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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

@catherinewinters.com

2.2K followers 1.2K following 3.9K posts

She/her, creator of procedural art bots, games, and VR stuff. Not AI. 🎮 Making After Work, a game about rummaging around in your coworkers' desks: https://cornonthecob.games 📖 Querying my queer science fiction heist novel. https://catherinewinters.com

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · Aug 6

WAYFARERS x MURDERBOT x SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN

Everything fell apart when the human came aboard. Instead of nice meals and quiet cargo runs, Tai's stuck with bickering crewmates, sinister criminals, explosions, and worse, a human who wants to be friends. #QuestPit #A #Q #R #SF #OV #LGBTQ

Mood board/Agent's guide for my novel CARGO - a queer SF/heist/romance - 110,000 words

"Did you hear? There's a human on board."
A graphic of the wall of a spaceship with sticky notes and polaroid photos taped up. There are twinkle lights hanging from the ceiling.
alien ship's cook (fussy, anxious) + terrifying monster (ordinary human)

PITCH:
Tai’s terrified of humans. Everyone is. Violent pack hunters, humans are notorious for their strength, sharp teeth, and carnivorous appetites. But the ship’s cook is safe among the multispecies crew of the cargo hauler Coreward Baker: everyone knows the warrior species rarely leave their own space. Then Captain Raz hires Clarke, a human horticulturist.
Even after Tai overcomes their fear, they can’t stand Clarke. She’s bossy. Annoying. Useless in the galley, bad in a space suit. She might as well be cargo. Worse, she’s intent on befriending Tai—and why can’t they stop thinking about her, anyway?
That’s when things go wrong. As Tai starts to realize their feelings for Clarke, they’re horrified to learn that nobody on their crew of dropouts and runaways is quite who they seem, least of all Clarke. And it’s no coincidence. Raz reveals they’ve each been handpicked for a heist he’s spent years planning—and no one’s allowed to say no.

PRIORITIES:
make dinner
remain cozy
haul cargo
go for drinks
pull off one last score
try not to fall in love

FIRST PAGE:

“Did you hear? There’s a Human on board.”
I choked on my noodles and turned to stare at the diners at the next table. Like most of the restaurant’s patrons, the pair had hidden their profiles, a halfhearted attempt at anonymity.
“Gross,” the speaker’s crewmate said, oblivious to my alarm. “I hope it leaves soon.”
“Don’t let it hear you say that,” the first worker laughed. She made a show of looking for Humans, her eyes darting from table to table.
It. I frowned. I knew the workers’ language distinguished between people and things, and ‘it’ was an unkind choice of words at best.
The second worker shuddered. “I don’t know why we let themcome here.”
The first laughed. “Are you going to stop them?”

COMPS:
Murderbot by Martha Wells
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wisewell
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

TROPES:
Non-binary narrator masking anxiety with sarcasm
lying to themselves
non-human perspective (afraid of humans)
neurodivergent main characters
metaphorically disabled protagonist
slow-burn friends-to-lovers and enemies to lovers in the same relationship
disabilitynorm and queernorm setting
found family
loveable pet/terrifying monster

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 4h

Starting to worry about these laws threatening my shoplifting ring business 😥

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 4h

Barack Obama from the infamous “Then Perish” UwU roleplay meme

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 5h

I wrote the Parks Board about this, but does anyone have any details on the cancellation fees Vancouver would have to pay, or if there’s a penalty for what happens if Vancouver doesn’t provide enough not-blocked-by-protestors access to the event?

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 5h

“A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.”

‘This will not happen again’: Vancouver Park Board apologizes for hosting Harry Potter event

A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.

www.ctvnews.ca

Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

Keezy Young🌼 @keezyyoung.bsky.social · 5h

can we make this happen for NYCC because yikes

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 5h

“A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.”

‘This will not happen again’: Vancouver Park Board apologizes for hosting Harry Potter event

A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.

www.ctvnews.ca

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Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 5h

“A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.”

‘This will not happen again’: Vancouver Park Board apologizes for hosting Harry Potter event

A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.

www.ctvnews.ca

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 5h

On the plus side, nobody will ever have to debate whether or not this was the stupidest civil war.

The Jurph from the Black Lagoon @jurph.bsky.social · 9h

The advisor from SimCity hollers at the player, "YOU CAN'T LET A FROG DANCE EROTICALLY AT YOUR SWAT TEAM! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" The typeface is Chicago but the city is Portland.

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 8h

Attention: if you are one of these 23% of Canadians, I have urgent news regarding a bridge-related investment opportunity for you.

Cult MTL @cultmtl.com · 1d

Majority of Canadians oppose Canada joining Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system

“Just 23% of Canadians — almost all of whom vote Conservative — say they support the idea.”

Majority of Canadians oppose Canada joining Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defence system

A majority of Canadians oppose Canada joining Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defence system as part of any trade agreement.

cultmtl.com

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 8h

Y-yes, we agree about that though???

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 10h

Oh yeah, the exposed mouth and nose is necessary for maximum scowling and disease spread.

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 11h

What’s it called when the entire government is made up of an elderly king with dementia surrounded by 300 Wormtongues and evil viziers? Crusader Kings 3 fans, weigh in.

