Tessera

Vinayak Varma

@eyefry.bsky.social

Writer-illustrator, BSFA and CWSS finalist, lapsed magazine editor and craft beer branding guy, design prof., music nerd, cat wrangler, tragic anti-hero. #createdontscrape #humanart #illustrator #kidlit #SFF #music #design www.mixtape.in

841 Posts1008 Follower 790 Folgt

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 2d ago

Psst! Episode 4 of @happyaccidentspod.bsky.social is out now wherever you get your podcasts. In it, I interview @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social about her writing process, art practice, her thoughts on genAI in publishing + much else. Listen to the episode / find links for your podcast platform here—

Interview with writer Kuzhali Manickavel

Writer Kuzhali Manickavel discusses her creative process, her weird fiction, her thoughts on generative AI, and her evolving visual arts practice.

happyaccidents.co.in

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 3d ago

Here's one more for the road, before the full episode releases—

Happy Accidents@happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 3d ago

In this second clip from episode 4 of Happy Accidents, Kuzhali Manickavel (@kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social) talks about her early experiments with generative AI, and why it can never beat good old-fashioned rigour. The full episode drops later tonight — follow for updates!

Happy Accidents @happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 3d ago

Kuzhali Manickavel on why hard work trumps genAI

YouTube video by Happy Accidents

youtu.be

kuzhali manickavel/குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்@kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social · 4d ago

my dear comrades and friendos, the talented vinayak varma invited me to be on his podcast which you can listen to, if so inclined, at 8pm IST. his other guests are all pretty amazing, worth checking out the podcast

Happy Accidents@happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 4d ago

Episode 4 of Happy Accidents, featuring writer @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social, releases tonight, at 8pm IST. In this clip, she tells @eyefry.bsky.social about reconciling her South Asian roots with the expectations of a mainly West-facing publishing scene, and some of the pitfalls of peer feedback:

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 4d ago

The timetable in this quoted post has been revised since I announced it. (Teething troubles, ill health, and scheduling conflicts.) Here's the new one. There are many more episodes coming up post the 23rd too, btw, and I'll announce those once I have a better grasp on my own editing schedule.

A timetable showing the following episodes and release dates:

Samanth Subramanian: July 5th
Priya Kuriyan: July 12th
Sameer Kulavoor: July 19th
Kuzhali Manickavel: August 2nd
Srinath Perur: August 9th
Rashmi Ruth Devadasan & Rakesh Khanna (of Blaft): August 23rd

Vinayak Varma@eyefry.bsky.social · 4w ago

Here's the release schedule for the next month. (With more interviews lined up for the following months too.) For now I'm focusing on South Asian creatives, as you can see here, but I hope to broaden my ambit in due course. Next Sunday, I talk to acclaimed children's illustrator Priya Kuriyan.

A table with two columns saying "Episode" and "Release Date" respectively, with the following information contained within:
Samanth Subramanian — July 5th
Priya Kuriyan — July 12th
Sameer Kulavoor — July 26th
Kuzhali Manickavel — July 26th
Srinath Perur — August 2nd

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 4d ago

My interview with the amazing @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social releases later this evening (on happyaccidents.co.in + wherever you get your podcasts). Here's a brief clip from our conversation—

Happy Accidents@happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 4d ago

Happy Accidents @happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 4d ago

Kuzhali Manickavel on Happy Accidents: Interview Extract

YouTube video by Happy Accidents

youtu.be

Happy Accidents @happyaccidentspod.bsky.social · 4d ago

Happy Accidents is a series of interviews with creative people (mostly from South Asia, for now) on why process, rigour and mastery still matter in a post-AI world. It's hosted by @eyefry.bsky.social, and the first 3 episodes are out on all podcast platforms. Find links at www.happyaccidents.co.in

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · last mo.

I too dream of cake

RM@dorsalstream.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake

By A Horse

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 4w ago

Why did I name this series Happy Accidents? Because it's among my top reasons for preferring a human creative process to one driven by generative AIs. More here—

Vinayak Varma@eyefry.bsky.social · 4w ago

And here's a clip containing my introduction to the show: youtu.be/ghnAL2z595k

Alex A. Pagliuca @alexpagliuca.bsky.social · 4w ago

"We are deploying responsibly
developed Al to liberate humanity from menial labor and usher in an era of unparalleled creativity and abundance."
SAM ALTMAN

"You ingested the entire written output of human civilization without consent, without compensation, and without credit, to build a system whose primary commercial application is eliminating the jobs of the people whose work you consumed.
You are not liberating human creativity - you are strip-mining it and selling it back at a markup while calling the theft training data."
NAOMI KLEIN
@think_and_exist

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 4w ago

HAPPY ACCIDENTS — a new series of in-depth interviews with seasoned creative practitioners on why process, rigour and mastery still matter in the age of AI — just launched on all major podcast platforms. In its first episode, I interview award-winning narrative journalist Samanth Subramanian.

A black-and-white portrait of Samanth Subramanian: a bespectacled, bearded, shaven-headed man in a buttoned-down shirt, sitting on some steps and staring directly into camera with a look of mild amusement.

Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social · last mo.

The Gargoyle of Belem wants you to donate to the Strange Horizons fund-drive. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

Gautam Bhatia@gautambhatia88.bsky.social · last mo.

📣📣LAST TWELVE days of the Strange Horizons fund-drive! 📣📣 Very close to our base goal (we're at $20,860/$22,000), in order to continue publishing free, weekly SFF in 2027. To help us get there: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · last mo.

In case you missed it, this is the shortlist for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

Here’s the shortlist for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

The Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation has announced the shortlist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, which annually awards $25,000 to the author of a book who best represents the legendary wri…

buff.ly

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · last mo.

I've been redrafting my agreements.

AI Clause

I do not give you the permission
To use my art to train your AI models.
You may, however, use it to sharpen
Your distaste of artists like me,
To ribbon your old party hat
With grim new lashings on
The fucking gall of
Fucking hacks like me
Who will paint an elephant yellow
("Bloody tritanopic fellow!"),
Scrawl a moustache on its knee,
And call that fucking nonsense
Untitled Number Three.

I do not give you the permission
To put my art in your datasets.
You may, however, put it
In a little box and chuck it under
A spare bed or sideboard
And forget until time and silverfish
Give it texture and patina,
Until your younger daughter snags
Her sleeve on it while
Looking for her lost keys,
Has to jimmy open its rusted lid
With your husband's favourite Rotring pen,
Then pinches you in delight because
My tiny caricature of her ammoomma
Is exactly what she needed
In that moment to lift her
Out of the fog of her forties.

I do not give you the permission
To feed my art to your algorithms.
You may, however, feed it
To your Lhasa Apsos
And your mad uncles
And your prize pigs
And your six guppies
And your tapeworm.
May they find comfort and nourishment
In the inky residues
Of my fucked-up life.

Vinayak Varma
(2026, Madras)

The Doctor (Commissions open)@lucidillusions.in · last mo.

June has been a super slow month wrt new work So here's some #AntiPrimeDay discounts on Commissions, Darkroom and @inprnt.com For the next 2 weeks—25% off, use the code: R1ULDXK ko-fi.com/lucidillusio... www.inprnt.com/gallery/luci... lucidillusions.darkroom.com #Photography #Art #BookSky #BSNM

25% discount off Lucid Illusions's Commissions

Visit Lucid Illusions at Ko-fi for 25% discount off Commissions

ko-fi.com

The Doctor (Commissions open)@lucidillusions.in · last mo.

I enjoy writing, a lot, and you should commission me to write a story that you can gift someone you love. ko-fi.com/lucidillusio... It makes for a cool gift, and it helps me pay utilities and other expenses. (June has been low on new projects so help a bro out) #BSNM #WritingCommunity #Discover

Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · last mo.

Piracy is archival work 🏴‍☠️

Does it play?@doesitplay.org · last mo.

What makes you think your digital games are safe? Once again, Studio Canal is pulling movie licenses. Purchases to be outright erased from libraries. It's the same that happened in 2022 and during the Funimation-Crunchyroll merger. Digital is rental! (via Twitter user somatyk)

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · last mo.

I've been redrafting my agreements.

kuzhali manickavel/குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்@kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social · 2mo ago

this is the cover for the indian edition of my novel and i love it so much. Illustration by Saurav a.k.a. Drawnk please pre-order at www.blaft.com/collections/...

a girl holding a small person wrapped in a handkerchief. the girl is wearing a half sari and her face is split open. flowers and frogs are coming out of her head. text says a compendium of supernatural entities found in the government girls higher secondary school by kuzhali manickavel

Blaft Publications @blaft.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🎉Cover reveal!!🎉 For the Indian edition of A COMPENDIUM OF SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES FOUND IN THE GOVERNMENT GIRLS HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL by @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social Illustration by Saurav a.k.a. Drawnk Pre-order link: www.blaft.com/collections/...

The front cover of A COMPENDIUM OF SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES FOUND IN THE GOVERNMENT GIRLS HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL by Kuzhali Manickavel. The front cover shows a girl in a school uniform, her arm outstretched, holding a small ghostly figure wrapped in a handkerchief on her palm. The girl's face is exploding into a tangle of lotus stems, flowers, and frogs.

Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social · 2mo ago

News: THE FIFTH INFLECTION (formerly THE SENTENCE, in India) now has a cover - and it’s available for pre-order across the world! Get it here: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Fi...

Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Strange Horizons fund-drive update: we're currently at 190 backers, and 60% funded towards are base goal. Let's get to 200 backers, and our next milestone - $14K - which is when we'll be able to release a fantastic essay on fungi in SFF. Back us here: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

Strange Horizons 2027 Fundraiser

The annual Strange Horizons fundraiser! Support this free, online, award-winning, weekly magazine of SFFH, which runs entirely on reader - YOUR - donations!

backerkit.com

Gautam Bhatia@gautambhatia88.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Strange Horizons annual fund-drive is now live! Support us to continue publishing free, weekly, online SFFH fiction, poetry, art, and non-fiction for our 27th year! www.backerkit.com/c/users/3516... For new supporters - welcome aboard. For the regulars - you’ll notice something different. 🧵

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 2mo ago

Thread about how using “A.i.” will turn you into a world class loser in the eyes of your colleagues… and yourself. Just say no. This shit is trash and it destroys human souls. I’m not exaggerating.

Crystal Fleming クリスタル@alwaystheself.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'm attending a digital humanities event in Montreal. There was a keynote on AI and something about the talk made me wonder if it had been written by Claude. I said as much in the Q&A. As I posed the question, the speaker shifted, looking slightly uncomfortable. What he said next shocked the room +

Peter G @zigzackly.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Quote with your yellow art 😬

The image is a photograph of a translucent piece made of synthetic resin. (The original piece was a bas relief carved out of a block of wax. The resin was then poured over it. It was very old resin, so the yellow tint is an accident. 🙃)

Vinayak Varma@eyefry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Quote with your yellow art ⚡

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Quote with your yellow art ⚡

Victor Bizar Gómez@bizargomez.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Quote with your yellow art ⭐️

Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 2mo ago

#OtD 29 May 1972 the Dalit Panthers were formed in Maharashtra, India. Modelled on the US Black Panthers the Dalit Panthers was formed to combat caste discrimination. Dalit means "oppressed" in Sanskrit, and refers to members of lower castes in India stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1012...

Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Everyone should read this piece about what the Indian government is doing to its people in border states like Assam and now Bengal, throwing Muslims & other poor citizens into a Kafkaesque hell of paperwork, court cases, camps, expulsion to prove they belong in their home country.

Scroll@scroll.in · 2mo ago

“I have lived my entire life here,” the woman said. “I have not even seen any other country. How could they send me to Bangladesh?” scroll.in/article/1093... Afraid that police might arrest her again, she said, “It is better to die now. I don’t want to die in a foreign land.” By Rokibuz Zaman

Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 2mo ago

'The 10% drop in the electorate shows how [many] have given up even trying to vote. That, of course is what...the BJP want[s], for these are the poorest people in the country...Modi has...succeeded in ensuring that only the...privileged will find it easy to cast their votes.'

Why the SIR Is Narendra Modi's Chosen Weapon to Crush Democracy

In the SIRs completed, Modi has all but succeeded in ensuring that only the relatively privileged will find it easy to cast their votes.

thewire.in

Vinayak Varma @eyefry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is the most American thing I've ever seen.

Charlie Warzel@cwarzel.bsky.social · 2mo ago

wake up babe the white house is a six flags

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Yes. The imbrication of (too many) desis within the worst technofascist enterprises in SV pushing real harm in the 21st century can at least partly be explained by the histories and politics of caste*tech. Their contempt for labour, and eagerness for automation, for example, is partly about caste.

Alex@alexsz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I have just read Palo Alto from Malcolm Harris, I hope someone will write about how their kind of eugenicist libertarianism met with the British kind of eugenicist laissez faire how all that influenced the Indian caste system just to reach a crescendo when finally Grok declared itself Mecha Hitler.