#nmprompts — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nmprompts, aggregated by home.social.
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#WritersCoffeeClub 9/4: If you work digitally, what application do you use? If analog, what do you write on?
For graphics and graphic layout
XnViewMP : For quick access to common manipulations and file conversion.
GIMP: For the heavy lifting.
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#WritersCoffeeClub 9/4: If you work digitally, what application do you use? If analog, what do you write on?
For graphics and graphic layout
XnViewMP : For quick access to common manipulations and file conversion.
GIMP: For the heavy lifting.
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#WritersCoffeeClub 9/4: If you work digitally, what application do you use? If analog, what do you write on?
For graphics and graphic layout
XnViewMP : For quick access to common manipulations and file conversion.
GIMP: For the heavy lifting.
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#WordWeavers 4. What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?
If there was one, I don't think I would tell.
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#WordWeavers 4. What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?
If there was one, I don't think I would tell.
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#WordWeavers 4. What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?
If there was one, I don't think I would tell.
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#WordWeavers 4. What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?
If there was one, I don't think I would tell.
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#WordWeavers 4. What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?
If there was one, I don't think I would tell.
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#PennedPossibilities 1118: Name a catastrophic event that occurred in your world / universe.
#TimeTravelingGhost: We have the Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event. Seems more relevant when you were there.
#KonbiniIdol: There is the "Empress's Gift." Catastrophic enough that I even CW the portion where it is discussed in detail (Spoiler).
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#PennedPossibilities 1118: Name a catastrophic event that occurred in your world / universe.
#TimeTravelingGhost: We have the Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event. Seems more relevant when you were there.
#KonbiniIdol: There is the "Empress's Gift." Catastrophic enough that I even CW the portion where it is discussed in detail (Spoiler).
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#PennedPossibilities 1118: Name a catastrophic event that occurred in your world / universe.
#TimeTravelingGhost: We have the Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event. Seems more relevant when you were there.
#KonbiniIdol: There is the "Empress's Gift." Catastrophic enough that I even CW the portion where it is discussed in detail (Spoiler).
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#ScribesAndMakers – 4th Sept. Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?
A bunch. 90% of what I read is ebooks. I'm trying to downsize my physical lib. too. So nice to have my complete library on one device.
Anyone in the Seattle area could probably talk me into giving them lucky boxes of yuri manga.
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#ScribesAndMakers – 4th Sept. Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?
A bunch. 90% of what I read is ebooks. I'm trying to downsize my physical lib. too. So nice to have my complete library on one device.
Anyone in the Seattle area could probably talk me into giving them lucky boxes of yuri manga.
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#ScribesAndMakers – 4th Sept. Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?
A bunch. 90% of what I read is ebooks. I'm trying to downsize my physical lib. too. So nice to have my complete library on one device.
Anyone in the Seattle area could probably talk me into giving them lucky boxes of yuri manga.
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#ScribesAndMakers – 4th Sept. Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?
A bunch. 90% of what I read is ebooks. I'm trying to downsize my physical lib. too. So nice to have my complete library on one device.
Anyone in the Seattle area could probably talk me into giving them lucky boxes of yuri manga.
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#ScribesAndMakers – 4th Sept. Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?
A bunch. 90% of what I read is ebooks. I'm trying to downsize my physical lib. too. So nice to have my complete library on one device.
Anyone in the Seattle area could probably talk me into giving them lucky boxes of yuri manga.
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#TimeTravelAuthors 09/3. How much time passes in your story?
As the characters experience it, a few weeks.
As the world (time-particle) experiences it: From the Paleogene extinction event until 1,802,701 CE, or roughly 68 million years.
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#TimeTravelAuthors 09/3. How much time passes in your story?
As the characters experience it, a few weeks.
As the world (time-particle) experiences it: From the Paleogene extinction event until 1,802,701 CE, or roughly 68 million years.
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#TimeTravelAuthors 09/3. How much time passes in your story?
As the characters experience it, a few weeks.
As the world (time-particle) experiences it: From the Paleogene extinction event until 1,802,701 CE, or roughly 68 million years.
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#TimeTravelAuthors 09/3. How much time passes in your story?
As the characters experience it, a few weeks.
As the world (time-particle) experiences it: From the Paleogene extinction event until 1,802,701 CE, or roughly 68 million years.
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#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?
Sometimes it gives me writing ideas. I often write fanfic or Pastiches.
Or I study problems with it or things I appreciate.
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#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?
Sometimes it gives me writing ideas. I often write fanfic or Pastiches.
Or I study problems with it or things I appreciate.
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#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?
Sometimes it gives me writing ideas. I often write fanfic or Pastiches.
Or I study problems with it or things I appreciate.
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#PennedPossibilities 1085 — What is special about your world or universe?
A baroque mixture of creepy and romance; myth, legend, and folklore; and a sprinkling of poetry and metaphorical talk.
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#WordWeavers 7.1 — If your MC wore tee shirts, what would be on their favorite one?
T-shirs are cool with my characters.
- Arisu. ins #SakuraTrick t.So here is Kao in a #BandMaid t.
- Kao in a #IsTheOrderARabbit? (#GochiUsa) t.
- Kao in a "Cute is Justice" t.
- Kao in a #BandMaid t
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#ScribesAndMakers 17. What's an animated movie you love?
