iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 30/09/2026

I got to beta read this one and it's a delight. There's a valkyrie. She wears a motorcycle jacket. 🫦

Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 30/09/2026

In Permian Gothic, River inherits land from their estranged, transphobic grandmother. The mysterious estate in a tiny desert oil town turns out to be just a trailer home harboring ugly family secrets & a menacing spirit. Will River seek the truth or run for safety? #DVpit #A #Novella #H #TV #LGBT

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 18/08/2026

"Always, Ty tried to be worthy of a pack; always, the wolf ruined it." If you too are tired of your inner wolf sabotaging your dreams, maybe read this story by @spencerorey.bsky.social. Bonus points for being set in an extra-radioactive New Mexico. zooscape-zine.com/pinon-smoke-...

zooscape-zine.com

Piñon Smoke and Juniper – Zooscape

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Stephen Granade @granades.com · 30/07/2026

I know a lot of y’all had stories in DSF. Do a search on their site for one of your titles, then click on your name to get the entire list, and send takedown notices as the spirit moves you.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 30/07/2026

When I was revising, your advice to let it be even weirder came to mind often. So thank you for that!

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 29/07/2026

60 submissions this year so far! That's my previous high for an *entire year* so I'm feeling pretty great about it*. I'm also three rejections away from my goal for the year. Let's gooooooooooooo. * as great as one can feel while being regularly rejected

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 21/07/2026

No worries at all! I'm honored to be mixed up with @cgaubrey.bsky.social any day. :D

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 20/07/2026

Thank you for reading, and for sharing! So glad Max Herkimer gets to be out in the world and so grateful to @reckoningmag.bsky.social for publishing this one.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 20/07/2026

My latest story, "Herkimer Inquiries", is now free to read on @reckoningmag.bsky.social! I'm super proud of this psychogeographic investigation story. But (LeVar Burton voice)...you don't have to take *my* word for it!

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Zee (missing life's little cues) @miscue.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

We have until July 29th to save Chaco Canyon, one of the most ancient historical and cultural sites in the county. It's absolutely irreplaceable, and this move is absolutely against the wishes of the local Native Nations and tribes. Please, please, please leave a comment

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 25/06/2026

There's still time to donate to the Queer Liberation Library's 2026 Pride Fundraiser: givebutter.com/qqlls-pride-... These books are out here changing lives, and the QLL is lending 'em for free. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️📚 Get a free library card!

givebutter.com

Pride 2026 with Queer Liberation Library!

smut with a side of theory

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 23/06/2026

It's been a minute. I'm now at 40 rejections for the year on 43 submissions. Still zero sales, but I did get accepted for a panel and had some successful pitches at StokerCon. So it's not all bad news.

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Chad Loder @chadloder.dev · 19/06/2026

I really need people to understand that Palantir is not an engineering marvel; it is a multi-billion-dollar contractual containment layer wrapped around the world's ugliest legacy open source frankenstack. It's a shitty Snowflake for companies that don't know how to do data engineering.

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Ann Leckie @annleckie.com · 17/06/2026

Every time I see someone say "the pronouns have just become a gimmick" I look over at the folks who say they love the pronouns and it makes their heart happy and start trying to figure out how to put even more pronouns in the next book.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 07/06/2026

Tomorrow! A panel and a reading for me at #StokerCon. 🖤

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 06/06/2026

Ummm I created an Instagram account, as one is meant to do - driven by fomo, with no forethought or planning. www.instagram.com/rathmercury if that is your thing.

instagram.com

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 05/06/2026

My first StokerCon is rad. I meant to go to bed early last night, but everyone is both friendly and nocturnal so I guess we just had to kick it all off with a late-night vampire hang. Today I had a spare minute to check out the Warhol Museum before things got started, too.

A collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Features a yellow and black dollar sign on a lavender field, with a black bar vertically that reads "don't read on me" with a picture of a snake.

A picture of the Allegheny River on a sunny day. A pole in the foreground has two stickers -- one damaged sticker of Lenin, and a yellow sticker that reads "Billionaires don't exist in a happy world." A yellow bridge and a baseball stadium are visible in the distance.

