iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Paramilitary groups are murdering and killing people on the streets. Sorry, individual states, but it's not ignorance of your beautiful foliage that's stopping people from visiting. Your tourist ads have limited power.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

After two years, I've finally finished my flag blanket. It's knit in approximately 280 rows of moss stitch using ColourLab DK by West Yorkshire Spinners.

A woollen blanket covering a chair. It has been knitted in moss stitch horizontal stripes. These stripes are in the pattern of four flags: the lesbian, rainbow, bi and trans flags.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I was gobsmacked that this one didn't turn out huge. I thought it was going to put her on everyone's radar. I still think it should have done.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I have an ex who was a professional, orchestral level woodwind player. Her speciality instrument was the recorder. She got a recorder scholarship that paid for her entire university education. She had recorders that needed insurance. Recorders: they're a real instrument!

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn Harry Potter fans have priorities that are in complete opposition to real people and culture. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Text from BBC article reading: Project manager Simon Ludlam told the Energy Revolution podcast the cable was originally "going to go straight through" the tribute, before fans left his firm "hundreds of calls". "Actually we were quite close to some real Bronze Age remains, but we avoided Dobby's grave," he said.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Remembered as a solitary genius by straight people whose entire experience of him is that awful biopic, maybe. Queer mathematicians I know think of him as a sociable role model who was charming at parties.

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i’m just ken @shepardcdr.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

If you're part of the BioWare or Sims community and want to talk about how those studios' queer characters and themes have impacted you and your fears for those series moving forward after this sale, I'd love to chat with you for a Kotaku story. Can be reached here or email kshepard@kotaku.com

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A lot of people are just posting his article where he said he wanted to shag kids, which isn't fair. We should also remember him as a virulent racist who had several IPSO complaints upheld against him and who cheated on his wife, impregnating a 22-year-old he then assaulted.

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Bookish & Queer @bookishandqueer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This is your last chance to grab yourself an Early Bird Ticket for Bookish & Queer and save £10 on the standard price. We have some great guest announcements coming soon, so don't miss out! www.tickettailor.com/events/siren... #booksky #books #fantasy #scifi #queer #queerbooks

Bookish & Queer
Online Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literature Convention
3rd and 4th October
Last Chance for Early Bird Tickets
No coded needed. Ends 23:59 31st July (BST)
Full price £65

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

If you're based in the UK, be aware that the eligibility for a Disabled Persons Railcard is expanding in September, and you might now be able to get one even if you couldn't before. www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/eligibility-...

A screen shot from the Disabled Persons Railcard site. A green menu bar reads Disabled Persons Railcard. The body text reads: Phase 2, launching in September 2026, will further extend eligibility to disabilities and conditions that require professional health evidence and more detailed assessment, including some long-term or degenerative medical conditions, and neurodiversity where it has a substantial impact on a person's ability to travel by train.

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Tim Byrne @tbyrne75.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Happy 66th birthday to John Leguizamo, who has always understood the assignment.

John Leguizamo as 'Tybalt' in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

John Leguizamo as 'Aurelio' in John Wick

John Leguizamo as 'Ozzy Delvecchio' in Bloodline

John Leguizamo as 'Eumaeus' in The Odyssey

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Were people who play videos on public transport never taught manners? Is politeness a code of conduct which, like chivalry, is now seen as old-fashioned and irrelevant? And if so, what comes next?

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Was not at all surprised to learn this morning that the humans in Thomas the Tank Engine speak Sudric, a Goidelic language family conlang. Of course a guy who builds a world of trains included a conlang.

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Jess Glanz @jessglanz.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Just made my own pesto! I bet most people don’t know that with just a little effort, a bunch of ingredients that cost more bought separately than together, and SO MUCH CLEANUP, you can make something only slightly worse than you would buy in a jar at the supermarket. And it’ll go off quicker, too 💖

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The BBC asked the White House if they considered American women in the military "low-T". The White House refused to acknowledge women in the military existed.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A weird part of reaching your 30s is that sometimes, your friends' parents will start dying of old age.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I go to at least half a dozen hospital appointments every year, and have done so for my entire life. Every time they ask me to hop on the scales, I answer with a cheery, "No thanks!". No argument. No justification. That's skinny privilege.

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Jack @jackinpogform.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

While JK Rowling and Amnesty are being mentioned in the same breath it's worth remembering why she lost her job there.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Don't have to worry about coordinating your mask with your outfit if the whole con, including parties, is online! I've already got my ticket and will be in my PJs for at least half of it.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This is something I've chatted about with friends before: even in SFF, there's an acceptable way of structuring stories, and anything outside of that is lucky to get a look-in.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

It's so hot right now that on my morning commute the lads who'd usually be in shorts and football shirts had already changed into their Friday robes.

