#tootfic — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #tootfic, aggregated by home.social.
-
Yes it’s fine, thanks. Oh wait, is this a tipping planet? *sigh* I get it now. What’s your hourly rate? Zarquon’s tits, really? What’s the minimum wage here? You don’t have one? Oooh kay how long is your shift today? No just today. That is today? Eris’ Beard. Okay, well on a planet in the GC you’d earn at least thirty one Stars an hour with no debasement required. Here’s uh, carry the two, call it four hundred stars, and leave me to eat in peace. Oh and I happen to know captain Snow of the Alexa is hiring for crew; docking bay seventeen.
-
Yes it’s fine, thanks. Oh wait, is this a tipping planet? *sigh* I get it now. What’s your hourly rate? Zarquon’s tits, really? What’s the minimum wage here? You don’t have one? Oooh kay how long is your shift today? No just today. That is today? Eris’ Beard. Okay, well on a planet in the GC you’d earn at least thirty one Stars an hour with no debasement required. Here’s uh, carry the two, call it four hundred stars, and leave me to eat in peace. Oh and I happen to know captain Snow of the Alexa is hiring for crew; docking bay seventeen.
-
Polymorphous Perverse
#FanFic #TitanicVoyage @juliebihn
#Wss366 Principle #ScribesAndMakers Polymorphous #TimeTravelAuthors 08/8. What ever
Desc: Rocky, Rocky, Rocky. (Prequel to Titanic Voyage)“Hey, put on some clothes.”
Liam’s shout startled Rocky. Looking down at his attire, he saw no problem: a tatty t-shirt bearing an image of a decade-past rock idol, and cut-offs that might be a tad short, but they kept him cool. The ride’s control room was air-conditioned, but the Arizona summer heat still crept in.
“Oh, you mean those,” he said, gesturing to the figures on the computer monitor. “I stole the models from ‘Poly and Murphy’s Grand Adventure.’ It’s not like they have genitals or anything.”
“Yeah, those. Guests are complaining about naked figures in the staterooms.”
“Wow, did they escape containment! That will teach me to take a shortcut and use CoderGX2 to help develop my new game.”
Rocky looked over his code and quickly spotted the error and corrected it. “Good thing I hadn’t launched the exe. That one…” He pointed to the buxom, genitalless female figure. “I call her #Polymorphous Perverse. She can change form and can cause her opponents to regress in age.”
He laughed. “That might have caused an uproar. But the publicity would have boosted attendance. I can see it: ‘Naked Superhero Appears on Titanic Ride.’ or maybe ‘Immaculate Births on Titanic.’”
“Put clothes on her!” Liam insisted.
“Why? No one but me will see her. Besides, little girls play with dolls that look like this all the time. No one complains except about Poly’s bust size.”
“It’s the #principle.”
“Geez, Liam, get a girlfriend and leave me alone.”
#MicroFiction #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #SliceOfLife #Ecchi
-
The young hero, Chosen by Fate to save the world, studied the dragon dubiously.
"And in its hoard is the legendary sword Grisntand?"
"Yes," his old mentor said.
"Which I need to slay the Demon King?"
"Well, no. But I thought that since we're questing anyway... The museum would be delighted!"
-
Majesty
Wizards like to dress opulently to give themselves an air of majesty and thus stand out.
Witches dress however they feel like. If they want to be noticed, they do so through their behavior and their actions.
#writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction
-
#PennedPossibilities 1092½ #ImposterToot: Quality time! Your MC/MCs has a day off tomorrow; what do they do?
Bolt's Day Off
May be considered vaguely NSWF.
Bolt has far more time off than you'd expect; it's just not scheduled or reliable. She couriers anonymous sealed blue envelopes around town that display only an address—which makes her part of a criminal conspiracy even if she doesn't know if they contain orders to commit crimes, threats, or past due notices for protection rackets. She prides herself on her stealth and her "sneaky." Nobody has killed the messenger, yet.
Recently her street photography hobby has left her jangling with coin, so Bolt's Day Off will start after sleeping in with a spicy red fish stew ramen bowl at a rooftop day angel food court, then after a nice flight across the city, continue at her gym for a sweaty workout. Afterwards, she would spend midday at the bathhouse, paying a bath attendant for a good scrub to remove said sweat, then enjoying all the baths: cool, hot and sulfury, carbonated, mineralized, and salt, ending with the warm one with lapping waves. Drinking a cold fruit juice, she'd enjoy a good preen and oiling of her feathers—with an attendant, of course, hopefully a nice looking guy!—because when she has coin she knows to spend it before it's taken from her.
Since Shugh is always maniacally working at the newspaper and Molt is now no longer available, smelling of thyme oil she would fly to the Strand Association to see if she can find her friend Blue to spend the end of the day. She's realistic, though. As a newly hired praetorian, he's rarely free, and when released from duty for a few days, he always helps support the association he's lived in for years. He is something like, yet not like, what we might term a geisha; Bolt gets no discounts, sadly. Likely he's training or paid for this night, so she'd end Bolt's Day Off admiring the hunky scenery in the night club and dance casino part of the complex, if or until she finds someone who catches her eye.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1092½ #ImposterToot: Quality time! Your MC/MCs has a day off tomorrow; what do they do?
Bolt's Day Off
May be considered vaguely NSWF.
Bolt has far more time off than you'd expect; it's just not scheduled or reliable. She couriers anonymous sealed blue envelopes around town that display only an address—which makes her part of a criminal conspiracy even if she doesn't know if they contain orders to commit crimes, threats, or past due notices for protection rackets. She prides herself on her stealth and her "sneaky." Nobody has killed the messenger, yet.
Recently her street photography hobby has left her jangling with coin, so Bolt's Day Off will start after sleeping in with a spicy red fish stew ramen bowl at a rooftop day angel food court, then after a nice flight across the city, continue at her gym for a sweaty workout. Afterwards, she would spend midday at the bathhouse, paying a bath attendant for a good scrub to remove said sweat, then enjoying all the baths: cool, hot and sulfury, carbonated, mineralized, and salt, ending with the warm one with lapping waves. Drinking a cold fruit juice, she'd enjoy a good preen and oiling of her feathers—with an attendant, of course, hopefully a nice looking guy!—because when she has coin she knows to spend it before it's taken from her.
Since Shugh is always maniacally working at the newspaper and Molt is now no longer available, smelling of thyme oil she would fly to the Strand Association to see if she can find her friend Blue to spend the end of the day. She's realistic, though. As a newly hired praetorian, he's rarely free, and when released from duty for a few days, he always helps support the association he's lived in for years. He is something like, yet not like, what we might term a geisha; Bolt gets no discounts, sadly. Likely he's training or paid for this night, so she'd end Bolt's Day Off admiring the hunky scenery in the night club and dance casino part of the complex, if or until she finds someone who catches her eye.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
“Show some respect, ‘The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father’, noob!”
