Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2016-12-31 09:09 pm
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2016-12-31 09:09 pm
Entry tags:
get your words out } { 2017 challenge tracking
Directory:
PERSONAL GOALS:Complete Outstanding Requests
OFFICIAL CHALLENGES:January 2017: Genre Challenge: Regional Gothic COMPLETE 1/24/17: Alphabet Challenge: P COMPLETE February 2017: Roll the Dice Challenge COMPLETE February 2017: Genre Challenge: Parallel Fiction COMPLETE 4/4/17: Snapshot Challenge COMPLETE 5/1/17: Stop, Drop and Write Challenge COMPLETE
2017 | personal goal: complete all requests
january 2017 | genre challenge: regional gothic | 599 words
1/24/17 | alphabet challenge: p | 433 words
Quentin’s face as he and Ophelia continue to stride towards the meeting room indicates that no, he has not managed to do that. Rolling her eyes, she stops as her assistant reaches forward to open the door for her, and sighs. “Someday, you will do something that will remind me why I hired you.”
Today is clearly not that day, but that isn’t the point – at least, not in the current moment.
“Understandably, you know why I wasn’t going to allow myself to be talked down by an overworked assistant, Ophelia,” the tall man waiting for her replied, sliding his hands in his pockets as he turned to face her. Vernon Xavier was a titan in stature just as much as he was a titan of his industry, and he towers over Ophelia’s shorter, stockier frame, but she doesn’t allow him to use that against her. “Would you?”
“Xavier, you know I wouldn’t,” she teases as she makes her way in and indicates that he should take a seat. “You, however, could probably live without terrorizing the same overworked assistant, couldn’t you?”
“Zealotry has always been part of my personality,” he grins, doing as requested. “Almost everyone usually loves that about me.”
“But the keyword in that statement is ‘almost.’” Clearly, she is not one of them. Descending into her own seat, she folds her fingers in front of her and proceeds to stare him down. “Eagerness, however, is something I would have settled for.”
“Fine,” he shakes his head. “Giving you that, but the least you could do is agree that this is unacceptable on any scale.”
“Henrick in the German office … ”
“I will walk right out of this room and take my business with me if you are planning on passing this off on the German office.” Jamming his finger into the table, he leans forward to meet her gaze. “Killing that deal is a big mistake, and I don’t think I need to spell out why.”
“Look, I get it.” Meeting him in the middle seems to be the only way this is going to be solved, so she does her best to try and frame it that way. “No one likes to lose, least of all me. Only way we’re going to make it out of this is if we negotiate and work together.”
“Ophelia, if you can find a way to negotiate us out of this loss, I will name my first born after you.”
“Perfect,” Ophelia grins, knowing she has him right where she wants him.
february 2017 | roll the dice challenge | goal: 3,608 | COMPLETE
TOTAL WC: 3,731
2017 | personal goal: complete all belts for GYWO bingo
february 2017 | genre challenge: parallel fiction | 1,551 words | COMPLETE
Charming turns reluctantly from his position at the window, staring down as he watches Sir Luke spar with the new knights. There’s always been something pleasantly intriguing about his form, and while he is not a particularly violent man, there’s always been something about the primal energy surrounding it. Still, his eyes wander to the woman with dark hair and a slim fit gown standing next to his mother.
“Andrea?” He looks her over before glancing back to Queen Landermiere. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“She’s your new publicist.”
“My publicist?” He raises his eyebrows at his mother as he turns to study the woman more carefully. “Whatever do I need a publicist for?”
“To help improve your image, which you must admit has been suffering as of late.”
“Suffering?” Charming tips his head to the side, eyes narrowing in response. “I’m still quite popular with the people.”
“Are you?” His mother narrows her eyes at him in return, before taking her son’s arm and taking a step forward. “You still haven’t chosen a bride, you’re coming up on your twenty-fifth birthday, and we need to know that our family line will continue. Now, we’ve tried to let you find your own way, but now there are all these rumors…”
“For the eleventh time, Mother, even if those rumors were true, there’s certainly nothing wrong with it …”
“There is if you’re a prince and are required to produce an heir.” The Queen holds up her hands to silence him before he can interrupt her. “Speak with Andrea. Come up with a plan at the very least.”
