Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

@magicariot.com

11K followers 870 following 9.5K posts

Author of trans magical girl novel “Magica Riot,” upcoming sequel "Magica Riot: Full Bloom,” and the Maidensong Magica universe. 43 year old trans lesbian from PDX. Lover of magical girls, sci-fi, anime, and games. SFWA member. She/her. magicariot.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · Jul 1

New trans girl Claire just found out the members of her fav Portland band are magical girls - and she's one, too! Now she’s out of the closet as the newest member of Magica Riot!

Check out the book Strange Horizons called "brilliant trans joy," in print, ebook, and audio. magicariot.com/magicariot

Artwork of the cover art of "Magica Riot," featuring protagonist Claire in her purple magical girl costuming posing in front of the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon. Across the top, artwork of her and the other four main characters in a park is placed. Around the book art are placed several blocks of text: "trans protagonist," "entirely queer cast," "found family energy," "thrilling action," "music-based magic," "goopy monsters," "useless lesbians," "modern-day Portland." A quote from Strange Horizons Magazine calling the book "Brilliant trans joy" comes next. Finally, text at the bottom reads: "Recommended if you like Sailor Moon, Symphogear, Pretty Cure, Power Rangers"

20 250 650

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 9h

“Magica Riot: Full Bloom” is fully done 👀

All editors finished. Now I will finalize everything, and send it for audio production.

Artwork is wrapping up, and then I’ll get my print proofs. Once everything looks good, we will be all systems go.

12 23 150

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 13h

Jesus christ. AI coding platform Augment code had to jack up prices because 22.5% of their users were spending 20x of what they paid, and even after raising the prices, they're still running at a loss.
reddit.com/r/AugmentCod...

A handful of users abused the system so all are getting punished.

This isn't about a few high-usage users. The reality is that approximately 22.5% of our users are consuming 20x what they're currently paying us. This isn't sustainable for us to continue delivering the quality service you expect. We have built some very powerful tools and we don’t want to impose artificial limits on what’s possible, but we do need to be able to charge in proportion to the use customers are getting from our platform. Developers are always going to push their tools to their limits, and we encourage that — and we need to be able to charge for it appropriately, too.

You only care about professional developers.

Our core focus is on building the best AI coding agent for professional software engineers and their teams. If people outside of that group are finding value with Augment, they are very welcome to use the product, but we’re not prioritizing features or solutions that non-developers might need, and frankly, there are plenty of vibe coding/low code/no code solutions available on the market that will better serve those customers.

You are just squeezing money out of us at 20x margin.

20x margin sounds great, but isn’t the reality for AI tools: the vast majority are running at a loss, including us, while we work to build sustainable, long-term businesses.

54 280 1.5K

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Claudie @clh2oars.bsky.social · 13h

I dipped my toe in IF over summer, and it was great fun! Play as one of Emmanuelle's cats (from Val-de-mer) as you try to escape a bath... or perhaps you'd rather try to get as many treats as possible?

No knowledge of PAINTED FLOCK needed to play.

claudiearseneault.itch.io/painted-kitty

An image with a white cat that has splotches of red and blue paint. Besides it are pawprints of blue paint and the title “Painted Kitty” in red. Above is written “I made a small interactive fiction game and it’s completely free to play!” and “In which you are a dirty little kitty, and you’re trying to escape a bath!”

1 22 31

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

ayumi shinozaki | 篠崎あゆみ (she/they) @ayusheknows.bsky.social · 10d

I still don’t have any sketch commissions at the moment 👀

And I don’t usually push my portraits but the holidays are coming and they also make great gifts! 🥰

ko-fi.com/ayusheknows/...

14 23

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · Jul 1

20 250 650

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Sith_art aka A’ine! 🏳️‍⚧️ @sith-art.bsky.social · 13h

〽️Trending: OpenAI Ethics

Lmao what fucking ethics?

2 7 33

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 15h

everybody left there has pundit brain that has been slow-roasted on the background radiation of open Nazi shit and other hard-right perspectives that Musk intentionally floats to the surface

I'm absolutely convinced that shit *does* eat away at folks' minds over time

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 15h

Same as it ever was, sure, but with the increasing income disparity and free rein being given to these tech monsters, it’s only getting worse

2 23

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 16h

Between this, Musk’s MechaHitler making porn, & payment processors punishing sex workers/artists that make adult material, I hope it’s more obvious than ever what the wealthy who believe they rule over us think.

“We can do whatever we want, including plagiarized porn, and the marginalized cannot.”

The Verge @theverge.com · 19h

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

2 39 98

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Xan @comicsbyxan.bsky.social · 22h

Pandora's Tale Chapter 6
Cover

The next three chapters are probably my favorite run of the series so far. Lots of emotions and lore!

PANDORA'S TALE
Chapter 6: Live Fast, part 1

1 8 19

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Autumn Wolff | Lesbian Romance Author @autumnwolff.bsky.social · 17h

Just got off the phone with the moving company, and it's gonna be $2,000 to move our shit from Portland to Montréal. A five-hour drive away, and it's two grand for one of them pods. 😵‍💫

Anyway, great time recall I have a GFM: www.gofundme.com/f/help-autum...

And book bundle: itch.io/s/159177/the...

Donate to Help Autumn Wolff Move and Study in Quebec, organized by Autumn Wolff

Hi! I'm Autumn Wolff, a transfemme author working on going back to school in a… Autumn Wolff needs your support for Help Autumn Wolff Move and Study in Quebec

www.gofundme.com

2 47 69

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Xan @comicsbyxan.bsky.social · Aug 14

Sailor Moon! I’ve been a fan for over 20 years, and the fandom is as vibrant as ever. But one aspect we don’t talk about enough is the Monsters of the Week. Often funny, sometimes scary, always creative…

But are they hot?

