Pynchokami
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pynchokami.bsky.social
Pynchokami
@pynchokami.bsky.social
1.1K followers 2.5K following 520 posts
When I'm not crafting magical tales like #M&F or #BerkeleyTapes, you can find me lost in a good book, strategizing over a board game, or experimenting in the kitchen.
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pynchokami.bsky.social
Pynchokami @pynchokami.bsky.social · Oct 21
Update: I've stepped off the Elevator Isekai for now. A new story, DEDICATED BENCHES, is here, a near-future tale of resistance, history, and ghosts. Live writing the first chapters soon. My regular posts will continue.

📖 MEDDY & FRANK: 1ST Draft Complete! (100%)

#M&F #BookSky #WriterSky #SFF
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: Before we dive into Chapter 3, I want to share a map. This is Level D of the Gardner Stacks. Those rows marked PR and PS? That was my haunt. If you know, you know. #BerkeleyTapes #WriterSky #AmWriting 🧵
A floor plan map of the UC Berkeley Gardner Stacks, Level D. It shows long rows of bookshelves labeled with call numbers like PR and PS. It looks like a dense grid, a maze of information.
December 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Damir Volic knows you can't stop the monsters. But you can build thicker walls. Tonight, he constructs two sanctuaries: one made of plastic bricks for his son, and one made of stone for history itself. Chapter 2 concludes. #BerkeleyTapes #SFF #WriterSky 🧵

Rosa 'Peace' (Yellow flushed with pink).
Close-up of the 'Peace' rose, its large, creamy yellow petals edged with soft pink. It looks like a sunrise, or a bruise healing. The background is the soft, out-of-focus green of what possibly, but is not the Berkeley Rose Garden. For lovers of rabbit holes, read the story behind the Peace rose. It was cultivated by Francis Meilland in France just before the German occupation in WWII. Cuttings were reportedly smuggled out on the last plane to the US. Photograph by Roozitaa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25976063
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: Hovering between Post & Cancel right now. My brain: Reddit post on dark pop lyrics, Kelly Link audiobook (must listen now!), unpaid electric bill(?), and oh, W.H. Auden! An MRI would show a 4-car pileup. This is supposed to become Chap. 3 somehow.
#BerkeleyTapes #WriteSky 🧵
December 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Damir Volic doesn't play tennis for points. He plays to silence the noise in his head. But tonight, his body won't let him serve. It won't let him be open. It won't let him be seen.

#BerkeleyTapes #SFF #WriterSky 🧵

The Iceberg Rose. Stark, brilliant white.
A close-up photograph of a single 'Iceberg' rose bloom. The flower is a stark white with delicate, unfolding petals, set against a background of dark green leaves. The rose looks beautiful but cold, like a patch of snow in darkness, or the 'cage of light' Damir steps into." You might find the varietal at the Berkeley Rose Garden, I hope, but I really need to do more research on the matter. Image By Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=727272
December 13, 2025 at 3:04 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
For Damir Volic, time is a single, jagged line drawn through 1995. There is the Before. And there is the After. Today, someone crosses it for him.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriterSky 🧵

Rosa 'Windermere' (1932 variety).
A close-up photograph of a vintage 'Windermere' rose (1932 variety). The flower is a soft, ruffled pink with many layers of petals opening to reveal a cluster of golden stamens at the center. It looks delicate but enduring, set against dark green leaves. A symbol of the domestic "softness" Damir is trying to protect from the hard iron of the sky. A varietal you can find at the Berkeley Rose Garden although I am not sure if this is the version in the garden or the more common David Austin one. Image Credit: By Huhu Uet - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19907015
November 30, 2025 at 4:30 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Happy Turkey Day. While the ovens warm, I am serving up the start of Chapter 2. Meet Damir Volic. He knows that safety is just a story we tell ourselves. #BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriterSky 🦃🧵

The 'Apricot Nectar' Rose. Sweet, but deceptively hardy.
Close-up photograph of a 'Apricot Nectar' rose bloom. The petals are a soft, creamy apricot color, tightly unfurling in the center. A varietal you can find at the Berkeley Rose Garden. The background is a soft blur of dark green foliage. (Image Credit: "Rose, Apricot Nectar" By Yoko Nekonomania - Rose, Apricot Nectar, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26046155).
November 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: I’m stress-testing my characters with a thought experiment. Imagine the "rat race" was canceled tomorrow. For everyone. Would we still show up for each other? #BerkeleyTapes #AmWriting🧵
November 25, 2025 at 2:47 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Dedicated Benches, Chapter 1, Final Scene.

The view from above is clear, recording the final moments of the protest in high definition.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky🧵
A weathered brass dedication plaque set into the wooden backrest of a park bench. The plaque reads: "IN MEMORY OF DR. JULIAN MERCIER. HE STAYED WHEN OTHERS RAN." The wood of the bench has visible grain and is slightly weathered. Green foliage and flowers are visible above the bench. (Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names on plaque.)
November 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the writing desk (bonus track):

It's raining in SoCal. Really raining.

I insisted on my Sunday walk to my coffee/writing spot, along the bike path bordering the wash. I had an umbrella, at least.

Which is progress.

#BerkeleyTapes #AmWriting 🧵
November 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Mira loses David's hand. Sam loses sight of Jess.
Four of them find a doorway. A dark alcove. Safety.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky 🧵
A weathered brass dedication plaque set into the wooden backrest of a park bench. The plaque reads: "IN MEMORY OF ELENA ROSTOVA. A DOORWAY TO SANCTUARY." The wood of the bench has visible grain and is slightly weathered. Green foliage and rocks are visible above the bench. (Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names on plaque.)
November 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk:

My research for the "product demonstration" in Chapter 1 led down a disturbing rabbit hole: sonic weapons. They're called LRADs, and they've been used to silence dissent globally for years. (1/6)
#BerkeleyTapes #WriterSky 🧵
November 15, 2025 at 7:34 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
The product demonstration was now officially underway.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky 🧵
A weathered brass dedication plaque set into the wooden backrest of a park bench. The plaque reads: "IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL “MIKE” CALLAHAN. THE WAR FOLLOWED HIM HOME." The wood of the bench has visible grain and is slightly weathered. Green foliage and rocks are visible above the bench. (Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names on plaque.)
November 12, 2025 at 3:12 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Ben calls out the rackets. Mira sees the future they can't afford. David's patience is gone. The march is an agitated organism, ready to break. And then it does.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky 🧵
A weathered brass dedication plaque set into the wooden backrest of a park bench. The plaque reads: "IN LOVING MEMORY OF DR. ARIS THORNE. HE UNDERSTOOD THE PERIL OF A CHAIN REACTION." The wood of the bench has visible grain and is slightly weathered. Green foliage and trees are visible above the bench. (Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names on plaque.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Today's song is the gut-punch of a missed connection: "Skyway" by The Replacements.

It’s a simple, melancholy tune. The feeling of being so close, yet so far away, told in 2:09.

#Prompt: What's your MCs big "almost-moment"?

#BerkeleyTapes #WriterSky

youtu.be/FED6AHlXXaA?...
The Replacements - Skyway
YouTube video by Date Coma
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: Confession. Part of why I'm writing this story is as an outlet, a kind of catharsis. When I doom scroll through my BlueSky and Reddit feeds, fictionalizing our national trauma feels like a kind of therapy. An ACE inhibitor in keyboard form.
#BerkeleyTapes #WriteSky 🧵
November 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
The dance party is over. The street ahead is blocked. First lesson of the day: a sanctioned march only goes where they want you to go.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky 🧵
A park bench with a weathered brass dedication plaque that says “Julian “Jules” Adler. A Debtor to Justice” Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names.
November 1, 2025 at 2:31 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
It started as a march. But then the beat dropped, the unicorn started dancing, and for a single moment, the protest became a party.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriteSky 🧵
A park bench with a weathered brass dedication plaque that says “For Kenji Tanaka. He built joyful worlds.” Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names.
October 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Watched E1 of the new series Billionaires' Bunker and it has me thinking. From this to the Nazi server in Mythic Quest (S1E3, "Dinner Party"), the fantasy is the same: put the most toxic users in their own gilded cage.
A group of three individuals, two men and one woman, stand on a bridge-like structure with a natural, hilly landscape in the background. All three are wearing teal-colored jumpsuits. Below them, a golden banner with black text reads "BILLIONAIRES' BUNKER". A still image from the TV show Mythic Quest. Poppy stands in a server room, grinning excitedly. She holds both of her hands up near her face in a playful, almost frantic gesture. Behind her, two large monitors display lines of code. White, all-caps text at the bottom of the image reads, "DINNER PARTY."
October 26, 2025 at 5:20 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
The stage is set. In the crowd, a mosaic of hope and worry. Meet the six young people at the heart of the protest, before the day that changes them.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #BookSky 🧵
Image: A park bench with a weathered brass dedication plaque reading "In Loving Memory of Sylvia Rosen" and the epitaph, "Art Lives Here." (Photo taken by the author in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names.)
October 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: A note on what this project is (and isn't). You're reading a serialized for Bluesky version of the first draft of Chapter 1. The truth is, there is no Chapter 2 yet. This plane is being built while it's still in the air. (1/3)

#BerkeleyTapes #WriterSky
October 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Before the march, a word from our correspondent on the anatomy of a sanctioned protest.

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriteSky
A weathered brass dedication plaque on a park bench. It reads: "IN MEMORY OF FOR ELEANOR GOSSE. 'Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.'" Photo taken by Pynchokami in the Berkeley Rose Garden; AI tool used to fictionalize names.
October 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
It's about a group of activists who find moral clarity from a chorus of ghosts who remember a time when the fight was clear. A history lesson in how to, for lack of a better term, punch Nazis. (3/3)

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriterSky
October 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
It’s the anxiety of watching a world you love slide into something unrecognizable and not knowing how to respond. DEDICATED BENCHES is my attempt to answer that question by wrapping it in a ghost story. (2/3)

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriterSky
October 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
From the Writer's Desk: This story began with a question that I think haunts many of us lately: Am I overreacting, or am I underreacting? (1/3)

#BerkeleyTapes #SpecFic #WriterSky
October 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
pynchokami.bsky.social
Update: I've stepped off the Elevator Isekai for now. A new story, DEDICATED BENCHES, is here, a near-future tale of resistance, history, and ghosts. Live writing the first chapters soon. My regular posts will continue.

📖 MEDDY & FRANK: 1ST Draft Complete! (100%)

#M&F #BookSky #WriterSky #SFF
October 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM