10 anime to get to know me (in no order)
1. Mushishi
2. Death Parade
3. Look Back (anything by Fujimoto)
4. Sounds of Life
5. Psycho-Pass
6. Haikyuu
7. Attack on Titan
8. Vinland Saga
9. Frieren
10. Your Lie in April / Ergo Proxy / Shinsekai Yori / Terror in Resonance / Erased / Overlord
A man outdoors during the daytime with his eyes closed. The text reads: “The mountains are where I feel free too.”
A man’s face is stretched into two.
A climber hangs suspended on a rope against an ice wall at night. The text reads: “#145-Climb-The Elevation Sickness Called Love and Hate.”
Nighttime. A climber stands in front of an icy cliff.
A climber floats over the Himalayas. The text reads: “Elevation 9000 meters…”
An elevated, naked man pulls masses up with a rope.
Sometimes you finish a story, and you struggle with words to explain how it made you feel. I’ve just finished “The Climber” (Kokou No Hito), and it has been one of those unique experiences.
🎊 Happy New Year! 🎊
Phano has three brand new short stories, free to read here: www.phano.co
- “The End of the Line” by Anna Clark
- “The End of Everything, the Beginning of Something” by Peter Barretta
- “Symbiosis” by Catherine Tavares
Also...
🎂 Happy Birthday Phano - Proud of you! 🎂
At this point, I've reread this story three times. I love every sentence of it. Word choices. Polysyndeton. Off-page visuals and sounds. Subtle hints. Theme. One of my favorite reads of 2025 by @rj-sterling.bsky.social.
Meanwhile, another John in four minutes thirty-three seconds: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEF...
I love this! Nice piece!
Today's community drabble is, "The Only Truth That's Yours" by Hannya Kay. The theme was "conspiracy."
Find Hannya Kay on X @Hannya_Kay / BlueSky @HannyaKay.bsky.social
Care to drabble with us? Join the fun at reachyourapex.com/drbl
#authors #drabbles #writingprompts
Moon
I love dark fiction, and I love Apex. This magazine holds a special place in my heart. Let’s help them make it to the year 2026! 🚀
Batman slapping Robin meme with the caption, an "18+" sign being over Batman's face while Bluesky's logo is over Robin's. Robin as Bluesky: "No discussing self-harm, suicide, abuse (sexual, drugs, substance, etc.) unless it's educational—!!!" Batman as 18+ creators (or non-professionals in general): "Artists are not teachers or therapists. We are not obligated to teach you anything."
Apparently a lot of ppl needs to hear this
#bskycensorship
I’ve been thinking lately about what could be considered fun. Then I realized all of my stories are fun, aren’t they? Just like Fahrenheit 451 is fun with this first line:
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
Excited to talk with @erincairns.bsky.social at Electric Sheep this week. Here's a recent MicroVerse interview with Erin - info about her writing, her gorgeous art, and InkFoundry!
A koan worthy of zazen.
Translunar Travelers Lounge is looking for First Readers for the upcoming submission period. If you'd like to find out more about how the magazine is put together, or just want to help out, let us know! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
![[ID: Text-intensive Twitter thread from the Shapeshifters chest binders Twitter account in reply to a post by artist and author Ursula Vernon. Vernon says, A non-zero number of you apparently did not know that The Last Unicorn was a book before it was a movie. It is by Peter S. Beagle. It is made of spun glass and fairytales and iron knives and there are individual lines that I would give my lungs to have written. Shapechangers replies, I saw him every year at NYCC for several years straight, bought something at his table, asked him to sign it, and we spoke. He remembered me from year to year, no small feat at that con. He remembered which stories he'd told me. One year I came back with a different gender on. He squinted at me a bit and said thoughtfully, "I've seen you before in this place." All I had to say was, "last year you told me the story about the inoshishi." And his face cleared, and he leaned in with a grin and told me about a German guitarist who he traveled with, twice. Who transitioned between the first and second time, so he'd gotten to meet this person all over again on the second round. It was a wonderfully kind way to let me know that everything was fine. I was fresh out of the closet and I needed that, and maybe he could see it. The Last Unicorn is the best book in the world and I will defend it and its author til I die. the end. /end ID]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kazs6skhkhitmtlhxwq2g264/bafkreigxvcrmm3rvnlyvqvekioqbrypd2l7z4vbzsgvjkncpmfr5fx72h4)
[ID: Text-intensive Twitter thread from the Shapeshifters chest binders Twitter account in reply to a post by artist and author Ursula Vernon. Vernon says, A non-zero number of you apparently did not know that The Last Unicorn was a book before it was a movie. It is by Peter S. Beagle. It is made of spun glass and fairytales and iron knives and there are individual lines that I would give my lungs to have written. Shapechangers replies, I saw him every year at NYCC for several years straight, bought something at his table, asked him to sign it, and we spoke. He remembered me from year to year, no small feat at that con. He remembered which stories he'd told me. One year I came back with a different gender on. He squinted at me a bit and said thoughtfully, "I've seen you before in this place." All I had to say was, "last year you told me the story about the inoshishi." And his face cleared, and he leaned in with a grin and told me about a German guitarist who he traveled with, twice. Who transitioned between the first and second time, so he'd gotten to meet this person all over again on the second round. It was a wonderfully kind way to let me know that everything was fine. I was fresh out of the closet and I needed that, and maybe he could see it. The Last Unicorn is the best book in the world and I will defend it and its author til I die. the end. /end ID]
Oh, I have good news.
Post a random picture or else everything will go bad in September
Moksha is doing scheduled maintenance. Obviously that's our preferred method for receiving subs to the @apexmag.bsky.social flash contest, but if you need to get your story in and the portal is still closed, you can email me at rebecca.treasure@apexbookcompany.com with your story.
I'm excited to announce that my story "Smother the Wailing of the Heart" has been accepted for the Mmeory anthology from @aanpress.bsky.social. 😁 🥳 🙌
UGH
and dealing with Amazon's "error correction" is a major hassle. Besides vernacular/dialect, if there is a story that includes errors on purpose AND THIS IS EXPLICITLY STATED IN THE STORY its also a huge time waster for no reason
That book looks like it came out of a fairy forest 😍
I don’t like it when someone looks down on spec stories as “escapism”. I rate escapism higher than some “life lesson” books. We’re living in a hellish world without a temporary exit button, and if something lets you escape this reality, even for a short while, then it should be rated very highly.
I love this ending!
"Even within the family, Laura endures unwelcome scrutiny. Uncomfortable and unsettling, and well worth the read." 🐛
Thank you for the review @mynachang.bsky.social! 🖤👽 Don't forget to check out @emilmorel.bsky.social's "Denizens of my Face," out now in Apex Magazine!
My debut story is out in Apex! While writing this story, I was thinking about emotions that are sometimes so hard to express, that feeling of a lump in your chest, that knot in your throat.
The fact that Hirohiko Araki is influenced by Steinbeck’s East of Eden blows my mind. Wow.
I just remembered this character from one of Dimension 20’s campaigns when the party didn’t follow the route the DM had planned, and Brennan came up with this crazy character on the spot, who was obsessed with keeping his bones inside his body, lol. www.youtube.com/shorts/ZVxuI...