With that, she turns to leave them in the silence of the hallway, and Charming eyes Andrea again, before taking a deep breath. “So. You are the woman with the plan, as it were.”
“I have … ideas for plans,” She tips her head to the side studying him for a moment. I do have a few questions, though.”
The prince glances around the hallway to see who’s coming, before looking back out the window again and seeing that the sparring practice is disbanded. He takes a deep breath, before turning and offering her his arm. “Then let’s do this elsewhere, shall we?”
She hesitates only for a moment, before taking his arm and following his lead. It doesn’t take them long to reach the barn where Luke is cooling off after his sparring practice. When the tall, broad-shouldered knight turns to see the prince, the smile he gives him in return tells far more, especially with the immediately sobered response when he realizes that the prince is not alone.
“My lady.”
Andrea glances for a moment between them, before looking over to Charming. “So the rumors are true, then.”
Charming shakes his head, before going to stand next to his knight. “They’re not … entirely inaccurate. I enjoy the company of women, truly, I just … also happen to enjoy the company of men.”
“Fair enough,” Andrea adopts a thinking pose as she tips her head to the side. “So why not just pick a wife? Settle things once and for all.”
“Because it’s not what I want.” He gives a small sigh of frustration. “What I want is …”
“Him,” Andrea can fill in the blanks, nodding towards Luke in the process. “I get the picture.”
“So. What would you recommend?”
“Well, your mother is right. You do need an heir. But there may be a … creative way around this.”
Charming looks skeptical, studying her carefully. “How creative?”
Andrea simply smiles. Charming hates this already.
“Let’s have a ball.”
The ball itself is as extravagant as expected, and Andrea pulls out all the stops. Charming still isn’t convinced that this is going to be the solution to his problem, no matter how neat and tidy it may be. Luke sighs, before leaning casually against the wall next to him in a way that made Charming just want to watch him, but he doesn’t.
He needs to look as though he’s got his eye on the prize, at least for his mother’s sake.
“It’s not that big a deal, Charming,” Luke points out. “So you have a wife. Lots of men do.”
Charming gives him a look at that, before crossing his arms in front of his chest. “That shouldn’t matter. I’m the prince. I should be able to set the norms, not be expected to follow them.”
“I think you’re confusing ‘prince’ with ‘king,’” Luke sighs. “Look, having a queen on our side wouldn’t be such a bad thing. We just have to make sure we choose the right one.”
Charming grumbles slightly in response, eyes wandering over the faces of each of the women, all of them swimming together in a sea of mediocrity. He’s about to give up on the whole venture entirely when there’s the sound of heels on the marble staircase and both men look up to acknowledge the late arrival. Standing there in a silvery gown is the most beautiful girl either of them had ever seen. They barely even look at her as they both exclaim at the same time:
“That one.”
Luke waits for a moment, and when he sees that Charming isn’t moving he shoves him forward, towards her. “Go. Ask her to dance.”
Charming looks back at him, confused for a moment, before nodding in agreement making his way towards this beautiful girl and holding out his hand to her as she finishes descending the staircase. “May I have this dance?”
She looks surprised, flustered even. As she holds out her hand to take his and nods, a small smile crosses her face. “Of course, Your Highness.”
Charming sweeps her into his arms easily, guiding her towards the dance floor with a flourish. Song after song passes and Charming almost doesn’t notice the way time passes, and he knows that this might be the chance he has to please his mother and have what he wants. A few hours later, when they’re in a fairly isolated end of the room, he smiles softly. “Please, call me Charming.”
“Charming,” she nods once. “My name is Ella.”
“It is a pleasure to be dancing with you this evening, Ella. Unfortunately, were we to continue, I’m afraid I have a small question for you.”
“What is that?”
The clock strikes midnight with a loud bong! just as he asks. “How do you feel about threesomes?”
He’s not sure if it’s the bluntness of the question, the clanging of the toll of midnight or some other odd combination of events, but before he can even take the opportunity to explain, she breaks away from him with wide eyes.
“I have to go.”
And with that, she disappears into the night, leaving nothing but her glass slipper behind.
It takes them nearly a week to find her, thwarted by a number of different factors, but when they finally track her down, shielded behind her stepmother and sisters, Charming attempts to plead with her in the only way he knows how.
