Kagan MacTane (he/him)

@aceofcosmicspace@lgbtqia.space Good luck? No. The *best* of luck! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

@androcat@toot.cat @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt archive.org has got all our backs: https://web.archive.org/web/20260731132113/https://www.amnesty.org.uk/knowledge-hub/all-resources/the-anti-rights-movement/

#WordWeavers Aug 31: What's one thing you hope readers remember long after they finish your story? That we make the future, every day, with every choice. It's not something thrust upon us, it's something we all build.

@overholt@glammr.us “A physical book is a delivery mechanism for information.... the knowledge enters the intellectual [cycle].” Okay, so I could ask the AI model, "Give me the entire, unaltered text of $TITLE_OF_BOOK," and it would do it? It wouldn't make up some random crap that wasn't actually the original text? Yeah, I don't buy that for a moment. The *actual content* of the book has been destroyed. It's a tragedy.

#WordWeavers Aug 26: What weather best matches your current work in progress? That would have to be San Francisco's very own personified meteorological phenomenon, Karl the Fog.

#WordWeavers Aug 25: If readers could keep one item from your story as a souvenir, what would it be? Are we allowing magical items? Because I've got a few that are kind of powerful, and I think people might want those for more than just "souvenir" purposes. If we ban magic items, then I guess maybe something like one of the pins from Jessie's jacket? Or the whole jacket itself, once she's painted it? 1/2

New Yorkers, if you need a mask because of all the wildfire smoke, you can get one at the library. (Yay, libraries! Increase their funding!) https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-libraries-giving-out-masks-as-wildfire-smoke-sinks-air-quality #NewYork #NYC #WearAMask

#WordWeavers Aug 29: What writing accomplishment are you quietly proud of? Chapter 13, scene 7. I'm not going to say here what happens in that scene, but I was really cooking when I wrote that one. I noticed it as I was writing, thinking, "Hey, this is coming out really well!" And on a later re-read, I was impressed with it again. I hope in revision I can bring everything else up to that level of quality.

#WordWeavers Aug 27: Which character would win a trivia contest? Interesting question, and one I'd never thought about before! I think it'd be a tough fight between Zoë Broadstreet and — oddly enough — Travis Winter, the tech-billionaire Big Bad.

If we allow magic items, but assume they've been de-powered, then... the Ghost Brooch is just plain pretty to look at, even as a mere piece of jewelry, and Kevin's Glass Elevator charm is also quite eye-catching. Angel's scarf of invisibility or Margot's portal key are also cool potential keepsakes. 2/2 #WordWeavers

#WordWeavers Aug 30: If you could interview one of your characters over coffee, what would be the first question you asked? I mean, I effectively can. I can always just construct a scenario in my head where I'm someone who they agreed to meet for coffee and an interview, as if I'm a journalist or someone else who might want to interview people. I can construct that scenario in my head just like I'd construct any other situation in their life, and play it out.

Researchers say a fundamental flaw in LLMs makes it easy to trick them into doing things they shouldn’t — like telling you how to sabotage an aircraft’s navigation system. "There’s a real probability that this is going to be a problem that’s fundamentally unsolvable," says one of the paper's coauthors. https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/30/1140927/a-fundamental-flaw-leaves-llms-vulnerable-to-attack/ #AI #LLMs #AIResearch #GenerativeAI #security

#WordWeavers Aug 28: What's one question you're still trying to answer about your story? I have so many, but one is: how can I set things up to get the MCs to run one or two more heists? What have I got in this story that's heistable?

It took me over a month to write, start to finish. And I need to hack it down, severely. When I get to the revision stage. First, I need to finish the draft. (218,000 words and counting, baby, and I'm only halfway done! Ugh. FML.) 3/3 #WordWeavers

...bring this mess under control!), and it does a whole lot: It introduces the concept of these magical races that my city wizards do; it actually depicts an entire race; it also introduces a whole ton of characters (not just the racers but also a bunch of people who have turned out to watch and cheer them on); then there's a whole after-party, which includes a little political stuff. 2/3 #WordWeavers

#WritersCoffeeClub June 18: Talk about a time fiction shocked you. I was 12 years old when _The Empire Strikes Back_ came out, and I forget if my parents took me to see it on opening day or if it was a few days later. But this was pre-internet, so the surprise was not spoiled for me. So, not only was that a pretty big plot twist, but also I was too young and innocent to have any idea that something like that might be coming. I cannot possibly overstate how much it shook me.

