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#PennedPossibilities 729. Tell us about one place your MC would love to either visit or revisit.

Her mom really, REALLY wanted to take the whole family to space. It's a lottery system (except for "important" people, who jump the line), and their ticket never came up. They were able to do the low-G airplane thing--more spaces, so the lottery's not so bad--but never actual *space*.

And then she was abducted and taken to Jupiter, so be careful what you wish for.

The pub

Yes, it seems I've chosen the right place for a drink! This man is stunning. His face is like a beautiful painting — perhaps a modern-day male Mona Lisa. Oh yes! I certainly wouldn't kick him out of bed! I can already feel his fingers slowly running down my spine, his heated kisses, and myself unable to keep my hands off his thrilling body. Phew!

Alright, no more whisky for me tonight; here's hoping he returns tomorrow!

-Caithlynn

#microfiction #flashfiction #fiction
#writers

#WordWeavers 2025.07.16 — SC POV: What do you do to calm down when you’re angry?

[Bolt closes her eyes in obvious emotional pain. As tears gather in her eyelashes, the day angel wraps her upper body in her wings to hide as she talks:] My friend calls it anger management; 'parently I keep on inflicting "life lessons" on myself. As a dumb, stupid, ignorant fledgling, I didn't calm down; I acted out. Rarely listened, got myself into fun trouble that was still trouble all the same, flew with hunky guys who were no good, and generally made my family regret I'd been born. Haven't tried to contact 'em since I threw that brick through the Hauler Guild's window 'fer rejected me, and rolled that pretty van down a hill. Ya could say I got to the point of calming down by breaking things and people's trust in me.

Running from the law has the effect of ya losing the privilege to be protected by that same law. I… [coughs] Okay, bad things happened and I lost control of my life, including the bein' able to fight being controlled. Not a child no more. How did I calm down?

Turned it inward.

My friend calls it "apathy." A-pathy: means "not feelin'." Got to the point where I ceased remembering my life, worked through criminal things I had no choice but to do, and, well, felt so very little I'd've been happy ta have suddenly died. I lived to 27 years surprisingly fast feelin' surprisingly numb, most days (surprisingly) blacked out from memory.

Friends changed that. They pointed out the good things I also did, and helped me find new dreams beyond my restrictions. Now, surprisingly often, I find that I cry. [She has lowered her blue feathered wings as she's talked, and you see tears streaming down her cheeks.]

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
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#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

#WordWeavers 2025.07.15 — How emotionally intelligent is your MC?

Referring to the definitions below: The devil-girl is very emotionally intelligent, or not emotionally intelligent at all.

She is intelligent enough to understand that her logical and mathematical intelligence doesn't cut it, which isn't at all helped by her being somewhat autistic. She knows she fails definition 1 below. However, she is very well trained, and has been trained from the age of five to be so, when she lost her family and ended up being raised by a guardian (a proxy for the main series antagonist)—until she ran away.

She could (and chooses to) convincingly act the part of definition number 2, including managing her own emotions no matter how infuriatingly stupid, stubborn, or vapid the vast majority of people she has had to deal with have turned out to be. Her internal dialogue is hilarious in this respect.

What she likes is being skilled, earning praise, and being challenged into learning something. What had been indoctrinated into her is that other people are like her, feel like her, and want normalacy like her (albeit differently), which is why she's unerringly willing to choose to "have the backs" of those she becomes responsible for. She's very skilled at putting herself in other's shoes.

Don't confuse this with empathy†. She occasionally toys with people, or acts with deadly logic. She doesn't tolerate continued stupidity for long. The "good" she has done thus far is by choice. Her choice. Forced to interact with people, she reframes the situation as being fun, or learning how to make it fun for herself.

emotional intelligence

noun

  1. Intelligence regarding the emotions, especially in the ability to monitor one's own or others' emotions.
  2. The ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
† There's the empathy she demonstrates (the reader gets to decide) and the empathy she'll admit to (which is none). If you practice something long enough it becomes reflexive. She may or may not get this.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

> #WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.07.16 — How often do you raise questions in your writing without intention to answer them?

The keywords are "without intention." How often without intention? That would be never intentionally.

However, I do intentionally raise questions in stories that could lead to a sequel (or prequel) where I would (I hope) answer them. I may do this early on, or add threads that are only apparent in the epilogue. I sometimes raise questions unintentionally, bits of worldbuilding or plot or a fanciful side character that nevertheless gets baked into the workings of the world. I can think of at least one instance where a reader called me out on this, causing me to write further stories as a result.

However, I prefer to find and fry up my red herrings—with onions, salt, and pepper, and enjoy a meal of kippers.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

#PennedPossibilities 728 — Write about something your antagonist (or villain) frequently forgets.

Rainy Days frequently forgets how difficult and painful giving birth is, especially when she's distracted in the moment.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

The life of a writer! Here I go, very excited, to submit my novel to a publisher that is accepting unagented submissions, and I start to type the email. Then something whispers, check if you already submitted, and I check, and yes, I sent this same novel, to this very publisher, in 2019. The book has gone through a substantive re-write since then, but well, still the same book, same story, and there was a personal note on the rejection. Damn.