Books read, early March
Mar. 16th, 2026 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrissaRuth Awad, Set to Music a Wildfire. A poetry collection that is very directly about her experiences as a daughter of a Lebanese immigrant and her father's experiences in Lebanon. Interesting but not particularly subtle; I'm not sure it's fair to demand subtlety on these topics.
M.H. Ayinde, A Song of Legends Lost. A thumping big fantasy. Did I read this because one of the characters is eating plantains very early on and I love plantains? Well. That wasn't the only reason. But the things it said about the worldbuilding drew me in and kept me going for many hundred pages.
Shane Bobrycki, The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages. Bobrycki noticed a gaping hole between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance when it came to the influence of large group behavior in Europe, and this book is him examining what we know about that, what crowds there actually were, what impact they had on the life of their cultures and why. He manages to remember that Europe does not just mean Italy at first and later France and England, which is always nice.
Eliane Boey, Club Contango. I really like Boey's prose, and this started out well for me, but as the narrative bore inexorably down on the plot twist and I could no longer pretend it would not be that particular plot twist--which I had foreseen at the very beginning and really hoped it would not be--I grew more and more frustrated. Here's hoping her next thing doesn't lean on a twist of that particular sort.
Sarah E. Bond, Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire. Bond is clear and explicit about where she's drawing parallels between modern unions and ancient groups that have similar traits, and she's willing to make her arguments about them specific rather than handwavey. A corrective for too much of the assumption that the people of the past were not like us, and an angle on the ancient world more interesting to me than most.
Michael Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371. Definitely what it says on the tin, from the top-down perspective rather than anything about what these wars were like for the rank and file. Did you know the Scots were not a restful people in this era? welp.
Steph Cherrywell, The Ink Witch. I loved this so much. It's MG fantasy that's actually funny rather than adult-trying-too-hard, it's got ink magic and a tarantula familiar and a lovely fierce trans heroine whose plot is not about being trans, it's about magic quests and family politics and mermaids and yeti and running a little motel. It's so great, I'm so happy about this book.
P.F. Chisholm, A Taste of Witchcraft. At this point in this series (this is book 10, don't start here), we are no longer talking about an historical murder mystery series but more generally an historical adventure series. This one goes very, very vividly into the tortures accused witches suffered, so if you're not feeling up for that, maybe not this one. It also features quite a bit of my favorite characters in the series, though.
Sunyi Dean, The Girl With a Thousand Faces. Discussed elsewhere.
Nicola Griffith, She Is Here. A short collection of essays, poems, and short stories. Most of the essays were familiar to me from previous sources, but they go well here thematically. I love Griffith's novels, but her shorter work does not feel as strong or essential to me. For me this is a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
Bassem Khandaqji, A Mask the Color of the Sky. A novel about a young Palestinian man who has aspirations in both archaeology and fiction--who is writing a novel about Mary Magdalen, or trying to--who looks at the wider world and wants a wider life. And then he finds an ID that will allow him, with his particular appearance, to readily pass as a Jewish Israeli, and he does that for a while, and it's the sort of book where the complications are primarily internal, emotional, mental, about his place in the world and his identity, rather than thriller novel shooty-shoot complications. It's short and fairly straightforward.
Margrit Pernau, Emotions and Temporalities. Kindle. This is one of a series of short monographs that I downloaded a while ago, and it's the first where I've really felt that the format limited content beyond what was useful. I wanted a lot more context on emotionality and assessments of past/present/future in the cultures Pernau was discussing; I felt like more and longer examples would have strongly benefitted her argument. Ah well, I'm told you can't win them all.
Dana Simpson, Unicorn Secrets. This is the latest of a collection of daily strips of the comic Phoebe & Her Unicorn, which I don't read daily, I read them in collection form. It is nice and fun and nice. Is this the best of them, no, but it does what I wanted it to do, it is a pleasant diversion.
Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle. Reread. So one of the things I didn't fully notice when I read this the first time, 25 years ago on a friend's futon waiting for another friend's wedding, is that this is an almost perfect balance of Victorian and modern novel. Specifically: money is allowed to be the main concern. Money is discussed in detail, what food you can get for it and what clothes and what marriage will do about it and how we feel about that. Marriage is still considered to be the main way that women handle money, but no longer the only way (and the ending makes that matter rather than blurring to a romantic "isn't it lovely that the marrying couple just happens to have enough funds after all?" that some of the other books both Victorian and modern fall back on). It is very matter-of-fact about sex and sexuality for its publication date, but not in a smarmy or overbalanced way. This is also one of fiction's non-evil stepmothers, and bless her for that.
D.E. Stevenson, Miss Buncle's Book. Kindle. A very gentle comedy about a spinster in a small village who writes a novel with keen observations of all her neighbors and sets the whole town on its ear. I'm fascinated by the line Stevenson manages to walk between letting the Great Depression feel real (Miss Buncle needs her book to make her money! it's not quite as money-focused as I Capture the Castle but still) and still keeping it upbeat for the people who were reading the book as an escape from that very same Great Depression. Not terribly deep, fairly predictable in its larger plot though not necessarily in its scene incidentals, fun all the same.
Ethan Tapper, How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. I was a bit disappointed in this, which aims at being a lyrical memoir of a life in forestry. The lyricism is repetitive (which is harder to forgive considering how short this volume is) and in places twee (writing some sections about himself in the third person as "the man" did not work for me), and in general there was a great deal less how than I hoped for. He talked about what he was doing, he even talked in general terms about those who might not understand how killing plants could help a forest ecosystem. But as it was memoir rather than science essay, he felt no need to go into the evidence behind his positions--and, crucially, actions.
Jo Walton and Ada Palmer, Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Discussed elsewhere.
Vid: Tightrope (One Piece Live Action)
Mar. 16th, 2026 12:12 pmsholioA vid about the Marines. Clips from seasons one and two; spoilers.
(CW: guns, violence, smoking - the usual show stuff. No fast/stuttery cuts.)
Music: Janelle Monae
Length: 2:48
Crossposted: On AO3 | on Tumblr
Download: 212 Mb MP4 (zipped)
(CW: guns, violence, smoking - the usual show stuff. No fast/stuttery cuts.)
Music: Janelle Monae
Length: 2:48
Crossposted: On AO3 | on Tumblr
Download: 212 Mb MP4 (zipped)
A miscellanea
Mar. 16th, 2026 07:17 pmoursinThis is so much what I've been thinking about a different period that I'm writing about - that it's there, even though people are saying It's Ded, it's just not doing the flashy newsworthy visible stuff or the results are the things are are not, or no longer, happening: The one thing everyone gets wrong about feminism.
***
I am a great admirer of Professor Athene Donald's blog, and I like this recent post: Unintended Consequences - in particular perhaps this apercu:
Business gurus tend to talk about ‘being authentic’ as the right way to lead. But if you are a testy, over-bearing soul being authentic may be very destructive for those around you.
So much that.
***
This is another story about mobility in the world: Looted from a royal palace: The medieval jug now on display in London:
A large bronze medieval jug bearing the English royal coat of arms would be a rare find if dug up in England, but somehow it had ended up in West Africa, in modern-day Ghana, thanks to early trading routes between nations.
Dating from between 1340 and 1405, the jug is the largest surviving bronze ewer from medieval England. Decorated with an English inscription, royal heraldry and coat of arms, it was originally a luxury object — but its meaning changed dramatically as it moved across continents.
***
I've had to do with either this artefact or another very similar in my working days, I did not know about the biological contamination (we didn't know for quite some time about the radioactive notebooks, either): a parchment scroll designed to guard against the dangers of childbirth:
Until now, this scroll’s worn surface and suggestive staining constituted the main evidence for its use in childbirth. However, new research by Sarah Fiddyment, presented in the exhibition, reveals that human proteins found on the scroll’s surface indicate the presence of cervico-vaginal fluid. This is an important breakthrough in the burgeoning field of biocodicology, which seeks out the invisible traces left behind by users of manuscripts, as they held, rubbed or kissed a parchment.
(I hadn't heard that story about the dormouse, but wot she does not mention the Godalming rabbit lady?!).