OVA films, Is the Order a Rabbit?? ~Dear My Sister~
And
Is the Order a Rabbit?? ~Sing For You~
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Paper Cranes Part 3 (Good Fortune Cranes)
#FanFiction #IsTheOrderARabbit (#GochiUsa)
#Wss366The street was gorgeous, with each shop and stall adorned with strings of colorful cranes.
“Look!” Chiya showed off a unique crane-shaped taiyaki [Note 1] that she had bought. “I have to learn to make these. Customers would love them: cranes, capybaras, cats, tanuki, and…”
“Usagi, rabbits,” the other girls chimed in.
Chiya nodded enthusiastically. “An Anko taiyaki with bean paste; cranes with custard…” She continued until she had exhausted all the possible animals.
The other girls had stopped listening and ran to a temple booth.
“I got a ‘Good Fortune,’” Rize said, unfolding the yellow crane he had bought at the temple.
“Mine is a ‘Tremendous Fortune,’” Syaro said, showing her blue crane to the others.
“It’s a ‘Bad Fortune,’” Chino said, holding out the red crane she had bought.
The girl selling them leaned over the edge of the stall, showing Chino a paper boat. “You’re so lucky. What you have is better than good luck. You can rid yourself of ill fortune by setting your crane sailing across the lake. All your bad luck will float away with it. Then come back and get a new fortune. Isn’t that wonderful—to exchange bad luck for good?”
“Yes, please,” Chino said, taking the boat from the woman.
Armed with the boat, they ran to the lake.
“Wow,” Megu said. The others just stared, mouths agape.
Before them, the lake spread out in an indigo-blue sheet. Light clouds floated above in an azure sky. A few paper boats floated lazily on the water’s #surface, amid dozens of cranes that had gathered there.
“Quadrillion,” Maya said in awe.
Chino placed her boat in the water, while Cocoa held her so she wouldn’t fall in. Then, carefully, she pushed the boat out into the lake.
“Oh, look,” Rize said as the boat sailed out among the cranes and then stopped where a gray crane examined it curiously.
Midori patted Chino’s head. “Looks like good fortune found you.”
Conclusion
[Note 1]Taiyaki
#ごちうさ #ご注文はうさぎですか?
#Wholesome #SliceOfLife #Yuri #FanFic
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP -
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 47: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart.
#Wss366 #TimeTravelAuthors 9/29. Author's choice/promo
“At last! I thought no one would find us,” Amelia said. “Fred went to find water; we have none. He’s been gone a long time.” She waved toward a row of coconut shells on the clearing's edge. Her rambling speech gave no hint of what our eyes could plainly see: a rotting skeleton and the jungle visible through the aviator’s translucent body.
I whispered to Emily so that the apparition couldn’t hear. “In 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared while crossing the Pacific. I don’t think she knows she’s dead. We need to break it to her slowly.”
“I didn’t hear a plane,” Amelia resumed. “Did you come from Howland Island? We missed it. Thank goodness we spotted Gardner.” [Note 5]
Note 5 Gardner/Nikumaroro
[Note 6] It is a #cardinal sin to omit the prompt word, so I cheated.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP -
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 46: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart.
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 9/27 Saturday excerpt (optional word: pleasant)
The ocean mist that was drifting in was #pleasant after the night's muggy warmth. The beach had been fairly straight until this point, but with the limited visibility, we almost fell into what I guessed was an inlet to a lagoon. Soggy, burnt wood was mixed with the sand, and its faint odor perfumed the air. We still hadn’t seen Amelia, and I was more convinced than ever that I knew where we were. It was the #worst option, the one place I’d prayed we wouldn’t find ourselves.
“I think I hear something,” Emily said, pointing inland.
When I listened, I thought I heard crying, but it could have been the wind. “That way is as good as any,” I said.
The sound faded as we walked along the beach. No matter how hard I listened, all I could hear was the wind, the surf, and the scuttling of crabs, some of which were as big as a cat or small dog.
The memory of a pretty papillon named "Rindy" floated up into my consciousness, and I wondered if he had been mine.
“There it is again,” Emily said.
This time, I could plainly hear a woman weeping. The sound came from in front of us, off to the right.
“Amelia, Amelia Earhart!” I yelled, and the weeping stopped.
“There’s a path,” Emily said, pointing to a rough trail leading inland through the trees.
“I’m here! Thank God at last,” came a shout from the direction the path led.
We followed the voice and soon found a clearing. In the center were the ashes of a fire, scattered coconut, and crab shells. The scent of the jungle and sea mingled with the sour-sweet stench of death. On the far side of the fire lay a rotting corpse. Crabs that had nearly picked the skeleton clean scurried away from our light. The word “#gross” almost escaped my lips.
Just beyond stood a woman dressed in aviator clothes. We had found Amelia Earhart.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP #historicalfiction
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17: Burning down the Heavens
#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear #EdgarRiceBurroughs
#wss366 #MastoPromptAfter that, things moved swiftly. A balloon ferried Captain Napier to the Fate Gear.
“You capitalist swine! How long have you been leading these running-dog lackeys?” Mina hailed Napier, embracing him. “Never mind. Wait till you hear what I’ve planned! We’re going after the ultimate tyrant. We’ll be burning down the heavens. My cabin, MiLord; the wind has ears. More importantly, I have a 100-year-old brandy looted from Emperor Muskrat’s yacht. Tiss sweet, like poetry, and smooth as silk.”
