Tess "Querying The Egg Prime Directive!" Tanen
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mothmother.com
Tess "Querying The Egg Prime Directive!" Tanen
@mothmother.com
2.7K followers 2K following 3K posts
Neurospicy disabled anarchist trans lady, making music, stories, poetry, and trouble. Recovering academic.

Patreon: patreon.com/MothMotherTess
Moth Mother Studios: MothMother.com/
Consulting: TessTanen.com
Everything Else: linktr.ee/MothMother
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Our fourth kitty is Willowmint (aka Pillowmint) who is named for a somewhat uncommon California native plant that is my favorite smell in the world..
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A black and white tuxedo cat, nosing a plastic cat skull. A black and white tuxedo cat lying on her back with her paws up in front of her. A black and white tuxedo cat curled up in a ball next to a person. A black and white cat stretched out on her side, and looking extremely long!
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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Other cats in our household, since @faithfalkner.com asked:
Mugwort (aka Mugsy, Floofy boy, the Prince of the underworld, and Artie, which is hilarious if you know the plant family of Mugwort!)

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Extremely fluffy black cat, in close up. Look at how majestic he is! A floor level shot of a very floofy black cat. A black cat, lying on his side. His extremely long and fluffy fur is mussed and adorable A black cat sitting on a staircase. His fur is so dark that it's almost impossible to distinguish his body features.
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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I just adopted these cuties, and now my bedroom technically qualifies as an escape room by this definition, and that makes me so happy right now!
Seiko, a small calico kitty, lies on a bed looking at the camera. She is almost 18 months old, and is probably going to stay pretty small, like a permanent kitten! She is extremely energetic, and playful, and cuddlesome, and wonderful! Atsushi, a grey striped kitten sleeps curled in a ball. She is 2 months old and I would die for her! Seiko, a small calico kitty, lies on top of Tess. They are both looking up at the camera. Atsushi, a grey striped kitten reclines in my lap.
November 18, 2025 at 3:56 AM
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Seemed like an opportunity to also put a physical copy of Magica Riot on my shelf (which will increase the chances of my wife reading it too!)
A receipt from Bookshop.org, showing Magica Riot: Full Bloom on preorder, and a paperback of Magica Riot ordered as well!
November 16, 2025 at 6:41 PM
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This girl just submitted the first of many agent query letters for The Egg Prime Directive!

I honestly can't believe I'm doing this! I've always loved writing, but I've never felt so certain about something I've written! There's something magical about this story and I really hope it comes through!
A woman in flowing brown pants, black belt, brown and black hiking boots, and a black tank top. She has a paisley blue and gold scarf draped to cover of her arms, which hangs uselessly at her side in a splint. Her other hand is on her hip. She has a neutral expression on her face, red lipstick, and glasses. Her curly dark hair is pulled to the side in a loose ponytail.
November 14, 2025 at 6:52 PM
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I'm almost 10 years older than this dude & chronically ill.
There's something to be said for the health benefits of making your life about creating art & beauty, spreading joy & caring for the people & communities you love. It's certainly treating me better than hoarding wealth is treating this guy!
A middle aged woman with shoulder length dark curly hair. She wears black suede heeled boots, gray knee high socks, over a gray pair of jeggings. She's leading towards the camera. She wears a light gray sweater as well.
November 14, 2025 at 3:37 AM
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So very excited that one of my last remaining PhD students, Mikael Sebag, successfully defended his dissertation—titled "The Magic Systems of Modern Games"—today! I'm so proud of him and so thrilled that people are finally going to get to read this work!
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE The Magic System in Modern Games DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Informatics by Mikael D. Sebag Dissertation Committee: Professor Aaron Trammell, Chair Professor Katie Salen Tekinbaş Dr. Theresa Jean Tanenbaum 2025 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Magic System in Modern Games by Mikael D. Sebag Doctor of Philosophy in Informatics University of California, Irvine, 2025 Professor Aaron Tramell, Chair Magic systems are the subsystems of fantasy games that regulate the player’s ability to cast spells. These systems set the rules for what magical feats are mechanically and diegetically possible in the gameworld, how often they can be performed, at what cost, and by whom. While magic systems are often central to how players experience fantasy games, the values encoded within the design and behaviors of these systems have gone critically unexamined. Using Pinch and Bijker’s theory of the social construction of technology, this dissertation traces a history of the magic system as a sociotechnical artifact across three distinct periods of its development. In this narrative, the dominant relevant social group of each period—fantasy novelists, tabletop roleplaying game designers, and early computer game programmers—progessively rationalized the idea of magic in order to address problems they each encountered in representing magic within their respective mediums. Through historical method and the close reading of systems-as-texts, this dissertation analyzes short stories, novels, printed rulebooks, and early computer roleplaying games between the years 1932 and 1986 to argue that modern magic systems have rationalized magic not solely in games but through them—a process that I have termed ludic disenchantment.
November 14, 2025 at 2:27 AM
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It keeps getting prettier!
Gorgeous red and green Aurora Borealis! Gorgeous red, blue, and green Aurora Borealis Gorgeous red and green Aurora Borealis Gorgeous red and green Aurora Borealis
November 12, 2025 at 4:53 AM
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First time seeing the Aurora Borealis! Right out my front door! Absolutely giddy at how beautiful it is! (These pictures are much more dramatic than what I can see with my naked eye... can't believe what I can do with a mobile phone camera sometimes!)
A picture of a night sky with pink northern lights in it. A picture of the northern lights in pink, red, and green in the sky with trees and a house silhouetted against them. A picture of the northern lights in pink, red, and green in the sky with trees and a house silhouetted against them. A picture of the northern lights in pink, red, and green in the sky with trees and a house silhouetted against them.
November 12, 2025 at 3:58 AM
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Generally feeling like crap tonight and wishing I didn't have to spend another two weeks in this splint. I know it will be worth it to have less nerve pain in the long term, but in the moment I have things I want to be doing and am feeling very limited. My brain doesn't do well with idleness.
Tess with her arm in a splint looking tired.
November 12, 2025 at 2:25 AM
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Realized that now that I have given them the original, that I can share this painting that I did for @tincanaudio.co.uk. It's an Amber Phantom butterfly to celebrate their name change!

