K.C. O'Brien

Author's Note: I was really attempting to keep to the word count for the meme. I really really was. Was not aiming for the second longest piece I'd written since coming over to DreamWidth. :-D

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"It's going down." Water poured off the shoulders of Malcolm's rain slicker as the little cabin they kept us in was shaken by another clap of thunder. He made an imposing figure, standing there with a lantern in one hand and a massive key ring in the other. "It's now or never. Are you all with me or not?"

Jazzy was the first to speak up. "Of course we're with you," she blurted out, quickly looking to the rest of us who shared the chain that bound us to the wall.

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Welcome to the Second Semester of "30 Days of Fic." Today's prompt was to write a story that starts with the words "It's going down."

For a full rundown on my Second Semester of 30 Days of Fic, please click here for future prompts and to find all the stories I've created.

Hey all!

I have finally completed the initial 30 Days of Fiction meme from ravenswept. Not everything is perfect, but if it was, what fun would that be? Below are links to all the different stories written as a part of this challenge with both DreamWidth and LiveJournal links for everything. Thank you for reading and for all your support through all this.

A little bit on dreaded numbers, because I think it's interesting to look at. The 30 Entries (stripped of titling and everything extraneous) total out to 15,871 words. To a large extent, I failed at the challenge as it was SUPPOSED to be within 50 words of 250 (Which I was only able to do 10% of the time). Using my math skills, I averaged just more than 529 words per story, though the three longest stories account for 4021 words, just over a quarter of the lot. Without those words, the rest average out to about 439 words.

The shortest entry is #3, but the shortest story is one of my favorites (dead heat between how fun it was to write and how extreme the reactions were to it) #8 "Gone" clocking in at 251 words (also one of only two stories where I stuck the dismount on the length).

The longest entry is the last, #30 "Regrets" which came in at a whopping 1761 words.

Over the course of the meme, I created three distinct universe to play in.

1. Kingdom's Fall - A contemporary Faerie setting (Stories 1, 7, 11 and 15 as well as another non 30 days story)
2. An as yet unnamed low/medieval fantasy setting (Stories 4 and 6)
3. Century City - Cyberpunk Noir stories told from the perspective of Covert Information Acquisition Specialist Jackson Altair (Stories 25, 27 and 28)

I've also had the pleasure of playing in a few of Lyn Thorne-Alder's (aldersprig ) worlds.

1. Tir Na Cali - As part of a five part series between both of us for this meme (Stories 18, 19 and 20 for me, 18 and 19 for her, to be read in numerical order, starting with mine)
2. Addergoole - Story number 22 is an off-screen scene linked to some role playing being done in that world that includes my character getting the shit kicked out of him.

And now the warning; as part of this task, some of the stories written are not necessarily appropriate for a younger audience or for the workplace. They may include some triggery elements including extreme physical abuse, human trafficking/slavery, nudity and mind control. They primarily include stories 13, 19, 20 and 22. In addition, stories 1 and 18 have very minor elements of the same.

Finally, thank you for reading, and for those of you who are interested, stay tuned to this space, as Lynnie and I are putting together thirty more prompts because clearly we are not sane.

Thanks again, and enjoy!!!

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Essie ran like she'd never run before.

Outside the cabin where the terrible men had kept her in bondage since stealing her out of her own home, the rain was starting to come down in sheets. It took her a moment to register the cold and the wet, or even to realize that it was nighttime. The horror of her experience and fear of ever going back there pushed her on and on. An unkempt backyard gave way to woodland and woodland to dense forest.

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Today's 30 Days of Fic task was to write a scene scene about a [person] and their [animal]

Click Here for a rundown of the tasks that are a part of the '30 Days of Fic' challenge and links to all the works I've created for it.

There was a piercing pain in my right side and then the water was rushing up to meet my body. It was cold, terribly, achingly cold and took the wind from me. The black depths surrounded me and then all was black. I took small solace in how quickly unconsciousness was coming for me; I'd always assumed that if I were to die, no matter how soon it took me, the seconds would feel like forever.

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Today's 30 Days of Fic task was to write a scene using the prompt: 'Trapped'

Click Here for a rundown of the tasks that are a part of the '30 Days of Fic' challenge and links to all the works I've created for it.

Growing up in the farmlands south of what was still called the Armistice Line, in a land that hadn't seen war in seven generations, we all dreamed of Century City. Born of the same war that gave us the A.L., Century City was founded one-hundred years to the day that the Armistice brought it all to an end. An independent city that was neither East nor West, belonging to both nations and to neither. A sparkling metropolis that would proclaim, for all time, not just peace but the unity of a world sick of such conflicts.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a story using the prompt: Noir.

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!

Author's Notes: Trying something completely different here, sort of using the prompt as a free-writing exercise and seeing where the stream of consciousness goes. Hope I'm not wasting everyone's time, and if I did, hey, at least it's short. ;D

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Flash.

I'm falling. I'm falling and I can't stop it. My balance is skewed and the ground is gone, but rushing at me at the same time.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a scene using the prompt: Falling.

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!

"Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

"You'll buy me a drink?" Sam giggled as she wrapped her arms around the one Max had offered, "It's an open bar."

"Even better, I can get you liquored up and not spend a dime." His laugh was soft, infectious and innocently flirtatious.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a scene with a drink(ing) of some sort

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!

Author's Note: Story contains elements of human trafficking. Reader discretion is advised.

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The first thing Tom noticed when he woke up was the pinch he felt between his shoulders, followed quickly by the raw ache of his wrists. He opened his eyes and found only darkness. "What the fuck!"

"Looks like the boy is finally awake." An unfamiliar voice replied from somewhere across the room. A hand went into his hair and untied the blindfold, and he realized that after the darkness, the bright wasn't much better.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a scene using the prompt: "in the marketplace."

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!

It is also the second of a three part story set in Tir na Cali, a fantastic setting that has been borrowed lovingly (and with permission) from aldersprig  (whose work you should REALLY be reading).

"God damnit," Kyle grunted as he sent the English-to-French dictionary skittering across the cobblestones that lined the square, collapsing exasperated into a wrought iron bench, ignoring the little plate that proclaimed something in French.

"You are American?" A thickly accented voice called from behind him, interrupting what was already promising to be an impressive sulk.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a scene with a character in a foreign land, unable to speak the local language

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!

"This can only end in blood!"

The assembly broke into a murmur of discussion. Lord Tybalt's words were not out of bounds; it was clear that if the worst fears of his daughter's disappearance were true that the uneasy tension between the courts may soon come to war. It was another thing all together to have one of the most powerful of the Dawning Court bring it up in assembly.

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Today's '30 Days of Fic' task was to write a scene using the prompt "shots fired."

Click Here for rundown of tasks that are part of the "30 Days of Fic" challenge, including a link to all completed works!