"#Better than yer rotgut grog and I'll hear yer plan. If it doesn't sound good after that bottle, we'll know it's Tommy rot," Napier said.
The two departed, leaving a scowling Nana with the Otherside pair.
“And what might you two be thinking, lollygagging in the rigging? You may be gunner’s mates to the Captain, but yer nothing but lumps of tar. Get ta polishing the brass or you’ll be wishing you were #home with the fishes.”
Soon, the two were polishing brass and whispering together.
“I don’t like how things look,” Sorawo said. “Mina’s plans to attacking a god.”
“Not just any god,” Toriko said. “The one they worship in Canada—well, actually all the West. He’s one mean hombre sending plagues, turning people into salt, and telling them to sacrifice their sons. His own son had to sacrifice himself to make God back off.”
“So you’re worried too?”
“A little,” Toriko said, putting her arms around Sorawo’s neck, burying Sorawo's face in her bosom. “Protect me.”
“Stop it, you perv,” Sorawo said, pushing Toriko away. “This is serious.”
“You’d better take my tits seriously.” Toriko pretended to pout.
“Whatever! Come on. I need you to stop messing around and listen.”
“Alright.” This time her pout was real.
“When I was looking for the mergaunt’s mother, I spotted a remnant of the portal the sorceress used. If things get bad, you can pull it open.”
“Not without Benimori”
Sorawo, about to protest, stopped. Caring about people was new to her. “You’re right, with Benimori.”
As they spoke, Napier and Mina left the cabin. Whether from the brandy or bravado, they both swaggered across the deck. Napier slapped Mina on the back, causing her to stagger. “I haven't heard anything so audacious in years. Here’s to burning down the heavens.” He raised the nearly empty brandy bottle and drained it dry. “Who’s the eunuch now!” he bellowed out, laughing as he slapped Mina on the back again.
“There she is!” someone shouted as the Fate Gear, Venus Falcon, and the two biremes raced away from Mercury.
Sorawo and Toriko looked up. Undulating in the sky was a black amoebic hole. The monstrous maw sucked everything around it into itself.
”I’ll get Beni!” Toriko said, heading for the galley.
Grand Conclusion Next Week.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #NMRTTFG
#UraPi #Steampunk #Pirates #Satire #PoliticalSatire -
Imber Befogged (Part 1)
#Wss366 9/25 #MastoPrompt 7-9/25
#Fog obscured the Wandering-Worlds. [Note 1] Though rare, it was not an unknown occurrence. Imbers [Note 2] who had found themselves befogged, reported finding their way back only by luck. Sometimes, Blades [Note 3] came for them later. It was best to keep quiet about what one saw in that #mist-shrouded landscape.
[Note 1] Wandering-Worlds: A liminal space affected by the imagination of wanderers. It serves as a shortcut between the floating continents.
[Note 2] Imbers: Individuals born with the power to walk the “Wandering-Worlds.”
[Note 3] Blades: Individuals tasked with hunting down and executing Imbers who break the law. They can suppress an Imber’s ability to walk the Wandering-Worlds.
“The Imber” only knew these things through rumors and stories told late at night. That was also forbidden, but when it was dark and no one could see the teller, stories would pass from speaker to listener. It was difficult to tell how distorted the stories had become as they passed from one Imber to another. “The Imber” doubted the stories of silver cities and feral undead monsters. But the fog was a thread that wound through all of them.
Now, “The Imber” knew that the fog was real because she was lost in it. The road she followed dipped downward rather than ascending. No matter how hard she tried to envision the road differently, it soon slipped back into its descent.
The road took a sharp turn, and she stood before a stone arch. Engraved words adorned its smooth white surface. The writing used an archaic form of the Shaw alphabet. “The Imber” studied the arabesque runes. Most of them were indecipherable. But scattered among the #sprays of flowers, she made out the words “History,” “Clay,” and a few common words.
Rather than enter the arch, she turned, looking to see if she could return the way she had come. However, the fog #snaked in heavy coils through the tumbled blocks that had once paved the road. Stories of undead monstrosities returned to her.
To be Continued
[Note 4] #FanFiction for a yet-to-be-published book, “Soul Fire” by Jesse Sprague.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #Fantasy #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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#TimeTravelAuthors 25. How do you picture your story world 50 years in the future?
I will leave this one for when people decide to explore the future, which is one of the options below.
Where will we go next?
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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Paper Cranes Part 3 (A Googolplex of Cranes)
#FanFiction #IsTheOrderARabbit (#GochiUsa)
#Wss366By the time the adults caught up with the girls, Maya was bursting with excitement. “There are thousands of them—thousands upon thousands of paper cranes! A googolplex worth.”
“What’s a googolplex?” Syaro asked Rize.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Cocoa overheard, “Ten times a googol, which is ten to the hundredth power.”
At the same time, Maya offered a simpler explanation. She swept her arms wide and said, “That’s a googolplex and a bazillion #gay-colored cranes.”
Midori’s explanation was even simpler: “It’s a lot.”
“So many definitions,” Takahiro said, looking at Midori. “I wonder what would happen if I asked for the definition of love.”
The kids hadn’t heard, having dashed ahead, and Midori missed his glance.
#ごちうさ #ご注文はうさぎですか?
