#boostingissharing — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #boostingissharing, aggregated by home.social.
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#PennedPossibilities 1121: What would your MC say their personal strengths are? Would other characters agree?
She'd say none. Were you to pry it out of Bolt, she'd tell you that she's deceitful, sneaky, cowardly, and twelve flavors of stupid.
Most of the other characters would disagree. They would say she's incredibly earnest, honest to a fault (despite working for the mob), and always speaks her mind. Moreover, she's dependable.
It's the qualities that have made Boss Mead and the mob lieutenants keep her around. She's very good at her job as a courier without ever sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Rain Days, the Director of Home, was so impressed by her encounter with her, how she taught and then protected her praetorian friend Blue against her, that Rainy Days has her eye on Bolt as a possible student†. BTW, those last two are her big antagonists…
She's human, though. The truth is somewhere in between.
=~=~=~=~=
† It's an honor, but she breaks far more personal students than she graduates, and it's traveling through hell either way.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1121: What would your MC say their personal strengths are? Would other characters agree?
She'd say none. Were you to pry it out of Bolt, she'd tell you that she's deceitful, sneaky, cowardly, and twelve flavors of stupid.
Most of the other characters would disagree. They would say she's incredibly earnest, honest to a fault (despite working for the mob), and always speaks her mind. Moreover, she's dependable.
It's the qualities that have made Boss Mead and the mob lieutenants keep her around. She's very good at her job as a courier without ever sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Rain Days, the Director of Home, was so impressed by her encounter with her, how she taught and then protected her praetorian friend Blue against her, that Rainy Days has her eye on Bolt as a possible student†. BTW, those last two are her big antagonists…
She's human, though. The truth is somewhere in between.
=~=~=~=~=
† It's an honor, but she breaks far more personal students than she graduates, and it's traveling through hell either way.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1121: What would your MC say their personal strengths are? Would other characters agree?
She'd say none. Were you to pry it out of Bolt, she'd tell you that she's deceitful, sneaky, cowardly, and twelve flavors of stupid.
Most of the other characters would disagree. They would say she's incredibly earnest, honest to a fault (despite working for the mob), and always speaks her mind. Moreover, she's dependable.
It's the qualities that have made Boss Mead and the mob lieutenants keep her around. She's very good at her job as a courier without ever sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Rain Days, the Director of Home, was so impressed by her encounter with her, how she taught and then protected her praetorian friend Blue against her, that Rainy Days has her eye on Bolt as a possible student†. BTW, those last two are her big antagonists…
She's human, though. The truth is somewhere in between.
=~=~=~=~=
† It's an honor, but she breaks far more personal students than she graduates, and it's traveling through hell either way.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1121: What would your MC say their personal strengths are? Would other characters agree?
She'd say none. Were you to pry it out of Bolt, she'd tell you that she's deceitful, sneaky, cowardly, and twelve flavors of stupid.
Most of the other characters would disagree. They would say she's incredibly earnest, honest to a fault (despite working for the mob), and always speaks her mind. Moreover, she's dependable.
It's the qualities that have made Boss Mead and the mob lieutenants keep her around. She's very good at her job as a courier without ever sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Rain Days, the Director of Home, was so impressed by her encounter with her, how she taught and then protected her praetorian friend Blue against her, that Rainy Days has her eye on Bolt as a possible student†. BTW, those last two are her big antagonists…
She's human, though. The truth is somewhere in between.
=~=~=~=~=
† It's an honor, but she breaks far more personal students than she graduates, and it's traveling through hell either way.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1121: What would your MC say their personal strengths are? Would other characters agree?
She'd say none. Were you to pry it out of Bolt, she'd tell you that she's deceitful, sneaky, cowardly, and twelve flavors of stupid.
Most of the other characters would disagree. They would say she's incredibly earnest, honest to a fault (despite working for the mob), and always speaks her mind. Moreover, she's dependable.
It's the qualities that have made Boss Mead and the mob lieutenants keep her around. She's very good at her job as a courier without ever sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Rain Days, the Director of Home, was so impressed by her encounter with her, how she taught and then protected her praetorian friend Blue against her, that Rainy Days has her eye on Bolt as a possible student†. BTW, those last two are her big antagonists…
She's human, though. The truth is somewhere in between.
=~=~=~=~=
† It's an honor, but she breaks far more personal students than she graduates, and it's traveling through hell either way.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
The truth about how people and society works from Gloria Stienem's last essay in The New Yorker. Sadly, it's human nature. It could be addressed with rigorous education, but the powerful (religious, monied, hereditary) won't let us threaten their power.
Read carefully.
Whatever the name, words that stand for equality are demonized by those who benefit from inequality. Opposition will always come from people whose power rests on the group they were born into—whether that is sex, race, class, or ethnicity—rather than on what they do as individuals. This persists because they believe in hierarchy and they fear what might happen if they have no built-in advantage. And this is sad because they may never find out who they really are, and what they would really want to do in life.
Pay Wall: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/life-and-letters/gloria-steinems-final-essay
PS: #Writers and #authors, get this part of human nature right, then counteract it in your stories for verisimilitude. #writersOf #writingCommunity
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#PennedPossibilities 1120: Saturday Word Edition: Share something from your WIP pertaining to the word “entertainment.”
Bolt is acting as the photographer for her friend Shugh as he interviews a male diva actor for a magazine similar to The New Yorker. Hers is a woman-centric society. The scene in this #excerpt hints that Bolt can be sexist as the actor being interviewed needles her.
Upstairs, Shugh hit it off with Morning Glory. Both men sought careers not often occupied by men. The actor-playwright became more animated as the magazine interview progressed, allowing me with my camera to fade into the background of the plush upper lounge of the theatre. By the time the long-legged delicate man started pacing as he told his life story, I had gleaned that his tale was glorified and larger-than life, like the man, his persona, his masks. His elegant pacing allowed me to move with my Flicka4, steadying myself using the back of a gilt divan, a bamboo formed-steel torchere lamp (one of pair), and then a black marble tea table to as I composed pictures of a celebrity, but a man, lost in thoughts about inflating the image he presented the world, finally dropping his actor's mask. I caught the sparkle in his eye. I caught flamboyant hands thrown wide, later framing his face as he sang a note. I caught an absentminded sneer aimed at an unnamed actress who'd worked to derail his entertainment career.
"I'm changing the way women perceive men," he declared. He sat abruptly on a hanger chair, one of those short shallow chairs built with a bench seat of a single plank of wood, finely finished glowing golden oak but uncushioned; it barely supported his thighs in deference to his hips, forcing the man to crouch. Also called a man's chair because a man looked really adorable hanging there when unclothed in a certain way. (It totally did Morning Glory.) That it made men shorter than any women in a room seemed like a plus, but then I was female. These days, especially in the city, I'd seen men leave a room in disgust if they saw one. Not Morning Glory! Probably furnished it here himself, stage managing, to spike the drama. Legs wide, crouching—his hands above his knees, framing his crotch—eyes narrowed and on me, his body language firmed up my perception of him.
Performatively male, sure of his good looks.
Aggressive.
Dominant.
He addressed Shugh still meeting my gaze. "Steamed Milk and Sugar—can I call you Milk? How does it feel working as her protégé? Do we live in progressive times?"
Hint, hint! I am a #gender #fiction #writer. If you think a hanger chair in this Basic Instincts scene is peculiar, realize that it is a male-oriented gender domination device analogous to what stiletto heels achieve physically with women in our society. Like many women today, Morning Glory is "owning" it (trying anyway) and changing the device's meaning.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1120: Saturday Word Edition: Share something from your WIP pertaining to the word “entertainment.”
Bolt is acting as the photographer for her friend Shugh as he interviews a male diva actor for a magazine similar to The New Yorker. Hers is a woman-centric society. The scene in this #excerpt hints that Bolt can be sexist as the actor being interviewed needles her.
Upstairs, Shugh hit it off with Morning Glory. Both men sought careers not often occupied by men. The actor-playwright became more animated as the magazine interview progressed, allowing me with my camera to fade into the background of the plush upper lounge of the theatre. By the time the long-legged delicate man started pacing as he told his life story, I had gleaned that his tale was glorified and larger-than life, like the man, his persona, his masks. His elegant pacing allowed me to move with my Flicka4, steadying myself using the back of a gilt divan, a bamboo formed-steel torchere lamp (one of pair), and then a black marble tea table to as I composed pictures of a celebrity, but a man, lost in thoughts about inflating the image he presented the world, finally dropping his actor's mask. I caught the sparkle in his eye. I caught flamboyant hands thrown wide, later framing his face as he sang a note. I caught an absentminded sneer aimed at an unnamed actress who'd worked to derail his entertainment career.
