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R.T. Ester

@shoutoutmapes

THE GANYMEDAN (Out now from Solaris Books) https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ganymedan-r-t-ester/1d2e09db773dd68b?ean=9781837863365&next=t Agent: Jason Yarn He/him

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Latest posts by R.T. Ester @shoutoutmapes

Preview
The Cost War Iran Is Quietly Winning A $250K missile forcing a $40M response isn’t just a budget problem. It’s a geopolitical shift the US–Israeli policy establishment still pretends isn’t happening.

Iran’s strategy is built on cost discipline, not theatrics.

Iran didn’t stumble into this advantage. It engineered it. Over two decades, it built a missile and drone programme designed around volume, affordability, and domestic production
open.substack.com/pub/mandisse...

04.03.2026 06:42 👍 76 🔁 31 💬 9 📌 11

This is who will replace Crockett in the House

04.03.2026 03:20 👍 1985 🔁 300 💬 37 📌 13
CNN: More than 1,000 civilians killed in Iran since war began, rights group reports
By Helen Regan
More than 1,000 people, including children, have been killed in Iran since the war began on Saturday, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The rights group said as of Tuesday afternoon ET, at least 1,097 civilians had been killed, including 181 children.
More than 5,400 civilians, including 100 children, have been injured, HRANA reported.
The group said its report is preliminary and is veritying hundreds more reported deaths.

CNN: More than 1,000 civilians killed in Iran since war began, rights group reports By Helen Regan More than 1,000 people, including children, have been killed in Iran since the war began on Saturday, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The rights group said as of Tuesday afternoon ET, at least 1,097 civilians had been killed, including 181 children. More than 5,400 civilians, including 100 children, have been injured, HRANA reported. The group said its report is preliminary and is veritying hundreds more reported deaths.

At least 1,097 civilians had been killed in Iran so far, including 181 children.

04.03.2026 05:12 👍 4482 🔁 2453 💬 200 📌 205

It's still surreal to me that a representative of Iran had to go on MSNBC to explain to American audiences that they're attacking US consulates and embassies in other countries because you attacked them first and their weapons can't reach the US directly

03.03.2026 22:44 👍 385 🔁 74 💬 7 📌 3

Jokes are supposed to be funny

04.03.2026 11:04 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Cover art for Interzone 304

Cover art for Interzone 304

INTERZONE 304
BOOK ZONE
PAUL MCAULEY
SPACED FLIGHT
Bester's
Alfred
From
The
Demolished Man and Philip K.
Dick's D o Androids Dream of
t
Nick
Electric
Sheep?,
Harkaway's Titanium Noir and
Alastair Reynolds' Halcyon Years,
science fiction frequently finds a
good use for the gritty style and
cynical attitude of hardboiled and
noir films and fictions. There's a

INTERZONE 304 BOOK ZONE PAUL MCAULEY SPACED FLIGHT Bester's Alfred From The Demolished Man and Philip K. Dick's D o Androids Dream of t Nick Electric Sheep?, Harkaway's Titanium Noir and Alastair Reynolds' Halcyon Years, science fiction frequently finds a good use for the gritty style and cynical attitude of hardboiled and noir films and fictions. There's a

Cover art for The Ganymedan

Cover art for The Ganymedan

Also included with Interzone 304 is an excellent review of my novel The Ganymedan by Paul McAuley!

03.03.2026 17:39 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
INTERZONE 304
CONTENTS
IZ 304 / MARCH 2026
CLIMBING
STORIEs // Aliya Whiteley
column, 1600 words
Mutant popcorN // Nick Lowe
column, 8850 words
County Colours // Val Nolan
story illustrated by Emma Howitt, 12,730
words
BODYSWAP.GOV // R.T.Ester
story, 3460 words
REBOOT THЕ
SKY // Dominic Green
story, 7390 words
The IsLand WIthout
SPICE // Jennifer Jeanne
McArdle
story, 8230 words
2 pages left in chapter
1%

INTERZONE 304 CONTENTS IZ 304 / MARCH 2026 CLIMBING STORIEs // Aliya Whiteley column, 1600 words Mutant popcorN // Nick Lowe column, 8850 words County Colours // Val Nolan story illustrated by Emma Howitt, 12,730 words BODYSWAP.GOV // R.T.Ester story, 3460 words REBOOT THЕ SKY // Dominic Green story, 7390 words The IsLand WIthout SPICE // Jennifer Jeanne McArdle story, 8230 words 2 pages left in chapter 1%

NKATA // Simon Guerrier
story, 4270 words
CoPS ANd RoBBErs #1:
The Bridge // Rachael Cupp
story, 4570 words
DAnCInG IN THE
LIBRARy // Una McCormack
story, 1460 words
Book Zone // Kelly Jennings.
Paul Kincaid, Paul McAuley
Val Nolan
book reviews, 12,120 words
THE A to Z of
ZELAZNy / Alexander Glass
story, 2010 words
FoLDEd Spaces // Val Nolan
story, 1630 words
INTERZONE * PATREON
2 pages left in chapter
1%

NKATA // Simon Guerrier story, 4270 words CoPS ANd RoBBErs #1: The Bridge // Rachael Cupp story, 4570 words DAnCInG IN THE LIBRARy // Una McCormack story, 1460 words Book Zone // Kelly Jennings. Paul Kincaid, Paul McAuley Val Nolan book reviews, 12,120 words THE A to Z of ZELAZNy / Alexander Glass story, 2010 words FoLDEd Spaces // Val Nolan story, 1630 words INTERZONE * PATREON 2 pages left in chapter 1%

I'm thrilled to be included with this amazing group of authors and feature writers for Interzone 304. My story BodySwap(dot)gov is about a botched military engagement in the middle eastern desert and the behind-the-scenes scramble to control the fallout.

shop.interzone.press/b/IxvFR

03.03.2026 06:00 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
INTERZONE 304
CONTENTS
IZ 304 / MARCH 2026
CLIMBING
STORIEs // Aliya Whiteley
column, 1600 words
Mutant popcorN // Nick Lowe
column, 8850 words
County Colours // Val Nolan
story illustrated by Emma Howitt, 12,730
words
BODYSWAP.GOV // R.T.Ester
story, 3460 words
REBOOT THЕ
SKY // Dominic Green
story, 7390 words
The IsLand WIthout
SPICE // Jennifer Jeanne
McArdle
story, 8230 words
2 pages left in chapter
1%

INTERZONE 304 CONTENTS IZ 304 / MARCH 2026 CLIMBING STORIEs // Aliya Whiteley column, 1600 words Mutant popcorN // Nick Lowe column, 8850 words County Colours // Val Nolan story illustrated by Emma Howitt, 12,730 words BODYSWAP.GOV // R.T.Ester story, 3460 words REBOOT THЕ SKY // Dominic Green story, 7390 words The IsLand WIthout SPICE // Jennifer Jeanne McArdle story, 8230 words 2 pages left in chapter 1%

NKATA // Simon Guerrier
story, 4270 words
CoPS ANd RoBBErs #1:
The Bridge // Rachael Cupp
story, 4570 words
DAnCInG IN THE
LIBRARy // Una McCormack
story, 1460 words
Book Zone // Kelly Jennings.
Paul Kincaid, Paul McAuley
Val Nolan
book reviews, 12,120 words
THE A to Z of
ZELAZNy / Alexander Glass
story, 2010 words
FoLDEd Spaces // Val Nolan
story, 1630 words
INTERZONE * PATREON
2 pages left in chapter
1%

