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tcparker.bsky.social
TC Parker/Dr Nat Edwards (she/her)
@tcparker.bsky.social
3.3K followers 1.7K following 5.7K posts
(Neuro)queer Luddite

1/2 of Nefarious Bat Press. Writer: TRADWIFE, SALTBLOOD, HUMMINGBIRD

PhD in media & politics. Work in social/cultural semiotics, CDA, material culture, storytelling. Rage as deep as the abyss

Fiction at: https://tinyurl.com/mr2rd9bj
Posts Replies Media Videos
tcparker.bsky.social
I'd rather eat my own feet

Wasn't Wired doing proper journalism a minute or so back, instead of whatever this is?
DAVID NIELD GEAR NOV 12, 2025 7:00 AM How to Talk to ChatGPT for Free Inside WhatsApp (While You Still Can) Meta's messaging app offers free access to the Al chatbot, but only until January 2026.
November 12, 2025 at 2:18 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Not to brag, but the Carry On Cinematic Universe had a brief cameo in one of my shorts only this year...

(Mandragora, in the Good For Her antho)

The Carry On *Extended* Universe is only logical next destination
pression cynically amused, and the two together reminiscent (to an observer of a certain age and disposition) of the actors Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques, those doyennes of the Carry On Cinematic Universe. But a couple
November 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Convincing you to read my novel with the first sentence:

Here's Hummingbird
www.amazon.com/Hummingbird-...

QT and share yours if you fancy it!
The protesters were blocking the gates again - their handmade banner-slogans (LET KIDS BE KIDS and SAY NO TO BRAINWASHING and PROTECT THE FAMILY NOW ringing in Jodie's ears as she pushed through and past them, Connor's mitten-covered hand imprisoning hers in a death-grip. Promo image for Hummingbird, featuring: Book cover - a humanoid figure with a skull for a head and antlers made of branches, with a body constructed of what look like tree roots Strapline: Small Town. Big Evil Blurb from Hailey Piper reading: "a Pulp Fiction-esque horror show"
November 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
For now. He might need a little more later, just in case
Cover of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, retitled: Atlas Needs You To Spot Him Like 20 Billion Dollars
November 6, 2025 at 7:13 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
No, you absolute fucking morons - let's not

Some people should need to apply for a licence before they're allowed to watch Robocop
Change.org petition clamouring for what I can only describe as a Bellend's Charter: NO ONE SHOULD BE HELPLESS LEGALISE NON-LETHAL SELF-DEFENCE ILTUCTV Let Us Defend Ourselves: Legalise Non-Lethal Self-Defence Sprays in the UK 5,998 have signed Alex Asprey's petition. Let's get to
November 4, 2025 at 10:15 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
Amazon Presents... The Two Genders

Green crocodile leather, or metallic Metropolis fragrance-fist - which will YOU be this Xmas?
Spam email from Amazon, promising "Everything for every wish list" "Gifts that are so her" - a green faux (?) leather handbag and "Gifts that are so him" - a silver metallic perfume bottle shaped like a clenched fist
November 1, 2025 at 11:23 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
Cheers Gabino! Since it's Halloween, I'm wheeling out A Press of Feathers - my haunted house whodunnit in the suburbs (with some Zimbardo-style social experimentation unpleasantness and a bit of grisly body horror thrown in)

It's basically The Shining, but perimenopausal

tinyurl.com/3arm8s7j
Promo image for A Press of Feathers, featuring the strapline: There's A Little Rage In All Of Us And a cover of the book, showing a harpy eagle with glowing eyes and a woman with fire in her hand superimposed on a suburban housing estate background Plus blurbs from Daniel Barnett ("super unique, wickedly intelligent") and Kev Harrison ("a must read")
October 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Halloween is upon us, so it's probably a good time to try to sell you all on A Press of Feathers - a haunted house whodunnit in the suburbs, with some (I hope) genuinely gruesome body horror

Think The Shining, but perimenopausal

tinyurl.com/3arm8s7j
Promo image for A Press of Feathers, featuring the strapline: There's A Little Rage In All Of Us And a cover of the book, showing a harpy eagle with glowing eyes and a woman with fire in her hand superimposed on a suburban housing estate background Plus blurbs from Daniel Barnett ("super unique, wickedly intelligent") and Kev Harrison ("a must read")
October 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
I'm not Irish, so I can't pull this off the way Shauna can, but nevertheless:

Get tae fuck with this shite
From PayPal: Hello Nefarious Bat Press, The way people shop is changing fast. Al-powered agents are starting to help consumers discover and buy products in entirely new ways - and we want to make sure your business is ready to be part of it. That's why we are building PayPal's new agentic commerce services - simple, powerful tools that make your products discoverable on leading Al platforms without extra setup or technical work. With just one PayPal connection, your store can appear across multiple Al shopping channels, while orders flow straight into your existing systems.
October 30, 2025 at 1:16 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Live footage of Sarah Pochin, moments after turning on the TV literally anywhere else in the world
A pile of smoking ashes
October 25, 2025 at 10:09 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Found out about this today, and signed up immediately (on discovering, happily, that *ex*-academics are also welcome :) )

Have a feeling it's going to be of interest to a lot of friends on here

We can fight this thing, but we have to do it together - through community, coalition and solidarity
The Library of Babel Group The Library of Babel Group* is a nascent, international coalition of educators confronting and resisting the incursion of surveillance, automation and datafication into spaces of teaching, learning, research, and creative expression. LIBRARY OF BABEL GROUP → The group aims to amplity and extend the work that is already being done to push back against the co-optation of education by technology companies, and to bring the insights from a generation of critical tech research, advocacy and organizing to bear on this specific
October 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Wait, I know this one! It's Toejammer!
Toejammer from My Singing Monsters. A creature I can best described as: a bit like a squashed melon-shaped squid, if it were baby blue, with a huge pink mouth, bulging yellow eyes and at least seven toe-like protuberances where its tentacles should be
October 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Do I... have to write a sequel now?
HOME SWEET HOME Trad Wives, Move Over. Trad Sons Are the New Homesteading Influencers. An unapologetic generation of young men are not only happy to be living at home, they're documenting their lives as "hub-sons" on social media. BY OLIVIA EMPSON OCTOBER 21, 2025
October 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Fuck it
Crude drawing of a pug swimming away from a pool net. Text reads parental advisory explicit content A photo of a dollar bill has been crudely superimposed on the water
October 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Screenshot captured in such a way that Ron looks fucking TERRIFIED of the Count rocking up behind him
Screenshot of a quote-post on the theme: if you see this, post a vampire Original post shows a gif of Ronald Reagan looking, alarmed, over his shoulder Post quoting it shows the Count from Sesame Street, cackling and apparently looking behind Ron
October 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
The "book club" scambot/spambot artists aren't even *trying* anymore...
I'm Lukas, organizer of Stockholm Classics Reading Group, a passionate community where readers explore and discuss stories that spark curiosity and linger in memory. Our gatherings are all about discovery, offering authors a natural way to connect with thoughtful, engaged readers. As a writer and researcher based in the fox- ravaged wilds of Leicestershire, I know the thrill of crafting immersive worlds. First Elite with its rich sci-fi landscapes, sharp characters, and page-turning momentum aligns perfectly with the kind of ambitious storytelling our members love.
October 21, 2025 at 6:15 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
I'm not naming him, because god knows I have no interest in generating more publicity for him. But to the Thinking Man's Techbro who opined this weekend, "I truly believe that we are less than three years away from all content being free," I'd ask only:
This free labour includes your job too, right?
Now the question is scale. As generative systems connect to live data and agentic systems mature, entire categories of "human" creative output will become machine-authored. Scores, game summaries, product reviews, and local news will soon be produced entirely by Al. The economics are unavoidable. The cost of generating this kind of content is approaching zero. I truly believe that we are less than three years away from all content being free. The web is being flooded with low-cost, low-value information. This is a huge opportunity for savvy creators. Trust, voice, and community will matter more than volume. Al slop and workslop (its close commercial cousin) can't be stopped, but leveraging new technology to achieve business outcomes will always be a winning strategy.
October 19, 2025 at 10:02 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
You know what? I'm not too proud to piggyback on that Louvre theft to try to sell you on a heist trilogy

Like Leverage, Hustle, Frauds, and elaborate takedowns of billionaires, techbros and adjacent bastards?