"I'm changing the way women perceive men," he declared. He sat abruptly on a hanger chair, one of those short shallow chairs built with a bench seat of a single plank of wood, finely finished glowing golden oak but uncushioned; it barely supported his thighs in deference to his hips, forcing the man to crouch. Also called a man's chair because a man looked really adorable hanging there when unclothed in a certain way. (It totally did Morning Glory.) That it made men shorter than any women in a room seemed like a plus, but then I was female. These days, especially in the city, I'd seen men leave a room in disgust if they saw one. Not Morning Glory! Probably furnished it here himself, stage managing, to spike the drama. Legs wide, crouching—his hands above his knees, framing his crotch—eyes narrowed and on me, his body language firmed up my perception of him.
Performatively male, sure of his good looks.
Aggressive.
Dominant.
He addressed Shugh still meeting my gaze. "Steamed Milk and Sugar—can I call you Milk? How does it feel working as her protégé? Do we live in progressive times?"
Hint, hint! I am a #gender #fiction #writer. If you think a hanger chair in this Basic Instincts scene is peculiar, realize that it is a male-oriented gender domination device analogous to what stiletto heels achieve physically with women in our society. Like many women today, Morning Glory is "owning" it (trying anyway) and changing the device's meaning.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1120: Saturday Word Edition: Share something from your WIP pertaining to the word “entertainment.”
Bolt is acting as the photographer for her friend Shugh as he interviews a male diva actor for a magazine similar to The New Yorker. Hers is a woman-centric society. The scene in this #excerpt hints that Bolt can be sexist as the actor being interviewed needles her.
Upstairs, Shugh hit it off with Morning Glory. Both men sought careers not often occupied by men. The actor-playwright became more animated as the magazine interview progressed, allowing me with my camera to fade into the background of the plush upper lounge of the theatre. By the time the long-legged delicate man started pacing as he told his life story, I had gleaned that his tale was glorified and larger-than life, like the man, his persona, his masks. His elegant pacing allowed me to move with my Flicka4, steadying myself using the back of a gilt divan, a bamboo formed-steel torchere lamp (one of pair), and then a black marble tea table to as I composed pictures of a celebrity, but a man, lost in thoughts about inflating the image he presented the world, finally dropping his actor's mask. I caught the sparkle in his eye. I caught flamboyant hands thrown wide, later framing his face as he sang a note. I caught an absentminded sneer aimed at an unnamed actress who'd worked to derail his entertainment career.
"I'm changing the way women perceive men," he declared. He sat abruptly on a hanger chair, one of those short shallow chairs built with a bench seat of a single plank of wood, finely finished glowing golden oak but uncushioned; it barely supported his thighs in deference to his hips, forcing the man to crouch. Also called a man's chair because a man looked really adorable hanging there when unclothed in a certain way. (It totally did Morning Glory.) That it made men shorter than any women in a room seemed like a plus, but then I was female. These days, especially in the city, I'd seen men leave a room in disgust if they saw one. Not Morning Glory! Probably furnished it here himself, stage managing, to spike the drama. Legs wide, crouching—his hands above his knees, framing his crotch—eyes narrowed and on me, his body language firmed up my perception of him.
Performatively male, sure of his good looks.
Aggressive.
Dominant.
He addressed Shugh still meeting my gaze. "Steamed Milk and Sugar—can I call you Milk? How does it feel working as her protégé? Do we live in progressive times?"
Hint, hint! I am a #gender #fiction #writer. If you think a hanger chair in this Basic Instincts scene is peculiar, realize that it is a male-oriented gender domination device analogous to what stiletto heels achieve physically with women in our society. Like many women today, Morning Glory is "owning" it (trying anyway) and changing the device's meaning.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1120: Saturday Word Edition: Share something from your WIP pertaining to the word “entertainment.”
Bolt is acting as the photographer for her friend Shugh as he interviews a male diva actor for a magazine similar to The New Yorker. Hers is a woman-centric society. The scene in this #excerpt hints that Bolt can be sexist as the actor being interviewed needles her.
Upstairs, Shugh hit it off with Morning Glory. Both men sought careers not often occupied by men. The actor-playwright became more animated as the magazine interview progressed, allowing me with my camera to fade into the background of the plush upper lounge of the theatre. By the time the long-legged delicate man started pacing as he told his life story, I had gleaned that his tale was glorified and larger-than life, like the man, his persona, his masks. His elegant pacing allowed me to move with my Flicka4, steadying myself using the back of a gilt divan, a bamboo formed-steel torchere lamp (one of pair), and then a black marble tea table to as I composed pictures of a celebrity, but a man, lost in thoughts about inflating the image he presented the world, finally dropping his actor's mask. I caught the sparkle in his eye. I caught flamboyant hands thrown wide, later framing his face as he sang a note. I caught an absentminded sneer aimed at an unnamed actress who'd worked to derail his entertainment career.
"I'm changing the way women perceive men," he declared. He sat abruptly on a hanger chair, one of those short shallow chairs built with a bench seat of a single plank of wood, finely finished glowing golden oak but uncushioned; it barely supported his thighs in deference to his hips, forcing the man to crouch. Also called a man's chair because a man looked really adorable hanging there when unclothed in a certain way. (It totally did Morning Glory.) That it made men shorter than any women in a room seemed like a plus, but then I was female. These days, especially in the city, I'd seen men leave a room in disgust if they saw one. Not Morning Glory! Probably furnished it here himself, stage managing, to spike the drama. Legs wide, crouching—his hands above his knees, framing his crotch—eyes narrowed and on me, his body language firmed up my perception of him.
Performatively male, sure of his good looks.
Aggressive.
Dominant.
He addressed Shugh still meeting my gaze. "Steamed Milk and Sugar—can I call you Milk? How does it feel working as her protégé? Do we live in progressive times?"
Hint, hint! I am a #gender #fiction #writer. If you think a hanger chair in this Basic Instincts scene is peculiar, realize that it is a male-oriented gender domination device analogous to what stiletto heels achieve physically with women in our society. Like many women today, Morning Glory is "owning" it (trying anyway) and changing the device's meaning.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1120: Saturday Word Edition: Share something from your WIP pertaining to the word “entertainment.”
Bolt is acting as the photographer for her friend Shugh as he interviews a male diva actor for a magazine similar to The New Yorker. Hers is a woman-centric society. The scene in this #excerpt hints that Bolt can be sexist as the actor being interviewed needles her.
Upstairs, Shugh hit it off with Morning Glory. Both men sought careers not often occupied by men. The actor-playwright became more animated as the magazine interview progressed, allowing me with my camera to fade into the background of the plush upper lounge of the theatre. By the time the long-legged delicate man started pacing as he told his life story, I had gleaned that his tale was glorified and larger-than life, like the man, his persona, his masks. His elegant pacing allowed me to move with my Flicka4, steadying myself using the back of a gilt divan, a bamboo formed-steel torchere lamp (one of pair), and then a black marble tea table to as I composed pictures of a celebrity, but a man, lost in thoughts about inflating the image he presented the world, finally dropping his actor's mask. I caught the sparkle in his eye. I caught flamboyant hands thrown wide, later framing his face as he sang a note. I caught an absentminded sneer aimed at an unnamed actress who'd worked to derail his entertainment career.
"I'm changing the way women perceive men," he declared. He sat abruptly on a hanger chair, one of those short shallow chairs built with a bench seat of a single plank of wood, finely finished glowing golden oak but uncushioned; it barely supported his thighs in deference to his hips, forcing the man to crouch. Also called a man's chair because a man looked really adorable hanging there when unclothed in a certain way. (It totally did Morning Glory.) That it made men shorter than any women in a room seemed like a plus, but then I was female. These days, especially in the city, I'd seen men leave a room in disgust if they saw one. Not Morning Glory! Probably furnished it here himself, stage managing, to spike the drama. Legs wide, crouching—his hands above his knees, framing his crotch—eyes narrowed and on me, his body language firmed up my perception of him.
Performatively male, sure of his good looks.
Aggressive.
Dominant.
He addressed Shugh still meeting my gaze. "Steamed Milk and Sugar—can I call you Milk? How does it feel working as her protégé? Do we live in progressive times?"
