October Prompt Request

The Prompt Request is open from now (Monday, 1 October, my time) until sometime Saturday, 13 October, my time.  now closed.  Thank you everyone who prompted and signal boosted.

If you give me more than one prompt you need to know that I will work through the list in order starting at the top.

The rules and parameters:

1.      Each prompt will be:

a.       a short sentence or phrase;

b.      a story of mine posted to LJ you want to see more of – it does not need to come from a Prompt Request; or

c.       characters of mine from stories posted on LJ – they do not need to come from a Prompt Request.

2.      For each prompt I write to I will write 300±50 words.  If you want to see something I’ve done along these lines before, please see the results of my July and September Prompt Requests.  I have found that stories sometimes carry me away and you may get more than 350 words due to no fault of yours.

3.      I will write one prompt per person, unless you signal boost this Prompt Request or a story from it , in which case I will write an additional prompt per site/platform you boost on i.e. one prompt each on LJ, Twitter, Dreamwidth, etc, for each day of the prompt request you signal boost.  I am setting an arbitrary limit of 14 extra prompts per prompter from boosting.  You will need to tell me about your boosts because I am not across every site and platform.

4.      For each prompter I get, I will write 50 words in a prompting reward serial story;

5.      No fanfic, I just don’t know enough about enough current series and settings to do your favourites justice – give me a name or names and I promise what you get will not be the people you know and love; and

6.      Please, nothing that has to be porn – I have to be in the mood to write that sort of thing and I would like to be able to post these stories without warnings.  (Yes, I know, 1b & 1c could produce prompts that are almost like that.)

7.      For every ten prompt-based pieces I write I will I write a background piece on a world or character, subject to be chosen by audience poll.

Why am I doing this?  Practice!  Plus I’ve found that I enjoy the interaction with all of you.

And yes, there is a tip jar.  This is for extensions.  I will write extensions at 500 words per $5.00.

1.      If I receive any money for extensions I can no longer be flabbergasted because that’s already happened but I will be very surprised. J

2.      For every $15 I receive for paid extensions I will write to one more prompt, chosen by those who have paid for extensions, from any ‘unsupported’ prompts received in the Prompt Request.  This will occur after I have written the paid extensions.  An ‘unsupported’ prompt is one which does not have a signal boost to support it.

If you are kind enough to give me more signal boosts than you want to prompt, I will use each of your ‘left over’ signal boosts to power another 50 words in the prompt reward story.

Please tell me where you’ve signal boosted as a reply to your comment giving me prompts.

Thank you for participating.

Prompt Extensions

100 words $1.00 AUD200 words $2.00 AUD300 words $3.00 AUD400 words $4.00 AUD500 words $5.00 AUD600 words $6.00 AUD700 words $7.00 AUD800 words $8.00 AUD900 words $9.00 AUD1000 words $10.00 AUD

The Palace Will Shortly Be Making An Announcement

I wrote this to aldersprig's first prompt.

Along with a short list of don’ts pregnant ladies, Rensa discovered, were encouraged to both exercise in moderation and nap.  Her weight was still less than her doctor thought it should be and the first sign of her pregnancy had been a small dip in that weight.  As a result she was now on a ‘sustaining’ diet backed by a vitamin supplement.  Mirren, a month more pregnant than Rensa, was still the chief aider-and-abettor of the campaign to raise Rensa’s weight and she made sure small, regular, healthy snacking opportunities were being presented to both of them on a regular basis.

One more month, then they’d be through the first trimester and there could be a public announcement.  That might stop some of the letters.

People wrote to the Empress.  Rensa wasn’t quite sure why, but they did.  They’d had to give her a pool of secretarial staff just to open and deal with the mail.  Only a few of the opened letters came to Rensa herself.

A fair number were asking her to attend functions or support causes.  Those went to the people who organised the Imperial couple’s diary.

Another substantial subset was from school children who were writing to the palace as part of some set project.  There was a fairly standard reply for those with space for appropriate tailoring and Rensa signed those responses herself.

Most of the rest were begging letters.  Most of those got a politely worded redirection of their request for help, with copies of the applicable forms if necessary.  Others were handed straight to the criminal investigation liaison who now occupied a desk in the secretariat room, some for fraud investigation but others because what they revealed was some form of illegal coercion on the writer.

The threats, and there were some, also went to the criminal investigation liaison.  Some people just didn’t understand that it was illegal to threaten anyone through the mail.

A few correspondents’ letters got sent through to Rensa.  Mail from Yannic’s family that had gone to the public address and not the private one or letters from the woman who’d discovered a sketchbook and pencils hidden down the back of a dresser that she’d acquired which had come from one of the palace’s private apartments.  She’d returned the sketchbook with a note remarking that she was sure the Empress would want the pictures of her family back and Rensa’s return note of heartfelt thanks had led to a mail friendship.  The sketches themselves, beautifully done, weren’t of Rensa’s immediate family but they were of people she knew and were the only thing she could point to and show others what her world had been like…before.

The letters she hoped the announcement of her pregnancy would stop were the advice ones.  The embarrassingly detailed ones on how to get pregnant.

Of course, they were probably going to be replaced by equally detailed letters on what she should do in pregnancy and childbirth…

Artifice

I wrote this to aldersprig's second prompt.

“There have to be flowers,” the mother of the bride insisted.  “Lots of flowers.  When Raam’s sister got married the church was dripping in flowers.  If we don’t have as many flowers as they did, she,” implying the groom’s mother, “is going to tell everyone your father and I are either cheap or poor.”

“And Raam and his father had to leave halfway through the ceremony because of their allergies,” rejoined Valeda, the bride.  “I want Raam to be able to stay to the end of our wedding.  If his mother makes snippy remarks, tell her that you care more about people’s health than the look of things.”

“Then she’ll have hysterics and accuse me of attacking her, you know what she’s like.  I hate to say this of anyone but I understand why Raam’s father divorced her.”  The older woman sighed.  “You still need to decorate the church and the reception, and what are you going to do about the bouquet?”

“Well the table centrepieces don’t have to be flowers.  In fact,” Valeda pointed out practically, “avoiding any liquid in the centre pieces might be a Good Plan.”

“Great Uncle Cato at your cousin Farica’s wedding,” agreed her mother.  “Are you thinking candy gift boxes or something like that?”

“I thought so,” Valeda nodded.  She picked up a craft book from the collected reference materials on the table and began leafing through it.  “There’s a rather nifty design in here if I remember.  Hang on, what about this?”  She turned the book around to show her mother.

“Yes,” the older woman agreed after some consideration, “that has definite potential.”

The weather for the wedding was perfect; sunny, not too warm, not windy and dry under foot.  The groom’s mother complained that there was no awning to keep the sun off the path from the car park to the church.

Once inside the church she pooh-poohed the decorations, arrangements of wooden and paper flowers, some of them works of art in origami.  “Cheap and tacky,” was the pronouncement that set the bride’s mother’s blood boiling but it was the groom’s sister who put a stop to it.

“At least Dad and Raam will be able to stay at this wedding,” she hissed loudly at her mother.

“Pandering to weakness, that’s what it is,” her mother snapped back.

“At least it’s a physical problem, unlike your self-serving, narcissistic whining,” her daughter came back.  “Now for heaven’s sake, shut up.  Today is not and was never going to be about you!”  The mother of the groom sulked for the rest of the ceremony.

When the bride came down the aisle, there were murmurs of appreciation.  The glorious bouquet was a mass of ribbon flowers, cascading down the front of her dress.

The groom didn’t sneeze even once.