This short novel (43,800 words) is in the same setting as my earlier novelette “Butterflies are the Gentlest.” They take place simultaneously, but there are no characters in common; I reckon you could read them in either order. I’m calling the setting itself “the Valentine Divergence”; if anyone else wants to write stories in this
setting, feel free.
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Wed, 2012/07/11 - 10:23am
“Most of you already know Jeffrey Sergeyev,”
Ms. Turner said in a loud voice. “She will be using the girls'
facilities from now on, as I explained Friday. Please be courteous to
her.”
“Ignore the bit where she called me ‘she’ and
‘her’,” I said to the girls nearest me.
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Mon, 2012/07/02 - 8:57am
“I know there would be problems with you using the
girls’ bathrooms or showers,” Dad said, “but —
after today, there might be just as bad problems showering with the
other boys.”
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Thu, 2012/06/28 - 10:26am
“I can’t,” Arnie said. “Keith and Tara
Saunders invited me to a party at their house. I asked if you could
come, but they said it’s centaurs only,” he went on,
looking vaguely embarrassed.
“Have fun,” I said. I felt weird about that, and wondered if things like
that were going to happen often, and if so, if this was the beginning of
the end of our friendship.
Updated 2012/7/12 re: very small and very large neospecies
Before I start talking about the world in which my stories
“Butterflies are the Gentlest” and “A House
Divided” are set (warning: this will contain spoilers for those
stories), let me clear up a couple of possible misunderstandings.
This isn’t exactly a “story bible” like the writers
of Star Trek episodes or tie-in books have to religiously adhere to,
or a set of “rules” like those that ElrodW wrote for his
MAU setting.
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Mon, 2012/06/25 - 9:55am
“I don’t like this,” Mom said. “I
don’t see how you can keep it up, and the longer you manage to
pretend, the more people are going to be hurt and offended when they
find out you lied to them.”
I was starting to worry that she might be right, but I wasn’t going to
back out unless she and Dad forced my hand by telling people.
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Fri, 2012/06/22 - 10:32am
Dad snuggled in next to Mom on the sofa; she put aside the skirt she
was working on and they hugged and kissed, but I thought I saw a
little bit of hesitation, and it hurt. I knew too many kids at school
whose parents were divorced, or looked like they might get a divorce
any time now, and I was happy to think that my parents looked like the
sticking-together kind. But when I saw her hesitate a little before
letting him hug her and kiss her, it worried me. Could they still
stay together after changing in such drastic and different ways? And
if not, what would happen to me?
Submitted by trismegistus_shandy on Mon, 2012/06/18 - 7:22pm
We used the men’s room — I felt vaguely guilty about that,
but I was too embarrassed to use the ladies' room, and we both still
looked male, as long as we had clothes on.
