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Mishell Baker

@mishellbaker.bsky.social
8.1K followers 374 following 16K posts

Author of the Arcadia Project trilogy, mother, vidyagamer, dungeon master. Terminal cancer, incurable optimist. AI used me, but I don't use AI. Enjoy life. Be someone you would love. Make things better. I talk about games and storytelling here.

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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 3m
The most effective cure for bigotry is genuinely knowing enough people in the category to recognize their individuality beyond the type, and that's a hard place for a bigot to reach.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 7m
I honestly cannot *believe* I am starting a second tabletop campaign when half the time I can barely DnD. Is this addict behavior? What is this??
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The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 1h
An English Bluebell a day until I run out of photos #109
A sea of bluebells
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Jane Espenson @janeespenson.bsky.social · 1h
So this is like my part-time job now, right? Writing reviews of every doctor, business, and service I use?
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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 1h
Rare work post: This remains the most important and most revealing interview question that I ask in 2026.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 1h
If you are reading this and are well versed in rap, please read on. I am not "naturally exposed" to much music at all; I'm kind of a pop-cultural shut-in. But I really want some recommendations for rap I will probably love (don't worry, I'm gonna help you narrow it down).
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 1h
I know this song has almost become a cliche and has been used in satiric ways in pop culture one too many times, but honestly just listen to it with an earnest heart and tell me the human race isn't capable of producing absolute wonders: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-T...
youtube.com
Mozart - Lacrimosa
YouTube video by Rosa Music
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Alaska Public Media @alaskapublic.org · 16h
Meet Backpack, your 2026 Fat Bear Week champion. Backpack is 20 years old, weighs about 1,000 pounds and got his nickname because, as a cub, he loved riding on his mom's back across the Brooks River.
akpub.io
Meet Backpack, Fat Bear Week’s chunky champ
Backpack went from hitching a ride on his mom’s back to cross the Brooks River to winning the hearts of fat bear fans around the world.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 15h
I can't unsee this, so now I'm inflicting it on the rest of you. www.instagram.com/reel/DXKIw7u...
instagram.com
宋瑶Song Yao | Pole Dance on Instagram: "Buttons MV (Dinosaur Version)恐龙版#cosplay #poledance #dance #bottons #abstract"
131K likes, 2,866 comments - pole_abstract on April 15, 2026: "Buttons MV (Dinosaur Version)恐龙版#cosplay #poledance #dance #bottons #abstract".
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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Firstly, I love the title of this poem Secondly, followers know I love a sonnet. This subverts the traditional sonnet, written to a single lover, to a lament to the many – and though forgotten the emotional imprint of their kisses remain ‘the rain is full of ghosts tonight’ #poetry #poemoftheday
Poem - 'What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why' by Edna St Vincent Millay
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 18h
Just remembering when I was a teen and I asked my mom (may she rest in peace) how to tell if it was True Love. I was looking for, like, symptoms. Her answer, not even a beat of hesitation: "Time."
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 19h
Text from my 14yo: "i was unaware that a scalene triangle was a desirable car shape"
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 19h
Okay everyone, I am asking for your submissions in the category "Best first ~15 seconds of a song." No genres barred. I humbly submit:
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 20h
I've been thinking about the concept of "rudeness" and how some of it is very culturally dependent. I think I've never cared at *all* about that sort of conditional rudeness. The only kind of rudeness I can't stand is just clear, straightforward lack of consideration for other people.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 20h
I know it's a cliche that old people say "Everything is worse than when I was a kid," but I mean, depending on when the person was born, at least some of them are correct.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 20h
I have been struggling so hard to figure out why everything gets explained/answered in a video now, which takes forever, and whooof the gut-punch feeling I had when I realized it's because most people can't really read. Like, looking at that much text would be *harder* for them and I just wow
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 21h
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer xkcd.com/3304/
4-panel comic. (1) April 2023: [JUICE space probe flying away from Earth] FROM EARTH: *JUICE* is en route to explore the icy moons of Jupiter! JUICE: *Wheee!* (2) August 2024: [JUICE flying past Earth] JUICE: ...So which planet was I visiting again? I got distracted. FROM EARTH: Jupiter! JUICE: Right, OK. (3) September 2026: [JUICE flies past Earth again] JUICE: Is Jupiter the one with all the rings? Or... FROM EARTH: No, the big one near it. JUICE: Got it! (4) January 2029: [JUICE returning to fly past Earth again] JUICE: And *which* moons am I looking at? FROM EARTH: Oh my *god*. FROM EARTH: Now I get why we budgeted for so many Earth flybys.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 21h
I love how in text slang (it seems?) yeah got shortened to ye and then re-lengthened to yee
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 22h
My 14yo just drew a little guy with a syringe on the end of its tail and I am just flabbergasted and amazed at this child's brain. (It's part of a series of characters she unilaterally decided to draw based on the "four humors" of Elizabethan era medicine. Sanguine, obviously.)
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 23h
The meteoric rise of Dressmaker is one of those nice reminders for me that no matter how brilliantly designed and wildly popular something is, it really just isn't for everyone. People like different things, and it's okay. There is nothing So Good that *everyone* is going to love it.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 23h
For the most part I believe that authors are more likely to stupidly ignore valid criticism than editors are likely to make destructive suggestions. But then I read that Flowers for Algernon was rejected by five publishers because Keyes refused to give it a happy ending and I go hmmmm.
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Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 23h
One of my favourite movies of all time is "The Castle," which opens with "My name is Dale Kerrigan, and this is my story." Dale proceeds to narrate events that he was present for but had almost no active role in. Every ad or summary describes the plot as being about Dale's father. It's awesome.
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Erik @the-drum-doctor.bsky.social · 23h
I'm not sure if you've ever read much Gene Wolfe, but he excels in this. Also, spoiler, IMHO he's one of the greatest american writers in just about any fiction genre in which he chose to write.
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Morgan K. Bell @morgankbell.bsky.social · 23h
I never understood this argument because, like, Frodo and Bilbo Baggins both spend their entire books largely being yanked around by forces larger than themselves! It's a whole thing!
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
More thoughts on why "POV character Must Have Agency!!!" drives me nuts in novel format. As a player and lover of narrative games, I am painfully aware of the fact that the novel *by nature* is a passive form in which to receive a story. You cannot make it an Active experience; there is no Agency.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I do agree that there are some "rules" of writing; I will die on the hill that some stuff is empirically better/worse in writing. But some of the "rules" we have for novels are just weird. Being constantly told your POV character doesn't have enough "agency" despite, you know, Watson and Ishmael.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I call Staples "the candy store" because I am a huge nerd for paper, pens, etc. Matt literally buys me fresh spiral notebooks and colored pens instead of flowers when he wants to cheer me up.
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The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
An English Bluebell a day until I run out of photos #108
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Opinion: Writing Is Hard For Me, So No One Should Have To
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My personality is Games
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My people's house in the Sims 2 was so messy that the maid had to leave before he was finished cleaning it - I think that should unlock an achievement of some kind.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I might regret my idea of starting up a *second* weekly tabletop session, but the truth is I've been enjoying my DnD group so much I just want to share the love with my family. Also I crave the real nostalgic tabletop experience with dice and shuffling papers around and flipping through books.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I find it so fascinating that hit indie game Undertale was the game Toby Fox made when he realized he wasn't ready to make Deltarune, and hit indie game Slay the Princess was the game Abby and Tony Howard made when they realized they weren't ready to finish Scarlet Hollow.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I love that my whole thread on this yesterday name-checked Scarlet Hollow and here's Black Tabby talking about it today! Stop stalking me, Tony! 😉
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Proton @proton.me · 29/09/2026
Why are smart TVs so whiny?
A meme comparing a muscular “CRT TV” Doge with a smaller, worried-looking “Smart TV” Doge. The CRT TV side lists benefits such as not needing updates, simply plugging in cables, and being built like a tank. The Smart TV side complains about having no Wi-Fi and repeatedly calling servers back home.
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Island Girl (IG)🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 @tenoaks6.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Good morning🕊️ Waking to the gentle rhythm of rain has caused such a feeling of happiness, realizing just how deeply I've missed it. I'm heading to the woods to breathe in the sweet smell of petrichor & listen to the forest exhale a grateful sigh Wishing you a peaceful day #photography #nature
Looking into the forest from a mossy fallen tree. Autumn is evident in this photo with leaves turning rapidly with the season. Rusty maple leaves are strewn along the dirt path keeping the fallen sticks company on the forest floor. A tiny trail bordered by ferns leads to more changing trees all peaceful beneath a grey/blue sky
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sometimes I think about the fact that if not for my body's utter refusal to cooperate, right now in addition to terminal cancer and two girls in high school I'd also have a 12 year old and a 10 year old.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My first walk around the block with Matt in a while. Didn't make it too far, and now I feel like I've been run over by a truck. It's okay, I just have to remember that I can't afford to slack off with physical fitness stuff. I deteriorate FAST otherwise.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My daughter's amazing character creation work for our upcoming Werewolf tabletop has inspired me. I'll have to play a character as well since it's a small group, and so I've raised the bar and created someone I think is very special. :)
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I have a friend who works in environmental science and today they said they were shocking fish, and I'm here thinking, did you tell them about the gas prices
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Chris Tihor @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Breaking News: manager disagrees with the idea that crunch happens due to bad management.
gamesindustry.biz
Wardogs studio chief Brammer insists he isn't "pro crunch, I am pro hard work"
The military shooter has sold over three million copies since its launch almost three weeks ago
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Nothing more practical than art that you can only glimpse for 1.5 seconds at a time without destroying the entire purpose of the appliance it's in
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Ellipsus @ellipsus.com · 28/09/2026
Ellipsus stands against the normalization of generative AI in creative spaces. We are building our tool for the millions of you who share this belief. Real art is always and forever human.
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Ray Mitchell @raymitchell.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
🚨 Have you checked your voter registration yet? NOTE: Entering your cell phone IS NOT required www.vote.org/am-i-registe...
vote.org
Check Your Voter Registration Status - Vote.org
It takes less than 30 seconds to check your registration status with our free 50-state tool. And if you're not registered, we'll help you take care of that too. Fast, free, secure, non-partisan.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Did my first real bit of concrete "work" for my upcoming Werewolf the Apocalypse 5 game with my family: 16yo and I sat down and hashed out one of her character sheets (she will be playing 2 characters). She has ofc created a big inarticulate brute of a Theurge who is gay and addicted to cigarettes
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Tomorrow I am going to get to work on one of two projects. Care to take bets on whether it will be the one with a chance of making my family a little money?
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L. D. Lewis, Sea Witch Apologist 🧜🏾‍♀️ @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
I'm not going to learn what Choosin Texas is. This is not a marketing strategy that will work in my house.
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I am about to say something really deep that sprang from a really silly hobby, so wait for it and don't judge me prematurely. Okay, so... for five and a half years my friends and I have been playing pretend in World of Warcraft... wait wait where are you going
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Mishell Baker @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I just felt a sudden *surge* of joy. An unrelenting month of stress and discomfort simply...went back to status quo, and it was like oxygen rushing back into long-compressed lungs. I love that joy is my default now - that you can squeeze it out of me with constant pressure, but it springs back.
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𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐨 & 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧 @quietblkgrl.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
The moon is so big and beautiful tonight we should all just kiss honestly
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