Hey kids, life stuff unfortunately got in the way of these weekend lists, but quite a lot of big things happened, so I won’t keep you hanging any longer.
- Two towering figures in the science fiction and fantasy worlds died recently. David Bowie and Alan Rickman are gone, both at 69, both from cancer. The sorrow these two icons have left is real, a testament to the impact they both had:
- “David Bowie made the world a safer place for the alien in us all.” [io9]
- “Our Bowies, Ourselves.” [Autostraddle]
- “In praise of the man who fell to Earth.” [Little White Lies]
- “You have no power over me: life lessons from Labyrinth.” [Bitch]
- “Where would we be without David Bowie?” [Vice]
- Bustle featured Alan Rickman’s goodbye letter to the Harry Potter films.
- Daniel Radcliffe paid him a fond farewell. [Buzzfeed]
- As did Emma Watson, though she came under fire for praising Rickman’s commitment to feminism. [PinkNews]
- This a very pretty comic series that recasts literary figures as witches, and there’s nothing more I want from life, really. [Electric Literature]
- “Unearthing the sea witch” is Hazlitt’s stab at unpacking the glory that is Ursula, and her source material, the drag queen Divine.
- Problem Glyphs are magic sigils created by artist Eliza Gauger. They are meant to help with anonymously submitted problems, and they are very, very beautiful. There are also over 200 of them and I spent an enormous amount of time looking through them a little while ago.
- The American Gods adaptation has cast its protagonist, Shadow. The gods’ errand boy will be played by Ricky Whittle, which is hugely promising in terms of casting diversity. [Tor]
- In the face of the Angoulême Festival’s statement that women don’t appear in the history of comics, the Guardian has a pretty solid rebuttal.
- Eleven year-old Marley Dias has put together a book drive to collect #1000BlackGirlBooks, or books with Black girl protagonists. Go Marley! [The Mary Sue]
- This Toast piece takes on Aragorn, his tenuous claim to the throne, and the more bullshit aspects of life in Middle Earth.
- Here are a couple of short stories for you: Laurie Penny’s “The House of Surrender” is an interesting look at criminal justice and rape culture from the point of view of a future culture, and Anne-E. Wood’s “Ghost Walk” a weird little story of murderous sisters. [der Freitag/Tin House]
- And definitely read this note Octavia Butler wrote to herself as encouragement. Even her affirmations are beautiful. [Tor]
Image by Brian Duffy
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