Made with my black walnut ink and watercolors.
And ink and watercolor painting of a butterfly, with translucent amber wings, and coloration reflecting the non-binary flag in the lower wing hemispheres. A close-up of the writing on the painting, spelling out Hetera Pera, the scientific name for the Amber Phantom.
November 12, 2025 at 1:36 AM
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Did a little bit of clean up and refinement on this piece today as well. Specifically, I added a tail, which I can't believe I forgot originally!

What kind of self-respecting cat girl forgets the fucking tail?!
An ink drawing of the Egyptian goddess Bastet
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 AM
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Some process photos.
Pencil sketch of a woman in profile wearing a dress, but with long spirally hair, and a tree growing at her head. Ink line drawing, with pencils erased, of a woman in profile wearing a dress, but with long spirally hair, and a tree growing at her head. Inked, and shaded, illustration of a woman in profile wearing a dress, but with long spirally hair, and a tree growing at her head. A slightly different angle on the finished picture, showing better how the metallic foil catches the light.
November 12, 2025 at 12:26 AM
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Continuing explorations with homemade Black Walnut Ink. Really enjoying discovering all the different things this medium is capable of, and continuing to grow as an illustrator!
An ink drawing of a woman in profile with a tree growing out of her head, and large spirals of hair trailing behind her. There is a sun and several other circular embellishments that are in metallic gold foil, and the trunk and branches of the tree are in metallic silver.
November 12, 2025 at 12:20 AM
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I really enjoy the process of taking a drawing from doodle to something more finished. This one started pretty rough and I'm very happy with how it evolved as I inked and painted it.
The original pencil sketch of Bastet The inks over the original pencil lines. The inks with the pencil lines removed.
November 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
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Having only one hand, means that my writing and music are going to slow down for the next few weeks. Instead, I'm doing creative things that I only need one hand for: in this case exploring new techniques with the black walnut ink that I brew!
#Bastet #Bast #Ink
An ink drawing of the goddess Bastet.
November 8, 2025 at 8:35 PM
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I lived bitches!
A woman with her arm in front of her, and a sling wrapped in an ace bandage
November 7, 2025 at 3:43 PM
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At the hospital for an ulnar nerve release and tendonitis surgery... something I've needed for many years!

Got to have the "no I was born without a uterus conversation" with a disbelieving nurse, which is always gratifying when dressed like this on a day when not allowed to wear makeup!😅
A woman in a green hospital gown, with a blue hair bonnet and glasses.
November 7, 2025 at 12:47 PM
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Sign me up for Sword Tess Squad!
A woman in a horned helmet and black bikini top holding a round wooden trans pride shield in front of her, and a sword over her head.
November 7, 2025 at 12:01 PM
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Estrogen is powerful
A masculine presenting person with a beard, in blue jeans, and a Veronica Mars t-shirt, sitting on a driftwood chair. They have dark curly hair, and a haunted look on their face. This picture was taken in march, 2017, so they're 38 years old here. A pretty woman in a black top, and black and grey paisley leggings. the woman's curly dark hair hangs down below her shoulders, and there is a purple streak in it. She wears glasses, and has bold eyeliner wings but is otherwise neutrally made up. Perhaps most notable, in this image, is that the woman is leaning forward, and her boobs are boobin' mightilly!
November 3, 2025 at 3:58 AM
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NUN SIGNS!
A photograph of the sign for Motherhouse, Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis, with bare branched trees in the background, and a bunch of catholic stuff off to one side of it (cross, plaque, etc.)
November 2, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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Do funsies, some ribcage process photos! It's cut from cardboard, wrapped in masking tape, shaped and connected with wire, coated in homemade paper maché clay, sanded, and then sealed with Mod Podge. 10/10 for aesthetic, 2/10 ease-of-fit/structural integrity.
A picture of the rib cage pieces cut out from cardboard and laid out on a table. A picture of one of the rib cage pieces wrapped in masking tape and curved around using craft wire. A picture of the rib cage pieces connected up, and coded in paper maché clay A picture of the pieces after they have been sanded, and sealed with Mod podge
November 1, 2025 at 2:33 AM
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The ribcage we made ended up being a lot more fragile and janky than I'd have liked, but I have ideas for how to improve it for next time.
Tess in a Harrowhawk Nonegesimus costume - a black catsuit with homemade ribcage over it, and a white half cloak over one shoulder. She has black and white skull face paint on under a black lace veil. She stands with her legs together and hands raised, palms upwards, and fingers spread.
November 1, 2025 at 2:19 AM
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Generally pretty happy with the Harrowhawk face paint I did tonight!
Tess with black and white skull face paint.
November 1, 2025 at 2:15 AM
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We do bones, bitch!

(With @drtanenbaumii.bsky.social)
Karen (left) and Tess (right) as Gideon and Harrowhawk Nonegesimus from the Locked Tomb books!
November 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM