New Fiction 2023

I struggled with the idea that I need to keep up with everything new, when it’s evident that I don’t want to. Movies are easy thanks to subscription services like A-List (and a pathological need to get out of the house), but I was consistently happy to dwell in the past for reading and video games.

So I think I’ll be more chill about fiction this year. Just follow what feels right.

Previously: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013

2023: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

Short Stories, Chapters, Excerpts

Jan – “Psalms” (1-100) ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Jan – “The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Inventory” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Mothers” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Especially Heinous” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Real Women Have Bodies” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Eight Bites” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “The Resident” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “Difficult At Parties” by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Jan – “The First Peer” by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore (2010)
Jan – “Reservoir Ferengi” by David McIntee (2010)
Jan – “The Slow Knife” by James Swallow (2010)
Jan – “The Unhappy Ones” by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2010)
Jan – “Freedom Angst” by Britta Burdett Dennison (2010)
Jan – “Revenant” by Marc D. Giller (2010)
Jan – “Work Is Hard” by Greg Cox (2010)
Feb – “Psalms” (101-150) ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Mar – “Proverbs” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Mar – “Ecclesiastes” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Mar – “WPO” by Joanne McNeil (2022)
Mar – “Flesh” by Louis Evans (2022)
Mar – “Devolution” by Ellen Ullman (2022)
Mar – “Always Home” by Jeff Vandermeer (2022)
Apr – “Canticle of Canticles” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Apr – “Wisdom” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
May – “Ecclesiasticus” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Jun – “Isaias” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Jul – “Jeremias” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Aug – “Lamentations of Jeremias” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Aug – “The Miracle of the Lily” by Clare Winger Harris (1928)
Aug – “The Conquest of Gola” by Leslie F. Stone (1931)
Aug – “The Black God’s Kiss” by C.L. Moore (1934)
Aug – “Space Episode” by Leslie Perri (1941)
Aug – “That Only a Mother” by Judith Merril (1948)
Aug – “In Hiding” by Wilmar H. Shiras (1948)
Aug – “Contagion” by Katherine MacLean (1950)
Aug – “The Inhabited Men” by Margaret St. Clair (1951)
Aug – “Ararat” by Zenna Henderson (1952)
Aug – “All Cats Are Gray” by Andrew North (1953)
Aug – “Created He Them” by Alice Eleanor Jones (1955)
Aug – “Mr. Sakrison’s Halt” by Mildred Clingerman (1956)
Aug – “All the Colors of the Rainbow” by Leigh Brackett (1957)
Aug – “Pelt” by Carol Emshwiller (1958)
Aug – “Car Pool” by Rosel George Brown (1959)
Aug – “For Sale, Reasonable” by Elizabeth Mann Borgese (1959)
Aug – “Birth of a Gardener” by Doris Pitkin Buck (1961)
Aug – “The Tunnel Ahead” by Alice Glaser (1961)
Aug – “The New You” by Kit Reed (1962)
Aug – “Another Rib” by John Jay Wells & Marion Zimmer Bradley (1963)
Aug – “When I Was Miss Dow” by Sonya Dorman (1966)
Aug – “Baby, You Were Great” by Kate Wilhelm (1967)
Aug – “The Barbarian” by Joanna Russ (1968)
Aug – “The Last Flight Of Dr. Ain” by James Tiptree, Jr. (1969)
Aug – “Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
Sep – “Baruch” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Oct – “Snatched from the Brink” by Mary E. Penn (1878)
Oct – “The Canal” by Everil Worrell (1927)
Oct – “The Lost Performance of the High Priestess of the Temple of Horror” by Carmen Maria Machado (2020)
Oct – “The Time Remaining” by Attila Veres & trans. Luca Karafiáth (2019)
Oct – “CUE: Change” by Chesya Burke (2011)
Oct – “Last Call for the Sons of Shock” by David J. Schow (1994)
Oct – “The Real Right Thing” by Henry James (1899)
Oct – “The Haunted House” by M.A. Bird (1865)
Oct – “The Island of Regrets” by Elizabeth Walter (1965)
Oct – “The Stolen Body” by H.G. Wells (1903)
Oct – “The White Priest” by Hélène Gingold (1893)
Oct – “The Man Who Went Too Far” by E.F. Benson (1912)
Oct – “Mater Tenebrarum” by Pilar Pedraza & trans. James D. Jenkins (2000)
Oct – “Menopause” by Flore Hazoumé & trans. James D. Jenkins (1994)
Oct – “Señor Ligotti” by Bernardo Esquinca & trans. (2020)
Oct – “Shambleau” by C.L. Moore (1933)
Oct – “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe (1850)
Oct – “The Village Spectre” by Gianna G. Maniego (2002)
Oct – “The Fog Horn” by Ray Bradbury (1951)
Oct – “The Lady of the House of Love” by Angela Carter (1979)
Oct – “The Woman’s Ghost Story” by Algernon Blackwood (1907)
Oct – “Black Bargain” by Robert Bloch (1942)
Oct – “Vastarien” by Thomas Ligotti (1987)
Oct – “The Doll” by Daphne du Maurier (1937)
Oct – “The Transferred Ghost” by Frank Stockton (1882)
Oct – “The Shadowy Third” by Ellen Glasgow (1923)
Oct – “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson (1949)
Oct – “The Interval” by Vincent O’Sullivan (1918)
Oct – “The Phantom Cyclist” by Ruth Ainsworth (1971)
Oct – “Couching at the Door” by D.K. Broster (1942)
Oct – “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler (1984)
Dec – “Ezekiel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
Dec – “Daniel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

