Para 🌵
@paracactus.bsky.social
Sci-fi & fantasy reader. Antelope appreciator. Also posting a lot about my many and varied crafting WIPs. She/her (or they/them) 🏳️🌈
Filter topics: #booksky (reviews) | #NamibiaCam
📍🇸🇮
otherworldsreviews.wordpress.com
goodreads.com/parawanderer
Filter topics: #booksky (reviews) | #NamibiaCam
📍🇸🇮
otherworldsreviews.wordpress.com
goodreads.com/parawanderer
Pinned
Para 🌵
@paracactus.bsky.social
· Nov 10
To Other Worlds
SFF book reviews, recommendations, and more
otherworldsreviews.wordpress.com
I keep forgetting we can do pinned posts now
Hi! Call me Para. I'm into:
- SFF books (esp. queer)
- cross stitch (+ knitting, crochet...it alternates)
- Namib desert livestream, with a focus on antelopes & zebras
- enamel pins
- cheap fountain pens & unusual colour ink
I review books on my blog:
Hi! Call me Para. I'm into:
- SFF books (esp. queer)
- cross stitch (+ knitting, crochet...it alternates)
- Namib desert livestream, with a focus on antelopes & zebras
- enamel pins
- cheap fountain pens & unusual colour ink
I review books on my blog:
Ordered some fancy paper for making notebooks and threw in a couple treats to make the shipping worth it 😁
(The colour of the pen is even more obnoxious irl, I LOVE it)
(The colour of the pen is even more obnoxious irl, I LOVE it)
November 25, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Ordered some fancy paper for making notebooks and threw in a couple treats to make the shipping worth it 😁
(The colour of the pen is even more obnoxious irl, I LOVE it)
(The colour of the pen is even more obnoxious irl, I LOVE it)
Reposted by Para 🌵
hello fellow artists. google has fallen. pinterest/duckduckgo AI filters don't work. do not despair; here is a list i made of places to find reference images without having to sift through piles of worthless garbage: doodlemancy.dreamwidth.org/20757.html
🚯 #NoAI #HumanArtists #ArtistsOnBluesky
🚯 #NoAI #HumanArtists #ArtistsOnBluesky
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
hello fellow artists. google has fallen. pinterest/duckduckgo AI filters don't work. do not despair; here is a list i made of places to find reference images without having to sift through piles of worthless garbage: doodlemancy.dreamwidth.org/20757.html
🚯 #NoAI #HumanArtists #ArtistsOnBluesky
🚯 #NoAI #HumanArtists #ArtistsOnBluesky
Reposted by Para 🌵
Cover illustration for ‘La noche de los mundos’, by @inesgaliano.bsky.social and Loredana Volpe, published by Ediciones Mutis. Art direction by Loredana Volpe.
Yep, all those lil drawings in the frame have a meaning in the story! Had lots of fun with them.
Yep, all those lil drawings in the frame have a meaning in the story! Had lots of fun with them.
November 12, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Cover illustration for ‘La noche de los mundos’, by @inesgaliano.bsky.social and Loredana Volpe, published by Ediciones Mutis. Art direction by Loredana Volpe.
Yep, all those lil drawings in the frame have a meaning in the story! Had lots of fun with them.
Yep, all those lil drawings in the frame have a meaning in the story! Had lots of fun with them.
Reposted by Para 🌵
It’s transgender awareness week so please be aware of 🏳️⚧️🌸💖✨h e r✨💖🌸🏳️⚧️
November 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
It’s transgender awareness week so please be aware of 🏳️⚧️🌸💖✨h e r✨💖🌸🏳️⚧️
Reposted by Para 🌵
Popping in to Bluesky on this fine morning to say that "fountain pen drama" that so many people are referencing relates to Ferris Wheel Press (FWP). Countless people asked for comments on their JKR collab, founder ignored all questions wrt the LGBTQIA+ community.
(mini-thread)
(mini-thread)
November 16, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Popping in to Bluesky on this fine morning to say that "fountain pen drama" that so many people are referencing relates to Ferris Wheel Press (FWP). Countless people asked for comments on their JKR collab, founder ignored all questions wrt the LGBTQIA+ community.
(mini-thread)
(mini-thread)
Reposted by Para 🌵
"Get his ass” Is so unreasonably funny to me. A huge win for the English language. Today's version of "seize him" imo
November 16, 2025 at 5:22 AM
"Get his ass” Is so unreasonably funny to me. A huge win for the English language. Today's version of "seize him" imo
Handing that to my favourite characters
Someone handed this to my grandpa in an Inwood bar, c. 1946
November 14, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Handing that to my favourite characters
Reposted by Para 🌵
Not GoodReads Choice Awards for Romantasy having 0 queer books but 3 repurposed Harry Potter fanfics I Hate it Here
November 13, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Not GoodReads Choice Awards for Romantasy having 0 queer books but 3 repurposed Harry Potter fanfics I Hate it Here
This week on #TheMagnusArchivesReadalong, we're starting season 2! Lots of great episodes in this batch.
(Supplemental: The Archivist is acting real suspicious. I think the events of the finale have done a number on him...)
(Supplemental: The Archivist is acting real suspicious. I think the events of the finale have done a number on him...)
