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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 48m

Matt drew the interior illustrations for North Continent Ribbon (including my beloved six-legged salamander)!

Matt 🏳️‍🌈 @mspencerdraws.bsky.social · 22h

Hello #PortfolioDay!
I'm Matt, a queer illustrator from Michigan.

I'd love to do more:
-Book covers (and interiors!)
-TTRPG projects (items, maps, etc.)!
-DnD Character/Party Commissions 👀
-Stained Glass Style illustrations

🍂 www.mspencerdraws.com
🏹 [email protected]

‪Matt 🏳️‍🌈‬
‪@mspencerdraws.bsky.social‬
· 1mo
(3/3)

And some rarely seen but still much loved (by me) black and white pieces. Chapter headers, a temporary tattoo design, and an interior full page illustration.

A chapter header from A Mourning Coat. A drawing of various sewing notions in ink lines and digital washes of grey- a pincushion, scissors shaped like a cassowary, a measuring tape, buttons and various spools of thread.
ALT

A chapter header from North Continent Ribbon. An ink drawing of a thick tome with an ornate 8-pointed star on the cover, an elaborate lock, and a long ribbon bookmark
ALT

A drawing, in ink, of a snake curling over a rectangular shape filled with a drawing of a hemlock plant. Where the snake overlaps the rectangle, it is scaled, where the snake is outside the rectangle, it is skeletal.
ALT

From Neon Hemlock's Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness. A gouache and ink painting depicting a lonesome little house on an expansive prairie. Wind blows the grass and the very sky seems like it's pressing in on the structure. Light glows from one window.
ALT

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‪Nellie Cubed‬
‪@nelnelnellie.bsky.social‬
· 1mo
📚💙

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For Legends of Avantris' Crooked Moon. A watercolor illustration depicting a stained glass window featuring a demonic feminine figure with her hands open expressively in front of her. She has horns, clawed wings and a tail that wraps around her hooved legs. Roses and thorny vines feature as motifs throughout the red-tinted image.
For Legends of Avantris' Crooked Moon. A watercolor illustration depicting a stained glass window featuring a demonic feminine figure with her hands open expressively in front of her. She has horns, clawed wings and a tail that wraps around her hooved legs. Roses and thorny vines feature as motifs throughout the red-tinted image.

Cover art for Neon Hemlock's "We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2024". An illustration (in watercolor) of an earth-toned wild hunt tapestry with muted rainbow-y accents being looked at by a trio of rad queer people in a museum-esque framing

A watercolor illustration in oranges and greys. A serpent weaves through bare branches of a tree. Centered, within a frame of antlers, a black and white portrait of a bearded man with leather armor on one shoulder and a quiver on his back.

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Reposted by Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)

OTHERSIDE - Kickstarter is LIVE! @othersidespec.bsky.social · 17h

Want a poetry critique from the lovely @yarntheory.bsky.social? Ursula Whitcher is a writer, poet, and mathematician published by Neon Hemlock, Analog, Asimov’s, The Deadlands, and elsewhere!

Grab a subscription + poetry critique!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

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Reposted by Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)

American Mathematical Society @amermathsoc.bsky.social · 1d

How many cards do you need to draw to get one of each suit? Discover the surprising link to differential equations in the Oct Feature: The Hypergeometric Flower Pot by Ursula Whitcher https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2025/10/01/the-hypergeometric-flower-pot/

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

<3

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

Look what's in stock at my local Barnes and Noble!

A stack of issues of Asimov's Science Fiction in a magazine rack. One is open to the table of contents and shows a poem by Ursula Whitcher.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

I have actually learned a ton about fashion over the years by trying to buy a boring article of clothing like the one that just wore out, and discovering it's no longer made. My math dishevelment takes work!

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

So were Vermonters wearing plaid in the great "you can't buy plaid in normal stores" dead zone of, say, 2010? If so, what are their secret plaid sources?

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

I do know about LL Bean plaid! (Which isn't Vermont but is Northeast.) I don't think the Northeast was driving the recent plaid resurgence, though.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

(I guess they play Nirvana in grocery stores these days too.)

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

I think your example is an example of a stylish person following the then-trend. But the mainstream 2020s trend was a throwback to original PNW style.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

A few years back plaid came into fashion across the US as a retro '90s thing (retro '90s style has now moved on to wide pants & baby-doll T-shirts). I was very excited about this!

