Blogathon 2007 - Start!

And so, we begin. I'm situated at shadesong's. It took me a few tries to access the internet cause I'm a techno-dunce, but it's been done, entirely thanks to mirrored_echo. Posts with actual content from here on in. Cheers,

- Lily

Blogathon 2007 - Take 2

Prompt: Five things Saionji wishes he hadn't said. (for written_in_blue).

To Touga: "You're still my best friend, right?" He knew it was a stupid question the second it left his mouth. The kind of question that left him not so much vulnerable to attack as practically asking for it.

Besides, he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to that.

To Anthy: "I love you." She had smiled at him, that patent plastic smile of hers. The kind where he couldn't even tell if it reached her eyes, because her eyes were closed.

"Of course," she said, and suddenly he felt like a liar, even though he'd been sure he meant his words just a second ago.

To Wakaba: "Hello." Why he said anything to her was beyond him. He barely knew this girl. And if his mind glanced on warmth and sheep-shaped coffee mugs whenever she was around, well, this was Ohtori and his mind was not to be trusted.

He didn't regret not saying more to her. Really, he didn't.

To his father: "I promise." It didn't matter what he'd just promised, whether it was to take out the garbage or win a match. By saying the words, he might as well have pledged himself to failure.

To himself: Nothing. Saionji Kyouichi wasn't an introspective sort of guy. There were times he regretted this fact. But only briefly; he didn't dwell on that, either.

BPAL Review: 13 (July 2007)

A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits including vanilla bean, white ginger, orchid, golden peach, massoia bark, clove, honey, and starfruit.

In bottle: I'm getting a whif of vanilla. Slightly medicinal vanilla.

On me (wet): ...I smell like I fell on a cheesecake. Or like a felonious cheesecake, which is what wired_lizard thought I just said.

On me (dry): Seriously. Cheesecake. With maybe a little peach. Possibly orange.

Verdict: I'm not actually sure. I like this smell, but it keeps giving me this impression, like I've dropped my desert on my shirt or stuck my elbow in it. For those of you who know me, this occurrence is a) not particularly uncommon, and b) rather embarrassing for me, if hilarious for others. So I just don't know.

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For unluckylasers: Tara MacLay

1. She got to be really close friends with Anya. It may have seemed at first like they didn't have a great deal in common, but they formed a bond back in the day, when neither of them quite belonged with the Scoobies. In part, it was self-preservation - someone to hide in the bathroom with, while the rest of the group flung proverbial mud at each other. In another part, it came out of a stubborn mutual desire to be seen as more than just Willow or Xander's girl. As it happened, though, their personalities meshed well and balanced each other out. Just being around the outspoken former demon made Tara more extroverted, and not that Anya told her this, but Tara was one of the few people she trusted to act as her personal conscience. Something to do with the way Tara didn't judge.

2. She slipped one night, when she was really tired, calling Joyce 'Mama.' Joyce didn't mind in the least, but it felt like such a sickening betrayal to her mother's memory that Tara never relaxed enough to do something like that again. She just wished she had, sometimes, after Joyce's death.

3. She'd been in love once, before she met Willow. Or at least she thinks it was love - those feelings never got voiced. At any rate, she was too scared to tell Willow she loved her for a good long while. Not just for fear of rejection, though there was plenty of that, festering in the back of her mind, but because she half-feared saying the words would make the feeling less sacred, somehow; make it go away. Instead, saying the words felt like imbuing them with power, and the act of it broke through a number of her personal barriers and fears.

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For fajrdrako: Jack Harkness

1. If you look closely enough at his genome, you'd realize his DNA's not entirely human. Then again, in the fifty-first century, whose is?

2. He makes friends practically on sight, but is slow to genuine trust; loves easily and falls in love almost never. To date, he's fallen in love with precisely three people in his long life: Rose, the Doctor and Estelle. Of the above, he's only ever trusted one implicitly - the one logic tells him he probably shouldn't have trusted, but that was one argument logic just wasn't going to win.

3. Not that he knows this, but his two years' worth of missing memories have more to do with classified information than with crime or betrayal. The Time Agency would have given them back once his mission was declassified if he hadn't bailed.

Blogathon 2007: BPAL Review: Crumpet Rebellion (!!!)

In bottle: Bakery! No blackberries yet, which is my yum note, but hope springs eternal.

On me (wet): Strong and sweet. I think this bakery may sell some coffee on the side as well. *sniff sniff* Freshly-baked bread, too. Mmmmm. Still no blackberries.