***
You know, I would have sworn that back in my working days I came across something appertaining to this historic event: How smallpox claimed its final victim, but I'm unable to trace it.
Day 21: Shadow Continues to Mellow
Mar. 16th, 2026 02:11 pmjesse_the_kWhile he was quite surprised to walk out for his morning on-leash ablutions into heavy snow above his knees, he's really starting to relax.
This morning I reached down to stroke his back and he didn't flinch.
Just now I was resting on the floor by his bed, petting his back. I started to scritch the scruff of his neck, and he relaxed even more, his dark eyes shining up at MyGuy behind the camera. (I'm reclining on my tripled-up exercise pad just behind him, shockingly without glasses.)
( Read more... )
Only 28 days of enforced rest to go!
Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: February 2026
Mar. 16th, 2026 06:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
reactor_feedMust Read Short Speculative Fiction: February 2026
Ghosts, bridge trolls, and soothsayers populate the best short fiction of the past month…
Published on March 16, 2026
This month I once again bring two new magazines into the spotlight on top of the ones long established in my rotation. Many of these stories are bittersweet or end on a note of impending doom. I wonder why those were the pieces I gravitated to in February? It’s not like everything is terrible and we’re on the brink of a third world war or—*checks notes* Oh. Okay. Well, here are ten awesome short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories for you anyway.
“Corporeal Form” by Kit Harding
(Penumbric—February 2026; issue 5) Two ghosts work at a haunted beach attraction. The protagonist takes a liking to a human tourist, Melody, who has come hoping to encounter the wailing Woman in White (aka the protagonist). The two form a brief but toxic relationship. I liked how Harding gives the reader just a snippet of this world. We get hints about other characters and tastes of the larger world, but for the most part it’s like looking through a pinhole; you know there’s more out there but you can’t see it. That narrow view adds to the unsettling feeling of the plot.
“The Embroidered Garden” by Manahil Bandukwala
(Tales & Feathers—February 2026; issue 4) Our narrator is a child waiting for Baba to return home after weeks of working at the port. They’re left behind with Amma, who is frustrated with the state of her garden. Our narrator is practicing their embroidery and somehow the flowers they stitch come to life in the garden. And so do other things, even foxes. Whatever they can stitch, they can make appear. The ending of this story made me sit up and shout “Oh no!” For most of the way through it feels like a sweet little magical realism tale and the end takes a sharp turn.
“Jumper on the Troll Bridge” by Shannon Cross
(Flashpoint SF—February 2026; issue 1) Flashpoint SF has been around for a while, but they recently switched from releasing individual stories on their website to collecting them together in a single issue. In this new format, it was my pleasure to read this story about a troll trying to collect bridge tolls. The only way it can get tolls nowadays are through people who jump off the bridge in an attempt to take their life. But this isn’t a dark story about suicide. Rather, it’s about second chances. I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Golden Gate Bridge used to be a common jump point until they put up barriers and installed phones that connect to crisis hotlines. Most people who survive a suicide attempt say they regretted trying almost immediately after they did it, and this story takes that on in a refreshing way.
“Medusa’s Ship, or The Thing About Bodies” by Natalia Theodoridou
(Beneath Ceaseless Skies—February 5, 2026; issue 450) This story is about a lot of things. It’s about gender and bodies and how we change ours so they fit better. It’s a play on the Ship of Theseus paradox where if you replace all the parts of the ship is it still the same ship. It references the Greek myth of Medusa but layers on feminism and patriarchy commentary. And since it’s Theodoridou, it also has a unique narrative style: the story is bookended by fragment sentences and em dashes. In the middle is the plot about a spaceship captain who arrives on a planet where the Ship can turn herself into a woman, but only as long as he keeps his eyes covered with a blindfold. A stunning story with a visually interesting layout and a compelling plot.
“Rest Stop” by Pedro Iniguez
(Nightmare—February 2026; issue 161) Yolanda and Bernard are on a road trip to El Paso. While in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, Yolanda begs him to pull over at the next rest stop so she can use the bathroom. A simple request, but it lands like a ticking time bomb. The bruises on Yolanda’s arms tell the reader that this relationship isn’t a safe or kind one. In the dilapidated restroom, Yolanda is offered a choice: go back to the evil she knows or leave but into a future she knows nothing about. What if things are better if she leaves? What if things are worse? Iniquez’s flash fiction is weightier than its brevity would have you believe.
“The River Speaks My Name” by Ocoxōchitl la Coyota
(Strange Horizons—February 16, 2026) Two young women grow up in a small village. They spend their days playing in the river but avoid the strange abyss at the center of it. Until they revisit as adults and Isabella is sucked into it. When she emerges, she’s out of her mind with terror. After she dies, the land floods and the drought is temporarily abated. Our narrator realizes there is a connection to people who disappear in the river abyss and the storm that follows. That connection is haunting her now. A dark fantasy climate fiction story about sacrifice and tradition.
“This is Why Magical Realism and Family Tree School Projects Shouldn’t Mix” by Abigail Guerrero
(Adventitious—February 2026; issue 1) Adventitious is a new bimonthly magazine that, according to their website, covers “speculative, surreal, and literary fiction. We admire its reach, its weirdness, and its refusal to color inside any lines.” Their first issue had a lot of stories that were as unusual as they were unexpected, but the one that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about is Guerrero’s. Clarita is assigned a family tree project in school and the story is her presenting various people in her genealogy. One of Clarita’s ancestors had a child by a demon in goat form, so now all the descendants have goat parts. Another ancestor is a grumpy pile of bones. Guerrero touches on the tension that a lot of marginalized kids and kids with non-traditional families experience with these projects, like me. (Imagine being a Black 10-year-old in a predominately white school and having to tell your white teacher that you can’t go any further back than the 1860s because of slavery.) By the end of her presentation, even her teacher regrets the assignment.
“Three Fortunes on Alcestis as Told by the Fraud Baeliss Shudal” by Louis Inglis Hall
(Clarkesworld—February 2026; issue 223) Baeliss is the last descendent in an ancient line of diviners. Except she cannot see the future. The Duke Ernestid Arkady, ruler of the world, summons the soothsayer to tell his future and so she lies. That fortune takes her to a battlefield and then the aftermath of a war. Each time she has to tell a fortune, she lies. The subtext reasons for those lies are what make this story so powerful. The future isn’t immutable or inevitable. It is what we make of it.
“Uncontrolled Emotion” by Allison Mulder
(Radon Journal—February 2026; issue 12) “Everyone at the company started with a signed contract and a memory wipe.” Dermot is a safety censor for a company that scours surveillance footage to monitor communications. He marks things said and unsaid and files them. What happens when someone acquires too many infractions isn’t told to the reader, but it presumably isn’t good. The conversation he listens in on in the story triggers something from the life he had before his memory was wiped. It’s a gut-wrenching revelation, and his reaction to it is complex and depressing. Mulder hints at how the capitalistic and fascistic system forces people into awful situations but that we also always have some power to change things for the better. It may not be a lot, but there is always something we can do.
“What Haunts the Newbuild?” by Meagan Kane
(PseudoPod—February 6, 2026; 1015) If you haven’t noticed, another theme this month is stories with shocking endings. You think the author is going one direction and then they shift at the last minute into an entirely different one. In this piece, two houses, Good Bones and LUXURY VINYL FLOORING (aka Newbuild), start a competition to see who can get the most from their human occupants. The houses sip the lifeforce of humans in their care, kind of a twist on the haunted house story. But that ending! Wow. Makes you look at new construction McMansions a whole lot different.[end-mark]
The post Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: February 2026 appeared first on Reactor.
Shh! A Quiet Place 3 Cast Adds Katy O’Brian, Jason Clarke, and Jack O’Connell
Mar. 16th, 2026 05:51 pmreactor_feedShh! A Quiet Place 3 Cast Adds Katy O’Brian, Jason Clarke, and Jack O’Connell
It will also see the return of Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds
Published on March 16, 2026
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Shh! <i>A Quiet Place 3</i> Cast Adds Katy O’Brian, Jason Clarke, and Jack O’Connell</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">It will also see the return of Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds</div>
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<p>John Krasinski shared the news <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV83JgcjjoF/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on social media</a> today that the fourth <em>A Quiet Place </em>film, <em>A Quiet Place: Part III,</em> will see the return of Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds, and also include newcomers Katy O’Brian (<em>The Mandalorian, The Running Man</em>), Jason Clarke (<em>Terminator Genisys</em>, <em>Pet Sematary</em>), and Jack O’Connell (<em>Sinners, 28 Years Later</em>).</p>
<p>Who the newcomers are playing is not known. If you forgot what kind of apocalypse the <em>Quiet Place</em> characters are in, the first two films focused on a family trying to survive an alien invasion where the aliens kill any human who makes a noise, requiring survivors to live in silence. There is also a prequel, <em>A Quiet Place: Day One</em>, that focused on—you guessed it—the first day of the alien invasion. The films did well enough commercially to spawn a fourth feature, which continues the story from the first film and <em>Part II</em>, though there are plenty of things <a href="https://reactormag.com/a-quiet-place-part-1-part-2-review/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to critique about the movies</a>.</p>
<p>O’Brian and O’Connell, however, are fantastic additions to the franchise; you’ve seen O’Connell play the Irish vampire in <em>Sinners</em> as well as Sir Jimmy Crystal in the <em>28 Years Later</em> films, and O’Brian had a memorable role in <em>The Mandalorian </em>as Elia Kane as well as parts in <em>Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning </em>and <em>The Running Man</em>. It will be interesting to see what parts they’ll be playing here.</p>
<p>We don’t know the plot yet of <em>A Quiet Place: Part III</em>, though the script comes from writer-actor-director John Krasinski. Shooting is set to start in New York this spring, per <em><a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/a-quiet-place-3-cast-emily-blunt-cillian-murphy-jack-oconnell-1236690148/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Variety</a></em>, and the movie is currently slated to premiere in theaters on July 30, 2027. [end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/a-quiet-place-3-cast-katy-obrian-jason-clarke-jack-oconnell/">Shh! <i>A Quiet Place 3</i> Cast Adds Katy O’Brian, Jason Clarke, and Jack O’Connell</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/a-quiet-place-3-cast-katy-obrian-jason-clarke-jack-oconnell/">https://reactormag.com/a-quiet-place-3-cast-katy-obrian-jason-clarke-jack-oconnell/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842810">https://reactormag.com/?p=842810</a></p>
Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord Trailer Knows Exactly How to Use “Duel of the Fates” and Sam Witwer
Mar. 16th, 2026 05:19 pmreactor_feedStar Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord Trailer Knows Exactly How to Use “Duel of the Fates” and Sam Witwer
I’d be a little reluctant about being Maul’s friend, too
Published on March 16, 2026
Screenshot: Lucasfilm
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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/star-wars-maulshadow-lord-trailer-duel-of-the-fates/">https://reactormag.com/star-wars-maulshadow-lord-trailer-duel-of-the-fates/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842775">https://reactormag.com/?p=842775</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
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Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord</i> Trailer Knows Exactly How to Use “Duel of the Fates” and Sam Witwer</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">I’d be a little reluctant about being Maul’s friend, too</div>
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<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
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Published on March 16, 2026
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<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Lucasfilm</p>
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<p>Who knew that the artist formerly known as Darth Maul—now going by just Maul, like any famous person might do—was this good at making new friends? In the latest trailer for <em>Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord</em>, one character mentions that Maul is connected with not one but several criminal organizations. But his real new connection is a Padawan who’s on the run with her master in the early years of the Empire. It’s an odd pairing, to say the least—and an appealing one.</p>
<p>Said Padawan, Devon Izara, is voiced by Gideon Adlon (daughter of Pamela). The rest of the cast is pretty grand, and includes Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots, Dennis Haysbert as Jedi Master Eeko-Dio-Daki, Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario, Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson, Vanessa Marshall (yes, the voice of Hera Syndulla) as Rook Kast, David C. Collins as Spybot, A.J. LoCascio as Marrok, and Steve Blum as Icarus. The show is created by Dave Filoni.</p>
<p>Let’s be real: the plot is not the draw of this show. The draw of this show is watching Sam Witwer voice Maul as a Shakespearean villain, lush and rich and complicated. It’s so delicious that Maul rarely spoke in the movies, yet Witwer plays him like <em>this</em>.</p>
<p>But if you are here for plot, <a href="https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-maul-shadow-lord-trailer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">StarWars.com says</a> <em>Shadow Lord</em> is “a pulpy adventure that finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit of revenge.”</p>
<p>In case you haven’t kept up with Maul’s many post-<em>Phantom Menace</em> adventures, and are still wondering how he is up and about after being memorably sliced in half, StarWars.com also has a nifty little refresher on his <a href="https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-maul-shadow-lord-leg-list" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complicated existence</a>. At present he is walking about with Mandalorian-issued prosthetics thanks to Pre Vizsla. </p>
<p>And he is, as ever, a formidable opponent. Maul will take on the Empire not-quite-single-handedly when <em>Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord</em> premieres April 6th on Disney+.[end-mark]</p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/star-wars-maulshadow-lord-trailer-duel-of-the-fates/"><i>Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord</i> Trailer Knows Exactly How to Use “Duel of the Fates” and Sam Witwer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/star-wars-maulshadow-lord-trailer-duel-of-the-fates/">https://reactormag.com/star-wars-maulshadow-lord-trailer-duel-of-the-fates/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842775">https://reactormag.com/?p=842775</a></p>
Babylon 5 Rewatch: “The Paragon of Animals”
Mar. 16th, 2026 05:00 pmreactor_feedBabylon 5 Rewatch: “The Paragon of Animals”
A small world plagued by raiders begs the alliance for help.
Published on March 16, 2026
Credit: Warner Bros. Television
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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-paragon-of-animals/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-paragon-of-animals/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842640">https://reactormag.com/?p=842640</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “The Paragon of Animals”</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">A small world plagued by raiders begs the alliance for help.</div>
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<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/keith-decandido/" title="Posts by Keith R.A. DeCandido" class="author url fn" rel="author">Keith R.A. DeCandido</a></p>
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Published on March 16, 2026
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<p><strong>“The Paragon of Animals”</strong><br>Written by J. Michael Straczynski<br>Directed by Michael Vejar<br>Season 5, Episode 3<br>Production episode 504<br>Original air date: February 4, 1998</p>
<p><strong>It was the dawn of the third age…</strong> A meeting of the Interstellar Alliance representatives is not going well, as nobody beyond the big four—Earth, Minbar, Centauri Prime, Narn—wants to sign the Declaration of Principles. As the author of the declaration, G’Kar is taking that particularly personally. But the Drazi, Brakiri, Gaim, et al are mostly just interested in the sharing-technology part of the alliance and aren’t interested in having morality legislated to them.</p>
<p>Garibaldi and Sheridan discuss the meeting after it’s over, with Garibaldi saying that the IA needs to show strength first—morality will take care of itself.</p>
<p>Raiders attack the Enphil homeworld. The Enphil ask a Ranger for assistance from the IA.</p>
<p>Sheridan, Delenn, G’Kar, Mollari, and Garibaldi meet to discuss how to get the other worlds to sign the declaration. G’Kar is madly rewriting it, thinking his revisions will make it more palatable. Mollari, meanwhile, is losing his will to live and volunteers to sacrifice his corpse to the Pak’ma’ra. (G’Kar seconds the motion.)</p>
<p>Garibaldi talks about how they should use telepaths to gather covert intelligence. Sheridan’s objection that that’s against Psi Corps rules is met with derision by Garibaldi: they’re not Earth, they’re the IA, and they aren’t subject to Psi Corps’ rules. And the Minbari, the Centauri, and every other race that has telepaths uses them for various military functions. Garibaldi wants permission to ask Byron’s gaggle if they’d be interested, since they said they’d work for their place on the station. Sheridan reluctantly agrees. However, Byron says no before Garibaldi can even ask.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 "The Paragon of Animals"" class="wp-image-842719" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-02.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Ranger who went to the Enphil homeworld stumbles through the jumpgate to B5 in a badly damaged <em>White Star</em>. He’s brought to medlab in a coma. Delenn says they need a telepath, so Alexander is hired to scan him. She gets the information about the Enphil and then the Ranger dies while she’s in telepathic communication with him. Alexander is rather devastated by this, and isn’t all that receptive to Garibaldi’s subsequent request for a favor. But eventually—after telling Garibaldi just how awful the experience of feeling someone die is—she agrees to try to convince Byron to accede to Garibaldi’s request.</p>
<p>Delenn and Sheridan discuss the situation. The Enphil have asked for their help. This is exactly the kind of situation the IA was meant to be involved in. Sheridan regrets that they have to show the flag, as it were, before they even have their feet under them, but it needs doing. Since the raiders trashed one <em>White Star</em>, they need to send several, and Delenn suggests sending <em>all</em> the ones they can spare.</p>
<p>The Enphil are on the edge of Drazi space, though the Drazi haven’t shown any interest in their world. Nonetheless, Sheridan lets the Drazi ambassador know what they’re doing, and the ambassador agrees to have a Drazi fleet rendezvous with the <em>White Star</em>s. After the meeting breaks up, the ambassador moves determinedly down a corridor, passing by Byron.</p>
<p>In the middle of the night, G’Kar finally revises the declaration to his satisfaction—or, at least, to enough of his satisfaction that he’s willing to show it to others. He leaves a copy outside Sheridan’s quarters, and the president reads it aloud to Delenn. As he reads it, we see the <em>White Star</em> fleet heading to rescue the Enphil, the Enphil waiting for their asked-for assistance, and Franklin writing a condolence letter to the family of the Ranger.</p>
<p>Alexander approaches Byron, who castigates her for constantly taking orders from other people. (Why Alexander doesn’t reply that she takes orders from people who specifically pay her to do the things they’re ordering her to do is left as an exercise for the viewer.) Byron is willing to loan out a couple of trained telepaths to Garibaldi if it’s what Alexander wants. So when she asks for it, he says yes. He also provides the very first bit of intel: the Drazi ambassador went from his meeting with Sheridan to contact his people and set up an ambush. Turns out that the Drazi have been supplying the raiders, and a Drazi fleet will ambush the <em>White Star</em>s and wipe out the Enphil homeworld.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 "The Paragon of Animals"" class="wp-image-842718" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-03.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure>
<p>When Alexander passes this on, Sheridan orders the <em>White Star</em>s to go ahead to the Enphil homeworld instead of rendezvousing with the Drazi fleet as originally planned. Sheridan thanks Alexander, saying she saved a lot of lives today.</p>
<p>The <em>White Star</em> fleet shows up at Enphil to drive off the raiders and prepare for the invasion that’s coming. Sheridan shows this to a meeting of the ambassadors, and the Drazi ambassador is suddenly <em>very</em> nervous. Eventually it comes out that the Drazi are the ones coming, and can he please call them to warn them off so they don’t get massacred?</p>
<p>Sheridan agrees, and he uses this as a way to show how important the Declaration of Princples is. Everyone signs it after that.</p>
<p>Alexander returns to Byron and says she wants to know more about his people.</p>
<p><strong>Get the hell out of our galaxy!</strong> Sheridan really didn’t want to have to do a major show of force this soon in the IA’s history. He also, <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-legacies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">like Ivanova before him</a>, hates it when Garibaldi is right.</p>
<p><strong>The household god of frustration.</strong> Garibaldi admits that he doesn’t like telepaths much, but he also thinks it’s ridiculous that they don’t use them. After Byron turns him down, he begs Alexander to plead on his behalf, promising that it’s the last favor he’ll ever ask—until the next time.</p>
<p><strong>If you value your lives, be somewhere else.</strong> Delenn is the one who recommends sending as much of the <em>White Star</em> fleet as can be spared to rescue the Enphil. If you’re gonna do a show of force, do a damn show of force…</p>
<p><strong>In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic…</strong> Mollari has hilariously little patience with the minutiae of being one of the leaders of the IA.</p>
<p><strong>Though it take a thousand years, we shall be free.</strong> G’Kar is constantly revising the Declearation of Principles, even still doing so after everyone has signed it.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 "The Paragon of Animals"" class="wp-image-842720" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-04.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>We live for the one, we die for the one.</strong> For the second time in three episodes, a Ranger shows up just long enough to get killed. Obviously, these guys have the same life expectancy as a Starfleet security guard, and maybe Lennier should reconsider <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-very-long-night-of-londo-mollari/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">his new career choice</a>…</p>
<p><strong>The Corps is mother, the Corps is father.</strong> Byron lectures Alexander on the subject of taking orders from other people when she should do things for herself. Alexander finds this argument compelling despite the fact that taking orders from people who pay her to do jobs is pretty much how she makes her living.</p>
<p><strong>Looking ahead.</strong> Sheridan makes the latest in a series of incredibly unsubtle references to the forthcoming Telepath War that we never actually got to see.</p>
<p><strong>Welcome aboard.</strong> Robin Atkin Downes officially makes Byron recurring with his return from “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-no-compromises/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No Compromises</a>”; he’ll be back next time in “A View from the Gallery.” The Drazi ambassador is played by Kim Strauss, who has portrayed a variety of heavy-makeup roles on the show—including the Drazi ambassador back in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-fall-of-night/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Fall of Night</a>”; he’ll be back in this role in “A Tragedy of Telepaths.” Tony Abatemarco plays the Enphil leader and Bart Johnson plays the ill-fated Ranger.</p>
<p><strong>Trivial matters. </strong>The title comes from the title character’s “What a piece of work is man” speech in Act II of Shakespeare’s <em>Hamlet</em>, which Byron quotes in the episode to Alexander.</p>
<p>Byron mentions that telepaths have to run songs through their head to help keep stray thoughts of others from invading their minds. This was likely inspired by Alfred Bester’s <em>The Demolished Man</em>, which was the inspiration for a lot of the use of telepathy in <em>B5</em>.</p>
<p><strong>The echoes of all of our conversations.</strong></p>
<p>“I was modifying Clause 12 in the Declaration of Principles. I was thinking that if I could make it more linguistically suitable to the Drazi, they might be open to signing it.”</p>
<p>“Great Maker, I need a drink.”</p>
<p>“Well, they don’t like to say ‘we commit’ to anything—they prefer ‘the universe, through us, agrees to’.”</p>
<p>“Make that two drinks.”</p>
<p>—G’Kar and Mollari discussing revisions to the Declaration of Principles</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 "The Paragon of Animals"" class="wp-image-842725" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/babylon-5-paragon-of-animals-05.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>The name of the place is Babylon 5.</strong> “We are one.” There are three factors that keep this from being as good an episode as it might be.</p>
<p>The first isn’t so much the episode’s problem as an issue with Garibaldi’s current status. <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-face-of-the-enemy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">After what Bester did to him</a>, Garibaldi shouldn’t be entrusted with anyone’s lunch order, yet here he is being given a major piece of responsibility in the IA, which is absolutely bugnuts. I already covered this in my rewatch of “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-endgame/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Endgame</a>,” and my objection now is even stronger than it was then.</p>
<p>The second is one I mentioned in the recap above: Alexander is used to taking orders from people because <em>that’s how she makes her living</em>. Yes, she is beholden to other people, but that’s part of the job description. If Byron was objecting to her doing these jobs, that would be one thing, but it’s written as him criticizing an aspect of her personality, which is not what’s going on there.</p>
<p>The third is related, and that’s the spectacular limitations of Robin Atkin Downes, whose rants at both Garibaldi and Alexander are completely ineffectual thanks to Downes’ flat line readings. Whatever passion and insight there might be in Byron’s words are completely sucked away by the lack-of-charisma force field that Downes emits.</p>
<p>Having said that, the main story is effective, showing what the IA is capable of, and what it stands for. G’Kar’s constant revising of the declaration is, I must admit from the perspective of someone who’s spent his life crafting words for a living, absolutely hilarious. (It reminds one of the old joke that, from a writer’s perspective, works aren’t finished, but simply released into the wild.) And Sheridan’s frustration with having to flex his muscles before the IA even has its shit together is well played by Bruce Boxleitner. I also very much like Garibaldi’s argument for why they should use telepaths, as the rules that Sheridan defaults to are Psi Corps’ rules, and why the heck would you follow those?</p>
<p><strong>Next week:</strong> “A View from the Gallery.”[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-paragon-of-animals/"><i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “The Paragon of Animals”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-paragon-of-animals/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-paragon-of-animals/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842640">https://reactormag.com/?p=842640</a></p>
How To Read Sixteen Books at Once (At All Times)
Mar. 16th, 2026 04:00 pmreactor_feedHow To Read Sixteen Books at Once (At All Times)
Jo Walton has a perfectly simple system — see if you can keep up!
