forum Word of the Day prompts (Day 55)

Started March 30, 2018 by @AmmyPajammy

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And very nice @Dragoncita! Very expertly done and quite the interesting little snippet. I hope you'll stick around.

Today's Word of the Day is: flummox

Flummox, which is a verb, is defined as "to bewilder; confound; confuse".

Conarith just stared agape at Lyra, completely flummoxed by the scene before her. Her daughter was completely tangled in a mess of yarn and caught in a thicket.

"Ok, ok, mom, I understand this might look a little confusing," said Lyra as she struggled in vain to free herself, "but believe it or not, this is not my fault."

Conarith crossed her arms. "Oh really? I would love to hear this story. Go on, sweetie, spin your mother a line." She smirked. "Or should I say–"

"Mom, if you love me, you won't say it," Lyra interrupted. "I'll admit everything if you just don't complete that sentence."

"Oh? So you admit that this was all your own doing?"

"If it spares me: yes."

"Fine, then. I'm glad that you decided to skip the part where you waste both of our time spinning me a yarn."

"Mom!"

She frowned, flummoxed. "No wait, I can read it now. It says 'Life,' Cody. Who are you trying to fool?"
Cody glanced at the shimmering obsidian blade. "Maybe we're just reading different things,"

Today's Word of the Day is: I'm sick :(

Nah, I'm just kidding. Today's Word of the Day is: censure

Censure, as a noun, is defined as:

• "strong or vehement expression of disapproval"
• "an official reprimand, as by a legislative body of one of its members"

And as a verb:

• "to criticize or reproach in a harsh or vehement manner"

Conarith angrily slammed the paper that she was currently enjoying with her morning tea shut. As much as she loved her local rumor rag, it was not above expressing its ire for her husband.

"Hide nor hair has been seen of the man in nearly six years, and yet they are so quick to give in to baseless rumormongering," Conarith said aloud at the emptiness of her dining room. She reopened the paper to the article in question in disbelief that she read such a thing.

"The nerve!" Conarith exclaimed. "The cheek! The gall! The audacity! Advocating against him for his very real crimes is one thing, but to accuse him of this?" She flicked the paper away in disgust. "I ought to complain!" She stood to her feet. "As a matter of fact, I will complain!"

And with that, Conarith disappeared into her study and sat down to write the most scathing censure she could stand to pen.

She frowned, flummoxed. "No wait, I can read it now. It says 'Life,' Cody. Who are you trying to fool?"
Cody glanced at the shimmering obsidian blade. "Maybe we're just reading different things,"

Hela snorted, her face full of censure. "This sword is useless. Why would it say 'Life' for a demon halfbreed and 'Death' for a knight's son?"

@Demiphoenix1125 I like the fact that you have a continuing narrative with all of your entries! I think that's the best way to get a feel for the words.

On that note, I gotta ask, am I actually exposing you guys to words you've never seen/used conventionally before?

For the last three words I did: no, no, and yes

Today's Word of the Day is: JOOOOOOOOOOOHN CEEEEENNNAAAAAA!!!

Is that meme still relevant? At any rate, that'll be the last time I do this. I apologize for being such a dork.

Today's Word of the Day is: cavalier

Cavalier, which is an adjective (among other things not pertaining to this exercise), is defined as:

• "haughty, disdainful, or supercilious"
• "offhand or unceremonious"

If there was one thing that Conarith both loved and loathed about her husband, it was the cavalier attitude that he took to everything. She loved it when he was that way to those who deserved it: the nobility, the military, and others even more haughty who did not deserve to be. But as a man who used to be a king and a tyrant, Ganon was not just that way to the deserving. He could be downright boarish to anyone whom he deemed unworthy of his courtesy, and that was defined as literally anyone. Sometimes even his own wife.

But it was alright. Conarith knew how to fix her husband, and he was often remorseful enough. As long as he did not take an unwarranted attitude with the children, she allowed the ancient warlord his temperamental vices.

Hela snorted, her face full of censure. "This sword is useless. Why would it say 'Life' for a demon halfbreed and 'Death' for a knight's son?"

"For once, you're probably right," Cody said with a cavalier attitude. "You were just… born to be evil, if you know what I mean. And look at my shining figure!" He posed majestically with the sword. "how can I not be good?"
"Jesus fucking Christ," Hela scoffed, turning around.

Today's Word of the Day is: bewilder

Bewilder, which is a verb, is defined as "to confuse or puzzle completely; perplex".

"How on earth did you get tangled up like this?" Conarith asked as she cut Lyra out of the yarn she was trapped in. "No matter what possible scenario I come up with in my head, all sense continues to elude me."

"I'm sorry," Lyra mumbled.

