Network

A Quick Thought On Nice Moments With Strangers

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/09/a-quick-thought-on-nice-moments-with-strangers/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59079

2026 has consisted of a few events that have contributed to my ever declining faith in humanity. I’m sure it’s done the same for many of you, so I thought today would be a good time to tell you about some positive interactions I had with strangers this past week, to remind us that not everyone is terrible, and we can still have nice moments in our personal life, even among strangers.

Yesterday, I drove to the next town over to get a coffee, and en route saw a man sitting on his front porch playing the banjo. On my return journey home I was stopped at the stoplight in front of his house, and I rolled down my window to listen to him. He was very talented, playing the banjo beautifully. He looked up at me and I gave him two thumbs up out my window and smiled at him. He smiled and returned to his skillful playing. The light turned green and I drove off.

A few days ago I was at Meijer, and a couple walked past me while I was looking at the bagels. The girl said “oh, bagels actually sound really good right now,” to which the guy replied, “you should grab some bagels.” She came up next to me and started looking at bagels, too.

“You should totally get bagels,” I reaffirmed.

“Well I saw you looking at them and thought they did sound good!”

“Did you see the cranberry ones? That’s what I grabbed, they sounded delish.”

“Ooh, those do sound good.”

“I’m about to go grab strawberry cream cheese to put on them.”

“Yum what a good combo!”

“Have a good one!”

“You too!”

I walked away, smiling.

So often I am completely indifferent to (or even resent) everyone else that’s at the grocery store, but sometimes it’s good to remember that the other people at the store are also just girls who want a bagel, like you. And normally I don’t strike up conversation, because who wants to be talked to while they’re grocery shopping, but something in me just sought connection with my fellow bagel shopper in that particular moment.

Just a couple days ago, a stranger came to my house to buy a microwave I had listed on Facebook Marketplace, and she said I had the most beautiful home on the block, and we had a brief conversation about moving troubles and how the house looked great. It made me smile. I’m glad she said something so nice, it really brightened my day.

Multiple times this week alone, strangers walking down the street or driving past me have waved, or nodded, or smiled, and it’s such a good recognition of, “hello, other human, I see you.”

Such small acts of acknowledgement that you exist and everyone else is a person like you. I don’t know, it just makes me feel better, and I thought maybe it would make you think of the last time a stranger smiled at you, too.

Feel free to share nice interactions in the comments, I’d love to hear them. And have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/09/a-quick-thought-on-nice-moments-with-strangers/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59079

[ SECRET POST #6944 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6944 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #991.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Entry tags:

Minneapolis

So I'm 4000 miles away, working for a British organization full of British people.

It was really nice that at my team meeting this morning when me and someone else were first to arrive he brought up very gently how I must be feeling devastated and horrified. I thanked him, said I was trying to be supportive to my Minneapolis friends. As the team joined the meeting, everyone joined in with fierce kindness. There is support and kindness and black humor and solidarity, in so many places.

It made me feel really good.

I feel so powerless of course but I'm doing what I can, here's a couple links whwre people can donate to help communities affected by and resisting ICE:

Pay rent and buy groceries for the families of preschoolers whose relatives have been kidnapped or cannot leave the house to work or buy groceries.

ICE observers in the Twin Cities are in need of dash cams to prevent further intimidation and frivolous claims.

Also... While the GoFundMe to support Renée Good's family raised $1.5 million, a GoFundMe for the family of Keith Porter, Jr., a Black man shot by an ICE agent a week earlier, didn't meet its $35,000 goal until yesterday. A still-modest goal has been set; it's really important to support Black men as well as we do white women.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and cool. Last night it rained with high winds.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

What I thought was a branch blown down in the house yard is actually the contorta willow sapling that died. I may see if I can make something from it.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I took a few pictures around the yard.

I raked another quadrant around the firepit.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Entry tags:

Snow, but no Snow Day

Remember how I was being salty about our lack of "significant" snow? Well, it all arrived at once last night. We got hammered. The picture is my view as I stepped off what would transpire was the final service to arrive at my home station last night. All the trains were cancelled today.

However, the children were furious this morning because despite the high school and the other middle school in the area being closed, their school was...open. And, cruel parents that we are, we made them attend. A third to half of their classes were missing, some of whom we know live within walking distance of the school. (Our children don't.)

