Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/magical-realism-mystery-more-2/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167878

These Violet Delights

These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux is $1.99! This is a standalone historical romance with a pair of star-crossed lovers. Have you read this one?

Passion engulfs an aspiring painter and her old childhood friend in this stunning Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux. But can the star-crossed pair overcome a simmering family feud for a chance at love?

Violet Arden is a burgeoning painter who insists on a life of passion and vivid colors, but scandal is heaped on humiliation at her artistic debut in London. It would be one thing to withstand withering critiques, but the night goes from bad to worse when an illicit affair with her art instructor is exposed. She flees the London limelight to recover from her humiliation at her cousin Emilia Graddock’s country estate, where she plans to continue honing her art under a new mentor and leave all thoughts of love and heartbreak in the past where they belong. That is, until she comes face-to-face with the man who scorned her paintings in front of her friends and family. . . her new next-door neighbor, Alasdair Kerr.

Alasdair Kerr has recently set aside his life of art and travel to return to Clafton, his family’s estate and the site of a tragic fire that claimed his cherished father’s life. Now, he’s ready to finally rebuild the home that was lost and step into his role as man of the house. But his rakish younger brother Freddie can’t seem to leave the off-limits Graddock woman alone, and his mother has brought an overbearing clergyman into their home who appears keen to fill his spot as the favored son.

Violet is determined to ignore Alasdair, which shouldn’t be hard to do considering their families have been in a long-standing feud. . . if only their attempts to end Emilia and Freddie’s secret relationship would stop bringing them together. And when new fires threaten their homes and lives, Violet and Alasdair reluctantly join forces to uncover the identity of the arsonist once and for all. But can they ignore the feelings kindling between them that are but an ember away from igniting into a full blaze?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Happy Medium

Happy Medium by Sarah Adler is $1.99! Hoping this is a lasting deal. Lara gave this one a B:

I really enjoyed my time with this book and recommend it for anyone who enjoys a contemporary with a touch of the paranormal and a big dose of growth.

“A sincere and sincerely funny romance.”—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficentone. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?

Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.

Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Witch of Wild Things

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is $1.99! This is book one in the Wild Magic series. Carrie reviewed this and it earned a B:

This book desperately needed to be streamlined, but within all the plot threads is a sharp, painful portrait of a grieving family as well as a lovely story of magic and nature. The romance is fine, especially if you like grumpy/sunshine dynamics. But Sage’s struggle to mature, to become a person who is not solely defined by her mistakes and by responsibilities she never should have had, is the real center of the story. In that light, I enjoyed the book very much.

Legend goes that long ago a Flores woman offended the old gods, and their family was cursed as a result. Now, every woman born to the family has a touch of magic.

Sage Flores has been running from her family—and their “gifts”—ever since her younger sister Sky died. Eight years later, Sage reluctantly returns to her hometown. Like slipping into an old, comforting sweater, Sage takes back her job at Cranberry Rose Company and uses her ability to communicate with plants to discover unusual heritage specimens in the surrounding lands.

What should be a simple task is complicated by her partner in botany sleuthing: Tennessee Reyes. He broke her heart in high school, and she never fully recovered. Working together is reminding her of all their past tender, genuine moments—and new feelings for this mature sexy man are starting to take root in her heart.

With rare plants to find, a dead sister who keeps bringing her coffee, and another sister whose anger fills the sky with lightning, Sage doesn’t have time for romance. But being with Tenn is like standing in the middle of a field on the cusp of a summer thunderstorm—supercharged and inevitable.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

History Lessons

History Lessons by Zoe Wallbrook is $3.99! This was a debut mystery with a hint of romance. I mentioned it on Get Rec’d last August.

A college history professor must solve her superstar colleague’s murder before she becomes the next target in this funny, romantic debut mystery, perfect for readers of Janet Evanovich, Kellye Garrett, and Ali Hazelwood.

As a newly minted junior professor, Daphne Ouverture spends her days giving lectures on French colonialism, working on her next academic book, and going on atrocious dates. Her small world suits her just fine. Until Sam Taylor dies.

The rising star of Harrison University’s anthropology department was never one of Daphne’s favorites, despite his popularity. But that doesn’t prevent Sam’s killer from believing Daphne has something that belonged to Sam—something the killer will stop at nothing to get.

Between grading papers and navigating her disastrous love life, Daphne embarks on her own investigation to find out what connects her to Sam’s murder. With the help of an alluring former-detective-turned-bookseller, she unravels a deadly cover-up on campus.

This well-crafted, voice-driven mystery introduces an unforgettable crime fiction heroine.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/magical-realism-mystery-more-2/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167878

smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/friday-videos-love-old-songs/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167786

It’s FRIDAY FRIDAY GOT TO GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!

But don’t worry, that is NOT this week’s Friday Video.

HOWEVER. This week we are talking SONGS.

Specifically, what is your earliest favorite song that you can remember?

My earliest favorite song that I heard on the radio when I was with my friends and beginning to define my own taste was very 80s: “Into the Groove” by Madonna.

Watch on YouTube

I was obsessed with this stupid movie, and boy, is it dumb and mostly a way for Madonna to pose and look terminally cool. I remember dancing my arms and legs off in the front yard of the church where we were holding a car wash fundraiser. I was probably 11.

But my earliest favorite song?

“Don’t It Make my Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle

Watch on YouTube

This song came out when I was about 3 or so, but it is the earliest song I remember LOVING. Full body adoration, similar to my incredible dance moves to “Into the Groove.”

What about you? What was your first favorite song? Do you remember?

Happy weekend, everybody!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/friday-videos-love-old-songs/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167786

smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/a-readers-guide-to-the-omegaverse/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167742

Recently in the podcast Discord community, Jfhobbit was giving a thorough and very thoughtful explanation of Omegaverse and its variations, and I asked her to expand on those thoughts for anyone who has heard of but isn’t super well-versed in Omegaverse fiction, its tropes, and its history. Plus, she offers recommendations of some of her faves.

Jfhobbit is a long-time reader, writer, and English teacher. She reads in almost every romance genre under the sun, plus Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Historical Fiction. She lives in Germany with her spouse and two very spoiled cats, and spends her time reading, playing cozy video games, and walking around her area marveling at the layers of history in the architecture. She loves all sorts of romance, from sweet contemporaries to the knottiest monster books she can find. She got into Omegaverse stories via DeviantArt and soon after KU was introduced she dove headfirst into the cornucopia of different Omegaverse takes.

An educator by training, she often finds herself in the role of teaching people about the Omegaverse and other weird and wild romance trends that they may have only vaguely heard of.

What is Omegaverse?

“Omegaverse” is an umbrella term for any setting that includes characters who have a secondary sexual distinction that influences attraction, relationship roles, and fertility compatibility. The primary sexual distinction spectrum is still male/female and the secondary spectrum is most commonly spread across the three categories of Alpha, Beta, and Omega (AKA A/B/O).

