“Evolution Never Sleeps” by Elisabeth Malartre (1999)
This is dumb but I’ll just mention it here because the next two sci-fi stories also do it: ya don’t gotta throw sex into your story. Of course, yes, it is an important aspect of relationships, and it can absolutely play a role if you want it to, but the sex scenes are almost like, “she breasted boobily down the stairs.” This is in the middle of otherwise fine short stories. That said, this first one by Malartre has that non-ending that I love about so much modern short fiction. Like, nothing is resolved. There’s just an introduction of characters, a possibility of some freaky critter behavior, and that’s it.
“Sexual Dimorphism” by Kim Stanley Robinson (1999)
The writing in this one gets a lot better, and weirder, with some breastily boobing along the way, and I was sure there’d be some aquatic bestiality but the author chose to leave that to the imagination.
“Game of the Century” by Robert Reed (1999)
Maybe this is fucked up, but remember Mutant League Football? God, what a stupid game with stupid gore and stupid fun violence. This story explores stuff about gene manipulation and mutants, and now I wonder if those players in the Mutant League had a choice in the matter. It’s possible they didn’t want to lunge headfirst into their opponents and cause them to explode, or decapitate the referee, but you as the player gave them no choice. Oh and this story definitely featured some bestiality.
“In a Tub” by Amy Hempel (1985)
I… barely remember it. Some short fiction is like poetry and requires multiple passes to absorb its intent, but I failed to do that. A woman’s in a tub, that I know for sure.
“Tonight Is a Favor to Holly” by Amy Hempel (1985)
You can catch a shuttle bus that’ll take you from the airport in San Jose to the Monterey Regional Airport. It has a nice little bar and restaurant, and a great view around sunset. On the way there, you’ll pass through a sandy little community with a name I can’t remember. This story took me right to that place. What’s it like, living in the lazy sand towns? I bet it’s gritty all the time.
“Celia Is Back” by Amy Hempel (1985)
A father and his children travel through conceptual time in the span of a few pages. They grow up and distant, he grows older and wanders.
“The Glitch” by Rebekah Frumkin (2013)
Fuck, two forgotten two stories in a month? I’m pathetic. Oh! This is the one about the guy who goes by EDJ… I promise I’ll re-read it. (I will not.)
“John Starks” by Salvatore Pane (2012)
This one stuck because it’s so bizarre that I had to tell a friend who’s into basketball about it, then send him a link to the story. It’s about getting old and obsessive, two things way in my thought corral.
“The Jon Lennin Xperience” by Rachel B. Glaser (2010)
Here we are, my first Black Mirror callout of the year. This is definitely the same vibe as that “Fighting Vipers” episode. I’m starting to look forward to that good VR, honestly. Just that visceral, damn this-is-too-real virtual experience. It was some science fiction magazine in the 90s and its comic strip about lame adults masturbating to virtual nudes with stimulation attachments that planted the idea in my head. As a young man I would’ve balked, but now it’s clear as crystal.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order dev. Respawn Entertainment (2019)
I blazed through this in 2 weekends, and with 100% completion to boot. The corridors they use for worlds feel nice and dense, and the production values are hecka high. The Second Sister is definitely my favorite villain, even though I hate liking these damn Star Wars murderers. (You, as the player, murder so many people across half a dozen planets.) It’s good and quite fun, though I tire of the Jedi. Maybe Kylo Ren was right. (Fuck no, glad that guy’s outta here.)
Michael Clayton dir. Tony Gilroy (2007)
This movie meanders at just the right pace. I wish I could figure out the course of a good mystery. I might read a mystery novel or seven, really get a sense for it. The mystery here is also the kind where you think, oh yeah, this kinda shit is happening all the time but I’d never notice.
Little Women dir. Greta Gerwig (2019)
I like the ambiguity around the course of events. I mean, you know the story, I know the story, we’re all here for Jo. But right at the end, after you’re good with the journey, Gerwig pulls a rug out from under you. Just a small one, nothing catastrophic against the source material, but just enough to plant a seed of doubt.
Gargoyles – Seasons 2 & 3 (1995-1997)
Okay, this bestiality thing may be something I have to contend with in my brain, but this show is basically Beauty and the Beast plus Batman so there’s no way around it. And I’m talking about that CBS Beauty and the Beast that takes place in New York City. You know, Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman. Anyway, Disney did a great job with this show. The characters and their histories are deftly and intricately woven into Shakespearean magical nonsense that reminds me of that good Neil Gaiman from those first sets of Sandman trade paperbacks. It’s an enjoyable show in the first two seasons, and the second season is so long that it may as well have been split into a second and third season. The actual third season drops the ball and leans more into content for kids, but it doesn’t mar the experience of the rest of the series. There are comics that continue the story as if season 3 never existed, and the story’s apparently much better, but those comics are also hundreds and hundreds of dollars each, so… I’m content to read the wiki.