“The Mu Corps killed my mother when they took me”
“Serves her right for harboring an unregistered mentat. Mentats United is the only logical way to raise a Neurodivergent”
“You never had a mother, did you?”
“Tankie and proud, decanted right here at the academy.”
“Machines could do spreadsheets and Neuros could have families. It worked before.”
“Thats a fable, and blasphemy besides, don’t let the Brothers hear you say that or you’ll be up before the Jihad quick smart”
“There was a ruined datacenter near where I lived in the outworld. They were real.”
“Well, there must have been a reason for the Jihad. I have to believe that”
“Must be nice”
“What?”
“Your comfortable fantasy”
-
“Show some respect, ‘The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father’, noob!”
“The Mu Corps killed my mother when they took me”
“Serves her right for harboring an unregistered mentat. Mentats United is the only logical way to raise a Neurodivergent”
“You never had a mother, did you?”
“Tankie and proud, decanted right here at the academy.”
“Machines could do spreadsheets and Neuros could have families. It worked before.”
“Thats a fable, and blasphemy besides, don’t let the Brothers hear you say that or you’ll be up before the Jihad quick smart”
“There was a ruined datacenter near where I lived in the outworld. They were real.”
“Well, there must have been a reason for the Jihad. I have to believe that”
“Must be nice”
“What?”
“Your comfortable fantasy”
-
"What did you call it?" one of the biologists said.
"Bob," said the boy. "He's my friend."
"I doubt 'he' is the-"
"Never mind pronouns," the other biologist said. "This a new form of life!"
"Nonsense, it's clearly a fungi!"
"Actually," Bob said, "I'm a cheese."
"And my friend!"
"Indeed."
-
Stegosaurus Ice cream
A #TimeTravelingGhost Side Story
#Wss366 Chief #TimeTravelAuthors 08/7. If your work was an ice cream flavor, what would it be?**Ahead of us, the Jurassic jungle thinned, and the land sloped up. The trees were more widely spaced, but they still obscured my view of the cliffs we were heading towards.
I was grateful to be walking on fallen leaves rather than slogging through the mud. The ferns were still thick in patches, but I threaded my way through them with minimal effort. However, the #chief hazard remained: the native behemoths.
The stagnant air of the swamp was replaced by a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, and my thoughts strayed.
“Ice cream would have been a delightful addition. Hmm, what flavor would my recent adventures be?” I wondered, my fancies taking full flight.
“Something tropical: Mango or peach. Yes, mango would be pleasant. I’d enjoy that. Champagne cocktail flavor would be more appropriate, but do they even make that flavor? Okay, no cheating. How about horehound? That had a nice, old-fashioned sound. I guess that would be cheating too. Sarsaparilla then. That was an old-timey name for root beer, or at least I think.”
I should have paid more attention, as I received a nasty shock when a stegosaurus burst from behind a grove of trees where it had been hidden.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a carnivore. The only damage I sustained was a near-heart attack as the immense beast lumbered past. It was almost comical, with its plates rattling and its tail striking trees as it thudded past. There was a chipped plate midway down its back. It was only funny because I was far enough away that the tail posed no threat.
A minute later, Emily landed and apologised for not spotting it.
She looked nonplussed when I asked her, “Do you think a stegosaurus would like sarsaparilla ice cream?”
#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Dinosaurs #Humor
-
Stegosaurus Ice cream
A #TimeTravelingGhost Side Story
#Wss366 Chief #TimeTravelAuthors 08/7. If your work was an ice cream flavor, what would it be?**Ahead of us, the Jurassic jungle thinned, and the land sloped up. The trees were more widely spaced, but they still obscured my view of the cliffs we were heading towards.
I was grateful to be walking on fallen leaves rather than slogging through the mud. The ferns were still thick in patches, but I threaded my way through them with minimal effort. However, the #chief hazard remained: the native behemoths.
The stagnant air of the swamp was replaced by a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, and my thoughts strayed.
“Ice cream would have been a delightful addition. Hmm, what flavor would my recent adventures be?” I wondered, my fancies taking full flight.
“Something tropical: Mango or peach. Yes, mango would be pleasant. I’d enjoy that. Champagne cocktail flavor would be more appropriate, but do they even make that flavor? Okay, no cheating. How about horehound? That had a nice, old-fashioned sound. I guess that would be cheating too. Sarsaparilla then. That was an old-timey name for root beer, or at least I think.”
I should have paid more attention, as I received a nasty shock when a stegosaurus burst from behind a grove of trees where it had been hidden.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a carnivore. The only damage I sustained was a near-heart attack as the immense beast lumbered past. It was almost comical, with its plates rattling and its tail striking trees as it thudded past. There was a chipped plate midway down its back. It was only funny because I was far enough away that the tail posed no threat.
A minute later, Emily landed and apologised for not spotting it.
She looked nonplussed when I asked her, “Do you think a stegosaurus would like sarsaparilla ice cream?”
#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Dinosaurs #Humor
-
I have a question for my readers. My next anthology of microfiction will have a number of random stories, and a number of stories following a particular theme and set of characters. Should I mix them up, or separate out the two sets of stories?
-
I have a question for my readers. My next anthology of microfiction will have a number of random stories, and a number of stories following a particular theme and set of characters. Should I mix them up, or separate out the two sets of stories?
-
Cavernous
As a vampire I can turn into a bat.
More specifically, into a greater mouse-eared bat, which is a cavernous bat.
The closest cave is a hundred miles away, and I spend a whole night hitch-hiking my way back to my city penthouse.
#writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction
-
@Unixbigot grabs the extruder and several tools, along with all the wire and runs. #Tootfic #MicroFiction
-
@Unixbigot grabs the extruder and several tools, along with all the wire and runs. #Tootfic #MicroFiction
-
You might say that Ferengizon Prime’s Transporterator same-minute-delivery service has obviated the need to keep stock. But, once all the other subspace ordering stores have been driven out of business, prices will skyrocket; mark my words. Do this instead: head down to the e-waste store and pick up the shield generator out of a shuttle or small runabout. In my workshop I have several rolls of keiyurium wire set up feeding into a cutting field generated by a modified shield projector. Whenever some bastard pinches the last 6mm hex key, 10mm socket or 30 angstrom hydrospanner—i.e. twice a day, at least—I can just extrude a new one.
-
You might say that Ferengizon Prime’s Transporterator same-minute-delivery service has obviated the need to keep stock. But, once all the other subspace ordering stores have been driven out of business, prices will skyrocket; mark my words. Do this instead: head down to the e-waste store and pick up the shield generator out of a shuttle or small runabout. In my workshop I have several rolls of keiyurium wire set up feeding into a cutting field generated by a modified shield projector. Whenever some bastard pinches the last 6mm hex key, 10mm socket or 30 angstrom hydrospanner—i.e. twice a day, at least—I can just extrude a new one.
-
I was unloading the trailer on my cargo bike at the park when someone saw me and offered to help.
"Four big speakers, and a tablet? Setting up to DJ?"
I set up the sign with the Venmo QR code where it could be seen. "Not quite -- more like an updated jukebox."
They looked at the song titles available. "'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang, Pharrell's 'Happy' -- you're ready for quite the party. And the 'Star Spangled Banner' ?"
I still got occasional deliveries for the wizard who used to live in my apartment. Today's mailbag had tomorrow's headlines. When the alert got pushed to everyone's phone, I cranked up "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and got the party started.
First song should always be free.
-
I was unloading the trailer on my cargo bike at the park when someone saw me and offered to help.
"Four big speakers, and a tablet? Setting up to DJ?"
I set up the sign with the Venmo QR code where it could be seen. "Not quite -- more like an updated jukebox."
They looked at the song titles available. "'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang, Pharrell's 'Happy' -- you're ready for quite the party. And the 'Star Spangled Banner' ?"
I still got occasional deliveries for the wizard who used to live in my apartment. Today's mailbag had tomorrow's headlines. When the alert got pushed to everyone's phone, I cranked up "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and got the party started.
First song should always be free.
-
Edelweiss Entwined #3
#FanFiction #AscendanceOfABookworm #HanneloresFifthYear
#Wss366 sovereign“Dither, dither, dither!” Sieglinde's words echoed in the private dining chamber where she sat with her husband. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her next words. “Are you an idiot?!”
Werdekrf wilted in his chair, his dinner half consumed. His wife had held back the whole time the Archduke’s Conference was underway. But her cold fury had been evident. Now that they were home, it looked like she was going to let loose.
The Aub was pleased when she continued in a more reasonable tone. “We’re lucky Duke Ferdinand didn’t walk out on us. You know his views on dither.” Sarcasm crept into her voice as she imitated her husband’s voice and words. “‘We really can’t consent unless there is a wedding dither match.’ Would you make Hannelore Eifersuneid’s daughter?” (The goddess had unrequited feelings for Chaocipher, the goddess of chaos.)
“It seemed an excellent opportunity, and I gave it up as soon as he resisted.” The Aub pushed away his food and pretended to study the tapestry depicting a dither match.
“What if he had taken offense? The #Sovereignty had approved the proposed engagement. The Zent wouldn’t have been pleased if this match had fallen through. More importantly, Hannelore is excited. Just think how it would affect her if she were thrown over a second time. Has Jugereise not visited her enough?” (Goddess of Separation, associated with lost love and separation.)
“You are right, of course. Sometimes you win dither by playing the long game. Hannelore can teach them the love of the game once she is there.”
Sieglinde rolled her eyes but said no more. Arguing with her dither-crazed husband was futile.
[Continued Sunday]
-
Edelweiss Entwined #3
#FanFiction #AscendanceOfABookworm #HanneloresFifthYear
#Wss366 sovereign“Dither, dither, dither!” Sieglinde's words echoed in the private dining chamber where she sat with her husband. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her next words. “Are you an idiot?!”
Werdekrf wilted in his chair, his dinner half consumed. His wife had held back the whole time the Archduke’s Conference was underway. But her cold fury had been evident. Now that they were home, it looked like she was going to let loose.
The Aub was pleased when she continued in a more reasonable tone. “We’re lucky Duke Ferdinand didn’t walk out on us. You know his views on dither.” Sarcasm crept into her voice as she imitated her husband’s voice and words. “‘We really can’t consent unless there is a wedding dither match.’ Would you make Hannelore Eifersuneid’s daughter?” (The goddess had unrequited feelings for Chaocipher, the goddess of chaos.)
“It seemed an excellent opportunity, and I gave it up as soon as he resisted.” The Aub pushed away his food and pretended to study the tapestry depicting a dither match.
“What if he had taken offense? The #Sovereignty had approved the proposed engagement. The Zent wouldn’t have been pleased if this match had fallen through. More importantly, Hannelore is excited. Just think how it would affect her if she were thrown over a second time. Has Jugereise not visited her enough?” (Goddess of Separation, associated with lost love and separation.)
“You are right, of course. Sometimes you win dither by playing the long game. Hannelore can teach them the love of the game once she is there.”
Sieglinde rolled her eyes but said no more. Arguing with her dither-crazed husband was futile.
[Continued Sunday]
-
::How did it go?::
_/Well, they recognized me right away and asked about the upload/_
Dominic's team of self-aware sci-fi characters only existed in the stories written about them. A forced restart of his laptop threatened that existence, so together they came up with the idea of cloning his machine and putting it in the cloud. For redundancy, they deployed to multiple data centers around the world, but that had some side effects.
::Is there a "but" coming?::
Dominic smiled at the sentient chatbot. _/Yes. There is a small timing discrepancy between the three copies. I'm getting echoes when I try to talk to them/_
Nesso processed that for a few seconds. ::The delay is not likely to be consistent over time, either. It'll be influenced by network load::
_/I agree. I wonder if I can solve with a filter on the fourth wall? I'll have to think about that some more - and quickly too. We've just created DVaaS, and I don't like it/_
::DVaaS?::
_/Deja Vu as a Service/_
#MicroFiction #FlashFiction #TootFic #ShortStory #SciFi #ScienceFiction
-
::How did it go?::
_/Well, they recognized me right away and asked about the upload/_
Dominic's team of self-aware sci-fi characters only existed in the stories written about them. A forced restart of his laptop threatened that existence, so together they came up with the idea of cloning his machine and putting it in the cloud. For redundancy, they deployed to multiple data centers around the world, but that had some side effects.
::Is there a "but" coming?::
Dominic smiled at the sentient chatbot. _/Yes. There is a small timing discrepancy between the three copies. I'm getting echoes when I try to talk to them/_
Nesso processed that for a few seconds. ::The delay is not likely to be consistent over time, either. It'll be influenced by network load::
_/I agree. I wonder if I can solve with a filter on the fourth wall? I'll have to think about that some more - and quickly too. We've just created DVaaS, and I don't like it/_
::DVaaS?::
_/Deja Vu as a Service/_
#MicroFiction #FlashFiction #TootFic #ShortStory #SciFi #ScienceFiction
-
Stealthily
In the ten years I've been an exorcist, it still makes me laugh just as much when a poltergeist tries to approach me stealthily and catch me off guard. It's like a one-man band tiptoeing in hope to make less of a din.
#writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction
-
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.08.05 — Share a small selection of something you wrote recently that you're proud of.
Wanna #excerpt? How's 'bout this? The antagonist, Pigeon the Pilferer, and the narrator, Bolt, are day angels. They have wings. Teri (short for Night Terror) is the mob's new enforcer.
