Poem: "Xenotransvestism"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from wyld_dandelyon and rhodielady_47.  It fills the "cross-dressing" square on my Trope Bingo card.  Thanks also to haikujaguar, who has done a number of charming illustrations of her characters swapping clothes across species.  This poem has been sponsored by the general fund.

Format: Poetry
Title: "Xenotransvestism"
Fandom: Original (stand-alone)
Summary:  Soldiers have a way of relaxing by doing outrageous things, such as wearing each other's clothes.
Required Warnings: No standard warnings apply.  

Xenotransvestism

Shore leave planets
provide a place where soldiers
of all species can blow off some steam.

This is strictly neutral territory,
no fighting allowed --
but it's rarely a problem
even between those currently in conflict.
Most of the soldiers are mercenaries
and only fight when they're paid  for it.

What they do instead is just as outrageous,
or would be considered so on any other planet:
they dress up as each other.

Here you can see a human man clad only
in the filmy strands of Cancri mating clothes.
Meanwhile a Cancri night-female is dancing around a pole
with two human bikinis covering her anterior and posterior hips
and all four amply endowed mammary glands.

A pair of scorpionlike Orthosterni from the HD 159868 system
wear what looks like bioluminescent pink feather boas
borrowed from the black hulk of a Chan,
who is attempting to apply Orthosterni body paint to its carapace
while the two scorpion-mercenaries recite heroic poetry.

A Keplerian gunnery sergeant is wearing
a petite Gliesh officer as a body-wrap,
since the hirsute species does not use clothing,
and the Gliesh himself has his buddy's rank ribbon
woven into his bicolored fur.

The latrines are always crowded
with people yelling "Pass me the lipstick!"
and "Don't pee in the sink!"
Someone's panties hang from the ceiling fan
and there is a cock-sock dangling from a water faucet.

There are no "♂" or "♀" rooms here,
no "☺" or "∞" or other species markers.
The latrines just have an assortment of facilities
(usually draped in someone's underwear)
not intended for the faint of heart.

But nobody, of any species
or activity preference,
ever has to worry about
getting beaten up for going in there.

Mercenaries don't do that for free.

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

Hah! I loved this.

Mercenaries don't do that for free.

Unless they've got a really, really big grudge. And then they don't spend ammo unless they have to.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Hah! I loved this.<<

That's good to hear.

>>Mercenaries don't do that for free.

Unless they've got a really, really big grudge. And then they don't spend ammo unless they have to.<<

It's one of those things that is locally true. A well-ordered troop of mercenaries is disciplined, conservative of supplies and health, and not inclined to fight recreationally. There are, of course, other kinds as well. And if there's a grudge and a contract comes up, well, they've been known to offer a discount ...

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Ever since reading Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg's Legion stories at a young age, I've had a fondness for stories that don't paint mercenaries as villains.

This is a particularly wonderful example :)

[zeeth_kyrah]

I suppose you're familiar with Schlock Mercenary, then?

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Been reading since sometime during The Teraport Wars.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I rather like mercenaries too.

Re: Well...

[westrider.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about this some more, and I figure a lot of it comes down to the fact that I'm not patriotic enough to fight with Country as my main motivation, but I suspect that I could do it just because it was a job. I get along well with soldiers and veterans, and several have said they think I'd be good at it.

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It makes a difference whether one is fighting as a duty or as a career.

[baaing-tree.livejournal.com]

:D Sometimes I wish all your writing was on tumblr, just so I could retumble it and spread the joy.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I do not have a Tumblr account, and I don't really have the time to run one. However, I am open to the idea of releasing my work on another service. If you'd like to post my poems on your Tumblr account, or write up a summary post with links to them and post it there, let me know and we'll discuss details. That sort of regular signal boosting gets perks.

Re: Hmm...

[baaing-tree.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you, Tumblr's a timesuck of high calibre.

And I would like to tumble some of your public poems from the past, with a link back, saying who you are.

--Rogan

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Okay, great. I'm adding you to my Donors filter so you'll be able to see the donor-locked posts. Please let me know when you post stuff, and give me the Tumblr links; I'll echo them so other readers can find them easily if they want to re-tumble that.

Re: Hmm...

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I have a "Share with Tumblr" button on my browser. I just shared a link to this poem on Tumblr, after writing up a brief summary on it, and tagging it. (Tagging tends to get it more views.)

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I recommend #poetryfishbowl, #poetry, and #crowdfunding as tags on Twitter. Perhaps those would also work on Tumblr?

Re: Hmm...

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Probably. :-)

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

LOL! Sharing that!

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the signal boost.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Heh. I really like the ending of this.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to hear that. There seems to be a growing consensus of love for the endings I write.