I'm not sure how long we can expect to be in the doghouse, but I suspect it's going to take more than a packet of Haribo to get them to forgive us.

Entry tags:

After Silence, by Jonathan Carroll

If you've never heard of Carroll, he wrote odd, quirky, dark, magical realist/surrealist novels and short stories. Probably his most famous book was Land of Laughs. I found his style compulsively readable, though he was absolutely unable to write a satisfying ending to his novels, ever; generally there would be a fantastic buildup followed by either an anticlimax or the book just suddenly stopping or a conclusion where I'd have no idea what actually happened. Still, I did very much like his style and often enjoyed the first half or two-thirds or 99% of his novels quite a bit. (His short stories were sometimes fully successful and did have actual endings.)

I came across After Silence at a used bookshop, and was surprised as I'd never heard of it. I now realize there's a reason I've never heard of it. As far as I know, it's his only non-fantasy work. At least I think it's not fantasy. It has a solid build-up, then completely falls apart in the final third leading to a truly bizarre ending. Definitely my least favorite book of his.

It begins in a somewhat Carroll-typical fashion, with the main character, a cartoonist named Max, having a meet-cute with a woman, Lily, and her young son Lincoln in a museum. It's Carroll-typical because Max's somewhat successful cartoon is deeply weird, Lily takes him to the restaurant where she works which is charmingly weird, and there's hints that something odd is up with her and Lincoln that deepen as the three of them have quirky adventures and form a family.

( Huge spoilers )

To be fair to Carroll, this really isn't typical of his writing. Even his best novels feel a bit dated in addition to always imploding at the end, but I do still like Bones of the Moon, Land of Laughs, and the first half of Outside the Dog Museum. His short stories are worth reading and hold up better. I especially like "Friend's Best Man" and "The Sadness of Detail."

Entry tags:

author: brian bilston

Prayer for Uninteresting Times

Send me a slow news day,
a quiet, subdued day,
in which nothing much happens of note,
save for the passing of time,
the consumption of wine,
and a re-run of Murder, She Wrote.

Grant me a no news day,
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all,
except a few hours together
some regional weather,
a day we can barely recall.

(source)

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

How to Post Frequently on Dreamwidth

A friend asked for suggestions of ways to maintain posting momentum after

snowflake_challenge ends. There are plenty of ways to build momentum and keep up your posting frequency. Here are some ideas.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: discontent

Entry tags:

snowflake days 4 and 5: last page and a wish list

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

I'll go with the last fannish page I bookmarked: TNG-Picard.com, a beautifully organized collection of TNG and Picard costumes and props, including close-ups of details.

Challenge #5: Create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

This is surprisingly hard. Everything top of mind for me right now is something that no one reading this has any power over, and mostly involves the world being less of a horrible trash fire.

I guess to that end, if you have any money to spare, would you consider making a donation to an organization trying to do good in the world? Some that I support are Flatbush Cats, The Wildcat Sanctuary, Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, and Feeding America.

If you're artistically minded, I would love mood boards, cover art, or fan art of any of my stories, but especially anything related to Pi'maat or Scenes From Will Riker's War.

This last one is a huge stretch, but if any vid makers out there want to make an Star Trek: The Next Generation ensemble fanvid to We Are Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes, that would be amazing.

Current Mood: brb off to mordor
Current Music: La la, la la, la la, la la, Republicans

Entry tags:

US Politics: Abolish ICE

( Minneapolis shooting thoughts, neither coherent nor polite )

Entry tags:

book report

Strange Houses, by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion

This book is very silly. It's like creepypasta with floor plans.

But it's briskly written and quickly read. And unique, if that counts for anything. What it isn't is scary, suspenseful, or atmospheric. Read this if you enjoy troubling floor plans and baseless speculation, or if you want to see what all the fuss is about. Probably best on paper so you can reference the floor plans on the facing page.

Contains: murder, suicide, child abuse, child death, incest, ableism, polygamy.

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

Snowflake Challenge 5: Wishlist

Snowflake Challenge 5: Wishlist

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.

If you have wishes for transformative works of your own works or another's work, remember to include links to those sources in order to make it easier for people to create.

