Ferrett Steinmetz
@theferrett.bsky.social
Writer of FLEX/SOL MAJESTIC/my new book series, DRAGON KINGS OF OKLAHOMA. Quietly (re)connecting with friends, nothing more. Please don't make this weird.
Pinned
Ferrett Steinmetz
@theferrett.bsky.social
· Oct 18
Dragon Kings Of Oklahoma
Visit Amazon's Dragon Kings Of Oklahoma Page and shop for all Dragon Kings Of Oklahoma books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Dragon Kings Of Oklahoma
amzn.to
For new arrivals: My series The Dragon Kings of Oklahoma, a.k.a "Tiger King but with baby dragons" just dropped. If you liked my old stuff, you'll probably like this.
amzn.to/3Nvwqk9
amzn.to/3Nvwqk9
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
day one in mamdani’s new york
January 1, 2026 at 5:10 PM
day one in mamdani’s new york
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
Me and especially my pussy would like to thank the zoomers/gen As for killing skinny jeans. I swear those things were invented as a way to sell more Monistat.
January 1, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Me and especially my pussy would like to thank the zoomers/gen As for killing skinny jeans. I swear those things were invented as a way to sell more Monistat.
The Epstein files are horrific, of course, but really, isn't the word "tranche" beautiful? Shame it only gets used for crap like this.
December 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
The Epstein files are horrific, of course, but really, isn't the word "tranche" beautiful? Shame it only gets used for crap like this.
If you're not willing to argue about it on Reddit for hours at a time, the Internet forgets you exist
But the casual fans who nevertheless show up consistently are the ones who make buck for you, my friend
But the casual fans who nevertheless show up consistently are the ones who make buck for you, my friend
‘AVATAR’ is now the highest grossing movie trilogy of all time
Over $1 billion more than Star Wars
Over $1 billion more than Star Wars
December 25, 2025 at 1:08 PM
If you're not willing to argue about it on Reddit for hours at a time, the Internet forgets you exist
But the casual fans who nevertheless show up consistently are the ones who make buck for you, my friend
But the casual fans who nevertheless show up consistently are the ones who make buck for you, my friend
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
The Internet will continue to refuse to believe that anyone likes or is watching these demonstrably ultra-popular, in fact beloved movies wholly because they have traction with normal people but not social-media cliques or Podcaster groupchats.
‘AVATAR’ is now the highest grossing movie trilogy of all time
Over $1 billion more than Star Wars
Over $1 billion more than Star Wars
December 25, 2025 at 4:15 AM
The Internet will continue to refuse to believe that anyone likes or is watching these demonstrably ultra-popular, in fact beloved movies wholly because they have traction with normal people but not social-media cliques or Podcaster groupchats.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
UPDATE:
After 9 days, Beep the Microwave and all their tributes *vanished*. We mourned his passing...
...until we learned on the very next day that the city collected Beep and his tributes to save them, not to destroy them!
This is absolutely the best of all possible outcomes.
All Hail Beep!
After 9 days, Beep the Microwave and all their tributes *vanished*. We mourned his passing...
...until we learned on the very next day that the city collected Beep and his tributes to save them, not to destroy them!
This is absolutely the best of all possible outcomes.
All Hail Beep!
December 23, 2025 at 11:11 PM
UPDATE:
After 9 days, Beep the Microwave and all their tributes *vanished*. We mourned his passing...
...until we learned on the very next day that the city collected Beep and his tributes to save them, not to destroy them!
This is absolutely the best of all possible outcomes.
All Hail Beep!
After 9 days, Beep the Microwave and all their tributes *vanished*. We mourned his passing...
...until we learned on the very next day that the city collected Beep and his tributes to save them, not to destroy them!
This is absolutely the best of all possible outcomes.
All Hail Beep!
Also: Sometimes a story isn't meant for you.
A competent critic can recognize a finely-made film that bounces off of them; a GOOD critic will analyze that discrepancy to discover something new about how art works.
A competent critic can recognize a finely-made film that bounces off of them; a GOOD critic will analyze that discrepancy to discover something new about how art works.
The paragraph about TV Tropes is spot on. I can't bear that approach to criticism where the main aim seems to be asserting superiority to the work. People who'll identify an influence and be like "Ah, rumbled!" episodes.ghost.io/art-criticis...
You are not smarter than the art you critique
Here's my best advice for young critics: Don't presume you know better.
episodes.ghost.io
December 23, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Also: Sometimes a story isn't meant for you.
A competent critic can recognize a finely-made film that bounces off of them; a GOOD critic will analyze that discrepancy to discover something new about how art works.
A competent critic can recognize a finely-made film that bounces off of them; a GOOD critic will analyze that discrepancy to discover something new about how art works.
What they taught me at Clarion (a high-powered six-week intensive for SF writers) was this:
If three people say there's an issue in your manuscript, there's probably a problem.
If three people have fixes for the problem, they're probably wrong, and you need to find your own way.
