Mark Smylie
@marksmylie.bsky.social
590 followers 410 following 390 posts
Occasional illustrator, writer, and TTRPG game designer, former comics publisher (founder of Archaia once upon a time) and editor. Feeder of cats, birds, deer, possums, raccoons, and foxes. Not necessarily in that order.
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marksmylie.bsky.social
Having to rewrite this pin for 2025 because I'm now off FB.

WIP on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/marksmylie

A dusty website that I swear I will update one day: swordandbarrow.com/wp/

Stuff for sale (some of it also on Amazon but I won't link there): www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher...

Thanks!
Get more from Mark Smylie on Patreon
creating books, roleplaying games, games, and (occasionally) com
www.patreon.com
marksmylie.bsky.social
My pleasure, Russel! And looking forward to more!
marksmylie.bsky.social
Here's a look at the wrap cover for @russelfrans.bsky.social 's second book, HISTORY AND FATES. This was a fun one to do!
Reposted by Mark Smylie
marydudziak.bsky.social
Thread.
tedmccormick.bsky.social
A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
mark-bray.bsky.social
“Someone” cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second.

We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’
Reposted by Mark Smylie
scumbelievable.bsky.social
I don't like him personally, but David Simon on AI is the final word on the subject.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
ddbtorres.bsky.social
mother Goethel, 2025

-{ #art | #illustration | #fantasy }-
An illustration of mother Goethel, the witch from Rapunzel. She stands in the center, surrounded by thorny bushes and between two crooked trees, holding a baby wrapped in luminous white cloth and her eyes glowing a malicious golden color. In the foreground we see rampions growing from golden vines which intertwine like braids; in the background, in the distance and in the middle of a forest, we see a lone tower
Reposted by Mark Smylie
fireh9lly.bsky.social
This combined with Bloomberg posting this terrifying graph convinced me to withdraw all the money in my stocks and shares ISA. I'm giving it a few months
marksmylie.bsky.social
With a young Dennis Hopper no less, IIRC
Reposted by Mark Smylie
jasonsanford.bsky.social
Really bad news for authors, libraries and book lovers.
cyberpunklibrarian.bsky.social
Baker & Taylor appears to be shutting down. A post on the r/libraries subreddit from an employee of B&T breaks the news and there appear to be other employees in the comments confirming the situation.
From the Libraries community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the Libraries community
www.reddit.com
marksmylie.bsky.social
Did you include alt-text as Link did? If I were to hazard a guess it’s that Bluesky’s moderation is based on AI-driven text analysis. They can’t analyze images so they need the alt-text to help them flag something. Hence also the vaguely astroturfy alt-text campaign to get us all to do it.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
thorbenson.bsky.social
Don't let JD Vance see what Curtis Yarvin posted today
Excerpt from Curtis Yarvin's substack that says the Trump administration is failing
Reposted by Mark Smylie
brandonfriedman.bsky.social
Judge Diane Goodstein crossed the Trump administration last month. Yesterday, her home burned, her husband was injured and it's being investigated for arson.

www.postandcourier.com/news/crime/s...
Judge blocks South Carolina from giving DOJ millions of voters' data
Sep. 3, 2025 Judge's house on fire
Reposted by Mark Smylie
voxparlour.bsky.social
Taylor Swift announces next album title: The Queen in Yellow. She told Variety: "A few years back I came across this amazing play and I was so inspired. It's been living in my head for years. I even dream of it, of the city in the play."
Reposted by Mark Smylie
cristianfarias.com
This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
Reposted by Mark Smylie
mark-bray.bsky.social
I’ve received multiple death threats + doxing (including my home address) directly following harassment from Turning Point USA, Jack Posobiec, Andy NGO, + Fox News which called me an antifa ‘financier.’

I have been forced to move my classes online.

If journalists want to talk, DM me or reply here.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
middleeastmonitor.bsky.social
Turkish activist Ersin Celik, a participant in the Sumud Flotilla, reported that Israeli forces seized Greta Thunberg, pulling her by her hair in plain sight, beating her, and coercing her into kissing the Israeli flag.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
sfwa.bsky.social
SFWA is also gathering data on impact, now that the List of Works for the Anthropic/AI settlement has been announced.

Have you or any of your writer-friends been affected?

Would you be comfortable sharing your experience, so that we can push for greater writer defense?

forms.gle/d5jNsS6TPDka...
Author Experience Survey: Did Anthropic Downloads Include Your Work?
SFWA is gathering information to share with the larger genre and literary community about our specific experiences with the LibGen dataset download. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Was one o...
forms.gle
marksmylie.bsky.social
For some reason I am thinking about rewatching Gareth Evans’s THE RAID.
istanbulshiite.bsky.social
DHS posted a sizzle reel about it.
Reposted by Mark Smylie
Reposted by Mark Smylie
marisakabas.bsky.social
SCOOP — Pennsylvania prosecutors were alerted to possible voting irregularities by one of MAGA's leading voices against voter fraud. A long paper trail shows Jack Posobiec has been living in Maryland but voting using his parents' PA address for years.

From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:
MAGA’s “Voter Fraud” Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There.
A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec casts a ballot in one state and lives in another.
slate.com
Reposted by Mark Smylie
alasdairstuart.bsky.social
Holy shit. Also given how good she is and the lightning rod for absolute toxic bullshit she's been (Second only to the shit John Boyega's had to del with) Ridley's pathological refusal to not settle on one genre and just keep doing interesting, fun work is amazing.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvuU...
We Bury The Dead | Official Teaser (HD) | Vertical
YouTube video by Vertical
www.youtube.com