The thing to understand about "age verification" laws is that they are not just for kids The only way to "stop kids from doing xyz online" using age-gating is to demand a government ID (or invasive biometric face scan) from EVERYONE. This means associating your gov ID with EVERYTHING YOU DO ONLINE

These threads (no pun intended) are an absolute delight.

Went to the dentist today to get what I thought were two holes dealt with. It were three holes. And because the anatomy of my jaw is a apparently a bit weird, my lower right molar didn't become properly numb. Ouch. I could have done without those 10 minutes of drilling. 😭

After much research and development I have made an offline version of ChatGPT. Now you can save water and electricity while navel-gazing, and carry one of the world's most powerfully annoying AI chatbots in your pocket.

#RomancePianists A couple of days ago I started to work on Drei Nüsse für Aschenbrödel by Karel Svoboda! It's the theme song of a Czech / German TV adaptation of Cinderella from 1973. Here in Germany, the film has become a cult Christmas classic.

The #ToyPianoAdventCalendar continues! Enjoy!

For anybody who thinks being a U.S. citizen will save them, or that being white will save them, this is a blonde white woman who is a US citizen and the thugs took her too. Anyway, for the 80 billionth time, stand up for everybody’s rights

you need this. I needed this.

Welcome to the #ToyPianoAdventCalendar - I hope these little videos will bring you joy. 🎄 youtube.com/shorts/L03kQ...

Welcome to the #ToyPianoAdventCalendar - I hope these little videos will bring you joy. 🎄 youtube.com/shorts/L03kQ...

every trans person i see post about the OU suspension knows that the suspended target is trans & a grad student, & has an innate awareness that this is about purging trans employees. every cis person i see thinks the target is a rando professor & that this is about giving conservatives good grades

This is 100 percent the reason why we’re still taking stringent Covid precautions in 2025, because if our health goes, our income goes, and everything with it. And we don’t want that for anyone else, either.

Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.

"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."

Oh, and of course, by now we have new images and videos of police violence against people protesting the formation of a rightwing youth org. More handwringing as if we hadn't already seen a massive increase in police violence over the past two years.

On German social media, I'm seeing a lot of handwringing over the latest anti-democratic comment from a top politician in our government - handwringing by the same Nice White Germans who were fine with, or even welcomed, police violence against people protesting against the genocide in Gaza.

600 ICE agents were supposed to be deployed to Canal Street. Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered instead. Quick summary by me:

This thread, damn. “this is not dunking on kids. We are seeing this at all levels--even grad students. AI + social media has had a profound impact on how we think and process our world, and we can't stop to reflect on it, because billionaires keep hurling addictive tech at us.”

😲

Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!

People who pirate books: “I just think art and literature should be FREE to everyone!” Yes, I too would love to live in a world where art is accessible freely to all and yet artists are paid a living wage, but as this magical wagical pixie wixie land does not exist, please don’t steal from us.

Does anyone in Baltimore need (or could use) a 20 lb turkey? Because reasons, we have acquired one, and while we can come up with uses for it, it's A Problem for my allergy issues and if someone needs it more, Sarah is happy to deliver anywhere in Baltimore

You're not really screwing over the publishers. They make up for your pirating by jacking up prices, paying authors less, cancelling that series you love because it didn't sell enough, etc. You're hurting authors & your fellow readers because you feel entitled & I, for one, fucking hate you for it.

The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org : Less than 20% of Long COVID trials involving exercise even mention post-exertional malaise thesicktimes.org/2025/11/21/l... Experts say testing exercise is “money down the drain” and won’t advance understanding of Long COVID. #LongCovid #PEM

Clip: @oonaghcousins.bsky.social explains how post-exertional malaise has affected her. It’s not tiredness after exercise, simple tasks like preparing food or even talking would cause her whole body would go into shutdown, affecting her nervous, immune, digestive systems and more.

This is so fucked up. Stop stealing from authors!!

Aspiring writers especially, be careful out there. These scams are everywhere. I promise some famous author isn’t going to email you out of the blue.

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen. Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

Ugly crying

I feel like the last couple decades of "is representation good or not?" discourse missed more important questions of "how fragile is representation?", "what do we do when multiple industries eliminate it as an intentional move against us?" and "how can we sustain queer artists when shit goes south?"

When you call out and warn about attacks on academic freedom by the AfD but you are silent on cancellations by @lmumuenchen.bsky.social due to pressure from the CSU and others you have not understood the concept of academic freedom.

I’m still thinking about “quiet, piggy.” No president should be able to speak to a member of the press that way and remain president. That moment encapsulates how vile, misogynistic, and horrible that man is.

DAY 13 – ADVENT SALE ✨🎄 Today’s festive fav is the Roman votive uterus. Many ancient examples contain a hidden clay bead inside, seen only on X-rays, thought to symbolise new life. We keep the tradition alive by adding a hand-formed bead to each one. Shop Now potted-history.co.uk/products/rom...

"Microsoft warns that Windows 11's agentic AI could install malware on your PC: 'Only enable this feature if you understand the security implications.'" bro what-- what are we doing here, exactly, how can you--anyone be okay with this?

For your blocking consideration: @stek02.bsky.social, transphobe and right wing asshole.

posted by a friend who is Professor of Molecular Biophysics. PM me if you have any ideas and want to be put in touch.

Yes, this is the same university that cancelled a talk by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in February of this year.

In a clearly anticonstituional move, the University of Munich @lmumuenchen.bsky.social have just cancelled a series of lectures titled „The Targeting of the Palestinian Academia“ after pressure from righ-wing groups. Germany prides itself on academic freedon, till it comes to Palestine.

Because obviously you need your feelings hurt on Sunday morning ☠️☠️☠️

I noticed a book a some time ago. The cover had art of a woman and a dragon sitting at the side of a lake—but in the reflection in the water, the woman is a demon. I want to read it, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the book! If anyone happens to know what it is, please say!

“We don’t understand what the world is waiting for before allowing in thousands of tents and temporary homes… We renew our appeal for shelter for the 1000th time to all free people around the world: Gaza needs dignified shelter. Gaza needs housing...” — Eyad Amawi, Gaza Humanitarian Coordinator

In 1981, two dudes from the National Enquirer thought they’d disrupt the romance genre with a new idea- a tabloid size romance novel. They raised over a million, and waited for the profits to roll in. The profits did not roll in. Nothing is new under the sun. www.washingtonpost.com/archive/busi...

steam is apparently allowing "this game had AI in it that it didn't disclose" as a valid return statement, so if you or anyone you know actually paid $70 for slop, get that money back

I’ll say this much: This reads exactly like what it is: people who discovered romance five years ago and decided they had all kinds of amazing new ideas to “fix” it. Connections between books? That feel kind of cozy to the reader? How did no one ever think of that?? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/b...

Speaking of 831stories. I saw this on threads and thought I should share because I am not only a professional author, I am also a fanfic writer. And this is a publisher, a creator, trying to control and profit from fanfic. This is predatory and disgusting. 831stories.com/blogs/fan-fi...

Ugh, I can’t stand this publishing startup. They pay people to write fan fiction — they tried to commission a story from me. 831 Stories was founded by MBA brains who saw how lucrative romance is as a genre, and their branding targets lit snobs who think they are better than romance.

Regretting not spending more time with a loved one is one of the most human, natural parts of grieving. Trying to replace and profit from that with AI is as inhuman as I can imagine.

Romance should evolve, but its so clear when people want the shine and financial benefit of Romance without respecting the genre, its conventions, or the readers. It's disturbing, but not surprising that we've arrived in a place where CRAFT DOESNT MATTER is a thing people believe.

The same people who have called librarians like me “groomers” and “pedos” just for letting people read what they want are fucking protecting actual predators. I’m so, so, SO mad.

Last re-skeet: I am so very done with the "does romance really need a happy ending?" crowd, I cannot tell you. The last time it happened on a panel, with an audience participant that would not let it go, I actually used the phrase, "that was asked and answered" and moved on. Genres have contracts.