NKATA // Simon Guerrier story, 4270 words CoPS ANd RoBBErs #1: The Bridge // Rachael Cupp story, 4570 words DAnCInG IN THE LIBRARy // Una McCormack story, 1460 words Book Zone // Kelly Jennings. Paul Kincaid, Paul McAuley Val Nolan book reviews, 12,120 words THE A to Z of ZELAZNy / Alexander Glass story, 2010 words FoLDEd Spaces // Val Nolan story, 1630 words INTERZONE * PATREON 2 pages left in chapter 1%

I'm thrilled to be included with this amazing group of authors and feature writers for Interzone 304. My story BodySwap(dot)gov is about a botched military engagement in the middle eastern desert and the behind-the-scenes scramble to control the fallout.

shop.interzone.press/b/IxvFR

03.03.2026 06:00 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Post image

Interzone 304 has arrived.
interzone.press
with stories by Rachael Cupp, R.T. Ester, Dominic Green, Simon Guerrier, Val Nolan, and Jennifer Jeanne McArdle.

02.03.2026 19:16 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
An aerial photo shows three diggers excavating the ground for graves. More than 65 graves are already dug. Those not yet dug are marked out by chalk.

An aerial photo shows three diggers excavating the ground for graves. More than 65 graves are already dug. Those not yet dug are marked out by chalk.

Not a single US newspaper will publish this photo. No news channel will broadcast it.

The graves are being prepared for more than 80 young children killed in the US/Israeli strike on the school in Minab, Iran on Saturday.

(📸 Middle East Observer)

02.03.2026 18:58 👍 994 🔁 618 💬 22 📌 27

Is anyone else noticing an ideologically biased pattern of behavior here?

01.03.2026 00:21 👍 716 🔁 184 💬 9 📌 4

Only £167 left. 🤍

Not just a number —
it’s our children’s school, their safety, their only sense of normal life.🫂

We’ve come so far — please help us finish this last step and keep their future protected 🏫✨

02.03.2026 13:16 👍 45 🔁 72 💬 2 📌 5
Poster for Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway.

Poster for Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway.

This was pretty good.

02.03.2026 18:23 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
Preview
The Cookout: A Speculative Fiction Anthology Sci-fi, fantasy, & horror stories by Black authors, centering traditions of “the cookout” — the joy, the drama, and the delicious food.

Down to the wire! 3 days to go and only $457 shy of our goal. @tco-anthology.bsky.social is OPEN for Submissions! www.kickstarter.com/projects/and...

02.03.2026 13:09 👍 12 🔁 17 💬 0 📌 1
Post image
02.03.2026 04:11 👍 2339 🔁 233 💬 18 📌 6

People dont want these bases. Time and again the US has not fulfilled its promises.

I saw Qatari accounts posting "Those that cover themselves with the US are naked"

02.03.2026 13:02 👍 312 🔁 71 💬 4 📌 3

Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake.

Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law.

02.03.2026 10:14 👍 1207 🔁 260 💬 22 📌 13
Video thumbnail

we have a psychotic, murderous, christian nationalist as secretary of defense

02.03.2026 13:21 👍 2461 🔁 528 💬 176 📌 101
Preview
Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff on Sunday that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first, two people f...

we reached the “no WMDs” phase in two days.

02.03.2026 12:45 👍 7577 🔁 2225 💬 101 📌 108

BREAKING: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has barred the U.S. from using Spanish military bases for attacks on Iran.

02.03.2026 13:45 👍 4581 🔁 873 💬 63 📌 136
Preview
John Bolton Sounds the Alarm on Trump’s Iran Gamble In an exclusive, Trump’s onetime national security adviser warns the strike on Iran may deepen conflict, create a dangerous power vacuum — and plunge the region into turmoil.

You know you’re fucked when even John Bolton is like “whoa Nelly”

02.03.2026 13:54 👍 114 🔁 24 💬 7 📌 1

Only a thorough and consistent break with the capitalists in both home and foreign policy can save our revolution and our country, which is gripped in the iron vice of imperialism.

02.03.2026 14:05 👍 184 🔁 53 💬 0 📌 1

15 US military aircraft have left the Rota and Morón air bases after Spain refused to allow them to be used for operations related to Iran, Reuters reports.