Be sure to check out other people's wishlists. Maybe someone will grant your wish! Maybe you will be inspired to grant a wish! If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

This is one of my favorite challenges. It can be difficult for a lot of people to ask for things, so remember not to put too much pressure on yourself for coming up with the perfect wishlist! Your wishes could be something you're recently interested in or something you've wanted for a long time but were afraid to ask for or anything in between. There are no limits!

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

( Read more... )

What to Watch and Read This Weekend: We Could All Use a Little Labyrinth Right Now

Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/

https://reactormag.com/?p=836302

News What to Watch

What to Watch and Read This Weekend: We Could All Use a Little Labyrinth Right Now

Plus: Sister Simone, Carol Sturka, and (some) of the best books of 2025.

By Molly Templeton

Published on January 9, 2026

Photo: Tri-Star Pictures

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836302">https://reactormag.com/?p=836302</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/what-to-watch/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag What to Watch 1"> What to Watch </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">What to Watch and Read This Weekend: We Could All Use a Little <i>Labyrinth</i> Right Now</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Plus: Sister Simone, Carol Sturka, and (some) of the best books of 2025.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <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> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on January 9, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical 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15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" /> <path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="David Bowie looking at Jennifer Connelly while holding a crystal ball in the movie Labyrinth" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie-1100x733.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowie.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Photo: Tri-Star Pictures</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p>In a different week, in a different timeline, this would be a “hey, welcome back, happy new year!” bit of intro text. But this week has crushed any shreds of festivity I might have had left. In Minneapolis, an ICE agent <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-minnesota-9aa822670b705c89906f2c699f1d16c5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shot and killed</a> Renee Nicole Good. A day later, in Portland, Customs and Border Patrol agents <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/politics/federal-agents-shooting-portland.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shot two more people</a> (who survived and were taken to local hospitals). I keep thinking about what Portland mayor Keith Wilson said (and I am generally no big fan of Mayor Wilson): “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed.” Everyone is quoting <em>1984</em> on social media, and with good reason. </p> <p><a href="https://5calls.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Call your reps</a>. And take care of yourselves and your communities as best you can.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>I Wish Mrs. Davis’ Sister Simone and Pluribus’ Carol Sturka Could Meet</strong></h3> <p>I loved the end of the <a href="https://reactormag.com/pluribus-reimagines-1978-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first season of <em>Pluribus</em></a>. And while I wait with absolutely zero patience for this show to come back, I think I will rewatch <em>Mrs. Davis</em>, which is not exactly a similar show—but I do think it shares some DNA, somehow. Instead of a collective mind, <em>Mrs. Davis</em> involves a supposedly benevolent AI that everyone on Earth loves. Almost. Not Sister Simone (a fantastic Betty Gilpin), who goes up against said AI with the help of her ex. She also has a really complex relationship with Jesus. <em>Mrs. Davis</em> is funnier than <em>Pluribus</em>, and more tangled, and less streamlined and polished, and I love all of those things about it, from the chaotic episode titles to the way one character smashes phones. It is <em>really</em> hard to recommend, though, because it doesn’t sound like much. (Leah Schnelbach’s review is titled “<a href="https://reactormag.com/mrs-davis-peacock-series-faith-and-technology-review/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How Do I Talk About <em>Mrs. Davis</em>?</a>”) In actuality, it’s kind of everything. Including a quest for the Holy Grail. </p> <p><em>Mrs. Davis</em> is streaming on Peacock.