Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Baffling Magazine @bafflingmag.bsky.social · Jun 2

Baffling Magazine is open for submissions of queer speculative science fiction and fantasy until June 15th for an upcoming issue on the theme Mecha vs. Kaiju. (Unthemed submissions are also welcome!)

For more info: www.bafflingmag.com/submissions

Graphic announcing that Baffling Magazine is open to submissions from June 1st to 15th, accepting unthemed submissions and submissions that fit the theme Mecha vs. Kaiju.

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Baffling Magazine @bafflingmag.bsky.social · May 20

Interviewer and interviewee are @bendibarrett.bsky.social and @davorobyov.bsky.social respectively!

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Baffling Magazine @bafflingmag.bsky.social · May 20

Submissions for Baffling's Mecha vs. Kaiju issue will open on June 1st! Before the day arrives, check out this interview with associate editor D.A. Vorobyov for what he's looking to see in submissions: www.patreon.com/posts/129380...

(The Patreon link is publicly accessible for free!)

Image featuring a quote from Baffling Magazine associate editor D.A. Vorobyov that reads, "The perfect kaiju isn't really about the monster. It's about the consequences."

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Baffling Magazine @bafflingmag.bsky.social · May 19

We'll be open soon for submissions of queer speculative SFF. Stand by for some thoughts on the Mecha vs. Kaiju call by Associate Editor D. A. Vorobyov, who'll be editing this particular theme issue.

More info: www.bafflingmag.com/submissions

Open to submissions June 1-15.

Baffling.

Unthemed.
Mecha vs Kaiju.

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Owen Blacker @owenblacker.bsky.social · Feb 27

“Notes on Genocidal Interchronological Incursion 57.7.3 (f.k.a. ‘Friends’)” by @sentencebender.bsky.social in Baffling Magazine is a delight: www.bafflingmag.com/issue-fiftee...

Notes on Genocidal Interchronological Incursion 57.7.3 (f.k.a. "Friends") — Baffling Magazine

by Sam J. Miller “First rule of forgery detection: time is the best investigator.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Infrequent SF Microreviews @infrequentsf.bsky.social · May 2

How to Rob a Bullion Van, by Plangsi Neple in Baffling Magazine. I love a good epistolary story, especially when it's also got magic. Vivid and perfectly paced.
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-ninete...

How To Rob A Bullion Van — Baffling Magazine

by Plangdi Neple “There are many ways to rob a bullion van, and I’ll tell them to you.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Infrequent SF Microreviews @infrequentsf.bsky.social · May 3

Ron, Howard, by Cindy Phan in Baffling Magazine. Very sweet - a man realizes he looks like his fish. Hard to describe but worth reading.
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-ninete...

Ron, Howard — Baffling Magazine

by Cindy Phan “When people called Ron’s goldfish ugly, he took it very personally.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Cindy Creature Feature Phan 💀 @cindyphanauthor.com · Apr 1

The gorgeous cover art is by Casper Pham (@marcheriest.bsky.social) and--another first and one that I'm still processing--was inspired by my story!!! 👀👀👀

Cover art for issue Baffling Magazine, issue 19. A man cradles a square plexiglass tank with a goldfish (an oranda) inside. Man and fish are in a pet store and are flanked by stacked tanks, partially obscured so that their inhabitants fade into the background. The illustration is done in muted purples and greens, browns, green and pink.

The man is gloriously massive and bends so that his forehead touches the tank. The fish floats with his head upturned to the man, returning his gesture so that they are essentially pressing their faces together. The man is dressed in a sleeveless pullover, slacks and sneakers; his features and clothing suggest very oranda-like qualities (fins on his curved back, scales in the pattern of his sweater). The fish is similarly gloriously massive and, like the man, is done up in greens and browns and orange. They stand on alone together on checkered green-and-pink flooring.

Listed authors for the issue are: Erin Brown, Soramimi Hanarejima, Teresa Milbrodt, Plangdi Neple, Sara Omer, Cindy Phan, C.L. Sidell.

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Casper Pham @ SBCF (The Luminary Lark-Mirror) @marcheriest.bsky.social · Apr 1

my cover art for Baffling Magazine, Issue XIX

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · May 14

Right this way, you simply MUST check out these short fiction highlights of April 2025, featuring necromancy, a moon journey, and a dead witch-doctor!

reactormag.com/must-read-sh...

Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: April 2025 - Reactor

This month's stories have a little god murder, some necromancy, and some brain swapping...

reactormag.com

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Baffling Magazine @bafflingmag.bsky.social · May 19

just got back into this account after realizing i'd been mistyping the recovery email address...sorry for all the reposts as we catch up.

Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Angela Liu @angelaliu.bsky.social · May 16

"You will sweat your self-judgments away soon enough. They have no place here."

Just read "Lucious Lake" by @babblewocky.bsky.social in @bafflingmag.bsky.social and wow, what a (terrifying) sensory feast. I don’t think I’ve ever read a description that made me want to both eat and run from a mango.

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Jordan Shiveley (Dread Singles) @jordanshiveley.bsky.social · May 3

ICYMI I’m still proud of this story I wrote for @bafflingmag.bsky.social a few years ago

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eight/...

A Table Set and Waiting — Baffling Magazine

by Jordan Shiveley No one knows who found the Dark Room first.

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Read #AfricanSFF!🫵🏾 @africansffhype.bsky.social · Apr 27

Parents' contemplation on their gay sons.

"How futile our midnight errands seem against this force that no witch, Bible or pastor has been able to remove. A wildness!"

#Afrosurreal story by @dsfalowo.bsky.social in @bafflingmag.bsky.social

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-two/so...

Sonskins — Baffling Magazine

by Dare Segun Falowo “On a night of open flight, when healers take on the skins of their familiars…”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Read #AfricanSFF!🫵🏾 @africansffhype.bsky.social · Apr 1

This is a guide on how to rob those secure vans that transport cash. You'll need some white powder from a babalawo, chameleon & gecko skin, & the ability to teleport...

Fun story by @plangdineple.bsky.social in @bafflingmag.bsky.social

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-ninete...

How To Rob A Bullion Van — Baffling Magazine

by Plangdi Neple “There are many ways to rob a bullion van, and I’ll tell them to you.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Cindy Creature Feature Phan 💀 @cindyphanauthor.com · Apr 1

Thrilled to announce that I have a new story in @bafflingmag.bsky.social!

"Ron, Howard" (yes, really) is about love's many transformations. Another fish story (yes, really) it's my first flash fiction, published alongside the work of other fantastic authors. I'd be honoured if you gave it a read!

Neon Hemlock @neonhemlock.bsky.social · Apr 1

The new issue of 🪶 @bafflingmag.bsky.social 🪶 has arrived.

Check out stories from Teresa Milbrodt, Plangdi Neple, Erin Brown, Cindy Phan, C. L. Sidell, Sara Omer & Soramimi Hanarejima. Plus the rad cover by @marcheriest.bsky.social.

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-nineteen

Issue Nineteen — Baffling Magazine

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Neon Hemlock @neonhemlock.bsky.social · Apr 1

The new issue of 🪶 @bafflingmag.bsky.social 🪶 has arrived.

Check out stories from Teresa Milbrodt, Plangdi Neple, Erin Brown, Cindy Phan, C. L. Sidell, Sara Omer & Soramimi Hanarejima. Plus the rad cover by @marcheriest.bsky.social.

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-nineteen

Issue Nineteen — Baffling Magazine

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Kathleen Jennings @tanaudel.bsky.social · Mar 3

2/2
February short story notes!
tanaudel.wordpress.com/2025/02/27/f...
Feat. 33 stories from:

@clarkesworldmagazine.com @bafflingmag.bsky.social , Short Story Long, LA Weekly, @lightspeedmagazine.com , UQP, @bourbonpenn.bsky.social , @nightmare-magazine.com , @morningtransport.bsky.social

