#pennedpossiblities — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pennedpossiblities, aggregated by home.social.
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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.11.22 —What has been the biggest change to your style since you started out?
Old Style:
Her palm touched [the glass]. The outline of her hand fogged around it. Cold. Amazing.
Even she understood the wealth necessary to have an actual window on the exterior of the arcology. Were the Decath really that wealthy? She shook her head at the nonsense of spending that amount of money when you could buy a cheap wallview and program it for substantially less.
New Style:
Expensive. She touched an actual window on the exterior of the arcology!
Were the Decath really that wealthy? She shook her head. What nonsense, spending that amount of money when their cheap home wallview was as high resolution—and programmable! Well, nearly, but the perspective shift nearing an actual window fascinated her. She found herself looking to see the blue reflective side of the pyramidal building, then old Chicago far below, or craning her head one way or the other to see the lakeshore and newly rained upon glittering exurbs to the west. With some sensors, maybe a wallview could be programmed to respond to her head position and pan…
The examples are a revision where I'd fallen into my old style and am now asserting my new style. My shift toward mostly writing 1st person (the samples were third) has accompanied my shift toward grammar B fluidity and describing what the character experiences not the reader if they there, watching.
In my reply to #PennedPossiblities 851, I write dynamically about the sensation and the aesthetics of flight from a winged human's POV. My new grammar B style helps me answer from the melancholy POV of Bolt (though slightly too eloquently to be in character) from Reluctant Courier (for the Mob), something I could not have done years ago.
https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/115592392330305513
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory #RSMarsNeededWomen -
#PennedPossiblities 703. Does your antagonist have any noticeable scars?
If the Fractured King allowed himself to be seen nude, you'd see a body riddled with many millennia's worth of scars. The places where his ritualistically severed and cursed limbs would be most visible; other scars have faded with time. However, his face is absolutely smooth and handsome. He's always dressed to impress around those who serve underneath him when pretending to be their leader.
The Trio who wishes to not fade...Henoval has nearly flawless skin, save for a few noticeable scars on their fingertips. The Puppeteer of Mechanics, she has scars long all her joints and other articulation points. As if she were a puppet herself, instead of a master. Xechiaruvan, he's devoid of scars.
Serena Ligh, for a fae of her stature, has but a light scar above her heart; tucked artistically between her cleavage. How someone ever scarred such a powerful diplomat and combatant remains a mystery. The individual who accomplished the feat is certainly not amongst the living, as it would be an affront to suffer the knowledge that this being lived.
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#pennedpossibilities 633 — How did you choose the title for your story, and what significance does it hold for you?
Mars Needs Women was a 1968 schlock female-exploitation film. The title has had staying power (pun intended) even if the film didn't. My feminist SF short novel (now in revision) is about a woman from an endpoint technological religio-fascist society (2024 thru the 2100s) that takes biblical patriarchy seriously and leaves women few options but to be exploited. I wanted to show how women might run a society differently if they could get their chance.
The title came to me quickly, with the verb set instead to the past tense: Mars Needed Women. This is because women were contracted for colonization purposes, to have children. It's from a recruitment poster early in the story. When the colonization effort goes bankrupt and men die disproportionately compared to the imported women, the dynamics of power change. Over the 25 year span of the story, women and their predominately female native Martian children take over the jobs and then governing. When the women declare themselves an independent matriarchal nation, Earth's patriarchy slanders (ring a bell about modern time?) Mars' women so as to have an excuse to put down the "rebellion."
However, women don't fight like men. War isn't a game when you are keeping your children alive… This is why Mars needed women to survive.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#sf #sff #sciencefiction
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#RSdiscussion #PennedPossiblities
#RSstory #RSMarsNeededWomen -
#PennedPossibilities 574 — When was the last time your antagonist / villain cried?
It is not that she doesn't. When you'd lived through all she's lived through, it's not an everyday occurrence, either. She cries in the tootfic in #PennedPossiblities 151 (Memories Fade https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/111537950013710864). She maybe cries in the current WIP when she asks the male MC to hold her. Here's an #excerpt:
[Immortal] Rainy Days wasn't the 24-year-old she appeared to be. She waited, staring at the clouds that silhouetted themselves across the blazing westering orb, throwing shadows longer than the length of a prefecture over and beyond us. She waited for a boy barely a man who was infinitesimally as old, compared to her.
I reached out an arm and a wing and pulled her so our shoulders touched.
With a sigh, some of the weight of her world and her body transferred to me. For her height, her head rested atop mine instead of my shoulder, but it was the same set of symbols we manipulated together. Meaning. Shared comprehension.
"Hold me," she said, "Simple contact, that's what I need, not passion. Remind me I'm only human. I don't need forgiveness for the next set of new mistakes I'll undoubtedly make, but to be reminded that I'm working to keep our world from dying."
I didn't have words. I did have wings and arms, though. I turned and held her against my chest. She shuddered and I wondered if she teared up. Sounded like it. Felt like it. The difference in size between her and I accentuated my earlier sense of mother and child. Me. The child. Comforting the mother. That made me laugh. Briefly. It was some of what I did for Thorn [his girlfriend], also.
"What?" she asked, sniffling.
I tightened my hold.
Sparkles started popping around us. Virtual particles in tiny bubbles of slowed time, I'd been told, which didn't make them less startling or amazing...
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
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#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#EngenderedWritingQ — Engendered Writing Author Daily Challenge Questions Week 1 (0A-07)
Starting November 1, 2024
Released Weekly
Hashtag for Responses and to Follow: #EngenderedWriting
Follow for Weekly Prompts: #EngenderedWritingQ
Google Docs Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RK_eD_1Q-P7VKv8xYVDeF7kkHuNX8878pBeELo3VAU/- The linked doc contains all the released prompts, as well as a response template to make playing quicker and easier.
Please boost so your writer and author followers see the challenge.
"Gender Fiction asks the reader to rethink their understanding of gender roles and what gender actually means, regardless of or in conjunction with sexual preference. Feminism is a subset of this. Many of these prompts are the product of my first hand experience, derived from conversations with differently-gendered and differently-attracted people I've met, stories I've written, or from things I've read such as news articles or fiction. I hope this game makes you more aware of reflexive depictions of societal and religious norms that exist to force people conform—so as to not challenge the status quo." —R.S.
Instructions: Answer only if you are comfortable answering! Take care not to out yourself. Don't stress. If you want to answer something the question inspires you to answer instead, do it! Answer in any order or at any time, early, late, all at once, etc.The numbers are not dates and I will enumerate past 31 (I have 48 questions at the time of this posting). Feel free to PM me with questions, corrections, or prompts at any time—including warning me to CW if a question goes over the line. The bracketed title is an alternate short title for tiny tooters, or simply use #EngenderedWriting followed by the number.
Note: I've received contributions from our fabulous writing community. Those questions are attributed to their authors. However, I take responsibility for tweaking or rewriting their words. Whilst I'll take all the blame, give them all the credit.
Two preview challenge questions for the season have been added! Woot!
- 0A — The MC in your WiP gets to choose any gender or sexual preference for a day. What do they do? Why? What if it came without negative consequences, or on a day like Halloween? [MC Gender Roulette?]
- 00 — Do any of your characters use holidays, like Halloween, as permission or cover to be "out"without actually being "out," or to crossdress? Why or why not? ["Out" Trick or Treating?]
- 01 — How do you define gender? Does this differ from the dictionary definition? Do your characters reflect society's role model, or your synthesis? [Define Gender.]
- 02 — Do you ever play with gender in your writing? Tell us about it. [Played with Gender?] @JessMahler
- 03 — At some age, someone told you (or your MC), "You can't," because you are a girl / boy / etc. Does that reflect in your stories? How? [No, You're a Boy / Girl!]
- 04 — Your MC is handed an abandoned / lost magical girl infant. It switches them to female for milk or male for protection, etc. How do they react? [Handling Gender Switch.]
- 05 — Have you ever written a feminist or gender fiction story? Why or why not? Share a link if you wish. [Written gender fiction?]
- 06 — Have you ever been accused of writing a gender unfriendly story? (E.g., anti-feminist, anti-man, etc.) How did you react? How would you react reading one? [Tarred as Gender Unfriendly?]
- 07 — Have you written / read "outed" stories? (E.g., The MC has masqueraded as a teenage boy for ages in a repressive society, but her sanitary pad overflows the plumbing in the restroom—what now?) Is this a genre or hackneyed? Share a link or a recommendation. [Written "Outed" Stories?]