"Seriously, how did you do?"

"I wanted to measure how far I could shoot, so I tied some yarn to the end of an arrow, and I was gonna measure it."

"And?"

"Long story short, I thought I saw a wasp and I panicked, and now I'm stuck."

"That just makes the whole thing even more bewildering!"

"For once, you're probably right," Cody said with a cavalier attitude. "You were just… born to be evil, if you know what I mean. And look at my shining figure!" He posed majestically with the sword. "how can I not be good?"
"Jesus fucking Christ," Hela scoffed, turning around.

Time skip
"You're late," Archer said coldly, crossing his arms. "Your mission was to kill an inferior, C-Class ghost, and it take you more than a week to do so?"
"You never even told us the mission!" Cody said, bewildered. "And from what we saw, that was no C-Class! You sent us after an A-Class!"

Today's Word of the Day is : finesse

Finesse, as a noun is defined as:

• "extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc."
• "skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management"
• "a trick, artifice, or stratagem"

And as a verb:

• "to bring about by finesse or artifice"
• "to avoid; circumvent"

There was more to being a high-class courtesan than just beauty. According to Chiron, it was mostly finesse, or as she described it: the ability to make a man feel as if there was no one else in the world who could do for him what you could. Not even his own wife.

"If you work here, you must be skilled, fanciful, and most importantly, subtle," she always used to say. "If you come on too strong to the wrong man, you will intimidate him. But if you make yourself seem too demure, he'll walk all over you, which isn't fun for you or him."

And very nice @Dragoncita! Very expertly done and quite the interesting little snippet. I hope you'll stick around.

Thank you ^^
Using the word 'Melodious':

The teal green dragonelle sat on the bank of the stream which ran through her territory. Lady Octavia's yellow eyes were calm, pupils around slits. A breeze blew through, stirring the white mane that ran down her neck. A small smile was on her muzzle, humming softly under her breath. The dragonelle's head started to slowly sway one way, then the other. Her tail was curled around her front paws, the tip twitching now and then.
Her humming grew louder until her muzzle opened. From the open maw, came sweet, melodious notes as she sang her song. Octavia's voice steadily grew louder, the earth around her echoing with her voice. The dragonelle was at peace, but she was unaware of the dark shadow which lurked in the skies above.

Time skip
"You're late," Archer said coldly, crossing his arms. "Your mission was to kill an inferior, C-Class ghost, and it take you more than a week to do so?"
"You never even told us the mission!" Cody said, bewildered. "And from what we saw, that was no C-Class! You sent us after an A-Class!"

Archer continued to polishing his bow, steadfastly ignoring him. "Cody: You lack finesse and grace. You charge into battle with no thought of strategies or subtlety. Hela: You merely defend and part. You do not seize opportunities to strike, instead preferring to let Cody do all of the work. Both of you have disappointed me. However, the Council did not see that they sent you after an A-Class. We will look into this matter,"
Cody huffed in annoyance, leaning on his sword. "Whatever. It's not like Hela does anything anyway,"

Today's Word of the Day is: transpire

Transpire, which is a verb, is defined as:

• "to occur; happen; take place"
• "to emit or give off waste matter, watery vapor, etc., through the surface, as of the body or of leaves"
• "to escape, as moisture or odor, through or as if through pores"
• "to be revealed or become known"

The air was thick with tension as Conarith and the queen shared a moment of silence. Everyone in the room was a bundle of nerves. The guards stood at the ready. They were always prepared for the worst, even if it would ultimately be in vain. Each and every one of them knew what the two women were capable of. If a fight were to transpire between them, there would be little that even the Royal Guard could do to stop them.

Today's Word of the Day is: decimate

Decimate, which is a verb, is defined as:

• "to destroy a great number or proportion of"
• "to select by lot and kill every tenth person of"

At the dinner table, Conarith's husband enjoyed regaling her with tales of his people from ancient times. As much as Conarith loved stories of the past, she wished that her husband would refrain from telling her about his people's intense suffering. The man never shied away from telling her about whole generations decimated by famine, disease, and mass assaults by invading forces. He seemed to take pride in the fact that he came from such suffering, and the thought baffled Conarith to no end. Her people too suffered, but never in her wildest dreams did she think to revel in it.

Archer continued to polishing his bow, steadfastly ignoring him. "Cody: You lack finesse and grace. You charge into battle with no thought of strategies or subtlety. Hela: You merely defend and part. You do not seize opportunities to strike, instead preferring to let Cody do all of the work. Both of you have disappointed me. However, the Council did not see that they sent you after an A-Class. We will look into this matter,"
Cody huffed in annoyance, leaning on his sword. "Whatever. It's not like Hela does anything anyway,"

"Excuse me?!" Hela turned around in anger. "I could have decimated those ghosts in a second if you weren't there! I do all the work, while you literally just finish them off! The killings that transpired were none of yours!"

