Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

@zyearth.com

1.8K followers 870 following 5.2K posts

www.zyearth.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 5d

👀 Exciting news! I'm selling paperbacks of Zyearth book one, Shadow Cast, direct from the website at a discounted price for #FurryBookMonth!

Supplies are limited, so get them while you can! Other paperback novels coming soon!

#Book #Fantasy #Modern #Monster

www.zyearth.com/bookshop/sha...

Shadow Cast - Book One Paperback — Zyearth Chronicles

PAPERBACK ALL PAPERBACK COPIES ARE SIGNED AND COME WITH A FREE BOOKMARK Some risk it all to save a friend. They must risk it all to save an enemy. All Matt ever wanted was to become a Golde...

www.zyearth.com

2 9 9

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Laika L. Gagarin @laikalgagarin.bsky.social · 8h

if you have to pay to leave a job, thats indentured servitude.

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 20h

California just banned employers from forcing workers to pay a debt, fee, or penalty to leave their job.

Bosses have increasingly been trapping workers with debts incurred in training and other exploitative fees.

Now that's illegal in the nation's biggest state.

1 5 16

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 10h

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids

Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

abcnews.go.com

220 6.1K 15K

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

Definitely not sounding condescending, lol. It was a feat to remove something that had such influence on me.

But I'll admit, it was actually shelf space that prompted it. XD Needed space for my own novels, lol.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

I never had any Gaiman books, but yeah, I can imagine a lot of readers of his are really struggling right now.

I honestly waited YEARS to throw these books out myself... Never touched them, but I just could not handle it until today.

1 1

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

My goal then is to be the NOT problematic version of this author. Have a series with a massive world that feels real, familiar, comfortable, and inviting, making a world that I believe in and hopefully others will believe in to. <3

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

I honestly hate throwing out media I already have. But once an author or a singer or whatever comes out as someone problematic, it's impossible for me to engage with their stuff again, even if I already own it.

This particularly one really hurt though.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

Which really confused me because their politics and their books were *extremely* at odds with each other. It felt like a betrayal. How can you write about things you don't believe in?

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

This was an author whose books I've read multiple times. There was a time when I would read two of their books, finish them, then turn right around and read them again from the beginning. I recommended them to everyone.

Then I discovered they had some really bad takes.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 12h

Cleaning off my bookshelves today and I ended up throwing out 17 books from a problematic author that I can't read anymore.

It's so weird because those books had so much influence on my worldbuilding and series structure.

2 5

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 15h

That's honestly a big part of it. "Oh, it's 'women's fiction'" as if somehow that devalues it.

1 1

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 15h

That's.... Quite a take. As a teacher, I'm curious why you think this.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 15h

In general, I dislike most booktokish review channels because a) they're pretty much all trad books and b) mostly romance (not a bad thing, just my personal preference).

But the new bashing trend makes it far worse.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 15h

I have a lot (some I will always keep to myself) but one is I *hate hate hate* the trend of bashing books on Booktok, Booktube, etc, for views. It's incredibly toxic and perpetuates Drama Is More Popular Than Content.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

1 2

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 15h

a cartoon of two teddy bears hugging each other

Alt: a cartoon of two teddy bears hugging each other

media.tenor.com

1 1

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

K. Vale Nagle @kvalenagle.bsky.social · 16h

It's not Pride Month anymore, but if you want to help out a poor gryphon author struggling with COVID right now....

K. Vale Nagle @kvalenagle.bsky.social · Jun 15

Did you know patrons got a special variant cover of The Crackling Sea where Grenkin has his iconic eye patch?

It's true! And the ebook version with the eye patch is still available at the ebook and up levels at patreon.com/kvalenagle

As a bonus, you help out a trans author during Pride =)

A great blue heron opinicus or earless gryphon flies along stormy cliffs with a dark, stormy sea below him. Art by Jeff Brown. The Crackling Sea, Gryphon Insurrection Boon Six by K. Vale Nagle.

7 37 33

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Rob MacWolf, Werewolf Hitchhiker @robmacwolf.thevoice.dog · 16h

When we write or draw porn or erotica, we get banned from having a bank account and our livelihoods get seized even if we give it away for free.

When billionaires steal what we've written or drawn to churn out a slop-approximate of porn, they're allowed to charge for it.

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.

35 3.2K 5.6K

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 18h

Breaking: Text messages of Young Republican groups across the country have just been leaked.

They talk about putting Democrats in “gas chambers,” attacking “Jews,” calling Black people “watermelon people,” calling to “rape” their enemies, and bringing back slavery.