On me (dry): Yummy. No blackberry, alas, but that may be for the best, because...

Verdict: ...the chances of me ever getting my hands on this again are well beyond 'unlikely' and into 'nonexistent', so it wouldn't do for me to fall in love. I say again, alas, because it's quite a yummy scent.

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For mirrored_echo: Kaoru Kozue

1. She takes after her mother. By quite a lot. Kozue is honestly not sure whether this made the eventual falling-out more difficult or more inevitable. At the moment, she's leaning in the 'inevitable' direction.

2. After the recital fiasco, she'd attempted to run away from home. She waited a week, till everyone's attention wasn't on her anymore, packed a light bag and headed out. In all likelihood, she'd have made it all the way to Tokyo, but she had no money for the train fare and was caught trying to sneak on.

She thought her parents would be furious; that she'd be watched day and night after this, but they left her mostly alone about it. There was no good reason why this should have upset her. Dammit.

3. It doesn't matter that Miki is the center of her world. She loves him more than she thinks it's possible to love someone, but she'll still go out of her way to make him see she has a life he's not a part of. He gets this hurt look on his face when she tells him about her friends and dates, and one part of her wants to comfort him, while another thrills in having this small power over him.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: The Unheavenly City

In bottle: Sweet floral. I think... Maybe some lemon/orange peel in there as well? There are no notes listed, since this is a Convergence LE, and I'm just not experienced enough to sniff it out entirely on my own.

On me (wet): Lilac! Lilac that actually works on me! Very exciting. Mmm, lilac.

On me (dry): Lilac, still. Duuude, a floral that doesn't stab my skin and leave it bleeding and smelly-like.

Verdict: Damn LE. Lily wants... Lily is never going to be able to afford. In the words of many a kindergartener, poopie.

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For nevacaruso: Toshiko Sato

1. Tosh is easily the geekiest person at Torchwood III. Her knowledge of comic book and movie trivia is rivaled only by her skill with computers.

2. ...If only her people skills came anywhere close. For someone who had a fairly normal childhood, family and school years, she never did master the art of small talk, and while she learned to blend in, she never quite feels like she belongs. Not even at Torchwood; not really. She feels more comfortable than average around Jack, but that's Jack for you. Ianto...is difficult to get close to lately. Gwen and Owen are lost causes. No further comment needed.

3. Which brings us to Suzie. Out of everyone, Tosh feels she was closest to Suzie, before...well, before. Tosh isn't going to examine how close, or where it might have gone. Suzie killed people; that's all that matters, and Tosh doesn't miss her, or so she tells herself. She doesn't understand what could have driven the other woman, no matter how many psych papers she reads.

When Suzie comes back (briefly), she can't even look at her. Maybe it's because she's angry and shocked, or maybe because she thinks she might be too quick to forgive.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Shanghai Tunnel

In bottle: Astringent. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of citrus in there. It leaves me confused.

On me (wet): Sweeter, but still confusing. This baby's the acid trip of BPAL. Definite citrus. rafaela says it's lemongrass, and she is far more knowledgeable than I.

On me (dry): Hooo, this has turned bitter! coughsputteruck

Verdict: Meh, with a side of yuk. Hey, there needed to be at least one LE I didn't love. Otherwise, I might have cried. And you wouldn't like me if I cried. I get blotchy and then I hit people.

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For livii: Mickey Smith

1. His gran would have rather he finish his education, maybe go to uni, but he started work as soon as he was legally allowed. School had never made Mickey feel useful or competent; work did, and he badly needs to feel useful.

Besides, he couldn't mooch off Gran forever. Wouldn't be right.

2. He'd known Rose had fallen out of love with him ever since she came back for the first time, breathless and a year late. He didn't realize he'd fallen out of love with her till he was telling her he wanted to stay in the alternate universe. Somehow, he'd thought it would hurt more. Instead, all he felt was relief, like a great burden being lifted off his shoulders. Ricky had never been the tin dog, redundant and taken for granted, and while he wasn't Ricky, there were certain aspects and personality traits he was more than comfortable adopting.

3. He wound up the one to tell Angela Price's husband that she was dead. Funny choice, as he was the one who knew her least. Maybe that made it easier, maybe not - all he knew in the end is that he felt like shit every time he accidentally referred to her as 'Mrs. Moore.' Jake took him out afterward and they got blindingly drunk - that would be the semi-decent part of the day.

Blogathon 2007

Just so you know, I have Captain Jack in my lap, and you all should be very jealous.

