Justin Hellstrom's Avatar

Justin Hellstrom

@scratchybananas.bsky.social

A very haunted lizard. Writing games - books - weird and surreal things. *Looking for work Find my stuff: https://www.deadpondswan.com/

149 Followers  |  211 Following  |  27 Posts  |  Joined: 30.08.2023
Posts Following

Posts by Justin Hellstrom (@scratchybananas.bsky.social)

Woot woot woot - beep beep boop - thanks for tunin in πŸŒŠπŸ€–

01.03.2026 18:06 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I followed my heart & listened to lots of new stuff & was particularly thrilled by @scratchybananas.bsky.social's #SALTBLOOM & @oldermodal.bsky.social's #MRSSHIPTONSTRAVELINGTEASHOP. Really love the direct to consumer approach from @localfiles.club. Will have much more to say next week. Love y'all.

01.03.2026 17:37 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Ay it is tough to let everything go and rest as long as you need, but its the only thing that I've found to work - or be sustainable for my psyche

24.02.2026 00:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

omg thank you thank you thank you everyone!! πŸ™πŸ˜­ the game made enough to pay for the Steam listing.
β€œshe danced in the wind like a holographic dream before the world died” is coming to Steam! πŸŽ‰βœ¨

14.02.2026 09:02 β€” πŸ‘ 60    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

I’m sure a certain subset of online shitheads is ecstatic right now, but what happened to highguard β€” and the many people who worked on it β€” is tragic. we can’t keep making games like this. a more sustainable approach is literally the only way forward

12.02.2026 01:43 β€” πŸ‘ 575    πŸ” 112    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 2

To counter AI slop writers, we need louder celebrations of the oddball writers of two weird books that each took 20 years to write, the hermits refusing to publish except via mimeographed zines, the typewriter poets, playwrights for dollhouses, short story writers who sew words into vegan vellum...

08.02.2026 15:12 β€” πŸ‘ 115    πŸ” 41    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 8
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Today my little aquatic probe scifi audiodrama went live. Super thankful for everyone who has listened so far and supported me and this weird robot. There is extra cool art stuff in the Bandcamp download too. Thanks again, and happy Friday ya'll.

localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/salt-b...

06.02.2026 16:37 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Salt Bloom, by Justin Hellstrom 22 track album

SALT BLOOM is here! Get your copy of @scratchybananas.bsky.social's sci-fi mini-epic, including the full soundtrack and a twelve-page illustrated art book, over on Bandcamp: localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/salt-b...

06.02.2026 10:02 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I'll be hanging out while my little robot burbles around an ocean planet - go RSVP so we can hang!

03.02.2026 21:53 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Shoo missed it - anyway to catch a recording?

28.01.2026 02:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Seventy-year old man with white beard in dark wool hat and dark glove walks from the right out of a concentrated cloud of smoke, with a stark bare branch young tree in front of him and two red decorative pavement markers to either side.

Seventy-year old man with white beard in dark wool hat and dark glove walks from the right out of a concentrated cloud of smoke, with a stark bare branch young tree in front of him and two red decorative pavement markers to either side.

Theia Chatelle's amazing photograph of Greg Ketter, owner of DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis...emerging from a cloud of tear gas. Signed there a couple of times, great SF/Fantasy bookstore.

26.01.2026 16:30 β€” πŸ‘ 342    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 2
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5 questions with Justin Hellstrom The mastermind behind Salt Bloom tells us how he ends conversations at parties

I have a little interview about my weird process and weird inspirations. My folder system is a bonafide nightmare πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™

www.localfiles.club/5-questions-...

22.01.2026 18:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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RSS or Not? Podcasthon, Edison's latest reports, Transom x Blue Mountain, casting calls, Harvey in Hell, Petrified news and more Plus, recording at SXSW, share your show with a tap, subscription revenue models, AIR's New Voices Amplify program, and more

Thank you to Fiction Podcast Weekly for including SALT BLOOM in β€œLaunches and Milestones” this week! If you’re not already signed up, make sure to subscribe to stay up to date on all things audiodrama. fiction-podcast-weekly.beehiiv.com/p/rss-or-not...

18.01.2026 16:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The World Has Lost a Poet Robin Ince

New post up, for all the self proclaimed poets & those who proclaim love and beauty - for Renee Good.

β€œIf someone smiles or cries, feels less alone or more enthused, when you read your work out aloud you have made something wonderful.”

thecosmicshamblesnetwork.substack.com/p/the-world-...

09.01.2026 16:20 β€” πŸ‘ 345    πŸ” 67    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 9

"Did you see what Mark Cuban posted? Oh did you see the clapbβ€”"

You shake yourself awake in the cold North Atlantic water. You are not online. It is July of 1858. You are a baleen whale, and you have changed your mind. The future most not come to pass. The telegraph cable must break.

27.12.2025 02:15 β€” πŸ‘ 16125    πŸ” 3300    πŸ’¬ 69    πŸ“Œ 42
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Got some some ocean robot anime in the works.

23.12.2025 22:55 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Not sure - but given all the AI job postings for writers and artists to train specific LLMs, and how many seem to hit over 100 applicants in just an hour or two, it doesn't look or feel great.

13.12.2025 02:51 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
THE INDUSTRY IS DEAD leaflet. Visit UVW-CWA.org!

THE INDUSTRY IS DEAD leaflet. Visit UVW-CWA.org!

Come by the Peacock terrace and get a leaflet, or digitally spread them around online!

11.12.2025 22:02 β€” πŸ‘ 235    πŸ” 138    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

Why not: first line + the cat who didn't eat me (yet).

11.11.2025 17:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop, by Skadi's Symphony 21 track album

Counting down the days until Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop crashes into an audio player near you... our first release is out this Friday! Pre-order it today to get the files as soon as humanly possible.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...

11.11.2025 14:55 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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When the parade ended, the gore of it lingered on.

05.11.2025 21:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Derranged llama head wearing a tiara on the wall of a grungy music venue (The Masquerade, Atlanta)

Derranged llama head wearing a tiara on the wall of a grungy music venue (The Masquerade, Atlanta)

I think this thing stole a piece of my soul.

04.11.2025 00:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

You're back! I give a huge double thumbs up to the new Thrice album as well. The darker tracks have such a wide fee and mood to them. Couldnt move my neck for two days after the Atlanta show 🀘

02.11.2025 19:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Long overdue! The little ones have been nibbling on my toes...

31.10.2025 19:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy Haunted Lizard Halloween. Got a new little episode up: may your spine be gnawed gently and slow today.

open.spotify.com/episode/7uyC...

31.10.2025 14:26 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

Holy crap. This is terrible.

The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.

13.10.2025 21:35 β€” πŸ‘ 2717    πŸ” 906    πŸ’¬ 86    πŸ“Œ 27

β€œYou grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.”

09.10.2025 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop, by Skadi's Symphony 21 track album

The first Local Files Club release is now available to pre-order on Bandcamp!

Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a five-part audiodrama from Skadi’s Symphony, the creators of Kane and Feels, starring Greta Clarkson as the eponymous witch.

localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...

08.10.2025 11:30 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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The Great Chameleon War πŸ¦ŽπŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸŒ‹ | Dramatized surreal scifi audio fiction Welcome to the Nesting Zone: a surreal rim of jungle around Mt. Tahoma prowled by transdimensional reptiles. The Amanuensis catalogues his expedition up the volcano slope and records stories of explor...

Shout out to The End for making The Great Chameleon War a Fan-Favorite in their Weird Fiction collection.

Go feed some blood to your favorite lizard. Make a wizard wish. Shed your skin for scales!

www.theend.fyi/shows/the-gr...

29.09.2025 18:02 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0