Anyone who is an Alpha can sire children.

Anyone who is an Omega can bear children, so yes, this will be talking about male pregnancy, or mpreg for short.

Betas have the potential to do both but only as determined by their primary sexual distinction (male or female), and the roles they play (or whether or not they exist in the world) vary based on fics.

Where did it come from?

Short answer, fanfic.

Longer answer: The Supernatural fandom who turned to Real Person Fiction because they desired a way to ship the two main characters without crossing the incest line + an early 2000s TV show that Jensen Ackles was in that featured heats + bad wolf science* as popularized by werewolf/wolf shifter fiction + desire for a M/M pairing to be able to have children without a third party involved = Omegaverse, which then quickly got picked up by many, many other fandoms and jumped the fanfic barrier into (mostly indie) published novels by the early 2010s.

A | BN

Omegaverse stories have been a staple of AO3 and KU alike. Many people point to Bride by Ali Hazelwood as one of the first Omegaverse novels published by an established big name, but in my opinion it was actually just paranormal with knotting.

One of the best known Omegaverse authors is Kathryn Moon (Baby & the Late Night Howlers).

*Bad wolf science refers to the studies done on captive wolf populations between 1950-1980s that observed the behavior of unrelated wolves forced to exist in the same space over long periods of time, which first introduced the idea of Alpha, Beta, and Omega roles in a wolf pack. Behavioral studies done in the decades since on wild wolf populations have conclusively disproven this as being “the natural order of things.”

Terms:

Alpha

A | BN | K | AB

Alphas tend to be physically larger and stronger, and are often brash and aggressive, but also have very strong protective drives particularly when it comes to their mate(s). Alphas can always sire children, with female Alphas developing either an extended/engorged clitoris that functions as a cock or an Extendo-Cock that emerges from that general area when they are aroused or in a rut. Alphas often have a semi-mystical ability to use Alpha compulsion to enforce their will, usually through a mixture of pheromones. Other times, they can use the same pheromones or a “purr” to comfort or calm someone down (especially a mate).

Omega

Omegas can always bear children, and are typically smaller in stature and less aggressive. Omegas are usually cast as the nurturer, homemaker, and generally submissive. How far those roles go and how much characters have to adhere to them depends on the author. Male Omegas cannot impregnate anyone. They usually experience semi-regular heats, which often triggers an Alpha’s rut.

Beta

Betas occupy the vast middle ground between the comparatively rigid Alpha and Omega roles. Some Omegaverse stories cut them out entirely, while others put them in a societal role that essentially boils down to “the ones who make sure society doesn’t come crashing down while the Alphas and Omegas fall prey to their hormones.” Often worlds will make Alphas and Omegas more rare designations, while the bulk of the population are Betas. Betas tend to be either fully infertile, or a normal amount of fertile (as opposed to Alphas and Omegas who are almost always hyperfertile during the heat/rut).

Mates/Fated Mates

This concept is not unique to the Omegaverse, but it is very prevalent in most Omegaverse stories. With the hormones and pheromones present in the A/B/O system, “mating” is often portrayed as their scents melding or matching perfectly. Generally, a person will prefer the scent of their mate over any other, and be able to smell them better than any other person they encounter.

Scent glands

The main places from which the unique personal scents are produced. These are usually located at the base of the neck and sometimes also on the inside of wrists. These are also the source of the Alpha/Omega pheromones.

Claiming Bites

Part of a mating ritual, these are specifically very deep bites over one of the scent gland locations to meld their scents and mark their claim. They are permanent and lifelong, and will scar over to be visible to others. Alphas are most likely to be the one giving the bite, though many stories have mutual biting as a key feature. A mated polycule will sometimes have multiple bites spread out across the different scent glands.

Knotting

A key feature of an Alpha’s hyperfertility. The base of the penis swells just before orgasm, and locks them together with their partner to help ensure conception. Takes between 15-45 minutes to deflate. Only Alphas can knot someone, and Omegas typically have more flexible corresponding holes to accommodate the knot. Betas can almost always take it though, albeit less easily. Alphas can sometimes knot another Alpha if the author so desires.

Heats

Heats are based on the heats that wolves or some other mammal species experience, and refer to a period of 1-5 days where Omegas are insatiably horny, specifically for Alpha knots, and experience a feverish hypersensitivity that heightens the experience to the point of pain if their needs are not met. Often depicted as Omegas being out of their minds with need, or unable to consent to anything not agreed to ahead of time with their partner.

Omegas are either only fertile during heats or are hyperfertile during heats. The amount of time between heats is usually no shorter than three months, but can be up to a year or more. Sometimes heats are only triggered by the proximity of their mate. Other times, the intensity and satisfaction of fulfillment are just heightened with a mate as opposed to a random partner.

Ruts

A | BN | K | AB

The corresponding heightening of fertility, sensitivity, and stamina for Alphas, almost always triggered by the proximity of an Omega in heat, especially when they are mated. Alphas will be even more aggressively protective of their partner during this time, and will usually take on a highly focused caretaking role by making sure that all partners involved eat and drink during their rare refractory periods. Occasionally, Alphas will go into rut on a semi-regular basis similar to the Omega heat cycle. Sometimes Alphas can only knot a partner during a rut, but more often they can control the knot in any sexual encounter.

Nesting

A behavior associated with Omegas, particularly those in heat or approaching a heat. They will start to build an area of soft blankets, pillows, and other comforting items that serve as their home base during a heat since their skin is often too hot and/or sensitive during a heat to handle wearing clothes.

Mpreg

Short for male pregnancy, a key feature of M/M Omegaverse stories. How that works anatomically is a hotly debated topic, and often involves anal births through a cloaca-esque mechanism. Plenty of authors have handwaved a birth canal into the perineum to avoid that. Otherwise, mpreg typically progresses the same way all pregnancies do, unless you have a shifter story where the gestation times are adjusted for verisimilitude…because that’s clearly a primary concern here.

Why did it skyrocket in popularity?

This one is harder to answer, but my personal theory is that people tend to like things that mirror the strictures of the roles they’re forced into but with some extra bonuses. These roles both define the society of the world and allow for ways to explore different dynamics between partners. Theoretically, the protective instincts of the Alphas are a guarantee against intimate partner violence, which can also be played up as a story point.

Socially, Alphas are typically the ones in positions of power, and their Alpha status is used as a reason why they’re better than Betas or Omegas. A/B/O designation, more than gender, is used to determine how characters are viewed by society and the jobs and social roles they are considered for, opening the door for people to write people in roles that might seem out of the ordinary to the reader.

