Logging in to Bluesky solely to see @kierongillen.bsky.social's take on Adam Driver as Sinister, only to discover instead that Aliens vs X-Men is a thing. To the comic book shop!
Simon K Jones
@simonkjones.bsky.social
Writer of serial fiction. Read it over on the Write More newsletter: https://simonkjones.substack.com/
All other parties need to stand down for the Clacton by-election. Except Count Binface. Obviously. Come on.
Condemning riots isn't enough. We need policy action, including an immediate appraisal of X as a vehicle for coordinating far-right disorder. And we need political leadership, to challenge white nationalism as an idea, not to validate it daily and then complain when it turns violent.
I wrote a new short story, which is essentially me processing the trauma/accomplishment of visiting Speedwell Cavern in the Peak District. Short story: We Go To The Pit open.substack.com/pub/simonkjo...
Short story: We Go To The Pit
Don't look beneath the surface
open.substack.com
If an AI was a good creative co-brain it would say; this bit’s shit; that’s weird; you wrote that metaphor already; who talks like that?; wow the snarky girl suddenly got polite; who cares what a tree looks like; bored now!; that rhymed, cut it; what does this add?; you spoilt the joke…
This is very lovely to hear, and I just want to 100% co-sign on ‘more sci fi comics for kids please’ 👍
Alan Bundock@izombieeu.bsky.social · 6mo agoLast night my youngest finished reading @neillcameron.bsky.social 's mega robo bros and loved it. His older brother was already a massive fan. When I find some time I will borrow them because it looks fantastic. Anyways. Comics get kids reading. Plus more sci fi for kids please world.
Noice.
Creative PEC@creativepec.bsky.social · 6mo agoMajor new funding increase for UK game developers has just been announced by DCMS at @londongamesfest.bsky.social. This marks a significant step forward for the government's Creative Industries Sector Plan, which makes use of Creative PEC evidence. www.gov.uk/government/n...
Some interesting online events about publishing, books and AI coming up in these seminars from the day job:
Creative PEC@creativepec.bsky.social · 7mo agoBook your place on our new Creative PEC Seminar Series, where our network of global experts will present their latest research in the creative industries, spanning AI, publishing, tourist taxes and the music industry. See the full programme and book your free, online place: pec.ac.uk/events/
@labourlewis.bsky.social - Norwich has a long history of creativity which continues to this day. Plus don't let it be dismantled to help a bunch of US tech megacorps.
Ed Newton-Rex@ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 8mo ago🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work. This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public. Please spread the word. 🧵 1/4
Just read issue 16. @kierongillen.bsky.social *bows respectfully*
Nobody here needs to be told that Reform's claims of cheating are utterly absurd but it's worth noting that the anti-Reform vote was so large that even if the Greens and Labour had split it 50/50 Reform would still have lost — in fact they would have come third. They only value democracy if they win
My guide for healthy usage of Bluesky: 1. Open Bluesky 2. Check to see if @jon.inkle.co has posted anything interesting 3. Carefully ignore everything else 4. Close Bluesky
Went to a dumpling restaurant in London, where the coasters all had a little cartoon dumpling picture. The walls of the place were covered in sketches people had done. I, of course, drew Dumplingus Prime.
Always start your week with our Political Monitor newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/creative...
Political Monitor: 9 February 2026
SIC codes, video games and Digital Arts
open.substack.com
I've been writing a weekly serial for 4 years, and finished it last week. September 2021 - January 2026 244 chapters 408,912 words (erk) In paperback, it would be ~1,169 pages — which is about the same as the entirety of The Lord of the Rings I'm tired. simonkjones.substack.com/p/how-to-rea...
How to read Tales from the Triverse
A weekly dose of science fiction, fantasy and detective fiction. Pick from individual stories or read the whole thing from the beginning.
simonkjones.substack.com
There are two writers that I always listen to if they show up on podcasts. @jon.inkle.co is one of them. open.spotify.com/episode/58Z5...
Jon Ingold, co-founder Inkle (80 Days, Expelled!, TR-49).
open.spotify.com
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.
My main observation from this accidentally going low-key viral is that a surprising number of Bluesky users can't detect sarcasm and lack a functioning sense of humour.
Simon K Jones@simonkjones.bsky.social · 9mo agoTrump has said he won't use force, and the good thing about Trump is that he always keeps his word and tells the truth.
‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
theguardian.com
Trump has said he won't use force, and the good thing about Trump is that he always keeps his word and tells the truth.
Art by Daniel Warren Johnson. From his Insta.
I think if you're a Transformers fan and you're angry at the DWJ sketch of Optimus defending innocent people from ICE then you're not actually a Transformers fan and you're a bootlicking dipshit.
call me crazy but it really feels like “World’s Richest Man Creates AI Chatbot That Generates Child Porn” would’ve been a huge international outrage requiring a governmental crackdown not even 24 months ago
To paraphrase @charalanahzard.bsky.social : the more you know about a topic, the more AI tends to get it wrong, so you should only ask it about things you know nothing about
Ben Hart@pavlovforgoths.com · 9mo agothe discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs
I was annoyed by the Online Safety Act over the summer, primarily from the point of view of a reader/viewer/etc. A couple of weeks ago, I had to consider it from the point of view of a creator. That time my writing was censored by the British government: open.substack.com/pub/simonkjo...
That time my writing was censored by the British government
Which is not a title I anticipated writing today
open.substack.com
From the UK Skills Explorer to Creative SME Exporters ➡️ Our latest Political Monitor is now live, featuring a round-up of this week's key policy updates in the creative industries and key dates to watch out for. 📧 Read more and subscribe to receive next week's edition:
Political monitor: 8 December 2025
Skills Explorers and Creative Exporters...
creativepec.substack.com