Allison Bannister
@basictelepathy.bsky.social
Cartoonist, Teacher, Writer, Editor. Pronouns She/Her.
basictelepathy.com
basictelepathy.com
Pinned
Hi folks!
I teach writing and make comics. My most recent projects are The City We Chose with TO Comix Press (as an assistant editor) and At the Inn (my webcomic). Occasionally I draw character portraits for fun. You can find more of my work at basictelepathy.com.
I teach writing and make comics. My most recent projects are The City We Chose with TO Comix Press (as an assistant editor) and At the Inn (my webcomic). Occasionally I draw character portraits for fun. You can find more of my work at basictelepathy.com.
I can't make it this year, but it's a wonderful time with some of the best people. Highly recommended to any comics person.
November 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I can't make it this year, but it's a wonderful time with some of the best people. Highly recommended to any comics person.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
While defending the luddite argument in Discord, I stumbled into this IMO succinct explanation for opposing generative AI:
At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.
At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.
August 28, 2025 at 7:05 PM
While defending the luddite argument in Discord, I stumbled into this IMO succinct explanation for opposing generative AI:
At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.
At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
For those that need alt text
August 22, 2025 at 1:08 PM
For those that need alt text
Reposted by Allison Bannister
One of the grosser things about “AI“ integration in a lot of search engine results is it’s a furtherance of the hypercentralization we’re all already dealing with; another fucking speed bump to stop you from clicking through to anyone else’s websites.
August 17, 2025 at 4:01 AM
One of the grosser things about “AI“ integration in a lot of search engine results is it’s a furtherance of the hypercentralization we’re all already dealing with; another fucking speed bump to stop you from clicking through to anyone else’s websites.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/
February 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/
Reposted by Allison Bannister
Self-publishing is a power, it's a gift. You can put whatever you want into your little 'zines and minicomics, absolutely nobody can tell you no. Tell your story, don't worry if it's "good enough", make it anyway.
August 13, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Self-publishing is a power, it's a gift. You can put whatever you want into your little 'zines and minicomics, absolutely nobody can tell you no. Tell your story, don't worry if it's "good enough", make it anyway.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
HARD CO-SIGN!!!
Pencil, paper, done.
Pencil, paper, done.
"A.i." doesn't empower anyone. It strips them of belief in themselves and the power of their own minds and hands and abilities and stories.
EVERY KID CAN DRAW. EVERY KID CAN TELL STORIES AND MAKE COMICS.
Fuck "A.i." for telling kids lies and making them less-than.
EVERY KID CAN DRAW. EVERY KID CAN TELL STORIES AND MAKE COMICS.
Fuck "A.i." for telling kids lies and making them less-than.
August 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
HARD CO-SIGN!!!
Pencil, paper, done.
Pencil, paper, done.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
re: generative AI
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
July 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
re: generative AI
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
Nora is being VERY helpful with the thumbnails for the next chapter of At the Inn.
June 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Nora is being VERY helpful with the thumbnails for the next chapter of At the Inn.
I'll be there! It's probably going to be the only convention I do this year. Truly an amazing group of people!
CHECK OUT THIS LINEUP. We love bringing amazing people to Juneau and I feel like we hit a real high mark this year.
Guest exhibitors and schedule of events are online for the mini-con this weekend: minicon.alaskarobotics.com
May 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
I'll be there! It's probably going to be the only convention I do this year. Truly an amazing group of people!
Oh hey I guess it's #webcomicday? I draw one of those! At the Inn is a story about a wizard school drop out who finds a home of sorts working at a roadside inn. It's episodic, with an ensemble cast of coworkers, locals, and guests. I just started inking the second-to last page of this chapter!
Basic Telepathy – At the Inn
Basictelepathy.com
May 13, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Oh hey I guess it's #webcomicday? I draw one of those! At the Inn is a story about a wizard school drop out who finds a home of sorts working at a roadside inn. It's episodic, with an ensemble cast of coworkers, locals, and guests. I just started inking the second-to last page of this chapter!
Reposted by Allison Bannister
We’re entering the last stretch of this campaign!
Help us bring a post-apocalyptic sapphic graphic novel full of lesbian love to the world?
We’re closing in on the funding goal! $2,149 USD ($2,970 CAD) left to go. We can do it✨ 💙📚🌈
Shares appreciated💖
🌺 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
Help us bring a post-apocalyptic sapphic graphic novel full of lesbian love to the world?
We’re closing in on the funding goal! $2,149 USD ($2,970 CAD) left to go. We can do it✨ 💙📚🌈
Shares appreciated💖
🌺 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
Back To Earth - A Sapphic Post-Apocalyptic Graphic Novel
A world that fell over the edge. A hostile wasteland cloaked in peculiarity. Yet, Sasha and Leora’s bond is stronger than extinction.
Join us on this tale about the aftermath of a big collapse, and ...
www.backerkit.com
May 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
We’re entering the last stretch of this campaign!
Help us bring a post-apocalyptic sapphic graphic novel full of lesbian love to the world?
We’re closing in on the funding goal! $2,149 USD ($2,970 CAD) left to go. We can do it✨ 💙📚🌈
Shares appreciated💖
🌺 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
Help us bring a post-apocalyptic sapphic graphic novel full of lesbian love to the world?
We’re closing in on the funding goal! $2,149 USD ($2,970 CAD) left to go. We can do it✨ 💙📚🌈
Shares appreciated💖
🌺 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
The first time a friend of mine came out. They posted such happy photos; I was like, "oh, this is right. This is them as they should be." Rooting for their joy was the easiest thing in the world.
Before that, I was supportive in theory but not actively engaged. I had a lot to learn and unlearn.
Before that, I was supportive in theory but not actively engaged. I had a lot to learn and unlearn.
cis folks, i'm curious for you to share answers, if you want:
what made you start caring about trans rights? who'd you know/what happened? tell me the story.
what made you start caring about trans rights? who'd you know/what happened? tell me the story.
April 18, 2025 at 10:06 PM
The first time a friend of mine came out. They posted such happy photos; I was like, "oh, this is right. This is them as they should be." Rooting for their joy was the easiest thing in the world.
Before that, I was supportive in theory but not actively engaged. I had a lot to learn and unlearn.
Before that, I was supportive in theory but not actively engaged. I had a lot to learn and unlearn.
Please back this cool book so it makes it's goal and I can get a copy!
Six Centuries of Type & Printing: New Edition
Help create an affordably priced version of this book that spans 600 years of the history of typography, type casting, and printing
www.kickstarter.com
April 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Please back this cool book so it makes it's goal and I can get a copy!
Reposted by Allison Bannister
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
-FS Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, published 4/10/1925.
-FS Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, published 4/10/1925.
April 10, 2025 at 12:32 PM
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
-FS Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, published 4/10/1925.
-FS Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, published 4/10/1925.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
"Those who have drank the AI Kool-Aid don't understand that all this brainstorming and iteration *is* making the game, it’s a crucial everyday part of game development (and human interaction) and is not a problem to be solved.”
Even from my perch inside gamedev, I had no idea it was already this bad. The rot is spreading. A necessary, sobering read. (gift link)
‘An Overwhelmingly Negative And Demoralizing Force’: What It’s Like Working For A Company That’s Forcing AI On Its Developers - Aftermath
'I have had conversations about AI in a professional context that make me want to walk into the sea'
aftermath.site
April 8, 2025 at 12:43 AM
"Those who have drank the AI Kool-Aid don't understand that all this brainstorming and iteration *is* making the game, it’s a crucial everyday part of game development (and human interaction) and is not a problem to be solved.”
Celebrate and support Trans Day of Visibility by helping this queer sports comics kickstarter race across the finish line!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/sta...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/sta...
Update 18: Transgender Day of Visibility! 94% of Goal! Stretch Goals! · Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project
We hit 94% of Goal on Transgender Day of Visibility! Thank you!Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Projects features several transgender comics creators!Our co-editors Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz h...
www.kickstarter.com
April 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Celebrate and support Trans Day of Visibility by helping this queer sports comics kickstarter race across the finish line!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/sta...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/sta...
Reposted by Allison Bannister
A great thread clarifying the stakes of the trans kids in athletics panic:
This sentiment seems so reasonable! Sport needs fairness! Here's the trouble: there are two competing, basically legitimate policy concerns here...
Did I ever say that? I’m not arguing against inclusion. I’m saying sport needs categories to stay fair. That’s not the same as past bigotry, and it’s unfair to twist it into that.
March 23, 2025 at 7:44 AM
A great thread clarifying the stakes of the trans kids in athletics panic:
Reposted by Allison Bannister
being an indie bookseller in the helltimes has felt both very stable and very stabilizing, and part of me wishes everyone could be on my side of the counter for a little while, because I think it would help some of you be a little less cynical and doomy right now. so here is my VERY anecdotal data:
March 22, 2025 at 3:36 AM
being an indie bookseller in the helltimes has felt both very stable and very stabilizing, and part of me wishes everyone could be on my side of the counter for a little while, because I think it would help some of you be a little less cynical and doomy right now. so here is my VERY anecdotal data:
Reposted by Allison Bannister
If I sound calm, I was actually not calm.
February 21, 2025 at 6:12 AM
If I sound calm, I was actually not calm.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
this haptic display absolutely rocks. basketball is for everyone.
February 6, 2025 at 9:56 PM
this haptic display absolutely rocks. basketball is for everyone.
Reposted by Allison Bannister
1. Breaking News: Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting trans youth and teachers in schools who teach for them.
It goes after "social transition" and threatens arrests.
I will go through line by line, as I have the last 3 nights.
Find the EO here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
It goes after "social transition" and threatens arrests.
I will go through line by line, as I have the last 3 nights.
Find the EO here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling – The White House
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose and
www.whitehouse.gov
January 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
1. Breaking News: Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting trans youth and teachers in schools who teach for them.
It goes after "social transition" and threatens arrests.
I will go through line by line, as I have the last 3 nights.
Find the EO here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
It goes after "social transition" and threatens arrests.
I will go through line by line, as I have the last 3 nights.
Find the EO here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
I've got new pages of At the Inn posting tomorrow and Feb 10th! I'm aiming to post every other Monday (but make no promises--life's busy). Snippets from both pages are below! It's poultice-making time. You can read all of the story so far at basictelepathy.com
January 26, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I've got new pages of At the Inn posting tomorrow and Feb 10th! I'm aiming to post every other Monday (but make no promises--life's busy). Snippets from both pages are below! It's poultice-making time. You can read all of the story so far at basictelepathy.com
Reposted by Allison Bannister
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
January 21, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.