this is exactly what Starbucks did in the 90s and 00s, and it’s why so many amazing (and late-night!) coffee shops in Chicago are long gone

The CEO of Barnes & Noble says they aren't hurting indies, but in Chicagoland they're exclusively opening near independent bookstores. I threw together a map. Blue pins are indies, red pins are new B&Ns (recent and upcoming) Map here: indiebooks.nerdychicago.com

People can be absolutely wild! A man seems to be melting down because I didn't respond to his email fast enough over a December weekend. When I had one of my biggest events of the year.

Have you noticed this new friend in our Art & Community space? It's a Care Cubby stocked to help you care for yourself and your community! Our Care Cubby was made by the @trashgoblins.bsky.social, because goblins believe in mutual aid. 💚

I'm on a little crusade today. If you want to help me yell about AI art harming real artists in a very direct way, please amplify! Faire is actively working to grow their presence in the book market, and I think there's a good chance some pressure could get them to add some sort of AI policy.

A few pics from our larp, Fallen London: Ouroboros, at GenCon 🐍🪞

if you know anyone who is like “speed cameras are fine, just don’t speed” remind them that any time we give cops the ability to search us extrajudicially, they’re gonna fuckin do it

It's taking all my willpower not to spam the store's bluesky with vampire pics

A ticket opened up for our Fangs Gallery larp tomorrow! A player is sick, and he's making the responsible decision to protect everyone's health by staying home. More info about the game: goblinmkt.com/fangs

If I could just not be sick, that would be amazing. It's been pretty constant since Christmas, and I'm so tired.

It’s your moral duty to stop the Gestapo from grabbing people on the streets.

AND ALSO WITH YOUSE

American pope?!?!

FCBD at Laser Church!

Okay, I wasn't expecting outright fraud. What exactly was the plan here?

If you are in line to own Diamond Comics Distributors stay in line!

Such a busy day, and we're so tired! Highlights later. I kept notes so I wouldn't forget!

Give these shops some love on Free Comic Book Day!

Celebrate Free Comic Book Day with a citywide adventure through Chicago’s nerdiest comic shops. Snag free comics, collect stamps, and earn exclusive challenge coins (and serious bragging rights). Here’s how to join the crawl: comiccrawl.nerdychicago.com

I'm increasingly convinced satire isn't just dead but it's dying act was to lock us all in Hell. But every now and then someone comes out with something this good and I think it might not actually be dead.

participating in an organized boycott – not a haphazard, individual one – of a company as large as microsoft will always pose complex questions on a long enough timescale. but skipping the oblivion remaster weeks after bds declared microsoft a priority target? easy. a complete no brainer

Bro they lobotomized your aunt

It's that time again! Come visit me on Free Comic Book Day! Maybe dress as your favorite cryptid and visit a couple comic shops. Ask out that hottie you like and bring them along. They'll be impressed by your creativity and closet cosplay skills, and something magical will blossom.

"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out in the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security." -Pope Francis

This man is a lunatic.

New season of The Rehearsal just dropped

This is so obviously a bad idea I can't believe it's even being considered.

JK Rowling isn't just saying hateful things, she's using her money to strip trans women of legal protections. There are other wizard books. Better wizard books. More importantly, wizard books that don't fund real world hate. bookshop.org/lists/even-t...

We watched people standing in line for 8-10 hours to vote in Georgia, so they made it illegal to give them water. They called in bomb threats to majority Black polling places. They did everything they could to suppress the vote. And then folks are out here like, "well Georgia voted for this lol"

I really hate this take. You have no idea why people didn't vote. We live in a country with systemic voter suppression. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US and there's a host of mechanisms set up to encourage people in many states not to vote.

Never change, Chicago

Hey, just a quiet reminder: it’s not true that people get more conservative as they age. *Populations* get more conservative as they age because poor and marginalized people die sooner. nymag.com/intelligence...

If your client or loved one has been disappeared by the US gov, whether to Guantánamo, a Salvadoran gulag, or some other incomunicado/unregistered ICE or CBP facility, I urge you to report it to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (thread): www.ohchr.org/en/special-p...

Red's 19, and a 30-year-old turd is trying to ruin her life in exchange for a $5000 cash prize from fascists. Said turd competed in mixed-gender competitions without issue, but took exception to Red, because taking an unprincipled knee to vilify a scapegoated population is lucrative right now.

i do not think the mainstream press is equipped or capable of covering ideological white nationalists and eugenicists as such, or even capable of noting that this is what they are. it is related to the wide belief that racism is simply a matter of manners.

I’m telling y’all

We've always said: one of the best ways to find out why something is happening/changing is to first ask who will profit from the change.

Amid all the important national news coverage, I’m proud to collaborate with @veritenews.org’s @richardawebster.bsky.social, whose running investigation into Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s criminal justice policies dives into the new use of an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from parole.

Alright, I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded it beforehand. You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those calls are up 2100% in one hour.

Every senator and member of Congress should immediately and voluntarily disclose any stock, bond, or similar trades they have made in the last ten days.

I'm being flippant on the store account, but this is just blatant market manipulation, right? If you know when they tariffs are going to drop and when they're getting walked back, you can make a fortune. Seems like insider trader on a massive scale.

UPDATE: ICE is wildly unconcerned about where this man is and no one will tell me, his registered attorney. The universal answer so far is "let's wait and see where he ends up." This is deeply off. We would have more rights at this point if UPS had lost a pair of shoes I'd just bought from Zappos

MAJOR Victory in Montana! Bill that would criminalize parents with felony child endangerment DIES in Montana after 15 Republicans cross party lines. The bill would have criminalized even parents of trans kids driving through the state. It died after nonbinary rep Howell delivered a strong speech.

Everything from the 16th Century onwards is basically this meme

Please use ALT text on your protest photos. Disabled people are left out of non-disabled activism. Accommodations are not made. Intersectionality does not apply. We aren’t invited to participate. We have to fight for ourselves. Leaving ALT off your images leaves disabled people out yet again.

Estimated 3,000–4,000 peaceful demonstrators gathered at today’s #HandsOff protest in #Evanston’s Fountain Square, just north of Chicago. #TelsaTakedown #NoKings #SlavaUkraini #LGBTQIA @indivisible.org

My fav Chicago sign today

The #handsoff #april5th march in Chicago is so large the front just arrove back in Daley Plaza while the back has just started to leave.

Not all “Hands Off” events were in-person. I attended two virtual events centering chronically ill and disabled people for @motherjones.com, who are terrified about attacks to Medicaid, Section 504, research funding, education and more. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Let's go Chicago!!!! Thousands of protesters showed up for the Hands Off! protest! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