Ari Marmell
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mouseferatu.bsky.social
Ari Marmell
@mouseferatu.bsky.social
1.9K followers 800 following 1.5K posts
Optioned screenwriter. Author of that novel you haven't read. No, the other one. Pinko lefty. Oversharer.

He/him
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mouseferatu.bsky.social
In one week, from @blackstonepub.bsky.social!

There is some gnarly stuff in here, folks. And if it does well enough, I can afford to upgrade my vocabulary to stop using thirty-five-year-old slang like "gnarly"!
The cover of Shadow Lab, volume 2. A humanoid silhouette stands at the end of a stone tunnel, bathed in the glow of a red light in the ceiling. The cover lists the authors, including Gemma Amor, Katharyn Blair, Adam Godfrey, Nic James, Ari Marmell (me), Faith Merino, David Moody, Diana Olney, Noah Pohl, and Kylee Shimomura. It also lists Brendan Deneen as editor.
September 23, 2025 at 6:06 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Okay, folks. For reasons beyond my control, the series had to be retitled, so allow me to officially make a re-introduction to
REMNANTS, BOOK ONE: DUST.

(ASHES, book two of the REMNANTS duology, is also available. New audio versions aren't up yet, but will be soon.)
Book cover for DUST, the first book of the REMNANTS duology. On the front, a great obelisk rises above the clouds, backlit by a dust-shrouded sun. On the back, the blurb reads: For Flight Engineer Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel ever gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final NASA mission, for reasons she’s so far kept from the rest of the crew; and yes, the latest billionaire “space tourist” has managed to irritate everyone on board. Still, none of them could have asked for a smoother experience. Until the morning they wake up to silence. All communication with Earth, gone. From half a dozen different agencies with multiple installations and redundancies across the globe, there is simply... nothing. And through the viewports of the ISS, only the thick veil of churning, lightning-veined dust to suggest the Earth remains at all.
August 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Next month, from @blackstonepub.bsky.social ...

(Includes my short story "Charades." And probably a few other stories from other authors, too. 😜)
A book titled "Shadow Lab, volume 2" sits at an angle. The cover shows a silhouette in a tunnel, backlit by eerie illumination. Besides the books is a promotional blurb from Gwendolyn Kiste, three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of "The Rust Maidens" and "The Haunting of Velkwood." The blurb reads "The Latest Shadow Lab anthology is an absolutely fearsome sight to behold. These haunting stories will linger in the shadowy corners of your mind long after you've read the final page. This book is without a doubt a horror standout of 2025."
August 11, 2025 at 9:43 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
I mean this neither to be dramatic, nor to be trite. But there's a monologue from Babylon 5 that is really stuck in my mind, today specifically.
All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath . . . waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities – it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.
June 13, 2025 at 9:36 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
I'm a writer. Words are what I do.

So here are some words. Please use this template--as it stands, or with alterations--if it makes your own phone calls at all easier to make.

Obviously you'll want to fill in the appropriate titles and names for the brackets in the first paragraph.
I’m calling as one of [Senator’s/Representative’s] constituents to demand immediate action. Today, Kristi Noem expressed an intent to use military force to “liberate” American cities and states from their own duly elected government officials. When Senator Alex Padilla identified himself and asked a question—no shouting, no insults, no challenge, merely a question—Noem had him violently tackled, restrained, and arrested. That he has since been released does not in any way mitigate the severity of what happened. This is no longer a matter of Democrat or Republican; of Right or Left. This is a matter of gross abuse of authority and violation of law. Even if we briefly put aside the question of what is right, or what your constituents ask of you, do you want to be a member of Congress in a government where Congressional officeholders are abused and subject to arrest for politely requesting information? For doing their duty and their job? [Texas’s entire history is one of pride for standing on its own. Do you want the loss of that stature, the rise of a Federal government that can arrest our state’s representatives without cause, to happen on your watch?] You must denounce what occurred today in no uncertain terms, loudly and without equivocation, and Kristi Noem must be impeached or forced to resign. Your constituents, your nation, and your own position require nothing less.
June 12, 2025 at 10:31 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Lots of us want to work on the big properties. But just for shits and giggles--and possibly due to sleep deprivation--I put together a collage of some of the *smaller* properties, less well known stuff, I'd love to adapt, reboot, or otherwise work with.
A collage of five pictures: The alien vessel from Lifeforce; the Glaive from Krull; a map of Skara Brae from the original Bard's Tale video game; the eponymous creature from Pumpkinhead; the creature from the Carrion video game.
May 26, 2025 at 3:48 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
If you're not calling your reps, start. If you are, do it more.
Text which reads: A small addition to the budget bill HOUSE GOPers are pushing upends the traditional balance of power by forbidding courts to charge Trump and other government officials with contempt for defying court orders. The bill also blocks court-ordered national injunctions to prevent potential illegal acts posing imminent harm. With the SCOTUS ruling giving Trump immunity, this small part of the bill completes his question to become America's first dictator. Call DC Pols. 202-224-3121. Raise Hell.
May 21, 2025 at 2:28 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
The red and yellow "S" symbol of Superman--specifically the variant used in the upcoming new movie, which is somewhat simpler and more angular than prior versions--on a blue background.
May 18, 2025 at 3:06 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
It is never only transphobia. It is never only transphobia.

Not that it would be okay if it was. But it's still worth the reminder.