Next week's prompts will display as a reply to this thread.
One last promo to your hashtags. Please forgive me: #WritersCoffeClub #PennedPossiblities #WordWeavers
[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S @sfwrtr]
#game #challenge about #fiction #mystery #thriller #romance #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing for #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
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#PennedPossiblities 79. MC POV: What is your sexual orientation? Are you comfortable with it?
Erebus: I identify with being a homosexual the most; a term used in the pre-apocalyptic world. Back then, people hated those who were attracted to the same gender...These days we have more pressing matters that are the immediate concern of humanity. Like relations with the Supernaturals that woke up with the explosion of magic. The label doesn't bother me a bit, another matter bothers me more.
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#PennedPossiblities Continued.
Zomazar being a Nekrismationist would do the opposite, after detecting if the presence were alive or dead would make the steps slightly different. As Nekrismation is more about using dead things and beings as tools or weapons; enslaving them, destroying them or reanimating them, Zomazar would evaluate the strength of his next tool. Taking the necessary steps to dominate and make use of said presence for his own purposes. Nejitemi taught him many techniques...
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CW: My line in the sand- direct SA scenes
#PennedPossiblities 379 — As a writer, are there any lines that you simply will not cross?
I will write about murder, madness, violence, gore, torture. However, I cannot write descriptive and direct sexual assault/rape scenes.
There is something in me that completely breaks mentally and creatively, I don't want to visualize SA or make other people visualize it either!
I can write about the aftermath though...
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#PennedPossiblities 371: Is your MC possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them? How do they express that possessiveness, or lack thereof?
Erebus: People are sentient beings who I can't own (wouldn't want to). My items of great significance, no touching, mine!
Zomazar: My things are so treasured that I will end your life to protect them; if you are a fun friend, you might get away with a bit of mutilation! I find it difficult to get possessive over friends, we're all free.
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#PennedPossiblities 370: Does your SC prefer taking risks or having a safety net?
Most of my SC characters as a whole could be roughly divided into two groups: loving a safety net or well-versed in risk-taking behavior, as they've got a devil may care attitude. Vague, but honestly true, as the archetype for SCs in my story worlds have this unfortunate limitation at the moment. A rough draft is a blueprint that you can build a better story with later. ROFL
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#WritersCoffeeClub Do #WritersCoffeeClub, #Wordweavers or #PennedPossiblities inspire you?
Some of the questions make me think about character development for my main or side characters. Others make me think of my own writing process.
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#PennedPossibilities 190 — Write about something your SC frequently forgets.
The unnamed secondary character from Inklings frequently forgets he's an exchange student in a foreign land. He's lived here for over a year and has gotten used to it. He has had a number of girlfriends, with benefits, were back home that was something unsafe to do. (Unsettled succession that could end up bloody, and did.) Women have more rules here, as does society, but are also more liberal and confusing about getting around them... again, with rules. Women find him exotic and attractive, but his intermittently falling back to his easy-going tropical island ways causes him to have few actual friendships.
When he makes a behavioral mistake with the MC of the story, it nearly gets him torn to bits.
Related SC background in #PennedPossiblities 188: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/111724684686396261
[Author retains copyright (c)2024 RS.]
#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool
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#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSInklingsStory -
@floofpaldi @johnhowesauthor @AlinaLeonova @BranwenOShea
Re: #writever, @k_tastrof oversees the prompt lists, and every month the list is from a different (group of) author(s).
#WritersCoffeeClub #tootfic #PennedPossiblities #WritersCoffeeClub #WordWeavers #wordweavers #Writever #writever #BoostingIsSharing #CommentingIsCool #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #RSdiscussion
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#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 3 Nbr 22 — Who do you acknowledge in your work?
I am collecting my #tootfic stories together into an anthology. I wrote the acknowledgment as follows:
Many people with hashtag prompts and games contributed to making it possible to write the stories in this book. You can be a teacher while having fun and exploring, it seems. The hashtags and aliases below exist on Mastodon.
@floofpaldi (Panda Bear) #PennedPossiblities
@johnhowesauthor (John Howe) #WritersCoffeeClub
@AlinaLeonova (Alina Leonova) #WordWeavers
@BranwenOShea (Branwen OShea) #wordweavers
If someone can tell me who authors #writever, I will include their alias also.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion -
#PennedPossiblities
How do MC and SC pass time?Robert: Paperwork, business letters, and brooding. A nighttime walk when the weather is good. Very rarely, he goes to see a late show or stumbles into a quiet bar. This happens less often since they settled in town.
Vic: Reading. It wasn't always that way, but she's making up for lost time. Now that she has access to topics that interest her, she can't wait to read them all.
Emily: Her hands are always busy sewing something. Or reading. Or cleaning something that hasn't been taken care of yet. She's a master of busywork.
Johann: Napping. Seriously. It's his favorite hobby, second only to spending time with Emily. He just appreciates his time to relax and makes full use of it. -
#PennedPossiblities 4/10
How do your characters want to be perceived?Vic: Dependable and intelligent. Not that she isn't already, in her own way, just that others often just see her as a bit reckless with her tenacity. She just hasn't learned how to use it to project the image she wants.
Robert: Caring and empathetic. He struggles with expressing his care and his emotions. The people closest to him have figured out his tells, but it's new people that he has a tough time conveying that to. -
CW: #PennedPossibilities 18; #WritingWonders 7.22 — A time you had to let go of someone you loved; does your MC cause drama or resolve it within their friend group? CW: Sex, drugs, no rock & roll, gang involvement. Minor spoilers for stories under a different name.
We were seniors in school together; she stopped being a bully when we hung together. We slept together. Emphasis on sleeping. Mostly. She helped legitimize my research into restricted human physiology, and funded it. I let her think she'd blackmailed me (since I'd done the research on her body), because I needed the results—/not/ the credit she craved to impress her "mother." I adored her for getting me what I wanted, though she thought me daft. It helped that people treated the orphan as if she were the daughter of the immortal ruler; living in the same residency compound as her demanding and emotionally absent mentor made that mistake reasonable.
Her becoming addicted to an intelligence enhancing drug was mostly my fault. It was definitely my fault that I used her in a sting operation to catch my employer, who wanted her as a client to blackmail as he did me.
I failed to escape the city, afterward.
The immortal ruler had wanted a sharp tool, me, and used as bait a former employee of mine whom I'd first met working as a mob transporter in a eastern city. Before I'd left the syndicate, the kid had developed a crush on me, which we'd ignored. To protect me, the guy had walked through an experimental apparition and I'd never seen him again, until that moment. In the next moment, he'd kissed me to prove he'd grown up and learned a lot (an understatement) in the intervening time. Impressed, I vowed to take him up on what he'd offer.
With his help, a lot of fire, and a heavy rock, I prevailed that day. Well, to the point that I agreed to become the immortal ruler's sharp tool, but that's not this story.
Despite being secretly sweet, my roommate was a bully and irascible—so you bet her "closeness" to her "mother" kept the guys away. Even class climbers; she complained about that a lot. Medicated to suppress her withdrawals, fully aware that her part in the sting operation as "the addict" had made the papers nationwide, she couldn't have been more down. Living with her, nothing could make me miss that fact.
I pushed my two friends together.
They hit it off... well... /rather better than I expected/. Very confusing, after that kiss, that deep kiss, he'd given me. Well enough that I heard sounds through the walls. For the better part of the night. Then most of the subsequent day.
I'd ridden my share of guys and she had had none. The closest I'd gotten to attached was a couple days and that because we'd shared the same hotel room while the government agent got debriefed. Despite our passion, he'd balked in the end because of our age difference.
My friends... together... intimately... Color me confused.
I realized I didn't know how I felt! I didn't know what I was feeling, for that matter, but I made myself scarce. My head wanted me to let go; my heart had other ideas, which I ignored.
It should have helped that I met another unique and special guy that day, but I suspected I was going to use him to further tangle the skein from which I wove my sorry life.
#BoostingIsSharing
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#WritingWonders
Catch - up time.
I’ve been busy #plotting and #worldBuilding the new #wip in the small amount of time I’ve had for #writing lately. Lots of new characters worked out, and a much more solid direction for the plot! Used my catch up today to help with some more of the above! Will also be doing a few #pennedPossiblities too.#writing #fantasy #SciFantasy #alternateReality #magic #fiction