“Good Boy” — Alison Littlewood
“The Finest Creation of an Artful God” — B Zelkovich
“The Third Curse” — Helen Grant
“The Lights Under Rachel” — Kathryn Healy
“Pilgrimage of the Hummingbird” — V Castro
“The Grim” — Cavan Scott
“Pontianak: An Origin Story” — Christina Sng
“In Thin Air” — Phoenix Alexander
“After the Animal Flesh Beings” — Brian Evenson
“Brincando Charcos (Jumping Puddles)” — Ben Francisco
“Rachel is at a Protest” — Esther Alter
“Waystation City” — AT Greenblatt
“Happily Ever After Comes Round” — Sarah Rees Brennan
“For However Long” — Thomas Ha
“Just You and Me, Now” — KT Bryski
“Window Boy” — Thomas Ha
“Three Things That Happen the Night my Dad Dies” — Isabel Cañas
“How to Stay Married to Baba Yaga” — SM Hallow
“The Legend of the Convenience Store Cashier” — Anna Vangala Jones
“Swarm X1048 – Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, “6”” — FE Choe
“A Name is a Plea and a Prophecy” — Gabrielle Emem Harry
“Ruminants” — Kay Chronister
“Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned” — Wells Tower
“Spread the Word” — Delilah Dawson
“Fatso” — Etgar Keret
“The Last Lucid Day” — Dominique Dickey
“Five Minutes” — John Morrissey
“doorbell dot mov” — Jennifer R Donahue
“Heathman Ldg” — Brian Evenson
“like blood on the mouths of death” — Victor Forna
“First, Last, Oldest, True” — E Catherine Tobler
“The Maiden Voyage of the Piranha Belle” — L. M. Guay
“The Sort” — Thomas Ha

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Dannye Chase is querying queer romance @dannyechase.bsky.social · Feb 25

This week's free spec rec is the sweet, queer spy drama "Light on the Dark Side of Mega Corp Moon" by @jasonmharley.bsky.social in @bafflingmag.bsky.social
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eighte...
“Running hot comes in handy here: space is cold.”
All my recs: dannyechase.com/specrecs/
#specfic ✍️ 🔱

Light on the Dark Side of Mega Corp Moon — Baffling Magazine

by Jason M. Harley “I’m a terrible liar,” I lied to the interviewer.

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

carlydraws @carlydraws.bsky.social · Feb 5

Here's my watery piece!

'Across the Waves'
inspired by a story by @marisca.bsky.social, and commissioned for the cover of @bafflingmag.bsky.social

#art

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Neon Hemlock @neonhemlock.bsky.social · Feb 1

And you can read @sentencebender.bsky.social’s Notes on Genocidal Interchronological Incursion 57.7.3 (f.k.a. "Friends") in Issue 15 of @bafflingmag.bsky.social here:

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-fifteen

Issue Fifteen — Baffling Magazine

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Sharang Biswas @sharangbiswas.bsky.social · Jan 29

“You guide me to the place you have chosen. You use your powerful, flawless machine hands to direct my body. You close the door.

Outside our new lovenest, the biohazard warning light begins to strobe.”

By Louis Evans in @bafflingmag.bsky.social
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eighte...

Xeno ISO Synth for One-Time Encounter — Baffling Magazine

by Louis Evans “ Me:  mature, attractive j-type xeno. 2.7 meters long.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Sharang Biswas @sharangbiswas.bsky.social · Jan 26

“Surrender illuminates the room, recruiting the slick of the moon.”

By K-Ming Chang in @bafflingmag.bsky.social

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eighte...

The Glass Wife — Baffling Magazine

by K-Ming Chang “The woman I love is made of glass.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Sharang Biswas @sharangbiswas.bsky.social · Jan 21

“The thankful drought of malignant menstruation. Congealing in its place is a growth, both physical and visceral. Sensitivity and the need for indulgence enlarge tenfold to itch against your boxers.”

By @caninebrainz.bsky.social via @bafflingmag.bsky.social

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eighte...

The Transmasculinization of Tentacle Porn — Baffling Magazine

by j ambrose “The changes happen as scheduled.”

www.bafflingmag.com

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Reposted by Baffling Magazine

Theodore Hill (he/him) @probablyharmless.bsky.social · Jan 13

post a short story you love

@caninebrainz.bsky.social
@bafflingmag.bsky.social

www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eighte...

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