Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jay Wayward

@ricochetrita.bsky.social

480 followers 220 following 3.3K posts

Writer, bisexual, vocalist for sludge metal band Cursed Body. He/Him I like X-men comics. Eviscerate fascism everywhere. 🏴🌱 “The Dreaming Dead”, a queer sword and sorcery novel, available at jaywayward.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · Mar 17

Ever wanted to see an elderly bisexual woman disembowel an imperialist soldier?

The Dreaming Dead is out now. It’s a queer, dark fantasy novel that follows a notorious bandit as a young adult and much older woman.

#queersff #booksky #fantasy
💙📚 🌈📚 🪐📚

A book cover. The background is a red and black fog. The foreground shows a muscular, somewhat young woman in leather armor swinging a sword and yelling. The white text at the bottom reads “The Dreaming Dead”

2 10 27

Reposted by Jay Wayward

HolBolDoArt🏳️‍🌈 @holboldoart.bsky.social · 5h

🎂 It's my special cake and candles day you all have to be nice to me because it's been QUITE the year 🎂

So share some of my paintings??

In the pew-lined interior of a dim medieval church lit by rows of candles on tall staffs and pale sunlight coming through a window, a tall humanoid crow figure with flowing black robes and a glowing yellow eye stands beneath an ornately carved semicircular arch in Norman Romanesque style. On the wall surrounding the arch are many colourful murals depicting more humanoid crow figures with halos, carrying various items including swords, spears, harps, and chalices.

A painting set in a cosy shady woodland clearing on a sunny summer's day. In the centre of the frame, two figures sit on a fallen log mostly hidden by vegetation. The figure on the right has wavy blonde hair down past her shoulders, and wears a flowing white floor-length dress with long sleeves, with delicate lacework around the cuffs and neckline. She looks into the distance with a contemplative, sad expression. On her lap rests a small green book, covered by both of her hands.
The figure on the left sits leaning with her head against shoulder of the other figure. She wears a similar dress but simpler, and in a dark slate grey. Her hair is dark and straight, and flows down her tilted face, and she looks off towards a nightingale bird perched on a nearby branch. She raises a hand towards the other figure as if to get her attention.

Both figures are surrounded by various flowers. On the left of the frame are many spires of foxglove flowers in vivid pink and white, interspersed among green stinging nettles. On the right are the purple flowers of monkshood/wolfsbane.

Wrapping around the figures is a clear stream flowing from a distant pond that descends in a series of steps. Around the stream are many small mossy rocks, and shoots of dark green dog's mercury.

Above and behind the figures and flowers are two trees; on the left is a weeping willow with dangling dark green leaves. On the right are the branches of an old ash tree.

A snowy scene in which a humanoid figure in long black robes with the head of a rook stands in a churchyard holding a long spear. By its feet is a red fox. Both are flecked with fallen snow. Around them are many weathered snow-covered graves. In the background is a medieval church of warm coloured stone with large rectangular windows and a battlemented parapet topped with pinnacles. Behind the main body of the church is the tower with clock face and belfry. Behind the church are tall but bare trees dusted with snow. More snow falls in the air.

26 170 410

Reposted by Jay Wayward

RM @rmx.bsky.social · 3h

Happy Coming Out Day!
Remember there is no bad time to come out, as long as you do it as dramatically as possible.

Northstar coming out as the first openly gay comic book character while fighting a Mountie- themed weirdo.

1 3 14

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 3h

This song rules. Bongeziwe Mabandla has such a great voice

youtu.be/l1J4MvyL2to?...

Alfa Mist - "Apho (feat. Bongeziwe Mabandla)"

YouTube video by Alfa Mist

youtu.be

Reposted by Jay Wayward

Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 4h

“That's 40 *cents*. Cents are a form of currency one hundred times smaller than the reál. I'm not even going to take this. Come back when you have 130 reál.”

Isn't it... evil? The order of magnitude between what is asked of a person -- and what they have?

16 96

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 16h

Uhhhh *basis

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 17h

Frankly astounding I’m allowed to hang out and make art with cool, talented people purely on the bases of being able to sound like I was kicked in the throat and write angsty poetry

1 3

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 17h

Being in a band rules

1 5

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 22h

I got very close to both a big corvid and a very small sparrow recently, and I’m still riding that high.

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 22h

Yo this sounds awesome

Reposted by Jay Wayward

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

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.

330 8.7K 27K

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Lmao you get it

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Mostly the stuff I’m looking forward to writing not being what I’m writing yet.

Like I want this big, dramatic, emotional moment to happen, already! I want them to see that something needs to change!
#weeknightwriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 1d

Q4: What aspects of character development do you find most frustrating? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: What aspects of character development do you find most frustrating?"

1 7

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Always so fun to make it happen

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Didn’t answer the second part but I feel like it’s “does this sound cool” and if it does I start thinking about things like values, speech patterns, family history, personality quirks, dress, etc

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

I feel like it’s showing an unexpected aspect of a character? Like showing somebody very tough be soft, or somebody very selfish become empathetic.
#weeknightwriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 1d

Q3: What aspects of character development do you enjoy most? What goes into making a character? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters What aspects of character development do you enjoy most?"

3 4

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Nine times out of ten it’s “I want something this character holds close to them to radically change. what fucked up thing will make that happen?”
#weeknightwriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 1d

Q2: What aspects of character development do you consider most important to your story planning process? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters What aspects of character development do you consider most important to your story planning process?"

1 6

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

#weeknightwriters

I feel like it’s sort of both, in that I usually think of a character first but with a little bit of context.

Like the original pitch for The Dreaming Dead was “Conan the Barbarian but gay” which is a specific kind of character and story.

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 1d

Q1: Do you typically create characters to match the story you want to tell or build your stories based on character(s) already living in your head? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: Do you typically create characters to match the story you want to tell or build your stories based on character(s) already living in your head?"

1 5

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 1d

Iconic, frankly

Reposted by Jay Wayward

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 1d

"we have to use AI because it's not going away" is such a weak-ass justification. because like, no we don't. what are you talking about. do you rush out to try every incurable disease too

8 64 220

Reposted by Jay Wayward

Beren's Reverie @berensreverie.bsky.social · Nov 11

The Hunter's Funeral Procession

14 670 1.8K

Reposted by Jay Wayward

World's Spookiest Lesbian🏴 🔯 🏳️‍⚧️ (Amanda) @amandak6647.bsky.social · 2d

Amanda Kauffman - The Nothingness That Was

1. Twenty Years of Emptiness
2. Self Unto Ruin
3. Annihilation
4. What I Left Behind Me
5. The River of Memory
6. The Nothingness That Was

Coming 2026

The cover of my solo album The Nothingness That Was, an edited version of the Robert Fludd painting The Nothingness That Was Prior To The Universe. A black square is surrounded by a white border.

3 14 51

Reposted by Jay Wayward

K.A. Doore @kadoore.com · 3d

I'm not saying I've got Lists of Queer Adult SFF for Bookshop's free shipping days, but
bookshop.org/shop/queerad...

2 32 40

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 2d

The key is to just think about stuff really hard

Reposted by Jay Wayward

Ben Lockwood, PhD @benlockwood.bsky.social · 2d

Collective power works

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 2d

Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal for a data center in a Milwaukee suburbs after community pushback.

After opposition from area residents and elected officials the 244 acre Caledonia project will not proceed.

Microsoft drops Caledonia data center after facing opposition. Company looking for new site

Outcry from residents and elected officials caused Microsoft to drop the Caledonia plan. But the company is seeking an alternative site.

www.jsonline.com

1 2

Jay Wayward @ricochetrita.bsky.social · 2d

I feel like the Star Wars sequel trilogy is a bit over-hated but whewwww did they miss the landing on Finn’s story