Audio Shorts

Jan – “The Briefcase” by Rebecca Makkai, performed by Victor Garber for NPR’s Selected Shorts (2009, 2023)
Jan – “Paradise” by Yxta Maya Murray, performed by Tanis Parenteau for NPR’s Selected Shorts (2020, 2023)
Oct – Tales from the Crypt Presents: Dead Easy by A.L. Katz & Gil Adler, performed by Sean Astin, Jake Busey, Tia Carrere, Brett Cullen, John Kassir (1995, 2022)

Novels & Novellas

Jan – Honor in the Night by Scott Pearson (2010)
Feb – Abyss by David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang (2001)
Mar – Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2001)
Mar – Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2002)
Apr – Horn and Ivory by Keith R. A. DeCandido (2001)
Apr – Return to HorrorLand by R.L. Stine (1999)
May – We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (2022)
Aug – Twilight by David R. George III (2002)
Aug – Are You Terrified Yet? by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Creature Teacher by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Invasion of the Body Squeezers – Part 1 by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Invasion of the Body Squeezers – Part 2 by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – I’m Your Evil Twin! by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Revenge R Us by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Fright Camp by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Headless Halloween by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls by R.L. Stine (1998)
Sep – Brain Juice by R.L. Stine (1998)
Dec – Revenant by Alex White (2021)
Dec – Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2023)
Dec – The Men by Sandra Newman (2023)
Dec – Aftermath by Christopher L. Bennett (2003)
Dec – Jekyll and Heidi by R.L. Stine (1999)

Gamebooks

Jan – Trapped in Bat Wing Hall by R.L. Stine (1995)
Jul – The Abominable Snowman by R. A. Montgomery (1982)
Aug – Tick Tock, You’re Dead! by R.L. Stine (1995)
Sep – The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek by R.L. Stine (1996)
Sep – Night in Werewolf Woods by R.L. Stine (1996)
Sep – Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter by R.L. Stine (1996)

Plays

Jan – A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, presented by Rice University Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts (1595, 2013)

Poems

Jan – “Comet as Paperboy” by Samantha Blysse Haviland (2022)
Jan – “The Art of Negotiation” by Meghan Privitello (2016)
Apr – “A Boat” by Richard Brautigan (1968)
May – “Idaho” by Dobby Gibson (2005)

Comic Shorts & Single Issues

Jan – “Forest Spirits” by Secondlina (2022)
Jan – “Forest Spirits 2” by Secondlina (2022)
Jan – “With Sympathy” by Oglaf Comics (2017)
Jan – “it went like this” by chaumas-deactivated20230115 (2023)
Feb – “The Hole in the Wall” by Angela Hsieh (2022)
Mar – “It hurt, but i don’t regret it” by miggs perez (2023)
Mar – “Heaven, Heaven, Angel, Angel” by NoneToon (2023)
Mar – “A poem” by oddlyunadventurous (2023)
Apr – “Halt” by spiralshells (2023)
Apr – “Broomistega & Thrinaxodon” by Erin Roseberry (2023)
Jun – “A young couple have a strange encounter on a dark country road” by Iguanadon’t (2016)
Jul – “My Local Gas Station” by Ink (2018)
Jul – The Adventures of Mighty Max – “Mighty Max and the Grand Slam” by Robert Hudnut, Gary Hartle, Brett Koth, David C. Weiss, and Phil Roman (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Trapped by Arachnoid” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Liquidates the Ice Alien” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Lashes Lizard” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Traps Rattus” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Outwits Cyclops” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Tangles With the Ape King” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Slays the Doom Dragon” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Grapples with Battle Cat” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Squishes Fly” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Blows Up Dino Lab” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Stings Scorpion” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Crushes the Hand” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Escapes from Skull Dungeon” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Conquers the Palace of Poison” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Sinks Nautilus” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Caught by the Man-Eater” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Bytes Cyberskull” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Terminates Wolfship 7” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Survives Corpus” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Against Robot Invader” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Zaps Beetlebrow” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Crushes Talon” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Out-Freaks Freako” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Rams Hydron” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Versus Kronosaur” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Challenges Lava Beast” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Tangles With Lockjaw” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Defeats Vamp Biter” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Fights Nuke Ranger” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Pulverizes Sea Squirm” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Battles Skull Warrior” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Hounds Werewolf” by Bluebird Toys (1993)
Aug – “Mighty Max Neutralises Zomboid” by Bluebird Toys (1992)
Aug – “Mighty Max Defeats Battle Conqueror” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Head to Head With Hydra” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Melts Lava Beast” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Strikes Fang” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Shuts Down Cybot” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Shatters Gargoyle” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “Mighty Max Assaults Skull Master” by Bluebird Toys (1994)
Aug – “La-Mulana” by KC Green (2023)
Aug – “Mental Health Marge 2 Da Rescue” by ossian (2019)
Sep – “Hotline Miami” by KC Green (2023)
Sep – “I was told by my doctor that this’ll completely compensate my human meat diet” by scribblingchimp (2023)
Oct – “Birds of a Feather” by Stephanie Phillips, Maan House, Giorgio Spalleta, Justin Birch, Chris Sanchez (2021)
Oct – “The Origin of Vampirella” by Budd Lewis & Jose Gonzalez (1981)
Oct – “Do You Know… the Beast-Man?” by Richard Howell, Colleen Doran, Kevin Cunningham (1992)
Oct – “Good Ol’ Fashioned Vanilla” by W. Maxwell Prince, Chris O’Halloran, Martín Morazzo, Good Old Neon (2018)
Oct – “For Better or Worse?” by Richard Corben (2016)
Oct – “Werewolf!” by Frank Frazetta (1964)
Oct – “Chickadee!” by Aya Rothwell (2016)
Oct – “The Evil Dead” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) by Richard Floyd-Walker (1986-1987)
Oct – “Famine’s Shadow” by Rachel Deering & Christine Larsen (2014)
Oct – “A Pretty Place” by Emily Carroll (2023)
Oct – “The Thing from the Sea” by Wally Wood & Joe Orlando (1951)
Oct – “The Living Ghost” by Frank Belknap Long & Fred Guardineer (1948)
Oct – “Essence of Life” by Gail Simone, Tula Lotay, Jared K. Fletcher (2013)
Oct – “Hag of the Blood Basket!” by Al Hewetson & Sean Todd (1971)
Oct – “The Fisherman” by Franco, Tressina Bowling, Wes Abbott, Sara Richard (2022)
Oct – “Dental Plan” by Joy San (2019)
Oct – “Frankenstein y el Hombre Lobo” by Unknown (1946)
Oct – “Man’s World” by Keith Giffen, Mary Sangiovanni, Bilquis Evely, Mat Lopes, Taylor Esposito (2017)
Oct – “Shadow of Death” by William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein, Graham Ingels (1953)
Oct – “Smoke and Cedar” by Abby Howard & Alina Pete (2016)
Oct – “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison & John Byrne (1994-1995)
Oct – “A Dog and His Boy” by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Jill Thompson, Jason Arthur (2006)
Oct – “The Horror Beneath” by Leah Moore, John Reppion, Timothy Green II, Michelle Madsen, Nate Piekos (2006)
Oct – “Shadows on the Tomb” by Joe Certa (1952)
Oct – “The Muck Monster” by Bernie Wrightson (1975)
Oct – “The Duel of the Monsters” by Archie Goodwin & Angelo Torres (1966)
Oct – “The Willowdale Handcar or The Return of the Black Doll” by Edward Gorey (1962)
Oct – “Inside You” by Valerie D’Orazio & David James Cole (2014)
Oct – “Soylent Teen” by Jordan Morris, Liana Kangas, Ellie Wright, Jack Morelli (2023)
Oct – “The Gris-Gris” by Jim Keegan & Ruth Keegan (2004)
Oct – “Fair Ground” by Jo Duffy, Mike Manley, Jackson Guice, James Fry, Kevin Cunningham (1992)
Dec – “> THE JESTER” by Margaut Shorjian (2023)

Graphic Novels & Collections

Jan – Simpsons Comics Colossal Compendium – Volume One (2013)
Mar – Star Trek Deep Space Nine: N-Vector (2000)

Betas & Demos

Jan – “Full Void Demo” dev. OutOfTheBit (2023)

Video & Electronic Games

Jan – Thunderbirds dev. Saffire (2004)
Feb – Men in Black: The Game dev. Gigawatt Studios & The Collective (1998)
Feb – The Game of Life dev. Mass Media & The Collective (1998)
Mar – Hack ‘n’ Slash dev. Double Fine Productions (2014)
Mar – God of War dev. Santa Monica Studio (2018)
Mar – Buffy the Vampire Slayer dev. The Collective (2002)
Apr – Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb dev. The Collective (2003)
Apr – Bartman: Avenger of Evil dev. Acclaim Entertainment (1991)
Apr – The X-Files: Resist or Serve dev. Black Ops Entertainment & The Collective (2004)
May – Bart Simpson’s Cupcake Crisis dev. Acclaim (1990)
May – Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith dev. The Collective (2005)
May – Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure dev. The Collective (2006)
May – The Adventures of Mouth Man dev. Retrocade Media (2023)
Jun – Spacebase DF-9 dev. Double Fine Productions (2014)
Jul – Mighty Max dev. Tiger Electronics (1994)
Jul – The Adventures of Mighty Max dev. WJS Design (1995)
Oct – Haunted House dev. Atari (1982)
Oct – Castlevania dev. Konami (1987)
Oct – Clock Tower dev. Human Entertainment (1995)
Oct – D dev. Warp (1995)
Oct – Friday the 13th dev. Atlus (1989)
Oct – Silent Hill 3 dev. Konami (2003)
Oct – Five Nights at Freddy’s dev. Scott Cawthon (2014)
Dec – The Simpsons: Bart vs. Homersaurus dev. Tiger Electronics (1994)

Short Films

Jan – “bugs” dir. k. pakiz (2023)
Jan – “enter initials” dir. k. pakiz (2023)
Feb – “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” dir. Lachlan Pendragon (2022)
Feb – “The Flying Sailor” dir. Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby (2022)
Feb – “Ice Merchants” dir. João Gonzalez (2022)
Feb – “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” dir. Peter Baynton & Charlie Mackesy (2022)
Feb – “My Year of Dicks” dir. Sara Gunnarsdóttir (2022)
Feb – “Ivalu” dir. Anders Walter & Pipaluk K. Jørgensen (2022)
Feb – “Night Ride (Nattrikken)” dir. Eirik Tveiten (2020)
Feb – “Le Pupille” dir. Alice Rohrwacher (2022)
Feb – “The Red Suitcase” dir. Cyrus Neshvad (2022)
Feb – “An Irish Goodbye” dir. Tom Berkeley & Ross White (2022)
Apr – “The Greatest Living Show” dir. Toby Fox & Itoki Hana (2023)
Jun – “Wolf in sheep’s clothing” dir. Yea An (2023)
Jun – “War of Colors” dir. Emir Kumova (2022)
Jun – “Double King” dir. Felix Colgrave (2017)
Jun – “How Finding Nemo Should Have Ended” dir. HISHE (2016)
Jul – “What It Feels Like to Live as an Immortal?” dir. LazyOwl Studio (2022)
Sep – “Carl’s Date” dir. Bob Peterson (2023)

