Emily

The Idiot’s Guide to Mystical Interactive Theater A fortune teller's attempt at dramaturgy

what happens when a sidewalk fortune teller performs ego death on stage during an improv occult play?

one of the greatest disaster stories of our time!

New on The Ick: a story from @joetforhire.com that smashes the gas and doesn't let up
www.emilybynight.com/p/the-idiots...

lucky

The 'Moist' Mind Virus: Why We Hate Wet Sounds On misophonia and socially transmitted disgust

Why do you hate the word "moist"? why do wet sounds like teeth-sucking, slurping, and swallowing evoke a sense of disgust and rage?

@jakee.bsky.social explains in dazzling detail on The Ick...
emilybynight.substack.com/p/the-moist-...

The Politics of Contagion Dispatches from the immune system of a failed utopia

I lived at an anarchist commune for 3 years and learned a lot about “going viral”. Here's a story in three plagues.

Read my new piece in The Ick:

open.substack.com/pub/emilybyn...

It's hard not to agree with that one

Is The Ick Real? An investigation of female primatological filters

Everyone knows laziness is unattractive.... but why is rolling dice off a table unsexy? running into a screen door?
@etirabys.bsky.social has such a fun and interesting explanation
Read it here -> www.emilybynight.com/p/is-the-ick...

2. Distance from a masculine archetype icks
- femininity or neoteny (e.g. wearing lip balm, eating sippy yogurt)
- physical fragility (e.g. standing naked waiting for the shower to get hot, blowing on food to cool it down)
3. Shirking work icks
(e.g.tried to fob off preparing food he wanted to eat)

Is "the ick" real? @etirabys.bsky.social investigated and found that women's icks fall into 3 main categories:

1. Raw fitness icks
- manual dexterity, tool use (e.g. rolling dice off table, running into screen door)
- cognitive inability (e.g. bad at spelling)

thanks, I created a midjourney model - I'm generating and graphic designing it myself

Men Want to Be Sons, Not Parents Your assumptions about motherhood give me the ick

Why do men's feelings about motherhood often feel so idealistic and rigid? Why do they thought police the image of motherhood? what's going on? are men ok?

Season 4 of The Ick kicks off today with an absolute banger from
@eurydicelives.blogsky.venki.dev -> www.emilybynight.com/p/men-want-t...

my non-gardener friends never ask about my bone meal or NKP ratio - like do you even care about me

I would love it!

ty joe! so inspired by the concept country work fr (also do you want to write for this issue???)

Announcing The Ick Season 4: The Magazine Big news for the new season!

Plus a PRINT magazine and reading event at the end of the season. this is truly my dream come true. tune iinnnnnnn substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thrilled to announce Season 4 of The Ick, featuring writing from @eurydicelives.blogsky.venki.dev, @jakee.bsky.social, @lydialaurenson.bsky.social, @ninatummyache.bsky.social, @deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com + more surprise guests TBA!

Support Help Emily fight HIV, Homelessness and Hunger on Give Out Day Help fight HIV, homelessness, and hunger and support SF's most outrageous show of the year!

or if you can't, you could contribute to the fundraiser? ily tysm mtyc.co/r7e1kf

ps you should come to the show 💋💋😎😎

starting a burlesque career in my late 30s, you can just do things

Hiiiii 🥰

Why No Elbows on the Table? History of a not-so-arbitrary rule, plus updated guidance

do you put your elbows on the table, heathen? www.emilybynight.com/p/why-no-elb...

How to Compliment a Stranger Why this small grace has such big social effects

It's easier and harder than you think to give a good compliment to a stranger. Don't make it weird. Here's some advice, with help from @iwsfutcmd.bsky.social www.emilybynight.com/p/how-to-com...

Compliments you should NOT give to strangers:
- An obvious, striking feature ❌ "You're so tall"
- Transactional ❌ "I love your eyes, can I have your number?"
- Assumptions about age/gender ❌ "Wow, you look great for your age.”
- Body size ❌ "You're so pretty for [body size/shape]"

Compliments you should give to strangers:
Specific ✅ “Your tie and vest are so well-coordinated.”
Related to taste/style ✅ “That book is my favorite—great choice.”
No strings attached ✅ "You have such a warm smile!" said as you pass walking the opposite direction

lil ear rock buddies

We have tiny rocks (otoliths) in our inner ear canals that perceive acceleration and gravity

They're literally rolling around in our heads helping us understand where the ground is!!

How to Ghost The modern break-up protocol

Can you ghost someone while also respecting their dignity?

Here's my take: emilybynight.substack.com/p/how-to-ghost

Me too! So many of these surprised me. I had always flattened curiosity to the first dimension only

(PDF) The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR): Briefer subscales while separating general overt and covert social curiosity PDF | Curiosity is a fundamental human motivation that influences learning, the acquisition of knowledge, and life fulfillment. Our ability to... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Res...

from the research of @toddkashdan.bsky.social here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

5D curiosity scale:
1. Joyous Exploration - desire to seek new knowledge
2. Deprivation Sensitivity - desire to reduce knowledge gaps
3. Stress Tolerance - willingness to embrace doubt, confusion
4. Social Curiosity - desire to know what other ppl think
5. Thrill Seeking - willingness to take risks