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#smallstory — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #smallstory, aggregated by home.social.

  1. #PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.

    Pigeon the Pilferer would say:

    Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.

    Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.

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

    #BoostingIsSharing

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

  2. #PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.

    Pigeon the Pilferer would say:

    Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.

    Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.

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

    #BoostingIsSharing

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

  3. #PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.

    Pigeon the Pilferer would say:

    Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.

    Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.

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

    #BoostingIsSharing

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

  4. #PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.

    Pigeon the Pilferer would say:

    Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.

    Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.

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

    #BoostingIsSharing

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

  5. #PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.

    Pigeon the Pilferer would say:

    Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.

    Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.

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

    #BoostingIsSharing

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

  6. Functional

    His metal armor, which conducted heat, wasn't a wise choice when facing a dragon. An aerogel armor left little to the imagination indeed, but the functional benefit of heat protection more than paid for the damage to his modesty.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction

  7. Functional

    His metal armor, which conducted heat, wasn't a wise choice when facing a dragon. An aerogel armor left little to the imagination indeed, but the functional benefit of heat protection more than paid for the damage to his modesty.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction

  8. Functional

    His metal armor, which conducted heat, wasn't a wise choice when facing a dragon. An aerogel armor left little to the imagination indeed, but the functional benefit of heat protection more than paid for the damage to his modesty.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction

  9. #ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.

    "Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.

    Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"

    Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.

    "I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."

    I grinned. "Me."

    "Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."

    [Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."

    Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."

    Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"

    "For equality?" I asked.

    "Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.

    I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.

    I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.

    This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…

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

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

  10. #ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.

    "Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.

    Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"

    Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.

    "I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."

    I grinned. "Me."

    "Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."

    [Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."

    Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."

    Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"

    "For equality?" I asked.

    "Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.

    I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.

    I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.

    This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…

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

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

  11. #ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.

    "Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.

    Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"

    Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.

    "I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."

    I grinned. "Me."

    "Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."

    [Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."

    Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."

    Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"

    "For equality?" I asked.

    "Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.

    I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.

    I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.

    This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…

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

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

  12. #ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.

    "Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.

    Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"

    Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.

    "I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."

    I grinned. "Me."

    "Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."

    [Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."

    Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."

    Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"

    "For equality?" I asked.

    "Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.

    I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.

    I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.

    This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…

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

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

  13. #ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.

    "Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.

    Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"

    Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.

    "I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."

    I grinned. "Me."

    "Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."

    [Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."

    Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."

    Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"

    "For equality?" I asked.

    "Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.

    I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.

    I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.

    This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…

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

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

  14. Virus

    Our researchers finally found it.

    It was a virus.

    The same for were-people, vampires, zombies.

    With always the same effect : it turned them into humains.

    Turns out, we did not descend from apes after all, at least, not directly.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction

  15. Virus

    Our researchers finally found it.

    It was a virus.

    The same for were-people, vampires, zombies.

    With always the same effect : it turned them into humains.

    Turns out, we did not descend from apes after all, at least, not directly.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction

  16. Virus

    Our researchers finally found it.

    It was a virus.

    The same for were-people, vampires, zombies.

    With always the same effect : it turned them into humains.

    Turns out, we did not descend from apes after all, at least, not directly.

    #writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction