@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

Everything at Masuda's is Tanuki-approved, but she can't give them a thumbs-up. #DogsOfMastodon #WesternMass https://masudascafe.com/

My son had to run an errand this morning, so I have a parrot-boxer this morning. After him being gone all day yesterday, Tanuki's fixin' to go 'nuki-lar. #DogsOfMastodon

@asakiyume “Science often works like that,” Dr. Camerlenghi said. “You search for one thing and end up finding something else, which sometimes turns out to be even more interesting than what you were originally after.”

Perhaps relevant to the interests of @asakiyume… https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/science/ocelots-opossums-friends-video.html?unlocked_article_code=1.W08.puBw.1LPO7V2sYGWh&smid=url-share

Republicans are pushing universities to make "diversity hires" of unqualified conservative faculty. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/opinion/conservative-professors-viewpoint-diversity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.W08.SK7H.tYbi1iO9z9Oj&smid=url-share

Dogs aren't allowed at Nature Conservancy properties (though we saw someone else with a dog) so poor Ta-chan had to stay home with my wife. She said she was a perfect angel — while she was sleeping. #DogsOfMastodon

I went hiking at the Wales Preserve in Southern New Hampshire. It's a beautiful trail along a cascade of waterfalls with lots of moss, lichens, ferns, and liverworts. #Mosstodon #LichenSubscribe #WortsUpDoc

Ooh! The new ribbons have arrived in time for Readercon! https://stevendbrewer.com/whats-in-your-dna/

Forest bathing in New Hampshire.

The ground crew cheered as the pirates returned, bringing their captured airship with them. The sign painter stepped up.
"What shall we name her?"
"She's a real bounty…" one pirate said.
"How about Bosom Bounty?" said another.
"No. That would need to be Bosom Bounties."
"Bosoms Bounty?"
"What be this?" the Captain thundered. "A grammar school? She'll be Betty's Bounty."
"Aye-aye," the men said, without enthusiasm. #wss366

Self-promo time! What stories, links, or media do you want to share with the #writephant crowd?

*Better Angels: Tour de Force* is available on the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy https://truckstop.waterdragonpublishing.com/product/better-angels-tour-de-force/

I've designed some new ribbons to promote Better Angels that I'll be giving away at Readercon and Worldcon this year! https://stevendbrewer.com/whats-in-your-dna/

5. They say that reading fiction can make us more empathetic, especially when real life has people encouraging dehumanization. What stories convince you that humanity exists and is still good, or at least capable of being better? #Writephant

I don't look to fiction for that, honestly. Fiction is a dark mirror that reflects our fears, dreams, and fantasies.

Instead, I look to community to convince myself that people are good. I love the community here. All of you are wonderful. Thank you.

4. What makes a being "human" or coded as human? Think about our bonding with the Mars Rover, and mourning when Rover went dark.
#Writephant

Or Eccentricity and his humartians! h/t @tobadzistsini

3. There is also the talk of creating characters that aren't human -- animals, aliens, and robots are the tip of the iceberg. Have you written stories with characters not considered human? #Writephant

Heh. The Better Angels are non-human biological androids that represent a clean-room re-implementation of the human genome. They are molecularly assembled in a replicator and have a programming stack that governs their behavior. But they can look human. Or, you know, like a thicc pink snake.

2. How does the concept of humanity affect your writing or stories #Writephant

My Better Angels stories are about non-human biological androids. In their world, machine AIs were banned after a cataclysmic war and the only artificial intelligences permitted are embodied. They have programming, but can be more or less human-like. It gives me a context to talk about issues of humanity in a light-hearted way. But I think there are some deeper meanings there.

1. To you, what does it mean to be human? #Writephant

Human has a couple of important distinct meanings. One is more narrow: the idea of being a member of *Homo sapiens*. The other is more general: contrasting sentient beings as separate from beasts or monsters. Are "elves" human? Maybe? It depends on the lore of your particular world.

Some observations on attending Business Meetings of the World Science Fiction Society #WSFS https://stevendbrewer.com/world-science-fiction-society-first-business-meeting/

I'm going to LOSCON this year! https://stevendbrewer.com/loscon-51/

David heard growling and realized it was coming from the plant. Then it began to bark like a dog.
The Angels ran in.
"David! David! Did you see our new pluppy!"
"Pluppy?"
"Bebe won it in a raffle!" Bebe said.
"Are you sure it's not a dogwood?"
"It doesn't have that kind of bark!" (2/2) #wss366

David returned to Angels' Wings a few minutes late for dinner. The Angels were already in the galley.
"Eating Fun Meals again, no doubt," David grumbled.
He walked through the lounge on the way to the galley and stopped when he saw that there was a small potted #plant in the middle of the room. (1/2) #wss366