Friendly Friday: The Princess and the F-Bomb

Inspired by Princess Alethea Kontis’s goal to institute friendly friday, I’m pleased to highlight different creators, companies, and artists whose work I really enjoy on this, the day of Freya. I don’t get the chance to squee as much anymore, and I really need that right now. (I had a post planned, in fact, but this particular squee is the kind of stress relief that money cannot buy.) Yes, there’s a lot to be concerned about, but without any humor I’ll devolve into a hot mess that can’t be mopped up.

My friend Bill Bodden presented me with this particular beaut, and I thought it was fitting to end the week with a review of the plushtastic F-Bomb from Plushzilla.

First, I’d like to set the mood. The lights around you dim. You hear the slow, steady beat of a synthesized drum. Then, the ghost of Barry White materializes, and–

*cue loud record scratch*

Uh, let’s try that again. Just a drum roll this time, I think. Perfect!

Presenting the F-Bomb

In the universe of the illustrious plushie, it seems that there is always another avenue of plush-tastic ideas to explore. Take for example Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle who, sadly, does not have the fiery temperature of a demon as one might expect. And, the ever-popular Labyrinth worm that neither talks nor walks, who shall forever remain nameless doomed to a lonely existence outside the Goblin King’s maze.

The F-Bomb is one such idea, and shares the Labyrinth worm’s ineffectiveness as it does have several weaknesses. While sewn well, this F-Bomb is not explosive and can be dropped repeatedly and with vigor. In fact, this F-Bomb is so soft it can be launched at any unsuspecting target– even small children under the age of 3. To test this theory, I threw the F-bomb at myself; it felt as if a rainbow-colored unicorn had frolicked in a pile of rose petals and one just happened to land on my cheek. Yes, it was that soft, which leads me to believe this is not a mere plushie. Oh no, this F-Bomb is the avatar of the letter “F” in material form.

I was quite disappointed, however, to discover that the wick isn’t a flammable incendiary device. It appears to be an intricate braid of hairs pulled from an ancient Viking’s beard that was conditioned for days in almond oil, and then attached to the F-Bomb’s butter-soft casing. The red “F” is also made from a similar material as its housing, and while that letter may well be dyed with the blood of someone’s enemies, it’s hard to say if that’s truly the case. No wonder this F-Bomb doesn’t come with a warning label!

The one upside to the F-Bomb, is that its name isn’t something the nefarious Autocorrect will touch. In fact, one can freely say “F-Bomb” instead of the swear word it represents, which prevents quite a bit of confusion. After all, the word “duck” has a slightly different (and considerably more avian) meaning than the -uck beginning with “f”, which makes it a poor, sorry excuse for an expletive.

And now, for a live action response to the F-Bomb. This is a picture of Captain Whinypants who is idly sitting next to the F-Bomb, but not on top of it, ready to toss it at a moment’s notice.

If the F-Bomb strikes your fancy, you can pick one up on Etsy. The store is taking a brief break because they’re on the road. If you follow this link, you can sign up for updates and view the description.

    Mood: Out of ducks
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 2
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 20, but I did not get any Pokestops.
    In My Ears: A fountain and a snoring cat. Would make a great picture book!
    Game Last Played: Pokemon GO
    Book Last Read: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Thor
    Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
    Latest Releases: In Volo’s Wake for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Unknown Armies Books 1-3. Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016.
    Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update. New project update coming this month!



April 14, 2017
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On Knowledge to Make Cons Safer

Fire She-Ra Avatar

I’m painfully aware that the conversation about making cons safer for all attendees is bigger than me. Over the past few days, I have heard many, many stories from past and current attendees, peers, and panelists at conventions that they have had similar experiences or have dealt with harassers. I also feel this is not going to be resolved one con at a time, and I highly doubt that reactive efforts will address the systemic issues, either. I, personally, feel that unless there are avenues and options to proactively make safe spaces and educate con runners and attendees, this discussion will keep happening.

With this in mind, I thought about two solutions that might help; one big picture, one actionable item.

Asking more Questions

In my experience, harassers/abusers do not care about boundaries (either personal or professional), and they often leverage their personal relationships or manipulate what others think to avoid getting caught. There will always be abusers and harassers, but I do believe there are ways we can mitigate the threat. After we acknowledge that harassment does, in fact, happen, I feel additional questions need to be asked before we find solutions.

How can we…

  • …teach people not to harass?
  • …teach allies what to watch out for?
  • …foster healthy and safe communication about harassment?
  • …teach people how best to enforce harassment policies?
  • …address safety concerns that are not part of an official claim?
  • …share experiences between conventions so each con doesn’t live in a silo?
  • …implement better documentation policies so materials aren’t lost?
  • …help allies understand how to support victims?
  • …help victims have the confidence to come forward?
  • …guarantee that personal e-mails will not be posted publicly?
  • …help victims/allies mitigate the losses that come from making hard decisions?
  • …teach con goers how we take their safety seriously?
  • …teach con goers what to do next if something should happen?
  • …address what proper resolutions are and how they should be implemented?
  • …leverage our social communities better to review our convention attendance?
  • …help con runners decide how to implement training for their staff?
  • …help con runners understand how important it is to have the right people on staff to handle this?

I am 100% certain there are other questions I am missing, as I am speaking through the lens of my experiences. Regardless, I feel that the first step is to ask questions like these before they can be answered. Then, we need to have those hard discussions to take additional steps.

For your con, these questions may have already been addressed. If so, great! Then, I feel we need to take that a step further by sharing that knowledge.

Publishing Reference Materials

In terms of implementation methods to address the aforementioned questions, I was shocked to learn that there aren’t a lot of books on the subject of running conventions, convention safety, etc. There is a universe of well-established, knowledgeable convention runners who have volunteered for decades and know what it takes to run a safe, fun con. That knowledge is essential to preserve past lessons and help present and future volunteers learn from their mistakes.

