As the sun sets in Hobbiton and the evening draws down on the eve of his birthday, Frodo is anxious. Gandalf had promised that ‘At the very latest I shall come back for the farewell party’—but the party is tomorrow, and the wizard has not yet returned.

There is no world in which it is normal for the president to publicly call upon his attorney general to hurry up and prosecute his political foes. It’s like the Watergate tapes but posted on social media. Let’s get a grip on what’s happening here.

Not the biggest issue, but still important: regardless of whether he's doing it on purpose or his brain is mush, there should be a steep political price, with the media questioning his fitness every day, for the President showing he doesn't know the meaning of "asylum." (Same goes for "tariff.")

entire press has gotten bullied into treating charlie kirk as if he was one of the most important americans alive and not a modestly popular podcaster

The last sentence here is why all of these platforms should be burned to the ground and also why the fascists want us all addicted to them

If it was possible to pick up Republican voters at scale by being more moderate and representing the center of politics, we would've won 2016 & 2024, and 2020 would've been a massive blowout creating a Congressional supermajority. It doesn't work in a polarized electorate!

The tonal dissonance between my Bsky and my IG right now is WILD, apologies for the whiplash for anyone who follows me in both places 😅

Wow, what an absolutely horrible idea

A new era of government censorship has begun. It started with the silencing of scientific speech, when the admin blocked release of research on bird flu. But MAGA has also cracked down on other wrongthink—on race, geography (!), and of course Trump himself www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

News from VA-01: So on THIS issue, I got a timely response from Representative Wittman. Let’s hold him to it, folks.

Random observation but Southwest’s in-flight wifi kicks JetBlue’s and American’s asses.

#Septopolis D19: Since Aylesburh is a fortress, the dominant work is military in nature! And second to that is trade. Most of the permanent residents who are not themselves soldiers or traders support them in one way or another: armorers, smiths, fletchers, animal care, innkeeping, laundry, etc.

#PretendPanel Sept 19: A strong and distinctive voice, which may come across in dialogue or internal narrative. They need to sound like themselves, not like other characters in that book or like similar archetypes in other stories.

That’s how censorship operates in the USA (and many places) government pressure is used to force people & groups to self-censor. It’s a constant pattern: The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal

What’s particularly wild about this — and of course it’s part of the narcissism — is the willful memory loss about literally everything late night hosts do in fact say about Democrats. Remind me how often they were cracking on Biden about his age and/or goofiness?

Hermes Psychpompos 💀🔮🪽🏺

The person being quoted is shitty but he is not wrong; I did not work in tv for 45 years, but I’ve worked news/mag advertising and/or digital marketing for 25 or so - and if you want to grab a media company’s attention by the short hairs, yes: bitch to their advertisers, not their inboxes.

This is the way.

Reposting with Alt Text because this is important and everyond should have access.

#SFFChat A4: This is a long one, but I love the whole exchange. Messiness!

#SFFChat A3: I mean, all the best SFF does this, but that's a cop-out answer. @mrmaresca.com's Maradaine Saga and @fondalee.bsky.social's Green Bone Saga both show the messiness of power in ways I thoroughly appreciate. @clpolk.com's Kingston Cycle is all about controlling power.

#SFFChat A2: Rhiann is a former rebel leader turned reluctant diplomat. She does not think she's well-suited to it. Lycus is a former imperial overlord, now a regional governor. He cares a lot about that status; he loves having power. He's... gonna have an interesting journey. 😅

#SFFChat A1: Yes. 😂 There's a variety! Tovira is attempting to establish a representative government in the wake of war and occupation, with mixed success. Coriol is a vast republic wrestling with the difficulties of balancing many needs. Requin is authoritarianism currently in chaos.

#SFFChat Intro: Late but catching up because I simply cannot pass up this topic! I'm Cass, currently working on an enemies-to-lovers romantasy that I gave a bad case of politics. I have always adored Ysandre de la Courcel, Queen of Terre d'Ange.

yes

This! This!!! All of this!!! I am so *weary* of the insistence that prose be as trim as possible. Sometimes the whole point is to indulge in something lush -- to sit in the meadow and watch the clouds and smell the flowers, not race from one side to the other as fast as possible.