Hint, hint! I am a #gender #fiction #writer. If you think a hanger chair in this Basic Instincts scene is peculiar, realize that it is a male-oriented gender domination device analogous to what stiletto heels achieve physically with women in our society. Like many women today, Morning Glory is "owning" it (trying anyway) and changing the device's meaning.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589
#PennedPossibilities 1119: MC POV: How did you learn your most valuable skill? Who taught you, and why is it so important?
[I will keep Bolt SFW, promise! Tl;dr tootfic follows, nevertheless.—RS]
A surprising number of my skills are self-taught. I must be a genius, even if'n I've done a lot of stupid things. My most valuable skill is flying, naturally being as I'm a day angel, but flight kindergarten failed me epically. Everybody fledged but me by 3. Despite the incentive of being picked on by all the girls in school (boys knew better), it took being shoved off a cliff at 10 before I flew, and then but for Mom and Uncle teaching me to land, I taught myself everything else. Turned out live'n in the world 3D is—My Stars!— flapping awesome, not at all frightening as I'd wound up myself into thinking. Flew into my share of lamp posts, but still, flap'n it! Spending more time a-wing than walking, I became an athlete, captaining the flight and field team, learning stunt flying, flight dance, and tandem. None of it more valuable than walking and running for the flightless in the long run, except, I guess, tandem.
They teach you never to fly close to anybody. I remember distancing from flight kindergarten. It was reiterated by every PE teacher there after. Knock it into your head, they do. A "primary feather length at wing tip; your height above." Feather fields will tangle if'n you're too close. You'll lose lift, they say, maybe crash, but that never made sense to me having learnt to fly late.
I experimented with all sort of crazy, consider'n that I skated out of most of the knocking of "flight stuff into my head" for the seven years everybody else was flying and I wasn't. I dove hard into precision flying, which meant warping my flight feathers hard, sometimes twisting the up and down fields to push away from or get sucked toward things like cliff walls or between tree trunks in a dense forest. Called decompensating. Dangerous? For you, unadventurous noob, maybe! I finally could get a finger length close to things—close enough to suck your hair and feathers against bark, rockface, and occasional stupid people who do their deer in the lantern light imitation seeing you, they think, flying into them—so why not boys? (Girls thought me a masculine muscle nerd! Their loss.)
While I found victims volunteers to fly near me in middle school, it was that first semester in high school that I perfected my awareness of my wings in space, and theirs, close up, and got boys to understand what I'd learnt. It helped that in high school, finally, the boys were less shy (especially the seniors) and dangling flying with us touching really helped incentivize them. Me, too, actually. I got better. They got better, caught the tandem fever, though we got chewed out by Coach when she saw, before she stopped noticing since we didn't kill ourselves. Our team morale soared. We started winning. I became captain of an otherwise male team. I got my string of ponies (stallions only).
Good times.
Valuable? Actually, valuable?
Well, a dozen years and lots of stupid decisions later, I have a friend, Blue, who is a praetorian training to protect Rainy Days. We encountered her in the sky, and I ended up flying stunts around the guy with her mirroring and challenging my agility, pushing me harder, apparently to test my limits, and to piss me off. I'm too competitive for my own good! She correctly figured out it was me who taught Blue flying tandem; it was the definitive skill that got him a job that was very unlikely for a guy to get.
Rainy Days praised me. She's far better at tandem techniques than me. Still. The Director of Home and the Nine Outer worlds praised me. My Stars!!!
Valuable? Flap yes!
Yet. Even considering when she left with Blue, the stress of me stupidly challenging the most important woman ever shot me out of the sky. I nearly crashed trying to land, then puked so hard, I thought some of my liver came up.
I still would challenge her again, given the chance. [Big words, Bolt! Read the quoted story for the second round. —RS]
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589
#PennedPossibilities 1119: MC POV: How did you learn your most valuable skill? Who taught you, and why is it so important?
[I will keep Bolt SFW, promise! Tl;dr tootfic follows, nevertheless.—RS]
A surprising number of my skills are self-taught. I must be a genius, even if'n I've done a lot of stupid things. My most valuable skill is flying, naturally being as I'm a day angel, but flight kindergarten failed me epically. Everybody fledged but me by 3. Despite the incentive of being picked on by all the girls in school (boys knew better), it took being shoved off a cliff at 10 before I flew, and then but for Mom and Uncle teaching me to land, I taught myself everything else. Turned out live'n in the world 3D is—My Stars!— flapping awesome, not at all frightening as I'd wound up myself into thinking. Flew into my share of lamp posts, but still, flap'n it! Spending more time a-wing than walking, I became an athlete, captaining the flight and field team, learning stunt flying, flight dance, and tandem. None of it more valuable than walking and running for the flightless in the long run, except, I guess, tandem.
They teach you never to fly close to anybody. I remember distancing from flight kindergarten. It was reiterated by every PE teacher there after. Knock it into your head, they do. A "primary feather length at wing tip; your height above." Feather fields will tangle if'n you're too close. You'll lose lift, they say, maybe crash, but that never made sense to me having learnt to fly late.
I experimented with all sort of crazy, consider'n that I skated out of most of the knocking of "flight stuff into my head" for the seven years everybody else was flying and I wasn't. I dove hard into precision flying, which meant warping my flight feathers hard, sometimes twisting the up and down fields to push away from or get sucked toward things like cliff walls or between tree trunks in a dense forest. Called decompensating. Dangerous? For you, unadventurous noob, maybe! I finally could get a finger length close to things—close enough to suck your hair and feathers against bark, rockface, and occasional stupid people who do their deer in the lantern light imitation seeing you, they think, flying into them—so why not boys? (Girls thought me a masculine muscle nerd! Their loss.)
While I found victims volunteers to fly near me in middle school, it was that first semester in high school that I perfected my awareness of my wings in space, and theirs, close up, and got boys to understand what I'd learnt. It helped that in high school, finally, the boys were less shy (especially the seniors) and dangling flying with us touching really helped incentivize them. Me, too, actually. I got better. They got better, caught the tandem fever, though we got chewed out by Coach when she saw, before she stopped noticing since we didn't kill ourselves. Our team morale soared. We started winning. I became captain of an otherwise male team. I got my string of ponies (stallions only).
Good times.
Valuable? Actually, valuable?
Well, a dozen years and lots of stupid decisions later, I have a friend, Blue, who is a praetorian training to protect Rainy Days. We encountered her in the sky, and I ended up flying stunts around the guy with her mirroring and challenging my agility, pushing me harder, apparently to test my limits, and to piss me off. I'm too competitive for my own good! She correctly figured out it was me who taught Blue flying tandem; it was the definitive skill that got him a job that was very unlikely for a guy to get.
Rainy Days praised me. She's far better at tandem techniques than me. Still. The Director of Home and the Nine Outer worlds praised me. My Stars!!!
Valuable? Flap yes!
Yet. Even considering when she left with Blue, the stress of me stupidly challenging the most important woman ever shot me out of the sky. I nearly crashed trying to land, then puked so hard, I thought some of my liver came up.
I still would challenge her again, given the chance. [Big words, Bolt! Read the quoted story for the second round. —RS]
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589
#PennedPossibilities 1119: MC POV: How did you learn your most valuable skill? Who taught you, and why is it so important?
[I will keep Bolt SFW, promise! Tl;dr tootfic follows, nevertheless.—RS]
A surprising number of my skills are self-taught. I must be a genius, even if'n I've done a lot of stupid things. My most valuable skill is flying, naturally being as I'm a day angel, but flight kindergarten failed me epically. Everybody fledged but me by 3. Despite the incentive of being picked on by all the girls in school (boys knew better), it took being shoved off a cliff at 10 before I flew, and then but for Mom and Uncle teaching me to land, I taught myself everything else. Turned out live'n in the world 3D is—My Stars!— flapping awesome, not at all frightening as I'd wound up myself into thinking. Flew into my share of lamp posts, but still, flap'n it! Spending more time a-wing than walking, I became an athlete, captaining the flight and field team, learning stunt flying, flight dance, and tandem. None of it more valuable than walking and running for the flightless in the long run, except, I guess, tandem.
They teach you never to fly close to anybody. I remember distancing from flight kindergarten. It was reiterated by every PE teacher there after. Knock it into your head, they do. A "primary feather length at wing tip; your height above." Feather fields will tangle if'n you're too close. You'll lose lift, they say, maybe crash, but that never made sense to me having learnt to fly late.
