Zana > Recent Status Updates

“A woman once came out of arcspace who knew every detail of her life – except it was not her life, it was the life of another from far, far away, rendered in perfect detail, and when she met with her child at the end of the journey, she stood there baffled and proclaimed: I’m dreadfully sorry, I have no idea whose offspring this is.”

👁️👄👁️

‘In the warmth of the Emni, all those years ago, Gebre pressed into my side. “I have had a lot of lovers,” te had said, in the same tone in which te might have marked a student’s academic paper.’

Might as well pack it up then

“Rencki handled the initial flight, the fingers of one paw opening up where qe laid it upon the interface, micro-tendrils of connection running directly from qim to the ship computer.”

Man I really want one 🦊🤖

“But it is believed that at the very heart of their home processor is not the usual quantum housing, but a square black box that fell from the stars. It is said that they talk to it, bombard it constantly with pure, raw data from every sensory organ that transmits to the mainframe, send the lived experience of every part of qemselves straight into that implacable object...”

Bro what

‘Thus, Rencki had chosen, rather than the efficient box-and-repulsor design common among qis mainframe, to take the form of a three-tailed fox, complete with soft russet fur that stood on end in bright sunshine, crackling a little with static as qe recharged. When not charging, qis fur softened into a warm coat that people could stroke with a cry of “oooh lovely” and “coooey-goo-goo-gah”’

GIMME

‘Very few Adjumiris remain one gender for their entire lives, passing through different states of being as they change, grow, age. Off-worlders are taught the basic “they”, which is the pronoun given to children who have not yet passed through the gate, and the polite “ae” used for the non-gender, the gender-that-is-without-significance...’

Very left hand of darkness

“PEOPLES OF ADJUMIR! qe had proclaimed. IN ONE HUNDRED NORMYEARS, THE BINARY STAR SYSTEM KNOWN AS THE LOVERS WILL COLLAPSE IN UPON ITSELF. THE RESULTING SHOCK WAVE WILL TRAVEL OUT AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND OBLITERATE ALL LIFE WITHIN AN EIGHTY-THREE LIGHT−YEAR RADIUS.

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

THERE IS STILL TIME.”

Uh

“I did not ask Rencki how much qis armaments consumed, when fired. I knew that each of qis three furry tails concealed weapon pylons, and at least one was lethal....”

What 🦊

“To minimise the inherent risk in forcefully interfacing an unvetted organic mind with the arcspace systems of an FTL ship, it is standard practice to irradiate parts of a Pilot’s brain, reducing them to a mere organic husk through which navigational protocols may pass.”

👁️👄👁️

‘By the time I saw what “the chair” meant, complete with straps for head, neck, chest, arms and legs and the radio-lobotomy probe, I was doing my very best to struggle and scream, which doubtless hurt me far more than it hurt anyone else.’

If I had a penny for every book I've read about lobotomies this week, I'd have two

‘“Only three years more, and I’ll have paid my debt,” whispered my bunkmate, as the dormitory shuddered and howled with the storm outside. “I’ll start again. You’ll see. I’ve got it all mapped out.”’

Good luck with that

“They hear the scrambling too.
Something in the wires.
Something in the vents.
Something with fingers of bone, knocking
knock knock knock
on the outside of the hull.
It is here.
It is there.
It is nowhere.
knock knock knock”

We're in the sci-fi horror poetry subgenre now I guess

‘They said I was being sent off-world, to a labour camp. I mumbled: “My parents…”

No one listened.

I blurted: “My parents, will they be informed, will they… It’s important, my parents, they have to…”

Someone hit me, which was a kind of answer.’

Guess we're in the child slavery sci-fi subgenre now

I like the audiobook narrator's commitment to pronouncing the hé/hís pronouns

“With one hand, he grabbed the blackboard’s edge and hung his head in defeat. His pose revealed a strong shoulder and shapely biceps under the tweed. I reminded myself he was a frog.”

So what's the issue here?

“I was no longer hot for teacher in his Kermit the Mage form but still thirsty for his teaching, so I buckled up for Professor Toad’s wild fucking ride.”

Bro what

Haven't picked this up in a few days and now I remembered that I left off at the part where the FMC's advisor turned into a giant frog and kissed her after his lecture

“There’s a story of a director who took someone else’s synthbody for his own as a spoil of war, before that sort of thing was outlawed in policy.”

So gross

“...it was insensitive to eat in front of second stagers.”

My fat ass will be eating

‘“You wouldn’t have to do anything to save Momma from drowning, Daddy, if Momma was pure and without sin. God would save her.”’

👁️👄👁️

‘“You flaunted your beauty before me!” screamed out an enraged old man, “tormenting me when you were a child—teasing me when you were an adolescent, thinking you could have your fun and I could never harm you. Then when you married your half uncle and came back to disinherit me, you treated me like I wasn’t even there—just another piece of furniture to ignore....”’

Pedo incels gonna incel

‘“You loved my real daddy?” he asked unbelievably. “You really did love him, even if you seduced and killed him?”’

Bro I can't

“Some women can’t live without a man to run their affairs, and that’s what I am—someone to lean on.”

Okay Andrew Tate

“For some reason I couldn’t force myself to read beyond the time when first a brother betrayed his sister by forcing himself upon her. That this man beside me could rape his own sister when she was only fifteen was beyond my comprehension, beyond my ability to sympathize no matter how desperate his need had been...”

Same Jory same

‘“Momma!” I yelled, “unlock my door! I’ll kill myself if you don’t! I know all about you now, what you and your brother are doing—the people next door told me everything about your childhood. And your book told me the rest. Unlock my door, if you don’t want to come in and see me dead.”’

Fine go kill yourself Bart

“Look at that, trying to win me moments before her death . . . and her redemption. God would feel pity for her when she was butchered, humiliated in every way possible.”

Omg Bart that's your mother!

‘“What yah gonna do, harlot? Use Cindy for a shield? It won’t work, won’t work, I’ll get the both of you . . . And the police can’t touch me. I’m only ten years old, only ten, only ten, only ten, only ten . . .” and on and on I kept saying that like I was a needle stuck in the same groove.’

He gets worse and worse JESUS

‘“Why don’t you spank me, Momma? Come on . . . let me see what you can do to hurt me.” I held my knife in position, ready to jab it if she dared to move closer.’

Bro this kid 😬

‘I yanked a hair from my head and held one end between my teeth as I pulled with one hand to stretch it taut. Easily my knife sliced it in two. “Good knife,” I said, “sharp as a razor for shaving. Good for cutting off legs, arms, hair . . .” I grinned as she looked scared. Powerful. I felt so powerful. John Amos was right. Women were only timid, fearful imitations of men.’

Yeah he's gonna kill someone

‘“I hate you!” I whispered fiercely, trying to stab him with the glare of my eyes. “You think you are safe, don’t you? You think a doctor can’t be punished—but God has sent the black angel of his wrath to see that you and your sister are punished for the evil you have done!”’

😬