#Wholesome #SliceOfLife #Yuri #FanFic
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP -
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 45: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart 2 of 2
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 9/23 Anger in your story
“I suppose it’s time I told you a little about myself. I’m told I take after my grandmother, a strong-willed woman. She was Chinese and met a dashing American officer. They later married. As you’d imagine, that caused quite a scandal. Not that anyone in the family talks about it.”
“I avoided marriage by becoming a stringer for the Arkham Daily Star. I think Grandma would have approved. My family didn’t.”
“It sounds like you admire her. Did you ever meet her?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I wish I had.”
Emily picked up a shell and tossed it into the water. “Anyway, about me. In 1927, I was in Shanghai when Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists. It was the right time and place for me, though not for the thousands who were slaughtered. The streets literally ran red. I survived and sent dispatches home. That’s when the service recruited me.”
Her voice grew quieter. “I also witnessed what happened to the Bonus Army when we fired on our own veterans. I’ve seen it all and have no love for it.” [Note 2] [Note 3]
She finished simply: “I love my country, but not war and violence.”
“Thank you,” I said, starting down the beach again. I wondered how we matched up. She was a tough lady. From what I could tell, I’d been a professor who enjoyed food, alcohol, and esoteric studies. The image I had of myself was a soft spinster type. She wanted to save the universe, and I just wanted to gadfly around.
I wasn’t one for self-flagellation, so I set those thoughts aside. “Let’s look for Amelia,” I said.
“I agree.” If I read Emily’s tone correctly, she was glad to leave the subject behind.
[Note 2] The Bonus Army
[Note 3] Shanghai Massacre (1927)#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP #history
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 45: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart 1 of 2
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 9/23 Anger in your story
Emily was facing me now. Her eyes shone under the newly risen tropical moon. For the first time, I noticed the slight Asian cast to them, which made sense given her last name, Pang. A #mist had drifted in from the sea, casting a romantic halo around her face. “She isn’t bad-looking,” I thought, “if only there were fewer sharp edges to her personality.”
“Those lyrics sound angry,” Emily said. “But I think I understand. Like when we opened fire on the veterans in the Hoovervilles.” [Note 1]
“Yeah, it was like that. The National Guard shot students protesting a war. I have a question for you. Don’t answer if it’s none of my business, but as someone in military intelligence who’s also anti-communist, I wouldn’t expect you to be anti-militaristic.”
“That wasn’t a question,” she #pronounced, “but I’ll answer the one you meant to ask. Have you seen innocent people get shot? Or what an artillery shell can do to someone? I have.”
“Oh,” I said.
[Note 1] Hoovervilles
Continued in next post
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP #History
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CW: Wss366 Microfic Possibly sacrilegious
EMERGENCY The Rapture
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #MicroPrompt
#WritersCoffeeClub 18 Sept: Have you written something blasphemous?#Bang! Suddenly, the sky lit up, and people on the park swings began floating up in the air. At least some of them. Arms of the monkey bars reached out to capture others.
I lowered the sun visor in the car and checked my emergency list of actions to take during the Rapture.
- Put on sun-#screen. (Cancer risk: Health risk of divine rays unknown.)
- #Comb your #bangs. (First impressions are important.)
- Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
- Step out of the car slowly, and keep your hands in plain view. (Lightning Risk)
#NMV366 #NMPrompts #NMMP #MicroFiction #TootFiction #Drabble #NMWCC @extraspecialbitter
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 43: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart. 3 of 3
#Wss366 #TimeTravelAuthors 9/21. How sincere are your characters?
I finished the song as we rounded a shallow point. Emily took my hand, and we stopped to look out over the water. The night was peaceful. The surf, the scuttling of crabs, and the wind in the nearby brush sang a mournful refrain to the lyrics: “When will they ever learn?”
“That’s a sad song. I’ve never heard it before,” Emily said and sang a snatch, “‘Covered with flowers every one.’” Then she added, “Flanders Fields goes, ‘Loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders fields.’ I hate the rest of the poem.”
A fish splashed out in the water.
Emily continued. “I used to believe that at least they were at peace. The guns were silent, and treaties were inked. I thought, ‘We’re done with war, and they can rest.’ But here we are, ghosts. You’re from the future, singing another sad song about the needless dying. The guns don’t stay silent long, do they?”
“No, they don’t,” I said. “Nor the sound of jackboots. ‘Gotta get down to it. Soldiers are gunning us down.’ That’s from another song—the rabbits scare me.” [Note 3]
Note 3: Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 43: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart. 2 of 3
#Wss366 #TimeTravelAuthors 9/21. Characters’ sincerity?
In front of us rose a dense wall of low, tangled scrub, and beyond that, the jagged silhouette of tall trees loomed against the night sky. I could identify palm trees among them. A cool breeze blew off the ocean, along with the steady drum of the surf. Out of the wind, the night was warm and humid. The air smelled of salt, leaf mold, and something faintly acrid.
“Heinr… Henrietta—Bijou?” She faltered and then asked, “What should I call you? That professor called you Henrietta something-or-other, but that’s not the name you gave me.”
“Mademoiselle Henrietta Dubois is dead, and I don’t even remember what her life was like. But Henrietta is easier than Luminelle. So, Henrietta Bijou will do.”
“Should I call you Hetty or Retta? What would you like?”
