Vibechecking “AI is plugins” Posted on 10 August 2026 by bm 1 One more post, before I lock in for my thesis… Continue reading →
Your Worldbuilding Bores Me When They Tell You to Do This Posted on 9 June 2026 by bm Or, “On Worldbuilding Discourse.” TTLY…: Old posts. Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #6: How Do We Keep Fantasy Weird and Eerie? Posted on 25 May 2026 by bm The sixth and final installment of “The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled: 1. A Cry for the Eerie – Mark Fisher: a palate cleanser for all those Freudian texts you’ve been forced to read; 2. Welcome to the New Weird – But not before brief detours to Lovecraft and Lucian; 2.1 Fantasy’s Weird Emulsifiers – Oil and water can, in fact, mix; 3. ☜︎♏︎❒︎♓︎♏︎📪︎ ☜︎♏︎❒︎♓︎●︎⍓︎ ✋︎■︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎♏︎⬧︎⧫︎♓︎■︎♑︎ 📫︎ ✋︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎♍︎♏︎♎︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ⧫︎□︎ ●︎□︎□︎🙵 ◆︎◻︎ ♋︎ 🕈︎♓︎■︎♑︎♎︎♓︎■︎♑︎⬧︎ ⧫︎❒︎♋︎■︎⬧︎●︎♋︎⧫︎□︎❒︎🖴︎ 3.1 ♋︎☠︎⧫︎✋︎❍︎☜︎❍︎☜︎⬧︎📫︎ 🗏︎🖲︎♊︎🗏︎🖲︎🕯︎📄︎📄︎📬︎🖮︎✂︎☠︎ 🖰︎📄︎♊︎🗏︎🖮︎🕯︎📂︎📄︎📬︎📁︎✂︎☜︎🖴︎ 3.2 ✌︎︎■︎︎☠︎︎♓︎︎☟︎︎♓︎︎☹︎︎♋︎︎❄︎︎♓︎︎⚐︎︎■︎︎ 📫︎ 📂︎📁︎♊︎📁︎🗏︎′🗐︎🗏︎″💧︎ 📂︎🗄︎📄︎♊︎📂︎🖰︎′🗐︎⌛︎″🕈︎🖴︎ 4. “But It’s Still Magic–“ – Is it? Is it, though? 5. Brief Reflections – TL;DR, I think I came up short but I ain’t quitting; TTLY… – Old posts. Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #5: Borrowing Posted on 28 April 2026 by bm 1 1. Keeping it Real: Table stakes; 2. Beginning Borrowing: Literary writers like borrowing from genre – someone ought to ask what we should borrow back; 3. A Village After Dark: Litfic creates contexts where problems cannot be cleanly resolved; 3.5 Derailed (or, ‘Easter is Harvest time for the University’): Making up for the seminar that wasn’t; 4. Much Ado About Borrowing: Thinking of a philosophy for how to borrow Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #4: Plot (and Story) Posted on 9 April 2026 by bm 1. Cleaving Plot and Story: Plot and story as fine distinctions; 2. Beginnings: On threshold moments; 2.1 Orc City: Scrutinising the hottest orcshitpost of Summer 2025; 3. Middles: 4. Endings: Before You Land: 4.1 Endings: After the Crash: 4.2 Endings: Deus Ex Chartis: TTLY…: Old posts. Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #3: Characterisation Posted on 29 March 2026 by bm In twenty-seven minutes (or your money back), you will read: 0. Preramble: What characterisation (and character arcs) mean; 1. Characterisation as… Structural Analysis: Walking across to the anthropologists’ aisle, to see what we can learn; 1½. *I move away from the keyboard to let Future Me edit*: Applying structural analysis in the classroom; 2. Characterisation as… Discovery: Fuck planning and shit – characters are vibes, baby; 3. Characterisation as… Meaningful Choices: OK, but how are you gonna make them different from everyone else? 3.1 Dialogue and Its Functions: Dialogue reveals change; 3.2 Changing the Font?: Exploring a Pratchettism in Jingo; 3.3 Point of View and Narration: Narrators have more to do with characterisation than you think; 3.4 Body Language and Actions: “What can the body say that speech would otherwise diminish?” 3.5 Thoughts: Keep it to yourself; 3.6 Appearances: I said, keep it to yourself; 3.7 The Other and Schismogenesis: Why look for the Other in the exotic? What’s stopping you from starting closer to home? Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #2: Worldbuilding Posted on 20 March 2026 by bm Twenty beautiful minutes on: 1. Telling Details and Incluing: or, “Pulverising the Boulder of Exposition;” 2. Pellargonia: A cautionary tale of worldbuilding getting out of hand; 3. Knowing Your Noinos: When vegetables aren’t vegetables; 4. Where’s My Thirty Magic Systems, bm?: If everyone knows a spell for fire… TTLY: Old posts. Continue reading →
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #1: Factfinding Posted on 26 February 2026 by bm My triumphant 28-minute return to blogging, and it concerns: 0. Preramble: On Pedagogy of the Oppressed; 1. Introduction to Factfinding: Who am I, and who are my students likely to be?; 2. Library of Babel and the Ur-Literature: What IS fantasy, anyway?; 3. Magic Kingdoms and Tremendous Trifles: Finding fantasy in the mundane; 4. Eggs-istential Problems (Or, “What’s the Fucking POINT??”): It’s the telepathy, stupid; 5. Finally! Finding Facts! TTLY: Vintage posts. Continue reading →