Movies Jan-Jun

Jan – Avatar: The Way of Water dir. James Cameron (2022)
Jan – Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody dir. Kasi Lemmons (2022)
Jan – Thunderbirds dir. Jonathan Frakes (2004)
Jan – M3GAN dir. Gerard Johnstone (2023)
Jan – Corsage dir. Marie Kreutzer (2022)
Jan – Broker dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (2022)
Jan – Skinamarink dir. Kyle Edward Ball (2022)
Jan – Plane dir. Jean-François Richet (2023)
Jan – Missing dir. Will Merrick & Nick Johnson (2023)
Jan – That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond dir. Yasuhito Kikuchi (2023)
Jan – A Man Called Otto dir. Marc Forster (2023)
Jan – Puss In Boots: The Last Wish dir. Joel Crawford (2022)
Jan – Women Talking dir. Sarah Polley (2022)
Feb – Groundhog Day dir. Harold Ramis (1993)
Feb – Infinity Pool dir. Brandon Cronenberg (2023)
Feb – 80 for Brady dir. Kyle Marvin (2023)
Feb – Magic Mike dir. Steven Soderbergh (2012)
Feb – Living dir. Oliver Hermanus (2022)
Feb – Magic Mike XXL dir. Gregory Jacobs (2015)
Feb – She Came from the Woods dir. Erik Bloomquist (2022)
Feb – Magic Mike’s Last Dance dir. Steven Soderbergh (2023)
Feb – Knock at the Cabin dir. M. Night Shyamalan (2023)
Feb – Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night dir. Ayako Kono (2023)
Feb – Consecration dir. Christopher Smith (2023)
Feb – Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey dir. Rhys Waterfield (2023)
Feb – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania dir. Peyton Reed (2023)
Feb – Johnny Mnemonic dir. Robert Longo (1995)
Feb – Virtuosity dir. Brett Leonard (1995)
Feb – Jesus Revolution dir. Jon Erwin & Brent McCorkle (2023)
Feb – Cocaine Bear dir. Elizabeth Banks (2023)
Feb – Gattaca dir. Andrew Niccol (1997)
Feb – Strange Days dir. Kathryn Bigelow (1995)
Feb – Kissed dir. Lynne Stopkewich (1996)
Feb – Richard III dir. Richard Loncraine (1995)
Feb – Eye for an Eye dir. John Schlesinger (1996)
Mar – Creed III dir. Michael B. Jordan (2023)
Mar – Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre dir. Guy Ritchie (2023)
Mar – RRR dir. S. S. Rajamouli (2022)
Mar – The Lawnmower Man dir. Brett Leonard (1992)
Mar – Scream VI dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (2023)
Mar – 65 dir. Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (2023)
Mar – Shazam! Fury of the Gods dir. David F. Sandberg (2023)
Apr – A Good Person dir. Zach Braff (2023)
Apr – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves dir. Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley (2023)
Apr – The Super Mario Bros. Movie dir. Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic (2023)
Apr – Air dir. Ben Affleck (2023)
Apr – John Wick: Chapter 4 dir. Chad Stahelski (2023)
Apr – Suzume dir. Makoto Shinkai (2023)
Apr – Mafia Mamma dir. Catherine Hardwicke (2023)
Apr – Renfield dir. Chris McKay (2023)
Apr – The Pope’s Exorcist dir. Julius Avery (2023)
Apr – Beau Is Afraid dir. Ari Aster (2023)
May – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 dir. James Gunn (2023)
May – Polite Society dir. Nida Manzoor (2023)
May – Born to Fly dir. Liu Xiaoshi (2023)
May – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret dir. Kelly Fremon Craig (2023)
May – Fool’s Paradise dir. Charlie Day (2023)
May – Hypnotic dir. Robert Rodriguez (2023)
May – Evil Dead Rise dir. Lee Cronin (2023)
May – Master Gardener dir. Paul Schrader (2023)
May – Sisu dir. Jalmari Helander (2023)
May – Fast X dir. Louis Leterrier (2023)
May – The Wrath of Becky dir. Matt Angel & Suzanne Coote (2023)
May – Kandahar dir. Ric Roman Waugh (2023)
Jun – The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips (2009)
Jun – The George McKenna Story dir. Eric Laneuville (1986)
Jun – Last Action Hero dir. John McTiernan (1993)
Jun – We Have a Ghost dir. Christopher Landon (2023)
Jun – The Mother dir. Niki Caro (2023)
Jun – The Little Mermaid dir. Rob Marshall (2023)
Jun – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse dir. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson (2023)
Jun – The Boogeyman dir. Rob Savage (2023)
Jun – The Roundup: No Way Out dir. Lee Sang-yong (2023)
Jun – Chevalier dir. Stephen Williams (2023)
Jun – Transformers: Rise of the Beasts dir. Steven Caple Jr. (2023)
Jun – Sanctuary dir. Zachary Wigon (2023)
Jun – A Thousand and One dir. A.V. Rockwell (2023)
Jun – The Blackening dir. Tim Story (2023)
Jun – No Hard Feelings dir. Gene Stupnitsky (2023)
Jun – Past Lives dir. Celine Song (2023)
Jun – The Flash dir. Andy Muschietti (2023)
Jun – Asteroid City dir. Wes Anderson (2023)
Jun – Adipurush dir. Om Raut (2023)
Jun – God Is a Bullet dir. Nick Cassavetes (2023)
Jun – 1920: Horrors of the Heart dir. Krishna Bhatt (2023)
Jun – The Childe dir. Park Hoon-jung (2023)
Jun – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny dir. James Mangold (2023)

Movies Jul-Dec

Jul – Metropolis dir. Rintaro (2001)
Jul – Insidious: The Red Door dir. Patrick Wilson (2023)
Jul – Joy Ride dir. Adele Lim (2023)
Jul – Lost In the Stars dir. Cui Rui & Liu Xiang (2023)
Jul – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One dir. Christopher McQuarrie (2023)
Jul – The Miracle Club dir. Thaddeus O’Sullivan (2023)
Jul – Shadows dir. Glenn Chan (2023)
Jul – Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig (2023)
Jul – Oppenheimer dir. Christopher Nolan (2023)
Jul – Haunted Mansion dir. Justin Simien (2023)
Jul – Talk to Me dir. Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou (2023)
Aug – Theater Camp dir. Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman (2023)
Aug – Never Say Never dir. Baoqiang Wang (2023)
Aug – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem dir. Jeff Rowe (2023)
Aug – Meg 2: The Trench dir. Ben Wheatley (2023)
Aug – Ransomed dir. Kim Seong-hun (2023)
Aug – The Last Voyage of the Demeter dir. André Øvredal (2023)
Aug – Jules dir. Marc Turtletaub (2023)
Aug – Strays dir. Josh Greenbaum (2023)
Aug – Blue Beetle dir. Angel Manuel Soto (2023)
Aug – Gran Turismo dir. Neill Blomkamp (2023)
Aug – birth/rebirth dir. Laura Moss (2023)
Aug – Landscape With Invisible Hand dir. Cory Finley (2023)
Aug – Porco Rosso dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1992)
Aug – The Wind Rises dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2013)
Aug – Retribution dir. Nimród Antal (2023)
Aug – To Live and Die in L.A. dir. William Friedkin (1985)
Sep – The Equalizer 3 dir. Antoine Fuqua (2023)
Sep – Bottoms dir. Emma Seligman (2023)
Sep – Elemental dir. Peter Sohn (2023)
Sep – They Live dir. John Carpenter (1988)
Sep – Jawan dir. Atlee (2023)
Sep – Christine dir. John Carpenter (1983)
Sep – The LEGO Movie dir. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (2014)
Sep – Outlaw Johnny Black dir. Michael Jai White (2023)
Sep – Satanic Hispanics dir. Alejandro Brugués , Mike Mendez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Eduardo Sánchez, Demián Rugna (2023)
Sep – Prey dir. Dan Trachtenberg (2022)
Sep – Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight dir. Ernest Dickerson (1995)
Sep – Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood dir. Gilbert Adler (1996)
Sep – Tales from the Crypt Presents: Ritual dir. Avi Nesher (2002)
Sep – Vault of Horror dir. Freddie Francis (1973)
Sep – Tales from the Crypt dir. Freddie Francis (1972)
Sep – The Origin of Evil dir. Sébastien Marnier (2023)
Sep – The Expendables 4 dir. Scott Waugh (2023)
Sep – The Creator dir. Gareth Edwards (2023)
Oct – It Lives Inside dir. Bishal Dutta (2023)
Oct – The Company of Wolves dir. Neil Jordan (1984)
Oct – Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare dir. Rachel Talalay (1991)
Oct – Honeymoon dir. Leigh Janiak (2014)
Oct – Organ dir. Kei Fujiwara (1996)
Oct – The Bride of Frankenstein dir. James Whale (1935)
Oct – The Royal Hotel dir. Kitty Green (2023)
Oct – House of 1000 Corpses dir. Rob Zombie (2003)
Oct – The Nun II dir. Michael Chaves (2023)
Oct – The Godsend dir. Gabrielle Beaumont (1980)
Oct – Hatching dir. Hanna Bergholm (2022)
Oct – The Velvet Vampire dir. Stephanie Rothman (1971)
Oct – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter dir. Joseph Zito (1984)
Oct – A Haunting in Venice dir. Kenneth Branagh (2023)
Oct – Piggy dir. Carlota Pereda (2022)
Oct – A Night to Dismember (The Lost Version) dir. Doris Wishman (1979)
Oct – The Blob dir. Irvin Yeaworth (1958)
Oct – Embrace of the Vampire dir. Anne Goursaud (1995)
Oct – Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls dir. Andrew Bowser (2023)
Oct – Exposed to Danger dir. Yang Chia-yun (Karen Yang) (1982)
Oct – Saw X dir. Kevin Greutert (2023)
Oct – The Birds dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
Oct – Slumber Party Massacre II dir. Deborah Brock (1987)
Oct – Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island dir. Jim Stenstrum (1998)
Oct – The Being dir. Jackie Kong (1983)
Oct – Kuso dir. Steve (2017)
Oct – Visible Secret dir. Ann Hui (2001)
Oct – The Exorcist: Believer dir. David Gordon Green (2023)
Oct – The Love Witch dir. Anna Biller (2016)
Oct – Bones dir. Ernest R. Dickerson (2001)
Oct – Bedevil dir. Tracey Moffatt (1993)
Nov – A Million Miles Away dir. Alejandra Marquez Abella (2023)
Nov – Anatomy of a Fall dir. Justine Triet (2023)
Nov – Killers of the Flower Moon dir. Martin Scorsese (2023)
Nov- Five Nights at Freddy’s dir. Gil Kenan (2023)
Nov – The Marsh King’s Daughter dir. Neil Burger (2023)
Nov – It’s a Wonderful Knife dir. Tyler MacIntyre (2023)
Nov – The Marvels dir. Nia DaCosta (2023)
Nov – Freelance dir. Pierre Morel (2023)
Nov – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes dir. Francis Lawrence (2023)
Nov – Next Goal Wins dir. Taika Waititi (2023)
Nov – The Holdovers dir. Alexander Payne (2023)
Nov – Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola (2023)
Nov – Thanksgiving dir. Eli Roth (2023)
Nov – Napoleon dir. Ridley Scott (2023)
Nov – The Persian Version dir. Maryam Keshavarz (2023)
Nov – Wish dir. Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn (2023)
Dec – Dream Scenario dir. Kristoffer Borgli (2023)
Dec – Godzilla Minus One dir. Takashi Yamazaki (2023)
Dec – The Boy and the Heron dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2023)
Dec – The Abyss dir. James Cameron (1989)
Dec – Eileen dir. William Oldroyd (2023)
Dec – A Christmas Story dir. Bob Clark (1983)
Dec – Wonka dir. Paul King (2023)
Dec – Monster dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (2023)
Dec – Leave the World Behind dir. Sam Esmail (2023)
Dec – The Polar Express dir. Robert Zemeckis (2004)
Dec – The Muppet Christmas Carol dir. Brian Henson (1992)
Dec – Velvet Buzzsaw dir. Dan Gilroy (2019)

Episodes

Jan – Thunderbirds – “Trapped In The Sky” (1965)
May – Well ABRIDGE Me, Princess! – “Well, Excuuuuse Me, Princess and the Frog” (2023)
Jun – The Simpsons – “My Mother the Car Jacker” (2003)
Jun – The Simpsons – “The President Wore Pearls” (2003)
Jun – Fox’s Peter Pan & the Pirates – “The Coldest Cut of All” (1990)
Oct – Regular Show – “Terror Tales of the Park” I-VI (2011-2016)
Oct – The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It” (2022)
Dec – The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part One” (2016)
Dec – The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part Two” (2016)
Dec – The Crown – “Ipatiev House” (2022)
Dec – The Crown – “No Woman’s Land” (2022)
Dec – The Outer Limits – “The Galaxy Being” (1963)
Dec – Night Gallery – “Pilot” (1969)
Dec – Babylon 5 – “The Gathering” (1993)

Series

Jan – The Outer Limits – Seasons 1-3 (1995-1997)
Feb – The Outer Limits – Seasons 4-6 (1998-2000)
Mar – The Outer Limits – Season 7 (2001-2002)
Apr – Star Trek Discovery – Season 4 (2021)
Apr – Moonbeam City (2015)
Apr – Star Trek Picard – Seasons 2-3 (2022-2023)
May – Tales from the Crypt – Seasons 1-2 (1989-1990)
May – Star Trek Lower Decks – Seasons 2-3 (2021-2022)
May – Star Trek Prodigy – Season 1 (2021)
Jun – Star Trek Strange New Worlds – Season 1 (2022)
Jun – Tales from the Crypt – Seasons 3-4 (1991-1992)
Aug – Tales from the Crypt – Seasons 5-6 (1993-1995)
Sep – Tales from the Crypt – Season 7 (1996)
Sep – Tales from the Cryptkeeper – Season 1 (1993)
Sep – Star Trek Discovery – Season 2 (2023)
Oct – Tales from the Cryptkeeper – Seasons 2 & 3 (1994 & 1999)

commodorez:

vizreef:

Commodore CBM 3032 (US, 1979)

While this was manufactured in the United States, it was not sold there. Note the 220V 50Hz power specifications. The major giveaway is the name “CBM 3032 which was only used in Europe.

The CBM 3032 was known as the PET-2001-32N within the US market. The CBM/PET distinction faded away in the US with the 4000 and 8000 series.

Making Small Games, Which Is Fun in Itself

hackernewsrobot:

https://abagames.github.io/joys-of-small-game-development-en/fun_to_make_small_games.html

zombilenium:

“Cliffhanger”

Abandoned villa, Chemin du Raidillon, Saint-Pierre-en-Port, France

master-of-the-game:

Home Again

Oil, canvas 35×50 cm

As we all recover from winter holidays I’m back with a new work.

Just imagine Dr. Parmak who has just returned to Cardassia after being released from the labour camp. The tension between Cardassians and Klingons is getting stronger, there is less confidence in their common future as well as his own.

Keep reading

discount-wizard-spells:

Fav line from the movie

New Fiction 2023 – December

“Ezekiel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

Ezekiel had a lot to prophesy, and none of it good news.

“Daniel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

We’re really just there for lions and Susanna.

Revenant by Alex White (2021)

I like that I can hop around between DS9 stories that are part of the post-show timeline and the various stories that just take place at some point during or prior to the show. Also good to see the designers stepping up that cover art! And let me tell ya, this story delivers on that cover. Half of it is a Jadzia and Kira adventure with mysteries, heists, danger, and a lot of really good background on the Dax symbiont. Loved that! Then Kira tagged out for Worf and Bashir, and that was alright. I wish it had been Jadzia and Kira all the way though.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2023)

It’s a nerds’ tale through and through. Film nerds, occult nerds, horror nerds, and Moreno-Garcia blends it all skillfully. It doesn’t hit as strongly as Mexican Gothic, but mysteries tend to be like that when they take place in a metropolis instead of the confines of a creepy mansion.

The Men by Sandra Newman (2023)

I liked the setup, and the premise, and I was mostly onboard until the finale really let me down. Maybe the idea is depressing to people, like it is to most characters in the story, but I saw hope in sticking with the reality of most of the book and making a better world of it. You grieve, you build anew. There was also some hand-wringing around race and gender tension from the main character that feels like it’s meant to be considerate but is just channeling white anxiety about the optics of appearing racist instead recognizing racial bias and making changes to address it.

Aftermath by Christopher L. Bennett (2003)

Whoops, one more Star Trek book before the end of the year. I’d been meaning to read it for about a year and finally found some time with the digital copy from Open Library. Like the other SCE stories, it’s a short and sweet little tale. The thematic elements about a civilization’s collapse and hope for the future were just what I needed after reading some more downbeat stories.

Jekyll and Heidi by R.L. Stine (1999)

It was… okay. Not the strongest plot or twist, although notably darker in terms of setting up the main character’s predicament. Kinda Dahlesque but without his absurdity.

“> THE JESTER” by Margaut Shorjian (2023)

Do it.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. Homersaurus dev. Tiger Electronics (1994)

These level-based LCD games are never as strong as the endless loops of their Game & Watch progenitors, but the tech is neat. Voice clips must’ve been an expensive proposition.

Dream Scenario dir. Kristoffer Borgli (2023)

You know, it is a weird movie, but the part where it digs into cancel culture felt off. Too real maybe. And even then, I just don’t think it’ll stick around in my brain.

Godzilla Minus One dir. Takashi Yamazaki (2023)

A great Godzilla story with a good balance of humans and monster. It’s a big deal when I can care about the human side of a monster attack.