“Bijou. It’s easy, and what you’ve been calling me.”
“Okay, Bijou… Do you think there are timeparticles where there was no Great War and another war with Germany fizzles out?”
“It’s possible. If there are other time-travelers, it’s something they might want to do. Then again, maybe not. I’m guessing there’re forces working against that. Someone or something ransacked my office and murdered me.”
“Rabbits?”
“That seems like a good guess.”
“It never stops, does it, Bijou? We just keep doing it over and over.”
I changed the subject. Not to be a #jerk, but the conversation stirred up the shadows of uncomfortable memories and feelings. “I think I know where we are. Not the name, but the historical event. Let’s go find Amelia.”
I turned and walked down the beach. I found myself singing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
…
Gone for soldiers, every one.
…
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn? [Note 2]Note 2: Where have all the flowers gone -The Kingston Trio
Part 3 continues in the next post.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 43: EP 4: 1937 Amelia Earhart. 1 of 3
#Wss366 #TimeTravelAuthors 9/21. Characters’ sincerity? (Judge for yourself)
First came the shock of water lapping around my knees, followed by the roar of the surf filling my ears. Only later did I notice the briny odor and the bright, clear stars overhead.
“Where are we?” Emily asked as we waded up onto a beach of coral sand.
“Meeting Amelia Earhart. I’m not sure where or when. I didn’t have time to consider our destination. Sorry for not consulting you.”
“It’s all right. I have to reflect on your conversation back there. There doesn’t seem much point in changing history if it only affects…” Her voice trailed off as she searched for a word.
“A timeparticle,” I supplied.
“Right. What’s the point if it only affects a single timeparticle?”
“Guess it’s like being a doctor. You can only save one life at a time.” I wondered why I was arguing. I hadn’t been keen on changing time to begin with.
“Like a combat surgeon. As the poem says, ‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow.’” [Note 1]
“I suppose,” I said, looking around.
Part 2 continues in the next post.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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3. The Hind Most Wound
#FanFiction #TheApothecaryDiaries
#wss366 #MastoPromptThe Moon Prince lay under thick blankets, head #cushioned on a rolled-up cloak. Even from afar, Mao could make out his sickly green pallor, his labored breathing, and his slack skin. A lone woman was watching him silently from the corner.
“I’ll need hot water,” she said. The room was now her territory. Short of a high noble, no one would question her here. “Be sure it’s boiled, and have someone with clean hands do it. Not ‘Filthy Hands’ out there. Also, bring the finest clean cloth you can, and plenty of it. I can use coarse cloth or cotton batting for some of it. I have alcohol, but I may need more. Get the strongest you can find. No one’s private stash is exempt.”
“I’ll get right to it,” Basen said, but instead of leaving, he #snapped his fingers at the young woman in the corner. Mao frowned. The girl had been watching, sharp-eyed despite her silence. Snapping was wasteful noise, like shouting orders at a wall. Still, the woman neither flinched nor looked away. That steadiness was more interesting to Mao than Basen’s brusqueness.
“Meiling (美玲),” Basen continued. “You’ll help Maomao. Do whatever she asks! Anything!” He turned to Mao. “You can trust her. She’s reliable and knows about the Moon’s lotus mark. There’s just one thing: she can’t talk. It was deemed most suitable for someone who would serve the Moon Prince so closely.”
Meiling, “Beautiful Tinkling Jade,” Mao thought, an ironic name for a mute. Then, she turned to Jinshi.
The first thing she noticed when she removed the blankets was the bandage on the prince’s flank. Seepage stained the freshly applied cloth greenish-yellow.
As she removed the bandage, she asked, “Did you apply this?”
She glanced back and saw the girl nod.
Mao pointed to the stains. “Any change?”
The girl motioned, indicating less.
“Is he more or less active? Moaning? Rolling? Anything?”
Again, Meiling slowly brought her hands together.
“Less? That’s serious,” Mao said.
Mao returned her attention to the patient. The flesh around the wound was white. When she pressed on the tissue, she found it hard. Thin, yellowish-green fluid oozed from the wound. Mao sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. She pressed again harder noting the lack of reaction by the Prince. As she had suspected, the poisoning was quite advanced.
“Dispose of this bandage where no one will find it,” Mao ordered the woman. “Then get Basen. I have more questions. You can take his place in gathering my items. I’ll send for you as soon as I can.”
Continued next week in Detective MoaMoon 探偵猫月
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP
#ApothecaryDiaries -
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 42f: EP 3: 2025 Miskatonic University
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 9/19. Any references to other time travel works in your story? — No
Still puzzled, Skully opened the drawer and pulled out a local newspaper. The front cover announced, “The Pendulum Murder,” and underneath, “Another Spooky U Mystery.”
He rapidly closed the drawer. “From the day after you were discovered. Nothing futuristic about it.”
“About time-travel?” I nudged.
“Right, let’s see. You said, ‘Most people picture time as a single immutable line. My theory—and by that I mean your theory—is that time is closer to a high-pressure stream of water. All of time exists at once, and time-pressure keeps each contemporary timeparticle identical.’”
He took a breath, and I thought, “He has an excellent memory.”
He continued quoting me verbatim. “A small deviation in a timeline is easily corrected. For example, the rat I brought you. When I put it back into its cage, our timeline will be virtually identical to one where the rat wasn’t sent back in time. Even major changes may be smoothed over. If a large change remains uncorrected, that timeparticle flies out of the timestream, like a water droplet or minor spray.”
