It would be such a beautiful evening if not for the quarter inch of pollen coating absolutely everything

So I read the op-ed (archive.is/281II because not giving NYT clicks is praxis) and the entire time, I had the goose meme in center stage in my head - what opinions do you have to change? What ARE the objectionable expectations?

None of those are actually articulated. Probably because —

Anyway -- All of that aside, another thing this podcast conversation dives into, that I'd love to see talked about more, is the synthesis of emotional and magical storylines, since that's something I've wrestled with in no small degree. It's a tricky balance.

I can make all kinds of concessions to help smooth out the on-ramp for a reader, that's a conversation worth having, but I do not want to abandon political nuance, thorny ethical considerations, and overall depth of worldbuilding. I don't want my worlds to feel *thin*.

And I know this isn't *just* my perception, because, well, I was straight-up told by an agent that the worldbuilding density in Shattered Souls was going to be too much for romantasy readers. Or at least for what romantasy editors think is too much for romantasy readers and thus will buy.

I'm particularly tweaked when told "oh this book has great politics!" and it's just... the flattest governmental style ever, no nuance, with rulers making decisions that are just... dumb, *while* the book is telling me how savvy and clever they are.

It happens way more than I'd like it to.

(Honestly that word there might be a lot of the problem: both writers and readers who think 'aesthetic' and 'worldbuilding' are synonymous)

Obviously this is not universal! I have read romantasies with excellent, enthralling, creative, interesting-choice-making worldbuilding.

But they have not constituted the majority of those I've read (or tried to read and DNF'd bc I was disappointed). Much of it is a skin-deep veneer of aesthetic.

It's both frustrating and uncomfortable to desperately want to defend romantasy against the "sniffiness" and derision of many readers ... and, at the same time, to agree with a lot of the complaints that these books have poor worldbuilding. Because IME... yeah, many do.

This is a really good listen on a topic I've been chewing on quite a lot lately.

Again, if you have a Substack, the best time to switch away was months ago -- but today's the second best time.

Image Credit: NASA Image Description: Artemis crew mascot ‘Rise’ the plushy being held up in front of the Artemis rock

With #Artemis II 🚀 in the books, NASA are officially rolling Artemis III into the VAB!

This mission marks a major step as they lay the groundwork for a future base on the moon 🌕

Artemis missions will have an annual launch cadence now, leading up to the Artemis IV lunar landing in 2028.

Reminder that this sale is going on all month!

Memo to everyone claiming that this shit is inevitable, indomitable, "the genie's out of the bottle", etc:

As someone around Zuck's age who lived through the transition between College Email Address Facebook and Everyone's 65 Year Old Aunt Sharing Tacky Jesus Memes Facebook, watching as we did this to the internet was very dissonant and weird

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026) Official Trailer – Joseph Zada YouTube video by Lionsgate Movies

Eeeeeeeeee

youtu.be/fS35YSjopjE?...

"Pontifex" *may*, in turn, derive from words that would essentially make it mean "bridge-builder", but the etymological provenance is uncertain. (It may be folk etymology for an Etruscan term.) I like the idea of it, though: the priest as the one creating a bridge between humanity and the gods.

Originally from "pontifex", the term for someone in the college of priests in ancient Rome! The pope originally took over the title "pontifex maximus". Then they dropped it for a while, then brought it back in the 1500s.

Probably so, and it's not like we've made progress on "you're being cheated out of the benefits of your labor" in the past 50 years.

From 1979Q4 to 2025Q4, productivity is up 92.4% but hourly pay is only up 33.6%, a gap that just keeps growing.

Perhaps Magyar's most important promise, and the one that certainly resonates with voters: "never again a country without consequences!"

The crowd chants: "To prison! To prison!" [with the corrupt officials of the outgoing government]

THIS. This is our path forward too.

#SundaySnips: I love storms. This manuscript has no fewer than three narratively convenient ones. 😅

Literally any day could be the day that It Happens.

No.

Really, really no.

"Sell when you can, you are not for all markets" remains one of the sickest burns of all time

"It's a special thing to be a human and it's a special thing to be on planet Earth."

Remarks from Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman upon arriving to @NASA_Johnson.

The Artemis missioun doth show that the thinges that are trulye the most astoundinge yn thys worlde, the thinges that will echo on thrugh historye, are not technologye, howevir marvelous, but common human braverye, wondir, and love. These will be the themes when thys storye ys tolde for centuryes.

Another Shakespeare reading this afternoon! As You Like It, and compared to 1H6 last month, I've got quite an easy time of it. Only three roles in seven scenes!

And it plays a strong role in the worlds I build, too, because it's a fascinating lever of power and privilege, one of many scales you can dial up and down to reflect a character's position within their society, as well as a compelling force of internal motivation.

#PretendPanel Apr 11: My particular brand of paganism certainly bleeds through, in one way or another, in everything I write. It's never exact -- my faith is too personal for that, and also not necessarily narratively convenient -- but it's always there. And certainly my morals and values are.