There's some guy out there screaming about mRNA vaccines while simultaneously shilling a sketchy-ass peptide called IPTG-453bt 2.5.

America was at war with Iran: therefore America had always been at war with Iran.

A graph depicting the s&p 500 performance from 1990 to 2025.

@nytimes.com publishing graphs which make the stock rally of the last ~20 years look reasonable. The chart is near exponential in reality. Legacy media helping the irrationality of financialization.

#finance

A screenshot of The Verge's homepage. With two different pop-ups, two banner ads, and a paywall blocking the article.

@theverge.com's typical reading experience. The internet is slop all the way down, even without A.I. shit.

The Crow and the Wand Crow sits in his nest, high above the park’s green fields and lush trees.

The Crow and the Wand, a short story (5 minute read) about a crow who just wants to see the water.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

Author's notes on the previous short coming on Friday.

#shortStory #writing #bookSky

The Crow and the Wand Crow sits in his nest, high above the park’s green fields and lush trees.

Another week, another short story!

A Crow who pranks people learns from an Owl.

Author's notes for the previous, Five-Star Girl, is coming Friday. I'll post a link then.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Aaron Markey on Some Person's Publication Author's Notes: It's been a few weeks since I've looked at this story, new eyes allow me to see much more of the good than I had when I finished it. My first cyberpunk-like story, and thus, special t...

Author's Note for Aperture Above is live! These are my reflections on my own work, post-publication.

Another note for Five-Star Girl next Friday, and another story coming Monday.

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/aperture-a...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Mairyn’s Candle & Wick The round-ears have only become dumber since the fall of their empire.

Another short story!

An elven capitalist meets his human workers.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Leuchturm 1917s. About the same price as Moleskine. I've not found any other notebooks that a) lie flat and b) don't feather with wet FPs.

Mairyn’s Candle & Wick The round-ears have only become dumber since the fall of their empire.

Another week, another short story!

An elven capitalist meets his human workers.

Author's notes for the previous, Aperture Above, is coming Friday. I'll post a link then.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

We're in the "at each others throats" part of the turmoil train. The people who spend 8k on Bob Igor theme parks hate the people who spend 8k on a Speedmaster. Pretending one isn't consumerist and the other is.

Yes, and although the romance isn't in the book, the monster is, by far, the most sympathetic character.

Writers Blood, and Sherwood Green (both Diamine). No idea about blue

Aaron Markey on Some Person's Publication Author's Notes: I don't have much criticism of this piece to be honest. There are some spelling mistakes, some odd changes in tense (where I didn't really know if past or present was appropriate). Bu...

Author's Note for Flaxseed & Garamond is live! Author's Note is my reflection on my own work, post-publication.

Another note for Aperture Above next Friday!

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/flaxseed-a...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Five-Star Girl The cherry red, segment clock read 6:15, Thomas crumpled up a McDonald’s hamburger wrapper and threw it onto the dashboard of his beat-to-hell Pontiac.

Five-Star Girl, a short story (~20 minute read) about a father who doesn't know the value of the real people in his life.

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/five-star-...

Author's notes on the previous short coming on Friday.

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Everything Lamy makes is overpriced. A brand tax, like Apple or Gucci(spelling?). That said, the bottles are quite nice and they come with blotting paper built into the bottom.

Diamine and Hongdian are the kings of affordable, great inks. (Diamine's 30ml bottles are awful though)

You can get a converter like Chris said, Jinhao and a ton of other Chinese brands make pens you suck ink up into—"piston" pens. Or you can keep using cartridges and use an eye dropper to put new ink in them.

Five-Star Girl The cherry red, segment clock read 6:15, Thomas crumpled up a McDonald’s hamburger wrapper and threw it onto the dashboard of his beat-to-hell Pontiac.

Another week, another short story!

A father who doesn't understand the value of the real people in his life.

Author's notes for the previous, Flaxseed & Garamond, is coming Friday. I'll post a link then.

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/five-star-...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

"I should profit by passing bad things off to someone and make them pay for it." Thanks for telling on yourself.

I'll buy an M nib for the E95s and meltdown the current fine. The 74, I smashed, nib down, into the table and destroyed it. No reasons to allow bad tools to exist.

Japanese fine nibs have to be the worst nibs in the fountain pen world. Dry, scratchy, unreliable. Glad I thought I was a fine nib person when I bought an e95s and a 74. Total waste of $400.

Aperture Above The best dirt always came after dark, in a city flooded in neon, people still believed in the cover of darkness.

Aperture Above, a short story (15 minutes read) about a person afraid to leave their home, who needs to learn a lesson in consent.

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/aperture-a...

Author's notes on the previous short coming on Friday.

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

I don't understand what these AI companies' moat is. Eventually all this stuff will be able to be done on-device. And then these hundred billion dollar AI companies will just turn into model trainers. Can't imagine selling an artifact is worth that much.

Get one of those ultra-sonic cleaners for glasses. Usually ~$25 on Ali or Amazon. The long ones, not the circular ones for dental stuffs. They work really well with a bit of dish soap (like one or two drops) and regular tap water. I've cleaned acrylic, stainless, and titanium thoroughly with them.

Aperture Above The best dirt always came after dark, in a city flooded in neon, people still believed in the cover of darkness.

Another week, another short story!

A person who never leaves their apartment makes everyone else's life worse.

Author's notes for the previous, Flaxseed & Garamond, is coming Friday. I'll post a link then.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

#fiction #shortStory #writing #writingCommunity

Aaron Markey on Some Person's Publication **Author's Notes** DoT is the longest short story I've completed to date, long enough that I don't think I'll be writing a "short" at 9,000 words again. However, I don't think the length detracts fro...

Author's Note for Disciple of Tescreal is live! Author's Note is my reflection on my own work, post-publication.

Another note for Flaxseed & Garamond next Friday, another story coming Monday (hopefully).

aaronmarkey.substack.com/p/disciple-o...

#writing #fiction #shortStory #writingCommunity

Just finished the first draft of a short story (scheduled to publish on the 18th), and I think it's my strongest yet. Clear character development, "big" moments, lots of change. Who knows what edits and sequential drafts will give, but it's damn good now.

#writing #shortStory #fiction

Thank you for reading!

Flaxseed and Garamond Thanks for reading!

Flaxseed and Garamond, a short story (10 minutes read) about middle managers, fathers, and deciding was important versus what's pressing.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

Author's notes on the previous short coming on Friday.

#writingCommunity #writing #fiction

Flaxseed and Garamond Thanks for reading!

Another week, another short story!

A woman learns some things are most important than her career.

Author's notes for the previous short, Disciple of Tescreal, is coming on Friday. I'll post a link then.

open.substack.com/pub/aaronmar...

#writingCommunity #writing #fiction #shortStory