Published on March 16, 2026
Photo by Vrînceanu Iulia [via Unsplash]
Photo by Vrînceanu Iulia [via Unsplash]
Before I had an e-reader I used to read only one book at a time like a sensible person, and I’d read all of it straight through. I still do this sometimes. If I want to just carry on reading one particular thing I will do it, and that’s what I mean when I write about a book in my monthly reading list here and say “I couldn’t put it down.” But once I got an e-reader I started to read in a different way. I’ve written before about how it’s the library in my pocket. I began to cycle through different books, reading a chapter of each. It’s possible for me to be reading too many things and so not get to read anything often enough, and with some experimenting, and because of the way the old Kindle interface used to work, I settled into reading sixteen things at a time because that feels like the right amount. I like it because it means I can read long boring books that I want to read but don’t want to read exclusively because they’re a slog. I like the way I can have poetry and letter collections in my daily reading without having nothing but that. I like reading a variety of things.
So how do I do it? I have a “collection” on my Kindle called “currently reading.” Somebody here on Reactor suggested this when I was furious that they changed the interface so that whatever you’d recently opened was at the top and things couldn’t be put away tidily and not interrupting the two pages of eight books each that I was actually reading. (Like everyone, I frequently look things up in books I have already read.) In “currently reading” there are always sixteen books, no more or less. When I start describing this it sounds ridiculously complicated, but it isn’t at all in practice. I’m not suggesting anyone else do this, it’s just what I like to do.
I read two novels, one mainstream and one science fiction or fantasy, and whenever I finish one of them I begin another, so I am constantly reading two novels. I make sure the novels are different from each other not just in genre but in feel and often time as well, so that they go together well by being different. For instance, last summer I was reading the Wolf Hall books, and I wanted to read Eifelheim but it felt too close, so I waited to start it until I was done with the Mantel. I also read a non-fiction book that I am reading “fast”—that is, at the same speed I am reading the novels. The non-fiction one of these three can be anything, just something interesting that I want to read.
I cycle through such that I read a chapter of one of these three books, then I read three other things, and then I read a chapter of another of these three books. So my sixteen is actually more like three plus thirteen. I get through those three much faster than everything else because I read them more frequently. When I sit down to read, I’ll usually read a chapter of one of these three things, say about ten minutes, then three of the other things, cumulatively about ten minutes, and then a chapter of the next of the three things, about ten minutes, and so on, so that in an hour of reading I’ll have read three chapters and nine little chunks. Bear in mind that if at any time I don’t want to stop reading something I won’t—if I ever feel like I don’t want to close a book and go on to the next I’ll just keep reading that one.
Of the thirteen other things, two of them are always short stories, usually a single author collection and an anthology with stories from multiple authors. Generally one will be science fiction or fantasy, and the other will be something else, mystery, mainstream, something. Occasionally I just have one short story collection and one classic novel. Again, I make sure they’re also not too close in feel and time to the novels I’m reading, so when I was reading the Christie ghost stories collection I didn’t read any other mystery, when I was reading an anthology of retold fairytales I didn’t read any other fantasy of that kind. So, of my sixteen things, four are always fiction, and I feel this is about the right proportion.
I read two books of poetry, again generally one by a single author and one anthology with poems by multiple authors. I read two letter collections, making sure they’re never from the same century, again so they feel different. I love letter collections, they’re such an interesting form and such a great way to really get to know someone. They’re one of the hardest things to find, oddly, and something where I always want recommendations.
I’m always reading something translated from Greek or Latin. Right now, and for a long time past (and I predict for a long time to come) my classics slot is filled with Pliny’s Natural History, which is very long but has very short entries. It’s like reading a two-thousand-year-old encyclopedia, and it’s simultaneously very boring and weirdly fascinating. It’ll be going on forever listing animals, and then it’ll suddenly say “And the first one seen at Rome was brought into the Colosseum by Nero…” and for a moment it’ll be like an outtake from I, Claudius in the middle of the encyclopedia. I’m also always reading at least one thing translated from a language that isn’t Greek or Latin.
I always read one “relevant”—that is, research—history book, and one “irrelevant”—that is, just for fun—history book. Actually, these are the most slippery categories, because I’m usually reading something that’s relevant for the papal election, and sometimes also something that’s research for a future novel that I may or may not write. These can also be biography or memoir.
Then there’s a travel memoir, which is something I really enjoy reading. And I am reading the “Harvard Shelf” which gives me an element of randomness, or at least choices I didn’t make myself. If I hate whatever it is, I skip on to the next thing.
I am always reading one epic from another culture. Separately, I am always reading a primary source. This is just something historical that’s an actual primary source, written at the time, not something written about history, later. It can be anything. At the moment it’s the Memoirs of Philip de Commines, Containing the Histories of Louis XI and Charles VIII of France, which is fascinating and which I feel like nobody else has read at all. (Which is one reason why reading primary sources is useful.) You can read a whole lot of secondary sources about a period and they pull things together and have perspective and see things, but sometimes they get into a loop where they’re all using the same primary sources, and indeed using the same translated bits of them, and there will be all kinds of other sources they don’t notice. So I wish I’d read Commines before I wrote Lent but oh well, and I am reading it now.
I also read something that is criticism or reviews or book history. Right now, I’m reading Arthur Ransome’s History of Story-Telling and before that I was reading the Robert Ebert collection for a long time.
And those of you who can count will see that this is eighteen categories! But it’s always sixteen books, because some categories overlap. The non-fiction book I am reading “fast” is also always in another category. And things in translation can overlap with any other category—they can be letters or poetry or short stories or novels or primary sources or epics. (Having said that, I’m often reading more than one translated thing, but that’s just good. The idea is to make sure I am reading at least one.) Epics are often poetry, and in translation, and so when I was reading the Ramayana it was in three categories at once.
When it works, this makes a lovely reading symphony where the different books are like different instruments coming together in contrast and harmony; when it doesn’t work it can be jarring, but that doesn’t happen all that much. What can happen is that I put in too many things in the category of “need to slog through it” and not enough that’s fun, and then I need to adjust. If I’m not enjoying something, anything, and if I don’t have to read it—if I’m not reading it specifically for research—I’ll stop reading. I don’t skim, as I’ve mentioned before. But as long as the overall mix is fun, then reading a few pages of something that’s objectively deadly dull is OK. I mentioned that all through the long time I was reading the Browning-Barrett correspondence I smiled every single time I saw the title in my list. If there’s something where I feel like I’m slogging through it (Pliny) but getting a weird kind of enjoyment out of it that’s fine, but if there’s something where I sigh every time I see it then I toss it back and read something else. I recently gave up on The Letters of St Ambrose because I wasn’t having fun.
As for how I select things to read, it’s the usual combination of leaping on new books from writers I like, recommendations from people (including people here), algorithms telling me about things, and completely fortuitous finds, with a tiny bit of publishers trying to get me to blurb things. (I almost never get anything I want from this last method, but I will sometimes try the book if it sounds promising. And occasionally, just occasionally, it will be great and I will be happy.) So I have a huge (196) queue of books sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read, and I have other books I know I want to re-read in the fairly near future. Whenever I finish a book, I find a book in that queue that’s in the right category and that feels like it fits with the rest of everything, and I slot it in. Another advantage of this method is that I rarely have the empty feeling of finishing a book and needing to find something else. I may have finished a book, but I still have fifteen other books on the go! If I finish something that’s in multiple categories and I replace it with something that doesn’t fill all of them, then a category will be unfilled for a little while until I finish something else. If I’m reading some relevant or irrelevant history book, or a travel book, and it’s unexpectedly terrific, it gets promoted into the “fast” slot—sometimes with the current fast book going back down into the slow, and sometimes when I finish the current fast book.
