Brian Johnson
@bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social
Literary, nonfiction, and TTRPG editor | Humanities research consultant | Former CRM archaeologist | Translator of grimoires | Scholar of the arcane
https://bjohnsonfreelance.com/
https://bjohnsonfreelance.com/
Reposted by Brian Johnson
Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)
February 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)
Always re-post: vimeo.com/109377646
February 13, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Always re-post: vimeo.com/109377646
Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)
February 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)
Reposted by Brian Johnson
The word don't is censored. Don't, or Don T. If you're looking for just some fun proof they're doing control+f censoring
![To:
Jeffrey Epstein[jeevacation@gmail.com]
From:
Sent:
Wed 7/15/2009 1:56:13 AM
Subject:
Re: florida visit?
good typing!
oh well, looks like it's a long flight anyhow... edmonton is so far away from EVERYTHING.
On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>
wrote:
i am tied up until aug
On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 9:41 PM,
wrote:
You planted a seed with your invite today. I have next Wed thru Sunday off (July 22-26), my last vacation for months.
I was going to take polo lessons in Calgary but I (DON'T) think my body can handle it! I pull a muscle every time, and I'm starting to realize my budding polo career might have to take a back seat to my actual job.
think
What are you doing next week?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2kpgkv4xcyduvylimyapgcj7/bafkreifsvmmha2afgveksvxc5czx4rwpan2e37riayppfadft5sfr43vxm@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 11:30 PM
The word don't is censored. Don't, or Don T. If you're looking for just some fun proof they're doing control+f censoring
Reposted by Brian Johnson
One of the reasons I so greatly dislike the “can men and women be friends?” nonsense (yes, full stop, shut up) is that it casts suspicion on people with opposite-sex friends instead of where it more often belongs: on people with no opposite-sex friends.
Anyway, yeah. The overwhelming impression one gets from so many of these emails is that a lot of them are guys who have never had a real, serious friendship with a woman in their lives.
Which sucks for them, but also sucks for every woman who has to deal with them, ever.
Which sucks for them, but also sucks for every woman who has to deal with them, ever.
February 5, 2026 at 6:47 PM
One of the reasons I so greatly dislike the “can men and women be friends?” nonsense (yes, full stop, shut up) is that it casts suspicion on people with opposite-sex friends instead of where it more often belongs: on people with no opposite-sex friends.
And primarily responsible for the evil reputation of the historical "Doctor Faustus", Georg von Helmstadt.
1 Feb 1462: b. Johannes Trithemius #Benedictine Abbot & polymath #otd his pupils included #Paracelsus (CSvBibra)
February 1, 2026 at 4:50 PM
And primarily responsible for the evil reputation of the historical "Doctor Faustus", Georg von Helmstadt.
Going to start responding to every AI booster with "OK, Ramon Llull."
January 30, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Going to start responding to every AI booster with "OK, Ramon Llull."
5 jobs I've had:
- Lawn-mower
- Grocery store shelf-stocker
- Hardware store clerk
- Community college janitor
- Cultural resource management archaeological field technician
- Lawn-mower
- Grocery store shelf-stocker
- Hardware store clerk
- Community college janitor
- Cultural resource management archaeological field technician
5 jobs I've had:
- Video rental store baba yaga
- Game writer at Larian, Die Gute Fabrik, freelance
- Right-to-left languages user experience at Facebook
- Creative Writing Team Lead at Google
- Hand-tiling a swimming pool with tiny mosaic tiles
- Video rental store baba yaga
- Game writer at Larian, Die Gute Fabrik, freelance
- Right-to-left languages user experience at Facebook
- Creative Writing Team Lead at Google
- Hand-tiling a swimming pool with tiny mosaic tiles
5 jobs I’ve had:
Peep show front desk
Lumber yard manager
Cemetery sales (very briefly, I suck at sales)
Book seller
River outfitter, gear prep & repair
Peep show front desk
Lumber yard manager
Cemetery sales (very briefly, I suck at sales)
Book seller
River outfitter, gear prep & repair
January 29, 2026 at 4:51 PM
5 jobs I've had:
- Lawn-mower
- Grocery store shelf-stocker
- Hardware store clerk
- Community college janitor
- Cultural resource management archaeological field technician
- Lawn-mower
- Grocery store shelf-stocker
- Hardware store clerk
- Community college janitor
- Cultural resource management archaeological field technician
I'm willing to bet that was an accurate, verbatim quote of what the DHS official actually said.
Now I want to know which CNN reporter or producer doesn't know the word "sycophant."
January 27, 2026 at 12:30 PM
I'm willing to bet that was an accurate, verbatim quote of what the DHS official actually said.
The DHS appropriations bill is going to the Senate. Contact your Senators to tell them what you think about it.
January 24, 2026 at 6:18 PM
The DHS appropriations bill is going to the Senate. Contact your Senators to tell them what you think about it.
With the recent publication of books 3 and 4 of the Summa Sacre Magice, there's naturally been interest in examining the original text of book 3, which is absent in the earliest Latin manuscript of the SSM and extant only in a 16th-century German translation. medium.com/@danharms_29... 🧵 1/3
Review — Summa Sacre Magice, Books 3–4
Today we’ll be looking at Volume 2 — Books 3 and 4 — of the Summa Sacre Magice, the fourteenth-century manuscript on magic by Berengarius…
medium.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:11 PM
With the recent publication of books 3 and 4 of the Summa Sacre Magice, there's naturally been interest in examining the original text of book 3, which is absent in the earliest Latin manuscript of the SSM and extant only in a 16th-century German translation. medium.com/@danharms_29... 🧵 1/3
I'm re-sharing this thread because, frankly, 2026 is off to a rather slow start in the professional sphere. Click through to learn more about my other services (translation, research), as well as the books I've written!
First, I copy edit and proofread fiction, non-fiction, TTRPG rules, you name it. 📝 See my resumé here for an extensive list of satisfied customers (under "Editing"): bjohnsonfreelance.com/resume/
Résumé & Publications – Brian Johnson
bjohnsonfreelance.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:23 PM
I'm re-sharing this thread because, frankly, 2026 is off to a rather slow start in the professional sphere. Click through to learn more about my other services (translation, research), as well as the books I've written!
Reposted by Brian Johnson
Your rates got set by Jerry Powell
January 12, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Your rates got set by Jerry Powell
Reposted by Brian Johnson
BREAKING: Fed Chairman Powell says the Fed got a grand jury subpoena on Friday.
Of his testimony about Fed renovations, Powell says, “Those are pretexts,” saying this is about the Fed not doing what Trump wants.
Of his testimony about Fed renovations, Powell says, “Those are pretexts,” saying this is about the Fed not doing what Trump wants.
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:52 AM
BREAKING: Fed Chairman Powell says the Fed got a grand jury subpoena on Friday.
Of his testimony about Fed renovations, Powell says, “Those are pretexts,” saying this is about the Fed not doing what Trump wants.
Of his testimony about Fed renovations, Powell says, “Those are pretexts,” saying this is about the Fed not doing what Trump wants.
Reposted by Brian Johnson
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 PM
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
The civil war is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed.
January 7, 2026 at 11:57 PM
The civil war is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed.
"...Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whoever has sworn a false oath..."
January 7, 2026 at 9:30 PM
"...Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whoever has sworn a false oath..."
This was a really fun project to work on — beyond the usual Storyteller advice, it's primarily a collection of extensive system hacks for running DtR in alternate settings (high fantasy, space opera, etc.) and/or incorporating the other Chronicles of Darkness splats as Deviant characters.
Black Vans: A Storyteller's Guide to Deviant: The Renegades is now live: site.storytellersvault.com/product/5505...
Black Vans - White Wolf | Storytellers Vault
Renegades have long associated unmarked black vans with the conspiracies of the Web of Pain. Broken on the run from the
site.storytellersvault.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:55 PM
This was a really fun project to work on — beyond the usual Storyteller advice, it's primarily a collection of extensive system hacks for running DtR in alternate settings (high fantasy, space opera, etc.) and/or incorporating the other Chronicles of Darkness splats as Deviant characters.
Reposted by Brian Johnson
AND ANOTHER THING, WHILE I'M AT IT:
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
December 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
AND ANOTHER THING, WHILE I'M AT IT:
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
Swap out some text and you've got a splash page from the 2nd edition AD&D Player's Handbook.
And here is the #earlymodern broadside with the likely - about one hundred years later - incorrectly remembered #earlymodern fighter detail, printed in 1627 Augsburg, in full glory:
December 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Swap out some text and you've got a splash page from the 2nd edition AD&D Player's Handbook.
I recently joined José Leitão on the Hadean Press podcast to talk about _Cypriani Magici Septem Horae Magicae_, José's new book exploring the modalities of Cyprianic magic in early modern Iberia, which features my translation of one very weird treasure-finding operation!
Seven Magic Hours of Cyprian the Mage - José Leitão & Brian Johnson - Hadean Press #32
YouTube video by Hadean Press
www.youtube.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I recently joined José Leitão on the Hadean Press podcast to talk about _Cypriani Magici Septem Horae Magicae_, José's new book exploring the modalities of Cyprianic magic in early modern Iberia, which features my translation of one very weird treasure-finding operation!
Reposted by Brian Johnson
a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.
December 24, 2025 at 10:05 PM
a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.
Reposted by Brian Johnson
@nuffofabby.bsky.social dishes on our upcoming joint project to bring Native American folklore and cultures to #TTRPG . Please share to help build excitement for this cool project! Kickstarter link in comments.
youtu.be/BaJgsDuHX6Y
youtu.be/BaJgsDuHX6Y
Bringing Native American Legends to D&D
YouTube video by Shewstone Publishing
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM
@nuffofabby.bsky.social dishes on our upcoming joint project to bring Native American folklore and cultures to #TTRPG . Please share to help build excitement for this cool project! Kickstarter link in comments.
youtu.be/BaJgsDuHX6Y
youtu.be/BaJgsDuHX6Y
Reposted by Brian Johnson
Academics: what's the best bit of knowledge you created this year?
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
What historians (and other scholars do) is create knowledge. We should use that phrase more and talk about what it means. I think we don't, and it's part of why AI enthusiasts are confused when we don't readily agree that our work can be replicated/replaced by their products.
December 22, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Academics: what's the best bit of knowledge you created this year?
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
I completed the first ever English translation of Cecco d'Ascoli's commentary on De Sphaera Mundi, explicitly demonstrating (w/ co-author Mat Hadfield) Cecco's place as the earliest documented vector in the Latin West of certain demonological theories that would inform the later grimoire tradition.
Academics: what's the best bit of knowledge you created this year?
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
I co-authored a new model of the Irish Neolithic, effectively rewriting social structure and the role of large funerary monuments for the creation of community identities
What historians (and other scholars do) is create knowledge. We should use that phrase more and talk about what it means. I think we don't, and it's part of why AI enthusiasts are confused when we don't readily agree that our work can be replicated/replaced by their products.
December 22, 2025 at 1:38 PM
I completed the first ever English translation of Cecco d'Ascoli's commentary on De Sphaera Mundi, explicitly demonstrating (w/ co-author Mat Hadfield) Cecco's place as the earliest documented vector in the Latin West of certain demonological theories that would inform the later grimoire tradition.