Men who are omegas are put automatically into caretaker roles, women who are alphas gravitate towards high-powered business or military positions, betas try to find the middle ground somewhere between those two. And similarly, they are looked down upon for trying to find jobs outside of the norm. A male alpha working at a daycare would be notable. A male omega scientist or politician is sneered at. It shines a light on how gender still plays such an outsized role in how we perceive how qualified a person is for a career.

Perhaps most importantly, Omegaverse presents a new way to have sex and often leans into so-called “primal” instincts, where the characters shake off the inhibitions of modern life to bow to their biology.

FAQs:

Do all Omegaverse stories feature all these elements?

Not at all. These are the broadest of broad generalizations. Basically every author will have their own take on how this system works, and lore for how it came into existence. Often, you will find a brief note about how their particular system works as a foreword in books, or in the Notes of fics. Other times, they will just explain it all through world building. A lot of times the elements authors use in their particular flavor of Omegaverse are tailored to the other tropes or kinks that exist in the story.

Is Omegaverse always shifters?

No, though many are. But it has expanded far beyond that and can be found in everything from fantasy/sci-fi to modern AU to post-apocalyptic settings.

Is Omegaverse always focused on the procreation goals of the system?

Not always. The concept of birth control exists in many Omegaverse stories. There are also medications known as heat blockers or heat suppressants that function as a way to minimize disruptions.

Is there Omegaverse Lite?

Yes. Omegaverse as a concept has been used by so many different authors across fandoms and genres that the variations are bordering on infinite. Omegaverse Lite is my term for stories (often contemporary AUs) that use the Alpha and Omega role to indicate biology and sexual preferences, but otherwise don’t use many of the more “extreme” things like heats, fated mates, claiming bites, and extreme social roles.

Wasn’t there a lawsuit about this in the news a while back?

Yes, and it was more than a little ridiculous. You can learn more about it in this excellent video by Lindsey Ellis.

Watch on YouTube

How common are female Alphas?

A | BN | K | AB

Sadly, they’re not very common. Some stories feature them as background characters, with their existence mentioned, but the stories that feature female alphas are thin on the ground. There are more now, particularly with F/F pairings written by sapphic authors. Heterosexual female alpha stories are probably the least common of the whole subgenre.

Doesn’t this system create some serious consent issues?

It absolutely can, especially when writing heats where the Omega is very needy. How icky that feels to you depends deeply on both your personal preferences and on how the author handles it. Many authors will include a conversation before the heat takes over with boundaries being set ahead of time. Others feature Alphas who are just so protective that the idea of hurting their partner/mate is anathema to them. And some stories on the darker side will lean into the dubious consent or blow straight past the dubious and go right to noncon.

Sources/Further information:

Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs by L. David Mech (PDF)
Fated Mates podcast: “Omegaversity”

And, one of my favorite posts:

https://www.tumblr.com/ratherembarrassing/637273975565795328/explain-please-1-battle-angel-alita-manga-gains

Do you have any recommendations?

Yes! A few of my favorities are already featured above, but here is a handy list.

Authors I’ve read with Omegaverse concepts I like:

A | BN | K | AB

Nora Phoenix – Alpha’s Sacrifice (Irresistible Omegas #1, my top favorite Omegaverse series bar none)

Susi Hawke:

The Pumpkin Spiced Omega (The Hollydale Omega #1, Omegaverse lite)
The Reluctant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #1, shifter romance)
Grabbed (Team A.L.P.H.A. #1, collab with Crista Crown)

A | BN | K | AB

L.L. Raand – The Midnight Hunt (Midnight Hunters #1, not strictly Omegaverse but it has a rare female alpha)

A	A \| BN \| K \| AB

Crista Crown:

Pride and Pregnancy (mpreg Pride and Prejudice remix)
Freedom for His Omega (The Outcast Chronicles #1, collab with Harper B. Cole)

Vera Valentine – Planet Oster: Fertility Fusion

Lily X (sapphic Omegaverse author):

Let Me Be Yours (Seventh Star #1)
Ice Queen Alpha

A | BN | K | AB

Lexa Luthor (sapphic Omegaverse author) – The Iron Edge

Amy Bellows – A Pebble for Lewis (Alaskan Pebble Gifters #1)

Lorelei M. Hart – The Grumpy Grizzly’s Omega (Mail-Order Mates #1)

Anna Wineheart – Weight of Everything (Meadow Street Brothers #1)

Thank you JFHobbit!

What about you? Are you an Omegaverse fan? What are your favorite recs?

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/03/a-readers-guide-to-the-omegaverse/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=167742

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Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-march-20-2026/

https://reactormag.com/?p=843401

News What to Watch

What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Real Project Hail Mary Was That Time We Threw Gophers Into a Volcano