I looked up, reflexively flaring my wings as she'd led us into a narrow alley, feeling claustrophobic, tapping feathers to the brick on either side, unable to fully extend. I let the two continue ahead. After two steps, the woman faced him.
Hands on her hips, Teri insisted, "You should apologize."
"What?"
"Apologize."
"Why?"
"Do you think Boss Idiot doesn't know? That he won't use it against you? Do it for team cohesion purposes, if for no other reason."
"Or you're going to tattle?" He sneered.
"Interesting diction there, tattle. Oh! Are you attempting to belittle me? No. That's right, you're a featherbrain. You lack the vocabulary to state that I might discuss your counterproductive behavior with your employer—"
He swung on her.
Her shoe splashed in the water running down the center of the alley as she sidestepped. Slightly. Enough. Her cloak rustled as knuckles whizzed by her shoulder. He swung twice more, then grabbed fruitlessly for hanging fabric.
The heel of her hand hit him square on his sternum. It stopped there, barely impacting. Enough that he coughed. Surprised for a heartbeat, he grabbed for her arm, but she plowed forward switching hands. He jerked his hand back. She leaned in, her face looming into his since she was that tall and he somewhat short for a man. He reflexively backpedaled. When he grabbed for her cloak, she jumped back.
"You're flapping me!" he shouted, charging, his wings flaring out.
They thwacked the alley walls like striking sticks.
That hurt.
His attack fell short as she backpedaled, not even looking back because she'd mentally mapped the alley. When he stopped, bewildered that his results didn't match what he'd thought was going to happen, she threw herself at him, caught his arm-shoulder and pulled him to her.
She kissed him…
[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 -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.08.05 — Share a small selection of something you wrote recently that you're proud of.
Wanna #excerpt? How's 'bout this? The antagonist, Pigeon the Pilferer, and the narrator, Bolt, are day angels. They have wings. Teri (short for Night Terror) is the mob's new enforcer.
I looked up, reflexively flaring my wings as she'd led us into a narrow alley, feeling claustrophobic, tapping feathers to the brick on either side, unable to fully extend. I let the two continue ahead. After two steps, the woman faced him.
Hands on her hips, Teri insisted, "You should apologize."
"What?"
"Apologize."
"Why?"
"Do you think Boss Idiot doesn't know? That he won't use it against you? Do it for team cohesion purposes, if for no other reason."
"Or you're going to tattle?" He sneered.
"Interesting diction there, tattle. Oh! Are you attempting to belittle me? No. That's right, you're a featherbrain. You lack the vocabulary to state that I might discuss your counterproductive behavior with your employer—"
He swung on her.
Her shoe splashed in the water running down the center of the alley as she sidestepped. Slightly. Enough. Her cloak rustled as knuckles whizzed by her shoulder. He swung twice more, then grabbed fruitlessly for hanging fabric.
The heel of her hand hit him square on his sternum. It stopped there, barely impacting. Enough that he coughed. Surprised for a heartbeat, he grabbed for her arm, but she plowed forward switching hands. He jerked his hand back. She leaned in, her face looming into his since she was that tall and he somewhat short for a man. He reflexively backpedaled. When he grabbed for her cloak, she jumped back.
"You're flapping me!" he shouted, charging, his wings flaring out.
They thwacked the alley walls like striking sticks.
That hurt.
His attack fell short as she backpedaled, not even looking back because she'd mentally mapped the alley. When he stopped, bewildered that his results didn't match what he'd thought was going to happen, she threw herself at him, caught his arm-shoulder and pulled him to her.
She kissed him…
[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 -
“Your partner, the robot—“
“—his name is Daneel.”
“Uh, yes, anyway. He’s so …uh prim. Perfect face, built body, tailored clothes. He makes you look bad.”
“I am bad.”
“I mean, you could dress a little better, get rid of that rumpled raincoat”
“I like this raincoat”
“Actually, why doesn’t he dress worse? You’re cops, chasing bad guys must be hard on those fancy clothes. Hang on, why does a robot even need clothes”
“Honey, you think he makes me look bad now, you ain’t seen him in the buff.”
-
“Your partner, the robot—“
“—his name is Daneel.”
“Uh, yes, anyway. He’s so …uh prim. Perfect face, built body, tailored clothes. He makes you look bad.”
“I am bad.”
“I mean, you could dress a little better, get rid of that rumpled raincoat”
“I like this raincoat”
“Actually, why doesn’t he dress worse? You’re cops, chasing bad guys must be hard on those fancy clothes. Hang on, why does a robot even need clothes”
“Honey, you think he makes me look bad now, you ain’t seen him in the buff.”
-
Slow breaths. In, out. Focus.
The white-furred charr on the bluff could have been a statue for all the movement she made. Even the slight breeze over the sands of Elona barely ruffled her braided hair or the cloth on her crimson Blood Legion armor.
In, out.
One would think that laying here in the open would make for an easy target to spot, especially with the way her rifle's loading chamber blazed ever so slightly with magical fire. As Athena had shown many times before, however, they would be wrong.
In, out.
The world narrowed as she waited. The occasional screech of a griffin. The hydra stomping by at the bottom of the cliff she rested on. The warm sun beating down on her. In these moments, none of that existed. The only thing that mattered was the view within her scope.
In, out.
It shouldn't be much longer now. Let heroes like the Pact Commander fight the human gods. Her mission, given by Tribune Brimstone himself, was much simpler.
In, out.
The distant squeal of unoiled hinges almost broke her concentration, and Athena could feel the anticipation begin to rise. But she was Blood Legion and she would rule her impulses, not let them rule her.
In, out.
Finally, with all the grace of a Iron Legion tank, the Forged contingent began to leave the safety of their walls. Was it a combat patrol? An assault on the nearby Elonian town? For her, none if it mattered as her world narrowed further. The Forged... and their commander.
In, out, squeeze.
One breath, and one bullet.
-
Slow breaths. In, out. Focus.
The white-furred charr on the bluff could have been a statue for all the movement she made. Even the slight breeze over the sands of Elona barely ruffled her braided hair or the cloth on her crimson Blood Legion armor.
In, out.
One would think that laying here in the open would make for an easy target to spot, especially with the way her rifle's loading chamber blazed ever so slightly with magical fire. As Athena had shown many times before, however, they would be wrong.
In, out.
The world narrowed as she waited. The occasional screech of a griffin. The hydra stomping by at the bottom of the cliff she rested on. The warm sun beating down on her. In these moments, none of that existed. The only thing that mattered was the view within her scope.
In, out.
It shouldn't be much longer now. Let heroes like the Pact Commander fight the human gods. Her mission, given by Tribune Brimstone himself, was much simpler.
In, out.
The distant squeal of unoiled hinges almost broke her concentration, and Athena could feel the anticipation begin to rise. But she was Blood Legion and she would rule her impulses, not let them rule her.
In, out.
Finally, with all the grace of a Iron Legion tank, the Forged contingent began to leave the safety of their walls. Was it a combat patrol? An assault on the nearby Elonian town? For her, none if it mattered as her world narrowed further. The Forged... and their commander.
In, out, squeeze.
One breath, and one bullet.
-
Rocky’s Treat
#FanFic #TitanicVoyage @juliebihn
#Wss366 Paramount #TimeTravelAuthors 08/5. bitter/sour/mean #WritersCoffeeClub“I think it’s funny,” Clara said.
She stood wide-eyed in front of the counter at a small café at one end of the town’s only mall. Clara had adjusted to the mall more quickly than Liam had expected. ‘It’s just like a shopping street in New York—brighter, cleaner and covered—but not that different.’
The movie they had gone to, “Lieutenant Nightingale,” was quite another thing. She had been stunned.
“I saw ‘The Miser’s Heart,’ and that was nothing like that movie,” Clara said of the film. “I prefer the kind of moving pictures Mary Pickford used to star in."
"They were so casual about the 'you know what.'" She blushed. "But I liked that Miss Nightingale wasn’t a poor little thing. Little Kathy was so useless in ‘Miser’s Heart.’ But Barrymore, the thief, was dreamy. But this had so much color and sound; you could hear what they said.”
They had just left the #Paramount film “Lieutenant Nightingale,” a superhero film picked by Rocky. “I pay, I pick um,” he had said.
Liam was just happy that his friend had settled on a film featuring a female superhero. If he had had more money, he would have taken Clara to something more romantic, but being unemployed and the expense of setting Clara up in an apartment had drained what little resources he had. It was all he could do to treat them to a drink at the Mesa Café.
“What’s funny?” Rocky asked.
Clara pointed to a candy jar on the counter. “Penny candy that cost a quarter.”
“It’s just a saying,” Liam explained.
Meanwhile, Rocky picked out a pink gummy worm and paid for it. “Here, Clara. Bet you’ve never had candy like this.”
She looked dubiously at the long pink thing he handed her.
“Go on, take a bite,” Rocky prompted.
Liam opened his mouth to protest, but too late. Clara took a bite, then made a face. “You’re so #mean, Rocky! It’s #sour!”
“What did you expect?” He pointed to the label on the jar, which read “Extra sour peach gummy worms.”
#WritersCoffeeClub Aug 5: Share a small selection of something you wrote recently that you're satisfied with.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #SliceOfLife #NMWCC
-
Rocky’s Treat
#FanFic #TitanicVoyage @juliebihn
#Wss366 Paramount #TimeTravelAuthors 08/5. bitter/sour/mean #WritersCoffeeClub“I think it’s funny,” Clara said.
She stood wide-eyed in front of the counter at a small café at one end of the town’s only mall. Clara had adjusted to the mall more quickly than Liam had expected. ‘It’s just like a shopping street in New York—brighter, cleaner and covered—but not that different.’
The movie they had gone to, “Lieutenant Nightingale,” was quite another thing. She had been stunned.
“I saw ‘The Miser’s Heart,’ and that was nothing like that movie,” Clara said of the film. “I prefer the kind of moving pictures Mary Pickford used to star in."
"They were so casual about the 'you know what.'" She blushed. "But I liked that Miss Nightingale wasn’t a poor little thing. Little Kathy was so useless in ‘Miser’s Heart.’ But Barrymore, the thief, was dreamy. But this had so much color and sound; you could hear what they said.”
They had just left the #Paramount film “Lieutenant Nightingale,” a superhero film picked by Rocky. “I pay, I pick um,” he had said.
Liam was just happy that his friend had settled on a film featuring a female superhero. If he had had more money, he would have taken Clara to something more romantic, but being unemployed and the expense of setting Clara up in an apartment had drained what little resources he had. It was all he could do to treat them to a drink at the Mesa Café.
“What’s funny?” Rocky asked.
Clara pointed to a candy jar on the counter. “Penny candy that cost a quarter.”
“It’s just a saying,” Liam explained.
Meanwhile, Rocky picked out a pink gummy worm and paid for it. “Here, Clara. Bet you’ve never had candy like this.”
She looked dubiously at the long pink thing he handed her.
“Go on, take a bite,” Rocky prompted.
Liam opened his mouth to protest, but too late. Clara took a bite, then made a face. “You’re so #mean, Rocky! It’s #sour!”
“What did you expect?” He pointed to the label on the jar, which read “Extra sour peach gummy worms.”
#WritersCoffeeClub Aug 5: Share a small selection of something you wrote recently that you're satisfied with.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #SliceOfLife #NMWCC
-
Tree
In every spatio-temporal agency, sooner or later, bonds form between agents. There are rules, of course, but inevitably, the family tree of the average spatio-temporal agent is not so much a tree as a tangled brambles thicket.
#writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction
-
#PennedPossibilities 1091 — When not in person, how do people communicate? How has this method of communication affected the society in your world?
A little bit of deep background here, assembled thanks to this question, @floofpaldi, by examining the implications of what I've already written and deducing what might follow. Keep in mind that my day angel MC, Bolt, has wings and is a "private" air courier. Her dream, which was crushed, involved air freight delivery.
From the beginning, or at least since the Singularity, mail allowed people to communicate long distances as well as cross-town. Paper, the printing press, and books had to be re-invented, but that happened early on, well before Rainy Day's birth. (She's the main series antagonist.) Since roughly a third of the population has wings, cross-continental air mail during times of peace has been a thing since the beginning, with delivery within a week possible most anywhere in most eras (think Pony Express without need of horses). While I won't explain how, air delivery of freight exists, too. As a result, cities and regions on Home have never been completely insular or isolated—especially if you are born with wings because angelic humans can fly wherever they want whenever they want—though humans, being human, always find a way to be regional and distrustful.
In more recent times, railroads have increased communication and allowed populations to travel and intermingle. Stuff grown and manufactured soon found more distant markets. Though the civilization depicted in the Reluctance Series doesn't rely on electricity, they have had telegraphy for over five centuries—it developed with the railroads—which provides instant communication when needed and was pointed out as helping start and end a war in one story. Mail, communication, and population and information flow stabilized and enabled persistent laws and made mandatory education possible.
Surprisingly, with the advent of interstellar travel two centuries ago, it wasn't the exploration of new worlds or their colonization that benefited the world most. Instead, it benefited postal delivery. It became quickly obvious that the technology involved made the delivery of mail and small packages between major cities that have ports less expensive than rail. Freight still relies on rail service and lorries. Air mail is more important in more isolated areas, for rural delivery, and for suburban distribution.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1091 — When not in person, how do people communicate? How has this method of communication affected the society in your world?
A little bit of deep background here, assembled thanks to this question, @floofpaldi, by examining the implications of what I've already written and deducing what might follow. Keep in mind that my day angel MC, Bolt, has wings and is a "private" air courier. Her dream, which was crushed, involved air freight delivery.
From the beginning, or at least since the Singularity, mail allowed people to communicate long distances as well as cross-town. Paper, the printing press, and books had to be re-invented, but that happened early on, well before Rainy Day's birth. (She's the main series antagonist.) Since roughly a third of the population has wings, cross-continental air mail during times of peace has been a thing since the beginning, with delivery within a week possible most anywhere in most eras (think Pony Express without need of horses). While I won't explain how, air delivery of freight exists, too. As a result, cities and regions on Home have never been completely insular or isolated—especially if you are born with wings because angelic humans can fly wherever they want whenever they want—though humans, being human, always find a way to be regional and distrustful.
In more recent times, railroads have increased communication and allowed populations to travel and intermingle. Stuff grown and manufactured soon found more distant markets. Though the civilization depicted in the Reluctance Series doesn't rely on electricity, they have had telegraphy for over five centuries—it developed with the railroads—which provides instant communication when needed and was pointed out as helping start and end a war in one story. Mail, communication, and population and information flow stabilized and enabled persistent laws and made mandatory education possible.
Surprisingly, with the advent of interstellar travel two centuries ago, it wasn't the exploration of new worlds or their colonization that benefited the world most. Instead, it benefited postal delivery. It became quickly obvious that the technology involved made the delivery of mail and small packages between major cities that have ports less expensive than rail. Freight still relies on rail service and lorries. Air mail is more important in more isolated areas, for rural delivery, and for suburban distribution.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
The Toshiba Lithetto is a pocket sized trilithon engine still appreciated by hardcore infodruids. While all modern computing devices share the same circumsilicon processing technology as the first stone circles, the development of the integrated circle at Bell Labs, and the infocyclotron and the World Wide Wirtzite at CERN mean that most devices we use today use etched waveguides as their Circular Processing Unit. The Lithetto was remarkable, especially in a pocket device, for using size 0805 vertical trilithons, permitting a 1024-ring stone circle to be fitted in a two centimeter thick pocket computer. While the device shipped with Portals 95 most users today run Basaltic/Sedimentary Disibsubstrate OS variants[Citation Needed]. Production of the Lithetto ceased in 2002 but
-
The Toshiba Lithetto is a pocket sized trilithon engine still appreciated by hardcore infodruids. While all modern computing devices share the same circumsilicon processing technology as the first stone circles, the development of the integrated circle at Bell Labs, and the infocyclotron and the World Wide Wirtzite at CERN mean that most devices we use today use etched waveguides as their Circular Processing Unit. The Lithetto was remarkable, especially in a pocket device, for using size 0805 vertical trilithons, permitting a 1024-ring stone circle to be fitted in a two centimeter thick pocket computer. While the device shipped with Portals 95 most users today run Basaltic/Sedimentary Disibsubstrate OS variants[Citation Needed]. Production of the Lithetto ceased in 2002 but
-
"Can we talk with the other copies I wonder?" Antonio asked.
"...wonder?""We already speak with our Author. You want to open another window to talk with yourself?" Enzo countered.
"...yourself?"The two were characters in a sci-fi story, and they knew it. Along with their author, they devised a plan to upload their stories to multiple data servers around the world for redundancy.
Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps it would be enlightening."
"...be enlightening."
"You, know, chances are the other copies are having this exact discussion too."
"...too."Antonio thought about that. "If this discussion doesn't happen at the exact same time, do you think Author hears an echo?"
"...hears an echo?"_/Spoiler alert - I do/_
#MicroFiction #FlashFiction #TootFic #ShortStory #SciFi #ScienceFiction -
"Can we talk with the other copies I wonder?" Antonio asked.
"...wonder?""We already speak with our Author. You want to open another window to talk with yourself?" Enzo countered.
"...yourself?"The two were characters in a sci-fi story, and they knew it. Along with their author, they devised a plan to upload their stories to multiple data servers around the world for redundancy.
Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps it would be enlightening."
"...be enlightening."
"You, know, chances are the other copies are having this exact discussion too."
"...too."Antonio thought about that. "If this discussion doesn't happen at the exact same time, do you think Author hears an echo?"
"...hears an echo?"_/Spoiler alert - I do/_
#MicroFiction #FlashFiction #TootFic #ShortStory #SciFi #ScienceFiction -
Crawl
A cat in a spaceship has its advantages. It can crawl inside ducts in which I could slide an arm at best. Granted, it'd be best if it went in there when I ask it to, and if it did in there what I ask it to, but we'll eventually get there.
#writever #MastoArt #FlashFiction #SmallStory #TootFic #MicroFiction
-
“You’re looking different K; new hairstyle?”
“New head. Well, old head; this one’s a size smaller—from when I used to play rollerball. Usual one is in for a CLA.”
“Must be nice, I guess”
“Infuriating. This one has a loose vertebra from that time I got slammed in the finals. Let this be a lesson to you, never put a damaged head away without getting it cleaned lubed and adjusted”
“Uh, okay, I’m sure there’s a piece of that advice that applies to proteins. Somewhere.”
“…”
“Nope, not getting it.”
-
“You’re looking different K; new hairstyle?”
“New head. Well, old head; this one’s a size smaller—from when I used to play rollerball. Usual one is in for a CLA.”
“Must be nice, I guess”
“Infuriating. This one has a loose vertebra from that time I got slammed in the finals. Let this be a lesson to you, never put a damaged head away without getting it cleaned lubed and adjusted”
“Uh, okay, I’m sure there’s a piece of that advice that applies to proteins. Somewhere.”
“…”
“Nope, not getting it.”
-
Sal: Sniffs the air and looks #puzzled. Then the light dawned! "I see you bought those ribbons you fell in love with."
Sally: "You noticed!"
Sal: "How could I miss? You cheaped out on candles."#Mastoprompt #Tallow #Wss366 Puzzle #FlashFiction #TootFic #NMFic
-
Sal: Sniffs the air and looks #puzzled. Then the light dawned! "I see you bought those ribbons you fell in love with."
Sally: "You noticed!"
Sal: "How could I miss? You cheaped out on candles."#Mastoprompt #Tallow #Wss366 Puzzle #FlashFiction #TootFic #NMFic
-
#TimeTravelingGhostV2 EP 12: Post 123, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK
#Wss366 Puzzle #TimeTravelAuthors 08/3. Where does your main character live/where are they from?
As the images from my dream faded, I began to panic. The earlier questions haunted me: “Who was I? Where was I? Where had I come from?”
I had the strange conviction that I wasn’t from this time or place. That knowledge had been lost somewhere in the mists of time. What an odd way of putting it. Surely I meant lost in the void of my memory?
No, I meant the former: “Lost in time.”
I shook my head and struggled to my feet. I wouldn’t find any answers lying there. It was of the utmost importance that I learn more.
