Always grateful to the good folks @themetaworker.bsky.social for indulging my little concrete experiments. If you're interested in grapes, charity, insecurity, faith, or not actually being Muslim, this one might be for you.

Sharh on Mutwatta Imam Malik, Book 58, Hadith 1849 by Rozalija Grace - The Metaworker Literary Magazine

"I tell her / it is a raisin, a zabiba—a mark / that forms where the brow is laid / in long conjunction with earth" - excerpt from Sharh on Mutwatta Imam Malik, Book 58, Hadith 1849, poetry by Rozalij...

themetaworker.com

"local shamans ... claim the remains had 'stood guard at the gates of the underworld,' and that disturbing her opened a Pandora’s box of natural disasters and political conflict, including the war in Ukraine." I cannot tell you how very seriously I think the 21st century is—in part—the result . . .

Calls to Rebury a Siberian Mummy Unearth Decades of Distorted History - The Moscow Times

Millions of tourists flock to southern Siberia’s republic of Altai each year, drawn by its dramatic mountain ranges steeped in the legends of the indigenous Altai people.

themoscowtimes.com

Кто-нибудь, пожалуйста, скажите Кремлю. Мне кажется, эта ситуация служит уроком.

Emily L@laskin.bsky.social · 2d ago

New translation! A literal fluff piece (with pretty photos) en.thenewtab.io/russia-popla...

The bad news is that Dolly Parton is dead. The even worse news is that America can no longer meet the divine judgement-averting quota of ten righteous people (cf. Genesis 18:32).

Florence Ashley@floralashes.bsky.social · 3d ago

I don’t recall when was the last time a famous person passed away and I didn’t see a single soul shitting on them on social media.

@fifthwheelpress.bsky.social's new anthology is out, & the first tale you'll read is extra special to me. At a difficult time in my life, I wrote the friend I needed that Providence had not yet sent. I hope she might help you now, too. (h/t @eleanorball.bsky.social & @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social)

Way Downstream: a long-form prose anthology - fifth wheel press's Ko-fi Shop

As fiction and nonfiction writers, we’ve often experienced the thrill of finally finishing a piece and opening a new tab to start submitting . . . on...

ko-fi.com

Me, getting home from work: "I am *so* mad." My fiancée: "What about?" Me: "Armenian politics." My fiancée: "Well, we can't do anything about that." Me: "That's what Arman Yeghoyan says! That's why I'm so mad!"

Ruling party widens divide between diaspora and Yerevan

YEREVAN — A dispute inside Armenia’s parliament over the political value of the Armenian diaspora has escalated into a broader confrontation over who represents Armenian interests abroad and whether t...

armenianweekly.com

In fairness, queer theorists helped a lot, too.

Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · last wk.

Nearly everything the public believes about trans people is false and that is fundamentally a failure of media.

I don't know which of you added me to the "Experimental Poetry" starter pack, but thank you!

*bristles for entirely different reasons as a descendant of both Qazaqs and Armenians*

It means they are gestalt entities that should be cast out of real people and into swine stampeding toward the sea.

alice f.z.@faith2fleurs.bsky.social · 2w ago

if corporations are people does that mean that they can sin?

Я — белый генерал. Конечно.

Наби пишет@stanonisa.bsky.social · 2w ago

Будем считать это тег ёрселф Хотелось бы быть увлечённой озверевшей буржуазией в вихрь фокстрота, но ментально ощущаю себя ближе фабричной трубе

We need better religious education in schools for the exact same reason we need better education on LGBT issues in schools—not to "convert" anyone to anything, but just to keep people from making ignorant asses of themselves in front of their fellow citizens.

Celestial Fang 🩸 Artist@celestialfang.bsky.social · 2w ago

I am begging writers to have a basic understanding of Abrahamic religions before slapping sexy gothic aesthetics onto stuff or you will end up with lines like ‘This is a war between God and Allah!’ I am about to kms

"If nationalism is waging war against mixed marriages insofar as conquerors (especially Poles and Russians) are concerned, then it cannot bypass the problem of mixed marriages with Jews, who are indisputably if not greater, then at least comparable, foes of our rebirth." — Yevhen Konovalets

Ukraine repatriates remains of 20th-century military leader Yevhen Konovalets with state honors

As the founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), Konovalets devoted his life to the cause of Ukraine's independence. He was assassinated by an undercover Soviet agent in 1938.

kyivindependent.com

😮

менфэйліңдемꙮкратиядатұрамын@yaneuve.ren · 2w ago

when you think about it, the shape of the central asian + caucasus postsoviet states is _basically_ just a larger kyrgyzstan

We are not talking nearly enough about linguistic equity in AI policies.

Rust & Moth@rustandmoth.bsky.social · 2w ago

Are you a lit journal wondering how to ward your pages against AI-generated work? Then it's worth reading this. "The detectors are not particularly reliable. Worse yet, they are especially unreliable when the real author (a human) is not a native English speaker."

I don't know that there's just one thing, but I do think readers count on me to deliver 4 out of 5 in any given piece: --lesbianism --Russians OR Armenians --folkloric creatures --one Abrahamic religion (dealer's choice) --the 19th OR 20th century

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @ NDK@cometkins.bsky.social · 2w ago

What would you consider your trademark as an author? Something your readers can/do expect from you. #WritingPrompt

I know it's not finished, but I feel like Elon's sculptor hasn't quite captured the expression of 'chained to a rock having my liver pecked out for eternity because of my hubris in supplying mortals with dangerous technologies they can't control'.

Naomi Saphra@nsaphra.bsky.social · 3w ago

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Vast and Trunkless Leg of Stone, Standing in the Desert from classic poem Ozymandias.

It's been a while since a book made me stay up way too late because I could not put it down, but this one, by Alaskan Inupiat poet Carrie Ayagaduk Ojanen, did it.

Wow. What a poem.

spell to keep you / in my mouth forever — Noor

noormag.org

airbnb I’m staying at unintentionally created the toughest punk album cover of 2027

If I can't dash, I don't want to be part of your revolution.

Same.

Анастасия@anastasiagoldmani.bsky.social · 4w ago

Уровень выгорания: хочу уволиться из цивилизации и уйти жить в глухой лес. Буду собирать грибы, ягоды и разговаривать со мхами, а не вот эта вся работа. Главное — в первый же день не съесть бледную поганку, хотя это самый быстрый способ закрыть все дедлайны

As per St. Isaac the Syrian, Christian charity obliges us to hope for the eventual salvation of all souls. Allowing that some *might* go to an everlasting hell is reasonable theological humility, but holding that anyone definitely *will* (let alone hoping for it) is an ethical failure.

Zach Weinersmith@zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?

👇 This. Israel does a lot of f*ed up sh*t, but I'll only start taking criticism of it from Americans seriously when *they* "go back to Europe".

Florence Ashley@floralashes.bsky.social · last mo.

I feel like the essentialization of Israelis as the pinnacle of colonization and cultural theft by people who are overwhelmingly white Americans functions to displace their own responsibility for colonialism and cultural theft.

@floralashes.bsky.social's deep dives on stuff like this are the *best*.

Florence Ashley@floralashes.bsky.social · last mo.

The verse against ‘crossdressing’ in the Torah is rather oddly written. A literal translation of Deuteronomy 22:5 would be: “The instrument of a strongman won’t be upon a woman, and a strongman won’t wear the square-garment of a woman for the abominable of HaShem your God is any who does these.”

This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b

Stephanie Beatriz doing the voice of Rosa Diaz.

Nanoraptor@nanoraptor.danamania.com · last mo.

You suddenly get a narrator describing your life and there’s no way to turn it off - everyone can hear it. While shopping, at work, at home, with friends - the voice narrating your every move goes on. Who do you hope is the voice of this narrator?

Politico is doing it wrong. The headline should say. “Comrade McConnell in vigorous health unable to attend cultural festival as he works for glory of the revolution” Don’t worry you’ll get there

Not now bestie, I’m going to the museum to see my fave’s body parts after their martyrdom

Fun fact: "Rozalija" shares an etymology with "rusalka". Interact between now and autumn at your own risk.

Анастасия@anastasiagoldmani.bsky.social · last mo.

Чем выше летом температура, тем больше хочется быть озерной девой, которая практически не выходит из воды, общается только с утками и утаскивает всех тех, кто ей не нравится, на дно