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

The Pacific Northwest is where grunge flannel + stompy boots came from! It helps that Portland is flannel weather a lot of the year.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

as a Portland expat I am wearing it for the team

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

The thread embedded here is fun (and makes me homesick!) but I think it misunderstands the genuine honesty embedded in "shitposting". Portland has Gideon the Ninth style meming.

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

Great thread on the distinctive political culture of Portland, by a US historian who is very much from Portland.

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 1d

I do drink caffeine but I've been pretty grumpy about how effective a morning run is as a substitute. A quick walk might have some of the same effect?

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Reposted by Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)

cocoon of normality 🦋 @tallesteden.bsky.social · 3d

I've now read the majority of the works shortlisted for the @ursulakleguin.com award and they are all excellent. For me, it's a toss up between @vajra.me's Rakesfall and @yarntheory.bsky.social's North Continent Ribbon (the latter of which I really hope more people would read)

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Reposted by Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)

Kieron Gillen @kierongillen.bsky.social · 4d

October 20th is the order cut off for DIE: LOADED, sequel to the three-time Hugo-nominated DIE. I've pulled together a short primer it with all the info you need on it - what it is, previews, full cover details (check out our sketch variant!) and more. Go nose! Join our party. It's an experience.

DIE: Loaded

The sequel to the three-times Hugo-nominated, award winning dark fantasy comic, DIE.

bindings.app

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 4d

I don't get many of these (I suspect my old-school spam-deterrent method of writing my email as firstname at domain dot suffix helps) but the ones I have seen are super creepy.

Kate Heartfield @kateheartfield.com · 5d

Today's newsletter is about the patterns in fake book club and other scam emails sent to authors.

How to spot an author scam email

I’ve grumbled enough on social media about the rise in AI-generated scam emails that now, more than one of my author friends has sent an email to me, asking...

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)

OTHERSIDE - Kickstarter is LIVE! @othersidespec.bsky.social · 5d

We have some lovely rewards for you over on Kickstarter! Snag a subscription + poetry critique from the wonderful @angelaliu.bsky.social! Angela is a Nebula, Hugo, Astounding, Locus, AND Ignyte finalist—as well as a Rhysling Award recipient! And also the best.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 5d

THIS.

Eden Robins @edenrobins.bsky.social · 5d

It remains an absolute thrill to be short-listed for this award. I'm making my way through the whole list and these books are IN-CRE-DI-BL-E

Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 5d

🌟 Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction 🌟 Remember You Will Die traces the lives of artists, activists, scientists, and more as they intersect with the existence of a yearning AI. Eden Robins weaves a polyphonic narrative that is intergenerational, art-filled, and subversive.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 6d

SAME BUT I WAS FOURTEEN.

Arkady Martine | Dr. AnnaLinden Weller @byzantienne.bsky.social · 8d

eeeeeeeeeee OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK, I have loved this book since I was nine years old

Ancillary Review of Books @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · 8d

In our latest critical book-club, we talk about Melissa Scott's BURNING BRIGHT (@torbooks.bsky.social), a queer cyberpunk/space opera about political machinations and online role-playing games, with author Ursula Whitcher!

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 7d

This is mostly a @barbarafantechi.bsky.social question but I welcome more general airport reminiscences. I don't speak German or Italian but I fake the latter better.

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 7d

If I am flying within the EU and I have a choice between a 50-minute Lufthansa/Air Dolomiti connection in Frankfurt and a 3-hour Air Italia connection in Rome, who is more likely to lose my luggage?

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Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear) @yarntheory.bsky.social · 8d

Come talk to us about Burning Bright, whether my take on the tiny ending mystery makes sense, and why cyberpunk/space opera fusions are best!

A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 9d

For Episode 34, @yarntheory.bsky.social joins to talk about structure, art & endings, relationships, and much more in Melissa Scott's 1993 cyberpunk space-Venice thriller BURNING BRIGHT:
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/10/06/a...

A Meal of Thorns 34 – BURNING BRIGHT with Ursula Whitcher

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books.Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon!Guest: Ursula WhitcherTitle: Burning Bright by Melissa ScottHost: Jake Case…

ancillaryreviewofbooks.org

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