Rath (me) in front of a giant painting of a pink skull on a green surface (by Andy Warhol)

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Kieran @toadally.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Every year for Pride, I repost Hue. I made him to send love and comfort to those who feel Pride isn’t for them because they aren’t out. You matter, you are valid, and it’s ok if you aren’t ready yet. Coming out is not a requirement for being part of this community. Happy Pride 🌈

A rainbow colored box turtle looking nervously out of a drab gray shell. There is text above him that says “It’s OK if you’re not ready yet.”

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 29/05/2026

Heeeeey it's my first StokerCon! Can't wait to meet all my fellow spookies.

An image of a stormy sky with the following text over it:

I'm going to be at StokerCon

We've Always Been Here: Transgender Imagery and Characters Throughout Horror History
Sunday, June 7 | 10 am
with Jamie Flanagan, Bitter Karella, Lee Mandelo, and Dave V. Riser (mod)
Somerset

Author Reading
Sunday June 7 | 12 pm
with Piper White and Marissa Yarrow
Armstrong

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 27/05/2026

Also, you all did such a great job with it. Thank you for putting in the time. As a former web dev myself, I see your efforts and salute you. 💜

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 24/05/2026

....now to figure out some plots in which someone might fight.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 24/05/2026

Thank you to @rchetypes.bsky.social @madrobins.bsky.social @ritabriar.bsky.social and Jamie Riedesel for the great panel on writing fight scenes. Super inspired to go write/read/watch all the fight scenes now. #wiscon48

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 23/05/2026

Thank you for the body horror workshop and associated prompts! Had a great time and noodled on many many ideas.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 14/04/2026

I'm up to 20 rejections for the year. Have a bunch of new poems and stories making the rounds, and the first couple rejections always stings a little extra. But onward, weird flamingo story! Go forward, strange interactive poem!

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Anathema Magazine @anathemamagazine.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

We are SO close to 50% funded thanks to everyone who has backed our campaign or shared our Kickstarter! THANK YOU 💜 Let’s cross that halfway point and then sprint to the finish line! ✨

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Small Wonders @smallwondersmag.com · 30/03/2026

Wondering where your subscription funds go? 85.5% of our annual funds go to authors, artists, and our art director. 2.5% is IT expenses, 4% goes to taxes, postage, and the cost of running a business. A whopping 8% is bank & transaction fees (we love zelle - no fees!).

A square graphic proving that your humble editor is not a very visual person. There are comic-style dots in the background, clouds, and in the center is a pie chart depicting the Small Wonders budget. The blue wedge is the biggest, labeled "85.5% authors, artist, art director", clockwise next to that is a thinner green wedge labeled "8% fees", a gray wedge "2.5% IT", and a yellow wedge "4% misc". There's a legend for the colors at the bottom, in a blue and white box with a question mark.

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StarBITE 🧛‍♂️🌟 @starite.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GET YOU DOWN 🏳️‍⚧️ #art #tdov #transart

a digital illustration in the style of a relief print depicting a black cat in a defensive pose holding a torn and tattered transgender pride flag in its mouth as it looks directly towards the viewer. the background is purple with some specks of blue and pink showing through, and behind the cat is a black midground resembling grass or flames. the top right corner features a box with a caption reading "T.D.O.V."

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Boo-tros Boo-tros Ghoulish @dlbowman76.com · 27/03/2026

One of the saddest things about GenAI is that it robs would-be artists of one of the most pleasurable elements of the artistic process — the miraculous "whoops!" I cannot count the number of times I've been working on a piece and something went "wrong", then I said "Alright! I'm working with it!"

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The Midnight Society @midnightpals.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Mary Shelley: sup fuckers Poe: joanne was explaining death of the author Poe: what do you think, mary Shelley: death of the author eh? Shelley: [brandishing swicthblade] i think it's a good idea Rowling: i Rowling: i have to go

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GHOULISH BOOKS WILL KILL YOUR PARENTS @ghoulish.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Hey horror fans, do you need some extra reading material for this year's #TransRightsReadathon? We got you covered! Here are some free eBooks written & edited by trans authors & published by Ghoulish Books. Please share! buttondown.com/ghoulish/arc...

buttondown.com

Free Horror eBooks Written By Trans Authors (Trans Rights Readathon 2026)

I know I'm a bit late with getting this organized and posted, but in my defense, I forgot. Anyway! Better late than never, right? So, starting right now and...

