Oh my god some of you nasty [Canadian insult] are crazy af and into some nasty [doo doo]; where your dignity? Your self-respect? What’s your number? you free tonight? -- Anon Guest
[AN: I am unfamiliar with Canadian insults. I shall improvise]
One of the fundamental unwritten laws of the universe is this: There is always more to learn about it. Not merely about the stars, galaxies, and all the things therein. But also about the people you share it with.
Some concepts are alarming. Some disturb. Others... well.
Dorcit Ballau had come of age and just gained his license to enter the Galactic Alliance infonets. Without any kind of supervision or government protection. He'd been advised to be careful where he wiki-walked, but the compulsion of curiosity drew him ever onwards.
The Alliance was bigger than they'd told him it was. There were so many strange and wonderful things. People. Concepts.
Concepts like... alien foodstuffs. Gyiik cookery, with proportion charts for those who lacked a Gyiikish capacity for fare. Cute Havenworlders. Astonishingly cute Deathworlders. Tours of.. public transit systems.
And, of course, pornography.
There were things out there to satiate interests both subtle and gross. Not just how intimacy could occur, but also the variation of partners. And then he found out about identity.
It was fascinating.
There was an entire history of pronouns and how they were used. How they multiplied in some periods of history and were eventually whittled down to two. In most places, anyway. And Dorcit encountered a concept that opened a door of possibility.
Non-binary.
It was for people who just didn't fit into the two popular categories of "masculine" or "feminine". They either fit in-between on a sliding scale or just... didn't care for either. In the words of one, "I don't see why my genetalia should change the way people treat me."
It was more than opening a door. Dorcit felt almost ready to fly. It was like discovering the ocean after living life on long trips between oases. It was like discovering depth and colour after a lifetime of staring at shadows cast on a cave wall.
Dorcit had something that fit. That felt comfortable. And it was the pronoun set, 'ze/hir'. Ze was going to spend more hours on the infonets learning how to teach people how to use them.
And maybe how to deal with the people who refused.
But definitely how to meet some of the interesting people with expanded coupling options. Ze wanted to explore a few things ze'd seen.
[Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends! Or visit my hub site to see what else I'm up to.
Send me a prompt [29 remaining prompts!]