“Frankly,” he finished. “I thought all your drinking had #fried your brains.”
Emily called from the door, “Someone is coming.”
“Thank you, Professor Skully,” I said. “I suggest you forget this conversation, or you may wind up dead. There appear to be other time-travelers, and they don’t want to share their secret. Oh, and also, I was just a confused student and have left.”
“Wait,” he began, but I had already taken Emily’s hand.
“Best if I’m not seen here.” I didn’t add, “Especially if they’re #enamored with our rabbits.”
Judging by the loud voices down the hall, we would soon have visitors. We had to go now, and Amelia Earhart was who I thought of first.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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Empty Birthday (Chiya Birthday 2015) Part 2/2
** #IsTheOrderARabbit? (#GochiUsa) #FanFiction **
** #宇治松千夜生誕祭2025 #ChiyaBirthday **
#Wss366She stared, blinked, and stared again.
All her friends were there, serious looks on their faces. Her frowning Grandmother stood next to them, plus the Jinja twins.
Chiya’s heart raced as she waited for what should come next. But no happy birthday cheer erupted.
“Well?” Grandmother asked.
“You said there wouldn’t be a party,” Chiya managed to say.
Rize spoke first. “We’re not here for a party.”
Chiya waited, her stomach churning.
“We’re here for a picnic at the river,” Cocoa said, finally smiling.
“The beach should be empty today,” Chino said.
“Picnic? Wha?—You cheated!” Chiya wailed.
Grandmother stepped forward and handed her a basket. “Golden Kilimanjaro Chicken, Rising Sun Buns, and Tart Sunshine in a bottle. Plus, your swimsuit. Happy birthday! The Jinja twins will cover your shifts.”
•─────⋅☾☽⋅─────•
Chiya thought back on it as she stared across the empty blue river, seconds before Maya leaped into it.
“We’re too old for a party but not a picnic,” Rize said, handing her that bottle of Tart Sunshine.
#ごちうさ #ご注文はうさぎですか? #MicroFiction #TootFic #Yuri #SliceOfLife #Anime #Manga #NMV366 #NMPrompts @chikorita157
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Empty Birthday (Chiya Birthday 2025) Part 1/2
#IsTheOrderARabbit? (#GochiUsa) #FanFiction
#宇治松千夜生誕祭2025 #ChiyaBirthday
#Wss366The water bowl shone with a faint blue light. In it, Chiya saw her reflection and an empty, rippling blue. She stared for a full minute, hoping something would appear. Then, sighing, she recited a closing chant of thanks to Mizuhanome-no-Kami.
She reverently disposed of the water, wiped out the brass lotus-shaped divining bowl, and wrapped it in soft, blue silk. She’d been sure the bowl would reveal that her friends were actually holding a surprise birthday party for her. Surprise parties were almost a tradition at this point.
Feeling empty, she dressed for work. For some reason, Grandmother had scheduled her for a double shift. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but today was her birthday. She shouldn’t have to work extra just because her family didn’t celebrate birthdays.
If she could have said her friends were doing something, she was sure Grandmother would have let her off, just this once. But they weren’t. The divination had been the last proof.
Yesterday she went to Syaro’s and found her mending clothes.
“I need to make plans for tomorrow. Is anything special happening?” Chiya had asked.
“No one has told me anything.” Syaro didn’t look up from replacing a button on her blouse.
“It’s my birthday,” Chiya said.
“Oh, that’s right. Happy birthday.” Syaro’s voice was flat as she bent forward, focusing on a stitch.
With a sinking feeling, Chiya left and #called Rize. Rize would tell the truth if pressed.
“I have to work all day tomorrow, but if you have plans for a party, I could get off,” Chiya explained.
“Party? No, there’s no party. I have to study late for exams,” Rize replied.
“It’s my birthday. There has to be a party, and I promise I’ll be surprised.”
“Honestly, I promise there isn’t a birthday party. We’re almost adults. Birthday parties are for kids.”
What could she say to that? “I’m still a kid.”
Rize wouldn’t lie to her, she thought as hope had drained away, leaving emptiness. Maybe they were tired of her. Were they thinking things like: “She thinks she’s a big business tycoon;” “She’ll put us out of business;” “Snob always dressing fancy?”
Empty, empty, empty. That’s how she felt as she finished dressing. If she put on her smile, no one would know how much it hurt.
“Get down here, you’re wanted,” Grandmother called.
She pasted her smile on, trooped into the café, and stopped. It was dim with the windows still covered. A dust mote drifted in a shaft of light. Somewhere, she heard Anko scurrying in the silence.
#ごちうさ #ご注文はうさぎですか? #MicroFiction #TootFic #Yuri #SliceOfLife #Anime #Manga #NMV366 #NMPrompts @chikorita157
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Confession of a Yandere (ヤンデレ彼女の 白状)
Love’s Paper Crane 愛の折り鶴
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #FanFiction (#BloomIntoYou)
The four women sat in silence, pondering what had happened. Arisu and Touko seemed to have finally found a place of mutual acceptance, while Yuu and Saeki were trying to follow their logic. Even if the encounter between Arisu and Touko had been #unplanned, it had been an unforeseen boon.
Sarasa-san arrived with their order. “I hope it’s not cold,” she said, setting the tray down. “You were all having such an intense conversation, I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“You see those two girls over there?” Arisu nodded toward Haru and her date. “Take this,” she said, handing Sarasa-san some money. “Bring them a pastry and cover their bill. If they ask who it’s from, say, ‘Someone who wishes to make amends quietly.’” She thought for a moment and then #called after Sarasa. “Oh, and give the athletic one this.” Arisu handed her a paper crane. “Tell her it's for luck in love.”
“I can do that. Enjoy your tea. And if you’re planning on watching the fireworks, there’s a little shrine at the end of the mall. Not many people know about it, but the view’s amazing.”
Conclusion
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #Yuri #Yandere #Manga #Anime #LightNovel #Romance #Romancelandia #FanFic
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 41e: EP 3: 2025 Miskatonic University
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 9/17. Wednesday snippet (optional word: strange)
Skully gave me a dubious look. I supposed the situation was #uncanny, but I had nailed it when I said this was the Metaphysical Research Building. One should expect the #bizarre.
Clearing his throat, he began. “You were studying parallel universes and time-travel. All semester, you’ve been saying you were on the verge of a breakthrough.”
“Three weeks ago, you showed up with a rat dyed pink, claiming it was from the future. I was skeptical, so you promised to deliver next week’s newspaper. I joked, ‘Next week’s laundry #list would do.’”
“The following day, you took a vacation. Events #crowded in after that. The day after you left, someone ransacked your lab and burned your notes. That evening, police found your body cut in half in two different cemeteries. It was quite the scandal.”
“Did you find the newspaper?” I asked.
He reached for a desk drawer. “It was rather gruesome…” He stopped, his eyebrows knit in puzzlement. “No, I don’t remember any newspaper.”
“Time-pressure,” I thought. The paper or the memory of it would destabilize this timeline. That I knew about time-pressure, AKA time-stability, showed that I understood more about time-travel than I realized. From what the professor had said, that made sense. Time-travel had been my area of research. It was just a matter of stimulating that knowledge to resurface.
“There must be time-wardens or something that disposed of me,” I said, swallowing the word “rabbits.” I sounded #crazy enough already.
“Go on, tell me about time-travel itself,” I said.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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16: Carson Napier
#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear #EdgarRiceBurroughs
#wss366 #MastoPromptThe trireme was now so close that the Otherside pair could read the name on the prow, Venus Falcon. The biremes had fanned out, threatening to flank the Fate Gear from the starboard and port. Meanwhile, the swift galleys marshaled to sweep in once the behemoth ex-prison ship was brought to heel.
“Hold your fire,” Mina bellowed. The order was as sudden as it was unexpected.
“Navigator, I wish to hail them,” the captain said.
Yuri flipped on the amplifiers.
"Hail, Captain Napier! You imperialist dog! Was Venus too hot a berth?" Mina’s voice boomed out.
The man at the prow of the Venus Falcon signaled, and a white flag swept aside the black. The thunder of a single cannon #report drew all eyes to the trireme.
Captain Carson Napier [Note 1] sheathed his sword before making a gesture not found in any book of signals.
“Fly the countersign,” Mina said into the hush that had fallen.
[Note 1] Captain Carson Napier: #Origin: The Venus series (also known as the “Amtor series”) written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Continued next week in Burning Down the Heavens.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #NMRTTFG
#UraPi #Steampunk #Pirates #Metal #JMetal #Satire #PoliticalSatire -
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 40d: EP 3: 2025 Miskatonic University
#Wss366 #TimeTravelAuthors 9/15. Any miracles?
I’d known it would come to this. Words wouldn’t be enough to convince Skully.
“Watch,” I said, pressing my fingers against the top of his desk. At first, the desk was solid and resisted me. Then my hand sank as though through #bog mud and every bit as unpleasant. When I pulled my hand out, I was holding a handful of pencils and pens from inside the drawer.
“That wasn’t a miracle,” I said. I had no idea whether it was occult or scientific, but I knew no divine intervention was involved. I was neither a saint, demon, nor bodhisattva.
“It’s a trick. Do it again!”
“No, it’s hard work. You said I died, and here I am. I just dematerialized my hand and pulled stuff out of your drawer. For heaven’s sake, this is the Metaphysical Research Building. You can’t get any more metaphysical than a spirit.”
Skully stared at me for a full minute before finally saying, “Okay, you’re a ghost. Why are you visiting me?”
I resisted the urge to say that I was the Ghost of Christmas Past. This wasn’t the time for one of my corny jokes. Remaining serious, I said, “I need you to tell me about time-travel.”
“What? You’re the expert on that. I only know what you told me.”
“Then repeat that.”
“Wait a second,” I said, holding up my hand. “I want my partner to hear this. Don’t worry, she won’t bother you. It’s as hard for her to materialize as it is for me to do the reverse.”
I politely ignored Skully’s open-mouthed stare and cracked the door so Emily could listen.
That done, I said, “Okay, I’m ready now.”
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP
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Jack
#Wss366 #MicroPrompt 9/13
Jack, Jack, come out and play!
The sun may shine another day.The children's song rang hollow in Jack's ears, wilted cabbage leaves that had started to slide down the side of his face.
Whirling faster and faster, the children danced around him, till someone's hand slipped, sending them all flying helter-skelter across the muddy schoolyard.
