Jonathan Dean
@hergrim.bsky.social
2K followers 230 following 1.9K posts
Delivery driver and r/AskHistorians mod. Dabbler in medieval history, fantasy nerd, Australian. He/Him; She/Her 🏳️‍🌈
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
hergrim.bsky.social
Hello to all my new followers. I'm u/Hergrim over on AskHistorians, and here I'm mostly intermittently active and post about medieval warfare, various random thoughts about medieval warfare, occasionally the intersection of history and fantasy and whatever else takes my fancy.
hergrim.bsky.social
It was a *very* good session.
hergrim.bsky.social
In D&D today we killed a dragon, turned it into clothing and very briefly kidnapped a T-Rex.

Our "wizard" also stung my character with jellyfish after she tracked him down in his patches of shadow to ask for some insight.
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
kristadb1.bsky.social
Something to get you through the weekend.
kristadb1.bsky.social
Spirit Caller (complete series)
Ghost banishing in outport Newfoundland with one's 93 year old neighbour.

Spirits Rising – Free books2read.com/u/3yPRpb
SC Vol 1 books2read.com/u/4DAVOb
SC Vol 2 books2read.com/u/bMGpN5
Dead of Knight (new release) books2read.com/u/b5wyV6
Spirit Caller series now available - 6 covers blue paranormal themed Cover for Dead of Knight. Arrow pointing to my name: Liar Mcliarface

Krista said she was done with the spirit caller word. She lied. An all new novella with bonus stories.
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
nursingclio.bsky.social
Another one of our fantastic authors sharing their research on AMA!
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
alepresser.com
I *just* found it available on Amazon in some other countries (Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Poland...)
So, yeah! The list is growing!

If you find SideQuested available at local bookshops in your country, please let us know!
alepresser.com
Ok, look, I just updated the list of online places to preorder Side Quested Book 1:

sidequested.com/preorder-boo...

Aparently, now there are ebook preorders available (Amazon and Apple Books), and more places on Australia and Canada!

If I find more, I'll update this!
You can preorder SideQuested Book 1 NOW! - Side Quested Webcomic
Yes, finally! You can preorder SideQuested Book 1 wherever books are sold! Here are convenient links to some of the big stores (but your local indie brick-and-mortar store will also…
sidequested.com
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
bretdevereaux.bsky.social
This week on the blog: More Peasants!

This week, we're modeling the full(ish) structure of women's labor in a pre-industrial peasant household, very roughly assessing the work required for textiles, farming, cooking, cleaning, childcare, etc.

Now with pie chart!

acoup.blog/2025/10/10/c...
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVe: The No-Rest Of It
This is the fifth dish of the fourth course of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd) looking at the lives of pre-modern peasant farmers, who made up a majority of all of the humans who…
acoup.blog
hergrim.bsky.social
Costuming really does seem to have gone down the drain of late. Directors and showrunners just don't care anymore.
hergrim.bsky.social
Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoyed your karaoke!
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
nora.zone
cry havoc and let slip the frogs of war
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
bretdevereaux.bsky.social
Worth a friendly reminder that the next set of nation-wide No Kings protests are set for October 18th.

There's probably one in your area.

I am not generally a crowds or protests sort of person, but there's one in my town and I'll be at it on the 18th.

www.nokings.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
www.nokings.org
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
junoryleejournalism.com
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
evilhat.bsky.social
Historian @shannonappelcline.bsky.social spent nearly a decade researching the history behind each and every release TSR put out for OD&D, AD&D 1e, and Basic D&D.
How many products does Designers & Dragons: Origins cover?
Answer: this many.
Follow the project here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
A tiled mosaic of over 320 products released by TSR for OD&D, AD&D 1e, and Basic D&D. From the first copy of Chainmail to the digital release of Orc's Head.
hergrim.bsky.social
I've been saying "appa-latchia", so I'll try and remember that it's all apples and no chia.
hergrim.bsky.social
Rop covers Cunaxa in detail for the second chapter of his book, "Greek Military Service in the Ancient Near East, 401–330 BCE". It's quite an interesting read! The idea itself goes back to the early 1990s and is still a matter of (minor) contention.
hergrim.bsky.social
I had to double check, but while Xenophon mentions the Greeks charging the Persians again, the Persians "fled" again.

I think Jeffrey Rop has made the best case for a Persian feigned retreat, and he's right that it's a little suspicious no spears were dropped by the Persian infantry.
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
delafina777.bsky.social
Okay, with 187 samples in (still looking for more!) let's talk about results so far!
delafina777.bsky.social
Hey all, I'm trying to get a baseline for how good people are at detecting whether fiction is AI-generated or human-written (most of the research on this is for nonfiction and my hypothesis is we're better with fiction).

If you have time, give it a try?

jlp-experiment.github.io/ai-detection...
AI vs Human Fiction Detection Test
jlp-experiment.github.io
hergrim.bsky.social
Her first appearance is legendary: tapas.io/episode/3348....

Just look at those guns: tapas.io/episode/3348...
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
hergrim.bsky.social
How's it meant to be pronounced?
hergrim.bsky.social
Yeah, banning 4chan outright seems like the best bet. Just get them to admit they aren't going to adhere to the rules and say "whoops, sorry, can't let you remain accessible from Australia, byyyyyeeeeee".
Reposted by Jonathan Dean
apexmag.bsky.social
WE'RE 30% FUNDED!! 🎉🎉🎉 Apex will be open to nonfiction pitches FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! ✨

Want to unlock the next chapter of Apex? Please consider backing our Kickstarter and help us keep publishing the strange, surreal, shocking, beautiful stories you love!
Apex Magazine 2026
An award-winning digital literary magazine of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.
www.kickstarter.com