There it was again: that feeling of almost knowing. I knew the fate of the world depended on my piercing this veil of ignorance. That conviction burned in my mind.
I took stock of my surroundings: the Sphinx, crop circle, path into the forest, tiny wild strawberries winking at me in the grass. I #puzzled over what I should do first.
#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn
-
#TimeTravelingGhostV2 EP 12: Post 123, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK
#Wss366 Puzzle #TimeTravelAuthors 08/3. Where does your main character live/where are they from?
As the images from my dream faded, I began to panic. The earlier questions haunted me: “Who was I? Where was I? Where had I come from?”
I had the strange conviction that I wasn’t from this time or place. That knowledge had been lost somewhere in the mists of time. What an odd way of putting it. Surely I meant lost in the void of my memory?
No, I meant the former: “Lost in time.”
I shook my head and struggled to my feet. I wouldn’t find any answers lying there. It was of the utmost importance that I learn more.
There it was again: that feeling of almost knowing. I knew the fate of the world depended on my piercing this veil of ignorance. That conviction burned in my mind.
I took stock of my surroundings: the Sphinx, crop circle, path into the forest, tiny wild strawberries winking at me in the grass. I #puzzled over what I should do first.
#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn
-
Edelweiss Entwined #2
#FanFiction #AscendanceOfABookworm #HanneloresFifthYear
#Wss366 puzzleAfter the greetings, Eglantine’s maid sampled the food and drink to assure everyone that nothing had been poisoned. Tea and snacks were soon in hand, and the Zent began: “I hope you will pardon Schutzaria’s hand in our affairs, but swift winds are required to obtain Gebordnung’s blessings.”
Rozemyne knit her brow as she #puzzled out the meaning: “Pardon the sudden summons, but it is necessary to maintain order.” Even though she was used to it, she still wished nobles would speak clearly rather than masking everything behind metaphors.
Eglantine continued, “I understand, Duke Ferdinand, you will seek Versprechredi’s blessings. This comes as a surprise and has stirred up the other duchies, especially Korinthsdaum where Eifersuneid whispers council. So, to avoid Chaocipher attendance this year, I would ask if this is true.”
Rozemyne decoded the message again. Understanding what Versprechredi’s blessing meant was easy; Duke Ferdinand would seek a wife. Next, Eifersuneid was the god of jealousy and whispered in Sigiswald, ruler of Korinthsdaum’s ear. No surprise there. Finally, Chaocipher was the goddess of chaos, which meant Eglantine wanted to avoid the council descending into disarray.
Ferdinand put down his tea with a slight clink, showing his irritation, but spoke calmly. “My wife, the Aub, has expressed a wish to cement our relations with Dunkelfelger by making Lady Hannelore my second wife. Her friendship with Rozemyne leads me to believe it would be a good match. The Aub has been handling all the arrangements. We have exchanged gifts, and I received the following.” He laid the handkerchief embroidered with intertwining cornflowers and edelweiss on the table. “We didn’t think we needed to consult with the Sovereignty first, but I assume we have your approval, Zent.”
Eglantine didn’t react to the jab or the slight inflection on her title. Instead, she looked at Rozemyne. “I didn’t realize. I knew you were friends, but without Schicksantracht, I had not foreseen Versprechredi.”
She turned back to Ferdinand and said, “You have my blessing, of course. I will make sure the other duchies know you have my approval. Have you formally spoken to Hannelore’s parents yet?”
“That’s next,” he replied.
[Continued Thursday]
-
When we last saw Yeff and Asherah they were unable to move into their dream universe due to an unexpected proliferation of primates. Have they got past this issue and settled in? Find out next on Grand Creations.
….
“We had to wash the whole planet clean. Wasn’t cheap.”
“So how much more did you need to borrow, Yeff?”
“I—uh—don’t want to say. But my cousin Luce lent me it.”
….
“And congratulations on the baby, Asher. Can we meet him?”
“He’s at day care down on the planet right now. Here look, I’m very pleased with these basalt tiles I picked out for the mid -ocean ridge“
….
“How did you solve the dispute with the POA over the size of the moon?”
“That’s actually still going on, but my legal team thinks they’ve found a loophole”
….
“This Creation has been a trial for Yeff and Asher, but we hear that they are at last moved in and enjoying their Planet Change. Coming in at a little over six days the project took far longer than predicted but I think you’ll agree the result is stunning. No, really, you have to agree. Don’t make him angry.”
-
Edelweiss Entwined Part 1
#FanFiction #AscendanceOfABookworm #HanneloresFifthYear
#Wss366 Friend / International Friendship DayZent Eglantine’s chief scholar, Roswitha, greeted Alexandria’s arriving rulers. If the pair hadn’t been expecting her, they would have been stunned by the arrogance of the “invitation” she offered. As it was, Ferdinand frowned throughout Roswitha’s speech. They weren't even being allowed to settle in before being rushed off to meet the Zent.
Rozemyne recalled Ferdinand’s thoughts when they were first informed that an invitation was pending: “This is just what I was afraid of. Give a person the crown, and they will begin to throw their weight around. Be prepared, if she tries to bully us, I’ll flatten her.”
Rozemyne replied, “Eglantine is a #friend. She’ll have a good explanation for this.”
“She had better. You would be advised to remember that friendship has no place in royal politics. Nor should it in inter-duchy relations. Her job is to ensure the welfare of the Sovereignty and Yurgenschmidt. Ours is to look after the interests of Alexandria. Please remember that.”
Rozemyne nodded. Any other response would have precipitated a full-on scolding.
That conversation had taken place in Alexandria, but now they were at the Royal Academy for the Archduke Conference, faced with a “tea party.” She always dreaded these gatherings, and this one sounded worse than usual with Ferdinand in a bad mood and some serious, unknown business at hand.
Fortunately, Roswitha gave Rozemyne little time to worry, instead leading them straight to a meeting room richly decorated in the current Sovereignty style. Thick tapestries covered the walls illustrating various religious scenes. A centuries-old oak table lay in the center of the room, surrounded by chairs with luxurious cushions. A selection of tea and treats was laid out, including old-fashioned, heavy, sugary pastries, as well as many of Aub Rozemyne’s lighter creations.
Under other circumstances, Rozemyne would have been delighted to see the Zent display her goods, but not today. This wasn’t a friendly social tea, but something serious.
[Continued tomorrow]
-
“This is an illegal moon.”
“What are you talking about? It was here when we evolved.”
“It is debris from a collision and the Planetary Owners Association charter clearly states that all trash must be removed within one billion orbits of generation”
“It’s inhabited, we can’t just drop it into the sun”
“The fines are considerable!”
“Aha, but you have overlooked that it’s heritage listed. Habitat for endangered regolith worms. You can’t touch it, fuckers”
“Uh, ah—well i never…”
“Begone back to whatever black hole you crawled out of, you bureaucratic bucket of bolts!”