Today's Word of the Day is: sublime

Sublime, which is an adjective, is defined as:

• "elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc."
• "impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc."
• "supreme or outstanding"
• "complete; absolute; utter"

Zela tasted the cup of tea that was left on her desk that morning. She sighed with a content smile after taking the first sip. As always, it was absolutely sublime with just the right amount of honey that did not overtake the natural sweetness of the tea itself. She often wondered just who exactly was leaving the drink on her desk every morning. After much thought, Zela decided that the only logical explanation was one of the servants. After all, only someone who knew her erratic sleeping schedule would be able to perfectly time giving her a hot cup of tea the moment she woke up, but even that theory had its holes. Who else could it be?

Today's Word of the Day is: remunerate

Remunerate, which is a verb, is defined as "to pay, recompense, or reward for work, trouble, etc".

Sir Aldin's eyes bugged out of her head as she read the compensation portion of her knight's contract.

"As a Royal Knight of the Kingdom, Sir Erin Aldin is to be remunerated at the following rate…"

The newly christened knight had never seen so much money in her life. Did she deserve it? After all, her saving the Princess was purely an accident. And, there was also the matter that she was lying through her teeth about her gender. But when she reread her contract and thought about all the clothes and toys she could buy for her brothers, and how well she could finally feed them, she pushed her guilt to the back of her mind.

Today's Word of the Day is: bastion

Bastion, which is a noun, is defined as:

• "a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work"
• "a fortified place"
• "anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc."

"My home city was considered the bastion of knowledge," said Conarith, "known for producing the world's topmost intellectuals. Leaders were chosen based on their intelligence and willingness to uphold the world's tenant of progress. My father was the smartest man in the world and was chosen for his ability, as well as his strong sense of duty."

"So that makes you some kinda princess, huh?" said Ami. "Did you ever get to queen it up?"

Conarith sighed. "Let's just say that my father's attempt to 'appeal to my people's better nature' failed. I had no interest in scientific endeavors. Technology was a different story, but I did not show enough promise in his eyes."

I stare at the watchtower through the cover of the bushes, awed at the way the town’s inhabitants have set up their defenses. The walls are made of layers upon layers of interlocking rocks, nearly three times as thick as anything I’ve ever seen at home. There are two watchtowers in my field of vision, though I imagine there must be more along the length of the walls. Each is a bastion in its own right – fortified with cannons, warning gongs, and torch holders all along the battlements.
For a brief second, I am so angry I can hardly breathe. This isn’t a dangerous area. The capital is surrounded by smaller villages which bear the brunt of any attacks the kingdom might face. And yet instead of spreading out their resources, they’ve poured them all into protecting this one town. The villages I passed on the way here didn’t even have stones to fortify their walls with; they had to use logs instead – uneven, brittle, flammable.
They don’t stand a chance.

Today's Word of the Day is: anathema

Anathema, which is a noun, is defined as:

• "a person or thing detested or loathed"
• "a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction"
• "a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication"

It was difficult to live a life as the wife of the anathema of the Kingdom, nay, the whole world. Conarith's husband was reviled and feared everywhere he went. He was banned from nearly every other kingdom and country in the land, with orders to kill him on sight if seen. While Conarith and the children were technically free to move about as they pleased, the moment people realized who they were, they were treated with suspicion at best, utter scorn at worst. Fortunately for Conarith, her identity was not immediately apparent. If she kept quiet about it, not many were capable of making the intellectual leap necessary to figure out who she was.

TK flinched, and covered her mouth with both hands, her shoulders automatically hunching and knees drawing up in case Ellie decided to punch her. She’d said the name.
But apparently her best friend was in an uncommonly good mood today. Ellie just rolled her eyes and scoffed. “That person is anathema to me, remember?”
The “why” hung unspoken in the air, a question TK had considered asking many times but never had the courage to do. If Ellie was in a good mood, then… no, best not to push it. She’d already been lucky once today, and it was never advisable to depend on Ellie’s goodwill. The girl could have been the sole supplier of playgrounds all over the world with her mood swings.

Cold red eyes glared from the darkness. Thin slits pupils could barely be seen from the bright red glow. Lips curled back to show glinting, serrated fangs. A low hiss seemingly sounded from whatever lurked in the darkness.
A cold, cruel voice spoke from the black shadows, "And what will you do puny human? I have decimated entire villages, hell, even the greatest of kingdoms have fallen before me. Those were many, and you are but one, simple, weak fool."