OMG, glorious rainbow beside the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower! Edit: Damn, my phone's camera didn't do justice to the colors or the contrast. I'm sorry. #Brooklyn

#WritersCoffeeClub June 14: Talk about something you’re willing to endure in order to write. Spending the time and energy on writing rather than anything else? Not sure what else I need to endure.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 13: C&R: Share your biggest writing habit (good or bad). Everyone: Do you do this too? If not, would you adopt it? I'm not sure what counts as "big". Having music mixes that I put on if I'm writing at home? Tracking my time spent and word count? Anyway, I guess it's one or the other of those, rather than other habits.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 22: How effectively do you convey tone in your writing? I'm not sure if this means characters' tones of voice in dialogue (and thought when we're privy to them), or more like emotional tone of the story in general. (I suspect the ambiguity was deliberate!) In the first case, I may be overdoing it a bit, particularly with things like italics and other tricks. In the second, I _hope_ I'm doing okay, but I may need to improve it in revision.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 15: What is the most painful part of the writing process for you? How long it takes and how slowly it's going.

@chrisoliver@indieweb.social @pluralistic@mamot.fr If purchase is not ownership, then piracy cannot be theft. 🏴‍☠️

#WritersCoffeeClub June 23: Walk us through how you build a story. I'm still working that out myself.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 16: Bloomsday! Have you ever based a character more or less on yourself? All of my characters have at least a little bit of me in them, but I would never do one who's similar enough to me to be called "based on", even with the "more or less" qualifier. If a character starts to get too close to me, I'll tweak them a little to undo that.

@annaleen@wandering.shop Ummm... OT1H, yay for making sure their employees get tips (if that is, in fact the case, as others have pointed out), but OTOH by not disclosing that head of time, I think they're opening themselves up prosecution and/or civil lawsuits for fraudulent business practices. Yikes. I wonder if that's chain-wide or just SF.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 24: Must you know the ending before you write the first line? Nope! I had most of the first roughly-20% of the story sketched out, albeit vaguely in places, before I started. And I knew (and still do) a few things I want to happen later on, and _generally_ how I want it to end. But I still have lots of questions and gaps.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 20: What of your immediate surroundings enter your work? The seasons, music, dreams? Hopefully nothing. The writing should portray what's happening inside the story, not in the place or situation where I wrote it!

...Margot Chu's red clothing is a constant thing (and David Hartmann's blond hair is meant to align him with what TV Tropes calls "Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold"). I mostly try to have the narration stay focused and clinical, avoiding flowery descriptions or metaphors and letting the reader take in the story on their own. But then I occasionally break out of that to highlight something mystical, magical, or... 2/4 #WritersCoffeeClub

#WritersCoffeeClub June 17: How colourful is your writing? Oooh, there are so many ways to take that! Does my writing use lots of color descriptions or color symbolism? Is my prose style florid and ornamental? Are there lots of swear words? In all of those things, I seem to go with a "less is more" approach: keep it generally UN-colorful, but throw in splashes of color occasionally for contrast and effect. There's fairly little color description, except that... 1/4

...modern American adult (and in ways that fit their different backgrounds). Jessie is kind of a walking F-bomb factory. And as a bonus in terms of color: I have a whole lot of people of color in my story. Just like San Francisco does in reality. 4/4 #WritersCoffeeClub

@alice@lgbtqia.space I answered this seriously, although the last option makes me feel like it was kind of in jest. But also, that last option gave me a good belly-laugh!

