The HWA really pooped in the teapot today. Having one of the HWA's central figures declare that complaining about an angry 2000 word pro-AI essay in the HWA newsletter from a HWA trustee shilling an AI "writing" app was the thin end of the censorship wedge was... a thing...

My post about that AI essay in the HWA newsletter I'm so sad that we're all spending part of our day dealing with this. Think of all the creative energy this community lost today because of this garbage. Take-home message: AI sucks. Keep fighting the good fight against it. ❤️

Raised-Catholic trans woman who dated an ordinand writing about vampire/werewolf priests and relic cults (positively and negatively)? Absolutely nothing about my past there, no ma'am. #HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her)@marywyrd.bsky.social · 2h ago

Making it personal. Q3: #HorrorWritersChat - In what ways has your own history (past) impacted or inspired your horror writing? Examples: giving a character your childhood trauma, reimagining an experience with a different ending.

So I have now topped the amount for the lower deposit today. And noooow I've got until end March to get the cash for the actual thing.

The Sian from Atlantis@parthenoid.bsky.social · 12h ago

OK, today's share of this is because I had an email from the clinic saying that they would take a smaller deposit, and rather than being about £1000 short of it, I'm more like £200 short and that's a reasonable target to aim for. I don't suppose you can give it a share? Ta. gofund.me/c1ef9f99e

hey ik everyone is struggling but my Mom is out of work until her boss’s broken shoulder is better If you can spare a few extra bucks to help out my Mom Venmo: @dana9330076

The EHRC guidance sucks for trans women but "trans men have to use the ladies now, the TERFs will hate that" isn't a) true or b) a good gotcha anyway if you're bringing up the whole "scary men in womens' spaces" trope that got us here in the first place.

Lawrence Harding (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️@lhardingwrites.bsky.social · 8h ago

This is something I keep seeing brought up but as I understand it the guidance is that trans men "shouldn't" use the men's as it doesn't match their assigned sex at birth, but also "shouldn't" use the ladies as they might upset the cis women. Which is even more bullshit than for trans women.

As a big "fuck you" to the segregation UK Labour has brought in today I implore you to chip in or share Sian's GFM today and make my good friend safer and happier in her body.

The Sian from Atlantis@parthenoid.bsky.social · 12h ago

OK, today's share of this is because I had an email from the clinic saying that they would take a smaller deposit, and rather than being about £1000 short of it, I'm more like £200 short and that's a reasonable target to aim for. I don't suppose you can give it a share? Ta. gofund.me/c1ef9f99e

The Dark Crystal: VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray. A bunch of GNs by Moebius and Enki Bilal in English and French, as separate volumes and as collections. Michael Moorcock's Elric books, at least three times now. Starman (original run, and recently the omnibuses and damn do I regret that)

Sophia_Nyx 🏳️‍⚧️@sophianyx.bsky.social · 2w ago

Name physical media you purchased more than once.

I ask not that you put me forward (that's been done, and it's a lottery and that's OK) I ask that you put money in the pot because there are a bunch of trans femmes in my boat. www.fiveforfive.co.uk

FiveforFive - a transfem and trans women collective fund

FiveforFive is a collective crowdfund for UK trans women, trans fem people and organisations which support them.

fiveforfive.co.uk

OK, today's share of this is because I had an email from the clinic saying that they would take a smaller deposit, and rather than being about £1000 short of it, I'm more like £200 short and that's a reasonable target to aim for. I don't suppose you can give it a share? Ta. gofund.me/c1ef9f99e

Donate to I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care, organized by Sian Penny

My name is Sian and I am crowdfunding for gender confirming surg… Sian Penny needs your support for I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care

gofund.me

Why is it always the people that want me dead who get called "provocative" in their obituaries?

When a dreadful person in the establishment dies, there's this awful pressure to performatively grieve them. But truth matters. Decency matters.

Anna Orridge@anna-orridge.bsky.social · 2d ago

No, Rod Liddle was not 'provocative'. He punched down, consistently. On the trans community, disabled people and POC. I don't believe I ever saw or heard of him taking aim at the powerful and the establishment to which he undoubtedly belonged. And that's all I have to say about him.

OK, one of the reasons I haven't done a fundraiser since like 2018 is that I don't know the etiquette of it. How many times do you share a thing? How far do you push it? When does one stop? When's the limit? gofund.me/39eb990d3

Donate to I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care, organized by Sian Penny

My name is Sian and I am crowdfunding for gender confirming surg… Sian Penny needs your support for I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care

gofund.me

Want to read a no-paywall take on the Odyssey by a top-tier film writer with experience of teaching Homer? Of course you do. No paywall on this one (although the page is age-restricted, because we talk about adult things). www.patreon.com/posts/165535...

