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asakiyume"The Curious Case of the Cave Salamander," by Gwen C. Katz, in the February 2021 issue of Utopia Science Fiction
In this absolutely delightful, funny, and clever story, scientist Jen has discovered** a new species of tiny salamander, and it's completely adorable:
Well if that isn't an invitation to produce some fan art, I don't know what is. Behold my version of Pseudonecturus ostolotli
The movie in the works is called Full Throttle Ostolotl:
But Jen doesn't just have an adorable new species of salamander, she also has a morose grad student with whom she commiserates about their funding: "Unless we plan to fund this lab on Patreon, we need to get some non-meme-based science done." And at home, she's got Madison, the prickly eight-year-old daughter of Kira, Jen's roommate from their college days. Kira and Madison came to stay after Kira's marriage fell apart, and now the three of them are tentatively becoming a family--but it's not easy when Madison is still angry at having to uproot her life. She's also sharp as a tack and asks good questions. When Kira says Jen won't like the headline about the new salamander ("Northwestern University Research Team Discovers New Species of Cave Salamander"), Madison asks what's so bad about it:
But soon the police require Jen's herpetological expertise for entirely other reasons: a security guard turns up dead in standing water in a YMCA basement, his chest crushed and his body covered in slime. Uh-oh!
In addition to being funny and all-around charming, the story touches on the issue of exploitation of wild animals, responsible pet ownership, and other things I can't mention because spoilers. Also, Kira is nonbinary, and that's handled completely naturally.
To read the story you need to buy the magazine, but it's worth it for this story alone (and it contains several other intriguing ones, as well as poetry and artwork).
PS: the author has also written a YA novel, Among the Red Stars, about an all-female Soviet aviation team during World War II. There's also a gallery of the author's own amazing art depicting characters in the story.
In this absolutely delightful, funny, and clever story, scientist Jen has discovered** a new species of tiny salamander, and it's completely adorable:
The internet did indeed love the ostolotl. The six-inch salamander had enormous round eyes, a mouth like a puppy, fluorescent blue stripes, and fluffy gills sprouting from the sides of its face. There was fan art. There were uwu ostolotl memes. By the time Pseudonecturus ostolotli was formally described, there was a movie in the works.
Well if that isn't an invitation to produce some fan art, I don't know what is. Behold my version of Pseudonecturus ostolotli
The movie in the works is called Full Throttle Ostolotl:
But Jen doesn't just have an adorable new species of salamander, she also has a morose grad student with whom she commiserates about their funding: "Unless we plan to fund this lab on Patreon, we need to get some non-meme-based science done." And at home, she's got Madison, the prickly eight-year-old daughter of Kira, Jen's roommate from their college days. Kira and Madison came to stay after Kira's marriage fell apart, and now the three of them are tentatively becoming a family--but it's not easy when Madison is still angry at having to uproot her life. She's also sharp as a tack and asks good questions. When Kira says Jen won't like the headline about the new salamander ("Northwestern University Research Team Discovers New Species of Cave Salamander"), Madison asks what's so bad about it:
"[The salamander is] new to us. But the people who live there have known about it for thousands of years. They have their own name for it: ostolotl."
"So what should it say?" asked Madison.
Jen considered. "How about 'Cave Salamander Discovers Northwestern Research Team'?"
But soon the police require Jen's herpetological expertise for entirely other reasons: a security guard turns up dead in standing water in a YMCA basement, his chest crushed and his body covered in slime. Uh-oh!
In addition to being funny and all-around charming, the story touches on the issue of exploitation of wild animals, responsible pet ownership, and other things I can't mention because spoilers. Also, Kira is nonbinary, and that's handled completely naturally.
To read the story you need to buy the magazine, but it's worth it for this story alone (and it contains several other intriguing ones, as well as poetry and artwork).
PS: the author has also written a YA novel, Among the Red Stars, about an all-female Soviet aviation team during World War II. There's also a gallery of the author's own amazing art depicting characters in the story.