310 1.2K 2.6K

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 18h

Source:

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

66 280 770

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

People’s City Council - Los Angeles @pplscitycouncil.bsky.social · 20h

This happened at the last No Kings protest in Los Angeles. People were attacked by LAPD and the protest organizers did not have a plan to protect protesters. “Peaceful non-violent” permitted parades will not keep you safe from police violence. In fact, the organizers are working with the police…

Ricci Sergienko, Esq. @riccisergienko.bsky.social · 20h

LAPD literally attacked “peaceful, non-violent” No Kings protesters in June. Lots of people were susceptible to attack because they were led there under the premise of “safety” and that the protest “wasn’t like the others. we are the good ones!”

The regime prefers you to be compliant sitting ducks!

LAPD Attacks “No Kings” Protesters in Los Angeles

Police used batons, tear gas, and “non lethal” projectiles to disperse “No Kings” protesters on Saturday.

truthout.org

22 54

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 19h

XD Got a Discord? We can chat there. DM me if you like!

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Pride Was A Riot, Sacramento @pridewasariot.bsky.social · 20h

The thing about working with cops, is, don’t fucking do it.

At best, you’re lining up your own attendees to get snatched and beaten. At worst, you’re lining up yourself to get scapegoated by the police.

Don’t fucking do it.

People’s City Council - Los Angeles @pplscitycouncil.bsky.social · 20h

Reminder for those attending 50501 SoCal’s No Kings protest this Saturday. The organizers have a history of coordinating with LAPD pigs ahead of their parades. Here’s communication between the 50501 SoCal founders and LAPD regarding last April’s protest.

From:

Sent:

To:

Cc:

Subject:

Brendon Yuen <
Tuesday, March 25, 20254:06 PM
BRIAN CORWIN
EVAN MARTINEZ;CHRISTOPHER SUK;MICHAEL BOYLE;Joann Calderon (DOT Spcl Events);Gerardo Cervantes;Justin Rong:justin.m.kim@lacity.org;Tyler, John W@CHP;Velasquez, Steven P.;bwclinks@lasd.org
Re: 50501 SoCal Unites
ATTENTION: This email originated outside of LAPD. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
I will be attending the meeting.
I will have also asked a few other individuals in charge of planning to attend as well.
Brendon
On Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 6:12 AM BRIAN CORWIN <35723 @lapd.online> wrote:
Good morning,
I sent out the invite for the meeting tomorrow for the event 50501 SoCal Unites scheduled on April 5, 2025. The meeting is over TEAMS and is set for 930am. If you are able to attend it please rsvp. If you have any questions please let me know.
Thank you,
Brian Corwin
Sergeant I Special Events
35723 @lapd.online

From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Brendon Yuen <
Thursday, March 27, 2025 10:24 AM
BRIAN CORWIN
EVAN MARTINEZ; CHRISTOPHER SUK:MICHAEL
BOYLE;pierre.riotoc@lacity.orgjjasmine.hy@lacity.org;bwclinks@lasd.org;Velasquez,
Steven P.;Tyler, John W@CHP;emily@50501socal.org;Joann Calderon (DOT Spcl Events);Brenda Mariona;Gerardo Cervantesjustin.m.kim@lacity.org;Justin Rong;shawn.connolly@lacity.org
Re: 50501 SoCal Unites
ATTENTION: This email originated outside of LAPD. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
I will be attending the meeting.
Brendon
On Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM BRIAN CORWIN <35723@lapd.online> wrote:
This is a follow-up meeting prior to the event on Saturday April 5, 2025.
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID:
Passcode:
Dial in by phone
United States, Los Angeles
Find a local number
Phone conference ID:
For organizers: Meeting options | Reset dial-in

36 90

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 20h

Love to see this thread full of examples countering Johnson's claims. I'd love to see even more.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

Q: We've seen images out of Chicago of federal agents shooting faith leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists. Where's the limit for you on what's acceptable conduct by federal agents?

MIKE JOHNSON: I've not seen them cross the line yet.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 20h

My planets are more fantastical and have complex cultures and stuff, though I haven't had much time to explore them in the books yet.

R. A. Meenan (Sammie) @zyearth.com · 20h

Both? I guess? My books mostly take place on Earth but like, Earth slightly to the left. LA is now El Dorado, humans live alongside anthros, and hydrogen cars are the norm in the 2030s.

V.C. Willow 📚 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇵🇸 @authorvcwillow.bsky.social · 20h

#WritersCoffeeClub 12th October:

Do you prefer to use real-world settings or to invent new ones?

In my Fantasy novels they tend to be new world settings. The exception to that is #TamLin which is a mix of otherworld and the mortal world

My Dystopia and suspense novels are real world settings

2 6

Reposted by R. A. Meenan (Sammie)

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 20h

Your daily reminder that Republicans in Congress have gone on vacation while they force thousands of Americans to go without a paycheck this week.

62 690 2.4K