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>We Could All Use a Hoggle Hug Right About Now: Labyrinth</strong></h3> <p><em>Labyrinth</em> is 40. I cannot linger on this thought; it feels weird. But as is the case with so many big film anniversaries these days, that means it is playing <a href="https://reactormag.com/labyrinth-40th-anniversary-theaters-tickets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in theaters <em>this weekend only</em></a>! There’s a funny synchronicity to this, as this week contains both David Bowie’s birthday (January 8) and death day (January 10). Maybe you want to celebrate, maybe you want to mourn, maybe you want to do a little of both? I know I always, always cry at the end, when Sarah says she needs her friends. Go and appreciate tiny Jennifer Connelly; go and appreciate David Bowie and the offscreen man handling his crystal balls; go and appreciate the puppetry and the soundtrack and all the magic that happens when people get to make movies straight out of their own idiosyncratic imaginations. </p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Inconsistent Passage of Time</strong></h3> <p>Speaking of the passage of time (<em>Labyrinth </em>is <em>forty</em>?!?!?), there’s a gorgeous essay in <em>Emergence</em> magazine about time, and how it’s not the same for every living thing. It’s not even the same for each of us, running on our own clocks and calendars. “<a href="https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wild-clocks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wild Clocks</a>” covers a lot of ground, but swings back, like a clock hand, to the <a href="https://www.futurelibrary.no/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Future Library Project</a>: a grove of trees outside Oslo, in Norway, that will be turned into books in one hundred years. The works that will be printed on these trees will not be read until 2114. </p> <p>Thinking about this project makes me feel marvelously unstable and small; I can only imagine how it feels for the authors whose work is part of the project. No one will ever read that work until they’re dead. <em>Phew</em>. </p> <p>David Farrier’s “Wild Clocks” talks about that project, about the way climate change affects the internal clocks of animals and plants, about time and how we move through it. It’s a perfect New Year’s read: rich, challenging, honest and optimistic in turns. It makes me think of Gandalf saying, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The most important part of that line, I think, is not “the time that is given us.” It’s “we have to decide what to do.”</p> <p>(Side note: It was J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday a few days ago, too, on January 3rd.)</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What We All Read Last Year</strong></h3> <p>I love a reading year in review. To name just a few you might peruse: Reactor critics did our <a href="https://reactormag.com/reviewers-choice-the-best-books-of-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reviewers’ choice</a> in December; at <a href="https://buttondown.com/intergalacticmixtape/archive/intergalactic-mixtape-35/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Intergalactic Mixtape</a>, Renay has a list of bloggers and critics wrapping up their 2025 in reading; Strange Horizons is doing their <a href="https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/2025-in-review-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multi-part</a> <a href="https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/2025-in-review-part-two/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">year-end</a> <a href="https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/2025-in-review-part-three/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrap-up</a> now. On Bluesky, Roseanna Pendlebury <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/chloroformtea.bsky.social/post/3mbyszrs5zk2e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tallied up</a> which books appeared most often on the Strange Horizons list; it would be interesting if someone with a lot of time on their hands tallied up all the mentions on all the lists, as—as Pendlebury notes—it doesn’t really feel like critical consensus has landed on a frontrunner for book of the year. (For the record, I think this is a good thing. I prefer a broad spread to one or two books dominating all the discourse!) </p> <p>I do feel like I’ve seen a few books mentioned a lot, including <em>The Raven Scholar</em>, <em>The River Has Roots</em>, <em>Notes from a Regicide</em>, <em>Luminous</em>, and <em>The Incandescent</em>. But then there’s also <em>The Everlasting</em>, <em>The Buffalo Hunter Hunter</em>, <em>Uncertain Sons and Other Stories</em>, and <em>Katabasis</em>. Whatever your 2025 favorites are, don’t forget that the deadline to register to <a href="https://reactormag.com/anyone-can-vote-in-the-hugo-awards-and-heres-how/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vote in this year’s Hugo Awards</a> is January 31st![end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/">What to Watch and Read This Weekend: We Could All Use a Little <i>Labyrinth</i> Right Now</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-january-9-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836302">https://reactormag.com/?p=836302</a></p>

