Elly Bangs
@ellybangs.bsky.social
Author of the apocalyptic cyberpunk novel UNITY, available in bookstores and libraries near you. Short fiction and more at elbangs.com. Queer and trans. Loneliness elemental. (She/her)
Pinned
Elly Bangs
@ellybangs.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Unity - Tachyon Publications
“Unity is an astonishing debut, twisty and startling . . . an absorbing, thrilling ride.” —New York Times In a desperate escape, Danae and her lover Naoto hire the enigmatic ex-mercenary Alexei to gui...
tachyonpublications.com
I wrote this novel about a remorse-stricken master assassin who takes one last job guiding the last surviving fragment of a collective consciousness across the post-apocalyptic American West under the looming specter of a final world war. I hope you like it.
My theory is, storytelling is a kind of play -- and play is an instinctive biological imperative. As other animals learn to fight by play-fighting, humans hone skills of thought, feeling, and knowledge by play-thinking, play-feeling, play-knowing. That's what fiction is.
November 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM
My theory is, storytelling is a kind of play -- and play is an instinctive biological imperative. As other animals learn to fight by play-fighting, humans hone skills of thought, feeling, and knowledge by play-thinking, play-feeling, play-knowing. That's what fiction is.
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Reposted by Elly Bangs
also, a #narrativedisorder angle: contrast this grim picture with the decades of media showing us totally unrealistic projections of what it's like to live in the US, from the NYC apartments of FRIENDS to idk the suburbia of TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE to any small-biz romcom...
This is an insightful but deeply upsetting article about why everyone in the US feels poor, and why the current political situation emerges as a direct result.
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:32 PM
also, a #narrativedisorder angle: contrast this grim picture with the decades of media showing us totally unrealistic projections of what it's like to live in the US, from the NYC apartments of FRIENDS to idk the suburbia of TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE to any small-biz romcom...
Reposted by Elly Bangs
"All lesbians are TERFs" is propaganda designed to divide the strongest allies in the spectrum of queer identities - don't fall for it.
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
Reminder that lesbians have a more positive view of trans people than trans people do
November 25, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"All lesbians are TERFs" is propaganda designed to divide the strongest allies in the spectrum of queer identities - don't fall for it.
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Absolutely terrifying, but very much worth the read if you can!
In addition to being a fascinating (if horrific) insight into a mostly-unknown period of European prehistory, this includes a BANGER of a quote: "I can see why all these people without heads wouldn’t be good for a community, and might be a cause for abandonment."
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Absolutely terrifying, but very much worth the read if you can!
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Deadlands fiction subs open in December.
November 25, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Deadlands fiction subs open in December.
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, has died. She was 111.
"I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," she told Congress in 2021.
Geoff Bennett has more.
"I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," she told Congress in 2021.
Geoff Bennett has more.
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, has died. She was 111.
"I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," she told Congress in 2021.
Geoff Bennett has more.
"I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," she told Congress in 2021.
Geoff Bennett has more.
"Give everyone a box that tells them whatever they most want to hear" turns out to be a doomsday plot so stunningly effective, yet so elegant in its simplicity, that it almost makes me want to believe in the devil.
November 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"Give everyone a box that tells them whatever they most want to hear" turns out to be a doomsday plot so stunningly effective, yet so elegant in its simplicity, that it almost makes me want to believe in the devil.
Somebody should put together a convention of potagers offering lots of very small free samples and call it
Soupcon
Soupcon
November 22, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Somebody should put together a convention of potagers offering lots of very small free samples and call it
Soupcon
Soupcon
Lobsters are known for their tendency to lobst.
November 22, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Lobsters are known for their tendency to lobst.
Stop trying to make Dyson Spheres happen. They're not going to happen.
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Stop trying to make Dyson Spheres happen. They're not going to happen.
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Trans Day of Remembrance. Pour one out for our trans siblings lost and keep *living* in their honor.
November 20, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Trans Day of Remembrance. Pour one out for our trans siblings lost and keep *living* in their honor.
Reposted by Elly Bangs
this. turns out it's not great to just decide a huge portion of the population is expendable just so you can do brunch! people have gotten more and more unwilling to sit with any kind of discomfort or make even the most insignificant sacrifices and it's got a lot to do with why we're where we are
If it feels to you like since 2020 and the start of the pandemic everyone has just gotten a whole lot meaner, and that that meanness has not receded, you’re not insane. 1/
November 20, 2025 at 12:49 AM
this. turns out it's not great to just decide a huge portion of the population is expendable just so you can do brunch! people have gotten more and more unwilling to sit with any kind of discomfort or make even the most insignificant sacrifices and it's got a lot to do with why we're where we are
If you see this, post your getaway vehicle
November 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
If you see this, post your getaway vehicle
Reposted by Elly Bangs
"we are planning to kill people" --waymo
![Pop Crave & @PopCrave • 12h
Waymo co-CEO warns fatal crashes in self-driving cars are coming, and the company is already planning for them:
"We don't say "whether.' We say 'when.' And we plan for [fatal crashes]."
WAYMO](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ymipjgi2ebiptelhrw6zezas/bafkreicjmclzthikst76hsm4ntxz5qc44ixfgkbjlkteua4ld4clmethly@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 2:49 AM
"we are planning to kill people" --waymo
Reposted by Elly Bangs
"According to the report, [...]during the 2024-25 television season, queer characters increased across platforms by 4%, bringing the total to 489. However, the Thursday report found that 41% of those characters will not return." www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-...
Nearly Half of All LGBTQ+ Characters Will Disappear From TV Next Season, GLAAD Study Finds
The 2024-25 TV season recorded 489 queer characters across broadcast, cable and screenings, but cancellations and plot find a deep decline to come
www.thewrap.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:55 AM
"According to the report, [...]during the 2024-25 television season, queer characters increased across platforms by 4%, bringing the total to 489. However, the Thursday report found that 41% of those characters will not return." www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-...
I really appreciate people who are taller than me. It's such a bone-deep comfort, just to know you're out there, somewhere on this earth. Sending my love to all four of you.
November 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I really appreciate people who are taller than me. It's such a bone-deep comfort, just to know you're out there, somewhere on this earth. Sending my love to all four of you.
If I had a nickel for every time Oscar Isaac has played a deeply troubled scientific mastermind who creates artificial life but then immediately becomes so disillusioned with his own creation that he locks it in a room and leaves it to die, only to have it escape and seek bloody vengeance--
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
If I had a nickel for every time Oscar Isaac has played a deeply troubled scientific mastermind who creates artificial life but then immediately becomes so disillusioned with his own creation that he locks it in a room and leaves it to die, only to have it escape and seek bloody vengeance--
Reposted by Elly Bangs
Google Gemini is a reliable source on health and health related affairs
November 18, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Google Gemini is a reliable source on health and health related affairs
Reposted by Elly Bangs
It's hard to trust molecules that have too many atoms.
November 15, 2025 at 9:32 PM
It's hard to trust molecules that have too many atoms.
I wonder if a similar arms race might be driving headlight brightness. You need your headlights to be so bright that you can make out some basic shapes even through the retinal bleaching inflicted by oncoming cars.
![4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiby6can6k76yzfmv2czxs4pu2l7zie7bqbrpswi7h3ifmiadkuqvu@jpeg)
November 14, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I wonder if a similar arms race might be driving headlight brightness. You need your headlights to be so bright that you can make out some basic shapes even through the retinal bleaching inflicted by oncoming cars.
Hive minds are cool.
November 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Hive minds are cool.