Ah heck, two containment breaches in one day??

Dang, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez is on MSNBC right now, defending Kimmel, pointing out that satire is important and not a reason to pull a license, and generally saying things that are likely going to get her fired. Good for her.

Worldbuilding for Masochists recently got a publicist-pitching-a-guest email that I'm reasonably confident was one of these. The incongruity between the formula and the specifics was sort of hilarious.

Mass boycotts can & have worked. We need them. However, it's important to understand that in the current era of media upheaval, Hollywood executives will burn the livelihoods of the creatives working for them to ashes before taking any action that might jeopardize a merger or lucrative deal.

As I've said before, my feelings about Disney Creative and Disney Corporate are so far apart they might as well be on different planets.

Having learned that the land called ‘Shire’ lies near the Elvish towers at the Grey Havens, the nine Nazgûl cross the river Isen—entering Eriador again for the first time since the Witch-king’s defeat at the Battle of Fornost 1,043 years ago.

What’s *really* needed is an advertiser boycott of Nexstar and Sinclair. Bring the hammer down on these affiliate networks. ABC bent to them as much as it bent to threats from the FCC.

#Septopolis D18: Dalmaer's Bridge connects Tovira to the mainland over the Strait of Ayles: a soaring structure impressive not just for its width but its height, since it connects two seacliffs. It was built using techniques of magical architecture from ancient Talsyra.

Swords & Fire readers! I've made the prologue & epilogue stories/vignettes on my Patreon (www.patreon.com/MelissaCaruso) available individually. They answer some questons about what happens after the end of The Unbound Empire. Here's a thread on what they are and how best to get them!

He raged at his minions that he needed something big to distract everyone, and he certainly got it. The Epstein files must be so much worse than we can even imagine. Trump knows that even his cult won't stand for whatever evidence there is of his abuse and depredation. Keep up the pressure.

I've been saying this for ages. The 1000 year Reich failed to outlive an average dog, and they were very organized and full of experienced veterans. These guys, on the other hand, are mostly podcasters and D-list TV personalities.

Why yes, Southwest, I think I will. Yes, I'm aware my flight is at 7:40am. But this is the start of my wildly indulgent birthday trip, so I think I deserve a mimosa!

“I’ll be 10 min late sorry!!!” -ashamed -fragile -unreliable “A thousand apologies. The relentless slog of time has overtaken my faculties.” -powerful -commanding -honest

Here's my take on the Jimmy Kimmel stuff (complete with videos and transcripts of what he actually said): www.readtpa.com/p/read-the-j...

As a matter of disclosure, please remember that I and many if not most creative folks have business dealings with one or more corporate entities who are navigating, delicately or, uh, otherwise, the fact the US government has been taken over by fascists, no, it's not great and also we have bills

Today in "Being evil makes you ugly", FCC Chair Brendan Carr is apparently only six years older than me. I would've guessed sixteen, at least. Evil is so bad for the skin.

In 1983, 50 companies controlled 90% of the U.S. media market. That number is now down to 5.

I would love to be part of the conversation on MSNBC related to the Kimmel story and it's chilling effects on first amendment, but unfortunately I was terminated by MSNBC for stating that "hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which lead to hateful actions".

Big mood, Gabrielle, big mood.

That's called extortion.

The right wing were always the greatest proponents of cancel culture -- institutional cancel culture, enshrined, enforced, codified. And then they complained about it just as much, claiming they'd been silenced even as they moved to silence others. And now cancel culture is the law of the land.

The address to target is: Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521-3515

This from @democrats.senate.gov is much better than the reporting of a mere ACA extension just until the midterms. They need to be loud about it and hold to it, including causing a shutdown, to make it clear to low-info voters who is on which side. thehill.com/homenews/sen...