I bring you: Every Sailor Moon Monster of the Week, ranked by hotness.

Mawashitarou, a Lemures from Sailor Moon

Glycina, a Flower Youma from Sailor Moon

12 130 330

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 17h

Aw heck thank you!

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 22h

No one has ever been this far into the cool zone before

Unusual Whales @unusualwhales.bsky.social · 3d

AI bubble now 17 times bigger than dot-com boom and four times larger than subprime crisis, per MW

7 53 360

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

taby 🏳️‍⚧️ @tabymeow.lesbian.cat · 3d

relationships where the woman is taller than the woman

11 690 2.4K

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Tris~~ @trishusband.itch.io · 18h

Tomorrow!!! :DDDD

Tris~~ @trishusband.itch.io · 13d

After the death of her friend, independent detective Isadora tries to meet the demands of every powerful person in the city: don't ask questions. Unfortunately, her nature and fate have other plans.

A trans lesbian retelling of a classic crime noir.

Pre-order: trishusband.itch.io/keeping-the-...

1
The first time I laid eyes on Akakios, child of Diodotos, xe was drunkenly trying to start a high-end turbobike outside the Draped Vine. Xe had a young-looking face, but xer hair was bone white and xer slight yet toned arms were covered in fading scars. I could tell by xer eyes that xe was wasted, but otherwise xe looked like every hard-working sailor I drank with in those days; it was a strange sight for a high-end establishment like the Vine.

Behind the sailor was a girl. Her hair and dress were a deep red—like blood oozing from a wound—and her disinterested smirk marked her as the kind of woman I would have let walk all over me. Her skin was nearly as pale as Akakios' hair. The elegance of that woman almost outmatched the elegance of the bike. Not quite.

A rather annoyed parking attendant stood next to the bike, one hand holding it steady as xe struggled with the controls. The man was the usual half-tough character in ostentatious white garb, with the name of the bar displayed on his crisp suit in dark purple. He was at the end of his rope.

"Look," he said, his voice as sharp as a knife, "you've got to move the bike. I can even turn it on for you if it gets you out of here faster." He reached for the controls but yelped when Akakios slapped his hand away.

11 18

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 18h

gettin' closer 😁 new sneak peek for patrons www.patreon.com/posts/magica...

"Magica Riot: Full Bloom" Back Cover Chibis! | Magica Riot

Get more from Magica Riot on Patreon

www.patreon.com

1 13 35

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Abra, The Everwife 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽🌼👻 @pairofclaws.bsky.social · 18h

Since we're all dunking in Ari Drennen again, time to dust off my favorite of her rancid takes.

Abra, The Everwife 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽🌼👻 @pairofclaws.bsky.social · Mar 28

BEHOLD.

Post from Ari Drennen:

I disagree. I think respectability politics is the only thing that serves us. The more millitant approach of the last few years failed. I know because I was in the trenches, fighting for it. We need to try something different.

6 12 72

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Erin! Is looking for BG Paint work! @heyoerin.bsky.social · Aug 15

Hi! My name is Erin Rodriguez & I'm a BG Painter & Color Designer looking for full-time work. I've worked with studios such as 20th TV Animation, Shadowmachine, Nickelodeon, and have colored for Mad Cave Studios & Papercutz Graphic Novels.

🖥️ Heyoerin.art
📧 Heyoerin(at)gmail

19 45

Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️ @magicariot.com · 19h

oh god I forgot that Ari was also the one who said intersectionality is bad

1 22

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Venal Ant Libel 🔔 @teffie.bsky.social · 19h

[Jeff Foxworthy voice] You might be a psy-op if you publicly say intersectionality is a psy-op

Lydia Rose @lydzrose.bsky.social · 20h

I have some feelings about this.

First, does Ari understand that “designer vaginas” are out of reach for most trans people under capitalism? Of course not, she lives a cushy life, at least as she shows on social media.

Second, I don’t expect the woman who thinks intersectionality is a “psy op”

Valerie @vibingvalerie.bsky.social · 1d

Are women bourgeois?

Ari: WELL I AM

1 5 18

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Fear Captain @cheercaptain.wang · 19h

Imagine this in any other industry: “While we at Panera are shocked and saddened by news that people have died from our caffeinated lemonade we are also proud to announce that we’ve fixed the issue and now it’ll make you cum too!”

4 5 37

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Fear Captain @cheercaptain.wang · 19h

ChatGPT helped a child to commit suicide in April but in 6 months they’ve made so much progress on mitigating “the serious mental health issues” that they’re ready to roll out the jack off protocol

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 19h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

3 22 81

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Faith K. Falkner @faithfalkner.com · 1d

Is it time for #PortfolioDay again? Uff då. 🇸🇪

I'm Faith; a producer, artist, and author of non-binary transfem experience. I ruin my life for art. Recent years are defined by my award-winning work on Stardust, an indie transmedia sci-fi experience.

The stars are destiny. ✨ @thestarsaredestiny.com

A picture of Faith — a brunette middle-aged lass in cozy plaid flannel — posing in front of Split Rock Lighthouse. To the side is some of her art.

1 25 53

Reposted by Kara Buchanan 🏳️‍⚧️

Fae’rynn (Phantom Futch) @faerynnistired.itch.io · 19h

it’s also the same fucking logic that a capitalist society uses to deem trans healthcare frivolous and cosmetic. it’s the same logic that conceptualizes transness as ontologically white.

in every capacity it’s fucking disgusting to think that way and yet today i saw another trans women say it

3 7 64