02.03.2026 13:36 👍 1873 🔁 545 💬 63 📌 94
Video thumbnail

Video: Sky News via X (@SkyNews)

02.03.2026 02:52 👍 11 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
02.03.2026 03:11 👍 401 🔁 50 💬 7 📌 1
Post image
02.03.2026 03:09 👍 743 🔁 161 💬 68 📌 187

killed by him!!!

02.03.2026 03:04 👍 1956 🔁 219 💬 46 📌 3
Richard Hanania tweet: Has any theory in international relations been more discredited than blowback?

It turns out you can just kill bad people and everything is fine.

Richard Hanania tweet: Has any theory in international relations been more discredited than blowback? It turns out you can just kill bad people and everything is fine.

I swear these people don't have object permanence

02.03.2026 01:55 👍 4239 🔁 428 💬 204 📌 163


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Conversation
Drop Site
@DropSiteNews
🔴 Rachel Maddow claims “it is the Gulf Arab states” that stand to benefit most from Iran being weakened. She said Gulf states “rented the services of the United States military to start a war that they want.”

In a nearly 20-minute segment titled “Follow the MONEY,” Rachel Maddow mentioned Israel—which has publicly called for U.S.-led regime change in Iran—only twice.

💬 In that portion of the segment, she states:

“I mean, there's a lot of attention on Israel and indeed Israel and the United States have worked together in the bombing campaign, not only the one that started today, but the campaign against Iran in June. But it is the Gulf Arab states who are arrayed against Iran, who want Iran removed as their regional rival.

It is those countries that have been assiduously buying up members of the Trump family and the Trump administration with just astonishing amounts of cash in recent years, and particularly in recent months.

And now for that low, low price, they appear to have rented the services of the United States military to start a war that they want, but that the American people do not.”

🎥 VIDEO: A clip from her MSNOW analysis

See new posts Conversation Drop Site @DropSiteNews 🔴 Rachel Maddow claims “it is the Gulf Arab states” that stand to benefit most from Iran being weakened. She said Gulf states “rented the services of the United States military to start a war that they want.” In a nearly 20-minute segment titled “Follow the MONEY,” Rachel Maddow mentioned Israel—which has publicly called for U.S.-led regime change in Iran—only twice. 💬 In that portion of the segment, she states: “I mean, there's a lot of attention on Israel and indeed Israel and the United States have worked together in the bombing campaign, not only the one that started today, but the campaign against Iran in June. But it is the Gulf Arab states who are arrayed against Iran, who want Iran removed as their regional rival. It is those countries that have been assiduously buying up members of the Trump family and the Trump administration with just astonishing amounts of cash in recent years, and particularly in recent months. And now for that low, low price, they appear to have rented the services of the United States military to start a war that they want, but that the American people do not.” 🎥 VIDEO: A clip from her MSNOW analysis

🔴 Rachel Maddow claims “it is the Gulf Arab states” that stand to benefit most from Iran being weakened. She said Gulf states “rented the services of the United States military to start a war that they want.”

In a nearly 20-min segment titled “Follow the MONEY,” Maddow mentioned Israel—which has...

02.03.2026 02:55 👍 135 🔁 52 💬 5 📌 15
According to the report, on Saturday night a U.S. official, through a mediator believed to be Italy, conveyed a proposal to reach an immediate ceasefire, potentially within a day.

According to the report, on Saturday night a U.S. official, through a mediator believed to be Italy, conveyed a proposal to reach an immediate ceasefire, potentially within a day.

Post image

Trump is seeking a quick end to the US military campaign against Iran following the reported killing of Iran’s supreme leader, according to a Ynet piece.

US officials had envisioned a short, 4-to-5-day op. aimed at weakening Tehran & forcing it back to the negotiating table.

According to the...

02.03.2026 02:57 👍 29 🔁 12 💬 9 📌 5