Marc Criley

As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.

One thing that doing creative work teaches you is that ideas are worth nothing. Anybody can have an idea. In a writers room you have to come up with a hundred ideas a day, and most of those don’t make the page. It’s the work of making something that gives it value. The patina of humanity.

love mr darcy's fake ass like "oh elizabeth bennet isn't even that hot" and then spends the next year staring at her like oh my god. oh my fuckign god

Photographed the center red orange hair red eyeshadow running in a stripe across the bridge of her nose very red lipstick black top diamond jewelry

Annie Lennox

Oh, but a dollar fifty more went on the principal than in last month's payment!

AI filmmaking and storytelling is punk rock. It’s hip hop. It’s counterculture. It’s a new type of creativity. It’s a new medium. It’s hated by the mainstream film and art establishment. It resists ideology. It ignores gate keeping. It’s uncomfortable. It’s scary. It’s viral. It’s accessible. It’s refreshing. It’s welcoming. It’s here.

AI filmmaking is peeing. It’s pooping. It’s throwing up. It’s a new kind of liquid coming out. It’s hated by the establishment. It’s what goes in the toilet. It’s wet. It’s what’s in the bathroom.

Sausages and cheese, German supermarket

the scenario we all feared

I'm honestly very curious how long this has been going on.

a black and white dog sits on a throne of gray pillows and glares at the camera. his black ears have what would otherwise be cute floppy tips, but we fear they’re mostly just judgemental.

an adoption portrait of Igor with his forever family. the two humans are smiling, the second dog looks unamused, and Igor is sizing up his new sibling and possibly their willingness to join his schemes.

a screenshot of the first half of Igor’s brutally honest adoption bio from Renegade Paws Rescue, describing him as “a cursed Victorian child masquerading as a 10lb stuffed animal” and a “sentient middle finger wrapped in a cloud of fur.” It says he “materializes in doorways and stares at corners,” “knows exactly what you did,” and “wants your ex-boyfriend’s head on a platter.”

a screenshot of the second half of Igor’s brutally honest adoption bio from Renegade Paws Rescue, explaining that he will only be “satisfied when he’s cursed the bloodline of your enemies.” they say he “is not a good boy, Igor is an experience” and invites brave adopters to “apply to enter into a legally binding relationship with a fluff-coated poltergeist.”

This is Igor, but you may know him better as "a sentient middle finger wrapped in a cloud of fur." He went viral last month when his rescue posted a brutally honest adoption bio about him. And it worked! He found a perfect (and very brave) forever family. 14/10 congratulations little guy

Colored pencil illustration of my wife and myself in the Scottish Highlands (during the rain). By Gary McKelvy

One year ago today my wife and I departed to Scotland, for our first overseas trip together, and the first for each of us in over 40 years.

We were going to the Glasgow Worldcon, and then touring around Scotland. Fond memories!

Mad king Trump

yes.

Archibald: It’s always 1984 somewhere There’s real Ministry of Truth stuff going on right in front of our eyes.

I've written at least five times over the years that "1984" was late, but on the way.
Well here it is.

Years ago a Republican Alabama governor tried to even out the tax code just a bit.

The yard signs opposing the measure, "We're taxed enough!" were commonly seen in front of rundown houses and trailers as well as suburban homes.

The statewide vote on it failed.

The "Sickos" meme.

Sold a couple drabbles to a dark fairy tales anthology.

In one of them Beauty goes dark. *Really* effing dark.

I quite enjoyed writing it.

Breaking911 @Breaking911 : REP. MIKE FLOOD, (R-NEB.): "Do you think that people who are 28-years-old, that can work, & refuse to work, should get free healthcare?" TOWN HALL CROWD: "YESSSSSSSSSS!"

lmaooooo this dumb shit just doesn’t fly anymore

*yelling this on repeat until my voice gives out* we have empirical evidence! Rich people swore they'd leave MA if we passed the Fair Share amendment, but we have more millionaires now than before it was enacted!

Finally, a united nation.

I've occasionally wondered what (and how long) it would take to get someone to the moon and back if it were an absolute necessity to do so, e.g. humanity's existence hung in the balance and the clock was ticking.

Two timeline synchronicity posts. The first, from Riker Googling, is "starfleet insignia pasties." The immediately following one from Becca Andrews reads, "Perfect, let's do it."

Uhhhh......okay?

this sounds like the perfect job for Elon, send him on up let's get it done

More plate-inspired mermaids, for Mermay More of the mermay illustrations! These are mermaids 12 to 20, based on Bunnykins, Stavangerflint ware, vintage crockpots, Pyrex, and more. You can see previous posts here: Mermay 2025: the first f…

Nine more of the mermaids!
tanaudel.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/m...

A Allen’s hummingbird flying towards an agave bloom pad

The Hummingplane is on approach to Agave Sky Island

Thank you for flying with Selasphorus Airlines as we tour Southern California succulents

📷🌿🪶

Diamond Tear - James Gunn's Ad Astra “STAY OFF GROOMED SURFACES” headlined the resurfacing status page as I skimmed alongside the track groomer, staying well clear of the hundred meter booms snowing frozen nitrogen onto the drag strip. C...

One of my stories from a couple years ago came up in conversation today, it's one of my personal favorites.

"Diamond Tear," published in James Gunn's Ad Astra.

Ice skimmer racing, art glass, grief, loss, recovery, and carrying on...on Pluto.

Shout out to corn, surviving the entire digestive process then waving up at us from the toilet like "I'm still here, wockaflocka!"

There are photos of a very young me being held by my great grandfather, the son of a Civil War veteran.

I remembering visiting another great grandmother as a child. In the "life history" she wrote late in life she mentions her father-in-law telling her about a Civil War battle he was in.

If you buy a home, learn from my mistakes and keep a list of:

* the manufacturer and model of all of your faucets / fixtures
* every paint color + manufacturer + glossiness of every paint you do

Discontinued cereals I miss:

- Team Flakes
- Bran Chex

Diamond Tear - James Gunn's Ad Astra “STAY OFF GROOMED SURFACES” headlined the resurfacing status page as I skimmed alongside the track groomer, staying well clear of the hundred meter booms snowing frozen nitrogen onto the drag strip. C...

One of my stories from a couple years ago came up in conversation today, it's one of my personal favorites.

"Diamond Tear," published in James Gunn's Ad Astra.

Ice skimmer racing, art glass, grief, loss, recovery, and carrying on...on Pluto.

Ann, "If you destroy the box Schrodinger used, did you just kill a cat or not?"