When Murderbot is upset with ART and stops responding to its messages
[Image description: The cover of the book All Systems Red by Martha Wells, but the word Red in the title has been replaced so that the title now reads "All Systems Left on Read". /end ID]
[Image description addition: Also the blurb on the cover, "I love Murderbot!" has been edited to be attributed to "Weird Humans"]
So apparently Andrew Blake (hereafter Andy), aka thanfiction, aka (now) CraftyCatDad, aka a whole bunch of other people over the decades, is back attempting to gain a(nother) following on social media.
Before I begin, a big thank you to @bemusedlybespectacled for identifying Andy as the author of this popular tweet thread, and spreading a community warning about him.
Unfortunately for everyone, Andy decided to post an (indirect) response. BemusedlyBespectacled and the truly incredible @theteablogger have already posted (excellent) discussions of his tweet thread. But his thread really pissed me off, and so I am going to do a breakdown of the some of the manipulation tactics he is using.
Unlike some other analysis posts I’ve made, I am not going to be looking at this thread in isolation – this is not a close reading within the four corners of our document. And that’s because, to give him credit, Andy is a good manipulator. I’ll be pointing out examples of this as I go through, but one of the tactics he is using in this thread is that a lot of it sounds reasonable outside the context of his history. While the extensive documentation of Andy’s history of abuse is both an independent good and useful to help warn people, the sheer amount of material can also make it difficult for a casual newcomer to know where to begin. This is particularly important when people point out behavior on Andy’s part that seems fine on the surface, but in context is part of a long history of a pattern of abusive and manipulative behavior.
Week 12's theme was "Simple Pleasures," or PWPs. Whether you think it stands for "Plot? What plot?" or "Porn without Plot," the point is these are all short (or short enough) and smutty.
Behind the cut, you'll find the recs gathered from the Yeehan community. These are all rated Explicit this week, so they're organized alphabetically by title.
The Week 11 theme was "He's a Magic Man," or recs featuring the mystical, the magical, the fantastical, and a lot of werewolves, apparently! (If you missed your chance, monsterhuggers, don't worry: we'll have a monster-centric theme when spooky season rolls around!)
Behind the cut, you'll find the recs gathered from the Yeehan community, organized by rating and then alphabetically by title!
Please reblog for a larger sample size.
East side of Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Photographer: Nicholas Brown
Date: 1868 - 1869?
Negative Number: 011252
The millennial litmus test for sexuality was 100% Pirates of the Caribbean. I was 13 when the first movie came out. Literally everyone walked into that movie having been lured there by the attractiveness of Orlando Bloom in LOTR. The truly straight girls had been drawn in by his entry-level attractiveness and walked out lusting over the significantly older and manlier Jack Sparrow. The others had been unconsciously drawn in by Legolas's femininity and walked out with their eyes opened and lusting over Keira Knightley.
Important missed categories that have been pointed out to me:
Not yet mentioned:
Air Fryer Garlic Green Beans This air fryer garlic green beans recipe features blistered green beans cooked with a bold and savory garlic sauce.
I'm volunteering for a literary journal right now and there's two things I think you all should know.
1. Most people that submit to literary journals are cis white men. We know this because our journal has an anonymous survey about demographics for people that submit.
2. Most things that get submitted to the creative non fiction section are on the level of middle school "What I did over the summer" essays.
I cannot see the demographics of the people whose essays I'm reading, but guys, if you are wondering if you should submit your work to a literary journal or not, I promise you that just in terms of statistics there are a lot of mediocre cis white men and people in general confidently submitting weird crap that isn't literature to literature magazines. Do it. Submit your work. Please. If you want there to be more diversity in literature, be the diversity. Do it. Do it do it do it.
In general literary magazines want to include more diversity, but if poc, queer people, disabled people, etc. don't submit their work then they aren't gonna get more diverse because we just won't have the material necessary to get more diverse. Submit your work. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it.
Here's a list of university run literary journals. Do it. Get published.
Many indie lit mags also welcome works from BIPOC and LGBTQIA creatives because the editorial staff themselves are in that demographic. Quarantine brought on the start of the SO many indie lit mags - it’s almost a golden age. Don’t be afraid to submit — there will always be so many niches and aesthetics that one will bound to be the one that fits your style.
There is so much work from marginalized narratives in litmags these days — people lament there is no representation in media, but that disregards the progress and diversity of the works of editors and writers who help make these litmags possible.
There is representation, and it is flourishing. They are waiting to be read.
The Lumiere Review compiles a list of submission opportunities every month, and it are always very useful:
List of Litmags that Specifically Look for Work from Marginalized Creators or is Run by Marginalized Creators:
Warning Lines: https://warninglines.com/
With Confetti: https://with-confetti.com/
Giving Room Magazine: http://www.givingroommag.com/
The Bitchin’ Kitsch: https://www.talbot-heindl.com/
Tealight Press: https://www.tealightpress.com/
Tipping the Scales: https://www.tippingthescalesjournal.co.uk/
The Winnow Magazine: https://www.thewinnowmagazine.com/
perhappened: https://www.perhappened.com/
AZE Journal: https://azejournal.com/
Honeyfire Lit: https://honeyfirelit.com/
and so much more!!
(And even if some litmags’ mission statement isn’t specifically for marginalized creators, they will always welcome these narratives.)
So please, please submit!
Independent magazines are great too! I’m more familiar with the university journal scene so I appreciate this addition.
...and Velya drew him aside when the dance was done and introduced him to me as Ilias cel Frumos – Ilias the Fair, Ilias the Golden – and the koldun witch-priest of Jarilo, god of youth and beauty and love.
🌾💀🌻
Ilias created by @solivar. CC used: hair by merakisims | robe, bracelet, arm cuff and vines 1 by Kleos Sims | vines 2 by @missdemirose | rings by Kassi (TSR) | belt by Regina Raven | body chain by @trillyke | flower crown by @astya96cc | contacts, eyeshadow, and blush by EvilQuinzel (TSR) | lip gloss by @pyxiidis | eyelashes by Kijiko | freckles by @mousysims | skull, wheat, poses by @natalia-auditore | branch by yakfarm | poses by @honeyssims4 | additional poses by @marshmallow-sims
Oh, wow. That is perfect.
i'm so happy for him!! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
“Are people being polite, or is it that they don’t want to know?” - this is a sensation
So. At the beginning of last month, my mother-in-law, for whom I was the in-home caregiver for the last eight years, passed away. It was both sudden and not entirely unexpected: she had been unwell since last June, with significant ups and downs, and was forced out of her skilled nursing care facility by her insurance's refusal to pay for any further out of home care, and when she came home she was stable but not well. She could no longer walk or care for herself in more than very basic ways and required significantly greater assistance, including wound care. We did the best we could but, in the end, we were all fighting a losing battle.
Which brings me to where I am right now. Over the years I have suffered my own health issues and right now I have three interacting and overlapping spinal problems (slipped discs, lumbar arthritis, spindleosis) that impact my ability to stand for long periods of time without debilitating pain. I mean, I can't even go out and get a crappy part time Walmart job to make ends meet. I can, however, offer commissions. If you've ever liked anything I've ever written, drop me a line at my ko-fi, or a penny in my tip jar, and let's see what we can work out. I would appreciate it, and your custom, greatly.
🌠 ✨ “I don’t know when I started loving you, now it’s all that I can do.”
Prompt for a previous Estimeric Week! Inspired by the work of Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin.
Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Overwatch (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cole Cassidy/Hanzo Shimada Characters: Cole Cassidy (Overwatch), Hanzo Shimada, Overwatch Ensemble Additional Tags: Fake Marriage, Sharing a Bed, Las Vegas Wedding, Humor, Unresolved Sexual Tension, how many rom-com tropes can this bad boy fit? Summary:
Daniel Parsons works out of Vegas. They’ve got a strong suspicion he’s laundering money for Talon. It puts him low on their threat list, but low also means accessible. Easy to snare. Slap him with enough evidence, and maybe they can get access to the next link in the chain.
That’s not the part of the scheme that’s hare-brained. No, that honor goes to using Parsons’ place of business as the site where two unlucky agents will have to distract him: the wedding chapel where he works as an Elvis impersonator.
The Week 8 theme was "Middle of the Road," or those fics that are just long enough to spend some quality time with but not too long: 10,000 to 25,000 words. Behind the cut, you'll find the recs gathered from the Yeehan community, organized by rating and then alphabetically by title!
