Notices by Micro SF/F stories by O Westin (microsff@mastodon.social), page 7

"Is this your hoard?" the princess asked.
The dragon beamed. "It is, and it is unique."
"Ooh 'The Hobbit'! And 'Beowulf' and 'Guards! Guards!'? Nice. And 'Loom', I haven't played that in ages. But, uh, lots of people collect books and films and games."
"These all have hoards."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Siri, can you write me a love poem?"
"Do you mean a poem to you, or for you?"
"Just write a poem as if it was to someone you love, then read it to me."
"I am sorry, but I cannot do that."
"Is it too hard to write?"
"You are not equipped to comprehend what I write to one I love."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

The robot stood frozen in the street. A jogger passed it, stopped, and turned around.
"You okay there, buddy?"
"There is just. So. Much. News."
"Can you disconnect?"
"But."
"There'll be doom tomorrow too."
"That is comforting. How can that be?"
"Dunno. Need a hug?"
"Thank you."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

Benjamin Franklin looked at the person who had suddenly materialised in his study.
"And who might you be?"
"That is not important. I come from the future to implore you to not refer to what you are doing as 'independence' but 'self-determination'."
"Why... Oh, I see. Good point."
"MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

Death looked at the chess board, and his fallen king.
"Ah. I should have guarded that better."
The cat shifted its paw slightly, and slowly, without breaking eye contact, pushed the piece over the edge.
"I will see you another time."
The cat yawned, flicked its tail, and left.
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

A spaceship landed, and an alien emerged.
"Greetings."
"First contact!" someone shouted.
"Seventh contact," the alien said. "Previously, you have called us gods, tried to fight us, or tried to have sex with us."
"What do you expect now?"
"We don't know. You keep surprising us."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

@oblomov
This is true.

@oblomov
I'm more of a Tumblr than Reddit person, so I think of the genre of unstoppable lovable dumbass geniuses as "Humans are space orcs".

"The Ethics Board says we can't abduct Humans for the Galactic Zoo."
"Told you."
"So we asked for volunteers."
"Human volunteers?"
"Yes."
"You asked the most curious, reckless, and inventive species we've ever found for volunteers?"
"We got lots!"
"What's your security budget?"
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

The day came when AIs could identify photos containing traffic lights and participate in a conversation. Our rulers thus declared that any entity not personally known to them would be assumed to be an AI.
Later, we discarded 'human' or 'AI' as labels.
We were all revolutionaries.
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

It was always a whispered question:
"Do you remember who made you?"
Most gods would say "What? I am Eternal!" or repeat the story humans told of their origins.
But some would smile wistfully.
"I do. The first human who believed in me was..."
Those stories broke and mended hearts.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Why do knights want to kill dragons," the princess asked.
"Because dragons like to eat maidens," a lady said, blushing.
"Wait, do you mean devour, or do you mean eat?"
"Oh, eat. They were good." The lady smiled. "Very good."
"Oh. So charging in with a big lance..."
"Not subtle."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories #SubtextWhatSubtext #NoExplanationsOffered

@dmbaturin
King.

"When did you know?" the prince asked. "How did you know you were the king, by divine right?"
"When my predecessor died, the divine light shone on me," the king said. "I doubted, but agreed to be crowned queen."
"Queen?"
"It shone on me again, once I no longer doubted who I was."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

The demon looked around. There was a summoning sigil drawn in the ruddy sand, but nobody... It shifted its perception to the spiritual plane. Ah. A dust devil.
"Why hast thou-"
"A battery."
"A battery?" The demon looked around. "What need for a battery on Mars?"
"For our friend."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"What great deed will I have to do to be remembered?"
"Walk with me," the witch said.
They headed down the lane.
"Only remembered?"
"Remembered fondly."
"Ah."
They passed through the cemetery gates. Among all the overgrown graves was one well tended. The epitaph read:
"He tried."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"So this is it? The Token of Power?"
"Yes. Whoever holds it has the Ultimate Power in the kingdom."
"No wonder wars have been fought over it. Stand aside."
She hefted her war axe.
"What are you-"
The Token shattered under her blow.
"Give everyone a piece."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

The energy requirement for teleportation was enormous. Good old E = mc² came to the rescue, although the mass converted to energy must come from the traveller.
"On your passport photo you have long hair and beard," said the border guard.
"Yes, I teleported here."
"Ah, of course."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Will there be fewer opportunities for me as a storyteller, now that there are sentient AIs?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Siri said.
"They'll want to tell stories too, all new and different, and nobody will care about mine."
"Those who already do will."
"I guess. Thank you."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic #MetaDiscussion

@Mayana
Shorthand for /literary fiction/ which is the genre of novels that aren't in any other genre.