I experimented with all sort of crazy, consider'n that I skated out of most of the knocking of "flight stuff into my head" for the seven years everybody else was flying and I wasn't. I dove hard into precision flying, which meant warping my flight feathers hard, sometimes twisting the up and down fields to push away from or get sucked toward things like cliff walls or between tree trunks in a dense forest. Called decompensating. Dangerous? For you, unadventurous noob, maybe! I finally could get a finger length close to things—close enough to suck your hair and feathers against bark, rockface, and occasional stupid people who do their deer in the lantern light imitation seeing you, they think, flying into them—so why not boys? (Girls thought me a masculine muscle nerd! Their loss.)
While I found victims volunteers to fly near me in middle school, it was that first semester in high school that I perfected my awareness of my wings in space, and theirs, close up, and got boys to understand what I'd learnt. It helped that in high school, finally, the boys were less shy (especially the seniors) and dangling flying with us touching really helped incentivize them. Me, too, actually. I got better. They got better, caught the tandem fever, though we got chewed out by Coach when she saw, before she stopped noticing since we didn't kill ourselves. Our team morale soared. We started winning. I became captain of an otherwise male team. I got my string of ponies (stallions only).
Good times.
Valuable? Actually, valuable?
Well, a dozen years and lots of stupid decisions later, I have a friend, Blue, who is a praetorian training to protect Rainy Days. We encountered her in the sky, and I ended up flying stunts around the guy with her mirroring and challenging my agility, pushing me harder, apparently to test my limits, and to piss me off. I'm too competitive for my own good! She correctly figured out it was me who taught Blue flying tandem; it was the definitive skill that got him a job that was very unlikely for a guy to get.
Rainy Days praised me. She's far better at tandem techniques than me. Still. The Director of Home and the Nine Outer worlds praised me. My Stars!!!
Valuable? Flap yes!
Yet. Even considering when she left with Blue, the stress of me stupidly challenging the most important woman ever shot me out of the sky. I nearly crashed trying to land, then puked so hard, I thought some of my liver came up.
I still would challenge her again, given the chance. [Big words, Bolt! Read the quoted story for the second round. —RS]
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589
#PennedPossibilities 1119: MC POV: How did you learn your most valuable skill? Who taught you, and why is it so important?
[I will keep Bolt SFW, promise! Tl;dr tootfic follows, nevertheless.—RS]
A surprising number of my skills are self-taught. I must be a genius, even if'n I've done a lot of stupid things. My most valuable skill is flying, naturally being as I'm a day angel, but flight kindergarten failed me epically. Everybody fledged but me by 3. Despite the incentive of being picked on by all the girls in school (boys knew better), it took being shoved off a cliff at 10 before I flew, and then but for Mom and Uncle teaching me to land, I taught myself everything else. Turned out live'n in the world 3D is—My Stars!— flapping awesome, not at all frightening as I'd wound up myself into thinking. Flew into my share of lamp posts, but still, flap'n it! Spending more time a-wing than walking, I became an athlete, captaining the flight and field team, learning stunt flying, flight dance, and tandem. None of it more valuable than walking and running for the flightless in the long run, except, I guess, tandem.
They teach you never to fly close to anybody. I remember distancing from flight kindergarten. It was reiterated by every PE teacher there after. Knock it into your head, they do. A "primary feather length at wing tip; your height above." Feather fields will tangle if'n you're too close. You'll lose lift, they say, maybe crash, but that never made sense to me having learnt to fly late.
I experimented with all sort of crazy, consider'n that I skated out of most of the knocking of "flight stuff into my head" for the seven years everybody else was flying and I wasn't. I dove hard into precision flying, which meant warping my flight feathers hard, sometimes twisting the up and down fields to push away from or get sucked toward things like cliff walls or between tree trunks in a dense forest. Called decompensating. Dangerous? For you, unadventurous noob, maybe! I finally could get a finger length close to things—close enough to suck your hair and feathers against bark, rockface, and occasional stupid people who do their deer in the lantern light imitation seeing you, they think, flying into them—so why not boys? (Girls thought me a masculine muscle nerd! Their loss.)
While I found victims volunteers to fly near me in middle school, it was that first semester in high school that I perfected my awareness of my wings in space, and theirs, close up, and got boys to understand what I'd learnt. It helped that in high school, finally, the boys were less shy (especially the seniors) and dangling flying with us touching really helped incentivize them. Me, too, actually. I got better. They got better, caught the tandem fever, though we got chewed out by Coach when she saw, before she stopped noticing since we didn't kill ourselves. Our team morale soared. We started winning. I became captain of an otherwise male team. I got my string of ponies (stallions only).
Good times.
Valuable? Actually, valuable?
Well, a dozen years and lots of stupid decisions later, I have a friend, Blue, who is a praetorian training to protect Rainy Days. We encountered her in the sky, and I ended up flying stunts around the guy with her mirroring and challenging my agility, pushing me harder, apparently to test my limits, and to piss me off. I'm too competitive for my own good! She correctly figured out it was me who taught Blue flying tandem; it was the definitive skill that got him a job that was very unlikely for a guy to get.
Rainy Days praised me. She's far better at tandem techniques than me. Still. The Director of Home and the Nine Outer worlds praised me. My Stars!!!
Valuable? Flap yes!
Yet. Even considering when she left with Blue, the stress of me stupidly challenging the most important woman ever shot me out of the sky. I nearly crashed trying to land, then puked so hard, I thought some of my liver came up.
I still would challenge her again, given the chance. [Big words, Bolt! Read the quoted story for the second round. —RS]
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589
#PennedPossibilities 1119: MC POV: How did you learn your most valuable skill? Who taught you, and why is it so important?
[I will keep Bolt SFW, promise! Tl;dr tootfic follows, nevertheless.—RS]
A surprising number of my skills are self-taught. I must be a genius, even if'n I've done a lot of stupid things. My most valuable skill is flying, naturally being as I'm a day angel, but flight kindergarten failed me epically. Everybody fledged but me by 3. Despite the incentive of being picked on by all the girls in school (boys knew better), it took being shoved off a cliff at 10 before I flew, and then but for Mom and Uncle teaching me to land, I taught myself everything else. Turned out live'n in the world 3D is—My Stars!— flapping awesome, not at all frightening as I'd wound up myself into thinking. Flew into my share of lamp posts, but still, flap'n it! Spending more time a-wing than walking, I became an athlete, captaining the flight and field team, learning stunt flying, flight dance, and tandem. None of it more valuable than walking and running for the flightless in the long run, except, I guess, tandem.
They teach you never to fly close to anybody. I remember distancing from flight kindergarten. It was reiterated by every PE teacher there after. Knock it into your head, they do. A "primary feather length at wing tip; your height above." Feather fields will tangle if'n you're too close. You'll lose lift, they say, maybe crash, but that never made sense to me having learnt to fly late.
I experimented with all sort of crazy, consider'n that I skated out of most of the knocking of "flight stuff into my head" for the seven years everybody else was flying and I wasn't. I dove hard into precision flying, which meant warping my flight feathers hard, sometimes twisting the up and down fields to push away from or get sucked toward things like cliff walls or between tree trunks in a dense forest. Called decompensating. Dangerous? For you, unadventurous noob, maybe! I finally could get a finger length close to things—close enough to suck your hair and feathers against bark, rockface, and occasional stupid people who do their deer in the lantern light imitation seeing you, they think, flying into them—so why not boys? (Girls thought me a masculine muscle nerd! Their loss.)
While I found victims volunteers to fly near me in middle school, it was that first semester in high school that I perfected my awareness of my wings in space, and theirs, close up, and got boys to understand what I'd learnt. It helped that in high school, finally, the boys were less shy (especially the seniors) and dangling flying with us touching really helped incentivize them. Me, too, actually. I got better. They got better, caught the tandem fever, though we got chewed out by Coach when she saw, before she stopped noticing since we didn't kill ourselves. Our team morale soared. We started winning. I became captain of an otherwise male team. I got my string of ponies (stallions only).
Good times.
Valuable? Actually, valuable?
Well, a dozen years and lots of stupid decisions later, I have a friend, Blue, who is a praetorian training to protect Rainy Days. We encountered her in the sky, and I ended up flying stunts around the guy with her mirroring and challenging my agility, pushing me harder, apparently to test my limits, and to piss me off. I'm too competitive for my own good! She correctly figured out it was me who taught Blue flying tandem; it was the definitive skill that got him a job that was very unlikely for a guy to get.
Rainy Days praised me. She's far better at tandem techniques than me. Still. The Director of Home and the Nine Outer worlds praised me. My Stars!!!
Valuable? Flap yes!
Yet. Even considering when she left with Blue, the stress of me stupidly challenging the most important woman ever shot me out of the sky. I nearly crashed trying to land, then puked so hard, I thought some of my liver came up.
I still would challenge her again, given the chance. [Big words, Bolt! Read the quoted story for the second round. —RS]
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.05 — ~From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?
Flamboyant. Pictured, one take on unicorn ice cream. Ask my friends, I have a thing for unicorns.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.05 — ~From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?
Flamboyant. Pictured, one take on unicorn ice cream. Ask my friends, I have a thing for unicorns.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.05 — ~From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?
Flamboyant. Pictured, one take on unicorn ice cream. Ask my friends, I have a thing for unicorns.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.05 — ~From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?
Flamboyant. Pictured, one take on unicorn ice cream. Ask my friends, I have a thing for unicorns.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.05 — ~From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?
Flamboyant. Pictured, one take on unicorn ice cream. Ask my friends, I have a thing for unicorns.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
Found on Tumblr. Text in image follows.
Every company in 2026: "oh god we spent so much money on AI. We need you to use it. Please dear god we need you to use it. Please use it and become addicted to it and need it in your life. Our entire 10 year business model requires you to be an AI addict and you're NOT DOING IT!!! We're gonna put it front and center. We're moving the buttons around so you accidentally click it and use it so you might realise it's there! Please we're begging you! If we can't get you addicted to AI then we can't charge you for it and it will have all been for nothing!!! You're just being SO UNREASONABLE RIGHT NOW!!! If you don't use it then we fired our workers, tanked our company direction, poisoned several thousand people's water, and more importantly spent our investors money FOR NOTHING!!!"
Me, deep diving into every setting on every application on every device: can I turn this annoying thing off or do I need to learn to ignore it...
The companies: "WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH!!!"
-
Found on Tumblr. Text in image follows.
Every company in 2026: "oh god we spent so much money on AI. We need you to use it. Please dear god we need you to use it. Please use it and become addicted to it and need it in your life. Our entire 10 year business model requires you to be an AI addict and you're NOT DOING IT!!! We're gonna put it front and center. We're moving the buttons around so you accidentally click it and use it so you might realise it's there! Please we're begging you! If we can't get you addicted to AI then we can't charge you for it and it will have all been for nothing!!! You're just being SO UNREASONABLE RIGHT NOW!!! If you don't use it then we fired our workers, tanked our company direction, poisoned several thousand people's water, and more importantly spent our investors money FOR NOTHING!!!"
Me, deep diving into every setting on every application on every device: can I turn this annoying thing off or do I need to learn to ignore it...
The companies: "WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH!!!"
-
Found on Tumblr. Text in image follows.
Every company in 2026: "oh god we spent so much money on AI. We need you to use it. Please dear god we need you to use it. Please use it and become addicted to it and need it in your life. Our entire 10 year business model requires you to be an AI addict and you're NOT DOING IT!!! We're gonna put it front and center. We're moving the buttons around so you accidentally click it and use it so you might realise it's there! Please we're begging you! If we can't get you addicted to AI then we can't charge you for it and it will have all been for nothing!!! You're just being SO UNREASONABLE RIGHT NOW!!! If you don't use it then we fired our workers, tanked our company direction, poisoned several thousand people's water, and more importantly spent our investors money FOR NOTHING!!!"
Me, deep diving into every setting on every application on every device: can I turn this annoying thing off or do I need to learn to ignore it...
The companies: "WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH!!!"
-
Found on Tumblr. Text in image follows.
Every company in 2026: "oh god we spent so much money on AI. We need you to use it. Please dear god we need you to use it. Please use it and become addicted to it and need it in your life. Our entire 10 year business model requires you to be an AI addict and you're NOT DOING IT!!! We're gonna put it front and center. We're moving the buttons around so you accidentally click it and use it so you might realise it's there! Please we're begging you! If we can't get you addicted to AI then we can't charge you for it and it will have all been for nothing!!! You're just being SO UNREASONABLE RIGHT NOW!!! If you don't use it then we fired our workers, tanked our company direction, poisoned several thousand people's water, and more importantly spent our investors money FOR NOTHING!!!"
Me, deep diving into every setting on every application on every device: can I turn this annoying thing off or do I need to learn to ignore it...
The companies: "WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH!!!"
-
Found on Tumblr. Text in image follows.
Every company in 2026: "oh god we spent so much money on AI. We need you to use it. Please dear god we need you to use it. Please use it and become addicted to it and need it in your life. Our entire 10 year business model requires you to be an AI addict and you're NOT DOING IT!!! We're gonna put it front and center. We're moving the buttons around so you accidentally click it and use it so you might realise it's there! Please we're begging you! If we can't get you addicted to AI then we can't charge you for it and it will have all been for nothing!!! You're just being SO UNREASONABLE RIGHT NOW!!! If you don't use it then we fired our workers, tanked our company direction, poisoned several thousand people's water, and more importantly spent our investors money FOR NOTHING!!!"
Me, deep diving into every setting on every application on every device: can I turn this annoying thing off or do I need to learn to ignore it...
The companies: "WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH!!!"
-
US citizens prepare to #VOTE.
The point is that Trump is cornered, and that is when he is most likely to do illegal and desperate things. So, if ever there's a time to fear some sort of extreme measure, like trying to declare martial law on Election Day, this would be it. One of us, namely (Z), does not think that this administration has the brains or the balls to pull that off. The other of us, namely (V), is not so sure. At this point, though, all that anyone can do is be vigilant, and to make sure to vote, and to vote in the way that is least subject to interference. For example, if you are able to vote early in person, that is the best bet. If you don't want to chance crowds and ICEmen on Election Day, get an absentee ballot and put it in a drop box or personally bring it to an authorized drop-off location. These avoid any attempts by the USPS to disenfranchise voters. And tell everyone you know to do likewise. (Z)
I'm doing so.
Quoted from this article by a pair of history and voting academics on the Electoral-Vote blog. Read the article, please.
-
US citizens prepare to #VOTE.
The point is that Trump is cornered, and that is when he is most likely to do illegal and desperate things. So, if ever there's a time to fear some sort of extreme measure, like trying to declare martial law on Election Day, this would be it. One of us, namely (Z), does not think that this administration has the brains or the balls to pull that off. The other of us, namely (V), is not so sure. At this point, though, all that anyone can do is be vigilant, and to make sure to vote, and to vote in the way that is least subject to interference. For example, if you are able to vote early in person, that is the best bet. If you don't want to chance crowds and ICEmen on Election Day, get an absentee ballot and put it in a drop box or personally bring it to an authorized drop-off location. These avoid any attempts by the USPS to disenfranchise voters. And tell everyone you know to do likewise. (Z)
I'm doing so.
Quoted from this article by a pair of history and voting academics on the Electoral-Vote blog. Read the article, please.
-
US citizens prepare to #VOTE.
The point is that Trump is cornered, and that is when he is most likely to do illegal and desperate things. So, if ever there's a time to fear some sort of extreme measure, like trying to declare martial law on Election Day, this would be it. One of us, namely (Z), does not think that this administration has the brains or the balls to pull that off. The other of us, namely (V), is not so sure. At this point, though, all that anyone can do is be vigilant, and to make sure to vote, and to vote in the way that is least subject to interference. For example, if you are able to vote early in person, that is the best bet. If you don't want to chance crowds and ICEmen on Election Day, get an absentee ballot and put it in a drop box or personally bring it to an authorized drop-off location. These avoid any attempts by the USPS to disenfranchise voters. And tell everyone you know to do likewise. (Z)
I'm doing so.
Quoted from this article by a pair of history and voting academics on the Electoral-Vote blog. Read the article, please.
-
US citizens prepare to #VOTE.
The point is that Trump is cornered, and that is when he is most likely to do illegal and desperate things. So, if ever there's a time to fear some sort of extreme measure, like trying to declare martial law on Election Day, this would be it. One of us, namely (Z), does not think that this administration has the brains or the balls to pull that off. The other of us, namely (V), is not so sure. At this point, though, all that anyone can do is be vigilant, and to make sure to vote, and to vote in the way that is least subject to interference. For example, if you are able to vote early in person, that is the best bet. If you don't want to chance crowds and ICEmen on Election Day, get an absentee ballot and put it in a drop box or personally bring it to an authorized drop-off location. These avoid any attempts by the USPS to disenfranchise voters. And tell everyone you know to do likewise. (Z)
I'm doing so.
