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dennycore.bsky.social
@dennycore.bsky.social
290 followers 760 following 83 posts
Dennis Conrad. English/special ed teacher, aspiring weird fiction author perennially working on a genre-confused psychic spy thriller and distracting myself from it by writing horror shorts Author website: https://dennisconraddotcom.wordpress.com/
dennisconraddotcom.wordpress.com
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · Jun 8
#writing #horrorwriting #weirdfiction

I’m honored to have a story featured in Gypsophila Zine’s latest (free) volume! One of the weirdest I’ve done, too.

Also happy to be featured alongside a good friend of mine, Stephanie Evans, and her moving, beautiful work!

gypsophilazine.com/v3-i7-untitl...
Gypsophila Zine - V3: I7: untitled digressions
Volume 3 Issue 7 of Gypsophila. Published June 7, 2025. Featuring images from a collaboration between MRND and Hugo Santos Silva.
gypsophilazine.com
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socialistboat.dad
jam @socialistboat.dad · 21h
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet It's really funny that The Art of War is treated as this like alpha male book when it's clearly meant to be read by ancient Chinese failsons because it's all "please don't forget you have to feed your troops" and "if someone asks if you're going to attack them consider lying about it" April 23, 2024 at 1:28 AM © Everybody can reply 486 reposts 45 quotes 1.9K likes 4 saves
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lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com
lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 1d
peter thiel (clutching chrome plated human skull) tell me oracle... does the world end in fire, or ice? the passionate flames of the activist thunberg, or the frozen doom yudkowski demands?

chatGPT: ✨ What a great question, Peter! ✨

Let's break that tough Q down 🕺, in your favorite epic style:
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brendelbored.bsky.social
Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 1d
I like how the news will be like “while the President claiming Portland was ruled by a giant skeleton named Mr Nibbles is not strictly true, it does speak to the anxiety of many Americans”
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you for writing so many incredible books!
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 1d
#weirdfiction

Just finished my reread of @michaelcisco.bsky.social's 10/10 The Narrator and something like this review has been rattling around my head manically for weeks now. Second read cemented it as a true all-timer.

dennisconraddotcom.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/t...
The Narrator by Michael Cisco – Review
War is a rhythm. It is a constant sense of motion without movement, a rhythm that grinds and never ends. It is the rhythm of marching boots and rattling drums, the rhythm of an army’s advances and …
dennisconraddotcom.wordpress.com
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 1d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

turns out "prize" comes up once in what I hope is a solid "redshirts POV" scene

and you know what? I see that it thinks "firing" is a grammar mistake. What if grammar was the mistake?
Then a sudden sibilant sound from one of the Peruvians behind; immediately the grab-ass atmosphere was gone, and each of the six soldiers was peering about into the jungle, rifles raised. “Think I saw…” the speaking Peruvian slipping into Spanish for a quick “¡Mierda!” and firing a shot into the trees; Artyom saw what he saw in a blink, the flash of someone sliding through the jungle ahead. And all at once they were plunging through the brush, Artyom squeezing off a burst that obliterated a whole treeline. He saw that shadow, that unmistakably humanoid shadow slipping through the trees again. The void of an eyepatch over one eye. “It’s her!” He started pointing wildly after the form as it vanished into the brush. “The empath!” The rest went crashing after, knowing their prize was near, firing loose potshots through the foliage at every twitching leaf. Corporal Konstantin crashed through into a clearing first, the four Senderistas moving somewhat more subtly in his wake; and behind, Artyom, feeling a sudden trepidation, flickered a glance over his shoulder. When he turned back to the clearing it was just in time to watch the top of Konstantin’s head shear off.
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 1d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

turns out "prize" comes up once in what I hope is a solid "redshirts POV" scene

and you know what? I see that it thinks "firing" is a grammar mistake. What if grammar was the mistake?
Then a sudden sibilant sound from one of the Peruvians behind; immediately the grab-ass atmosphere was gone, and each of the six soldiers was peering about into the jungle, rifles raised. “Think I saw…” the speaking Peruvian slipping into Spanish for a quick “¡Mierda!” and firing a shot into the trees; Artyom saw what he saw in a blink, the flash of someone sliding through the jungle ahead. And all at once they were plunging through the brush, Artyom squeezing off a burst that obliterated a whole treeline. He saw that shadow, that unmistakably humanoid shadow slipping through the trees again. The void of an eyepatch over one eye. “It’s her!” He started pointing wildly after the form as it vanished into the brush. “The empath!” The rest went crashing after, knowing their prize was near, firing loose potshots through the foliage at every twitching leaf. Corporal Konstantin crashed through into a clearing first, the four Senderistas moving somewhat more subtly in his wake; and behind, Artyom, feeling a sudden trepidation, flickered a glance over his shoulder. When he turned back to the clearing it was just in time to watch the top of Konstantin’s head shear off.
3 16
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lukeoneil47.bsky.social
Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 2d
The secret police performatively praying over fast food hamburgers before a hard day's work disappearing immigrants. They'd call you a hack for making a joke like that. I feel like one just noticing it having happened in real life.

