Andy Best

@andybest.bsky.social

321 Followers 278 Following

Writer and musician. Current thing: fantasy novel Aertelis is live and 'wide', including all library services. UBL: https://books2read.com/u/bz9BOE Blog: write.as/aertelis/ My stuff is at andrewbest.net

A shot from the game Disco Elysium, the words "un jour je serai de retour près de toi." painted onto the ground in red.
It always depends on who' side they are on. Two side by side headlines for Guardian opinion columns, both by Zoe Williams, and both with identical formats. The first reads: Forget Fidel Castro's policies. What matters is that he was a dictator. The second reads: Stop calling Tony Blair a war criminal. The left should be proud of his record. These are real, I made this and took them from real articles, which you can, and should, check on the Guardian's website.
Brazilian footballer Socrates: world class player and qualified doctor who used his team's national fame to openly protest the military dictatorship of the time. Seen here in his iconic look, the yellow Brazil shirt, headband, long hair and beard.
A post that reads: A.I. is the microplastics of the internet.
A sign above the pool steps reads, "keep away from the water," in Chinese and English
The Columbia Club Pool, in Shanghai, surrounded by neo-classical arched walkways.
A loner on the dancefloor in an uncool but awesome jacket, she's labelled 'me trying to make art.' Surrounding her are: perfectionism, capitalism, imposter syndrome, the algorithm and social conformity. Found via paprocko on Threads.
Album cover for Hey guy, yo are big time alright, by Little Punk. Little Punk (Huang Pei) kneels awkwardly in a dusty black dress, bridging an old wooden window frame, it is night outside. This cover was shot by legendary Chinese photographer Ren Hang for the 2010 release. he sadly took his own life a few years later, having suffered from depression all his life.
A jester in full costume and a wistful expression takes a selfie with a smartphone, from Moss and Mushroom studio.
Zelda from Terrahawks, the last Gerry Anderson puppet/marionette show, debuted in 1983. An alien android fashioned after the image of a crone.
RPG dialogue from Zero Parades For Dead Spies. A picture of the cat, fluffy and white. CAT: things can never be wrong with the cat, because the cat is itself inescapably *right*
Lush green leaves fill the space above a street in Shanghai as the trees come to life in spring.
A cat looks at you and says, You want the vanilla, soy latte? You mean, three bean soup? A meme made by 'catmin.'
A colorful youtube thumbnail where two hosts laugh next to the CGI face of the deceased Paul Walker, within a tier list frame. The channel deal with special effects, but that is unsaid here, there only the title "we ranked resurrected actors' while one host holds up an "F" next to said face of someone's lost loved one.
A youtube comment s reads: "This music makes me feel like I'm dead and remembering my life."
A public litter bin sits next to a tiled path in the park, the curve of the viaduct above.
A green space in Shanghai with a section of elevated highway in the background. It's pristine with nice trees.
Creepers and greenery adorn the pillars and spaces below a major elevated highway intersection in Shanghai.
Title: Plato after winning arguments against his made up characters. A picture of Plato smoking a cigar with the caption: Boy, everyone is stupid except me.
A portrait of Emma Goldman.
A portrait of Emma Goldman, the legend.
Shanghai riot grrrl band Ugly Girls play legendary venue Yuyintang for the Ladyfest event in 2018.
a painterly picture of a helmet wearing warrior with the text: Pick your battles. Pick Fewer than that. Put some battle back. That's still too many battles.
Shanghai post-punk/riot grrrl band Ugly Girls (2016-2021) play a show at the old Tian Shan park Yuyintang - the band are on a stage, lit in red, in a black box rock venue, seen over the heads of the standing audience.
Andy's fantasy novel is finally available, and it's wide at all APPS and available for libraries. Sword and Sorcery. Inspired by the New Wave fantasy of Moorcock, McCaffrey and le Guin. Existential journey in unfamiliar lands. Action, quest and adventurers. A standalone story. “Everything decays, but the glass’steel decayed at a rate so slow as to be invisible on the scale of a single lifetime. In the sword she saw visions of her home. Her home so far away, deep down in the reflection of her elven eyes, sunk deep in her memory, transferred to the blade, as far away as a million years is long.” Zana Hala’Kaalni is a warrior princess in exile, untethered from her home, and from her sense of self. Allowing chaos to lead her, she enters a nation on the verge of civil war, a quest for a failed utopia, and the ruins of a long dead era, the lost history of her world. Aertelis combines the action of classic Sword & Sorcery, the literary themes of the Sci-fi Fantasy New Wave, and the character-driven storytelling of the modern era. Aertelis is a standalone story in the Kalni Chronicles anthology.
The author Ursula K. Le Guin.
The drowning high five meme. A hand reaches out of the sea, it's chronic illness sufferer. Another hand reaches down to help, it's the doctor. Caption says 'your vitals look fine and the hand high fives and leaves the other to sink. This is a joke by the way - I have chronic illness - and doctors, modern medicine and science are great.
Fancasting my fantasy novel Aertelis: Zhang Meng'er - Zana Hala'kaalni Jessie Mei Li - Lia Yotuli Harris Dickinson - Alexander Gold Xolo Mariduena - Joshua Landric Rowan Blanchard - Sarah Hoxha Toheeb Jimoh - Keita Jo Robert Pattinson - Nicholas Trass The book is in my pinned post. Contemporary Sword & Sorcery.
A black and white portrait of Emma Goldman.
A selection of Facebook Reels that appeared in my FB feed to try to get me to use reels. Three videos, the thumbnails are: woman in underwear, a gun, a woman in a sheer night dress.
Sophie Turner's costume test for Tomb Raider, which references the original 90s games, complete with teal top and red sunglasses. She looks awesome, and she is awesome.
From 2016, the characters of the Polymorph Self podcast drawn as the cast of Stranger Things in a promo image.
members of the cast and crew of Polymorph Self Podcast stand around the recording set-up, looking accidently like an album cover shot. circa 2018.
Gordon Ramsay screams at a chef: You used so much oil, the US is trying to invade the plate
Ratcatcher 2 and Sebastian. A sleepy and bedraggled looking woman in orange prison fatigues, with her pet rat on her shoulder. A still from James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.
A fantasy princess lies asleep in the mist drenched floor of a cavern, a snake moving towards her. A still from the 80s fantasy The Sword & The Sorcerer, a B-movie noted for great practical effects sequences.
Cerys Wilbur looked upon the Gates of Kikathra, colossal and mist-shrouded, rising from the river, at once impressive and unnerving. She looked upon the Gates of Kikathra, and she wept. Tears flowed freely down her face, mixed with gasps of anguish, the release of pain. Wisps of frozen breath drifted into the dawn chill as she crouched down and clawed at the damp grass. She cried until she could cry no more. It was the one day each year, the one day when she allowed herself to do so. When she allowed herself such a weakness.
Steam Achievement graphic from Disco Elysium: the world's most laughable centrist.
The cover of the DC published Indigo Prime stories, originally from the 2000 A.D. comic. Two multiverse agents sift through a landscape of broken clocks, drawn in black line with a shades of purple as the main color.
Andy's fantasy novel is finally available, and it's wide at all APPS and available for libraries. Sword and Sorcery. Inspired by the New Wave fantasy of Moorcock, McCaffrey and Le Guin. Existential journey in unfamiliar lands. Action, quest and adventurers. A standalone story. “Everything decays, but the glass’steel decayed at a rate so slow as to be invisible on the scale of a single lifetime. In the sword she saw visions of her home. Her home so far away, deep down in the reflection of her elven eyes, sunk deep in her memory, transferred to the blade, as far away as a million years is long.” Zana Hala’Kaalni is a warrior princess in exile, untethered from her home, and from her sense of self. Allowing chaos to lead her, she enters a nation on the verge of civil war, a quest for a failed utopia, and the ruins of a long dead era, the lost history of her world. Aertelis combines the action of classic Sword & Sorcery, the literary themes of the Sci-fi Fantasy New Wave, and the character-driven storytelling of the modern era. Aertelis is a standalone story in the Kalni Chronicles anthology.
Shanghai's Nanjing Road pedestrian street in 2003. From behind him, a young British man looks down the strip, a canyon of big buildings covered in tall neon signs. It's a misty morning and the signs are off.
Andy Best ollies on flat, in front of the Qian Xuesen museum in Shanghai
A four panel comic. A barista apologizes to J K Rowling, "I'm sorry I messed up your coffee order, J K Rowling, " "aww, it happens," she replies smiling. But later, the barista sees a book on display in the book store window: "The Coffee Shop Pedo" by Robert Galbraith.
"Enjoy art without reading the comments or reviews" Nnedi Okorafor
me doing a decent ollie on a skateboard
Andy's fantasy novel is finally available, and it's wide at all APPS and available for libraries. Sword and Sorcery. Inspired by the New Wave fantasy of Moorcock, McCaffrey and le Guin. Existential journey in unfamiliar lands. Action, quest and adventurers. A standalone story. “Everything decays, but the glass’steel decayed at a rate so slow as to be invisible on the scale of a single lifetime. In the sword she saw visions of her home. Her home so far away, deep down in the reflection of her elven eyes, sunk deep in her memory, transferred to the blade, as far away as a million years is long.” Zana Hala’Kaalni is a warrior princess in exile, untethered from her home, and from her sense of self. Allowing chaos to lead her, she enters a nation on the verge of civil war, a quest for a failed utopia, and the ruins of a long dead era, the lost history of her world. Aertelis combines the action of classic Sword & Sorcery, the literary themes of the Sci-fi Fantasy New Wave, and the character-driven storytelling of the modern era. Aertelis is a standalone story in the Kalni Chronicles anthology.
Tourists gather across the road from Shanghai's Wukang Buildng, a deco apartment block in the former French concession, previously called the Normandie Apartments.
Mia Khalifa telling Kamala Harris to shut the f up for selling bombs used on the Lebanon
Single Dogs Unite pt. 2: a collage style flyer for a punk gig at Shanghai's Yuyintang.
A stormy, humid evening sky behind two glossy black office towers, sitting above a mall lit with neon and bright colors.
My matt black finish custom city bike, stood up against a planter and carved rock sign in Shanghai , in the evening.
Our punk band playing a Chic-a-go-go show in Yuyintang Shanghai
Casey and Ceridwen from our band (2016-2021), with the members of Dummy Toys and Xiao Xiao. Seven punk women in the Beijing old lanes.
The robot from Hardware (1990)
Keep Calm and Carry a Fletcher. The meme in black with the crown replaced by the face of Molly Millions.
Andy's fantasy novel is finally available, and it's wide at all APPS and available for libraries. Sword and Sorcery. Inspired by the New Wave fantasy of Moorcock, McCaffrey and le Guin. Existential journey in unfamiliar lands. Action, quest and adventurers. A standalone story. “Everything decays, but the glass’steel decayed at a rate so slow as to be invisible on the scale of a single lifetime. In the sword she saw visions of her home. Her home so far away, deep down in the reflection of her elven eyes, sunk deep in her memory, transferred to the blade, as far away as a million years is long.” Zana Hala’Kaalni is a warrior princess in exile, untethered from her home, and from her sense of self. Allowing chaos to lead her, she enters a nation on the verge of civil war, a quest for a failed utopia, and the ruins of a long dead era, the lost history of her world. Aertelis combines the action of classic Sword & Sorcery, the literary themes of the Sci-fi Fantasy New Wave, and the character-driven storytelling of the modern era. Aertelis is a standalone story in the Kalni Chronicles anthology.
The Shanghai former Columbia Country Club pool in 2025, its two tiers of arches lit golden with poolside cafe seating and a modernist office building visible through the open roof space.
the anakin and padme meme: chatGPT has revolutionized my job and productivity. so you are at work fewer hours for the same or more money? Anakin just stares back.
Two Zoe Williams articles for GU Comment: Forget Fidel Castro's policies, what matters is he was a dictator vs. Stop calling Tony Blair a war criminal, the left should be proud of his record.
a cute bunny on a pink, pixel art background saying "Don't let anyone say Fascist shit"