Diabolical Plots #132, February 2026

“We Grow in the Light” by Riley Neither

“The History of Coming Out To Your Parents Any% Speedrunning” by Jubilee Finnegan

Reviewed by David Wesley Hill

In the milieu of “We Grow in the Light” by Riley Neither, the first February offering of Diabolical Plots, some people grow antlers—and are shunned by polite society, much as LGBTQ people are often ostracized in our own world, although some “antler people” are now “displaying their antlers with pride and defiance.” The protagonist, however, worries what might happen if her daughter, a tween, begins to develop horns of her own, and regularly inspects the girl for signs of such abnormal development. Then, of course, the inevitable discovery is made—albeit with a twist, which I won’t reveal, and which leads to a touching personal revelation that allows me to recommend this sentimental little parable!

I’m no gamer—I think the last one I played was Doom, which really dates me—so I’m arguably the wrong audience for “The History of Coming Out To Your Parents Any% Speedrunning” by Jubilee Finnegan, Diabolical Plots‘ second February fiction offering. The conceit here is that a complicated and emotionally-fraught process can be turned into a computer game, which is won or lost depending on how fast you complete the plot, with players competing to shave minutes and seconds from their best times. However, at 2,500 words, the metaphor is at least 1,500 words too long—unless you’re a totally hardcore gamer, in which case this story’s for you—as long as you speedrun the tale.