E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
@eric.sadbutbuildingworlds.blog
Pen name. Writes dark and challenging fiction; would write more if life weren't so dark and challenging.
Also a magpie for fine stories and essays, particular about coffee and tea, and a year-round summer camp counselor for two cats.
Also a magpie for fine stories and essays, particular about coffee and tea, and a year-round summer camp counselor for two cats.
Pinned
Writing Premodern Mindsets: A Rant and Resources
Contents Introduction: The Problem and Some Parameters Resources: a somewhat condensed list My original touchstones Premodern ontologies and the concreteness of the spiritual Misguided modern views of...
sadbutbuildingworlds.blog
If you're ever bothered when characters in fantasy and hist-fic think and act like modern cosplayers in plate armor, hey, me too.
My latest, long-overdue blog post is a medium-sized compilation of resources for those of us who'd like to do a better job writing about premodernity.
My latest, long-overdue blog post is a medium-sized compilation of resources for those of us who'd like to do a better job writing about premodernity.
Me if I were a historical German hunter but still had my current level of executive functioning:
Part 5 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg
German hunting knife that's also a gun, that's also a calendar..
German hunting knife that's also a gun, that's also a calendar..
November 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Me if I were a historical German hunter but still had my current level of executive functioning:
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Econobros are triumphalist modernists...their models need to explain the world that is perpetually being created ex nihilo, that cannot care for the past because that past can show alternatives - possible worlds that have existed or that could exist in the future.
it is exceptionally fun to stumble onto a discourse about "the dark ages are real" discourse by 2 dudes, both historians, who are neither of them medievalists
both are, you'll be shocked, military and political historians
anyway, just gonna post this until the heat death of the universe i guess
both are, you'll be shocked, military and political historians
anyway, just gonna post this until the heat death of the universe i guess
You Gotta Do the Reading, Man
Why does the idea of the "Dark Ages" mean so much to econobros?
buttondown.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Econobros are triumphalist modernists...their models need to explain the world that is perpetually being created ex nihilo, that cannot care for the past because that past can show alternatives - possible worlds that have existed or that could exist in the future.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Redesign of Nolan's Odyssey film publicity photo by Patrick Robinson Art:
www.facebook.com/PatrickAnima...
www.facebook.com/PatrickAnima...
November 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Redesign of Nolan's Odyssey film publicity photo by Patrick Robinson Art:
www.facebook.com/PatrickAnima...
www.facebook.com/PatrickAnima...
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Goodness me, I stayed up late reading and it’s already Partially Muscled Skeleton Screaming by the Perimeter Fence Day. Hope you’ve all been good this year!
November 14, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Goodness me, I stayed up late reading and it’s already Partially Muscled Skeleton Screaming by the Perimeter Fence Day. Hope you’ve all been good this year!
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Well, I ran a series of guest posts the other year where I invited various trans, genderqueer, & nonbinary folks to review various gender-bending tales from the pulps. Of those, you might consider:
deepcuts.blog/2023/06/14/d...
deepcuts.blog/2023/06/14/d...
David H. Keller’s “The Feminine Metamorphosis” (1929): A Two-Dimensional Gender War by Ro Salarian
It’s funny how cis people see the trans experience as a horror story, a tale of body-horror sci-fi right alongside Frankenstein. Not much has changed in nigh on a century since Dr. David H. Keller …
deepcuts.blog
October 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Well, I ran a series of guest posts the other year where I invited various trans, genderqueer, & nonbinary folks to review various gender-bending tales from the pulps. Of those, you might consider:
deepcuts.blog/2023/06/14/d...
deepcuts.blog/2023/06/14/d...
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Proud of my profile of JAS in New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3
35) Jessica Amanda Salmonson deserves more kudos.
As a writer, Salmonson's work is definitely a continuation of the WEIRD TALES tradition, including historical adventure fiction, S&S, horror, weird fiction, & poetry. Sadly, her peak of influence has passed, & not enough people read her now.
As a writer, Salmonson's work is definitely a continuation of the WEIRD TALES tradition, including historical adventure fiction, S&S, horror, weird fiction, & poetry. Sadly, her peak of influence has passed, & not enough people read her now.
November 13, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Proud of my profile of JAS in New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
turns out the emails we should have been reading in 2016 were from the NYT
November 12, 2025 at 10:34 PM
turns out the emails we should have been reading in 2016 were from the NYT
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Discover what the buzz is all about in @neilwillcox.bsky.social’s new story “The Beekeeper’s Daughter.”
kaleidotrope.net/autumn-2025/...
kaleidotrope.net/autumn-2025/...
November 12, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Discover what the buzz is all about in @neilwillcox.bsky.social’s new story “The Beekeeper’s Daughter.”
kaleidotrope.net/autumn-2025/...
kaleidotrope.net/autumn-2025/...
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Advocating the replacement of "Adjunct" professor with "Ronin" as a part of a larger plan to save academia.
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Advocating the replacement of "Adjunct" professor with "Ronin" as a part of a larger plan to save academia.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
every few years it's revealed that the NYT was sitting on information about some horrific thing that public knowledge of would have changed the country's course and for some reason a ton of people still give them money. you can play those games on other sites
November 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
every few years it's revealed that the NYT was sitting on information about some horrific thing that public knowledge of would have changed the country's course and for some reason a ton of people still give them money. you can play those games on other sites
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Can confirm. I’ve only worked at one studio where we had AI rammed down our throats and it came directly and solely from the CEO. Everyone else hated it and recognized it as the dreck it was. It’s almost like we should stop letting the worst people run things or something.