The Boy and the Heron dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2023)

It meanders and contemplates, kinda like The Wind Rises, but it’s so beautiful and weird that it’s easy to just roll with it.

The Abyss dir. James Cameron (1989)

So did Cameron just establish the genre of scifi that is working class stiffs who aren’t trained for this being sent out into the deep end?

Eileen dir. William Oldroyd (2023)

It has that short story quality I can never quite describe. Like something unsettling I’d read in The New Yorker.

A Christmas Story dir. Bob Clark (1983)

1983?! This feels so ancient. Well, I’m glad I finally watched it all through instead of bits and pieces on TV.

Wonka dir. Paul King (2023)

I should watch a Paddington sometime.

Monster dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (2023)

I wanna say it’s a perfect movie. It has some dread but still has a hopeful vibe in the end.

Leave the World Behind dir. Sam Esmail (2023)

I guess I see why people responded to it, but I found it too bleak, and that’s saying something. I guess I prefer these things to be a little further removed from the current timeline. *hugs The Outer Limits 1995*

The Polar Express dir. Robert Zemeckis (2004)

My nephew straight up performs the movie as he watches it, and that’s about as memorable as a viewing can get.

The Muppet Christmas Carol dir. Brian Henson (1992)

Pretty good, but it can’t top Muppet Treasure Island in my brain. The effects for some of those scenes are mighty impressive though.

Velvet Buzzsaw dir. Dan Gilroy (2019)

No one told me this was a horror movie! I’d have watched it sooner. It’s an excellent high-budget version of an episode of Tales from the Crypt.

The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part One” (2016)

I sorta picked up what the show is throwing down, but coming into at this late stage is not the way to watch an episode.

The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part Two” (2016)

This episode was a little more clear as a season finale with defined stakes. It was enough that I’d watch this series at some point in the future.

The Crown – “Ipatiev House” (2022)

Sorta tuned in here, and it has big House of Cards vibes. I guess all this stuff about royals is the original HoC.

The Crown – “No Woman’s Land” (2022)

Elizabeth Debicki is a great Diana. I don’t know if I’m in the mood for sociopolitical interpersonal drama anytime soon, but this show seems to manage it all with aplomb.

The Outer Limits – “The Galaxy Being” (1963)

A bit snoozy I’ll admit, but that’s most TV of the era. Things really pick up when the well-designed alien kicks in. Those effects are impressive.

Night Gallery – “Pilot” (1969)

Whoa! This first episode is real good. I’ve heard the show has its ups and down since Serling didn’t have the same level of creative control, but the pilot is just a great horror anthology film.

Babylon 5 – “The Gathering” (1993)

Hokey VFX and 90s-era production values aside, I can see the appeal of the show. I’ll be fighting my instinct to go back and watch Star Trek the whole time but I’m glad to finally get into the show.

DS9 stories: a running thread

fictionz:

fictionz:

fictionz:

fictionz:

January 2021: This cover is bad (like so many Star Trek books for some reason), but The Lives of Dax is a rad anthology. It’s fans-only for sure and the insight into each of Dax’s lives is a cool idea.

S.D. Perry knocked her two stories out of the park. (“Rad” and “cool” surely capture the essence of these authors’ work.)

February 2021: Left Hand of Destiny is an epic on the scale of Lord of the Rings featuring Martok, my favorite Klingon (sorry, Worf). For that reason alone it’s worth reading, but the authors do good work in further poking the bear that is Klingon politics.

April 2021: And A Stitch in Time is a Godfather-like exploration of the devout man’s fall from grace. It removes the vale that is central to Garak but it’s worth exploring after watching the TV show.

July 2021: Taking a side road through short fiction (my favorite trips) with Prophecy and Change. I like that these books open the tracks for more philosophical and metaphysical exploration of these characters.

January 2022: The Avatar duology from S.D. Perry is phenomenal! I love the focus on Kira as commander of the station and that Bajoran faith and religion continue to play a vital role.

As a post-war trauma narrative, it’s also fascinating to see them deal with their feelings in the aftermath.

March 2022: Millennium:

The Fall of Terok Nor – Classic setting aboard DS9, I’m with you.

The War of the Prophets – Holy shit, that’s dark.

Inferno – Fun time travel shenanigans. Wraps up too neatly after traumatic events but these characters do have to get back to season 6 of the show.

June 2022: This cover for a collection of short stories makes me deeply uncomfortable. Beyond that, I really have to look at the publication year of 2004 to try and understand why they thought this would be a good idea. It may be intriguing to see what various characters were doing during the Dominion War arc of Deep Space Nine, but this book’s jingoism is rough.

August 2022: The Nexus is a fascinating artifact of 90s Star Trek, written by actors of a TV show and performed as their characters from that show, but not official in any way. But I liked it, a kind of resolution to unresolved moments from the TV show.

August 2022: A neat little adventure, although it’s part of a series and many characters lack development that I’m sure is doled out over the course of several of these short novels. Focusing on a crew of mostly engineers gives this that lower decks vibe, a definite plus.

November 2022: Okay not a Deep Space Nine-branded book, but I read all of these Myriad Universes collections because some of them are centered around Deep Space Nine and I couldn’t just skip over some stories. They’re all worth the read even if the first thirds of most stories are weirdly consistent at dragging before the pace picks up. The DS9 story in this book is the third and final novella, Seeds of Dissent. All of these books present “what if?” scenarios and this one focuses on an alternate history in which Khan creates his own version of the mirror universe with genetically augmented humans ruling the alpha quadrant with an iron fist. It’s centered on Bashir and Dax (Ezri), but they bring in elements from ENT, TOS, and even a flashback character from Voyager. It’s also funny to see someone like O’Brien as a meathead augment. I don’t know if I buy Bashir’s turn in the story but it was a nice romp where the good guys put on their evil goatees for a while.