That’s it, really… it’s all perfectly simple.[end-mark]
The post How To Read Sixteen Books at Once (At All Times) appeared first on Reactor.
A Feline Haunting: The Quiet Horror of The Cat
Mar. 16th, 2026 03:30 pmreactor_feedA Feline Haunting: The Quiet Horror of The Cat
Published on March 16, 2026
Credit: Next Entertainment World
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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/a-feline-haunting-the-quiet-horror-of-the-cat/">https://reactormag.com/a-feline-haunting-the-quiet-horror-of-the-cat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842697">https://reactormag.com/?p=842697</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">A Feline Haunting: The Quiet Horror of <i>The Cat</i></h2>
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<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/judith-tarr/" title="Posts by Judith Tarr" class="author url fn" rel="author">Judith Tarr</a></p>
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<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: Next Entertainment World</p>
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<p><em>The Cat</em> (2011) is a Korean horror film. Horror-comedy, supposedly, but it’s not the laugh-track kind of comedy. More the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/comedy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">classical type</a>.</p>
<p>When I first checked it out while looking for genre films about cats (and discovering that <em>Zombie Cats From Mars </em>cannot be bothered with subtitles or closed captions, so forget that), one review noted that it’s “not for everyone.” That gave me pause. I am not friends with grossout horror or explicit gore.</p>
<p>I need not have worried. Maybe the “everyone” it’s not for is the person who likes the splashy stuff? It’s not exactly gore-free, but it is quite restrained.</p>
<p>This is quiet. Literally. No screaming women. The cats express their opinions, but more often with hisses and glares than with yowls and screeches.</p>
<p>It’s a gentle film, though parts of it are as ruthless as a cat can be. The settings are not fancy. A neighborhood pet shop. A high-rise, and the park nearby. A handful of unpretentious apartments. A psychiatric hospital. An animal shelter. A local police station. It’s winter, with snow; there’s a Christmas tree in one hard-earned scene.</p>
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<p>Pet-shop employee So-yeon assists her boss with the shop and serves as an animal groomer. As we meet her, she’s bathing a beautiful white cat named Bidan (Silky) and commiserating with her about the things her owner wants done, especially the hot pink spots on her cheeks. Hair dye, as she says to the owner, is not good for cats.</p>
<p>The owner doesn’t care; she’s all about how she just knew pink was Bidan’s color. The boss backs her up. He’s on that side of the pet divide: we first see him sizing up little dresses for an unhappy cat.</p>
<p>There are signs of something else going on. Things half-glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. A handprint on a glass divider. A little girl seen petting the cat while the owner fusses over her transport, who vanishes after a car passes between.</p>
<p>Something even more subtle may be happening as well. Does So-yeon imagine the cat’s voice telling her “I like the way I am. This is not me. I hate it!”? Or are we hearing the cat’s own thoughts? Are cats telepathic? Can So-yeon understand them?</p>
<p>So-yeon is profoundly claustrophobic. She can’t ride in elevators or on subways. She can’t be in any enclosed space. All the doors in her apartment have either been removed or left open. She tolerates the shop because its frontage is glass; she keeps the inner doors ajar.</p>
<p>She is in therapy, and has been for years. Her therapist treats her with medication and encourages her to face her fears.</p>
<p>This matters, as we quickly see how an elevator can be a deadly trap. Bidan’s owner, who lives in a nearby high-rise, is found dead in one as she returns from the shop. Police assume she had a heart attack. No one but the cat was on the elevator with her.</p>
<p>So-yeon happens past the police cordon on her way home from work and encounters an officer she knows. He asks her to look after Bidan while they sort out the situation. The owner’s husband doesn’t want her; somebody has to look after her.</p>
<p>Once So-yeon takes the cat to her apartment, she discovers that she’s brought in more than she bargained for. There’s something attached to the cat: the ghost of a little girl. The ghost is angry. Very, very angry.</p>
<p>Nor is she the only one. So-yeon’s lighthearted friend Bo-hee (who just happens to be the ex-girlfriend of the policeman who entrusted So-yeon with the cat) has found out that you can get a cat for free at the animal shelter. She ignores So-yeon’s reminder that she had cat before and abandoned it. She did not, declares Bo-hee. It ran away.</p>
<p>Now she wants a cat again, and she wants So-yeon to go with her to the shelter. This is a bleak place, out in the middle of snowy nowhere. A rough-looking man named Lee is on duty, euthanizing cats and incinerating them before he’s called to attend to the visitors. The cats in the poorly maintained cages are not in the best condition, but Bo-hee finds a pretty chinchilla cat and insists on adopting her.</p>
<p>While Bo-hee and Lee depart for the office to complete the paperwork, So-yeon stays behind with the cats, including one that tips over the brink into death. She’s propped the door of the building open, but it falls shut and the power starts to flicker, triggering a massive attack of claustrophobia.</p>
<p>But is that all it is? It’s not just So-yeon who reacts. The animals all go crazy, dogs barking, cats yowling.</p>
<p>As Bo-hee and Lee come back and find So-yeon crouching on the floor in a state of gut-wrenching panic, the scene shifts to the police investigating the security footage on the elevator and wondering if there’s more to the woman’s death than a heart attack. Panic attack? Can a person die of a panic attack? one of the policemen wonders. <em>Was</em> it a panic attack?</p>
<p>Things ramp up from here. The hauntings escalate. The ghost girl starts to get physical. So-yeon is dreaming or hallucinating: seeing visions of dead cats; waking in her apartment to find her father in a corner, drinking Bidan’s blood with a ladle; petting Bidan under a quilt, then lifting the quilt to find the ghost girl glaring at her. And always there are cats, sitting on the edge of shadows in the street or in the park. Watching.</p>
<p>So-yeon’s father, we learn, is a patient in a psychiatric hospital. His room is on a high floor. She goes to see him, but when she gets there, she can’t do it.</p>
<p>The tension keeps on rising. Bo-hee gets rough with her new cat and pays a terrible price—while So-yeon is in the next room. So-yeon cuts her finger while cutting up raw chicken for Bidan, and is appalled when Bidan licks the blood. So appalled that she tries to take the cat back to the owner, but he refuses. “Throw it away or kill it, I don’t care.”</p>
<p>So-yeon can’t kill a cat. She can’t keep Bidan, either; she’s far too creeped out. She takes the carrier to the park, opens the door, apologizes but leaves—and runs into an old woman wandering barefoot in the street.</p>
<p>So-yeon takes the old woman to the police station. Granny is known there; she has dementia and she often wanders. Her son always comes and retrieves her.</p>
<p>This combination of kindness and cruelty, protection and abandonment, is the heart of the story. By now we know that if you mistreat a cat, however mild or heedless it may seem from the human perspective, you pay. We also know that the ghost girl has a strong connection with the cats. She has a cat’s eyes, and at times a cat’s claws.</p>
<p>As the story winds toward its end, we learn who the ghost girl is, and who Granny is, and why the cats are so angry. So-yeon is central to the resolution, along with the young policeman whom she’s had a crush on since she met him. Not only does she have to face her fears; she has to redress a number of great wrongs.</p>
<p>She shows us how humans’ cruelty to one another can harm and even kill, and how carelessly humans can treat animals. The cats strike back on both fronts. They, with the ghost girl’s help, are the instruments of justice.</p>
<p>It’s no accident that the last voice in the film is that of a small, grubby, abandoned kitten. “Mew,” it says, sternly. And roll the credits.</p>
<p>Among the last of these is the most reassuring. NO CATS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM. I needed to know that.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/a-feline-haunting-the-quiet-horror-of-the-cat/">A Feline Haunting: The Quiet Horror of <i>The Cat</i></a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/a-feline-haunting-the-quiet-horror-of-the-cat/">https://reactormag.com/a-feline-haunting-the-quiet-horror-of-the-cat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842697">https://reactormag.com/?p=842697</a></p>
Here Are the Finalists for the 2025 Nebula Awards
Mar. 16th, 2026 03:14 pmreactor_feedHere Are the Finalists for the 2025 Nebula Awards
Congrats to all!
