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maera

@mmaera.bsky.social

lv/swe/eng, she/her, auDHD artist? writer?? streamer??? fairy in a jar 🫙✨ love yourself, f*ck AI avatar by @yoursforest.bsky.social

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Brandon O’Brien@therisingtithes.bsky.social · 3d ago

my brain has been kicking my brain's ass this week because I had an idea for an essay after one of the latest AI-in-fiction dramas and then *I missed two other AI-in-fiction dramas* and then an essay came pouring out of me and I think I only got four hours of sleep last night so anyway hold this

We can be blunt here: the industry does not care, has never cared, and *cannot* care about marginalised writers. But it does care about marginalised *fiction*. It cares about marginalised fiction as if Marginalisation is a genre, and it does so because it is. The industry has, on both ends — from the place of well-meaning white cishet able-bodied gatekeepers who really do want to make space for stories from perspectives they cannot imagine, and from the dens of 'anti-woke' pundits railing against an apparent dilution of art or culture — absolutely created a genre that can only be described as Marginalised Fiction. That is, the literary industry cares deeply about fiction that it can view through a margin-frame: fiction identified first and foremost by its ability to perform the assumed bona fides of marginalised authenticity, at least enough for people on the outside, if not based on rigid definitions of radical art that are policed from both within and without the culture itself. Stories that are Black *because* they're about racist microaggressions, violent neighbourhoods, fractured family lives, and identifiable artifacts of culture. Stories that are non-American *because* they telegraph rural tribal community, strong ancient culture, and tension with the outside world. Stories that are queer *because* they play with grotesque bodies, intense sexual exploration, or the bittersweet revelations of sex as desire or violence. Stories that are disabled *because* they paint images of frail bodies or frayed minds severed from reality through drugs, machinery, or just a lack of access to their own effort. Stories that are immigrant *because* they are about being alienated by language, forging new communications with locals, and fearing the hovering sword of state violence. The industry *loves* that shit.
maera@mmaera.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ok so one of the reasons I've been hesitant about posting my art here is that I feel an inexplicable need to present inked pieces, and inking is not something I'm good at. But the impermanence of the pencil is a threat? For some reason?

TBSkyen@tbskyen.com · 2w ago

Nothing wrong with frictionless, comforting escapism media where none of the bad stuff exists, if that's your jam or your need, but we all collectively really really REALLY have to get rid of the idea that media that deals with immoral subjects leave an immoral taint on all who engage with it.

seosamh dáire@saint-vagrant.bsky.social · 3w ago

yes. this is how we survive, and to be honest with you, surviving is harder than ever. i don't want boldly unique and sometimes unpublishable artwork to die out but i especially don't want its creators to disappear further into the margins

muura 🩸 LUSH BEAST@verikoira.bsky.social · 3w ago

this year & all future years should be the time where we start putting in the effort to reading the works of small creators and talk about them to all our friends and also strangers. most of the recs for work i love ive gotten from people who know me and my tastes really well, not a trending ig reel

maera@mmaera.bsky.social · 3w ago

Having construction on the other side of the wall every weekday for months sure is taking a toll on my nervous system. I am despairing somewhat.