December 2022: DeCandido’s story, A Gutted World, is the only reason I started reading these books, because it presents the most compelling question: "What if the Cardassians discovered the Bajoran Wormhole?“ And let me tell ya, it gets rough. Expect copious death. I didn’t appreciate jamming Picard and crew in as the central figures when you had a perfectly good Sisko in the mix as well, but still an interesting look at how all the factions of the Dominion war might’ve gone about things if the Cardassians had lucked upon the wormhole first.

January 2023: Honor in the Night is the final story in this book and of all of the Myriad Universes series. It starts out with TOS events centered around the “The Trouble With Tribbles” episode, but unlike most stories in this series, you’re not following one of the captains around. Instead, it plays like a century-long mystery, dipping in and out of an alternate history that explores how a change in that TOS episode could elevate minor characters to critical players in galactic politics. (Imagine Citizen Kane but Star Trek.) The early bits can get confusing as the story skips around between different dates and characters, but it eventually gets very intriguing and does wind its way onto DS9 and Bajor. This may actually be my favorite of the Myriad Universes stories, precisely because we get to hang out with characters who aren’t one of the main cast of the TV show. But as much as I enjoyed all these alternate histories, I’m glad to wrap it up and get back to the DS9 relaunch books.

January 2023: I grabbed Seven Deadly Sins on a whim while browsing at the library because I’m a sucker for a short story anthology. This one’s not entirely about DS9 and its characters, but three of the seven stories do focus on characters and situations that spin off from DS9. David A. McIntee’s "Reservoir Ferengi” focuses on the post-show exploits of cousin Gaila, ex-liquidator Brunt, and forlorn Pel; an intriguing look into Cardassian politics in “The Slow Knife” by James Swallow; and another trip to the Mirror Universe in “Freedom Angst” by Britta Burdett Dennison. All of these stories present compelling writing and characters and it’s another solid entry in the “let’s follow some characters who aren’t just the main cast of a TV show” side of Star Trek.

February 2023: These DS9 novels spend a lot of time with Bashir and Dax as a couple, working out their couple stuff. I suppose they’re really the only couple available in these early releases of the relaunch, but I hope we get to see other perspectives on romantic relationships. But otherwise, it’s a neat and tidy little adventure, and I like the scenes in which a Jem’Hadar ally has to observe these weird humans and basically ask them “what the hell are you doing?”

March 2023: A journey of catastrophe after catastrophe. The Gateways series appeared to be focused on bringing together characters from across the entire Star Trek universe, but then ending each novel with a cliffhanger. I don’t think that worked as well as it might’ve seemed on paper. It also really felt like I should have read all of the Gateways books, but I’m sticking to just reading the DS9-centric stories for the sake of having limited time on this planet. I did enjoy spending all this time with Nog and Kira, which leads us to…

April 2023: Kira’s journey is concluded in the Horn and Ivory novella from this anthology that concludes six different novels that each ended with a cliffhanger. It was once again tempting to read them all, but I stuck to just the one featuring a DS9 character. And whaddaya know, I loved it! It takes Kira into a completely different setting and provides a bit more historical info about Bajor in their middle ages. I guess this would have made for a weird ending to the novel but I still really wish it had been bundled together.

August 2023: This was a very hefty novel but it was good to go back to the old style of dealing with incomprehensible beings from other dimensions. It was a welcome respite from the more action-oriented stories from earlier in the year, since Star Trek is really at its Trekkiest when the protagonist has to dive into some deeply personal and philosophical waters. It was also good to spend time with Vaughn, a character propped up as the important new guy but who hasn’t had much going on since the Avatar duology.

December 2023: I like that I can hop around between DS9 stories that are part of the post-show timeline and the various stories that just take place at some point during or prior to the show. Also good to see the designers stepping up that cover art! And let me tell ya, this story delivers on that cover. Half of it is a Jadzia and Kira adventure with mysteries, heists, danger, and a lot of really good background on the Dax symbiont. Loved that! Then Kira tagged out for Worf and Bashir, and that was alright. I wish it had been Jadzia and Kira all the way though.

December 2023: Whoops, one more before the end of the year. I’d been meaning to read it for about a year and finally found some time with the digital copy from Open Library. Like the other SCE stories, it’s a short and sweet little tale. The thematic elements about a civilization’s collapse and hope for the future were just what I needed after reading some more downbeat stories.

sanktpolypenbourg:

asexual-idiot:

catchymemes:

Look it is so easy to get worked up about one silly person thrown to the socialist wolves like that, but seriously – does anyone genuinely care whether or not you can get “rich” in a country? If you had the choice between a country where you get guaranted healthcare (and, ideally, your own roof over your head) and your kids can go to college for free, or one where you can become a billionaire, who THE FCK picks option 2? It’s on the level of saying, would you rather live to be 80 or have a 1 in 3 million chance to turn into a unicorn princess? Even if you assume everyone has the same fetish as you – because you grew up in a culture where unicorn princesses are the upper class and your amount of basic rights is determined by how closely you resemble one. Even if you think, you, personally, have a much higher probability because you are smart and optimistic and work to “better yourself”. How the fck do you think you can sell this to the rest of the people in that 3 million statistic. Are you counting on them being suckers who only think they have a shot, unlike you who absolutely definitely has a shot and is not a sucker? It’s an amazing gotcha that only works if you assume your audience is nothing but idiots ~~who fell for the same scam you did~~

Wannabe unicorn princesses be like

headspace-hotel:

quasi-normalcy:

quasi-normalcy:

Why are fascists so much better at imagining left-wing utopias than we are?

Pro-Tip: If you want to show how your vision of the future is scary, maybe end it with “…everyone cries themselves to sleep” or something, rather than “everyone is happy.”

Kinda messed up how “some people are miserable” is part of the implied ideal world for these people, eh?