Published on March 16, 2026
Photo: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association
Photo: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association
The finalists for the 61st Annual Nebula Awards—which recognize work published in 2025—were announced last night. The Nebula Awards are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
This year’s categories include the first-ever Nebulas for Best Poem and Best Comic. As the SFWA website explains, “Like the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and Game Writing Award, these new awards celebrate the writers at the heart of productions that also involve editors, artists, publishers, producers, and a wealth of other team members who make the magic happen.”
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on June 6th during the Nebula Conference, which takes place in Chicago.
Congratulations to all the finalists!
Best Novel
- When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory (Saga)
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)
- Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
- Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)
- The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)
- Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)
- Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)
Best Novella
- Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle by Renan Bernardo (Dark Matter INK)
- The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)
- The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella (Lethe)
- Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
- But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo (Tordotcom)
- “Descent” by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld 5/25)
Best Novelette
- “Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh” by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25)
- “Uncertain Sons” by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow)
- “We Begin Where Infinity Ends” by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)
- “The Name Ziya” by Wen-Yi Lee (Reactor)
- “Never Eaten Vegetables” by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25)
- “The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 3-4/25)
Best Short Story
- “Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25)
- “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25)
- “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)
- “The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead” by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)
- “Because I Held His Name Like a Key” by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
- “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)
Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
- The Tower by David Anaxagoras (Recorded Books)
- Gemini Rising by Jonathan Brazee (Semper Fi)
- Wishing Well, Wishing Well by Jubilee Cho (Atthis Arts)
- Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
- Into the Wild Magic by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick)
- Goblin Girl by K.A. Mielke (self-published)
Best Game Writing
- Spire, Surge, and Sea by Stewart C. Baker (Choice of Games)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Guillaume Broche, & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Kepler Interactive; developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall S.A.S.)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong by Ari Gibson & William Pelen (Team Cherry)*
- Dispatch by Ashley Jeffalone, Suzee Matson, Chris Rebbert, Chad Rhiness, & Pierre Shorette (AdHoc Studios)
- Hades II by Greg Kasavin (Supergiant Games)
- Blue Prince by Tonda Ros (Raw Fury; developer: Dogubomb)
The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
- KPop Demon Hunters by Danya Jimenez, Maggie Kang, & Hannah McMechan (Netflix)*
- Sinners by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros. Pictures)*
- Severance: “Chikhai Bardo” by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman (Apple TV+)*
- Pluribus: Season One by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV+)*
- Superman by James Gunn (Warner Bros Pictures)*
- Murderbot: Season One by Chris Weitz (Apple TV+)*
Best Comic
- Second Shift by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
- Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal by Amy Chu (Berger)
- Helen of Wyndhorn by Tom King (Dark Horse)
- Fishflies by Jeff Lemire (Image)
- Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
- Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
- The Flip Side by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
- The Stoneshore Register by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)
Best Poem
- “To Be the Change” by Nico Martinez Nocito (Strange Horizons 3/10/25)
- “Though You Always Are” by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge (Everything Endless)
- “They Said Robots Are” by Casey Aimer (Penumbric 6/25)
- “The World To Come” by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons 12/22/25)
- “The Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/25)
- “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness (Uncanny 1-2/25)
*Provisional nomination; awaiting acceptance and response on LLM-use.[end-mark]
The post Here Are the Finalists for the 2025 Nebula Awards appeared first on Reactor.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revival is Dead at Hulu, But Vampires Never Die
Mar. 16th, 2026 02:13 pmreactor_feedBuffy the Vampire Slayer Revival is Dead at Hulu, But Vampires Never Die
It may be dead, but it’s still pretty
Published on March 16, 2026
Screenshot: 20th Century Fox
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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-revival-hulu/">https://reactormag.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-revival-hulu/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842696">https://reactormag.com/?p=842696</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> Revival is Dead at Hulu, But Vampires Never Die</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">It may be dead, but it’s still pretty</div>
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<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
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Published on March 16, 2026
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<p>Maybe it was always too good to be true. On Friday, news broke that the <em>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</em> sequel series, reportedly subtitled <em>New Sunnydale</em>, would not be moving forward at Hulu. Returning star (and executive producer) Sarah Michelle Gellar broke the news herself in an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV31NdtDgWu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram post</a>, saying that she wanted fans to hear it from her. But she closed her comments with, “If the apocalypse comes, you can still beep me.”</p>
<p>Gellar was on press tour for <em>Ready or Not 2: Here I Come</em>, on which she had been enthusiastically speaking about the new show. On Friday morning, before the cancellation was announced, ComicBook.com ran an <a href="https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/why-sarah-michelle-gellar-rejected-her-buffy-return-in-new-series-multiple-times-exclusive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a> with Gellar in which she discussed why she’d said in the past that she would never return to Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots—and that it took some time for her to even sign on to the reboot series: “Mind you, I also said no to Chloe [Zhao] many times in the beginning, as well. Her passion, and her reasoning for wanting to do it, and why now, and why it is necessary.”</p>
<p>Zhao was a producer on the series and the director of the complete pilot episode. She is also an Oscar-winning movie director whose <em>Hamnet</em> was up for eight Oscars last night. On the red carpet, <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/chloe-zhao-reacts-buffy-reboot-killed-hulu-1236689223/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">she told <em>Variety</em></a>:</p>
<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah [Michelle Gellar], with all the cast and crew doing this. And we, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show,” Zhao said. “Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans. So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery. And what this might lead us to.”</p></blockquote></figure>
<p>When pressed on whether that last bit meant that the pilot might not be <em>fully</em> dead—whether the producers might try to find another home for it—Zhao only said “Welcome to the mystery” again. </p>
<p><a href="https://deadline.com/2026/03/buffy-reboot-dead-sarah-michelle-gellar-hulu-chloe-zhao-1236753736/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to <em>Deadline</em></a>, Hulu “remains high on the Buffy IP and plans to regroup and mull a possible new incarnation of the beloved franchise.”</p>
<p>Along with Gellar, the new series was set to star Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a new Slayer; Armstrong also took to Instagram to share a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV4X5g3ksD-/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">photo of herself in a perfect costume</a>, captioned, “your slayer.” In an Instagram Story (no longer viewable), she thanked Gellar, Zhao, and showrunners Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, and said, “We brought this back for you guys, and <em>Buffy</em> is such a big part of all of our lives, and it’s not going anywhere. So who knows what the future will hold.”[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-revival-hulu/"><i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> Revival is Dead at Hulu, But Vampires Never Die</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-revival-hulu/">https://reactormag.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-revival-hulu/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=842696">https://reactormag.com/?p=842696</a></p>
Five Science Fiction Stories Set Underwater
Mar. 16th, 2026 02:00 pmreactor_feedFive Science Fiction Stories Set Underwater
From Earth’s oceans to the watery depths of distant planets.
Published on March 16, 2026
A Darkling Sea cover art by Thom Tenery
A Darkling Sea cover art by Thom Tenery
I’m a sucker for a story with an underwater setting, regardless of whether the genre is horror (for which I’ve already offered some recommendations!), fantasy, or science fiction. In the sci-fi category, Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is the titan of the deep, and while I’m a huge fan of that book, it’s probably the first title that most people think of when they hear “underwater science fiction.” Here are five other works of aquatic sci-fi to explore—some plunging to the depths of Earth’s oceans and others set in the stranger seas of far-off planets.
“Surface Tension” by James Blish (1952)
The setting of “Surface Tension” isn’t actually an ocean, a sea, or even a lake—it’s a puddle. The story starts with a spaceship having crash-landed on a distant planet called Hydrot. The ship is just one of many sent from Earth in an attempt to colonize the galaxy, but while Hydrot is fairly Earth-like, it can’t support any life as large as humans. The crew is doomed to die, but they do have the technology to mold subsequent generations to the alien environment.