Quoted from this article by a pair of history and voting academics on the Electoral-Vote blog. Read the article, please.
-
US citizens prepare to #VOTE.
The point is that Trump is cornered, and that is when he is most likely to do illegal and desperate things. So, if ever there's a time to fear some sort of extreme measure, like trying to declare martial law on Election Day, this would be it. One of us, namely (Z), does not think that this administration has the brains or the balls to pull that off. The other of us, namely (V), is not so sure. At this point, though, all that anyone can do is be vigilant, and to make sure to vote, and to vote in the way that is least subject to interference. For example, if you are able to vote early in person, that is the best bet. If you don't want to chance crowds and ICEmen on Election Day, get an absentee ballot and put it in a drop box or personally bring it to an authorized drop-off location. These avoid any attempts by the USPS to disenfranchise voters. And tell everyone you know to do likewise. (Z)
I'm doing so.
Quoted from this article by a pair of history and voting academics on the Electoral-Vote blog. Read the article, please.
-
?Want s'more? No campfire? No problem. Two halves a graham cracker. Two marshmallows on one half. Chocolate on other half. Microwave marshmallow half ten seconds or until it makes like the Staypuff bogart from Ghostbusters. Half with chocolate might take 30+ seconds; touch to confirm melt. Squish together. Eat. Get it all over your hands and face.
-
If #AI were good … companies would [not be forcing] us to use it.
Very good point. The objective is to reduce labor costs, that is, to fire all knowledge and tech workers. It's not that it is better, it is that it is cheaper. Of course, this completely misses the point that someone has to generate the knowledge, the #writing, the images, as well as the raw #science data upon which to train the AIs, which requires people with experience doing the work.
This will not end well.
#theComingLaborApocalypse #genAI #LLM #llms #chatGPT #gemini #copilot #grok #deepL #Midjourney #writer #author #writingCommunity #writersOfMastodon
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This take on AI speaks of probalistic knowledge when AI is only pattern matching trends with no guarantee of veracity. Claptrap. Psychology Today has jumped the shark publishing this infomercial without even calling it an opinion piece. Awful. Misleading. Their editorial staff should be fired.
#ai #genAI #llm #llms #psychology #psychologytoday #knowledge #author #writer #writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202505/knowledge-is-dead?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
-
@jeanmauel
I would like to be the first to welcome you to the writing community here. There is no algorithm like on X/Twitter and other services to generate a timeline of posts (called toots) on Mastodon. To do this you follow people that interest you, which you did for me so you've got this. We also follow keyword hashtags like #WritingCommunity and include those hashtags in our posts when they apply.Including the following hashtags and the accounts allow you to be found by like-minded people. If you don't include them, you won't be noticed. Much. You do have a recognizable name…
There are also hashtag writer challenge games, where like-minded authors reply and discuss author-y things. It is both a good way to procrastinate (as if we need that), but also an opportunity to think about current characters and techniques and read what other authors think about the subject. Here are some incomplete lists to get you started.
These identify your community.
#Writer #Author #WritersOfMastodon #bookstodon #Writing
#SF #scifi #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #Mystery #Romance #Thriller #horror
Games:
#PennedPossibilities
#WritersCoffeeClub
#ScibesAndMakers
#WordWeavers
#TimeTravelAuthors
#EngenderedWriting
#Writever
#WritephantThere's more, but if you check these out, you'll quickly be surrounded by the like-minded. Also, since I follow a multitude of authors, but also artists and creative people, you are welcome to raid my follow list on my profile page for other accounts to follow.
Last, please take a moment to fill in your profile page. I do admit your name and banner picture is a great intro, but it's a good place to note what you love to talk about, what you would rather talk about, and it may not just be about writing and publishing. Today is good time to do that. (I guess RS is a little pushy.) Again, you are welcome to look at my profile page (and others) for ideas.
If you provide links anywhere on Mastodon, but definitely when building your profile page, include the full http version of the link. If you do, it becomes clickable.
Of note in regard to profiles, you can pin things like a longer introduction post or an essay you wish to share, so it is the first post visitors see. It's one of the features and actions hidden in the three dots menu (…) at the end of a post.
Again, welcome. Feel free to ask questions. If you use community hashtags, others might answer also.
-
This post is to announce to all those who knew about my web-novel Mars Needed Women, who may have boosted or linked to it, that I have deleted the posts from Mastodon. I am heavily into revising it for publication.To prevent 404ing, I've left only the jacket blurb post of March 1st. As best I can remember, that's the only link I gave out. I hope so. I'm tagging hashtags to which I posted links to the novel this one time to prevent confusion. You are welcome to PM me.
#pennedpossibilities #engenderedWriting #writerscoffeeclub #wordweavers #scribesandmakers #writever #writephant
TL;DR
The story was published daily in March 2024 as part of a #Writever challenge, and I completed all 31 chapters one a day using all 31 Women's Rights prompts, managing to complete the last chapter and post it only 20 minutes into April 1st.
The story was definitely beta, with a plot hole and janky science and a few character boo-boos, but I like the result. I have since greatly revised the story and added plenty of material. Writing content daily to fit it into a toot-length that worked out to 750-800 words max forced compromises.
I plan to publish the novel in book form. As such, I have deleted the original free-to-read version. When I've sold or published the novel, I'll be sure to inform all my followers.
If you were part way through the story, PM me.
For you that read it, and for those who favorited chapters, Thank you.
-
@ltrapp
Welcome to the writing community. @strangeseawolf answered your direct question, but I'd like to answer your indirect one. On Mastodon we ALSO follow keyword hashtags like #WritingCommunity and include those hashtags in our posts when they apply. These hashtag and the accounts we follow take the place of an algorithm elsewhere, so if you don't include them you won't be noticed (much). There are also hashtag writer challenge games, where likeminded authors reply and discuss author-y things. Here are some incomplete lists to get you started.#Writer #Author #WritersOfMastodon #bookstodon #Writing
#SF #scifi #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #Mystery #Romance #Thriller #horror
"Games:"
#PennedPossibilities
#WritersCoffeeClub
#ScibesAndMakers
#WordWeavers
#TimeTravelAuthors
#EngenderedWriting
#Writever
#WritephantThere's more, but if you check these out, you'll quickly be surrounded by the like-minded. Also, since I follow a multitude of authors, but also artists and creative people, you are welcome to raid my follow list on my profile page for other accounts to follow.
Last, take a moment to fill in your profile page. Today is good. Again, you are welcome to look at mine (and others) for ideas. If you provide links, include the full http version. If you do, they become clickable. An interesting profile and your posts are how people decide to follow you.
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#ScribesAndMakers 2503.19 2/2 — At what age did you start creating?
I'm being meta in this post, talking about what I thought answering this question originally. As a gender fiction writer, the response to this question fascinated me! Let me in advance apologize for going all Sherlock Holmes on you folk. Gender roles and preferences are schooled into us until they're subliminal. Authors pervert the programming to write believable characters that are both different from them and of different genders or preferences. Our writing contains subtexts and hidden confessions that come out in our essays, maybe even our fiction, that we may or may not be aware of, or, granted, may not care about.
Still...
Many of us authors in this community use pen names, as do I, or an ungendered alias online, as do I, going so far as to use a pretty picture avatar, as do I, to obfuscate our identity, or to assert a political identity instead. My avatar highlights my comedic side.
Yet...
Yet, many of the answers to this question indirectly maybe inadvertently announced a gender identity (not necessarily a birth gender; that's understood). I crafted my rather typical answer to this question to answer truthfully but equivocally as to hints about my gender and gender identity.
I can remember ... playing imaginary games with my toys, making them walk, making them roll, making them fly, and sometimes tea was involved. The figurines talked and we gabbed and gossiped and discussed important life events! The vehicles made what I thought very authentic noises!! There were adventures galore!!!
Both girl words and boy words, and words that say the same thing in an ungendered fashion. Gossip and tea but also figurines, not dolls.
That said, reading the responses I realized I had incorrectly guessed the gender of many authors. Word choice counts, and it counts at many levels. May I suggest you read some of the responses again?
