Cass Morris

21 Apr

A refreshed pinned thread! Hi! I'm Cass, & you've probably found me because of one of these things: -Books & writing -The Worldbuilding for Masochists podcast -SFF conventions/conferences -Immersive experience work & enthusiasm -Shakespeare & education -General geekery -Political fury

Cass Morris reposted

Sarah E. Bond

@sarahebond.bsky.social

35m

Today is National Black Cat Day 🐈‍⬛ , which raises awareness about how hard it is for black cats to get adopted from shelters & dispels the superstitions that still surround them. 🐈‍⬛ In their honor, I give you some black cats in ancient art & archaeological sites. www.americanhumane.org/public-educa...

Cass Morris reposted

Marisa Kabas

@marisakabas.bsky.social

12h

i am inviting anyone from a legacy media organization to explain to me why the house judiciary dems report on trump’s epstein’s ties and multiple allegations of rape isn’t worthy of extensively reporting on. i’m serious. i want to understand.

13h

Wait, DST ends THIS weekend??? I thought we got another week! ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

Gentleman now speaking about how the only people who benefit from these data centers are rich people who live nowhere near them. Says he works in IT, so he doesn’t hate tech, but knows these things are bad.

Last speaker (I think) is an energy specialist speaking on cybersecurity vulnerabilities of data centers and the apocalyptic catastrophe that could occur if center of this size gets compromised, catches fire, etc.

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

Oh heck yeah — She says that putting these things near a bunch of 55+ communities (which many on Goochland side of line are) would constitute elder abuse.

Lady now speaking about how data centers devastated her community up in Ashburn — just moved here a year ago. Warning what the impact *will* be. Not could be. Will. Also quoting from Goochland Co charter about balanced land use & preservation of rural areas & natural resources.

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

Another lady speaking to health hazards posed by too rapid industrial development — and the lies and obfuscation corporations employ to get these things approved. Cites a study regarding what even 10% of these data centers’ output would do. Grim.

Now a lady who lives along the creek that will be impacted by data centers. Speaks about the wildlife she sees there. Sound pollution over water. Ecological fragility of the wetland.

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

Another gentleman speaks up on behalf of the 26000 Henrico households within three miles of the proposed data centers, stressing moral imperative to think about the region, not just county lines. Mentions that Louisa Co just decided to put center in THEIR border, which no one likes.

Lady speaking now on ramifications of large centers on other resources, such as increased response time of emergency services.

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

Gentleman speaking now on behalf of neighborhood on Goochland side of the line. Questioning upcoming reaffirment of technology overlay district; massive industrial complex incompatible with established residential communities.

(I am listening today, bc I have catching up to do on the details of this issue. But I will be bringing my rhetorical skills to bear in the future.)

Having a very civic day. Came out for the planning commission meeting, regarding the proposed data centers near my & my parents’ neighborhoods. Big crowd — I’m in overflow room.

LMAO my parents are here too but I did not know it until we texted each other about it

@govpritzker.illinois.gov

18h

Five days left of early voting in Virginia! Remember that we have not only Senate & House races but THREE amendments to the commonwealth’s constitution. Vote yes on all three! - Protect reproductive healthcare - Repeal the anti-same-sex marriage ban - Protect voting rights

Cass Morris reposted

Governor JB Pritzker

21h

While you pay more for gas at the pump, Donald Trump and the oil and gas industry are profiting “hundreds of billions, trillions.”

cbsnews.comAs Trump brags about U.S. oil and gas company profits, his stocks gained millions during Iran warA report from congressional Democrats found the president purchased millions in oil and gas stocks during the war.

21h

#WIPSnips Oct 26: Definitely had to go with vibes on this one.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social

Welcome to spooky week for #WIPSnips! The #WIPSnips word for October 26th is "claustrophobia" Remember, use synonyms, variations or ✨vibes✨ if you don't have the word! #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

21h

#LGBTQWriteAThon Oct 26: I'm going to finish these revisions. I really, really am. There's not that much left. I just need to lock in.

AmaraJLynn 🦹 drafting Fire & Feathers@amaralynn.bsky.social

#LGBTQWriteAThon October 26: Goals day! What are your goals this week? Big or small, share and cheer on others for the week to come! @queerwriters.bsky.social @rebeccafrostwrites.com #queerwriters #writingcommunity #lgbtqwriters

I am finally coming up on the deadline for choosing a new student loan repayment plan, and I am so fucking infuriated that my options are: 1) Payment that is 8x what it was under SAVE, on a plan that sunsets in two years. 2) Payment that is 8x what it was under SAVE and resets my forgiveness clock.

"Pray I win the lottery" is really not a viable financial strategy.

The idea that I borrowed money in 2008 and 2009 and might not be out from under this debt until goddamn TWENTY FIFTY-FIVE, at which point I would be SEVENTY YEARS OLD I just how tf does anyone think this is a good system??

3) A variety of plans with payments ranging from 12x - 15x what it was under SAVE, all of which reset my forgiveness clock. At the very least, I will be paying back 2.2x as much money as I initially borrowed.

@carlossennaboris.bsky.social

Most of the plans, it'll be closer to 4x as much as I initially borrowed. I'm going with Door Number 1, in the hopes that a Democratic Congress will do *fucking something* to fix this before summer 2028 but jfc I should not be going through this and neither should millions of other borrowers.