The bulk of the story follows a group of tiny aquatically-adapted humans as they strive to explore the world beyond their home puddle. To them, the puddle is their whole world, but human curiosity is a trait that has been retained, and so they put their minds together in an attempt to break the surface tension of the water and see what lies beyond.
Sphere by Michael Crichton (1987)
Sphere kicks off with the discovery of a massive spaceship at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. How long it’s been there and where it came from are mysteries that can only be solved by putting boots on the ground… or rather, fins in the water. A team of scientists and U.S. Navy officers are sent down to live in an underwater habitat close to the spaceship so that they can study and explore the vessel up close.
While Jurassic Park (1990) remains my favorite Crichton book, Sphere is probably in second place. The intriguing premise is backed up by a thrilling and twisty plot that left me not wanting to come up for air. It’s the kind of book that reads like a movie. Crichton also excels at crafting a claustrophobic and creepy environment at the bottom of the ocean, expertly ratcheting up the tension as the pages fly by.
Starfish by Peter Watts (1999)
Another sci-fi story set under the waves of the Pacific Ocean is Starfish, which largely takes places around the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The heat generated by underwater geothermal vents at the bottom of various oceans is being used as an energy source and small crews of people—known as Rifters—are needed to maintain the power stations.
Such a job requires extensive physical modifications to allow the human body to handle the deep-sea environment, but bio-mechanical implants aren’t all that it takes to be a Rifter. Only those who are already used to stress and strife, primarily abusers and the abused, are deemed to have the necessary temperament—and even then, some people crack under the pressure.
Starfish is a dark story—both in terms of setting and psychology. Being thousands of feet below sea level isn’t a normal place for humans to exist, and the plot explores how such a dangerous and isolated environment could impact the human mind.
A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias (2014)
A Darkling Sea takes Star Trek’s Prime Directive—that is, not interfering with the development of alien civilizations—and flushes it out to sea.
The story is set on Ilmatar, an ocean planet covered in a layer of ice that is thousands of feet thick. Humanity has cored through this ice and set up a station on the ocean floor in order to study a native species that shows signs of higher intelligence. The scientists would love to make contact, but they’ve been forbidden by another alien race, the Sholen, who fear that the humans would mess with the Ilmatarans’ natural development. But that all goes out of the window when arrogant media star Henri Kerlerec sneakily dons a stealth-suit to view the Ilmatarans up close, and then ends up being dissected.
Told via POVs from all three species, A Darkling Sea explores the utter mess that unfolds when they come into conflict—be that intentional or not. Even though most characters are trying their best, misunderstandings lead to problems that grow progressively more serious as the story develops.
“Freediver” by Isabel J. Kim (2025)
Technically, “Freediver” is set on Earth, but it’s not Earth as we know it. All of the planet’s oceans are only a few hundred feet deep, after which there is a meniscus-like portal that leads to a slice of space forty-five billion light years away. Telecommunication cables that connect the continents have been hung in this section of space and although that means they’re safe from the elements on Earth, they are occasionally damaged by space debris. Glasser and Crane are a two-man team whose job it is to repair the cables, with the aid of a subship that is capable of short dives beneath the waves.
The sci-fi concept of “Freediver” may feel otherworldly, but the character work is firmly grounded. Through Glasser and Crane, Isabel J. Kim explores themes of loneliness and connection, as well as the psychology behind why people do dangerous jobs—which in this story involves diving to the bottom of the ocean and then space-walking in the void between stars.
I’ve been thinking that underwater settings in sci-fi stories feel a bit underrepresented in my reading, but maybe I just need to put more effort into seeking these narratives out. To help me along my way, I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments below, be they short stories or full-length books![end-mark]
The post Five Science Fiction Stories Set Underwater appeared first on Reactor.
This is the yearly reminder
Mar. 15th, 2026 10:07 pmconulythat the Roman calendar was batshit.
Today is the Ides, okay, and yesterday was pridie Ides, so far so good, and the day before that was three days before the Ides, because the Romans a. counted backwards and b. did this weird inclusive counting, so Friday, Saturday, Ides = three days.
(Which is also how Good Friday is three days before the Resurrection, when it blatantly isn't.)
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( Read more... )
Today is the Ides, okay, and yesterday was pridie Ides, so far so good, and the day before that was three days before the Ides, because the Romans a. counted backwards and b. did this weird inclusive counting, so Friday, Saturday, Ides = three days.
(Which is also how Good Friday is three days before the Resurrection, when it blatantly isn't.)
( Read more... )
Original Work: Three Sisters. For Mermay., by Rubynye.
Mar. 15th, 2026 11:05 pmfull_metal_ox posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fancake.Fandom: Original Work
Pairings: Gen
Characters:: OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 1 panel
Content Notes: Nudity, although no breasts or genitals are visible.
Creator Tags: I kind of love the reverse mermaid, mermaids, my art, mermay 2021, I am ridiculous
Creator Links: (AO3)![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Rubynye; (Dreamwidth) minoanmiss; (Tumblr) ![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
rubynye
Theme: Siblings, Non-Fic Recs: Fanart, Mythical Creatures: Mermaids, Non-AO3 Work, Original Work, Tumblr Work, Worldbuilding, Xeno/Alien Biology
Summary: Three mermaids of vastly different conformations sunning themselves together on a rock.
Reccer's Notes: An example ofminoanmiss’s exuberant, joyous, and cartoony artwork, informed by Minoan artifacts and Afro-Caribbean art. The picture is a spur to speculation, raising the question of the exact nature of the three mermaids’ sisterhood (and, if they’re direct birth siblings, exactly how the razzlefrazz the biology played out): a worldbuilding prompt asking to happen.
Fanwork Links: Three Sisters. For Mermay., byrubynye.
Pairings: Gen
Characters:: OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 1 panel
Content Notes: Nudity, although no breasts or genitals are visible.
Creator Tags: I kind of love the reverse mermaid, mermaids, my art, mermay 2021, I am ridiculous
Creator Links: (AO3)
minoanmiss; (Tumblr) Theme: Siblings, Non-Fic Recs: Fanart, Mythical Creatures: Mermaids, Non-AO3 Work, Original Work, Tumblr Work, Worldbuilding, Xeno/Alien Biology
Summary: Three mermaids of vastly different conformations sunning themselves together on a rock.
Reccer's Notes: An example of
minoanmiss’s exuberant, joyous, and cartoony artwork, informed by Minoan artifacts and Afro-Caribbean art. The picture is a spur to speculation, raising the question of the exact nature of the three mermaids’ sisterhood (and, if they’re direct birth siblings, exactly how the razzlefrazz the biology played out): a worldbuilding prompt asking to happen.Fanwork Links: Three Sisters. For Mermay., by
Goblin Emperor: Four Sisters by Akallabeth
Mar. 15th, 2026 07:57 pmbeatrice_otter posting in fancakeFandom: the Goblin Emperor
Pairings/Characters: Ursu Perenched, Holitho Sevraseched, Nadeian Vizhenka, Shaleän Sevraseched
Rating: Gen
Length: 9k
Creator Links:Akallabeth
Theme: siblings, minor characters, book fandoms, small fandoms, family, gen, female characters
Summary: Short scenes from the lives of four (half-)sisters, the unacknowledged daughters of the Great Avar.
Canon-compliant, to the best of my knowledge and ability.
Reccer's Notes: We only get a sentence in canon about each of these four sisters, but the details we get are really interesting. This is one of the best fics exploring the scant details we get.
Fanwork Links: Four Sisters
Pairings/Characters: Ursu Perenched, Holitho Sevraseched, Nadeian Vizhenka, Shaleän Sevraseched
Rating: Gen
Length: 9k
Creator Links:
Theme: siblings, minor characters, book fandoms, small fandoms, family, gen, female characters
Summary: Short scenes from the lives of four (half-)sisters, the unacknowledged daughters of the Great Avar.
Canon-compliant, to the best of my knowledge and ability.
Reccer's Notes: We only get a sentence in canon about each of these four sisters, but the details we get are really interesting. This is one of the best fics exploring the scant details we get.
Fanwork Links: Four Sisters