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Para 🌵

@paracactus.bsky.social
723 followers 221 following 3.5K posts

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

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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Oh! I need to show y'all two ABSURDLY pretty inks I got during my break :D
Kobe Himeajisai, a dual shader that's a vivid purple in the middle with electric blue edgesPennonia Patina, a pale teal the exact colour of copper patina.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Prompted by a conversation on discord, it's heinous that buying a special edition hardcover doesn't even guarantee that the book will have sewn signatures anymore. Just glued like a paperback. I'm a professional bookbinder specializing in repair. This is not a book that'd survive being read a lot 🧵
Hardcover of The Works of Vermin, propped open slightly. There is no endband glued on, and although the orange sprayed edges make it difficult to see, the pages are held together by a thin layer of glue and some paper on top only.Two hardcovers compared. One with signatures and headband on the left, and the orange one with glued pages on the right. There is a very visible difference.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Was in LJ this weekend and BABY TIGERS Y'ALL 😭🥰
A tiger kitten sitting in front of the glass, looking up with her mouth open and tongue visibleBaby tiger lying in front of the glass. Someone else is also taking a pic of her.Two little tigers playing just like housecat kittens doMom licking one of her babies while another attacks her butt
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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
That said, the fact that there is so much interest makes me feel like I should mention them at least a little. This thread in no way can stand in place of working with a sensitivity consultant with lived experience! Here is a brief, nonexhaustive list of harmful disability tropes in fiction.
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Skye Kilaen @skyekilaen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Why you should use a PHYSICAL scene separator (e.g. asterisks) in your books instead of an empty space: 1) Some ereader / app somewhere may simply not show the empty space. 2) Some people read on devices with the text REALLY BIG. Your chance of the empty space being at the end of the screen is...
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Renay⁷ @renay.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Awhile back I asked people for their favorite space opera book/series and compiled the list on my blog. Is your favorite missing? 👀 🔗 ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/2026/09/26/l...
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
it's so orange I LOVE it 🧡 reminds me of my fav ink (sailor kin mokusei) lmao
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Emerging from my Star Wars shaped hole once again, still alive 😅 (Blog posts probably to follow soon, I'm almost done with my series)
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Claudie - Buy Nerezia While I Vacation ;) @clh2oars.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Extremely autumnal vibes in this visit we had this morning :3
A raven with its head cocked on a balcony's railing. Theeavws behind it are almost all a soft orange, with some green left on the lower half
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Kari Dru @karidru.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Tananarive Due's The Reformatory is 2.99 on kobo today, which i suspected might be of interest to some of y'all.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The problem with being about to get my first art print is that I want at least another two art prints to keep it company but "something that will affect me deeply" isn't exactly the easiest of criteria 😅 (Looking exclusively for contemporary artists too. Supporting the arts, etc)
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
No but seriously, the way this show has me in a fucking chokehold
tumblr post by heyclickadee (deactivated): I love the way The Bad Batch is both a show about a group of adult siblings trying to raise their little sister and a show about someone losing themselves to war. Not even joking, I love the tonal shift. The way the show plays the uncertainty of becoming something you weren’t designed to be against the hopelessness of allowing your design to define you. How none of the characters have the option to make decisions that won’t get people hurt, just a few gray threads self-preservation awash in a tapestry of bad, but most of them are able to find a way to survive and be okay with themselves while others aren’t. How no matter how you choose to hide, whether it’s hiding from the system or hiding in it, the walls will close in on you eventually. The way that the main villain so far is simply a personification of the machine of fascism and how it dehumanizes everyone and everything it touches. The thrill of being free and outliving your purpose, which you were never meant to do, and having the option to live in peace, which you were never meant to have, juxtaposed against the despair of losing yourself so completely that once you have the option to be free you don’t take it, because your prison is all you have left. The dichotomy between a child seeing the world as it is for the first time and the adults around her getting the chance to see it though her eyes, and a man who could see, but refuses to look.
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parker parrella @parkparr.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
drawing inspired by Asimov’s Nemesis
a digital illustration of 3 spheres alogned in outer space, the top is a red moon, the center is the largest dark orb, the bottom is a small pink planet with thin halo
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sarah l. hawthorn (A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING '26) @slhawthorn.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
You show me a toaster. You show me how it makes toast. I say huh, cool, not a NECESSARY thing but I can absolutely see how it could make a task more convenient. You show me AI. You pretend it does 5 things it can't. The tasks it can do, it does poorly, obviously wrongly, or worse-secretly wrong.
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Moonlore🔞 || Commissions Open @moonloredraws.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet... THERE'S A FEEDBACK FORM TOO! Fill this out, let the EU know DIRECTLY how this can affect you! Petitions are good but this feedback will be directly read by the EU commission!
ec.europa.eu
European Commission - Have your say
European Commission - Have your say
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Arthur Baron-Clément @arthur.baron-clement.com · 09/08/2026
Rusty (2026)
Rough digital painting of an old rusty sword lost in a flowery landscape.
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Arina @readingrogue.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Any recs for queer romantasy books by queer authors?
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formyths @ nycc c36 @formyths.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
"and in the end you shall outlive them" risograph, 2nd edition reprint in sunflower, light teal, burgundy red, black
willows hang like curtains over a once-grand white hall, now sinking into still dark water, grasses growing by its edges. below, a white egret-like bird, 2 heads alert and a 3rd missing from a bleeding neck, perches on twisting orange growths arching from the water.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
*pokes head out of star wars shaped hole* still alive
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Neon Hemlock @neonhemlock.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
50% off all ebooks until July 4th in dishonor of Amaz*n. Use code COMPOSITE at www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks.
there's a bit of graffiti that defaces amazon to say amazno with  the "no" bit struck out. then 50% off ebooks. use code COMPOSITE. and then perhaps ironically there are a bunch of paper books in the background. also a swirly bit of purple and the neon hemlock logo in the corner.
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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
the AI is picking up on this pernicious idea that pre-dates it, that I saw a lot as a Māori writer coming up in an international scene, that 'indigenous' is a singular identity rather than thousands and thousands of distinct cultures from all over the world.
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Carey Pietsch @careydraws.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
No, seriously, #makeaterriblecomicday #makeaterriblecomicday2026
You used to draw because it was fun, right? 
When did you stop?
How can you get that feeling back?
No, I’m serious.
If drawing isn’t play for you anymore, why?
And, more importantly:
What are you going to do about it?
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K.A. Doore @kadoore.com · 25/06/2026
I have lived in FL and AZ where the heat is notoriously horrible and even I barely survived 3 weeks without a/c in Michigan during a heatwave. Places not adapted for excessive heat are simply not safe during excessive heat, there's no brute-forcing your way through.
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Arthur Baron-Clément @arthur.baron-clement.com · 25/06/2026
pov: waiting for that sweet sweet petrichor
Random landscape digital painting. Just a stormy sky, some greenish fields, some birds, rocks, a hare and a girl with an umbrella.
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Krista D Ball is Canada's Mouthy Potato @kristadb1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
When you control the rights and money of someone's art, you are in the position of power. You don't get to claim uwu smolbean. You don't get to claim you're one big happy family when you are a business. And you don't get to be the victim. You are the one with all the power.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Every day I get more grateful that I insisted on 32 GB of RAM for future-proofing reasons when I got a new pc two years ago
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Kai Ashante Wilson @wildeeps.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
New Kai Ashante Wilson novel! Hopefully this update post rectifies the issues with the earlier one. I want y'all to see it! www.patreon.com/KaiAshanteWi...
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Skyla Dawn Cameron @skyladawn.ca · 22/06/2026
We're responsible for ourselves. And I say this as a person with mental illness, who is not always great to be around--it's incumbent on us to find ways of managing, esp in professional settings. That means acknowledging our diagnoses, no matter how harsh, and taking steps to not hurt others.
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parker parrella @parkparr.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
all for one☀️
a rectangular painting against a white background. painting depicts a wall of green foliage, at the top the sun’s rays burst through an opening in the leaves also casting a double rainbow into the leaves below
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geneva 🖍️ nycc soon @gdbee.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
[Growth] I love sunflowers. To an obsessive degree. I'm so happy to have a garden now to be able to plant and host these beautiful horrifying monstrosities (fyi sunflowers can get up to 14ft tall LIGHTNING FAST)
A young lady holding a small planter of sunflowers
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Hari Conner @haridraws.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
anniversary drawing 🌼 near where I live, there’s a stretch of grass that’s always being stepped on, its flowers mown down by the council - but the dandelions still thrive, and the buttercup comes back bright and resilient in the borders that can’t be reached or tamed.
drawing of a trans guy selfie with top surgery scars, coloured in a bright yellow-orange, surrounded by dandelion and buttercup bursting outwards and a border where their leaves look like flames billowing out from stars and ornaments
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gochenourabout @sjgochenour.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I am probably also saying that I *personally* think advice which boils down to “if you take better care of yourself, you can do more work” is not always true and often deeply unkind.