"All major game studios are using generative AI" the fact this is a lie aside, the ones that are using it aren't doing so willingly. It's meddling managers and CEOs with no understanding or attachment to game development forcing it on devs who end up not using anything it outputs anyway.
November 12, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Can confirm. I’ve only worked at one studio where we had AI rammed down our throats and it came directly and solely from the CEO. Everyone else hated it and recognized it as the dreck it was. It’s almost like we should stop letting the worst people run things or something.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
did not expect the site of Thomas Beckett’s murder to be memorialized in a fashion that is quite so fucking metal
November 12, 2025 at 3:12 PM
did not expect the site of Thomas Beckett’s murder to be memorialized in a fashion that is quite so fucking metal
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
4) There is absolutely zero requirement that your sword & sorcery story be set in a quasi-medieval European milieu with no people of color.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
November 12, 2025 at 2:28 PM
4) There is absolutely zero requirement that your sword & sorcery story be set in a quasi-medieval European milieu with no people of color.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
2) Sword & sorcery is always political and philosophical.
Read the original Kull and Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. Even in an age undreamed of, Conan was full ACAB.
Read the original Kull and Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. Even in an age undreamed of, Conan was full ACAB.
November 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
2) Sword & sorcery is always political and philosophical.
Read the original Kull and Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. Even in an age undreamed of, Conan was full ACAB.
Read the original Kull and Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. Even in an age undreamed of, Conan was full ACAB.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Wishing our friends at Subterranean Press the best of luck while they work with Amazon to get this straightened out. You can also buy their ebooks direct from them at subterraneanpress.com. (Cutting Amazon out of the picture.)
November 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Wishing our friends at Subterranean Press the best of luck while they work with Amazon to get this straightened out. You can also buy their ebooks direct from them at subterraneanpress.com. (Cutting Amazon out of the picture.)
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Jumping on this train. Don't laugh, but Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind reminded me that fantasy with fine prose did not die with Tolkien or Le Guin. (Nor did he let die the tradition of committing to a fantasy trilogy and never finishing it. Anyway...)
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Jumping on this train. Don't laugh, but Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind reminded me that fantasy with fine prose did not die with Tolkien or Le Guin. (Nor did he let die the tradition of committing to a fantasy trilogy and never finishing it. Anyway...)
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Safe travels to Nakadai Tatsuya (1932-2025), the great, great Japanese actor of both film and stage, who disappeared into every role he played. It's hard to imagine any story of Japanese cinema without him.
November 11, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Safe travels to Nakadai Tatsuya (1932-2025), the great, great Japanese actor of both film and stage, who disappeared into every role he played. It's hard to imagine any story of Japanese cinema without him.
Speaking as a reader and reviewer of fine SFFH/speculative fiction:
I understand why some indie authors resort to selling through the online billionaire bookstore, but I am much more inclined to buy your work on the likes of Kobo, itch.io, or a Shopify/Payhip storefront.
I understand why some indie authors resort to selling through the online billionaire bookstore, but I am much more inclined to buy your work on the likes of Kobo, itch.io, or a Shopify/Payhip storefront.
A *lot* of indies (myself included!) who are wide are part of Kobo Plus because they don't ask for exclusivity like KU. Really encourage people to try it out.
Kobo is doing a 30 day free trial promotion for their Kindle Unlimited competitor service Kobo Plus for new subscribers (not sure if this is US only), if you like queer indie books, small press SFF, and backlist SFF from large publishers there's a lot to choose from on this service that's not on KU!
November 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Speaking as a reader and reviewer of fine SFFH/speculative fiction:
I understand why some indie authors resort to selling through the online billionaire bookstore, but I am much more inclined to buy your work on the likes of Kobo, itch.io, or a Shopify/Payhip storefront.
I understand why some indie authors resort to selling through the online billionaire bookstore, but I am much more inclined to buy your work on the likes of Kobo, itch.io, or a Shopify/Payhip storefront.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
A *lot* of indies (myself included!) who are wide are part of Kobo Plus because they don't ask for exclusivity like KU. Really encourage people to try it out.
Kobo is doing a 30 day free trial promotion for their Kindle Unlimited competitor service Kobo Plus for new subscribers (not sure if this is US only), if you like queer indie books, small press SFF, and backlist SFF from large publishers there's a lot to choose from on this service that's not on KU!
Rakuten Kobo
www.kobo.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM
A *lot* of indies (myself included!) who are wide are part of Kobo Plus because they don't ask for exclusivity like KU. Really encourage people to try it out.
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
@mktighewrites.bsky.social - Dusted this off to see if things had shifted in the horror market since your chart (and boy was I glad you included data labels). Wouldn't say these are the healthiest trends!
November 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
@mktighewrites.bsky.social - Dusted this off to see if things had shifted in the horror market since your chart (and boy was I glad you included data labels). Wouldn't say these are the healthiest trends!
Reposted by E.M. White, load-bearing grad student
Google AI is like an Eric Adams quote generator
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Google AI is like an Eric Adams quote generator