Liz (E.M. Morrissey)

Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture

In addition to being a fascinating (if horrific) insight into a mostly-unknown period of European prehistory, this includes a BANGER of a quote: "I can see why all these people without heads wouldn’t be good for a community, and might be a cause for abandonment."

www.science.org/content/arti...

Meme. Photograph of an eel underwater, in front of some grasses. You can only see the eel's head and fins, and a bit of its body. The eel is coming into view from the right side of the screen, and is headed left like a college student reading Marx for the first time. Unlike that student, though, the eel is not insufferable. You suffer it happily. The eel is grey-brown on top, and white underneath. It seems to be smiling at you. Not a joyful smile, or even the smile you save for old half-friends who you run into while shopping. It's the inward-facing smile of a fish that's seem more of the world than you, and is content with its own capacity for cannibalism. The eel's eye is looking past you, or possibly through you. It will almost certainly forget you as soon as you're gone. The eel's perspective on the world, and time, and history make you feel unimportant. And that is its gift to you. Meme text reads: "Putting the 'smug' back in 'World's most smuggled animal"

We have very few eel-related metaphors English now. But there used to be many more.

One of my favorites is from William Lisle’s 1631 play "The Faire Ætheopian" where he describes a procession of haughty maids as being “smug as Eeles."

Have you ever been that smug? Has anyone?
🗃️🧪

Aged Natural Redhead black tea from Yunnan in a Yes porcelain gaiwan

years ago we pressed a sun-dried Yunnan black tea for aging so that we could drink it on this very morning

Code 2025bf gets your free international shipping on orders over $39 for our big Black Friday sale

Please consider making a donation 💚 Your support can help us rebuild, heal, and find hope again after all we’ve endured.

Hi my friend, My family is struggling to make it through each day 💔.
The cold is unbearable and hunger constant 🙏.
Please, if you can, donate 🍉.
Your support could save us from this cruelty.

I’m asking with all my heart—please help.

if an argument isn’t going your way, you can always just claim you were initiated into various mystical societies

Young man in a red tunic bearing a sword surrounded by armed glassy-eyed monsters

A red robed horseman with a skull face and stag's antlers rides through the forest, the horse rearing back, a shaft of light falling onto the scene

A red haired woman in a red dress and a boy in a blue doublet stand in front of a huge black cauldron. In the foreground, three cackling hags.

A boy in a blue tunic with a dagger tries to get a sword away from a giant orange cat

I have said before and will say again that it is such a loss that we no longer get covers of this caliber for fantasy books.

This art is by Jean-Léon Huens. These covers are for the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. They lit my imagination on fire as a kid.

“I need compelling worldbuilding and a hard magic system to make my fantasy world” NO YOU DON’T! You need a plot outline and interesting characters based on insecurities or fetishes don’t get distracted!

I misread this image so badly that I can only really hope to illustrate what I saw.

( Also a good excuse for an #art study )

A shoal of colourful plush plecos stuck to a set of glass doors as the autumn sun shines through. Photo from last year!

These guys have suction cups and can stick to your preferred smooth surface!

Ink pen doodles of various characters, all of them have long hair

More freehand character doodles with a ballpoint pen

The one thing I really miss about the 'older world' is browsing library stacks, and card catalogues. However much I appreciate databases and retrieving what I want in moments, the serendipity of 'the book next to the one I wanted' and 'the article in the same issue' cannot be replicated. #Libraries

Interview with Chris Scott storytelling, fatherhood, mystery

I never write anything without a very clear idea of what it means to me. Which isn’t the same thing as saying “There’s a definitive answer embedded here that everyone should be on the same page about.” I’m not writing math equations.

-interview with @iamchrisscott.bsky.social

My 8” x 10” linocut print “Winter Walrus” from 2008 shows a large purplish brown walrus emerging from water surrounded by ice printed in blue.The walrus faces the viewer.

A throwback for World Walrus Day - this limited edition walrus #linocut. Rapid climate change and loss of sea ice in the arctic is a challenge for these extraordinary mammals.

#walrus #WorldWalrusDay #printmaking #sciart #arctic #mammal 🧪

candle void tape mockup

This Friday, Fiadh presents Candle Void, the self-titled debut from multi instrumentalist and vocalist @vanessafunke.bsky.social’s dark ambient synth project.

Mystical and richly atmosphered, Vanessa’s talents flicker throughout this promising first installment in her fantasy series.

Art by • Sebastian Fiumara

In a time of slop, AI or not, it’s time to lean into niche communities and odd work by passionate weirdos with well-honed clarity of intention and craft

marker pen study from my sketchbook. It depicts a knight wearing closed sallet helmet with bunch of feathers.

Study of a sallet - marker pen

[ #art | #knight ]

My friend just fuckin showed up with a corncob pipe & that’s when it hit me that we are all in our 40s which means we get one new accessory slot

Today is a 2 day. There’s not enough ppl telling me what lil monster they are. Come on you guiys. Pick oneee 😓

hmm I'm thinking 13

The Artist Who Reminds Us that Another Way Is Possible The late artist Abigail McGrath cultivated a creative life for herself filled with freedom, joy, and a commitment to beauty. In an age of authoritarianism and algorithms, it’s a kind of life worth pro...

You all MUST READ this piece by Kaitlyn Greenidge about the power of art to “exist outside of a tech lord’s algorithm.”

www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...

gouache painting of apple flowers

the perpetual print sale continues
www.inprnt.com/gallery/geor...

If you're an author being published by small and tiny presses, please shamelessly promote your work, however much your temperament might militate against it. I've seen many wonderful authors at this level so quickly forgotten when they die, you deserve all the readers you can get while you're alive.

Ok palate cleanse time. In case you missed it, here's my most popular post ever

For what remains of Puerto Rican Heritage Month, I wanted to share work by other Puerto Rican authors

Today, I wanted to shout out @tropicaleccentric.bsky.social whose novel, "Andújar: the Robot Gentleman of San Juan" is a delight

South side fake Burger King in Pittsburgh rendered in gingerbread

Front of the Burger King with posters saying “we ❤️ south side Burger King” and “use side entranc”

Marquee sign says “new in 2014 unlimited patties” the fake Burger King allowed customers to buy as many patties as they wanted back in 2014

Fake Burger King employee returning to work with two blue plastic giant eagle bags containing buns

Finished version of the South Side fake Burger King for the Pittsburgh city county building display