Plus: Space operas and why we’re not joking about that gopher thing

By Molly Templeton

Published on March 20, 2026

Screenshot: Amazon MGM Studios

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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-march-20-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-march-20-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=843401">https://reactormag.com/?p=843401</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: The Real <i>Project Hail Mary</i> Was That Time We Threw Gophers Into a Volcano</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Plus: Space operas and why we’re not joking about that gopher thing</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 March 20, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Amazon MGM Studios</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-march-20-2026/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 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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 fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="740" height="485" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ryan-gosling-project-hail-mary-crop-740x485.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ryan-gosling-project-hail-mary-crop-740x485.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ryan-gosling-project-hail-mary-crop-1100x721.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ryan-gosling-project-hail-mary-crop-768x503.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ryan-gosling-project-hail-mary-crop.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Amazon MGM Studios</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p>This accidentally became a space-themed roundup, and the whole time I wrote it, I was thinking, “Yay, going to space! But not like <em>that</em>.” Not in the “abandoning our planet and everything on it in order to live in bubbles for the wealthy on otherwise uninhabitable planets” way that certain wealthy parties seem to find so interesting. <em>Gah</em>. More in the “telling stories about how we’re going to have to do some pretty drastic shit to save this planet, maybe?” way. Or the metaphorical and dizzying way. Or the really cool starfighter action sequences way.</p> <p>Here’s a bonus piece for the weekend: “<a href="https://lithub.com/elon-musk-just-doesnt-understand-the-sci-fi-visions-of-iain-m-banks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elon Musk Just Doesn’t Understand the Sci-Fi Visions of Iain M. Banks</a>,” by Reactor contributor (and one of my oldest friends) Tobias Carroll.</p> <p>If you are somewhere with blooming cherry blossom trees, I hope you get to go admire them this weekend. Spring is sproinging, and literally every star magnolia I walk past gives me a little bit of hope. Get some fresh air, <a href="https://5calls.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">call your reps</a>, and then maybe go to space? The good way, though.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em><strong>Project Hail Mary:</strong> </em><strong>Is Everybody Going to Space this Weekend?</strong></h3> <p><site-embed id="10902"/></p> <p>I am slightly reluctant to say <a href="https://reactormag.com/movie-review-nonspoiler-project-hail-mary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anything about <em>Project Hail Mary</em></a>, because I wish I had known less about <em>Project Hail Mary</em> before I saw <em>Project Hail Mary</em>. This is my own fault; I didn’t think I was going to see it, so I made someone tell me a lot of what happens. But! Here’s the thing: even if you know what happens (to some degree or another), there is still a delightful alien by whom you may be extremely charmed. This is not a spoiler. This is the point. Even if you think “Ryland Grace” is a ridiculous name; even if you did not love <em>The Martian</em> (sorry, I did not love <em>The Martian</em>); even if you have stayed away from a lot of the movies in which The Men Seem Sad in Space, you may find something to adore in <em>PHM</em>. I have some nits to pick—composers, please let me have a feeling you’re not screaming at me about—but I still found it a very enjoyable two and a half hours in space. (Side note for sensitive sci-fi fans: There was a point in this movie where I was like, <em>no thank you, this is too upsetting</em>. Just, you know, FYI.)</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Gopher (Not Groundhog) Day at the Volcano</strong></h3> <p>There’s science fiction, and then there’s science, and when I say science, in this particular moment, I mean gophers. The most delightful thing I read this week was going to be this <em>Smithsonian</em> piece about the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/typos-have-plagued-us-for-centuries-just-ask-the-publishers-who-printed-the-seventh-commandment-as-thou-shalt-commit-adultery-in-1631-180988353" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">long history of typos</a> (which is still worth a read). But then I discovered the gophers. The gophers, to be a bit more specific, <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a70780384/gophers-mount-st-helens-eruption/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that were let loose on Mount St. Helens three years after its 1980 eruption</a>. As <em>Popular Mechanics</em> writer WHOMST writers, “Faced with a devastation that would take the local environment a substantial amount of time to recover from, scientists were open to unorthodox ideas that might speed the process along. So they did what any reasonable person would decide to do and tossed a couple of gophers at the issue. Seriously.”</p> <p>Said scientists were hoping said gophers would kick up good bacteria and fungi while they were digging. And they did! The very good gophers did their job for a <em>single day</em>, and 43 years later, the benefits are still apparent. The next time you see a gopher hole, I hope you think of these little guys.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Actually, There’s Really Something About This Weekend and Space</strong></h3> <p><site-embed id="10903"/></p> <p>I’d like to wish a very happy 17th birthday to the series finale of <em>Battlestar Galactica</em>, which aired on March 20th, 2009, and which—okay, yeah, the series finale was … polarizing. I cried, I groaned, I stayed up too late watching it a second time to see if I liked it better when <a href="https://reactormag.com/8-confusing-stories-you-dont-have-to-understand-to-enjoy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I knew what was happening</a>. (Jury’s still out.) For years I have been trying to find a video I saw once in which someone had edited Starbuck’s disappearing act so that it just keeps happening, and Lee just keeps looking confused. I cannot explain how funny this video was. But I needed something pure after that finale. </p> <p>Polarizing finale aside, I would sure like it if we had a new space opera on the small screen. We had <em>The Expanse</em>, <a href="https://reactormag.com/to-finish-reading-the-expanse-books-or-watching-the-expanse-tv-series-first-and-related-adaptation-dilemmas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">which was excellent</a>. We had <em>Killjoys</em>. We have <em>Foundation</em>, but I only made it through a season. And yes, I watch all the new Star Treks, but I want something <em>new</em>. I want a minimum of 10-episode seasons and I want compelling character development and sweet space action. I want an adaptation of something that hasn’t been adapted before. Is that so much to ask? (Maybe don’t answer that.)</p> <p><em>BSG</em> doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, though I <em>know</em> some of you have neglected DVD box sets (if not, you can buy episodes on various streamers). As an alternative, if you would like another somewhat random anniversary to celebrate, <em>Sliders</em> premiered on March 22, 1995. Was anything ever more ’90s? (It’s presently on Prime.)</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><em>Audition</em>: Because, You Know What, We’re Sticking With the Space Theme (Except for the Gophers)</strong></h3> <p>There were two books published last year called <em>Audition</em>; one was a novel by Katie Kitamura that was shortlisted for the Booker, and the other was a small press novel by New Zealand author Pip Adam about giants in a spaceship that’s powered by their talking.</p> <p>I mean… it’s not <em>about</em> that, but that’s part of what happens. Three people are on a spaceship, and they’re unusually large, and if they stop talking, they get bigger. They try not talking, but then they start talking again. Some of what they talk about will sound familiar to the viewers of assorted romcom films. But this book is doing several things at once, and one of those things is talking overtly and un-shyly about prison and injustice. I do not really know how to explain to you exactly how this works, because I’m still trying to figure it out. But <em>Audition</em> seems likely to fly under the radar of many an SFF fan, which is why I’m telling you about it here. I’ll leave you with a quote from Adam, who said to <a href="https://electricliterature.com/pip-adam-locks-giants-in-a-spaceship-to-talk-about-incarceration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Electric Literature</a>, “I’d always thought that writing utopias was a soft thing to do, but in writing it, I realized it’s actually quite an activist thing to do.”[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-march-20-2026/">What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Real <i>Project Hail Mary</i> Was That Time We Threw Gophers Into a Volcano</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-march-20-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-march-20-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=843401">https://reactormag.com/?p=843401</a></p>

reactor_feed

Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/four-new-superhero-rpgs-to-watch-out-for/

https://reactormag.com/?p=843222

Lists role playing games

Four New Superhero RPGs to Watch Out For

If you love dice-rolling and superheroes, you’re in for a treat…

By James Davis Nicoll

Published on March 20, 2026

Photo by Timothy Dykes [via Unsplash]

Close-up photo of gaming dice, with a D20 at the center

Photo by Timothy Dykes [via Unsplash]

Superhero fiction celebrates that most fundamental political principle, that there is a no social issue that cannot be satisfactorily resolved given only a sufficiently forceful punch in the face. Organized crime, greedy landlords, the Oxford comma: none can withstand a person in tights with a good right hook.

Good news for the intersection of people who enjoy superhero stories and tabletop roleplaying: 2026 is shaping up to have a number of noteworthy Superhero TTRPGs (AKA SHRPGs¹). Four in particular have caught my eye.

The DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary Edition — Greg Gorden, Sam Lewis, Brian Reid, Ray Winninger, Thomas Cook, and Bryan Nystul, et al.

DC Heroes was a licensed tie-in RPG whose first edition was contemporary with DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Heroes had three editions—a slender, overstuffed box set, a larger box set, and a slender trade paperback—all of which shared the same flexible game mechanics. There were parallels between the Mayfair Exponential Game System and the even more venerable Champions system, in particular point-based character design and embracing logarithmic scales². However, DC Heroes’ chart-based combat system is much, much faster than Champions’, in addition to which publisher Mayfair Games provided a large assortment of setting-specific support materials.

The DC Heroes line was cancelled in 1994. Since then, the DC Comics licence has been passed from company to company. Blood of Heroes reused the basic game mechanics without the setting details but was not, as I recall, well received. Generally speaking, nothing is deader than tie-in products without a license… so I was utterly gobsmacked to see the Kickstarter for the DC Heroes 40th Anniversary Edition.

For those with the cash to splash around, this offers the chance to acquire the whole line, from the 1985 1^st edition to 1993’s 3^rd, plus all of the support material. Of course, the older works are tied to versions of the DC Universe that haven’t existed in decades… but if there’s one thing DC fans should be used to, it’s variable continuities.

Mutants & Masterminds 4th Edition — Steven Kenson³

cover of Mutants & Masterminds 4th edition

Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds (M&M) offers most of the crunch of Champions⁴ while avoiding much of the math, as well as the nigh-theological discussions of how to apply the rules as written to characters as envisioned. Like pretty much every SHRPG on the market, M&M’s conflict resolution system is considerably less time consuming than Champions’. In addition, Kenson provides a game mechanic rule that discourages wildly unbalanced characters: you can be hard to hit or hard to damage, but not both.

Technically speaking, Mutants & Masterminds’ D20-based game mechanics make the game a distant cousin of Dungeons and Dragons. However, in fitting d20 to the demands of superheroes, Kenson has modified the mechanics sufficiently that I think the connection isn’t obvious.

Kenson has been tweaking the mechanics over the decades⁵. 1E was 2002, 2nd 2006, and 3rd 2011. I am very curious what effect 15 years of pondering will have on 4th edition.

Invincible: Superhero Roleplaying — Adam Bradford & Tomas Härenstam

cover of Invincible: Superhero Roleplaying

As the title suggests, Invincible: Superhero Roleplaying is Free League’s tie-in RPG for Robert Kirkman’s gritty, ultraviolent superhero comic book and television series. The core mechanics are founded in Free League’s Year Zero Engine (YZE), as adapted to the needs of superhero gaming.

To be honest, I have not read the comics nor seen the TV show. This would seem to be an unlikely product to catch my eye. However, what I am is a Free League fan. I am very curious how YZE works as a SHRPG core engine. My experience with Free League has been positive enough that I own most if not all of their core RPG rulebooks. Even if the narrative universe isn’t my thing, the rules look adaptable to a wide array of campaigns.

In fact, Invincible would almost certainly be the next set of SHRPG rules I inflict on my long-suffering players, were it not for the fact 2026 is also the year of…

Outgunned Superheroes — Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano and Simone Formicola with art by Daniela Giubellini

2023’s Outgunned (OG) is Italian game company Two Little Mice’s action movie⁶ RPG. While Outgunned Superheroes (OGS) can be used as an expansion for OG, OGS is designed to function as a stand-alone game. OGS differs from DC Heroes and M&M in that its inspiration isn’t comic books and graphic novels, but very specifically television and movies, with an emphasis on protagonists who are, well, the good guys⁷.

As with OG, OGS characters are created by selecting a role and a trope: basically, the character’s job and how they approach it. The game uses Outgunned’s Director’s Cut game engine, a d6-based Yahtzee-like dice pool system, whose embellishments are very straightforward despite the inherent demands of the superhero genre (which can in theory feature any other genre).

About once a year, a new game will eat my brain. In 2023, that was Dragonbane. In 2024, it was Fabula Ultima. In late 2025, it was Outgunned, which offered a beautiful, well-bound product, and an impressive selection of supporting material, not to mention creators whose livestreams are a delight of cheerful enthusiasm. I’ve had a lot of fun running OG. I expect OGS will be even more fun.

No doubt there are other SHRPGs with new editions scheduled to hit the stands this year. What are in your opinion the most notable examples not mentioned above?[end-mark]

The TT is silent here because I don’t care to type all of SHTTRPG over and over. Also, as someone who got into RPGs before video games took over, I bitterly resent having to specify that I mean what is to me real roleplaying games, rather than their narratively limited cousins over in Bits-and-Bytes Land. ︎
I credit Champions for having hit on excellent solutions to the problem of mapping superheroes onto game systems. For example, logarithmic scales let you fit Jimmy Olsen and Superman into the same coordinate system without requiring absurdly large numbers for Superman. ︎
Kenson also designed the more streamlined Icons SHRPG. ︎
Champions casts a long, long shadow over superhero RPGs. You can read my full review of the 4th Edition here. ︎
How has it been twenty-four years since M&M was released? 2002 wasn’t that long ago, surely. I would like to talk to the bloke managing the linear passage of time. ︎
Originally, I’d written “cinematic” instead of “action movie,” but “Italian” plus “cinematic” might lead people to think you could emulate 8 ½, The Working Class Goes to Heaven, or Perfect Strangers using Outgunned. Maybe you can, but that’s not the designer’s goal. ︎
If you want to play villainous villains, those are covered in the Action Flicks 3 OG expansion. Shocker: bad guys have short lives, which are facilitated by supervillain-specific rules. ︎

The post Four New Superhero RPGs to Watch Out For appeared first on Reactor.

https://reactormag.com/four-new-superhero-rpgs-to-watch-out-for/

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sabotabby

I mean I have to recommend Wizards & Spaceships' "Amazing Stories 100th Anniversary ft. Steve Davidson, Kermit Woodall and Lloyd Penney." It's in my contract. :) If you're into classic SF, you'll dig this one a lot.

conuly

And every one of those recs is better than the books. Well, I've shared my opinion on the books, the problems and characterization are insufficiently balanced for dual viewpoints.

But anyway, that's not what I'm thinking about. What I'm thinking about is Fabian and his generically shitty parents who clearly don't care about him very much. ( Read more... )

conuly

For

minoanmiss

swan_tower

Forgery: where art and crime intersect.

Not all kinds of forgery are art, of course. When my fourteen-year-old self forged my father's signature on my practice records to assure my band director that yes, of course I practiced at home as much as I was supposed to, there was no art involved there. (Rather the opposite, in fact.) I suppose you could argue that mimicking someone's handwriting is calligraphic forgery, but that feels to me like it's stretching the point. Counterfeiting we've already talked about separately, in the first year of this Patreon; the manufacture of fake IDs or other legal documents, or of something like knockoff Gucci purses, are also not the focus of this essay.

No, here we're concerned with the creation of fake objects of art, whether works attributed to a specific artist, or anonymous artifacts of a particular place and time. And this is a topic I find fascinatingly squirrelly.

The techniques necessary to pull this off have gotten increasingly sophisticated over time. Back in the day -- or even now, if you're selling to a credulous enough fool -- anything that passed muster to a casual glance might suffice. Get yourself a fresh sheet of parchment, papyrus, or paper, write or draw on it, apply some physical and chemical stresses to make it look old, and you're good to go. Fire a pot or clay figure, or carve something out of stone, then batter it around for that authentic chipped look. Maybe even stamp out an ancient coin or two, if it's a piece rare enough to be worth substantially more than its metal content.

These days, it's not nearly that simple. We have carbon dating, spectroscopic analysis, and other high-tech methods of determining whether some detail is out of place. Which doesn't mean forgeries have gone away; it just means that talented forger needs to know a lot more than just what their proposed artifact should look like. There's a thriving market in blank fragments of ancient papyrus -- so the substrate will pass an age check even if what's written on it is new -- and who knows what texts have been scraped off bits of parchment, what paintings have been covered or rubbed away, so something more lucrative can be put in their place. The best forgers need to know the chemistry of inks and paints, how to make the right tools, the techniques used back then, so that only the closest analysis by the most skilled experts can spot the fake.

Nor is it only about the object itself. These days, we also pay a lot of attention to provenance: the history of an object's ownership, which can help to prove that it wasn't made last week. (A very similar term, provenience, is used in archaeology to refer to where the object was found: relevant to sifting out illegally looted objects from those excavated under legitimate conditions.) Of course, if you want to pass off a fake as the real thing, you also have to forge a provenance -- hence the massive upswing after World War II in items that had been the property of an "anonymous Swiss collector," a fig leaf to cover Nazi theft and forgeries alike.

That's when you're just trying to make a Twelfth Dynasty Egyptian ushabti or a bronze ornament from Sanxingdui: a plausible example of a type, but nothing more specific than that. When you're trying to pass something off as a previously-unidentified Picasso or Rodin, then you can't hide behind the expected variations between different nameless historical artisans; you have to mimic not just the materials but the ideas, composition, and execution of that specific person -- well enough that it seems like it could have genuinely been their work.

And at that point, you very nearly have a Zen koan on your hands: if someone forges a Rembrandt so well it can't be told from the real thing, is there a meaningful difference? Is the art itself what's worthwhile, or the fact that it was made by a specific person?

The answer to that really depends on context. If I'm a layperson who likes Caravaggio's style of painting, and somebody else comes along who paints just like Caravaggio (without claiming those are his works), I might be delighted to acquire things of the exact type I like for a fraction of the cost. Yay for pretty art! By contrast, if a forger lies to me and I pay Caravaggio prices for something that doesn't suffer from the scarcity of the artist being dead for centuries, I'm probably going to be pissed. And if I'm an art historian trying to learn more about Caravaggio, that forger has actively poisoned the well of scholarship by introducing false data.

Some of our "forgery" problems now actual stem from situations more like that first example. You can buy a million and one plastic replicas of Michaelangelo's David in Florence, and nobody thinks of those as forgeries . . . but rewind a few centuries or millennia, and those replicas had to be hand-crafted out of marble or bronze or whatever suited the sculpture being copied. That wasn't forgery; it was just how art got replicated, and the best copyists were deploying a useful, legitimate skill. The same was true of paintings. Now, however, the interests of both scholarship and the aura of owning a verified-as-legitimate original mean we have to sort that historical wheat from the chaff.

Or take the workshop context in which many Renaissance artists operated. Apprentices were expected to mimic their master's style, and if the result was good enough, the master was free to sell those works under his (or, more rarely, her) own name. Again, nowadays we strive to separate those out from the authentic works of the master -- but that reflects a modern attitude where the individual genius is the most important thing, above whether it reflects their style or was made under their auspices.

Some forgeries are extremely famous. Han Van Meegeren had to out himself as a forger when he was accused of collaboration for selling a Vermeer to the Nazi Hermann Göring; to prove that he hadn't hocked a piece of cultural patrimony, he painted another one while court-appointed witnesses stood and watched. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has spent quite a bit of money trying to prove the disputed authenticity of a kouros (a specific style of statue) they bought for seven million dollars, but the best they've been able to achieve is a label identifying it as "Greek, about 530 B.C., or modern forgery." The Boston Museum of Fine Arts similarly clings to the hope that their probably-fake "Minoan snake goddess" statuette might be the real thing.

One thing these forgeries have in common: the demand for the genuine article is high enough to make fakes worth the effort of their creation. Minoan snake goddesses got manufactured because Sir Arthur Evans' excavations at Knossos attracted a ton of publicity, and he was not particularly discriminating in buying the "discoveries" people brought to him. Few criminals bothered forging Indigenous art until collectors turned their attention toward those parts of the world, thereby creating demand. This can in turn come full circle: van Meegeren's post-trial fame made his paintings rise high enough in value that his own son wound up forging more of them.

Nobody knows for sure how many fakes are on display in museums, galleries, and private collections. Some estimates run very high, due to the way today's plutocrats treat the acquisition of art as an investment strategy and display of status, while others say that improved methods of detection and the emphasis on authenticating an object before somebody forks over millions for it have greatly reduced the incidence. We'll never really know for sure, because of the loss of face inherent in admitting you paid too much for a forgery -- including the cratering in value for other works that might become suspect by association. But if you want to tell a story of trickery and sordid doings, the art world is rife with possibility!

Patreon banner saying "This post is brought to you by my imaginative backers at Patreon. To join their ranks, click here!"

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/aYnVC2)

smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/710-writing-characters-with-chronic-illness-plus-restaurant-recs-with-riss-m-neilson/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=podcast&p=167834

A | BN | K | AB

Riss M. Neilson joins me today to talk about her new romance, The Bridge Back to You. This is a second chance love story between two exes who unexpectedly inherit shares of the same restaurant – the restaurant that he runs, and that she kind of ran away from.

There is so much to discuss in this book: we talk about characters with chronic illnesses like endometriosis, or mental illnesses like OCD. We talk about the astrology of her characters and what insights she can gain from their charts, and then, she gives us a list of restaurants to try if we’re ever in Providence, Rhode Island. And Riss even expands my theory about which foods are the universal expression of human love.

Listen to the podcast →

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

You can find Riss M. Neilson on her website, RissMNeilson.com, Substack, and on Instagram.

We also mentioned:

“I was Prince’s Private Chef” – The Iconic Prince
Episode 690. Disability in Romance with Lux Raven
Ivy Wolk Reacts to Viral Selena Pictures – Reddit

And if you’re in Providence, Rhode Island, Riss recommends:

Carolina’s Family Restaurant – Dominican cuisine
Cap’t Loui – Seafood
Ebisu – Ramen
Ten Prime Steak and Sushi – don’t miss the bread pudding
Baja’s Restaurant – fresh Mexican buffet

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Podcast →

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

Podcast Sponsor

Support for this episode comes from Savage Bonds, book two in the Shadowmist Pack series by Evie Mitchell!

If you are looking for a body-positive slow burn romance with very spicy scenes, knotting, an emotional support glory hole, and shared psychic orgasms, listen up.

