Wondrous Speculation

Wondrous Speculation A Speculative Fiction Zine showcasing BIPOC Artists edited by Beck Scassellati

Cover Art: Visiting the Sea Witch

Beck Scassellati (oil on canvas)

Wondrous Speculation A Speculative Fiction Zine showcasing BIPOC Artists

Volume 1 • Issue 1 • Winter 2021

Copyright © 2021 by Beck Scassellati.

After publication of this issue, all rights revert to the original artists.

The abstract design used in the margins and background of the title page is taken from the oil painting “The Great Comet of 1812” by Beck Scassellati.

Colophon: The typefaces used in this zine are Saber for the nameplate, Zephyr Rough for the titles, Fieldwork for the sanserif text, and Abril Text for the body copy.

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Artwork “We want you!” by Ryan Logan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 “Forest Spirits” by Alyssa Greenwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 “Makahiya” by Marck Tañada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 “The Fire Son and the Snow Daughter” by Salomey Doku . . 9 “Doctor Clockwork Duhittity-Doo” by John Scassellati . . . . 11 “Francis” by Mewmew Nya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 “Oh Dear, the Sky Is Falling” by Kamilla Guimarães . . . . . . 15 “Ampage Lights” by Pristine Fermin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 “Dwen Errometh” by Lake Hurwitz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 “Lehman’s Phoenix” by John Scassellati . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 “The Six Swans” by Salomey Doku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 “Jeanne De Arc” by Ryan Logan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Writing by Beck Scassellati “That Land” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “Guardian Imp” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 “Making Believe” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 “Unforgivable” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 “Time-Counter” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 “Dog-Walker of the Future” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 “The Streetlamp Circle” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 “Deep within the Nucleus” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 “Sir Ives of Pest Control” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 “String” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 “Chevrolet Fey” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 “The Cyborg and the Psychic” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Foreword Mythical creatures or futuristic gadgets? Magic powers or advanced technology? Fortunately for fans of both fantasy and science fiction, there’s no need to choose one genre over the other. The category “speculative fiction” encompasses both. And more! Any story that suspends belief and contains the impossible, the unexplainable, or the fantastic falls under this umbrella.

The category applies to art, too. My favorite scenes to illustrate are from speculative genres—the kind of art that can stop a viewer and make them say, “Cool!” Because of my love for this type of art, I decided to create this online zine for a college project.

Besides showcasing fantastic artwork, this zine’s intent was also to showcase minority artists. The artwork featured here was all made by fellow creative Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

Oftentimes in the art world, there is an expectation that BIPOC artists should only make political art based on personal struggles related to race or culture. That kind of art is meaningful and crucial, but is by no means the only kind of meaningful and crucial art. Equally as important is art made to spark wonder, to inspire horror or fascination, to ask “What if...?” Genre art might be symbolic of real world issues, or it might be made just for fun. Regardless, BIPOC artists have the talent, the skill, and the right to craft speculative work just as much as any other type of art.

In addition to the artwork of artists from across the globe, you will also find tiny snippets of fiction in between each piece as a sort of visual “buffer.” These are Drabbles of mine, short fiction consisting of exactly 100 words each, have nothing to do with the artworks included, but I tried to select stories that matched the collection in terms of subject and tone. I hope you enjoy this zine as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Beck Scassellati Editor 1

That Land Beck Scassellati

Journey to a nearby realm that levitates its agates in wagonloads by way of flying carabao, past the broken canyon where echos change the ending, where cactus blossoms blink their eyes. where crouching rogues trade you candle wax for sandstone and never seize your canteen.

Here no missionary trekkers peddle photocopied maxims to your canvas threshold.

Here the wings of crocodiles threaten herds, and the sun beats black through clouds of marble and the cumushquio counts her grain and the jackal sings and the stargazer leads and the harper yearns and maybe and maybe they would let you stay, too.

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We want you!

Ryan Logan

watercolor

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Guardian Imp Beck Scassellati

You know that feeling like you’re being watched?

Yeah, hi, that’s me. I check in sometimes, see how things are going. If nothing’s really happening, well, then it’s time for me to give you a little prod.

Nothing drastic. That’s someone else’s job. But maybe you just need to see a really cute cat, or lose your left mitten on the subway, or bend over and split your pants but miss getting hit by a fastball. Y’know, little things that end up mattering a lot.

Angels and devils may get the big jobs, but we imps get the most fun.

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Forest Spirits Alyssa Greenwood

gouache

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The Tea Lady Beck Scassellati

Every Saturday, for as long as anyone remembered, a line would stretch up the mountain to the camp of the Tea Lady.

With gnarled hands and a face like bark, she treated every traveler to a cup of her specialty beverage.

She spoke little, stooped under her ancient, immense tree. Nobody knew its species, but the tea she made from its leaves seemed to cure any ailment.

Last Saturday, she disappeared.

Distraught, the travelers searched for her, to no avail. Only her tea tree, dead and bare now, remained.

They mourned. They knew the dryad had given her last leaves.

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Makahiya Marck Tañada

digital art

7

Unforgiveable Beck Scassellati

When the Prince was seven, he sprouted a pair of wings, and the Queen panicked. If the King discovered them, he’d realize her infidelity and kill both mother and son. So she called his troubled nursemaids and demanded, “Cut them off.”

As soon as they exited, she cried, “WAIT,” but they bolted his door and carried out the order. Her child’s screams reached her ears only.

Sick with remorse, the Queen wept.

“Oh, God, forgive me.” She recalled the boy’s father, and the scars on his back from where his own wings were taken. “My love, my love, forgive me.”

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The Fire Son and the Snow Daughter Salomey Doku

digital art (Procreate App)

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Time-Counter Beck Scassellati

When me and Benny were ten we found a broken pocket watch. The hands didn’t move, until I killed a nearby mosquito.

Then the second hand ticked forward one notch.

“Whoa! See that?” Benny said.

“I think I jostled it, that’s all.”

“Can I have it?”

“Sure.”

I didn’t realize he kept it. Yesterday he appeared at my door with cops, trembling, holding the watch. “The hands only move for you. They’ve jumped ahead an hour every day for two weeks. I’ve been following the news…”

My chest sank.

The cops dug up my backyard and found the fourteen women.

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Doctor Clockwork Duhittity_ Doo John Scassellati marker on sketch paper

11

Dog-Walker of the Future Beck Scassellati

The lady I was pet-sitting for wouldn’t answer her phone, so I left her a message.

“Hey Alexa, it’s me. I think I broke your dog.

Please call me back, I don’t know what I did wrong. All I said was ‘Who’s a good boy,’ and he went nuts.”

In front of me, the dog continued to spin in circles and bark, “404 error. Page not found. The requested URL ‘goodboi’ does not exist.” Smoke started pouring from his ears.

Man, I thought, this is the last time I ever pet-sit for the android family across the street.

12

Francis Mewmew Nya

digital art

13

The Streetlamp Circle Beck Scassellati

Late Sunday night, lightning hit the streetlamp on our block. The white CRACK shook the pavement and took out power all around the neighborhood.

My wife sent me to check the damage, even though it was still pouring. She was scared our tree might’ve caught fire.

The tree was unaffected, but the streetlamp somehow still blazed its hazy halo over the muddy green puddles. I adjusted my hood to see it better.

That circle of light was just so odd.

Raindrops slapped in the ring of dirty mist.

Rhythmic, almost. I stepped underneath it.

And that’s how they got me.

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Oh Dear, the Sky Is Falling Kamilla Guimarães

digital art

15

Deep within the Nucleus Beck Scassellati

Everyone knew that when a person was terminated, they dissolved and trickled down the storm drains.

But what Gina had assumed was a waste treatment plant was not. She gripped her infiltration partner’s arm. “I’m gonna be sick.”

The vat before them seemingly collected the liquidized proteins of every sacked life in the Nation. Pipes funneled the goop through monitored tubes with color-coded letters, A, C, G, T, cultivating, changing form.

At the end, a lumpy product was dropped, quickly saran-wrapped, and conveyor-belted toward a slot marked “Nursery.”

The dead were being recycled into freeze-dried babies.

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Ampage Lights Pristine Fermin digital art

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Sir Ives of Pest Control Beck Scassellati

This wasn’t my first well-dragon removal, so I knew a simple, nonviolent solution.

First, I threw my cape over its eyes.

Dragons get surprisingly mellow when they can’t see, but that’ll change quick if you don’t get the next part right. The trick is to talk to them while gently stroking their head. An alligator would snap back, but dragons are too intelligent to act so rashly.

They understand speech, if not language.

So I prodded the dazed dragon until it lumbered away, freeing the woman trapped in the well.

And that, children, is how I met your mother.

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Dwen Errometh Lake Hurwitz

digital art (Photoshop)

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String

Beck Scassellati Clem didn’t want to let go of the line but the kite kept pulling higher higher HIGHER stretching his arm until he couldn’t feel it anymore, up into the void so blue it sucked the color from all but the red crisscrossed paper diamond, and meanwhile, the rope around his ankle kept pulling lower lower LOWER stretching his leg until he couldn’t feel it anymore, down into the void so cold it sucked the warmth from all but his rabbit-thumping heart, until at last he couldn’t keep his grip any longer and fell and fell and fell and fell

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Lehman's Phoenix John Scassellati digital art

21

Chevrolet Fey Beck Scassellati

Uncle Eddy left nothing behind except his truck. He used to talk like it was a gift from God, but he never even drove it, just let it rust in his garage.

After he died, I wanted to get rid of it, but it wouldn’t start. I checked the engine.

And froze.

A colony of pixies, fat on motor oil and wiper fluid, flicked their pixelated wings and stared anxiously up at me.

I gently lowered the hood.

It took a while, but I eventually converted the garage into a terrarium, so Uncle Eddy’s little friends had room to fly.

22

The Six Swans Salomey Doku

digital art (Procreate App)

23

The Cyborg and the Psychic Beck Scassellati

“I’ve looked into all our possible outcomes. In every future scenario, it is inevitable that we fight, we withdraw contact, and we grow apart. As a result, I will enjoy what we have while we have it, because these are the days I will reminisce when it is over.”

“You’ve spent far too long as a computer, my friend.”

“Explain.”

“You’re forgetting that forgiveness binds.

Maybe some fights are inevitable, but our separation isn’t. Love’s more than just algorithms and probability.”

“I still do not understand.”

“That’s okay. Just take my arm. These are the days that I’ll reminisce, too.”

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Jeanne De Arc Ryan Logan

watercolor

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Contributors Salomey Doku

is a 26 year-old British illustrator based in Leeds, Yorkshire. She began painting watercolor wildlife portraits in early 2018 and has since become a children’s book illustrator and burgeoning author. When she can be pried away from her iPad, she enjoys walking, hiking, cycling and anything that involves being outdoors in nature.

Pristine Fermin

is a cardiac telemetry nurse who spends her nights caring for patients and her days working on her passion project, Vagabond.

Her points of interest include science-fiction and fantasy, particularly in the vein of possible dystopian futures. She hopes to eventually publish a post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk series.

Alyssa Greenwood

is an artist that enjoys creating art in the fictional world because there are no limits to what can be brought to life.

Kamilla Guimarães

is an artist that has a passion for drawing and writing in general.

Look out for them in the future, you may see their name in a blockbuster movie.

Lake Hurwitz

has spent 10+ years creating entertainment artwork. He attended the Safehouse Atelier and Ringling College of Art and Design. His work history includes Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, NERF, Transformers films, and Call of Duty. Lake currently works as Franchise Principal Visdev Artist at Wizards of the Coast and teaches at Visual Arts Passage.

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Ryan Logan

is a professional illustrator who loves to paint science fiction and fantasy art. His pieces included here are examples of his original works. Both pieces combine his love of medieval knights, science fiction, and watercolor painting.

Mewmew Nya

is a digital artist who enjoys drawing as a hobby. She specifically draws original characters and original character lore.

John Scassellati

likes drawing monsters, killer robots, and stoopid things.

Marck Tañada

fell in love with mythology and folklore, and he thinks that the stories and amazing creatures from the Philippines need more exposure. Marck uses art as a form of escape into fantasy.

Meet the Editor: Beck Scassellati

graduated December 2020 from Seton Hill University with two degrees, a BFA in graphic design and a BA in creative writing. She is a Filipina-Italian American who loves comics, musical theatre, and fairy tales. As a freelance illustrator, cartoonist, graphic designer, and writer, she can usually be found at home avoiding work and talking to her cats.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to my faculty advisor, Dr. Dennis Jerz, for his supervision on this project.

Special thanks to Fides Scassellati and Sara Tinnick for further assistance.

I would also like to thank everyone who spread the word about this project on social media.

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