“Can we speak in private? Please? I can explain.”
Ella looks less than pleased by the scenario but she concedes. And once they are behind closed doors, she begins to raise a hand. “Your Highness…”
“Charming.”
“Your Highness,” she takes a deep breath, placing the emphasis where she needs it. “I’m sorry that I handled things the way I did, but when you said …”
“This is what I wanted to explain,” Charming replies softly, before stepping to the side to rest a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “This is Sir Luke. My captain of the guard.”
“Yes?” Ella frowns. “I’m aware of who he is.”
“He also happens to be the captain of my heart.” It’s an incredibly cheesy line, but it’s said with such earnestness that Ella’s face softens, rather than rolling her eyes, small bits of understanding creeping in under the surface. “But my mother requires me to have an heir in order to become king, and while I would happily forgo the crown, I also recognize my responsibility to the people as the current heir. So you see my dilemma, in following my heart versus following the law?”
“I do,” Ella frowns. “But what is it your require of me?”
“I would like to ask you to be my wife, and all that that entails. But I do not feel it is fair to you to ask you into that relationship, knowing my heart already partially belongs to another. And if you are amendable – ” He reaches for her hand, and then takes Luke’s with the other. “ – Perhaps we can make this arrangement work for all three of us.”
Ella studies him for a moment, before glancing over to Luke. “Are you amendable to this?”
Luke smiles softly, before nodding in agreement. “Milady, it was my idea. He was the one I had to talk into it.”
Ella laughs, before giving Charming’s hand a small squeeze. “So long as we’re all agreed. But there would be rules we will have to agree upon, yes?”
“Yes.” Charming’s smile brightens as he pulls them both closer. “But I believe this will be quite the happily ever after indeed.”
4/4/17 | snapshot challenge | 1,013 words
The sand whips along with the wind as the entire caravan moves against the grain, using their veils and scarves as best they can to protect their faces. Nazreen keeps her son clutched tight to her chest in response, tucking him safely under the sheer veils that are just fine enough not to let the sand grains through, and will still keep him cool from the heat of the desert. They had been traveling for days, trying to get to the safety of the Oasis on the other side of the Milaben Desert, and they couldn’t seem to get anywhere in the process.
“We should stop!” She finally shouts after her husband, Malik, and he turns to face her with a glare.
“We can stop when there is water to drink and food to eat.”
While they have plenty of both in their supplies, saving their rations for the oasis so they can stay as long as possible is the wiser choice and she knows it. But as she starts to give the consideration some measure of thought, the wind whips up again, showering her with sand and she can’t help but quickly bring her arm up to shield her eyes.
“If we keep going in this storm, we will be blinded and you know it.” Her arm comes down as she fixes him with a glare. “Then what good would we be in finding an oasis then? What good would we be for your son?”
That comment seems to force him to relent, his eyes falling to the bulge of scarves under her dress, and he nods. Even if he believes he would be able to power through, he does not want to risk the harm to his son if he can help it. With a deep breath, he looks up at her again and nods. “I will begin to prep the tent. Hopefully the storm will calm before nightfall.”
“I will keep watch,” she says with a nod of agreement. There are many horrors in the desert, both obvious and not at the same time, and whether it’s the sharp claws of a beast or the silver tongue of a man, she refuses to cower in response to any threat.
At first, there’s nothing but the whipping of the wind and the sound of her husband working behind her. Then, through the billows of sand she begins to make out the shape of something moving in the distance, two black shadows coming closer and closer to her. When they’re a few feet from her, she can make out more of the details – one tall man, built like a mountain with skin like obsidian, while the other is a smaller more serpentine shape to him, leading the mountain behind him with a thin piece of rope that almost seems like it shouldn’t be able to restrain him, and yet it does all the same. When he’s close enough to meet Nazreen’s gaze, he reveals eyes like snake’s, his head darting and weaving as he looks her over.
“Excuse me, my lady, but is your husband available? We would like to seek sanctuary for myself and my prisoner in your tent to wait out the storm. We will be gone before morning, we promise.”
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t room enough for five.” The denial is all too easy, built out of a need to protect her family more than anything else. You never knew who you could trust in the desert. “You will need to find some other way.”
