Lauren, I really enjoyed your story, especially living in a town with so many dogs being walked and only a very few disrespectful owners. When the magical elements came into your story near the end, I almost thought Amanda-Lynn was going to use the dragon poo to cast a spell on the man's dragon. That might have been…

That was a lot of character development and time to fit into a very short story. Well done! Perhaps there could have been a bit more resolution of Darna/Durna (name isn't the point) at the end, but maybe that is because I just wanted a bit more. Nice story.

I really liked your imagery. It was very vivid. The twist at the end was very nice and enhanced by the vividness of your imagery (drugs creating a hyper-realistic experience). It did come on a bit abrupt, so maybe there would be a way to soften the transition, but it is such a good twist to your such detailed…

Dr. Elise Van der Snaven was convinced of one thing, “Everyone wants to own a dragon.” It didn’t bother her one bit that dragons don’t exist and have never existed. As the leading expert in trans-species chimerism, her career on the faculty at NYU had led to many outrageous combinations like the flying feathered…

“So, why do they call it the Ultimate Killing Machine?”

Very nice work! Thank you for sharing it with us.

The fire pits were much deeper than I expected as I inserted from my low orbiter. My fall suit could only absorb so much resist without projecting the excess energy into space. As my flare showed the weakness in the shield of Earth V to the Fleet, a tesser globe approached me on intercept, and I reached out to try…

The fire pits were much deeper than I expected as I inserted from my low orbiter. My fall suit could only absorb so much resist without projecting the excess energy into space. As my flare showed the weakness in the shield of Earth V to the Fleet, a tesser globe approached me on intercept, and I reached out to try…

Were you working toward a fear element?

I got a recommendation from my favorite io9 author on my first online story submission ever. I am kinda pumped!

*begin sequence ‘Earnest’*

It is great to see all the skeptical responses from the I09 community. Thank you.

There is nothing worse than being an actual researcher in the nutrition field and having someone like the author of this piece, Kris, come up to you at a dinner party and start nattering on about every wacky thought they have ever had on the subject - all the while expecting you to agree with them and confirm their…