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 11h

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has increasing influence over President Trump, sources say

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12h

Trump: "CNN is dying like a dog."

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 12h

This is going to end with costume parties being illegal for the public and every single government employee forced to wear a stormtrooper helmet.

The Independent @the-independent.com · 16h

Kristi Noem praised for ‘staring down’ Antifa. It was a dozen reporters and a guy in a chicken suit

Kristi Noem ‘stares down’ Antifa. It was reporters and a guy in a chicken costume

www.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

Dani Finn 🏳️‍⚧️ 📚 @danifinnwrites.bsky.social · 12h

Happy International Lesbian Day to trans & nonbinary folks who feel weird about calling themselves lesbians even though they are 🫶

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Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

K.A. Hela ✨ Prepping for edits...again✨ @jundlife.bsky.social · 13h

What did I tell you about hiring humans! Now there is hair EVERYWHERE.

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

WAYFARERS x MURDERBOT x SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN
Everything fell apart when the human came aboard. Instead of quiet meals and cargo runs, Tai's stuck with bickering crewmates, sinister criminals, explosions, and worse, a terrifying monster who wants to be friends. #DVPit #A #SF #DIS #LGBT #ND

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Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

Michael @michaelklamerus.bsky.social · 13h

Gen Z tiktokers have slammed the new Taylor Swift album and only want to talk about Gallery Theme from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst????

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Yz...

URU: Ages Beyond Myst Soundtrack - Gallery Theme

YouTube video by rudreadingiam

www.youtube.com

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 13h

Can I bridge a discord channel into another server and have it behave as if I'm just in the normal channel?

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 13h

Appreciate it! I've done that for almost everything, it's just still a lot of clicking around to find the channels I care about. I'd much rather just have a list: "general-chat on Discord A", "book-recommendations on Discord B", etc.

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

A broad range of them! 😅

“Perhaps it’s like your cargo,” I said.
“What?”
“Your emotional cargo.”
“It’s not cargo,” Clarke said, a broad smile crossing her face. “It’s cargo.”
“Those are the same word,” I said. “I don’t understand what you're saying.”
"Your translator's eating it,” she laughed.
“Eating it,” I repeated. I decided we could discuss that word choice later.
“I think you only have one word for cargo and cargo,” Clarke continued.
"Yes," I said dryly. "That seems likely."

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

Is there a discord client for old people that lets me ignore everything except for the dozen or so channels I actually care about across 5 discords?

Photo of a pair of "parent-proofed" TV remotes, with all but the numeric buttons, channel up/down, volume up/down and power buttons covered in blue painter's tape.

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

Heh, the opposite of mine: one human, and the plot involves NOT learning languages--and machine translation being woefully inadequate as a replacement. 😅

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

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Reposted by Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters

Timothy @landbeforetim.bsky.social · 15h

Ken Paxton’s plan

“How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?" is a reaction image commonly used to respond to users pretending to be part of a community that they are clearly unfamiliar with. The image features the actor Steve Buscemi dressed youthfully and holding a skateboard, and is usually subtitled with the tagline. The image is often photoshopped to adapt to a particular subculture, and the phrase is often used in conversation without the image. It’s edited to include random trans symbols including a trans Texas saying “y’all means all” and a badge that says “fuck the cis stem” and a trans hat with the hammer and sickle symbol.

Text reads: How do you do fellow transgenders

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

"This Is How You Accidentally Go To Brunch Instead of the Time War"

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

I swear I didn't write this for the pitch event memes, but... bsky.app/profile/cath...

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · Aug 16

WAYFARERS x MURDERBOT x SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN

Everything fell apart when the human came aboard. Instead of quiet meals and cargo runs, Tai's stuck with bickering crewmates, sinister criminals, explosions, and worse, a terrifying monster who wants to be friends. #PosterPit #Q #LGBT #R #A

An orange, black, and white movie poster for my manuscript Cargo, inspired by Saul Bass's famous vintage posters for Vertigo and The Man With the Golden Hand: "Tai's terrified of humans. Everyone is. So why did their captain just hire one, and why can't Tai stop thinking about her?"

Now Querying: Cargo

The credits section is as follows:
CATHERINE WINTERS AND COREWARD BAKER PRODUCTIONS LTD PRESENT A CATHERINE WINTERS NOVEL

‘CARGO’ STARRING TAI OF MICAPA
THYLLIS CHAUMEDEROT
TALATAGARI QUIRIN
TALATAGARI ANENTO
FRANK THE CAT
JEREL BESKROS
CHOST MOL RAZIK
FEATURING COOL MOSS ABOVE STILL WATER
AND INTRODUCING CLARKE

SHIPS BY SETEBO-URANQ AND CONSTANT VERIDITY INTERSTELLAR
COSTUMES BY UPPER CORE ATELIER
“HUMAN” CREATURE EFFECTS BY 3.8 BILLION YEARS OF EVOLUTION

CASTING BY THE TRADE AUTHORITY
WRITTEN BY CATHERINE WINTERS
DIRECTED BY CATHERINE WINTERS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CATHERINE WINTERS
WITH APOLOGIES TO SAUL BASS

Catherine Winters dot Com

Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

"infiltrating an anti time-travelling congress" 👀

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 14h

I am so looking forward to picking this one up.