The man’s eyes narrow, taking on a more dangerous look than he had a moment before. “I believe that is a decision for your husband to decide.” He does his best to maintain eye contact with her, almost as though he was trying to impose his will upon her. “You should honor his authority and fetch him.”
“Unlike you,” she says softly, bringing up the blade to rest against his chest. “My husband respects my authority to make decisions for my family. The answer is still no.”
His gaze focuses intently on hers for a moment, frustrated when whatever spell he attempted to cast on her does not work, he starts to reach into his robes. “Then if you will not share, I will simply have to take!”
His arm comes up, bearing a dagger he is prepared to bring down on her, but before he can try, large onyx hands reach out to close around the smaller man’s throat and face. He pauses, then twists, and there’s a sickening snap! as the man’s neck breaks under the force. Nazreen’s eyes widen as she stumbles a step back, assessing the large man as though she were seeing him for the first time. He does not advance on her, however, simply holding up his hands as he attempts to make peace.
“Do not be afraid.” His voice is deep and dark, and he speaks slowly, almost as though it takes some time for his tongue to get around the words. “I will not harm you – I simply did not wish to see you harmed by his hand either.”
Her eyes dropped to the body, now slowly being buried in the sand that’s carried on the wind, and she looks up at him with a small smile. “Thank you.” He nods, before lifting his hands, then pulling his wrists apart, snapping the ropes easily. She watches him curiously for a moment, before taking a tentative step closer. “If the ropes could not hold you, whey were you allowing him to take you?”
“Because I have committed crimes, and I intend to pay for them.”
She nods once more, before tipping her head to the side. “We have some extra food, if you would like to join us?”
He frowns, confused. “I thought you said you didn’t have the room.”
She smiles briefly in return, before stepping back to hold up the tent flap. “I said I didn’t have room for five.” She then gestures for him to move inside. “There’s plenty of room for four.”
4/3-9/17 | catch up challenge | goal: 5,600 | COMPLETE
TOTAL: 5,837
5/1/17 | stop drop and write challenge | 487 words
In the end, he doesn't see much of the field, but he and Winn (who, according to Barry, is Kara's Cisco) are working tech support, but that doesn't mean Cisco can't multitask to learn more about the world he's working to save.
"I am going to list a series of phrases," he begins, his fingers still flying across the keyboards as they try to hack their way through the alien ship's firewalls. "You tell me whether or not they are a thing in your universe."
"Is this really the time?" J'onn looks at them over the tops of the computers and Winn waves a hand.
"Don't worry, J'onn. We've totally got this multitasking thing down pat." He glances away briefly to Cisco and nods that he's ready. "Hit me."
"Star Wars."
"Is there are universe where Star Wars doesn't exist? Because if there is, I do not want to go there."
"Apparently, only A New Hope was made on Earth-2 and it bombed. Also, Ray tells me that there's an alternate timeline of Earth-1 where George Lucas decided to quit the movie business and never actually made them, but I've decided not to dwell too much on the darkest timeline. Star Trek."
"I am and forever shall be your friend."
"Excellent. Harry Potter."
"Also something no world should be without. Please tell me that wasn't something missing from Earth-2 as well."
"Nope, they have Harry Potter, but one day I will run across a sad, sad world who has never been introduce to the Boy Who Lived. Beyoncé - megastar music sensation or tough as balls Texas senator?"
"The former. But I'm not sure if Beyoncé being our actual queen would be terrifying or beautiful."
"I'm pretty sure the world as we know it would just willing accept our fierce new overlord with loving and open arms."
"Fair point - "
"Uh, guys?" Barry's voice crackles over the comms. "Not that I'm not pleased that you guys are bonding, but we need a little help down here. Particularly of the Vibe variety?"
"On it, Barry." Cisco pushes up from his desk as looks over at Winn. "You got this?"
"I'm good. Go help them."
"We're finishing this later." And with that, he opens a breech behind him and immediately transports himself down to the battle ground, getting ready to help his friends. Winn watches as he appears on screen and gets to work, and he can't help but grin.
"That guy is so my new best friend."
6/11-17/17 | 7 days, 7 stories
WORD COUNT: 795