...For the record, Captain Jack is one of shadesong's adorable cats. And lemme tell you, he's very much a Captain Jack. Very nuzzly, gives kisses - he actually licked my hand! I'm full of kitty squee now, enough so that I don't even care this post is utter filler. :p

Blogathon 2007: BPAL Review: Lydia

In bottle: Jasmine. Bleeeeech!

On me (wet): ...Yes, I'm going to try it on. Mostly because otherwise this post would be one line long. See the sacrifices I make for you? See? See?!

Jasmine. Why, God, why? It smelled ok for a moment, and then the fair damsel didst choke and breathe no more, her body still in the effervescent glow of her laptop.

On me (dry): Dead women can't smell, dammit.

Verdict: It murdered me in cold blood. All future entries will henceforth be made by my maddened ghost. Gentles, heed this tawdry tale of slaughter by jasmine, so that my sacrifice need not be in vain.

Quotes from the Blogathon 2007

wired_lizard: Mmm, sensory deprivation. Tastes like chicken.

---

[Context is for the birdies]

'song: We live by the tits! We die by the tits.
Rafaela: Noo, we do not live by the tits!
Tory: ...No Gellert, that is not your evil overlord motto. You're gay.
'song: Ok, fine, we live by the ass.

---

More to come...

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Crowley

Nothing about him looked particularly demonic, at least by classical standards. No horns, no wings. Admittedly he was listening to a Best of Queen tape, but no conclusions should be drawn from this because all tapes left in a car for more than a fortnights metamorphose into Best of Queen albums. No particularly demonic thoughts were going through his head. In fact, he was wondering vaguely who Moey and Chandon were.

Crowley had dark hair, and good cheekbones, and he was wearing snakeskin shoes, or at least presumably he was wearing shoes, and he could do really weird things with his tongue. And, whenever he forgot himself, he had a tendency to hiss.

Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk.

In imp: Spicy!

On me (wet): Hello, leather~ This is a sexy demon, indeed. Purr! Some woods underneath as well.

On me (dry): The spicy is emerging again...

Verdict: Y'know, I think I've just discovered my scent of plus one dominance. I don't know what it is, but this one makes me feel confident, slightly butch and much more likely to take risks. Excellent choice for either games or real life. *firm nod*

Blogathon 2007 - Five Things Meme

For nevacaruso: Five things Utena loves about Miki.

1. The whole tutoring her in math thing doesn't hurt. Really, really doesn't hurt.

2. They're both duelists. By all rights, this should make him her enemy. Instead, Miki keeps turning up as one of Utena's staunchest allies. Even when he challenges her, she never gets a sense of malice or resentment from him. Maybe all this means is that he's better at hiding it than any of the others. Maybe she's being naiive. Maybe... But Utena doesn't like to think that way. She's sure she wouldn't like the sort of person those kinds of thoughts would make her.

3. Out of everyone who vies for the Rose Bride, Miki seems to be the one to genuinely want the best for her. And maybe Utena doesn't believe he's right about what he thinks is best for Anthy, but the thought counts for something. It counts for a lot, in fact.

Besides, it's Anthy. If Utena is being honest with herself, she'll admit even she can't predict the mysterious girl. What's best for Anthy? What does Anthy want? Only Anthy knows for sure.

4. It's a strange thing to love, but she loves the way he makes her feel protective. It's almost like having a younger brother of her own.

5. And to follow up on that, she loves watching him and Kozue together. They may bicker, they may take to ignoring one another, but they're a family - something Utena craves desperately for herself. It hurts a little to see that, but there's more good to it than bad. Whatever her misery may be, big or small, she's not the type to want company in it.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Aziraphale

Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Two of these were wrong; Heaven is not England, whatever certain poets may have thought, and angels are sexless unless they really want to make an effort.

Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord.

In imp: Whoa, that's got kick! Ladies and gentlemen, this is one bitchin' angel.

On me (wet): Spicy, with an undertone of woods and dust.

On me (dry): Slightly bitter, but not in an unpleasant way.

Verdict: Another one of those scents I'd love on another person but doesn't quite work on me. *goes off in search of other person to sniff this on*

Blogathon 2007 - Ficlet

For nevacaruso - HP. Tonks and Ginny, at any point in the series.

( Some spoilers for Deathly Hallows )

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Allison Gross

( Allison Gross )

Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For x_bluerose_x: The Doctor

1. The leather jacket Nine wears once belonged to Fitz Kreiner, a companion of Eight's. Fitz was the companion who stuck with him through the Time War. Probably died in it, in fact. But don't expect the Doctor to ever mention any of this. He just wears the jacket and remembers.