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Wendy N. Wagner 🎃 @wnwagner.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Do you write weird shit? Do you want to write even WEIRDER? You should consider attending BIZARROCON! Workshops for novelists & screenwriters in horror & more. But if they don't sell 15 more tickets by the end of the week, the con might have to be canceled, so JUMP ON THIS! bizarrocon.com

bizarrocon.com

BizarroCon 2026

A Home For Literary Misfits

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 19/03/2026

Ah, I am team heel. Regardless it is miserable. But the roses! They are worth it.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 18/03/2026

I have these too! And have been avoiding breaking them in. Thank you for the inspiration to get back to it. :D

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 18/02/2026

Ooo now I'm up to 15 rejections this year. That's almost a third of my goal and it's only mid February! HOW MUCH MORE REJECTION CAN I MAKE HAPPEN

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Elliott Payne @elliottpayne.org · 09/02/2026

Another classic post-Homan day where around school dismissal time we get a flurry of ICE vehicles all across our neighborhoods. Today one vehicle led an observer to their own home and pointed at it. This is a sick game to them, but we won’t be intimidated and we won’t stop until DHS is abolished.

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Suzan the chalant goth @sillysyntax.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Gonna log off this app for the rest of the weekend but I wanted to boost this. If you are interested in participating in the nomination process for the Ignyte awards we have an application. Our awards are very dear to me. I thought the dire urgency of them would fade. I was wrong. We keep going 🖤

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 06/02/2026

"I needed someone to tell me they saw the monster too, and it was bad, and it was scary, and we should all be screaming." Just....very much yes. Thank you @cjtavares.bsky.social and @interstellarflight.bsky.social for the excellent essay about horror as comfort.

magazine.interstellarflightpress.com

A Great and Terrible Comfort

How Horror Became My Cozy Genre

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 28/01/2026

This year's been a doozy so I have been behind posting. I'm currently at 6 submissions, 11 rejections, 0 acceptances in 2025. My very kind spreadsheet interprets this as: rejection rate 183% vs. a 0% acceptance rate. anyway: www.standwithminnesota.com

Screenshot of a spreadsheet. It reads: "Rejection rate: 183%. Acceptance rate: 0%."

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Danny Cherry Jr (twitter/Insta/tiktok: @Deecherrywriter) @deecherrywriter.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

"'We lost all trust,' a current ICE official added. 'I’m not sure I can see how we exist three years from now.'” If an ICE official can see there being a world without ICE, there's no reason any of us shouldn't be able to do the same thing. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

independent.co.uk

Morale plummeting among ICE agents over long hours, quotas and public hatred: reports

While immigration officers support the Trump administration’s goal of deporting undocumented migrants, many of them have grown ‘disillusioned’ with leadership’s tactics, according to reports

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 17/01/2026

Aww. Thank you. I've got a few started. Definitely feeling the call to get some more Max Herkimer stories finished, though!

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 16/01/2026

Reckoning X is here! And I have a story in it. So grateful to have this particular story, about an oddball psychogeographic investigator who listens to birds as much as people, in this particular magazine.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 05/01/2026

New year, new rejection collection. This year I'm going to aim for 50 rejections out of the gate, and just got my first from Apex! 🎇

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 15/12/2025

Okay, please ignore my previous rejection count as I was confused on the numbers. Probably because I wasn't quite done convalescing. Reached rejection 43 over the weekend! And submission 53. So 7 more submissions until I hit my goal for 2025.

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 08/12/2025

Whoa! Lots of rejections while I was convalescing: 🔮 52, 53, and 54 from Augur (poetry) 🏳️‍🌈 55 from Otherside 🎇 56 from Cast of wonders Might I actually make it to 60?!

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 24/11/2025

I just crossed 51 submissions for the year....which admittedly leaves me pretty far short of my goal of 60 rejections. But! It's the most I've ever done in a single year, and I still have 5 weeks to go. Many of the new ones will have to count towards next year's rejection goals, but still!

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Rath Mercury @rathmercury.com · 20/10/2025

Rejections 35 and 36, from Three Lobed Burning Eye 👁 and Pseudopod 🐙. 60% of the way there! WOOOOOOO

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