Cass Morris reposted

Carlos Senna/Boris

If Americans need our little southern recipe for how to defeat fascism it goes like this: - Put people in the streets by standing for popular demands (wages, healthcare, public services) - Do not engage with fascists online - Do not succumb to doomsayers or media-driven narratives - Be happy

Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social

Congrats to Lula on overcoming Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump to defeat Hospital Pervert Jr., even as his opposition literally blocked off roads and turned off bus service during election day. Fascists are scary but they are always, 100% of the time, ultimately gigantic fucking losers.

Cass Morris reposted

Ghostly Bree

@mostlybree.kitrocha.com

23h

This is something we get accused of surprisingly often and all I can say is: yes. Good. I am here to destroy the hopes and dreams of husbands who don't think they have to add value to their wife's life.

Robin Marty @robinmarty.com

"For married women, it gives unrealistic expectations of sex, often leading to disappointment in our marriages...For unmarried women, these books will do nothing but give you unrealistic expectations for when you do get married."

Opening up a message from my website's contact form: "What made me linger on From Unseen Fire..." Sigh.

@editrixsteph.bsky.social

This thing is nearly 800 words, mostly telling me things I already know about myself and my books. Then it goes into a pitch I don't even understand. Like what does the AI scam *think* it's selling me? Advice on rewriting Book 1? A marketing platform? Vague advice?

Cass Morris reposted

Editrix Steph

Incredible. Thank you, Brazil. Thank you, Serbia. Fighting fascism happens at the ballot box as well. Please, here in the U.S., here in Texas — GO VOTE! It matters. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t work so hard to stop you.

Fucking wild to go looking for an anti-data center car magnet and find a bunch that have clearly been designed with AI.

This had more of an emotional effect on me than I'm proud to admit. 😅 But I have legit been so much happier with my internet experience since switching back to Firefox from Chrome.

Firefox@firefox.com

Since 2004, this community has helped make Firefox and the open internet possible. Our “Come Back to Firefox” campaign reunites a few early internet icons to remind people what made the internet special, and why it’s worth protecting.

I mean it doesn't fix everything bc ::gestures at everything:: But dang, remember when the internet was fun?

what. the. fuck. I could come up with three things, no problem, for almost all of my campers, and I see them for a *max* of six weeks out of the year. Most only one to three weeks. The idea of needing the fucking plagiarism bot to come up with three things FOR YOUR OWN CHILD???

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

cool, cool

What's scary is women in power wanting the rest of us to behave like the emotionally-void, empathy-bankrupt, dollar-chasing techbros.

Literally all of this could have been done with the pre-AI internet by any person with even a tiny shred of imagination and curiosity about the world. jfc what a way to announce "I am an absolutely soulless shell of what might've once been a human being"

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

cool, cool

This is such an indictment of.... just so many things about the world right now. This woman should be fucking ashamed of herself. And she's not only reliant on it, she wants other people reliant on it, too?? Why. The fuck. Are so many people. So willing. To outsource their humanity????

I'm just fucking boggling. It didn't even come up with three good, unique things! It came up with the standard descriptors for a 10 year old girl who isn't an active terror.

An ice cream truck has inexplicably been sitting in the parking lot outside my apartment, playing "Turkey in the Straw" incessantly, for the past ten minutes. My eye is starting to twitch.

There's not, like, a line or anything. Not a bunch of kids eager to buy novelty ice cream when it's 60 degrees out.

Fuck absolutely everyone involved in generating this AI flood that is materially damaging real creative laborers. Here's hoping this work helps win more lawsuits, though. Anything that might help pop the bubble is a delight to me.

Tuhin Chakrabarty@tuhinchakr.bsky.social

👨‍⚖️ TL;DR: AI doesn't need to write high-quality books for non-AI book writers to get hurt. Cheap books at massive volume are enough and they've cut what the average human-written book earns in most genres and pushed human titles down the bestseller ranks. (10/n)

#LGBTQWriteAThon Oct 25:

AmaraJLynn 🦹 drafting Fire & Feathers@amaralynn.bsky.social

#LGBTQWriteAThon October 25: line share - terror @rebeccafrostwrites.com #queerwriters #writingcommunity #lgbtqwriters

Cass Morris reposted

Courtney Milan

@courtneymilan.com

Everyone who is saying "Dems in red states have to throw trans people under the bus to win" -- no. They don't. When they do that, we just start with no winning options on the table. It gives in to the fascist premise that we get to decide some groups don't get rights. THIS is what I want to see.

BeshearStan@beshearstan.bsky.social

Kansas Dem Sen. nominee Adam Hamilton on trans rights: “I don’t think we should take a small group of people and bully them, pick on them, and hurt them. I understand one thing really clearly when it comes to transgender people, and that is Jesus told me I was to love my neighbor as I love myself”

@shire-reckoning.bsky.social

Wowwwwww, super gross of @file770.bsky.social. No thanks.

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Cass Morris reposted

The Shire-Reckoning

With all voices having spoken, Elrond resolves that the Elves must not flee west with the Ring. ‘Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril—to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.’

Cass Morris reposted

The Shire-Reckoning

@shire-reckoning.bsky.social

Elrond calls first upon Bilbo, and then upon Frodo, to tell of their history with the Ring—from Bilbo’s riddles beneath the Misty Mountains to Frodo’s long journey to Rivendell. Bilbo whispers, ‘You would have made a good story of it, if they hadn’t kept on interrupting.’