A gritty, paranormal shifter romance, Savage Bonds follows Lithia, the first female Beta of the Shadowmist Pack, after she is betrayed and imprisoned in a silver-lined torture facility.

Her only lifeline is a voice from the next cell: Kier, a nomad who has been held in isolation for three years. His sanity has been eroded after years of psychic assault, but when he connects with Lithia though a small hole in their shared prison wall, he finds an ally, and a reason to endure.

Together, they must navigate a brutal escape through a burning wilderness to the safety of her pack. And as the pack prepares to dismantle the organisation that imprisoned them, Lithia and Kier must decide if they are brave enough to claim a future built on more than just shared trauma.

While Savage Bonds is the second in the Shadowmist Pack series, it can be read as a near-standalone. One reviewer on Goodreads says, “I enjoyed this book even more than the first in the series! Lithia is my favorite. She’s such a baddie and I love her for it! The world building in this one is awesome too. If you like werewolf romance, this series is for you.”

And I think you need to know about the dedication from author E.V. Mitchell:

To the readers who saw a hole in a prison wall and immediately thought, “…yeah, I’d fist that.” You brave, horny disasters. You trauma-bonded, violence-inclined little gremlins. This book is for you.

Savage Bonds and the Shadowmist Pack series by E.V. Mitchell are available now in Kindle Unlimited, and in print on the author’s website, or in your local library – woohoo! Audiobooks are coming soon.

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/710-writing-characters-with-chronic-illness-plus-restaurant-recs-with-riss-m-neilson/

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http://alpennia.com/blog/anne-bonnys-narrative

Thursday, March 19, 2026 - 16:00

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project

If Mary Read's narrative looks like it was cobbled together from various pop culture sources, Anne Bonny's starts off like the plot of a farce. I mean...what's up with the stolen spoons and the "musical beds" hijinks?

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LHMP #547f Johnson 1724 A General History of the Pyrates Part 6

About LHMP

Full citation:

Johnson, Charles (pseudonym). 1724. A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the Island of Providence, to the present time. With the remarkable actions and adventures of the two female pyrates Mary Read and Anne Bonny ... To which is added. A short abstract of the statute and civil law, in relation to pyracy. London: T. Warner.

Publication summary:

A presentation and analysis of material related to Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the General History of the Pyrates, with additional material from journalistic and legal records.

Part 6: The General History—Anne Bonny

The LIFE of ANNE BONNY.

AS we have been more particular in the Lives of these two Women, than those of other Pyrates, it is incumbent on us, as a faithful Historian, to begin with their Birth. Anne Bonny was born at a Town near Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, her Father an Attorney at Law, but Anne was not one of his legitimate Issue, which seems to cross an old Proverb, which says, that Bastards have the best Luck. Her Father was a Married Man, and his Wife having been brought to Bed, contracted an Illness in her lying in, and in order to recover her Health, she was advised to remove for Change of Air; the Place she chose, was a few Miles distance from her Dwelling, where her Husband’s Mother liv’d. Here she sojourn’d some Time, her Husband staying at Home, to follow his Affairs. The Servant-Maid, whom she left to look after the House, and attend the Family, being a handsome young Woman, was courted by a young Man of the same Town, who was a Tanner; this Tanner used to take his Opportunities, when the Family was out of the Way, of coming to pursue his Courtship; and being with the Maid one Day as she was employ’d in the Houshold Business, not having the Fear of God before his Eyes, he takes his Opportunity, when her Back was turned, of whipping three Silver Spoons into his Pocket. The Maid soon miss’d the Spoons, and knowing that no Body had been in the Room, but herself and the young Man, since she saw them last, she charged him with taking them; he very stifly denied it, upon which she grew outragious, and threatned to go to a Constable, in order to carry him before a Justice of Peace: These Menaces frighten’d him out of his Wits, well knowing he could not stand Search; wherefore he endeavoured to pacify her, by desiring her to examine the Drawers and other Places, and perhaps she might find them; in this Time he slips into another Room, where the Maid usually lay, and puts the Spoons betwixt the Sheets, and then makes his Escape by a back Door, concluding she must find them, when she went to Bed, and so next Day he might pretend he did it only to frighten her, and the Thing might be laugh’d off for a Jest.

As soon as she miss’d him, she gave over her Search, concluding he had carried them off, and went directly to the Constable, in order to have him apprehended: The young Man was informed, that a Constable had been in Search of him, but he regarded it but little, not doubting but all would be well next Day. Three or four Days passed, and still he was told, the Constable was upon the Hunt for him, this made him lye concealed, he could not comprehend the Meaning of it, he imagined no less, than that the Maid had a Mind to convert the Spoons to her own Use, and put the Robbery upon him.

It happened, at this Time, that the Mistress being perfectly recovered of her late Indisposition, was return’d Home, in Company with her Mother-in-Law; the first News she heard, was of the Loss of the Spoons, with the Manner how; the Maid telling her, at the same Time, that the young Man was run away. The young Fellow had Intelligence of the Mistress’s Arrival, and considering with himself, that he could never appear again in his Business, unless this Matter was got over, and she being a good natured Woman, he took a Resolution of going directly to her, and of telling her the whole Story, only with this Difference, that he did it for a Jest.

The Mistress could scarce believe it, however, she went directly to the Maid’s Room, and turning down the Bed Cloaths, there, to her great Surprize, found the three Spoons; upon this she desired the young Man to go Home and mind his Business, for he should have no Trouble about it.

The Mistress could not imagine the Meaning of this, she never had found the Maid guilty of any pilfering, and therefore it could not enter her Head, that she designed to steal the Spoons her self; upon the whole, she concluded the Maid had not been in her Bed, from the Time the Spoons were miss’d, she grew immediately jealous upon it, and suspected, that the Maid supplied her Place with her Husband, during her Absence, and this was the Reason why the Spoons were no sooner found.

She call’d to Mind several Actions of Kindness, her Husband had shewed the Maid, Things that pass’d unheeded by, when they happened, but now she had got that Tormentor, Jealousy, in her Head, amounted to Proofs of their Intimacy; another Circumstance which strengthen’d the whole, was, that tho’ her Husband knew she was to come Home that Day, and had had no Communication with her in four Months, which was before her last Lying in, yet he took an Opportunity of going out of Town that Morning, upon some slight Pretence: —All these Things put together, confirm’d her in her Jealousy.

As Women seldom forgive Injuries of this Kind, she thought of discharging her Revenge upon the Maid: In order to this, she leaves the Spoons where she found them, and orders the Maid to put clean Sheets upon the Bed, telling her, she intended to lye there herself that Night, because her Mother in Law was to lye in her Bed, and that she (the Maid) must lye in another Part of the House; the Maid in making the Bed, was surprized with the Sight of the Spoons, but there were very good Reasons, why it was not proper for her to tell where she found them, therefore she takes them up, puts them in her Trunk, intending to leave them in some Place, where they might be found by chance.

The Mistress, that every Thing might look to be done without Design, lies that Night in the Maid’s Bed, little dreaming of what an Adventure it would produce: After she had been a Bed some Time, thinking on what had pass’d, for Jealousy kept her awake, she heard some Body enter the Room; at first she apprehended it to be Thieves, and was so fright’ned, she had not Courage enough to call out; but when she heard these Words, Mary, are you awake? She knew it to be her Husband’s Voice; then her Fright was over, yet she made no Answer, least he should find her out, if she spoke, therefore she resolved to counterfeit Sleep, and take what followed.

The Husband came to Bed, and that Night play’d the vigorous Lover; but one Thing spoil’d the Diversion on the Wife’s Side, which was, the Reflection that it was not design’d for her; however she was very passive, and bore it like a Christian. Early before Day, she stole out of Bed, leaving him asleep, and went to her Mother in Law, telling her what had passed, not forgetting how he had used her, as taking her for the Maid; the Husband also stole out, not thinking it convenient to be catch’d in that Room; in the mean Time, the Revenge of the Mistress was strongly against the Maid, and without considering, that to her she ow’d the Diversion of the Night before, and that one good Turn should deserve another; she sent for a Constable, and charged her with stealing the Spoons: The Maid’s Trunk was broke open, and the Spoons found, upon which she was carried before a Justice of Peace, and by him committed to Goal.

The Husband loiter’d about till twelve a Clock at Noon, then comes Home, pretended he was just come to Town; as soon as he heard what had passed, in Relation to the Maid, he fell into a great Passion with his Wife; this set the Thing into a greater Flame, the Mother takes the Wife’s Part against her own Son, insomuch that the Quarrel increasing, the Mother and Wife took Horse immediately, and went back to the Mother’s House, and the Husband and Wife never bedded together after.

The Maid lay a long Time in the Prison, it being near half a Year to the Assizes; but before it happened, it was discovered she was with Child; when she was arraign’d at the Bar, she was discharged for want of Evidence; the Wife’s Conscience touch’d her, and as she did not believe the Maid Guilty of any Theft, except that of Love, she did not appear against her; soon after her Acquittal, she was delivered of a Girl.

But what alarm’d the Husband most, was, that it was discovered the Wife was with Child also, he taking it for granted, he had had no Intimacy with her, since her last lying in, grew jealous of her, in his Turn, and made this a Handle to justify himself, for his Usage of her, pretending now he had suspected her long, but that here was Proof; she was delivered of Twins, a Boy and a Girl.

The Mother fell ill, sent to her Son to reconcile him to his Wife, but he would not hearken to it; therefore she made a Will, leaving all she had in the Hands of certain Trustees, for the Use of the Wife and two Children lately born, and died a few Days after.

This was an ugly Turn upon him, his greatest Dependence being upon his Mother; however, his Wife was kinder to him than he deserved, for she made him a yearly Allowance out of what was left, tho’ they continued to live separate: It lasted near five Years; at this Time having a great Affection for the Girl he had by his Maid, he had a Mind to take it Home, to live with him; but as all the Town knew it to be a Girl, the better to disguise the Matter from them, as well as from his Wife, he had it put into Breeches, as a Boy, pretending it was a Relation’s Child he was to breed up to be his Clerk.

The Wife heard he had a little Boy at Home he was very fond of, but as she did not know any Relation of his that had such a Child, she employ’d a Friend to enquire further into it; this Person by talking with the Child, found it to be a Girl, discovered that the Servant-Maid was its Mother, and that the Husband still kept up his Correspondence with her.

Upon this Intelligence, the Wife being unwilling that her Children’s Money should go towards the Maintenance of Bastards, stopped the Allowance: The Husband enraged, in a kind of Revenge, takes the Maid home, and lives with her publickly, to the great Scandal of his Neighbours; but he soon found the bad Effect of it, for by Degrees lost his Practice, so that he saw plainly he could not live there, therefore he thought of removing, and turning what Effects he had into ready Money; he goes to Cork, and there with his Maid and Daughter embarques for Carolina.

At first he followed the Practice of the Law in that Province, but afterwards fell into Merchandize, which proved more successful to him, for he gained by it sufficient to purchase a considerable Plantation: His Maid, who passed for his Wife, happened to dye, after which his Daughter, our Anne Bonny, now grown up, kept his House.

She was of a fierce and couragious Temper, wherefore, when she lay under Condemnation, several Stories were reported of her, much to her Disadvantage, as that she had kill’d an English Servant-Maid once in her Passion with a Case-Knife, while she look’d after her Father’s House; but upon further Enquiry, I found this Story to be groundless: It was certain she was so robust, that once, when a young Fellow would have lain with her, against her Will, she beat him so, that he lay ill of it a considerable Time.

While she lived with her Father, she was look’d upon as one that would be a good Fortune, wherefore it was thought her Father expected a good Match for her; but she spoilt all, for without his Consent, she marries a young Fellow, who belonged to the Sea, and was not worth a Groat; which provoked her Father to such a Degree, that he turned her out of Doors, upon which the young Fellow, who married her, finding himself disappointed in his Expectation, shipped himself and Wife, for the Island of Providence, expecting Employment there.

Here she became acquainted with Rackam the Pyrate, who making Courtship to her, soon found Means of withdrawing her Affections from her Husband, so that she consented to elope from him, and go to Sea with Rackam in Men’s Cloaths: She was as good as her Word, and after she had been at Sea some Time, she proved with Child, and beginning to grow big, Rackam landed her on the Island of Cuba; and recommending her there to some Friends of his, they took Care of her, till she was brought to Bed: When she was up and well again, he sent for her to bear him Company.

The King’s Proclamation being out, for pardoning of Pyrates, he took the Benefit of it, and surrendered; afterwards being sent upon the privateering Account, he returned to his old Trade, as has been already hinted in the Story of Mary Read. In all these Expeditions, Anne Bonny bore him Company, and when any Business was to be done in their Way, no Body was more forward or couragious than she, and particularly when they were taken; she and Mary Read, with one more, were all the Persons that durst keep the Deck, as has been before hinted.

Her Father was known to a great many Gentlemen, Planters of Jamaica, who had dealt with him, and among whom he had a good Reputation; and some of them, who had been in Carolina, remember’d to have seen her in his House; wherefore they were inclined to shew her Favour, but the Action of leaving her Husband was an ugly Circumstance against her. The Day that Rackam was executed, by special Favour, he was admitted to see her; but all the Comfort she gave him, was, that she was sorry to see him there, but if he had fought like a Man, he need not have been hang’d like a Dog.

She was continued in Prison, to the Time of her lying in, and afterwards reprieved from Time to Time; but what is become of her since, we cannot tell; only this we know, that she was not executed.

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