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🍂 Shel-leaf 🍁 Ca-pumpkin 🎃🚫🧊 [Seasonal Edition] @virtuistic.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Let's be real for a sec: A lot of the reason people like AI is just accountability avoidance. They don't want the responsibility of knowing stuff. They want the plausible deniability of pointing at the machine and blaming the computer instead of their own actions and decisions.
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Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Ok, my dear friend @bananashirt.bsky.social has asked me to share my elite ball--er, peen knowledge re: wangs in ancient Egypt. So as not to hijack @leastactionhero.bsky.social's post, I'll start a thread here, which I will gradually update. Warning: thread will contain many ancient dicks
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Jac Mac @jacmacandsneeze.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Cleveland Museum of Art was one of the few museums that understood I want postcards of the art I just saw to send to friends with my goofy little comments
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TrueRef by Abbey Esparza @trueref.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
We've made a feed that is JUST our free art reference posts! Should contain almost every post we've ever made that included free references! Which is a lot. bsky.app/profile/did:...
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David Nash @dpnash1.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Hi, my name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Please select all images with MY WORKS and click "Despair" to continue.
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Skulls and Sheets @skullsandsheets.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Our lady of poppies (Wish I could have put more effort into this)
A mari in a patterned cloak standing behind some poppies
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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Gertrude is such a funny character doing a Magnus Archives relisten. John talks about her like a fusty administrator who causes him no end of paperwork trouble then you meet her and she's like "an ancient fear entity intends to rewrite reality to render us unable to recognise; I have bought a gun"
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Since I know there's some writer folks on here, I'm looking for a very bare bones text editor. Desktop, win11. I need italics, and if it has infinite scroll instead of braking text into pages like msword, that's a plus, but I'm looking for as few features as possible.
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Jack Musto / 🐇 🌕 🐺 @jackattack.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Drew a ghost horse to flex on my students today XD
A color pencil and marker drawing of a ghostly horse in a monochromatic green palette.  It's galloping across the page, mouth open and it's bones gleaming.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
It's incredible how I'm unable to write reviews for months, then develop intense brainworms about ONE random show and suddenly have two essays' worth of thoughts (at least) before I'm done with the first season >.>
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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
There are few men in fiction with their shit less together than Harrier Du Bois, he is a walking calamity, he cannot work the washing machine, his liver is one bad day away from exploding. This is also half his charm, his Loser stat is so high he hits integer overflow and becomes cool again
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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
trying to find art of a gender swapped Harrier Du Bois for reasons, and it seems like everybody makes him a hot anime girl instead of a burned out divorcee in her 40s. If she doesn't reek of tobacco and have inexplicable stains on her shirt, that is a completely different character.
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Dayv @dayv.wtf · 08/06/2026
"Pronoun police"? Please. The proper term is the gendermes.
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
There's something about the sheer beauty of the settings in The Bad Batch contrasted with the way the show is so deeply about and affected by and set during the rise of space fascism that really gets to me. Feels achingly timely.
A painted background with strange circular floating buildings in the most stunning sunlit cloudy sky. A spaceship is flying towards one of the structures.A painted background of the main square of a sci-fi city. There's a park with green grass and tall trees with orange leaves in front, and a tall, ornate building in the back. The scale is immense - the people in the square look like ants in comparison. The whole scene is lit in soft golden light.
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K.A. Doore @kadoore.com · 06/06/2026
On this, the 6th day of our Queer Holy Month of Pride, I'd like to share some queer book resources! 🌈📚 First off, I've been creating/curating queer adult SFF lists since 2019. The latest has links back to all of the previous lists:
kadoore.com
2025 Queer Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
Welcome to the 2025 list of queer adult science-fiction and fantasy books! If you’re new to this dance, this list and the ones before (see: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019) are my answer t…
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Para 🌵 @paracactus.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Argh why do all the prettiest inks have to be so damn DRY
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Kate Strasdin @katestrasdin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Happy Pride Month! Pauline Trigère’s c1970 evening dress is a welcoming rainbow, expansive and generous in construction for every shade and combination #museumatFIT #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡 #Pride2026
A mannequin posed wearing a checkered multi coloured long evening dress with broad draped sleeves
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