Mo Ryan

This reminds me of something Toni Morrison wrote.

“Don’t have standards or resist anything that flagrantly violates those common-sense standards” is a hell of a hill to die on a decade into an authoritarian takeover

When the bar is set below hell, and somebody still doesn’t clear it, yes, of course, the people pointing that out are the problem, absolutely, makes sense. 👍🏻

If everyone is obviously heading off a cliff and you say “we are heading off a cliff” and a group of people show up yelling things like “stop being pure” or “it’s the lesser evil” or “there is no other option” those people are part of the problem

wow!

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google.

My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!

go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

correct take

I’m looking for speakers for a London event on the science of Star Trek. I’d really appreciate suggestions from underrepresented minorities in STEM, especially PoC/global majority.
(10 min, central London, Sept, currently unpaid but I’m trying to fix that)
Feel free to message

Exactly! "it didn't move the plot forward!!" Whew if that's someone's ONLY definition of "good" writing, I don't know... !!

oooh boy, I Have Thoughts. But you're right.

Exactly! The X-Files is beloved for many reasons, but in part because we spent so much time with these people -- and the writers had time to explore what might have (at first) seemed like offbeat ideas. It contained multitudes!

Yes. If the construction of the character dynamics, the evolution of those relationships and the evolution of those people is all well constructed? I would vibe with pretty much anything the show was putting down.

I really hate characters not getting spotlight episodes anymore. All character development has to be mashed into eps with a lot of other elements. My new silly analogy is: croissants are great! But croissants are not potatoes. If you put a croissant in soup, it just isn’t a croissant anymore.

What’s filler to you might be exemplary world-building or moving character development to me. Many of the most engaging TV episodes of the past few decades are, by some definitions, mere “filler.” One working definition of filler could be: “This episode didn’t supply the things I personally like.”

Just wrote on this re Battlestar Galactica, which was right on the cusp of the transition to shorter seasons. On balance, I am glad that it had longer seasons while I fully understand that some episodes don’t work (but there were many reasons for that). Anyway, I came up with this salty passage:

22 episode seasons too 😭

Exactly. Some of the greatest art of all time comes from an artist going, OK I know how to do that, I wanna try something new. And it may totally not work. But when it does? 🙌🏻

I still remember an amazing episode of “St. Elsewhere” where each act was a self-contained story that — without the show making a big deal about it—tracked the stages of life from birth to death. Long seasons let showrunners get weird!

Absolutely. I have rewatched Supernatural a bunch and I am re-watching DS9 again for many reasons, but this is one of them.

By Your Command: A Cylon-coded fundraiser A fleetwide announcement involving worthy charities, whistles and very tiny Cylons

If you do not want to participate in the fundraiser, no worries -- there is still Battlestar Galactica #content in the form of an Interesting Ron Moore Fact gathered during my recent interviews for my forthcoming BSG book. Enjoy! www.moryan.com/by-your-comm...

Limited edition benefit sweatshirt for The Trans Continental Pipeline from Bikini Kill Limited edition benefit sweatshirt for The Trans Continental Pipeline from Bikini Kill

Good morning! It is Bandcamp Friday and today we are donating all profit from today's sales to the Trans Continental Pipeline, a nonprofit that helps trans folks move to Colorado from hostile states. We have a limited edition sweatshirt available ONLY today: bikinikill.bandcamp.com/merch/limite...

By Your Command: A Cylon-coded fundraiser A fleetwide announcement involving worthy charities, whistles and very tiny Cylons

If you need a Good Thing: I woke to inbox & DMs FULL of people sending receipts for their donations to the 4 great orgs I'm raising funds for (a gift with purchase situation, Cylon-style!). You're good people! So Say We All! Find out mo' here www.moryan.com/by-your-comm... (BSG fans remain The Best)

A fluffy white cat reclines in a modern white lounge chair, lying on its back with its front paws resting on its belly and back legs stretched out. The cat looks relaxed and content, as if lounging like a person in the sunlight near a window.

Good, I see the council is assembled. We have mews from the outer rim to discuss.

The only one who could ever reach me /

Was the son of a…

Just casually reminding everyone that my book comes out in a few weeks, it REALLY helps if you preorder, and if you want a signed copy, you can get one shipped to you from Loyalty Books in DC 🖖🏽

A brown penguin chick of some kind. It looks very much like a man in a suit. It is bedraggled and miserable

Made it to Friday but at what cost

YOU ASKED FOR THIS!

Downfall. Kristi Noem Edition:

You won't be able
to fix it all.
You will be able
to love.

- Helms Jarrell

Many faves!!

A lot of us who cover TV are very, very happy that the pitt was such a big success. More shows should go back to that model, if it makes sense for that show. 👍🏻