From the Fantasy community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the Fantasy community
www.reddit.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This week on #TheMagnusArchivesReadalong, we're starting season 2! Lots of great episodes in this batch.
(Supplemental: The Archivist is acting real suspicious. I think the events of the finale have done a number on him...)
(Supplemental: The Archivist is acting real suspicious. I think the events of the finale have done a number on him...)
It's a shame I have to take a couple days off work (sick with a cold)(not covid) just as I might have finally been allowed to fix books for real 😭
I hope there are still some left next week...
I hope there are still some left next week...
November 11, 2025 at 8:48 PM
It's a shame I have to take a couple days off work (sick with a cold)(not covid) just as I might have finally been allowed to fix books for real 😭
I hope there are still some left next week...
I hope there are still some left next week...
Reposted by Para 🌵
I really hope I never attract the attention of Joyce Carol Oates, Kendrick Lamar, or menswear guy.
November 11, 2025 at 6:39 PM
I really hope I never attract the attention of Joyce Carol Oates, Kendrick Lamar, or menswear guy.
Reposted by Para 🌵
to somewhere | gouache
November 10, 2025 at 10:43 PM
to somewhere | gouache
Reposted by Para 🌵
A togglable "I'm an adult with kids and a job" feature that assumes you only get to play once a week, and dumps a summary of what you were last doing/your current objectives in a corner tooltip on loading a save.
November 11, 2025 at 12:47 AM
A togglable "I'm an adult with kids and a job" feature that assumes you only get to play once a week, and dumps a summary of what you were last doing/your current objectives in a corner tooltip on loading a save.
The tradeoffs I will make to avoid dealing with bureaucracy and phone calls and whatnot 🫠
November 11, 2025 at 9:22 AM
The tradeoffs I will make to avoid dealing with bureaucracy and phone calls and whatnot 🫠
Reposted by Para 🌵
My second #embroidery project and my first time painting with thread 💜 I followed @crewelghoul.bsky.social’s tutorial and while I had to alter the colour scheme a little (don’t have that vibrant purple in my arsenal), I’m happy with my pansies!
November 9, 2025 at 4:51 PM
My second #embroidery project and my first time painting with thread 💜 I followed @crewelghoul.bsky.social’s tutorial and while I had to alter the colour scheme a little (don’t have that vibrant purple in my arsenal), I’m happy with my pansies!
Reposted by Para 🌵
Krita, day 4
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Krita, day 4
Reposted by Para 🌵
Reposted by Para 🌵
every piece of mass-market software these days feels like living with an unruly pet where you have to constantly stop what you're doing to check if it's secretly eating plastic under the dresser again
November 7, 2025 at 2:27 AM
every piece of mass-market software these days feels like living with an unruly pet where you have to constantly stop what you're doing to check if it's secretly eating plastic under the dresser again
Reposted by Para 🌵
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Amazon has launched a new AI-driven translation service, Kindle Translate, for Kindle Direct Publishing authors 👇 #BookSky
Amazon launches AI translation service for indie authors
ebx.sh
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Reposted by Para 🌵
if fucking ChatGPT could do any of the goddamn things the stupid fucking internet and also apparently every stupid person I know thinks it could, it wouldn't have to ADVERTISE AT ALL, let alone coy fuckboy minimalist copy CAREFULLY DRAFTED NOT TO BE ACTIONABLE
god, I'm mad about this bullshit.
god, I'm mad about this bullshit.
November 7, 2025 at 10:13 PM
if fucking ChatGPT could do any of the goddamn things the stupid fucking internet and also apparently every stupid person I know thinks it could, it wouldn't have to ADVERTISE AT ALL, let alone coy fuckboy minimalist copy CAREFULLY DRAFTED NOT TO BE ACTIONABLE
god, I'm mad about this bullshit.
god, I'm mad about this bullshit.
Reposted by Para 🌵
one of my least favorite new publishing "truths" is that books only deserve consistent marketing & publicity if they are already doing well, it's the new "needs experience to get experience" 🤡
November 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
one of my least favorite new publishing "truths" is that books only deserve consistent marketing & publicity if they are already doing well, it's the new "needs experience to get experience" 🤡
Reposted by Para 🌵
We tried this end of 19th century and it was not a good idea, yeah
I see lots of apps and pop "science" socmed trends about this too: face shape/body shape/limb length etc can tell you something about the person. It's not cute or a curious game or quiz (as it's often presented), it's normalizing race science and eugenic thinking. It's all been debunked, stop it
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
November 6, 2025 at 9:27 PM
We tried this end of 19th century and it was not a good idea, yeah
#TheMagnusArchivesReadalong has reached the finale of season 1! Come join us for a chat! 🪱
From the Fantasy community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the Fantasy community
www.reddit.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
#TheMagnusArchivesReadalong has reached the finale of season 1! Come join us for a chat! 🪱
Reposted by Para 🌵
we’re like four days away from learning that the thieves gained access to a secret room in the Louvre by removing the keys from the belt of a sleeping security guard with a fishing pole
November 3, 2025 at 7:08 PM
we’re like four days away from learning that the thieves gained access to a secret room in the Louvre by removing the keys from the belt of a sleeping security guard with a fishing pole