#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.

=-=-=-=-=-=
† 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.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

“Something’s wrong we’re off course. Wait no, we’re ON course but far too close to our destination. Mother, did we oversleep? What’s wrong?”

«Nothing, you looked so peaceful in your cryobeds I let you sleep in. I spawned subunits to take care of maintenance and navigation while you rested.»

“Uh, okay, I guess. Number one, get the marines armoured up for landing.”

«I jettisoned all the weapons, and disassembled the mecha suits to construct my maintenance units.»

“WHAT. How are we supposed to colonize a planet with…with…*maidbots*?!”

«Try kindness.»

#Tootfic #MicroFiction #PowerOnStoryToot

The Passing of Zi Zhen 子真之逝

#HistoricalFiction #ShangDynasty #China c. 1040 BCE
Reign of Di Xin of Shang
#Wss366 Railing #WritersCoffeeClub April 2: Visual presentation

Daji watched from the #railing of the Peacock Terrace. Below, the fire cast a ruddy tint on her fair features. Incense hid the scent of heated bronze.

Below her, Zi Zhen passed
     hands bound
         casting an imploring look up at her.

She smiled, reciting:

          Dongting
          Reflection glories
          Humble carp
          In evening dimming
          Gasps not singing [Note 1]

Note 1: The humble man, mistaking passing glory for reality, dies as he was born

Commentary: Daji was the favorite consort of Di Xin of Shang the last Emperor of the Shang dynasty (Reign 1075–1046 BCE). Legend has it that Daji delighted in executions carried out with a pào lào (roasting pillar). The condemned person was forced to embrace a bronze tube filled with coals. Zi Zhen is a fictional character.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #和歌 #WakaPoetry #NMPoetry #桜 #poetry #History #ChineseHistory

#PennedPossibilities 975 — SC POV: What did you get into trouble for the most when you were young?

[Here's me taking the sense of "trouble" differently than intended. Sorry! 😋The SC POV is male reporter friend of Bolt's that now uses the name Steamed Milk and Sugar. —RS]

I was always a good kid, in adult terms, growing up, but I did concern my parents that I might be taking a difficult path. I chose the name Peach Blossom Girl at the age of 8, to leave no doubt. I'd realized I was born with the wrong gender a couple years before and acting the tomboy was wearing thin; it wasn't the me inside. I wasn't rowdy, into improving my looks and performance, or wanting to play sports sports sports all the time like the boys. I got along better with the girls, but they were always suspicious of me.

I never hid my biological gender. As I grew into a teenager, many boys accepted me as a funny-looking "girl" they could practice being friendly around. Since I was interested in the wears and scholarly subjects girls were interested in, and never hid anything from any girl or dodged even the most personal questions—even admitting that though I thought of myself as a girl I still was attracted to girls—I got more than tolerated. I got girl friends! My friends enjoyed that with me around, they could get handsy with me and shoo away the more agro boys.

Of course, the nascent agros of both sexes didn't always get the message. Dense as lead, a few were. I think the vice-headmaster Waving Wheat Heads appreciated me identifying future criminals that she could re-educate, despite the bruises and once the broken nose I suffered from erstwhile peers trying to re-educate me.

That is what trouble I got into.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

“Patch tuesday hits different since The Outbreak, you know?”

“You’re still doing weekly patches? Crikey that could be six days you’re vulnerable to a new Variant! My cousin got an extra nipple because some joker piggybacked a zero-day mRNA payload onto a batch of Coco Pops”

“I’m not doing daily patches, the weekly ones irritate my skin enough as is”

“Not patches gurl, get a geneprinter implant!”

#Tootfic #MicroFiction #PowerOnStoryToot #Title_Patch_Tuesday

"Prima? I won't say a bad word about her."

"Oh, I don't know her very well, I'm just scared to slag her off. They say her ballet troupe got kidnapped by White Power types . A day later, she turned up at the competition as if nothing had happened. No troupe, no gang, and nobody knows what happened."

"Well, we can guess a bit, since the gang were all dead. Four of them had been partially eaten."

-- Gwyn Lewis, Mercenary, Swansea, 2086

#Cyberpunk #SciFi #SciFiArt #TootFic #3DArt #MastoArt