065.html. You can comment here or there.

The Foyer – a caelo usque ad centrum

I mentioned in my current Giraffe Call (LJ) that we’re going to start working on our Foyer soon.

I’ll do my best to post “before” pics this evening, but in the meantime, I’d like to lay out a bit of what we’re looking at.

The foyer is a 8×4 space with doors on three sides: the front door, the doorway to the utility room, and the doorway to the kitchen. The fourth side has an open “closet” space with a fold-up bench.

It was covered in hideous wallpaper when we moved in (Much of the house was covered in hideous something.) We’ve stripped the wallpaper off, leaving bare walls, and done much of the mudding and sanding.

To finish the foyer, we will need to:

  • tape, mud, sand, and finish the upper edge of the room
  • paint the entire room, including ceiling
  • paint and install trim around all three doorways
  • install a door in the doorway to the utility room (possibly but less likely, also in the kitchen doorway)
  • replace the over head light
  • repair the floor
  • remove the extant, rotting-out, header for the closet (where there were once hooks)
  • replace the header with overhead storage
  • remove the lovely fold-up bench and replace it with one in better shape
  • re-install the closet rod, re-install the hooks or get new ones, or paint the old ones and re-install
  • stencil a phrase between the overhead header and the seat: a caelo usque ad centrum (see here
    …and I’m sure there’s more. But, when we’re done, we’ll have a welcoming, lovely entryway in which to invite people into our home.

    Once the snow melts, we can really get started!

    This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/479828.html. You can comment here or there.

Giraffe Call Fourth Day

My Giraffe Call is still open!

The Call! (LJ)
The Linkback Story (LJ)
(I will be working on the linkback story today, so be sure to leave a comment if you’ve linked to the call or the resultant stories somewhere).

Yesterday was a break day, so I didn’t get much written. SUNDAY, on the other hand:

Addergoole: Year 22
? (LJ)
One Off
Even the Insect That Bites You (LJ)
Kitchen (LJ)

Fae Apoc
Monster (LJ)

The summary of Saturday writing is here!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/479557.html. You can comment here or there.