iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 3h

Oh! Yes, probably don't get in touch with Lynn then 😅 I don't have any masc actors I've worked directly with so best of luck!

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 4h

Lynn Norris recorded the audiobooks for Distant Gardens and Farther Reefs (note, I was one of the contributing authors not the publisher, but was part of the process) and was great!

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

(do not actually yell at government staff pls)

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Lynne M. Thomas 🏳️‍🌈🚀🦄 📜 @lynnemthomas.com · 7h

:sarcastic shocked Pikachu face:

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

tl:dr; go yell at your elected representatives, I'm sure everyone can think of something 🤣

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Click-to-call tool from 350.org to call members of the Legislative Committee on Bill C-39: win.newmode.net/350org/c39-c... Use the tool and it will patch you through to a random member of the committee.

win.newmode.net

New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Submit a brief (organizations may only submit one brief per organization, but you can submit as an individual - must be in PDF format): www.ourcommons.ca/committee-pa...

ourcommons.ca

Submit a Brief - House of Commons of Canada

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Which means you can ALSO find contact information for cabinet ministers and members of special legislative committees. If you're not a constituent of that specific MP's riding, just make clear that you're writing to them in their capacity committee member. Ministers will have dedicated emails too.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

(By the way, did you know that your MP's contact information is publicly posted? So is an email address for the Prime Minister, and I believe the Prime MInister's Office also has a contact form you can use.)

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

I will stand and yell about people getting more engaged with civic and democratic processes until the cows come home, so here we are: if any of this concerns you, speak up about it!

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Finally, it's being moved through Parliament very quickly, with one, mostly partisan committee that is being to do an impossible job of reviewing this 250-page bill in a short period of time, *at the same time* as the bill is being reviewed by Senate.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

It also tries to bypass the legal and moral obligation Canada has to consult with First Nations about projects that would affect their territories (which is also worrisome for community consent more broadly!)

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

But first, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the bill contains a lot of other objectionable stuff: it slashes environmental regulations by compressing approval timelines, allowing exemptions from critical regulations, and allowing project approvals without knowing the footprint.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Best thing is to ask your elected officials to table amendments to C-39 which REMOVE the proposed amendments to Section 107 all together. More on how to do that in a second.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

There ARE tools elsewhere in the bill which are actually helpful, like more enforcement around good-faith bargaining (although there are many other problems with the bill as well, which I'll get to in a sec). But if you want to raise your voice on the right to strike, specifically:

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

The government is claiming that the amendments to Section 107 in Bill C-39 were made in consultation with unions, but I'm speaking with my labour activist hat on when I say that the proposed changes to Bill C-39 are NOT a good thing for workers.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Bill C-39 affects federal workers, but provincial governments would likely follow if this bill passes as-is.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

In other words, it completely obliterates the only real power that we as workers have - to withdraw our labour.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Specifically, the bill proposes amendments that consolidate the ability to use Section 107 against workers under the umbrella of a single minister, who just has to declare that a strike is "not in the national interest" to force striking workers back to work.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Bill C-39 contains concerning amendments to Section 107, the legislation that the federal government uses to force federal works engaged legal job action back to work.

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 7h

Canadian friends: The Canadian Labour Congress has declared today a day of action to protect the right to strike.

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Zoë “Baddie Proctor” Quinn @unburntwitch.com · 8h

I've switched tactics from calling "llms are sentient beings" nitwits stupid to agreeing with them and saying "yeah!! Furbies too!!!" and they get so much madder lmao

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British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 16h

The British Fantasy Society does not allow the use of generative AI in any of its spaces. For more on this, read the interview with outgoing chair Shona Kinsella from earlier this year. This position has not changed since last week's AGM. ⬇️ britishfantasysociety.org/its-a-cheat-...

Text says We say NO to generative AI in the creative arts

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Megan M. Davies-Ostrom *Pre-order RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS* @mmdaviesostrom.bsky.social · 15h

Hey, Canadian Writer's Union...this is how it's done!

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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 14h

Again, public shaming and outrage does actually work as a lever of power in this social and political landscape.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 15/10/2026

one big problem with trying to claim that LLMs are "conscious" is that you're betting that phenomenology is going to provide more concrete evidence in the affirmative than the historical fact that people thought machines were conscious since the very first time a computer spoke... in the mid-1960s

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Brandon O’Brien, but wearing a wolf mask @therisingtithes.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

In the wake of another Black author being accused of using AI, you’d imagine that the AI apologists would at least be capable of answering why applying tools like Pangram to judge work only seems to have repercussions for a particular marginalized language-set, let alone the racial implications.

