#PennedPossibilities 976 — What aspect of your SC’s personality are they most insecure about?
Blue recently became a praetorian guard†, something that in his society is rather rare because he is male. Best (or worse, because of his insecurities), his boss†† has decided he merits training for a leadership role, which is doubly special. The problem is, he never planned to find a dream job. The MC Bolt had been training him athletically for her own reasons (okay, sex), and he was approached by a recruiter in the gym. Bolt pushed him to try out, then trained him hard when he aced the initial interview. Of all the men in the story, Blue is the most invested in his gender role. Like most men he is strong and dependable, but atypically, at least in the eyes of what's typical to many women in his society, he's both a people person and intelligent. Perfect for his new job.
But, in their society, men raise their sister's children (which requires a big explanation, so just go with it). He knew this growing up, planned for it—really wants to raise any nieces or nephews his younger sister might have. He would never have thought of refusing…
But now. A praetorian? A rare job? Prestigious? And he loves it?
Frankly, his responsibilities to his family, the contradiction of his gender role, and his loyalty to a liege he would never have met personally††† are messing with his brain.
Yes, this is a turn about story plot roughly equivalent to a woman with a demanding CEO job faced with a pregnancy, and really wanting to raise that child. He is taking the situation absolutely as seriously.
RS writes gender fiction, naturally.
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† Substituting that Blue is working for the absolute ruler of the world, Director Rainy Days, here's a definition, cribbed from Wikipedia:
[A] Praetorian Guard (Latin: cohortes praetoriae) was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and gathering military intelligence.
†† Director Rainy Days.
††† Director Rainy Days likes men. She made sure she met him. Personally. A male praetorian guard can serve additional purposes.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
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