by Douglas Marolla They’re toying with you. Do you see it? The teenagers do. One of the great things about being in the Bad Neighborhood school is we are able to speak freely. I became known as the “Conspiracy Theory Teacher” because I would talk about how I liked conspiracy theories. I never even tried…
Category: Culture
An Old Man at the Station
by Den Blonde Ulven Two days before Christmas, I was in a far flung land headed towards an even further far flung land to join families in celebration. Unfortunately, nothing works anymore and the trains heralding the passengers to our destinations were delayed by many, many hours. During my wait, an old man in a…
Boomers and the Beast
by Liberta1787 The Boomer generation is greatly despised for many valid reasons. But they hardly sprang full-grown from the brow of Zeus; generations of preparation were needed to produce this g-g-g-generation of self-congratulatory, blind, narcissistic, super-annuated children. If we do not see what transpired to create the Boomers, we have no chance to restructure…
Moonstruck
by Michael Kingswood The moon was a waxing gibbous, just a few days away from full. It shown down on the field where Susan lay with blue-white brilliance, giving the world a dull, mysterious illumination that hinted at mysteries almost uncovered. Secrets whispered in the shadows. She tucked her hands beneath her head and just…
The Holiday Question
by Ruler of the Doughnuts Its that time of year again. The holiday season is approaching. With this change in season from summer to fall and fall to winter you come face to face with the inevitable. “Is it the changing of the leaves?” No. “Is it the chill in the air?” No. “What about…
Thoughts on A Silent Voice
by Modestus A Silent Voice is a seven volume manga written by Yoshitoki Oima as her first ‘big girl’ work, which gives us Shoyo, a young man looking for some type of redemption after he brutally bullied Shoko, a deaf girl, while they were in elementary school. The story is in two parts; their time…
Abe’s Liquors
by Michael Kingswood Betty sniffed back tears and wiped the back of her right hand across the bottom of her nose. It had gone runny from crying so hard. She squinted into the early evening darkness, her left hand flexing on the scarred and fading brown leather that wrapped the steering wheel of her Camry,…
VIP Treatment – A Dustin Cofield Adventure
by Michael Kingswood Most folks have heard the term “Christmas in July.” The suburban town where I’m stationed is run by smart-alecks, though, so Lockwood has “Christmas on the solstice.” Because symmetry of timing and rigid thinking. What most people don’t know is the concept, whether fun or annoyingly pedantic, derives from a real necessity…
Meme Review and Meme Analysis – Part I
by Cactus Eater Bear This week, Vox Day kicked off a successful and enjoyable meme review on Episode 936 of The Darkstream. I get the impression that Vox asked for memes and intended to rate the effectiveness of their rhetoric. People ended up sending a variety of memes, some of which were specific to their…
Kicking The Anthill
by Michael Kingswood Kevlar and ballistic plating doesn’t help worth a damn against magic. Sergeant John Singleton really wished he’d known the suspect was going to turn out to be a wizard. He would have called for Special Magics. Instead, SWAT showed up, and they never had a chance. John’s police cruiser sat cross-ways across…