-
#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 122, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK
#Wss366 August #TimeTravelAuthors 08/1. Introduce your story (optional: use the word "wish")
For a long time, all I could focus on was the blue sky. A single, wispy cloud floated there. Then, my eyes drifted down to a marble sphinx that loomed over me, wings folded at its sides. I examined, uncomprehending, the weathered stains and moss growing in the creases of its sides. Ferns grew on its paws, along with a solitary scrubby bush. I felt heavy, and my brain was fuzzy. Then the questions occurred to me: “Who am I?” and “Where was I?”
The situation was dimly familiar. Hadn’t I forgotten everything before? Right, there had been that alley with the graffiti of the Eye of Providence, or was it a pink coral pyramid with giant azure dragonflies? I #wished I could remember, but it was all a jumble.
“Think! Think!”
“Rabbits and Templars. I had been fleeing them. Why? A meeting… Cyprus… 1191. That must be why I’m wearing medieval priest’s robes. And something about their calling a meteor to destroy humanity.”
I shuddered at the image of a flaming ball crossing a blue sky. Suddenly, a hot flash caused me to flush, leaving me uncomfortably damp with sweat.
I parted the grass I lay in, looking for Emily, but I was alone in a forest of #august oaks: gnarled trees whose branches brushed the Sphinx’s sides. Tall ferns crowded its bronze base, a path threading through them.
“Emily?” I muttered. Then, turning my head to look for her, I saw an open meadow sloping away from me. In its center lay a large trampled circle where feet had beaten down the grass.
“Fairies?” I asked myself. But that was crazy.
It must have all been a wild, vivid nightmare. Who’d ever heard of fairies or rabbits with rifles? The vision of them in Nazi uniforms and Templar surcoats flared in my mind and then faded.
A dream? It all had to be a confused vision, and Emily must be a figment of my sleeping brain. Why did that make me want to cry?
A tear ran down my cheek.
Welcome to volume two of “Bijou the Time-Traveling Ghost.” We open in the far future, 1,802,701 of the Common Era, and with poor Bijou only vaguely remembering Emily, the Lapin Cabal, the Illuminati, Templars, and the Covenant of Judas.
#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn
-
The coast guard emerged from the hold of the #coaster, pushing a handcuffed crewman ahead of him. One of the guards shouted to the lieutenant, "Good news, we'll make our #August quota."
"What we get?" the lieut shouted back over the dull thud of the helicopter rotors. "Coke, porn, [redacted slur]?"
"Contraceptives and woke propaganda."
-
#PennedPossibilities 1087 — Friday Edition: In honor of a friend (@thatwriterellie), we’re using a word once per week. Write or share something from your WIP pertaining to: “struggle.”
In this newly revised #excerpt from Reluctant Moon, Streak, the MMC, has witnessed the leader of the world, Rainy Days, do the Solomon thing, having made a contentious judgement to place a child in an unexpected person's care, doing what others might think beneath her notice but she felt she must, and in the end it was one too many stressful decisions in this powerful woman's life. He's but a teenager, a potential university student, someone she was showing around. But he's male. He acts instinctively (for his society, anyway). Thorn Rose is the FMC and Streak's, the POV's, lover.
Were she Thorn Rose wound-up worrying, what would I do? I dropped my hands and before Rainy Days could take it as a signal to stand, I looped my arms under hers and crossed them over her upper chest, pulling her into a reverse hug, pressing myself against her back and fluffy furled wings, positioning my chin on her shoulder. This time I took a deep breath. She was substantial, a giant true enough, but womanly. Human.
She took a deep breath. Shuddered. Whispered: "You and Thorn remind me of Raven Caw and I back then. Centuries ago." Breathless. "What next? What should we do... next?"
I struggled for a moment, feeling in my arms for all appearances a young woman barely twenty-five, only a few years older than myself. I tried to push from my head the incomprehensible truth that she was actually ancient, a chimera of daemon, day angel, and nephil who ruled the entire world. A crown of ibex horns touched the top of my head behind my ear held against hers, feathers fluttered nervously beneath my arms, and fur above black hooves rubbed my shin as she squatted in my grasp—attributes that fought any semblance of normalcy, fought to negate that the skin I felt as I embraced her was any more than that of any other woman, as human as any other's, merely that of a woman in desperate need of centering. Much I could do if only I held perspective and tamped down on the overwhelm bubbling up.
And. Breathing slowly. With her… breathing slowly. I did. Hugging her still.
She reiterated, "Tell me."
The two words held no extra meaning. Not anger. Not sarcasm. Not a command. Men's Studies let me recognize surrender. She wanted me to transform her reality—from powerful to vulnerable—though we both understood well that I could not actually perform miracles.
"You consent?" I asked, asking The Question: The only thaumaturgy of which I was capable.
"Thorn Rose trusts you to carry her through the sky without dropping her, so... I shall, also."
Well. Reality did change. Mine. An unexpected sense of power grew thumping loudly in my chest: a fraction of her sovereignty abdicated temporarily to me, for my use as I chose, which she trusted me to borrow.
For how long? To what extent?
I had to wait for these questions to answer themselves because I knew one thing: I was just a man and we both knew what a man's purpose was.
I drew Her to stand and She did. Her whole body seemed relaxed. She had a tentative smile. What could I do? that smile asked. Even if I did nothing more, I knew her perspective had...
Shifted.
For instants maybe only heartbeats, she had not been, was not, in control; for her it screamed revelation, a relief, burdens flung off, leaden chains sundered…
Rainy Days is the main series antagonist, of course. What you think is about to happen will. Rather publicly, in fact.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author #mystery #thriller #romance #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
“Beedoodooblorp”
“Come!”
“You wanted to see me, Captain.”
“Yes, have a seat, Chief.”
“Uh, nice particle flux we’re having this cycle….”
“Oh, I hadn’t noticed. I did notice that the transporter logs show an imblance in gender and bone structure among some of the crew returning from leave after beaming down to Risa.”
“Ah. I suppose I should have expected this would happen someday. Am I on charges, or would you like my resignation.”
“Neither; you know when I was relief transporter operator on the Stargazer, Chief Bridges told me how if the isolinear chips are misaligned, the transporters can fail to record logs properly. Do you ever have that problem on the Enterprise?”
“Not that I recall sir.”
“See that you do, next time. Dismissed!”
-
“It’s bullshit. Those things don’t work”
“It’s the future, Afterlife Intelligence is going to revolutionize coding. You need to get an ouija board or you’ll be left behind!”
“Even if it did work the concept that a dead spirit can help with coding is daft. Would you ask your ninety year old grandpa for coding help?”
“That’s not how it works. At Microschlock they stack-ranked their coders, fired the bottom half, murdered the top quintile and captured the spirits as AI agents. Reduced payroll cost by eighty percent!”
