Andy Best

Do you want a character-driven adventure echoing classic Sword & Sorcery film and TRPGs, but also the literary style, worldbuilding and themes of the New Wave writers like Moorcock and Le Guin? I've got you covered. And it's wide + available to libraries. UBL: books2read.com/u/bz9BOE #booksky 📚💙

OK fine, Blogger it is. Come back Web 2.0 all is forgiven. That paradise of independent connected publishing that got chopped back down to enthusiasts only when smartphone based socials took over in 2010.

Art by • Fred Fields

On the one hand - Alhazen, who wrote the modern theory of optics, reflection, and perspective along with scientific method, five centuries before the European Renaissance, 'the first true scientist'. On the other hand - RFK jr... [checks notes] No, sorry, nothing.

This looks great, and at the minimum it cost nothing to repost or share.

A survey with 205K views. I mean, it's obvious that one of those two would be terrible.

My first five (TT)RPGs played: (I was 10 in 1983) *Basic D&D *Traveler *Call of Cthulhu *Middle Earth Roleplaying *Paranoia

Rebecca does a lot, for free, and is nice when she really doesn't have to be, but let's not forget she's a writer. Even if her stuff is not your thing, costs nothing to repost. People out there need their accidental reawakening of dead immortals.

"How did you get into tabletop roleplaying games?" Got an early Fighting Fantasy gamebook through the Puffin book club program, final year of primary school, 83/84, D&D redbox/basic set soon followed. #ttrpg #indierpgs

I am closing in on The Gates of Kikathra, my Aertelis follow up (pinned post). I'll do some excerpting and updates at the blog. Check it out for New Wave style existentialist fantasy, but character driven with adventuring and action too.

Reading Techno-feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis, so I can sit back and nod, and be like, yup .. yes, that's right.

Restarting the blog at Blogspot: once upon a time in web 2.0 I had a dedicated host Movable Type blog that got me an agent, and now, platforms and software are so enshittified and annoying that a free Blogger account is the least annoying to me. This world.

Indie, trad, semi-trad, we're all in it together on Bsky, so repost and check out the books. Looking at the replies, David has a book for 99p currently: Scratch Moss

I have no personal presence in the game industry, but a few of you out there followed me back, check out Nessa. And check out my pinned post for classic fantasy in the tradition of the New Wave. Support independent writers. Reposts are free also.

Surviving 1920's era building on Zhapu Lu, Shanghai. When I first came here, this district was like a time capsule, but now only one in ten such buildings still stand, including the former Jewish quarter, now the North Bund development.

@wtalabi.com and I have signed a contract to sell our latest Sauútiverse Weird West collaboration to @lightspeedmagazine.com! So excited for this one to hit the world. @sauutiverse.bsky.social 🥳🌟🎉 #SFF #specfic #Writing #shortstory

How to Stop The Boats? Stop The Bombs first.

Art by • José del Nido

Ray Bradbury writing in 1951 describes a world where people are so addicted to, and pacified by, screens that going for a walk with no other stimulation is a radical act that gets you arrested. (The Pedestrian) Bringing this up in 2026 for no reason.

You didn't have to go this hard, damn. [not my meme]

Morning cycle in Shanghai. Looking along to where the Suzhou Creek meets the Huangpu River.

*after watching the Friday the 13th prequel series* I understand Jason Voorhees now. He was right to kill all those people, even the ones he killed in space.

The biggest normie-denial shit ever was people who thought Black Mirror only got good when San Junipero came out. All the stuff from season 1 and 2 was dead on, and the tone appropriately bleak.

Still think about that line from Robert Kurvitz, co-creator of Disco Elysium, when talking about their core team and creative work with strong minds: in this life you can be forgiving or you can be alone.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead for Tax Purposes

😦 RIP Sanjulian, October 14th, 2026 « Valley of the Dragons », undated by Manuel Sanjulian (Spanish artist, 1941-2026) Original oil on canvas, 10" x 15.5" #vintagefantasyart #fantasyart #fantasyillustration #ManuelSanjulian #Sanjulian #swordandsorcery #heroicfantasy

OUTLOOK (2025) Acrylic on Canvas - 12” x 9” 

All of my Lumen paintings feature a figure struggling to reach the light, against seemingly overwhelming travails. In OUTLOOK we see the moment of breakthrough and discovery, a daunting obstacle overcome. #art

Browsing the discourse gives the impression that the new D&D tie-in novel is about sex crimes. Things have changed a bit since Dragonlance, when tie-ins were fun but obviously rushed out and B-quality.

"Theft is now legal, to boost the economy by eliminating jobs." Well played.

Don't usually post about celebrity deaths, find it kind of weird, but fuckin hell RJ Mitte, at 34. Was recently watching him in Gregg Araki's Now Apocalypse too.

I wish I was joking or exaggerating.

Replaying Zero Parades For Dead Spies now the full thing is out, I forgot how bleak and affecting some of the big scenes/decisions are. If it wasn't for the (legit) controversy with the studio management, this would be a must-play game among RPG fans.

Sad news for cinephiles: Tilly Norwood has been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike.

A sad thing about how the new trash APPs make us realize that a world of personalized everything and no friction is a nightmare - is that a lot of extremely online book communities/readers have been doing this to themselves for years anyway.

Posting Brandon Lee from The Crow to remind myself that art made with passion lasts in our minds.

If you are excited to watch a livestream execution, then brother, you’re a piece of shit.

Margaret Hamilton. When tech bros complain about women in STEM, remember that Ada Lovelace conceptualized the algorithm, and Margaret Hamilton created the whole job Software Engineer when she took a break from MIT to code the moon landing.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies - directors cut out now. The best cold-war inspired bleak spy RPG which is also speculative.

How I arrived on Bluesky