l'espirit de l'escalier by catherynne m. valente - modern orpheus and eurydice retelling if orpheus succesfully bought eurydice back, but in a reaminated corpse state.

let's play dead by senaa ahmad - ahistorical anne boleyn getting murdered by henry viii only she seems to keep coming back to life.

fish (in 13 sections) by eric ozawa - a man post break-up contemplates the word fish. sometimes it's fun to read an absurd tale

the man who ended history: a documentary by ken liu - observational time travel used to reckon with japan's unit 731 and the atrocities committed there; a heartbreaking exploration of historiography through multimedia

as long as you smile and nod, people are satisfied. it’s just to show that you are nice and there with good intentions. we’re small in a big world and have to rely on other people to be decent to us. so we do our little human dance to each other to say, “i’m not here to hurt you. here’s something we have in common, like the weather or sports or itchy sweaters, so we both know we’re on the same team. we both agree on a basic fact, like that it is rainy or that being itchy is uncomfortable, and this proves we can get along. i’m being light-hearted and non-threatening right now.”

small talk isn’t to get to know a person. it’s just a greeting to affirm you’re buddies in the universe.

>recognize it as part of my divine punishment

Be Not Afraid — Crack The Egg