Black Mirror Will Return to Netflix for Season 8

Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/

https://reactormag.com/?p=836316

News Black Mirror

Black Mirror Will Return to Netflix for Season 8

Charlie Brooker says reality might catch up to it by then.

By Molly Templeton

Published on January 9, 2026

Image: Netflix

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/">https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836316">https://reactormag.com/?p=836316</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/black-mirror/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Black Mirror 1"> Black Mirror </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Black Mirror</i> Will Return to Netflix for Season 8</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Charlie Brooker says reality might catch up to it by then.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <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> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on January 9, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Image: Netflix</p> </div> <div class="quick-access 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10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </svg> </a> </li> <li class="flex"> <a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed"> <svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true"> <g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)"> <path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 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/> <path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="494" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-740x494.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Rashida Jones in the Black Mirror episode "Common People"" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-740x494.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-1100x734.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-768x512.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Black_Mirror_n_S7_E1_00_01_12_10-2048x1366.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Image: Netflix</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p><em>Black Mirror</em> isn’t ending any time soon—and creator Charlie Brooker says that hopefully, the <a href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/black-mirror-charlie-brooker-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">just-announced</a> eighth season will be “more <em>Black Mirror </em>than ever.” (If you are currently envisioning the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmirror/comments/7nvidc/black_mirror_2017/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roomba with the knife</a>, but maybe with more knives, you are not alone.)</p> <p>The most recent season of <em>Black Mirror</em> earned the show several Emmy nominations, including one for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television, and acting nominations for Rashida Jones (for “Common People”) and Paul Giamatti (for “Eulogy”). </p> <p>Most of Netflix’s announcement about season eight is actually a Q&A with Brooker about season seven. He has a hard time picking a favorite from the season, but says, “I am really proud of ‘Common People.’ I think that it’s haunting, and it’s vicious as a piece of satire. When I gave that script to one of our producers, he said, ‘That is the distilled essence of <em>Black Mirror</em>.'”</p> <p>Asked to discuss the future of the show, Brooker says only, “Well, luckily it does have a future, so I can confirm that <em>Black Mirror</em> will return, just in time for reality to catch up with it. So, that’s exciting. That chunk of my brain has already been activated and is whirring away.” He’s also working on what he calls “a deeply profound and profoundly serious crime thriller” for the streamer, though I remain a little bit <a href="https://reactormag.com/charlie-brooker-netflix-crime-thriller/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skeptical</a> about the sincerity of that one. [end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/"><i>Black Mirror</i> Will Return to Netflix for Season 8</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/">https://reactormag.com/black-mirror-season-eight-announcement/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836316">https://reactormag.com/?p=836316</a></p>

Entry tags:

Friday open thread: awkwardly asking for things

As is customary, if I have the opportunity to repurpose a

snowflake_challenge prompt as a Friday open thread prompt, I will.

Today's prompt asks create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

(While it's not explicitly stated, I assume the intent is to ask for things on a small-scale personal fannish or material level, not to express wishes relating to the myriad large, overwhelming global crises or things of that nature. I ported it over as an open thread prompt intending a similar spirit.)

I find this sort of thing a bit awkward, but let's give it a go:

1. I would love for people to fill the requests on the outstanding needy trees in

fandomtrees. You can see details here. While my tree is not on the list, while I'm talking about this fest, I'd always love to have more gifts!
2. Recommend your favourite folktale, fairytale, and/or mythological retellings — book medium only. In terms of the spectrum on which these types of retellings exist, I tend to prefer things closer to the Angela Carter end of the spectrum as opposed to the Disney end when it comes to tone and approach.
3. Tell me about delicious things that you've cooked and enjoyed eating recently! I'm an omnivore with no dietary restrictions.

I know some of you have already created your own wishlists in your journals, but please feel free to link them in the comments. And do look at other people's wishlists in the comments, and see if you're able to fulfill anything. Let's use this post as a way to work through our awkward feelings about wanting things in public. (Or maybe it's only me.)

Current Mood: giggly
Current Music: 'Cause holy guacamole, that one reeks to holy hell

Entry tags:

Podfic: Whither Kelvin Trillion, Wither the Republic (Star Wars: TCW) + Rec: Psych + Galavant

Both of these things made me laugh aloud at various intervals.

*

[Podfic] Whither Kelvin Trillion, Wither the Republic (62 words) by 1lostone, farkenshnoffingottom, InklingDancer
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Bail Organa/Breha Organa, Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Hondo Ohnaka, Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Dexter Jettster/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Guy Fieri/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yan Dooku/Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Grievous/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jar Jar Binks/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Shaak Ti
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Satine Kryze, Bail Organa, Breha Organa, Padmé Amidala, Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda (Star Wars), Hondo Ohnaka, Cody, Dexter Jettster, Guy Fieri, Yan Dooku, General Grievous, Jar Jar Binks, Shaak Ti
Additional Tags: Limericks, Documentation, Buzzfeed, Podfic, Audio Format: Streaming, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes
Series: Part 4 of Star Wars Podfics
Summary:

Who is the holonet's mystery limerick writer, and does he really get it on as much in real life as he does in his filthy poetry?