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Beth Tabler @bethtabler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

What makes a monster? I’m looking for reprints for Grimdark Magazine: morally gray SFF, under 10,000 words. Any corner of the SFF welcome. Especially keen on stories that complicate who—or what—we call monstrous. No SA, no fridging. Email: beth@Grimdarkmagazine.com

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Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Still trying to understand how Napster got shut down, but Anthropic is going public and still hasn’t paid us authors yet after stealing our work.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 12/10/2026

Our subscription drive is closing in on its goal. So far, as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we've managed to give everyone but our authors a raise. We're only 20 subscriptions away upping author pay from 14 to 15 cents/word. clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

clarkesworldmagazine.com

Subscribe to Clarkesworld Magazine

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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United Wizards of the Coast - CWA @uwotc-official.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

If you’d like to join us in calling on leadership to reconsider yesterday’s decision and help us build a better Wizards together, you can encourage them to do so by signing our petition and sharing it! actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcp...

actionnetwork.org

Stand with Dungeons & Dragons and Magic Workers Forming a Union!

The Dungeons & Dragons team and Studio X (Magic: The Gathering; Duel Masters) are forming a union! We are joining the ranks of United Wizards of the Coast - CWA (UWOTC-CWA) and following in the…

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United Wizards of the Coast - CWA @uwotc-official.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Yesterday, Wizards informed us that it doesn’t intend to voluntarily recognize the D&D or Studio X units of our union ahead of a vote. We remain committed to creating a workplace focused on wellness, transparency, and collaboration by winning our coming election.

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John Scary Name Cullen @nellucnhoj.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

A reminder for those at the back.

A redraw of the i nice panel from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman snaps a rifle in two over his knee.

He says "THIS is the weaponnof the enemy. We do not NEED it. We will not USE it."

I've replace the rifle with a plank of wood labelled "AI Slop"

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DCapTO @dcapto.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Doug Ford planned to rip out bike lanes today. #BikeTO showed up and said, “Not today, Satan!” ✊✊✊✊✊🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏼‍♂️🚴🏾🚴🏼‍♂️🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏽‍♀️🚴🏼

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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 11/10/2026

Hi, I’m a sighted alt text user! Here are some reasons I use it: - Slow Internet on an airplane - I’m over 40, I have no idea who that celebrity is - Bluesky broke images again - My vision sucks and that text is too small to read otherwise - Conveys further context and authorial intent

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Lightspeed Magazine @lightspeedmagazine.com · 11/10/2026

According to Kickstarter tracking service, Kicktraq, the LIGHTSPEED + NIGHTMARE campaign is trending toward only reaching 94% of our goal. So WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP. If you love SF, fantasy, and horror short fiction, please consider backing today and sharing this post. bit.ly/LS-NM-26

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Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

An excerpt from American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World by David E. Stannard ⬇️

Page 69 of American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World by David E. Stannard. Describes the horrors inflicted by Columbus and his parties upon indigenous peoples.

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Heather Rose Jones @heatherrosejones.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Remember: if you don't tell Worldcon that you're interested in participating in programming, it's much less likely to happen!

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N.L. Bates @nlbateswrites.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Lightspeed and Nightmare are pretty great and you should back them.

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William C. Tracy @wctracy.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Congrats to Silk and Sinew!

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Tasha Robinson @tasharobinson.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Oh, is it hay-snail migration season again already?

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Undertow Publications 🇨🇦 @undertow.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Hey legacy media. @nytimes.com @washingtonpost.com @cnn.com et, al. We do not give a flying fuck what Thiel, Musk, Bezos, Altman, Ellison (or any of them) think. Ever.

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🧵 Attention, Fellow SFF Artists and Authors -- here is my response to Must Read Magazines, after they presented an Asimov's art contract expecting me to waive all Moral Rights and Copyright to my art. And, I would strongly advise the following to my fellow pros…. 1/

John Picacio’s response to Must Read Magazine’s request for his waiver of all Moral Rights and Copyright of his commissioned art for an ASIMOV’S assignment. Short version — Picacio says a resounding NOPE.

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