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aliii✨✨ @gigixmelo.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Also don’t invest in Space X… Per ig: @/your.richbff

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Humans tend to assume that their fellow humans have broadly similar basic skill sets to themselves. It's why so many people who know how to evaluate writing have been shocked by the slopocalypse.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

"What's this lady feeling?" OK, her eyebrows are drawn together, that could mean anger. Or confusion. Sometimes it means someone's concentrating if their mouth is in a neutral setting. However, she's a model in a photo set. She's probably been asked to make a particular expression.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

The USA is the only eligible country to never have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The current administration's move to bring back child labour is part of a longer cultural history of refusing to recognise children as a protected class.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

The problem with researching new cities as travel destinations is how many comments and reviews are written by suburban Americans whose issues aren't with a particular city but with cities as a whole. (They never realise this.)

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Just went to a talk in which the speaker said "a square meal" came from plates being square, "cut from the same cloth" from medieval use of tablecloths, and "pumpernickel" from pain pour Nicole.

Ron Swanson in a DIY store with the text caption "I know more than you".

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

An elderly lady in this café is talking about how, with her husband's death, she feels she's finally old enough for casual sex. And has been having it frequently in various combinations.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

A few years ago, a shop close to me started doing absolutely amazing tofu bites. "It's white pepper," my chef brother, who hadn't tried them, said. "Whenever something savoury is great and a customer can't tell why, it's always white pepper."

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The real problem is trying to get scientists to shut the fuck up, as anyone who's worked in security will tell you.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Kids these days don't discover Harry Potter. Whenever I talk to one who's into it, it's never because they picked it up at a library, or were recommended it by a friend; it's exclusively because a fan parent read it to them. Harry Potter fandom is no longer organic.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Natural History Museum membership is £68. V&A membership is £82. Science Museum membership is £1000, for which I can only assume you get a go with the lightning rod and your choice of dead body.

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

I am not saying you need to embrace him as an amazing ally, but people need to be able to change their minds for the better. Obviously time will tell if he does make up for his previous association and position, but it is genuinely good that a high profile person in her orbit changed.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

To everyone bristling against the expectation of gratitude this Sunday, I wish you the best doing the absolute minimum you can get away with.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Seven months until this one, which looks like exactly the sort of thing to put on a Halloween reading list. I'm looking forward to it; Nghi Vo knows how to treat a reader well.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

If a doctor asks if you have a problem with symptom, and you answer no, because you have an entire complex series of rituals to deal with symptom... Probably just answer yes instead.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Hannah Spencer walking into Westminster, sucking her teeth, tutting, and muttering "tell you what, you've had some cowboys in here."

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Even though it's a silly name, kudos to the guys celebrating their platonic love for each other on Ladentine's Day. Have a nice meal! Affirm your community! Stop each other dying young!

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I thought that there would be an after; some sort of change, a series of trials, and I'd get to visit my American friends again. The cancelled vaccination schedule means that after will take generations. The travel advisories will continue for decades.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Most milky coffees are watery smoothies. Vietnamese coffee is the only one to get it right (delicious juice slowly transitioning into thick smoothie).

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I haven't had a cough, cold or respiratory infection since 2019. I used to spend every winter sick.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Tesco, why are you selling a day's supply of gochujang for £1.80 when I can get five times that much for 40p more?

A hand holding a very small jar of gochujang, labelled Tesco Gochujang Paste. It is in front of supermarket shelves.

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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Another friend put it to me like this: "ICE has made the classic Nazi mistake. They've invaded a winter people in the winter."

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

When I was a teenager, it was widely acknowledged that any man using "females" as a noun was a raging misogynist. Now I'm seeing journalists using "females" to talk about women as if it doesn't make them sound like serial killers.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

In a fun twist on "I remember my mother being this age", this year I'm as old as my grandparents were when they became grandparents.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

My personal geography of Berlin is a map of places I saw @jessglanz.bsky.social looking beautiful. (Hers is obviously more normal, and full of things like good bagel places, because she lives there and so needs a more practical geography.)

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Amy is great to work with. If you're a nerd looking for a graphic design gig, shoot her a message.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Proposal: people who aren't disabled stop appearing on panels about cyborgs, implants, and transhumanism.

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Jess Glanz @jessglanz.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

My Zeide took one look at 2026 and decided it wasn’t for him, so this week has been a lot of travelling, funeral prep and attendance, and starting to sort through his things. I really appreciate this lovely tribute written by his friend Kate Thompson: katethompsonauthor.substack.com/p/farewell-h...

katethompsonauthor.substack.com

Farewell Henry. The last boy to board the Kindertransport.

It is with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of my friend Henry Glanz.

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Bennett McKenna @bennettmckenna.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

So @othersidespec.bsky.social have done something fantastic and published copies of all of their contracts online. Seeing how many writers are surprised by unfair clauses, it would be great if other outlets did the same (but not surprising that they don't). othersidespec.com/sample-contr...

othersidespec.com

Sample Contracts - OTHERSIDE

Sample contracts for OTHERSIDE, including the language for nonfiction, reprints, original fiction and poetry.

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