#WritersCoffeeClub June 25: Share a passage you’ve written containing onomatopoeia. Jessie's just awoken to the knowledge (and experience!) that magic is real and the City is alive. Angel's shown up and told her they're her magical mentor, then brought her to Café Terminus where they said they'll buy her lunch ("and you look like you could use a drink") and tell her fortune. 1/2

#WritersCoffeeClub June 21: What do you listen to while you write? (music, silence, a crowded café?) All three of those are common options, except that the crowded place is more often a bar than a café. I have multiple writing mixes for when I'm at home (including some that are specific to locations or characters, but I most often go with my "generic" writing mix), but I sometimes forget to put anything on at first.

#WritersCoffeeClub June 19: What’s your opinion on writing which seeks to imitate a cinematic style? If someone wants to watch a movie or TV show, they'll just go and watch that. If someone picked up a book, they should hopefully be looking for a _literary_ (by which I mean "told in words, not images") experience. Verbal/literary storytelling should seek to do the things it can do that visual storytelling can't. Trying to emulate something that it isn't is a bad idea. 1/3

...otherwise important. Also, viewpoint characters' thoughts have way more flavor than the underlying narrative voice — but again, that's a contrast. Finally, the level of swearing is generally low-ish. Margot and Carlos both have children, and have trained themselves not to use four-letter words (Carlos was never that much a fan of them; Margot had a harder time making that adjustment). Angel and David swear about as much as the average... 3/4 #WritersCoffeeClub

@alice@lgbtqia.space Insert Audre Lorde's "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house" and Batman "this is the weapon of the enemy" references here.

@alice@lgbtqia.space Okay, this whole thing is a lie cooked up by someone who was trolling. It's 100% debunked, and... Look, I have no love or respect for Vance, okay? But I do respect the truth. There are so many better things to go after him for. If he *had* fucked a couch (assuming it were one he owned), I'd actually support his right to do so. Slam him for things that are: a) true b) actually bad of which there are SO MANY! Let's not perpetuate a lie that's also kink-shaming, okay?

@afilina@phpc.social Thank you, but now I need to find a bakery, stat...

@cmconseils@mastodon.social Hard same, and sleeps I've been sleeping haven't been good ones.

@alice@lgbtqia.space Gotcha. It seems to have attracted a lot of that energy this time! 😄

(I know I mentioned, back on the 17th, that Jessie's kind of a walking F-bomb factory. Still, this bit is a little beyond her usual rate. She's just had an intense experience and is feeling like she's in over her head.) 2/2 #WritersCoffeeClub

...as an actor doesn't help me at all in this regard — it means I just have _two_ ways to slide into cinematic writing: as a viewer, describing the action, or as an actor, wanting lots of cues about things like verbal delivery, facial expressions, and so on.) 3/3 #WritersCoffeeClub

(And I need to keep this firmly in mind as I write and edit. I don't want to give the impression that I'm immune to the lure of cinematic writing. Not even close! It's something I need to get better at avoiding. My prior experience... 2/3 #WritersCoffeeClub

Because it's late and I've been drinking and am in a fun mood, I'm going through my WIP so far and tallying how many times each character uses the F-word or any variants. I know Jessie will come out way on top, but I want to see how many times anyone else does. (This was spurred by Jessie noting how unusual it was that her mentor, Angel had just used it.) Anyway, I'm barely into the tally and already being more amused than this has any right to make me.

@alice@lgbtqia.space That normalizes two ideas: 1) That what people do in their private lives is a legitimate reason to drag them in public life; 2) That we can tar and feather people with accusations that have no basis in fact, and no evidence to support them. I think both of those ideas and tactics are *awful*, and if normalized, would be profoundly damaging to progressives and people like us. I urge you to reconsider.

Waverly Place, NoHo, Manhattan, off Washington Square.

@alice@lgbtqia.space Good morning, Alice. You've got hearts all over your arm! 💛🤍💜🖤

Dear Fedi, I've searched and can't find this. About a month ago, when the news about Mullvad's support for fascism came out, I saw a recommendation for another VPN. I think it might have been made in Finland; it had a name that was about 5 or 6 characters long, and I think was a Sami word? Anyway, I can't find it in my browser history, bookmarks, comment threads, or search engines. Can anyone remember? Thanks. #AskFedi #VPN