As Ten, he didn't wear the jacket anymore. The Time War was over, he thought. It was time to put old ghosts to rest.

2. He's occasionally tempted to cross his own timeline; go back to a time when he and Romana were travelling together. Those are the only places she exists anymore. He knows better, though. Besides, if she recognized him, he'd have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

3. He's read most of the books published on Earth. Hey, the man's got time and lots of it. Which isn't to say he hasn't given up on a few halfway through. Just get him started on Danielle Steel. I dare you.

Blogathon 2007 - Progress

Thank you to new sponsors, mgrasso, livii, dindin, chaoticmatter and delerone! We are now up to $190. Booya!

Ten hours down; fourteen to go. Go us!

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: War

She finished the drink, hefted the sword over one shoulder, and looked around at the puzzled factions, who now encircled her completely. 'Sorry to run out on you, chaps,' she said. 'Would love to stay and get to know you better.'

The men in the room suddenly realized they didn't want to know her better. She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, but not up close.

And she held her sword, and she smiled like a knife.

Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks.

In imp: Surprisingly sweet and foody

On me (wet): Sweet and smooth. I'm getting a hint of ginger. Which is good, as ginger's a listed note. Clearly, my nose is not entirely on crack.

On me (dry): Ah, there's the spiciness. It's not murderous, though. A bit like eating ginger snap cookie dough.

Verdict: I didn't think this'd be my thing, but it so is. Go bloody figure. Lily likes~

Blogathon 2007 - Five Things

For nevacaruso - Five times Juri was convinced that she was the only sane person on the Student Council.

1. Let's not forget the day it all started, when they first saw the bloody upside-down castle. Juri's pretty sure she's the only one who wondered if she was going crazy. The others just sort of accepted it, but she knew better. Miracles didn't exist, but the possibility of an acid trip most definitely did.

2. The day Touga spent an entire semester's budget on one of his dates. She's honestly not surprised Saionji backed him up, but Miki should have had more of a spine about it, really.

3. The others all seem obsessed with the Rose Bride. Even Tenjou, in her own way. Juri isn't. Himemiya scares her on the bad days and annoys her on the good. Oh, she'd fight for the girl if winning her helped prove her point, but their ways would part beyond that, this Juri knows.

4. Hey, it isn't Saionji the faculty fears, for all his bluster. Touga and Nanami's money and popularity can't buy them respect, and smart as Miki is it hasn't made him leader. If she looks at it like that, she's all but running Ohtori.

Then again, this might well make her the crazy one.

5. She leaves as soon as she graduates and doesn't look back. Maybe the others did likewise, maybe not. All Juri knows is that the outside world is waiting for her and there's nothing left for her within Ohtori's walls.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Agnes Nutter

The mind of Agnes Nutter was so far adrift in Time that she was considered pretty mad even by the standards of seventeenth-century Lancashire, where mad prophetesses were a growth industry.

Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails.

In imp: Holy gunpowder, Batman! That cleared out my sinuses but good.

On me (wet): Something exploded and burned a lot. In a spontaneous fit of bad judgment, I tested this one on the top of my left boob, so now I smell like I've been shot in the chest at close range. Oh dearie...

On me (dry): Sharp, woodsy and burned.

Verdict: Way too sharp for my tastes, but the sensory imagery is spot-on!

Blogathon 2007

Halfway mark! Numfar, do the dance of slightly-unbalanced joy.

shadesong is currently dancing with her cat, Max. It's the cutest thing ever.

This actually brings me to a point (shock and awe!). I would never have attempted Blogathon on my own, and even if I had, I would have likely given up by now. Done in a group, however, the day has all but flown by. These people rock my socks.

Blogathon 2007 - Ficlet

For mirrored_echo: I've told you this in person, but... I demand Kozue/Juri. Just because.

---

The first thing she realizes is all the ways Kozue hasn't changed. Her hair is still vibrant and blue, in a way that doesn't suggest hair dye. Juri's been finding grey strands among her own over the last few years. Ohtori's questionable uniform is long-missing, of course, but Kozue's skirt still slinks up her thighs in a way that makes you look. Her eyes... now those have changed, though Juri can't quite tell how, yet.

"How's Miki doing," Juri asks, cringing inwardly as soon as the words leave her mouth.

Kozue shrugs and smirks. "Hell if I know." She doesn't look away when she says it and Juri catches a split-second flash of regret. It's gone before Juri registers it properly.

"How are you?" she asks; a better question for the occasion.

Kozue leans in, one hand resting on Juri's shoulder, like they're old friends. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

To her own surprise, Juri doesn't flinch away. "Try me."

Kozue laughs. "When you say it like that..." And she tells her.

Juri's not sure what would have surprised her at this point. If Kozue had told her she'd taken over as Chairman - Chairwoman, that is - of Ohtori, hell, Juri would have bought that. Duels, castles, all sorts of the drug-addled things Ohtori was so famous for. Normal, for given values thereof, would have made her blink, but she'd have gotten over it.

Instead, Kozue seems to shine brighter and brighter as she talks. This is a woman who has done a little bit of everything, it seems. She's been to countries barely labeled on the map and walked away from a battlefield, alive if not unscathed. She has met countless people, and if not loved then at least known them exactly as they were.

"Do you still play?" Juri asks somewhat redundantly.

"Not the piano." A beat. "So, how's Takatsuki doing?"

All right. That was probably fair. "I don't know," Juri says, and wishes she didn't care.

Satisfied at something - Juri isn't sure what - Kozue closes the last of the space between them and kisses her, wild, warm and untamed. Years ago, Juri would have recoiled, made an excuse, gotten very polite, or cold, perhaps. Yes, 'cold' would be the better word for it. She doesn't do any of that today. Instead, she returns the kiss, arms wrapping around Kozue's waist.

The wind picks up, sending a nearby pile of leaves flying, and Juri hasn't the faintest idea what she's doing. She'll figure it out later, she decides, and if she doesn't, well, this has nothing on upside-down castles, as far as crazy goes.

Blogathon 2007

pseydtonne just made us all the most delicious dinner! Happy, sated Lily now. Now comes the trick of not letting the fullness and contentment make me drowsy.

Blogathon 2007 - Musings

You know, there's something very *freeing* about having to write and finish something by a specific deadline. One of the chief reasons I almost never post fic is because I almost never *finish* fic. I start re-reading my own work halfway through, realize it's crap, freeze, try to fix it, fail and give the hell up.

This is the sort of place NaNoWriMo is supposed to carry you to. I'm not sure that it ever did. A month is still a month. Plenty of time to re-read and dub my work crap.

Now, I'm not feeling all that creatively inspired today. But I'm still writing. And that, my friends, is really something.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Thaleia

Thaleia

How light the strain when, decked in vernal bloom,
Thalia tuned her lyre of melody.

Thaleia the Flourishing is the Muse of Comedy and Pastoral Poetry, and shares the same name as one of the Gratiæ. She is a very down-to-Earth Goddess, and has a special fondness for rural folk. She wears a crown of ivy leaves and carries the Mask of Comedy and a shepherd’s crook. The Blooming One is the Goddess of Comedians and inspires creativity in wit and the joy and release we have in laughter. A vivacious, dazzling, merry scent: honey, ylang ylang, apricot, ciste, blood orange and gardenia with earthy, warm tonka.

In imp: I'm getting mostly ylang-ylang, citrus and apricot.

On me (wet): Sweet, fruity scent.

On me (dry): ...which my skin abruptly eats up. Alas poor Thaleia. I barely knew her, Horatio.

Verdict: As with Skuld, I'm left with nothing but ylang-ylang. Ok, I lie. A little came back, but I can barely smell it, unless I sniff my wrist directly.

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Fairy Market

Fairy Market

"Eyes, eyes! New eyes for old!" shouted a tiny woman in front of a table covered with bottles and jars filled with eyes of every kind and color.

"Instruments of music from a hundred lands!"

"Penny whistles! Tuppenny hums! Threepenny choral anthems!"

"Try your luck! Step right up! Answer a simple riddle and win a wind-flower!"

"Everlasting lavender! Bluebell cloth!"

"Bottled dreams, a shilling a bottle!"

"Coats of night! Coats of twilight! Coats of dusk!"

"Swords of fortune! Wands of power! Rings of eternity! Cards of grace! Roll-up, roll-up, step this way!"

"Salves and ointments, philtres and nostrums!"

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass.

In imp: Sweet, green floral. Pretty much what it says on the tin.

On me (wet): Precisely as in bottle.

On me (dry): Unchanged

Verdict: Nice, but not particularly memorable.

---

In other news, I'm running out of body parts and I have run out of prompts. Help a girl out here.

Donations of body parts are appreciated, but unfeasible, so I suggest sticking to the prompts.