PS: Ask me about some of this gender role and identity stuff on Talk To Me Day, if you want. #EngenderedWriting
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#ScribesAndMakers 2503.01 2/2— What are your goals for the month?
Added a new goal: An SF micro-novel written from #writever daily prompts named with a title tag: #RSMarsNeededWomen. In the French version of the prompt, the month "March" is Mars and the theme is women's rights. For some strange reason the two combined in my head into an idea for space opera. Viva la #engenderedWriting! Consider following me as I gin up a gender fiction story from... nothing, going gonzo pantser on this. I've written 2 micro-chapters of 31. I'll need some cheering on, whilst I also try to finish the main novel. Click the title tag above for the story, or the link below for this month's daily writing prompts.
English: https://framapiaf.org/@k_tastrof/114083193227367930
Français: https://mamot.fr/@alombard/114085991177067327
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#ScribesAndMakers 2502.27. Have you ever written to a writer/creator to tell them you liked their work? Did they respond?
Yes. But not someone trad published, though I should have. With better websites and better communication channels than a paper letter, I will in the future. There are some very talented fan fiction authors out there and, yes, I've commented on their stories, some of which if rewritten in an original universe are better than a lot of things I've read in paperback published by the big houses. One excellent gender fiction SF novel about gender transformation, written by an author who goes by StarScribe, I nominated for the Otherwise (James Tiptree Jr.) Award. Alas, fan fiction is not often taken seriously, thought that specific story and other fantasy by that author ought be. And yes, the author responded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherwise_Award
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#EngenderedWriting 92 — How would it change society if women were and had always been physically stronger than men? CW: Patriarchy dissected.
It's a fun idea, and I know authors who are making it work. Still, my opinion, if strength is the only factor I am not sure it would have resulted in a society substantially different than our own. I'll analyze it for you authors so you can rewrite history.
It takes more than strength to make two people evenly matched. (I've been researching prizefighting.) Arm reach is the difference between your punch being blocked and being able to hit with few injuries. Speed and stamina matter. Weight and inertia matter. Think wrestling. All are more important than quantitative strength. This is why there are weight classes in most combative sports.
Unfortunately, women have a smaller stature on average. Weapons are an equalizer here, especially if women can wield heavier weapons than their male opponents. In a fantasy context, magic could be an equalizer. The male tendency toward aggression in aggregate could tip the scales if overwhelming force is applied.
The Indo-Europeans might have invented the concept of controlling women's sexuality to ensure a man could guarantee the paternity of a child and thus make passing property only down the male line arguably reasonable. This usurps matriarchy. This is the true definition of patriarchy. Theories are that Indo-Europeans attacked pre-existing matrilineal societies. There is archeological evidence of prior societies that seem to have been lead by women. Their demise might be the genocides hinted at in the Bible. Who would win (or would have won) if women were significantly stronger?
Women do have their advantages. Arguably speed due to less inertia, especially with added strength. Not natively aggressive in general, they might be better able to pick the winnable fights while angry men might be thinking emotionally. Flexibility. A greater biological investment in offspring might make women less likely to look at fighting as a game, the way men to this day are prone to do (not all of them, of course). For men, fighting can be fun. The danger is a gamble, but we understand the psychology of gambling, too.
For women a fight that includes protecting genetic family from child killers is never a game. Remember that paternity is imperative to a patriarch, more than life itself. A woman, especially one who's stronger than a man her size, might fixate on the death of an attacker and become ruthless. Protecting one's child changes the concept of mercy and surrender. Are either even reasonable?
We aren't those precursor matrilineal people anymore, so it's hard to characterize what could have happened were women stronger. I didn't address women's language skills or diplomacy as these aren't strength dependent, and did not prevent the obliteration of matrilineal societies by the Indo-Europeans. What I've listed are things I'd consider if I were to rewrite history with only one change: Women being stronger.
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#EngenderedWriting 91 — Overnight all biological females (regardless of orientation or preference) become on-par as strong as males. How would this change one of your stories?
I'll admit this would be an interesting premise, especially with how much most societies have double-downed on the biological differences between the sexes with boy-culture that teaches men to flaunt their strength and act aggressive, and girl-culture that teaches women to believe they're meek and must be dependent. Largely, I suspect things will only change at the periphery, with cultural programming and male stature (arm and leg length) maintaining the status quo for most. The interesting story would be feature the few that want to change things, the few who might not be so easily cowed. The story would depend on the psychology of the woman MC and her desire to change the world by breaking the rules, or making new ones for women.
I have a story where this is essentially the case for about 2/3rds of the population, as long as nobody is trying to hurt someone. The MC is from the other unequalized third of the population, and she's being trained as a prizefighter. Against both genders. It's strength against cunning, combined with avoiding getting hit, fighting for the championship. In other words, it's about the psychology of strength.
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#EngenderedQ Writing Author Daily Challenge FINAL Questions Week 15 (93-102, suggested February 18-28)
This indeed is the last set of prompts. It's been a great ride and I feel I learned something from all of you. I don't rule out that a random set of prompts might show up every so often, but I think I've touched on all the topics I could think of. If you have just stumbled upon this game, go ahead and answer the prompts in any order that gets your creativity revved up. This is the last page of the threaded post that includes ALL of them. This hashtag is here to help you reimagine your literary worlds while giving you a totally different perspective of gender in our own.
Follow: #EngenderedWriting
Weekly Prompts? Search: #EngenderedWritingQ
Google Docs Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RK_eD_1Q-P7VKv8xYVDeF7kkHuNX8878pBeELo3VAU/edit
Please boost so your writer followers know about the challenge.- (Feb 18) 93 — Since this is the last set of prompts, what of value did you take away from following the #engenderedWriting challenge game? Do you feel you learned something? Did it change what you write about? @NaraMoore
- 94 — If your character presents as male, regardless of the sex assigned them at birth, your character wakes finding themselves physically weak. If presenting as female, they wake physically strong. What effect does this have on the character, or possibly the plot. How does their reaction differ from question 90.
- 95 — Humans are suddenly predictably fertile once a year for a week. (The change happens in the story or just before the story.) How does this change gender roles? Society?
- 96 — If humans always had had a fertile season would our modernity be different or would it be the same old time religion and patriarchy?
- 97 — Long ago our ancestors fought off the patriarchal invaders and obliterated their barbaric idea for their women kin. How would a modern society work if inheritance and family flowed only through women, and was both traditional and legally recognized?
- 98 — Is marriage inevitable? Is it an exclusive symptom of patriarchy? Do any of your stories touch on the subject?
- 99 — If humans were exclusively matrilineal, would marriage evolve in your stories?
- 100 — Your MC has an object they adore that is NOT associated with their gender or gender role. Whether it gets suddenly revealed, or if they routinely flaunt it, it suddenly causes them huge trouble. How do they cope? CW if appropriate.
- 101 — One of your characters has an opportunity for power (your definition) if they take on the opposite gender role. How do they react? What do they do?
- 102 — Men stop being aggressive (your definition). Does society fall apart? Does the population decrease? Could you write a story from that male POV?
- (Feb 28) 103 — Men cease to have interest in sex (your definition) overnight or over no more than a span of a year. Does society fall apart? Does the population decrease? Could you write a story from the male POV, or would from the female POV be more interesting?
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> #EngenderedWriting 86 — (Pt. 4) If your story sticks to traditional gender roles, even if your characters rebel, what does the story lose?
Color contrast, to use a photographic term. A red rose against a green background is far more startling that a grey flower and a muddy black background. Stories about women rebelling against traditional gender roles has been a thing for a few centuries now. That the protag succeeds, and does NOT end up conforming or compromising what ought be their principles, is rather modern. In any case, it's been done. A lot. Men rebelling against their traditional gender role is fairly new, but, yeah, it's been done—albeit mostly in a negative sense—but it's been done. Well, positive or negative, male or female, it is black and white, not color, and manifestly not surprising.
By depicting non-traditional gender roles and moreover having them rebel—for example a trans man rebelling against a traditional male gender role—twists the same-old same-old story in an interesting direction.
Far from avoiding risk by sticking to traditional gender rolls, depicting what's expected or common place, I think an author actually risks losing audience through boredom if the subject du jour is gender.
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#EngenderedWriting 84 — (Pt. 3) If your story maintains traditional gender roles, even if your characters rebels, what does the story gain?
Ease of storytelling is proportional to the informational friction the author faces writing it.