A podfic of "Whither Kelvin Trillion, Whither the Republic"

*

Written for me for Yuletide New Year's Resolutions: Madalena (Galavant) meets Shawn & Gus (Psych). Set in s2 of Galavant and who-even-knows of Psych.

Faire Play (1997 words) by HematiteBadger
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Galavant (TV), Psych (TV 2006)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Madalena (Galavant), Burton "Gus" Guster, Shawn Spencer
Additional Tags: Crossover, unabashedly silly
Summary:

Madalena has a chance encounter with a pair of very strange folk on her journey to seek the DDEL.

*

I have a new Psych/Galavant ship. It is not Lassiter/Richard.

Current Mood: aggravated

(no subject)

One of the things I want to work on this year is unmasking. In general, but especially with my family. This tumblr post has some ways to start.

I thought I was starting today, actually, but while I expressed my emotions honestly, my family are not emotionally safe for me to be that vulnerable around, which is why I have been masking around them in the first place... today was hard because I'm grappling with the fact that these people who claim to love me and have affection for me, want me to stay quiet when someone in the family hurts me. They'll make excuses for the person who hurt me because they think it's okay for me to be hurt. When I love someone, I don't want them hurt. So I don't believe this is love, I don't understand this so-called familial love. Seems cultish to me.

It's in moments of realisation like these, when I brush against my family and leave with a bleeding gash, that I feel lonely despite having met friends very recently.

Unmasking has to go hand in hand with protecting myself and setting strong boundaries. Being 'radically visible' when it's not safe for you to be really seen by these people? Needs more thought.

This is giving me more ideas for why I am so parasocially fascinated by Yunho, the idol who does not want to be seen to feel safe. Maybe he reminds me of what I do on a daily basis to feel safe around my family. He's very performative and I don't have the energy for that, so I'm very avoidant.

I wonder if Yunho is lonely. Whether he ever wants to be honest and vulnerable. Maybe safety comes first for him.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Future People

Posted by Zach Weinersmith

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/future-people

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Wait, good news, looks like they did this on purpose using their own creativity!

Today's News:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/future-people

Entry tags:

friday

I tried doing a blind drawing of scenery looking at a photo on my phone this morning. Added watercolor later. I don't think the watercolor helped it. The drawing went out of proportion mainly by condensing itself to the left - I don't mind that, but I wanted it to be recognizable as a landscape and don't think it succeeded there. Here's the pic that I was looking at while I drew:

I'm not giving up on this idea even though I didn't like how this one turned out very much. I might try a new drawing with 2 colored markers (bluish gray and brown) instead of a black pen and see how that turns out.

*****
Johnny and Alison arrive for the weekend today. I still want to deep clean the bathroom and clear the kitchen counter and run the dishwasher. I'll have about 5 hours to do that before they get here. I'm especially looking forward to Johnny helping me get my printer connected again. We haven't printed anything from our computers for months. But the printer has been able to scan and copy so it wasn't completely useless. I'm sure Johnny will have it figured out in minutes.

*****
I don't write about national politics or world situations on my journal. I figure people will get better opinions or facts about things by reading stuff written by someone other than me. But I can't help but mention how frightening the leadership of this country has become. No one seems able to curtail it. It's getting worse and worse by the day. Practically hour by hour some new atrocity and then a lie to cover it up comes out. I fear for the lives of the people in this country and I fear WW3. Reading the news has put a pall over my waking hours. I'm primed for fight or flight - but I can't do either. It's depressing. Is this how the average person in Germany felt as Hitler was on the rise?

A Monolith in Very Real Danger of Being Trampled By a Cat

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/09/a-monolith-in-very-real-danger-of-being-trampled-by-a-cat/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59071

Here is Saja giving consideration to the upcoming trade paperback version of When the Moon Hits Your Eye, which will be out February 10, just in case you had nothing to do that day. It comes with an extra, namely an alternate first chapter of the book that I wrote but did not use, because the first chapter I did use fit my overall narrative better. But it is still good! And it has a cat!

Also, this quote on the back of the book:

"How the hell do you make a book about turning the moon INTO CHEESE work? This shouldn't work! I will not stop being mad about this." = Mary Robinette Kowal

Which makes me absurdly happy.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/09/a-monolith-in-very-real-danger-of-being-trampled-by-a-cat/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59071