It is *never* only transphobia.
A screen-capture of a Tweet from known TERF J.K. Rowling, in which she mockingly responds to an announcement about International Asexuality Day by saying "Happy International Fake Oppression Day to everyone who wants complete strangers to know they don't fancy a shag".
April 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Not coming out until the end of September, but here's your first tease!
Cover for "Shadow Lab, Volume 2," a horror short story collection from Blackstone Publishing. Image is a person's silhouette at the far end of a shadowy tunnel. Writers listed on the cover are Gemma Amor, Katharyn Blair, Adam Godfrey, Nic James, Ari Marmell (me), Faith Merino, David Moody, Diana Olney, Noah Pohl, and Kylee Shimimura. Edited by Brendan Deneen.
March 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
A four panel comic strip. Panel one: Superman walks down the street. Panel two: Superman sees a Tesla dealership on fire. Panel three: Superman slips into a phone booth. Panel four: Clark Kent walks past the burning building, whistling, hands in his pockets.
March 19, 2025 at 10:07 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Sure, why not? (This is the setting for, among others, the three-year-plus campaign I just wrapped up a couple months ago.)

I reserve the right not to answer anything spoilerific or plot-relevant to future plans, though.
Text overlaid on a faint image of an old-timey world map. The text reads "Ask me anything about my homebrew campaign world. I'll tell you the answer. If I don't know yet, I'll create an answer, thus developing the setting."
November 29, 2024 at 7:04 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Repeat for the late-night crowd:

Next May. From Blackstone Publishing, based on the Valiant comics character.

More details as we get closer. Or as I feel like it.
A book cover for an upcoming release called "The Eternal Warrior," with the note "A Valiant Universe Novel" in small print above, and my own name as the author below. It depicts a shirtless warrior wielding two blades, battling an array of attackers clad in armor of an ancient, vaguely Persian-esque design.
November 21, 2024 at 10:20 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Next May. From Blackstone Publishing, based on the Valiant comics character.

More details as we get closer. Or as I feel like it.
A book cover for an upcoming release called "The Eternal Warrior," with the note "A Valiant Universe Novel" in small print above, and my own name as the author below. It depicts a shirtless warrior wielding two blades, battle an array of attackers clad in armor of an ancient, vaguely Persian-esque design.
November 20, 2024 at 7:50 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Today's scheduled battle with the Banites in the Steel Watch Foundry has been unavoidably delayed due to a sudden onset of BFC.
A ginger-and-white cat standing on a desk, blocking most of the view of the monitor on which Baldur's Gate 3 is being played.
September 12, 2024 at 1:27 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
A quote from Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) in The Avengers, that reads "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on."
July 3, 2024 at 2:58 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
This guy and his operations are seriously reaching Rainbow Brite villain-levels of cartoonish malfeasance.
A picture of Elon Musk beside a headline from Fortune that reads "Elon Musk's Neuralink forced a pregnant employee to work with herpes-infected monkeys that scratched her, lawsuit says".
June 18, 2024 at 12:37 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
A scene from the trial at the beginning of the 1978 Superman movie, showing Jor-El, the three prisoners, and the jury of holographic floating heads.
May 30, 2024 at 9:19 PM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Apparently the orange and white cats just like being judgy, because...
Jarvis, a white cat with orange/brown patches, perches atop a CPAP machine and stares down, judging from on high.
April 17, 2024 at 12:10 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Move aside,
And let the mango through.
Let the mango through.
A cartoon picture of an angry, grimacing mango.
January 13, 2024 at 1:04 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Latest one is DUST, the first book of the Obelisks duology. (The second half, ASHES, is also available.) It's a sci-fi horror about... Well, I'll let the screenshot (and alt text) of the back cover blurb speak for itself.
For Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final mission, for reasons she’s kept from the rest of the crew; and yes, the latest billionaire “space tourist” has managed to irritate everyone on board. Still, none of them could have asked for a smoother experience. Until the morning they wake up to silence. All communication with Earth, gone. From half a dozen agencies with multiple installations and redundancies across the globe, there is simply... nothing. And through the viewports of the ISS, only the thick veil of churning, lightning-veined dust to suggest Earth remains at all. Now, without ground control, without proper telemetries or calculations or even visuals, Expedition 81 must make their way home. It will be the most fraught and most frightening task of their lives. But it will be nothing compared to the world that now awaits them beyond the dust.
December 29, 2023 at 6:56 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
I present to you Jarvis, on the day he was judging all of creation.
October 11, 2023 at 5:36 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Well, I'm glad *he's* comfortable...
Me lying in bed with a brown and white cat curled up on me, almost on my face.
October 5, 2023 at 4:14 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Sci-fi horror duology.

This is a screenshort of the blurb for book 1 (it won't fit as text).
For Flight Engineer Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final mission, for reasons she’s kept from the rest of the crew; and yes, the latest billionaire “space tourist” has irritated everyone on board. Still, none could have asked for a smoother experience. Until the morning they wake up to silence. All communication with Earth, gone. From half a dozen different agencies with multiple installations and redundancies across the globe, there is simply... nothing. And through the viewports of the ISS, only a veil of churning, lightning-veined dust to suggest the Earth remains at all. Now, without ground control, without the proper calculations or even reliable visuals, Expedition 81 must make their way home. It will be the most fraught and most frightening task of their lives. But it will be nothing compared to the world that now awaits them beyond the dust.
September 9, 2023 at 1:43 AM
mouseferatu.bsky.social
Just another friendly reminder that these two books represent an entire, complete duology. No cliffhanger, no waiting for further installments. All there and ready for you.
The cover of DUST, the first book of "Obelisks," showing a massive obelisk surrounded in sunlit clouds of dust. The cover of ASHES, the second book of "Obelisks," showing a massive obelisk rising above the ruins of a modern city.
August 26, 2023 at 1:37 AM