You were the Sea People? | Room 207 Press

No paywall on this one. But if you're not from round here and want more like this, it's $1US to subscribe and get a ton of writing. If you d

patreon.com

Hot take, E**n M**k is not wrong to hate Nolan's Odyssey because it's about him. He can't SAY that, but it's repeatedly hammered in that it's about the collapse of liberal society because privileged pouches invade the halls of power and don't obey the social contracts. 1/

I was gonna write a heterodox and controversial article about Predator (1987) where I suggest that it's possible to give the film a heterosexual interpretation but guys, even I have to throw up my hands and admit the mental gymnastics of a take like that are just too much to sustain that take.

My dear friend Sian is trying to get funds together for gender affirming surgery, and has at time of posting been able to raise £2,219 out of the £7,500 they need basically today. The total goal is £20k. gofund.me/ba085f721

Donate to I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care, organized by Sian Penny

My name is Sian and I am crowdfunding for gender confirming surg… Sian Penny needs your support for I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care

gofund.me

Literally while I have my head higher above the parapet than ever before. I am terrified.

Neon Genesis Ewangelion@ewacat.bsky.social · 5d ago

"AIUK remains fully committed to defending the human rights, dignity, and equality of all marginalised groups, including women, girls, and members of the trans community." THEN FUCKING DO IT @amnestyuk.bsky.social

"Whilst we do not share the views of all these organisations, we recognise the concerns raised by those labelled as “anti-rights” in the document" BUT THEY ARE. THEY ARE. THEY LITERALLY ARE. THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE FORMED TO DO, TO REMOVE RIGHTS. THAT IS LITERALLY THEIR PURPOSE

"AIUK remains fully committed to defending the human rights, dignity, and equality of all marginalised groups, including women, girls, and members of the trans community." THEN FUCKING DO IT @amnestyuk.bsky.social

OK, I have to limit how much I share this, but this seems a reasonable moment. gofund.me/2cd5fb02e

Donate to I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care, organized by Sian Penny

My name is Sian and I am crowdfunding for gender confirming surg… Sian Penny needs your support for I'm not going back: Help Sian access gender-affirming care

gofund.me

I think this is undeniable. I don't want to rewatch the films that really rattle me. More than this, those films that are frightening, are never universally so, even for the same viewer. Some scares are personal, and some are situational, or depend on surprise.

Ray Newman@raynewman.bsky.social · 6d ago

Hardly any horror films are actually scary. They might be disgusting, or unsettling, or disturbing, or depressing, but I struggle to think of many that have triggered a fight or flight response.

Someone asked for recommendations for horror films that are actually scary which reminded me of this. precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/10/16/w...

We need our flinches: on the cosiness of horror

It’s cowardice, isn’t it? That instinct that draws horror fans to old movies; camp, arch, silly films; and contemporary films set in the comforting warmth of the hand-knitted past. The word ‘cosy’ …

precastreinforced.co.uk

Wild that this, which is pretty self evident, got backlash

Ray Newman@raynewman.bsky.social · 2y ago

Also, interesting that people keep mentioning knitwear. Folk horror is essentially cosy, often set in the past, and quite safely fantastic, despite its ostensible muddy realism.

Ironically, there's a strong argument that mass media has been doing a 30 year backlash and that they're less progressive than they've been at any time since the early 70s. This would NEVER fly today.

Ashley Lynch ✂️🎞️@ashleylynch.bsky.social · 6d ago

When did comics become so woke? This was from a 1994 comic.

None of the people who urge you to crowdfund for gender surgery prepare you for the level of dysphoria you're gonna have to endure from it —

OK so the deal is this. I need to get a deposit down by Friday, otherwise I can't keep the sate I have set. That isn't a disaster. The deposit is $4500, and not £4500 as I previously thought, so I need to raise about £3500, taking into account Gofundme's cut.

The Sian from Atlantis@parthenoid.bsky.social · last wk.

Still pushing this. I'd really like a face, if that's not a weird thing to say. gofund.me/dad64ee08

I am part of a housing cooperative that houses disabled and multiply marginalised people. We are currently housing a young family with a lot of challenges and there are so many unexpected costs. ko-fi.com/citrushousing

Support Citrus Housing

Support Citrus Housing

ko-fi.com

I was watching this YouTube video by a psychiatrist about Hannah Murray's memoir of spiritual psychosis, as you do, and there was this long aside about the phenomenon of "oceanic feeling" a sort of feeling of connection that you get in crowds, or in space. Realisation: wait, that's a thing? 1/

Oof. You and me both, friend. Solidarity.

She Guevara@sheg7.bsky.social · last wk.

The trans experience at the hands of transphobes is very similar to that of a person trapped in an abusive relationship with a partner that is all smiles and jokes at gatherings, so nobody believes you're being abused. I say that as someone who has experience of both.