Jack's smile wobbled and then slumped as he watched yesterday's friends laughing, the oldest helping the little one up, dabbing their tears with handkerchiefs made from gingham flour #bags.
Miss Dupont watched, imagining the lectures on staying clean that the mud-spattered girls would receive that evening. Recess was over, so she rang her bell.
"Jack's gone all #melty," said Becky Layette, the eldest. Soon she would be Becky Poindexter and have young ones of her own. She was the girl who had presented Jack with two bright, shiny brass-button eyes. Now, only one eye remained, staring at the spring thaw sun.
She gave him a push, and he was no more.
#SliceOfLife #MicroFiction #TootFic #NMPrompts #NMMP #NMV366
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Confession of a Yandere (ヤンデレ彼女の 白状)
Touko and Arisu
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #FanFiction (#BloomIntoYou)
Touko thought the question over, giving it the consideration it and Arisu deserved. “What would I do if Yuu seemed interested in someone else?” she muttered.
“I’d talk to Yuu, and if she said she preferred the other person, I’d be content as long as she’s happy… But I’d feel awful.”
Arisu stared. “You would? You’d give her up without a fight?”
“…Yes. I wouldn’t fight it. I’ve spent too long taking advantage of Yuu’s feelings. Saeki’s too. But I don’t want to be that kind of person anymore. If Yuu… if she changed how she felt, then that would be her choice. I wouldn’t stand in the way.”
Yuu silently shook her head. No way was she leaving her girlfriend.
Touko’s voice quavered. “But I never said it would be fine; it would hurt—down to my core. I’d still love her. That wouldn’t change. But I’d carry my pain quietly, for her. Better to bury myself in my career than risk hurting her.”
Arisu looked down, bit one of her knuckles, ignored the hand Saeki offered her, and then responded. “I wish I had that kind of strength. But I don’t. I’d cry, #curse, beg, and follow Saeki around like a stalker—like before. I’d shoot dirty looks at the other girl too. If someone could intimidate her that easily, they wouldn’t deserve my Sayaka. And then... I’d go. If that’s what Saeki needed, I’d have to respect it. I’m not cold like you. I couldn’t pretend it didn’t tear me up.”
“No, you’re not,” Touko laughed with genuine amusement at how different they were. “You’re passionate in a way I never was. Saeki likes that. I don’t think Yuu would, so we’re both well matched.” She paused, then continued. “Maybe that’s why I turned Sayaka-san down. She needed that kind of fierce loyalty. Yuu doesn’t. If I’m tied up in rehearsals, she quietly does her own thing or comes to the rehearsal and reads a book she keeps in her #bag. I could never have given Sayaka what she needed.”
“Arisu?” Saeki asked, seeing her girlfriend’s look of deep concentration.
She responded slowly, thinking about each word as she said it. “So it wasn’t Saeki you rejected; it’s that you were unsuitable.”
If the conversation hadn’t been so serious, either Yuu or Saeki might have laughed at that turn of logic. But Touko answered with dead seriousness, “Something like that, yes.”
“Then you’re forgiven.” Arisu’s answer was just as serious.
“Friends now?” Touko asked.
“Friends.” Arisu nodded. “And I take back that crack about your being cold.”
“Thank you, that hurt.”
Yuu and Saeki exchanged looks, then shrugged. Touko and Arisu were in a world neither of them could fathom.
5 of 6 Continued
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #Yuri #Yandere #Manga #Anime #LightNovel #Romance #Romancelandia #FanFic
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Paper Cranes Part 2 (In Praise of Hott Cocoa)
#FanFiction #IsTheOrderARabbit (#GochiUsa)
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #MicroPrompt 9/13Takahiro and Midori watched the girls with their eyes, smiling as they saw Maya and Megu stare at the paper cranes decorating the shop. Chino, more reserved, peeked over their shoulders.
Meanwhile, Cocoa bought the tickets and tried corralling the girls, only to be sucked into their excitement.
“They’re so happy,” Midori said, “Practically #luminous.”
“Even Chino,” Rize said, bashful at joining the adult conversation. “The shop is so much fun to work at now.”
She hurriedly added, “Not that it wasn’t before.”
“Even if you have to clean up Cocoa's messes?” Midori asked.
“It #bugs me sometimes, but even then. How could I not? She makes you smile. Even Chino is brighter now. She used to hardly ever smile.”
Takahiro nodded. “We can thank Cocoa for that. I was worried at first about letting her stay with us, but it’s been a #blessing.”
“And we’ve made lots of new friends because of her.” Rize smiled at Chiya and Syaro.
The girls smiled back.
“There’s something about her,” Chiya said. “She’s so scatterbrained, but she brings people together. It’s hard not to have fun around her.”
“Go on, you three join them,” Takahiro said. “You don’t really want to be with the stodgy adults. There’s time enough for that.”
The three girls looked at each other, then Rize nodded. She turned to the adults and said, “It’s been nice speaking with you, Takahiro-san. You too, Midori-san. But you’re right; we belong with them.”
The girls set off after their friends at a trot.
As he watched them leave, Takahiro said to Midori, “They grow up so fast.”
“Too fast, I think,” Midori added.
#ごちうさ #ご注文はうさぎですか?
#Wholesome #SliceOfLife #Yuri #FanFic
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP