Derrick

Enthusiastic honorary mentions to Meal of Thorns and anything Ranged Touch

Somehow I hunch that contemporary genre literary criticism is about a mile ahead of non-genre indie-lit criticism, and the genre criticism that has nourished me the most is this amazing podcast www.patreon.com/cw/SFULTRA

Like, the litfic vs genre thing isn't totally wiped from the world because I'm sure we can dig up a current example of anything if we try. But every time I see it cited, it’ll be something someone said in 1987. It’s not something that has, in the main, characterised my experience of genre or litfic.

Unit 00's torso hollowing out

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Episode 23
Tears
Rei III

Of course. If there's anything "internet" about this, it's an artist unaware of their own anxieties confusing critical disagreement for violence and Lit Hub kind of (unfairly?) just hanging them out there on said internet

Amidst the totally valid, evergreen discussion of The Role of Criticism in Art, there throbs today a particularly juicy, hermeneutical trend where millennial indie authors feel that anything other than eleven five-star reviews from their friends on goodreads is basically getting cancelled

It's part of the Twitter Nostalgia Revival sweeping Bluesky

As someone whose pet issue with contemporary literature is that there isn't nearly enough literary criticism, this essay is a gift. Feeling very superior as I read, critiquing the writer's ideas and words, getting that sweet Friday morning hate-read dopamine, thinking about art w/ brain, etc

Everyone's answers to this are like "Oil Crane Puller/Blue-collar intellectual who worked as a bi spy during WWII"

The Custom Oregon Plate DEREK was previously assigned, but is now available for reservation. https://dmv2u.oregon.gov/eServices/?link=custom #Oregon #LicensePlate #VanityPlate #OregonPlates #CustomPlate #DEREK

(sorry yes also "hand-stuff" is the official sex of AWP)

As the owner of AWP, want to remind attendees to enjoy themselves but also remember that anyone with a clinical "introvert" diagnosis should set aside time to "recharge" alone. Same goes for ambiverts and anyone under 37. The rest of you middle-aged people - get out there and do hand stuff!

Reminder that we encourage all our attendees to tip their Uber/Lyft drivers AT LEAST $18 for every social media post attendees make mentioning said driver. That's anecdote labor.

Also, reminder from me (owner of AWP): pictures are not allowed at AWP.

Enjoy AWP!

As the owner of AWP, I am grateful for the money everyone pays me to attend. I love AWP!

This is bad, and part of what makes it so bad is that this is clearly pulling from *genre* understandings of reality, which the statistical linguistic machine seemingly cannot distinguish from other text included in the training data. Truly an ideology machine where every episode of CSI is true.

Trump posts AI video of him riding a red horse in circles around a burning toilet in the desert, suggests 3.5 more years "oughta be enough to do it all."

Happy first day of #AWP26 !!! Need something to read on your flight? How about THE GREATEST INTERVIEW OF ALL TIME featuring @aaronburch.bsky.social, @dtrobbins.bsky.social, & me (and special guest)!!! 🔥🔥🔥

Also an EP collab between Enya and Earthcrisis would be sick and would obviously have a song called "Sinead."

Far from hardcore but I am always moved thinking about Enya writing a three-slide message in Irish to Sinead O'Conner after her death.

There are 88 modern constellations. A ridiculous number, too many or too few or both. I realize I have not thought enough about constellations to avoid getting dizzy doing so now.

Doomscrolling is the weaponization of literacy

To that point that, when Kris Kelvin decides he has feelings for the fake-wife being (who has busted through a metal door to be with him), he just kind of winds up taking her around everywhere with him, to all their little man meetings. And the other guys are annoyed. Because KK broke a taboo.

Saw the Tarkovsky Solaris in the theater last week and something about that movie I keep thinking about now is how all three men on the space were kind ashamed of each of their respective hallucination golems? Real "Don't come in!" keep-it-in-the-closet type stuff.

Seized Art, Eavesdropping Guards: Parents Describe a Clampdown at Dilley Detention Center as Kids Shared Their Stories Detainees told ProPublica that art supplies have been removed in room searches, immigrants have lost access to Gmail and staff hover within earshot during video calls.

"...she and her three kids watched through a window as guards swept through their room in late January, removing drawings from the walls and placing colored pencils and crayons in plastic bags before taking them away."

This feels like a foot-in-the-door bill--if they can pass it, then the next bans will only further expand its scope. Let's stop this campaign of trans and queer erasure here and now. Please contact your representatives to demand that they oppose this bill. www.house.gov/representati...

aaaah yes, Jesus Camp, my favorite…uh…folk sci-fi documentary

Review - Swamp World A mucky Swamp Romp Swamp World is a tri-fold adventure for B/X-like old school adventure games by Brad Kerr and Skull fungus. It's part of their Pamph...

Weekly review!

It's Swamp World from @bradkerr.net !

I go on a bit about how much one should try to fit in a pamphlet, but this thing really is great to read, and I expect I'll bring it to the table later this year.

#TTRPG #OSR

blog.catshavenolord.page/review-swamp...