If three people say there's an issue in your manuscript, there's probably a problem.
If three people have fixes for the problem, they're probably wrong, and you need to find your own way.
The paragraph about TV Tropes is spot on. I can't bear that approach to criticism where the main aim seems to be asserting superiority to the work. People who'll identify an influence and be like "Ah, rumbled!" episodes.ghost.io/art-criticis...
You are not smarter than the art you critique
Here's my best advice for young critics: Don't presume you know better.
episodes.ghost.io
December 23, 2025 at 3:11 PM
What they taught me at Clarion (a high-powered six-week intensive for SF writers) was this:
If three people say there's an issue in your manuscript, there's probably a problem.
If three people have fixes for the problem, they're probably wrong, and you need to find your own way.
If three people say there's an issue in your manuscript, there's probably a problem.
If three people have fixes for the problem, they're probably wrong, and you need to find your own way.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
they didn't need AI to make Silksong, it just needed some deeply insane guys to have a blank check for living expenses until their next thing was done, I think we should try doing more of that instead
December 22, 2025 at 12:29 AM
they didn't need AI to make Silksong, it just needed some deeply insane guys to have a blank check for living expenses until their next thing was done, I think we should try doing more of that instead
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
So, uhh...someone abandoned a (likely broken, definitely dirty) microwave on a park bench in Cleveland. For nine days and counting, it has become A Thing.
Today, @theferrett.bsky.social and I tracked it down to pay tribute and wish it the merriest of Christmases.
Today, @theferrett.bsky.social and I tracked it down to pay tribute and wish it the merriest of Christmases.
December 21, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So, uhh...someone abandoned a (likely broken, definitely dirty) microwave on a park bench in Cleveland. For nine days and counting, it has become A Thing.
Today, @theferrett.bsky.social and I tracked it down to pay tribute and wish it the merriest of Christmases.
Today, @theferrett.bsky.social and I tracked it down to pay tribute and wish it the merriest of Christmases.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
You are massively underestimating what percentage of a site's active users are seriously, regularly, reliably active on the site without making posts. It takes about 10 posts/comments total to be in the 99th percentile of daily active users and about 150 posts to be in the 99.99th percentile.
December 18, 2025 at 10:14 AM
You are massively underestimating what percentage of a site's active users are seriously, regularly, reliably active on the site without making posts. It takes about 10 posts/comments total to be in the 99th percentile of daily active users and about 150 posts to be in the 99.99th percentile.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
I think it's important not to misunderstand what these social media platforms are. They are not public arenas where we bravely take on reactionary forces in honorable combat. They are apps that expose you to stress and thereby simulate the feeling of having done something useful
December 15, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I think it's important not to misunderstand what these social media platforms are. They are not public arenas where we bravely take on reactionary forces in honorable combat. They are apps that expose you to stress and thereby simulate the feeling of having done something useful
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
A movement that demands grace and empathy whenever someone from their side suffers while offering none to the other isn’t really a movement that gives a shit about anything other than power and control
December 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A movement that demands grace and empathy whenever someone from their side suffers while offering none to the other isn’t really a movement that gives a shit about anything other than power and control
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
As we mourn Rob Reiner, don’t skip this: he was, pretty much, personally responsible for overturning California’s Prop 8 banning same sex marriage.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
How Rob Reiner became anti-Prop. 8 kingpin
Rob Reiner reflects on the critical role he played in getting California's gay marriage ban overturned.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:37 PM
As we mourn Rob Reiner, don’t skip this: he was, pretty much, personally responsible for overturning California’s Prop 8 banning same sex marriage.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Finally saw PERFECT BLUE.
Liked it way more than I thought I would after the first third of the movie. But it uses that mundanity at the beginning to power up for a real plunge into the depths of madness.
Liked it way more than I thought I would after the first third of the movie. But it uses that mundanity at the beginning to power up for a real plunge into the depths of madness.
December 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Finally saw PERFECT BLUE.
Liked it way more than I thought I would after the first third of the movie. But it uses that mundanity at the beginning to power up for a real plunge into the depths of madness.
Liked it way more than I thought I would after the first third of the movie. But it uses that mundanity at the beginning to power up for a real plunge into the depths of madness.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
Newly Unsealed Batch Of Epstein Estate Photos Contains Rare Holographic Dershowitz
December 12, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Newly Unsealed Batch Of Epstein Estate Photos Contains Rare Holographic Dershowitz
Me, being forced to use Microsoft's AI to figure out how to remove the Microsoft AI icon from Word:
December 13, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Me, being forced to use Microsoft's AI to figure out how to remove the Microsoft AI icon from Word:
I was young & not experienced with weed. My friends took me to a midnight showing of 2001: "You gotta be really stoned to get it."
I was so fucked up that the theater spun 90 degrees during the space-gate sequence, & I clutched the armrests to avoid plunging into this yawning psychedelic pit below.
I was so fucked up that the theater spun 90 degrees during the space-gate sequence, & I clutched the armrests to avoid plunging into this yawning psychedelic pit below.
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 13, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I was young & not experienced with weed. My friends took me to a midnight showing of 2001: "You gotta be really stoned to get it."
I was so fucked up that the theater spun 90 degrees during the space-gate sequence, & I clutched the armrests to avoid plunging into this yawning psychedelic pit below.
I was so fucked up that the theater spun 90 degrees during the space-gate sequence, & I clutched the armrests to avoid plunging into this yawning psychedelic pit below.
I draw a distinction between "shows I can enjoy while dorking around on my phone" and "shows I have to give my full attention to in order to get the full experience."
Ain't nothing wrong with a good dumb-ass sitcom. But Pluribus, like many classic shows, requires you actually WATCH the damn thing.
Ain't nothing wrong with a good dumb-ass sitcom. But Pluribus, like many classic shows, requires you actually WATCH the damn thing.
Thinking a lot about some of the criticism of Pluribus (like the AV Club commenter who bragged about fast-forwarding most of this week's episode). TV, like film and literature, has art that requires greater and lesser amounts of media literacy. Lee Child does not require the same skills as Nabokov.
December 13, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I draw a distinction between "shows I can enjoy while dorking around on my phone" and "shows I have to give my full attention to in order to get the full experience."
Ain't nothing wrong with a good dumb-ass sitcom. But Pluribus, like many classic shows, requires you actually WATCH the damn thing.
Ain't nothing wrong with a good dumb-ass sitcom. But Pluribus, like many classic shows, requires you actually WATCH the damn thing.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
Nate: citation please.
This study to be replicated to ensure scientific validity.
Oh, it’s a hypothesis?? Not a study? Let’s get on it then!
We need a high enough n to reach statistical significance.
2500 oughtta do it.
@mortabasi.bsky.social,
@juancommander.scholcommlab.ca , know anyone?
This study to be replicated to ensure scientific validity.
Oh, it’s a hypothesis?? Not a study? Let’s get on it then!
We need a high enough n to reach statistical significance.
2500 oughtta do it.
@mortabasi.bsky.social,
@juancommander.scholcommlab.ca , know anyone?
Michael C. Rockefeller got shipwrecked in 1963, washed up on an island, and was promptly eaten by cannibals.
December 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Nate: citation please.
This study to be replicated to ensure scientific validity.
Oh, it’s a hypothesis?? Not a study? Let’s get on it then!
We need a high enough n to reach statistical significance.
2500 oughtta do it.
@mortabasi.bsky.social,
@juancommander.scholcommlab.ca , know anyone?
This study to be replicated to ensure scientific validity.
Oh, it’s a hypothesis?? Not a study? Let’s get on it then!
We need a high enough n to reach statistical significance.
2500 oughtta do it.
@mortabasi.bsky.social,
@juancommander.scholcommlab.ca , know anyone?
Haven't been this happy since George Burns made it.
For some reason only the sweetest comedians seem to make it to 100. And that makes me happy.
For some reason only the sweetest comedians seem to make it to 100. And that makes me happy.
December 13, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Haven't been this happy since George Burns made it.
For some reason only the sweetest comedians seem to make it to 100. And that makes me happy.
For some reason only the sweetest comedians seem to make it to 100. And that makes me happy.
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
I loved the new Superman - in fact, it's prolly gonna be my next tattoo - but Supergirl's new trailer is leaving me cold?
I dunno. I feel like I've seen "traumatized dirtbag hero learns to love again" one too many times, even if this time it's a woman. I'll go see it because Gunn's earned it, but
I dunno. I feel like I've seen "traumatized dirtbag hero learns to love again" one too many times, even if this time it's a woman. I'll go see it because Gunn's earned it, but
December 11, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I loved the new Superman - in fact, it's prolly gonna be my next tattoo - but Supergirl's new trailer is leaving me cold?
I dunno. I feel like I've seen "traumatized dirtbag hero learns to love again" one too many times, even if this time it's a woman. I'll go see it because Gunn's earned it, but
I dunno. I feel like I've seen "traumatized dirtbag hero learns to love again" one too many times, even if this time it's a woman. I'll go see it because Gunn's earned it, but
"Gramma, I know we harvested your data exclusively from Facebook memes, but I need to know whether Mom is cheating on Dad"
Gramma AI:
Gramma AI:
December 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"Gramma, I know we harvested your data exclusively from Facebook memes, but I need to know whether Mom is cheating on Dad"
Gramma AI:
Gramma AI:
Reposted by Ferrett Steinmetz
This is what I’m trying to warn people about.
The endgame of authoritarian regimes is to no longer need popular approval. So don't be too sanguine about Trump's plummeting popularity. lnk.thebulwark.com/4oIF0MJ
Trump’s Wager and the Authoritarian Shift
Is Trump getting weaker, or is the authoritarian danger increasing? Yes.
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
This is what I’m trying to warn people about.