You might well like The Debt (and its sequels)

payhip.com/b/duvxV
October 19, 2025 at 6:31 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
Police are keen to speak with two recent visitors to the Reina Sofia
Actors Jodie Whittaker and Suranne Jones in recent ITV drama Frauds
October 17, 2025 at 6:20 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
It's Book Quote Wednesday, and nearly Halloween, so... here's an excerpt from Hummingbird

(If you imagine the dog-collar studs are metallic gold, it's *almost* a keyword fit...)

Grab it direct from the Batstore here: payhip.com/b/Ed5bX
They were mannequins, or seemed to be: ghost white, bald and featureless, their straight-hipped bodies life-size and their expressions uniformly blank. Six of them in total, bound to the osseous branches above by heavy-duty string and suspended in mid-air like the cast of an obscene puppet theatre. All were clothed: four in brown hessian sackcloth fashioned into dirty, bloodstained tunics, another in a Ceno-bite leather and dog-collar getup that wouldn't have been out of place in the window of an old-school Soho sex shop, and the sixth covered from shoulder to ankle in something like chainmail. The face of one was obscured entirely by a black hood fixed around its neck with hangman's rope; the head of another was entirely absent, its body not only decapitated but dismembered and its absent arms and legs piled in an untidy heap on the floor below. Promo image for Hummingbird showing: A. Book cover - a humanoid skeleton with antlers and a body taken over by tree roots and branches B. Strapline: "Small Town. Big Evil" C. Blurb from Hailey Piper, calling Hummingbird "a Pulp Fiction-esque horror show"
October 15, 2025 at 10:34 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
It got sufficiently bad that I ended up having to add caveats to the original post
Edited further to add: to preclude any misunderstandings in terms of my position on this... no, I don't like consumer-facing LLM text-image extruders. I think (as do the many, many CompSci and computational linguistics specialists whose work I respect, from Emily Bender and Alex Hanna to Dagmar Monnett) that the currently available crop of consumer-facing "Al" tools are, to put it kindly, a grift: predicated on IP theft and wholly avoidable resource-guzzling, and inherently prone (as is the nature of stochastic parrots) to "generating" inaccuracy and falsehood Implying or telling me outright that I "just don't understand" the complexities of the products involved is extremely unlikely to change my position, so please take it elsewhere Edited one last time to add: I promise, I already know dinosaurs are extinct and thus, are not available to be havested for meat and/or children's dinners. "Are dinosaurs still with us?" is like the first thing they ask you in a PhD viva
October 14, 2025 at 4:58 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
I'm reading FIEND right now, and it's absolutely incredible

(Would have finished it already had life not got in the way)

Grab and read it today 👹
Cover of Alma Katsu's Fiend, showing a woman in a shoulder-padded power suit at the head of an empty boardroom table. Black steam billows from the place her head should be Strapline reads: Every family has its demons
October 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
tcparker.bsky.social
A Discworld message for the rest of us, this Party Conference season
Josh Kirby's illustration of Terry Pratchett's Discworld: Great A'Tuin the star turtle, floating through space with 4 elephants on his back, that are in turn supporting the flat, disc-shaped Discworld Caption reads: Read Discworld. Because cunts are still running this one.
October 9, 2025 at 9:49 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
Couldn't agree more - @almakatsu.bsky.social is bloody brilliant

Am reading FIEND as we speak, and it's incredible - how do you say no to "Succession, with demons"?
UK cover of Alma Katsu's fiend, showing a woman in a shoulder padded power suit standing at the head of a corporate boardroom desk. The space where her head should be is occluded by a cloud of thick black smoke
October 7, 2025 at 6:30 AM
tcparker.bsky.social
Oh! Yes!

All of mine are horribly queer. But Hummingbird might be the most horribly queer of all...

payhip.com/b/Ed5bX
Promo image for Hummingbird, featuring: Book cover - a humanoid figure with a skull for a head and antlers made of branches, with a body constructed of what look like tree roots Strapline: Small Town. Big Evil Blurb from Hailey Piper reading: "a Pulp Fiction-esque horror show"
October 4, 2025 at 11:17 AM