iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Over a million people now seeing and hearing what Nigel Farages constituents really think of him. Keep spreading the word! 👇🏼

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I think it would be better to retweet the correction that it's the 7th of September. (Not meant to sound snarky, just letting you know.)

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Please, please, do not give into the "post [X] or horrible things will happen" posts and spread them about. Random people on Bluesky do not have the power to give you bad luck, it's a stupid gimmick for attention. Next time I see someone I follow spreading these, even a friend, I'll unfollow.

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unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 01/09/2025

Duck Prints Press, indie publisher founded by fancreators to help fancreators publish their original LGBTQIA+ work, needs YOU! 🫵 Seeking: new backers for our Patreon! People who boost our post about it a chance to win a book! Learn all the many details on our webpage: tinyurl.com/mus57v48 🌈📚 📚💙

Graphic with a pale blue background. It features a white duck looking with a smirk toward the viewer, his winges spread behind him; the wings have a rainbow gradient. Text on the gaphic reads "Support Duck Prints Press on Patreon, Receive a Backer Exclusive Freebie or any merch item up to $5."

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Then you get the accidental favourite where suddenly a character you named "Rat" is becoming important but you associate him with the name too much to change it...

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

I know people have been avoiding it because of the Incident even though I've also seen people here saying not to do that because it just makes things worse for creators. I'm still happy to buy on there if you have a link to your book there.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

Is there a non-Amazon way to get it?

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Ian Greaves @greavesian.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Calling historians and researchers. The BBC Written Archives Centre has changed its access rules without consultation. This means an end to proper independent research into the BBC's rich history. 178 have already signed the open letter. Please join the campaign here: tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign

tinyurl.com

Open letter BBC Written Archives - August 2025

Join the campaign to protect the future of independent research at the BBC Written Archives Centre The following text is an open letter expressing the concern of historians and researchers about chan...

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Michael Varrati @michaelvarrati.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Today marks the 50th anniversary of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. More than just a midnight movie, RHPS became a crucial gathering place for queers, punks, theater kids, and so many others looking for their place...and each other. Irreverent? Yes. Wild? Always. Nonetheless: Don't dream it, be it.

Red, disembodied lips set against a back background, known to be the poster symbol of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

I enjoyed quite a bit of Clarke and Asimov as a teenager--but only after getting into science fiction via Doctor Who, and also I read them of my own accord and not because I was told "you must read this, it's a classic". And some other "classics of the genre" were very offputting to me even so.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

And some of them are better read when someone is old enough to understand the ways in which they're a product of their time (or in some cases, *more* prejudiced than most people of their time).

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

I think that's true, but I don't think that all of these writers are necessarily the best books to give to a child as the first science fiction books they read--even though I enjoyed some Verne and Asimov in my childhood myself (but it was after getting into science fiction via Doctor Who).

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Reading the zine about mad scientists and monsters that I bought a few weeks ago at Pride, and there's a poem called "I'm just a Modern Prometheus, of course I've had it in the ear before" and I had to put the zine down for a moment to just be in awe of the mind that came up with that combination.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I can agree with not dissing the Crypt Keeper on principle but I'm now very curious what this was in response to.

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Ijinks H. Iwerx @ijinks.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Do you need help developing your original characters and lore? Have I got a list for you! Please 🔁 this post for your creator friends! #originalcharacter | #OC | #OCsky

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 12/08/2025

"We Funded" confetti, my beloved!!!

a screen capture of the Kickstarter campaign for Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology, showing that $20,231 have been raised from 366 backers with 0 seconds left. Little motes of colored confetti are scattered over the right side of the screen capture.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

WE DID IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE WHO BACKED!

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Shea Sullivan @sheasullivan.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I GOT MY BAT STICKERS!!! 🙏🙌🏻❤️ go get this awesome, very popular anthology of cozy academia. You have…13 minutes! 😂

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 12/08/2025

We just hit the stretch goal with a mere 17 minutes to go!!!! A huge thank you to the folks on here, and everywhere else, who helped. :D Now is probably not the moment for me to announce another stretch goal, right? 🤣

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Last hour to back Scholarly Pursuits and we're $298 away from that second stretch goal that would triple author pay! www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc... Meeting the stretch goal would also mean backers (who aren't ebook-only) get bat stickers!

kickstarter.com

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology

A collection of 22 delightfully queer, charmingly cozy stories that put a fluffy LGBTQIA+ spin on the dark academia genre.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I am not going to rank them, but, in no particular order, Ann Leckie, Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, T.Kingfisher.

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 12/08/2025

$402 from the stretch goal as of when I'm typing this! Authors get a raise, backers with physical Stuff get a sticker! www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

kickstarter.com

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology

A collection of 22 delightfully queer, charmingly cozy stories that put a fluffy LGBTQIA+ spin on the dark academia genre.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Unfortunately what you say about a one-size-fits-all-system being economically necessary might well be true. But while you might be right about the worst issues, I think there's other bad treatment of children that's socially *encouraged* so supervision won't solve it, though that varies culturally.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I don't know. I know the kind of education I'm picturing is possible, and works, but not how it could be made to work at scale for everyone and not relying on parents' money/education levels/being decent people who want their children to learn.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

And/or there were factors in their life outside of school that made the kids give up on learning--such as being told they weren't going to amount to anything from early on as too many kids who don't fit certain moulds are.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

And I'd bet that when they were 3 or 4 those kids had the same "what's this, what's that? I want to learn! I'm going to ask 100 questions in a row!" instinct as any other kid but the school failed to translate that natural enthusiasm into learning new things into enthusiasm for their lessons.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

And I think that's down to the way schools teach and also what an artificial environment it is, being inside in the same building expected to sit still at a desk and listen in silence for such huge chunks of the day. There are better ways to learn that kids will actually find fun.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I don't think "compelling children to lock in" is the answer. Young children before school age show pretty clear signs that curiosity and wanting to learn is a natural instinct in children (like it is in most young creatures) but after a few years in school for all too many that instinct is gone.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I don't think "hierarchy imposing itself more" is a solution to many, if any, problems, honestly, but I'm curious to know what you think it would solve in schools.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Mm, I just feel like "school" in an ideal world would need to look very different--much less hierarchical, amongst other things--than schools today, to the point where it might not be easily recognised as the same thing. I'd run into character count limits quickly if I tried to discuss it in detail.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

But that perspective is affected by me being from the UK which feels like it has more of a tradition than some countries of "schools are to teach kids discipline and obedience" (often with the attitude that parents are at risk of indulging and spoiling their kids so a teacher has to be strict).

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I don't think anyone can be trusted with absolute power over another human being either, I just worry that schools aren't a good solution to this issue since (at least in my experience) they often boil down to "give someone absolute power over a whole classroom of children".

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

That last is true, unfortunately. I just have very little trust in governments to run the school system right either given that within my lifetime it was illegal where I am (the UK) for teachers to say or do anything that might make children think being gay was acceptable.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

There's a real chance of hitting the second stretch goal (triple pay for authors! bat stickers for backers!) but it's by no means guaranteed... I think we can do it. And this isn't just me wanting more money, there's A LOT of amazing authors in here who deserve it.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

My parents encouraged me to think for myself and learn and told me I could do anything. School told me to sit down, shut up, do as I was told, not ask questions about anything not in the lesson plan, not read books that weren't on the list for my age group, and conform to my assigned birth gender.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I feel like the problem with this is the number of governments that would use this to brainwash kids into little authoritarians themselves.

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Seeing us stuck on 299 backers is driving me crazy, who's going to be the 300th?

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sara | chamel @chamel-writes.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Last day to get your pledges in!! To celebrate, here’s a “meet the characters” I put together for my story (and some fan casts! 🤭)

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 11/08/2025

We're in the home stretch on our crowdfunding campaign! Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign for "Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories" now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc... Alternative: signal boost this and be my hero. <3 🌈📚 📚💙

A banner with artwork of a red and gold dragon wearing glasses and talking with a lil white mouse, also wearing glasses. They aresurrounded by bookshelves. A lit candle beside them illuminates the scene. In the background, a black bat carrying a scroll flies by. Text reads, "Duck Prints Press Presents Scholarly Pursuits A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories." In the upper corner is a green badge with a heart that reads "Projects We Love - Kickstarter."

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unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 10/08/2025

Zel ( @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social ) also did the gorgeous wrap-around artwork that will be featured in the journal we're offering as a campaign reward!

Artwork in deep shades of brown and brighter golds, showing a person coming down a stair case in a library, bearing a candelbra. A table to one side is stacked with books, a cat rubbing against it.

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

PseudoPod 🎙️ @pseudopod.org · 05/08/2025

We’re currently open for general submissions: send us your horrors, up to 6000 words, including flash. Originals and reprints: you may submit one of each. Don't agonise over your cover letter (really, don’t). You MUST submit via our Moksha portal (link in reply). We don’t accept email submissions.

media.tenor.com

a poster that says portal activated with a picture of a portal on it

Alt: A poster says portal activated. A low-res portal opens.

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

Dei Walker @dei2dei.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Just under 3 days left on www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc... ! If you were thinking about backing, now's the time - we're about $600 away from doubling author pay as a stretch goal.

kickstarter.com

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology

A collection of 22 delightfully queer, charmingly cozy stories that put a fluffy LGBTQIA+ spin on the dark academia genre.

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Reposted by Robin S. Blackwood

unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 08/08/2025

Today we share excerpts from 2 more of the 22 stores in SCHOLARLY PURSUITS: A QUEER ANTHOLOGY OF COZY ACADEMIA STORIES. You can read the excerpts, learn about the authors, and check out the Kickstarter for the whole anthology here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

A simple graphic with a background of a shelf of jars and a crystal ball. Text reads "Meet the Scholarly Pursuits Authors Mare Griffen, Mina Kramek"

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unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 07/08/2025

We’re about halfway to our first stretch goal for Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories! At that goal, backers receive the cover art as a digital file – and we’ll double pay to our authors! Meet two of those authors in today's update: www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

A simple graphic with a background of a shelf of jars and a crystal ball. Text reads "Meet the Scholarly Pursuits Authors Robin S. Blackwood, Shannon Lippert"

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Robin S. Blackwood @robin-s-writes.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Are they only using the "jerks" list for this, or do the scammer and crypto lists also now include people who aren't scammers or posting about crypto?

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unforth | Claire Houck | Duck Prints Press @duckprintspress.com · 05/08/2025

Our Kickstarter for "Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories" has 7 days left. We're $2300 from our first stretch goal. You can help by checking out the campaign and by signal boosting our posts! Meet today's authors and read excerpts: www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

A simple graphic with a background of a shelf of jars and a crystal ball. Text reads "Meet the Scholarly Pursuits Authors Nicola Kapron, Indigo J. H., Eliza J. Fitzwilliam"

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Shea Sullivan @sheasullivan.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Stretch goal time, bb!!

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