www.welcometohellworld.com/everything-i...
Everything is so stupid and so dangerous at once
Out here is where the monsters are
www.welcometohellworld.com
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cheerfulmelancholy.bsky.social
Mel @cheerfulmelancholy.bsky.social · 3d
Dungeon, cell, same difference haha. Flynn's taste in interior decorating is nonexistent regardless.
#WIPSnips #writersonbluesky #writesky #creativewriting #writing #writingcommunity
Transcript: Her eyes roamed over the apartment for the umpteenth time since sneaking in. 'It' appeared to be living in minimalist hell, wasting away in mundanity. Ex-military or not, the place was more sparsely decorated than a prison cell. She could feel her sanity slipping the longer she stayed between the empty white walls. Flynn regarded her with a wary gaze, arms crossed. This was not the quiet evening he'd hoped for after getting out of the shower. "Why the hell should I trust you?" he spat, tense with anticipation for the other shoe to drop. "You break into my apartment and think I'm gonna jump at the opportunity to work with you?" She was skilled and ballsy. It was quite the combo.
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 3d
Thank you! I'm glad this snippet works well, even in isolation. Thanks for reading :)
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 3d
#WriteSky #WIPSnips #weirdfiction

replacing dungeon with its nautical brother "brig"
It didn’t take long for the commandos—mostly native Senderistas, with a few fish-out-of-water Russians mixed in—to determine that the five Americans in the brig were turncoat bandits, all of whom professed an immediate enthusiasm for communism and a readiness to join with the Soviet cause. The Peacemaker asked them all to pledge their intention to fight for the working-class and gave them a few lines of the Communist Manifesto to repeat back to him; he had them line up to be uncuffed and, once nicely arranged, had the five commandos assigned to them unceremoniously shoot each of the bandits in the head and dump them overboard.
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 3d
#WriteSky #WIPSnips #weirdfiction

replacing dungeon with its nautical brother "brig"
It didn’t take long for the commandos—mostly native Senderistas, with a few fish-out-of-water Russians mixed in—to determine that the five Americans in the brig were turncoat bandits, all of whom professed an immediate enthusiasm for communism and a readiness to join with the Soviet cause. The Peacemaker asked them all to pledge their intention to fight for the working-class and gave them a few lines of the Communist Manifesto to repeat back to him; he had them line up to be uncuffed and, once nicely arranged, had the five commandos assigned to them unceremoniously shoot each of the bandits in the head and dump them overboard.
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 4d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

and next they came for the academics, but the academics were packing
“So just what are you in it for then?” Deckard asked, punctuated by thunder and a bolt of lightning throwing them all into the flicker of the mansion’s shadow. That light reflected in the Professor’s eyes. “I dunno.” Seeing Deckard’s blinking disbelief he continued: “I should be teaching, man. I’m supposed to be giving a class on the European Romantic poets right now. I wasn’t even one of the political ones. Maybe that’s why the kids started coming to me when they started rounding up radicals—I was safer. And when they came for the kids…well…we defended ourselves. And after that…” pausing, he gestured around at the assembled partisans and their weapons, at his own tank that rumbled steadily behind them. “Repeat that same story in a thousand varieties across the city and…” gesturing finally to the General’s barricaded mansion looming over them like a Gothic cathedral as a wordless end to his tale.
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 4d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

and next they came for the academics, but the academics were packing
“So just what are you in it for then?” Deckard asked, punctuated by thunder and a bolt of lightning throwing them all into the flicker of the mansion’s shadow. That light reflected in the Professor’s eyes. “I dunno.” Seeing Deckard’s blinking disbelief he continued: “I should be teaching, man. I’m supposed to be giving a class on the European Romantic poets right now. I wasn’t even one of the political ones. Maybe that’s why the kids started coming to me when they started rounding up radicals—I was safer. And when they came for the kids…well…we defended ourselves. And after that…” pausing, he gestured around at the assembled partisans and their weapons, at his own tank that rumbled steadily behind them. “Repeat that same story in a thousand varieties across the city and…” gesturing finally to the General’s barricaded mansion looming over them like a Gothic cathedral as a wordless end to his tale.
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gremlin.world
Grem, of 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏 🔜 MCAtlanta! @gremlin.world · 6d
I will never not repost this

(Sound on for maximum effect)
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bugsmaytrix.bsky.social
Bugs, Beleaguered Babysitter of the Booger Brothers @bugsmaytrix.bsky.social · 6d
oh that's why i'm going insane got it
helldude.bsky.social
jeff com-BOO-ters @helldude.bsky.social · 6d
its truly remarkable, you have to really take the measure of it and it's almost hard to comprehend it, but the president of the united states is having texas invade illinois and oregon just to make twitter content
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billcorbett.bsky.social
Bill Corbett @billcorbett.bsky.social · 6d
Look at this dumb baby shit. Pure pathetic insecurity in tchotchke form by people who should never hold any power over others. Also not a coin you doofuses!
FBI director’s laughable challenge coins (?)
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hausofdecline.bsky.social
Haus of Decline @hausofdecline.bsky.social · 6d
Bluesky deleted my post complaining about the CEO lol. I did not delete it myself! Full on Lowtaxing from Jay here.
150 2.6K 13K
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 6d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

the downsides of being an empath become clear

CW: suicidal ideation
Laying down to listen to music she reflected on the other things that had made her decide to take her stepfather’s pistol that was now laying back behind her pillow just out of sight, so heavy and shining and metal, laying back there like a dark stone absorbing the sludge leaking from her brain. She thought of how she had always noticed this funny little pink tinge around the auras of a few men when she was young—some obscure uncle she hadn’t seen since she was ten, the elderly neighbor down the street who’d been around since she was eight, the guy who ran the convenience store—the first person she ever noticed that pink on when she was four—and how it had taken her until the relatively recent experience of puberty, along with her extended contact with pubescent fellows, to make her realize just what that pink aura represented. Four. She remembered the shine to that convenience-store owner’s eyes and shuddered and thought again of that pistol, that pistol she could swear she smelled some kind of metallic oil on growing stronger, stronger in her nose.
5 14
dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 6d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

the downsides of being an empath become clear

CW: suicidal ideation
Laying down to listen to music she reflected on the other things that had made her decide to take her stepfather’s pistol that was now laying back behind her pillow just out of sight, so heavy and shining and metal, laying back there like a dark stone absorbing the sludge leaking from her brain. She thought of how she had always noticed this funny little pink tinge around the auras of a few men when she was young—some obscure uncle she hadn’t seen since she was ten, the elderly neighbor down the street who’d been around since she was eight, the guy who ran the convenience store—the first person she ever noticed that pink on when she was four—and how it had taken her until the relatively recent experience of puberty, along with her extended contact with pubescent fellows, to make her realize just what that pink aura represented. Four. She remembered the shine to that convenience-store owner’s eyes and shuddered and thought again of that pistol, that pistol she could swear she smelled some kind of metallic oil on growing stronger, stronger in her nose.
5 14
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mattnegrin.bsky.social
Matt Negrin still host of Hardball on MSNBC @mattnegrin.bsky.social · 11d
Ezra Klein: There's a Rick & Morty quote I really like. Ezra Klein: It goes like this, "Why would a pop-tart want to live inside a toaster? That would be like the scariest place for them to live." Ta-Nehisi Coates not saying anything Ezra Klein: Because in the episode they go to a neighborhood where everyone is a pop-tart and they live in toaster-houses.
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rincewind.run
Micah @rincewind.run · 9d
this is a great piece and a very important thing to keep in mind

it is possible to be clear-eyed about what we’re facing without throwing up your hands and going, well, I guess we’ve lost forever, nothing we can do about it

we have not and we shouldn’t make it easier for them
dennycarter.bsky.social
Denny Carter @dennycarter.bsky.social · 9d
Stop dooming!
badfaithtimes.com/the-doomers-...
The Doomers Are Inheriting The Earth
Fascists want nothing more than for you to believe the shadows on the wall are real, that you've lost.
badfaithtimes.com
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dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 9d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

succumbing to synonyms for the first time. Little weird to find this fish in the river
The river-drinker said his first words in a long while: “Found a fish.” Tossing the fish in question over his shoulder to splat onto the ground between Condori, Liana and Eric. Eric was no marine biologist, but he was fairly certain the translucent, semi-phosphorescent sharptoothed anglerfish that thrashed at his feet should have been nowhere near this river. Finally, Condori said the words someone should have said a long time before: “What the fuck is this.”
3 15
dennycore.bsky.social
dennycore.bsky.social @dennycore.bsky.social · 9d
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #weirdfiction

succumbing to synonyms for the first time. Little weird to find this fish in the river
The river-drinker said his first words in a long while: “Found a fish.” Tossing the fish in question over his shoulder to splat onto the ground between Condori, Liana and Eric. Eric was no marine biologist, but he was fairly certain the translucent, semi-phosphorescent sharptoothed anglerfish that thrashed at his feet should have been nowhere near this river. Finally, Condori said the words someone should have said a long time before: “What the fuck is this.”
3 15