To that end, I feel that our massive, lumbering community (e.g. games/comics/fiction) needs books that are relevant to our interests for attendees, con runners, panelists, and guests. There are many books related to event planning and community management through a business or charity context, but none (as far as I could tell) in our vertical.

Most of the information I found, thanks to ye Olde Google, was published online in articles, but the information that needs to be relayed cannot fit in “a” blog post. I, personally, feel it’s well past time that this knowledge gets collated and published. This, too, is not something I can do by myself; I don’t have the knowledge to write such books, unfortunately. To me, though, it seems like a way to help regain some assurances going forward that this crucial piece of knowledge is being archived and shared.

If you have existing reference material suggestions or further thoughts, please feel free to chime in here or kick off further discussion elsewhere. This post is very rough, and I’m certain I’m missing a lot. I want to move on, however, and looking ahead is one way for me to do that.

Comments will be moderated.



April 13, 2017
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Announcing I’m a Guest Lecturer for Shared Worlds

Shared Worlds 2017

Hello! I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a position as a guest lecturer for Shared Worlds this July. I will be dropping in via Skype to answer the student’s questions about worldbuilding.

Shared Worlds is an annual summer program designed for teen writers interested in speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, etc.). The students work in groups with an experienced “world-building coordinator” to design and build a world. They also attend sessions on particular aspects of world-building with historians, scientists, authors and philosophers. Within a few days, the students have produced a world complete with its own life forms, languages, laws, and cultures. The students then write stories set in the worlds they have built. –SOURCE: SharedWorldsCamp.com

I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be invited to this. The camp has a stellar staff, including writers like Jeff VanderMeer and Will Hindmarch, and features a long list of really wonderful authors like Tobias Buckell, Ann VanderMeer, Sofia Samatar, N.K. Jemisin and many others.

The information to register for the Shared Worlds Camp is on the website, and I encourage you to check out the amazing works produced by these fine guest and staff instructors.

April 13, 2017
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MANW Week 15: Art is My Inch

Sephiroth Avatar

I wasn’t sure I was going to do today’s check-in, because yesterday’s announcement and the fall out from that has been overwhelming. I feel everything, ranging from anger to utter shock to guilt, and in the midst of all that I still have to get work down. Unfortunately, that’s been slow at best.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Make Art Not War 2017 is a challenge I cooked up to kick off the new year. It was a way to help both me (and, hopefully you) retain a focus on art despite everything else that’s going on. That, unfortunately, has turned out to be harder than I thought when I have to perform emotional labor. There are days, like today, where I feel I can’t express all of my conflicting emotions. Part of that, is because as a professional I do perform emotional labor. The other bit, though, is that I don’t know how to describe it. I knew yesterday was bad, when I was at sushi therapy (my words for delicious sushi) and an elderly gentlemen walked toward me with his face lit up to tell me how beautiful I was. I didn’t feel beautiful. I just felt very small.

But then, as I was wandering off to a Pokestop, I remembered something. It was a powerful scene from the movie V for Vendetta based on Alan Moore’s work. I remember Valerie writing about the inch no one else can take, her story filled with hope, love, despair, and gut-wrenching tragedy. She says: “An inch… it is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.”

I realized what Valerie’s inch is for me. That inch is the art I make for you and for myself, because no one can take that away. No one. All the worries about dying in obscurity or a lack of discovery pale in comparison to the horror, the terror that comes from not making art. I don’t know if I’ll be wildly successful, and I can’t plan for that. I can only plan for a possible future, and then adjust based on what actually happens. The way to get there, though, is to take an inch. Every, damn day. Every chance I get. One, beautiful inch at a time.



April 12, 2017
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MANW Check-In Week 14: Making Room for Art

Today’s check-in is brief; my head’s been down and I’ve been focused on words, words, art, and more words. I’d like to briefly discuss what it means to make room for art, and how a simple trick to reprogram your brain can help you get the words down, the sketches out, or the stitches stitched. Often, we feel guilty making art because it feels as if it’s not important. It’s not work, it’s not going to make us any money, it’s playtime. These toxic attitudes toward our art affect our mindset and sink into our subconscious, so when we go to make art it can feel like it’s a “big deal” or a major event.

The value of making art can’t often be seen or felt until we actually do the work, however, which means that we have a tendency to say “No, I can’t.” before we do it because we are operating off bad assumptions. It won’t be worth making a bracelet, because it’s just for you. It won’t be worth writing that story, because no one will read it. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. These premises, when coupled with the time required to sit down and make art, combine to form a barrier that actively works against our inner artist. Then, when we do make art, we feel guilty about it. We feel as if we shouldn’t have been making art in the first place.

To get past that roadblock, sometimes the best way to do that is to not think about the value after you make art or the time required. Instead, focus on where you do something small to make art by re-prioritizing your efforts to put your art (and yourself) first. For example, if you’re having a hard time writing a novel, then perhaps your priority isn’t placed on finishing one. What happens when you do make it a priority? Suddenly, everything shifts. You might spend your days doing the same thing you’ve always done, but instead you’re actively looking for ways to carve out ten, fifteen, twenty minutes at a time to chip away at your story.

I hope you’re continuing to make art and you’re having fun this week! Spring seems to have arrived with a lot of sunshine, some rain, and many flowers. Finally, eh?

    Mood: There is nothing but words
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 2. And I, um, went through withdrawal.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Walking!
    In My Ears: Air conditioner
    Game Last Played: Pokemon GO
    Book Last Read: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: The 10th Kingdom
    Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
    Latest Releases: In Volo’s Wake for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Unknown Armies Books 1-3. Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016.
    Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update. New project update coming this month!



April 6, 2017
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