If we set our story in the here-and-now, and pick a milieu that is very familiar to the audience—like high school cramming for finals or the office with an irritating boss or home with the dog and the hubby—the gendered information we need to relay to set up the story becomes nil. No author needs explain what marriage is. No author needs write more than a paragraph of the right words to build a idea of the tension in said marriage, or hint more deeply than having the wife sweat in the car when her husband insists on accompanying her to the gym.
Traditional gender roles need little explanation, nor thanks to a lot of popular media and books, does rebellious gender behavior.
What does the story gain by maintaining traditional gender roles?
- There are different audiences, for sure, but the largest audience for our books prefers to not have to think too deeply about non-traditional gender roles and instead concentrate on familiar conflict. At this point, I think a woman heroine is almost a traditional gender role if she isn't too sexual.
- As writers, the amount of research to bring verisimilitude is a lot less. Also, there is a huge amount we don't have the burden of explaining.
In Pt. 4 of this question, I'll address what I think are the downsides.
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=> #EngenderedWriting 76 — Can you write a good erotic scene (your definition of such) using non-anatomical euphemisms? Is the ability to do so made easier by narrator or POV gender choice? If so, why?
[I am answering "you" in the specific, as in "can I," not in the general as "can anybody." Each writer has their talents. —RS]
To make it clear, I am not writing these scenes to be erotic. Yet, oh my gosh, they are turning out that way. They are completely free of anatomical euphemisms or specific gender anatomy words, despite discussing mechanics to a degree. Often I reference parts of the body not necessarily associated with sex. There's a few euphemisms. Lots of innuendo. Double-entendres are useful. It's about the situation, their emotions, their partner's reaction, what they are seeing (NOT what the reader might want described), and what they are thinking of or focusing upon. I leave it to the reader to read between lines if they choose to make it explicit. Anyone who's had sex should understand precisely what's going on—words like "astride" are inescapable—but the point is that it is meant to advance the plot.
Believe me or disbelieve me as you choose.
I thought about including one sentence to make my point. Then I reread it and decided, no, I don't want to CW this post.
Is it made easier by the narrator or POV choice? Well, there is a male and a female POV MC, and a female antagonist who joyfully and playfully interacts with them as she teaches them hard lessons. (Okay, where did your mind just go?) I don't often write male POV characters, but I've so far chosen to write the erotic scenes in the male POV threaded chapters. I will admit I used our society's conception that men can get away with sex without shame better than women can. I used it as a lever or a wedge to get the point across whilst avoiding extra subtext. This, of course, is an analysis after the fact. I didn't think of that until now. That's not to say the female MC doesn't get her chance to "have fun," it's just so far that the most detailed example was her trying to proposition a man—and it might lead to a war...
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#EngenderedWriting 83 — (Pt. 2) If you show gender equality or disparity in your stories, what's the message? What does the depiction bring to a story?
The message? Gender disparity exists. Be aware of it. Being subjected to it hurts. Choose how to act equitably rather than reacting as enculturated.
What does the depiction of equity bring to a story: A sense of the uncanny valley, of what can't be no matter how cloying.
What does the depiction of disparity bring to a story: A sense of grittiness, of saying what is even when it is impolitic or impolite. Discomfort.
In the current WIP, I am writing a series of scenes that, as a side-effect to the plot, highlight gender disparity. It's SF and a future society with an unfortunate 1960s flavor. Before I detail what it is I'm writing, consider this setup which verges on various tropes:
A young woman is pressured into finding a good husband rather than keeping a career. Her worth is tied up in marriage, in having sex, in producing an "heir." Her schooling is little more than an M-R-S degree. Gender politics shame her if she aspires differently.
The scenes have that happening to a man, even to the point of him being manipulated into bed against his better instincts.
Quickly: What was your first thought reading that, especially the last part? Why?
If that doesn't open eyes, what will?
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#EngenderedWriting 82 — (Pt. 1) Is gender equality or disparity a thing in your stories? How (not why) do you show it?
Gender disparity always is. Obviously, biologically, there are differences that technology or sociology cannot overcome, even if you eliminate antagonistic cultural factors like the pernicious patriarchy that psychological taints every man and woman that must deal with it. Even if every character acts equitably despite gender, it's a choice, which has meaning in and of itself—and it's never perfect.
But I don't write historical fiction, or fiction based on the here and now.
Though somewhat spoilery, I'll reveal that in Reluctant Moon something called Men's Studies is taught in primary and secondary school. It's mandatory for all boys. The world in the WIP seems modern, a lot like ours circa 1960, until you learn how everything works. One of the things boys learn in this class is how not to act aggressive.
As you might expect, gender politics are totally different.
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real answers about what A.I. is and isn’t currently capable of and, of course, how big a threat it is to human writers.
Because #writerscoffeeclub focused on AI this August, I am tooting this excerpt (with clickthru link) to a story contest between an #author and an #ai (#chatGPT). I suggest reading.
[Take a flying guess about what I think about AI writing or composing stories...]
Hat tip: @gruber
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https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/08/26/sittenfeld-chatgpt-writeoff
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#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 12 Nbr 15 FEV— Have you used any form of AI to help in creating your work? Do you have a red line? Where is it? Full Essay Version
I've been around long enough that I remember when the #Altair 8080 (the first commercial personal computer) got a full page ad in Scientific American. My BFF and I talked about it after school (11th grade, I think?) for hours. I had my own slimline phone on my own extension. I was a privileged kid. The #computer club had a teletype connection to a computer that ran #BASIC. We also had access to an #IBM mainframe assembler using #MIS (pencil in) punch cards. A friend built an #IMSAI 8080 with 256 bytes of memory and it played songs we could listen to by tuning to part of the FM band influenced by the frequency of bits passing through the memory buss.
Why do I bring this up? The first things we programmed (after ping-pong on the toggle switch lights, Star Trek, and later adventure games) where types of artificial intelligence. We've been "teaching" computers to "think" for us since we could rip them away from the greedy money grubbers who wanted to do things like accounting and payroll. Current concepts of AI rely on pattern matching against databases, in very simplified terms. Early #AI were procedural, and if it solved your math problem, spelled your word correctly, or found data in the noise, it was intelligent. It is inescapable that unless we write longhand or type on a typewriter, that we have used what someone terms AI.
Anybody remember Clippy?
The key to this question, and how I am going to take it, is to focus on the word "creating." To me, that highlights generating something. Text. Graphics. Though this implies #genAI (the current thing, something like #Diffusion or #ChatGPT). It also means graphic tools that I use to remove and add image elements to photos, or otherwise intelligently improve them in ways I could imagine but was previously incapable due to lack of talent, practice, or understanding of the unenhanced tools.
As for text, I remember once writing a chatbot psychologist. IF-THEN-ELSE. In BASIC, back in high school or it may have been in an equivalent language on a DEC-10 at university. It did not pass the Turing Test, but it could lift one's mood, which could help with me "creating" work!
I've no interest in using something like chatGPT to build a story from prompts. It would be the program's story, not mine. It would be a Cliff Notes version of an unwritten story, summarized, never provided a soul, before even being written. Because these things work by pattern matching and predicting what would be the next word (based on an average of everybody's writing or specific genres or authors), it would be pure statistical fabrication—not even fabulation, which implies creative fantasy. It would be a story with none of the emotion, feeling, or meaning I'd put into it. It would be phantom chatter masquerading as wit through statistical randomness. No enlightenment possible, except by accident.
As an author, why would I even try to replace myself, or create the tools for others to try to do the same? I suspect people that do, do so as I wrote above because they are "incapable due to lack of talent, practice, or understanding of the tools." I'll add, also laziness, though I tar myself with the same brush as I wrote above.
Never discount greed. Authors cost money. Computers cost once.
In any case, the AI tools built into the software I do use barely save me time as it is. I can't start a dictation with the 1st person personal pronoun on any of my systems. Statistically, more people start dictation with "Hi" then "I," so I always have to correct that. Thanks to auto-incorrect, even the words I spell correctly (few enough as it is) get changed. In this very article, the tool insisted I had a "teletype connection to a commuter!" Not only do I have to be aware of my own tendency toward grammar issues and typos, I have to proof for AI typos, including chaining typos since the tools keep track of some meaning and can spawn a hellacious brew of misconception and embarrassment should it slip out to readers. I know what I mean to write. Sometimes I find myself overruled by my own tools.
Have I used AI? Not genAI. Procedural tools, yes. Not for willingly generating text.
Red line? Yes. No generating story or text. What's the point?
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