Good morning everyone,

How are you doing today, alright? I hope so.

I'm delighted to be writing Fem Fri today because so little in this life is nicer than the success of our friends. In this case, E. Saxey, friend and occasional editor of Fem Fri, who is, officially, one of the Best of British Fantasy 2019! You can read their story, No Children, in its original setting here:

My unmarked tatty white van carries the two of us along the coast road: not sea-side, but scrub grass and wind-chill in no-man’s land.

“Better hope so.”

https://corvidqueen.com/stories/no-children-esaxey

This story references my absolute favourite mythological/folklore thing and somehow makes it… even weirder? I highly recommend that you read this over lunch as I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I do.

The fact that this was first published on a site called Corvid Queen reminds me of how much I love the shiny, clever corvid family of birds. Here's a guide on how to tell a crow from a raven, by Rosemary Mosco and Kaeli Swift, the latter of whom has an incredible corvid research blog:

If you want to enjoy distinguishing a crow and a raven while also fighting linguistic imperialism, the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program has a version in Cherokee. I am prepared to bet that a bird failing to execute a barrel roll is funny in every language:

Here's an interview with Rosemary Mosco. I really like this image of just walking in the woods and finding things to laugh at and enjoy:

“Nature is really funny. It’s never not funny,” Mosco says in SciFri’s latest SciArts video. “You can go into the woods and find 20 or 30 hilarious potential comic prompts anywhere you go.”

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/rosemary-mosco-science-comics/

Happy weekend, team.

A xx.