vignettes

[marycatelli]

This week's prompt is:
stereotyped🙂

Anyone can join, with a 50-word creative fiction vignette in the comments. Your vignette does not have to include the prompt term. Any (G or PG) definition of the word can be used.

Comments

[marycatelli]

Augustus ran toward her.    She fought to rise.    She could not be a fainting damsel.    Not in this crisis.    And not as a prince, or king.    He would need a princess and queen to bear the burden.
If they lived through this.
If this was real.
She felt the weight of Ursula in her pocket.
A real what? came the mocking thought, and she sat up.    Maundering on metaphysics could wait.    She staggered to her feet, and Augustus steadied her.
"Can you get us to the hilltop with that?" said Sonia.
"Maybe," said Violetta.    "The spell does not reach far."

[marycatelli]

Rosalind glanced back.
"You will never see any of these souls again," said Elisanna, her voice low. "And if they are offended at your ignoring their advice, well, they can't start a war over it."
Rosalind gave a little laugh.
They set out. Two ordinary lassies returning to their family.

[marycatelli]

"The village was destroyed by the veneficae, and then the church became a place of pilgrimage. Because they said that St. Cyprian protected it."
Edur's mouth just twitched as he glanced at Honor.
"It fell out of favor during the third century."
"And yet it remains," said Lucius. "They knew how to build, in that age."
Kari said, sharply, "Everything they built that did not last isn't here to betray that they didn't always build that well. Of course, they built well, some of the time, but where's the village that this church served? You can not find its foundations."

[starshipcat.livejournal.com]

Back when I was studying Russian, we learned how many Russian jokes were based upon ethnic stereotypes: the boisterous, salo-eating Ukrainian, the hot-blooded Georgian, and so forth. They had a grain of truth in them, but filtered through a very Russian lens.

Since First Contact, I've noticed how many jokes here in the Chongu Empire are based upon species stereotypes: the cowardly, skittering Eemia, the proud warrior Rhaghanth, etc. And while they do have a basis in biology, each species has its own surprising strengths. The Eemia may not be much in a stand-up battle, but they fill the ranks of covert operators, sneaking in and out of some very dangerous places. Many an Eemia has relatives who never came back, whose citations for valor are for undisclosed actions in undisclosed locations. Sometimes I wonder if they encourage that stereotype to ensure they are underestimated...

[marycatelli]

always complications

[marycatelli]

No doubt the goose-girls would be wooed by the cowherds, and the merchants's daughters by the merchant's sons, thought Marguerite. She took the porridge off the fire. Except for her.
Leonie, she realized, was glancing toward the door.
She walked into the doorway. Yvette gaped, stopping in midsentence, and fled.