Speakers of languages that have formal/informal ways of addressing others (e.g. French vous/tu) and a culture of progressing through familiarity from the former to the latter: Does it ever go backwards? Could someone revert to formal 'you' as a signal of an ended friendship?

The only 3 people to benefit from Brexit were Johnson - got prime minister Farage - got a cult following Putin - got a weaker UK and Europe. The rest of us got a poorer, more divided country with less rights and freedoms. Plus now we know reform were on the Russian take.

You're sure "surreal" is the word you were going for? I mean, "existentially terrifying" is right there.

I don't think most Americans have any idea how dangerous it is for a president to declare an entire ethnic group to be "garbage." This is how the worst atrocities in human history have begun.

will also add - yes, this is my personal crusade - that turning podcasts into videos implicitly asks women to once again make more effort than men, as the bar for "camera-ready" for one gender is obviously higher than for the other

Put in the work. Pay attention to your peers and improve your craft. Find your community (or not). Work hard. You might still end up being a "nobody", but to think you are entitled to interest and adulation in a field THIS good and THIS crowded with excellent writers.... wow.

Instead of watching a panel show in which a man who has been credibly accused of multiple cases of sexual harassment does nazi salutes, you can simply watch Horrible Science on iplayer for free, which has great comedy, interesting facts about dinosaurs and space & no nazi salutes x

*NEW BLOG POST* My review of #Freakslaw by Jane Flett is live on #damppebbles! A well-written debut with real punch. Uncomfortable, unsettling, enticing and deliciously dark. Check out my review... ➡️ buff.ly/dldnXxQ @penguinbooksuk.bsky.social #BookSky #skybrarians #bookish

Pre-order Luna Novella 2026! In This City, Where it rains by @lyndseycroal.bsky.social In an alternative Edinburgh, Maggie is haunted by ghosts that only appear in the rain - and it always rains in this city. ☔︎ www.lunapresspublishing.com/lunanovella

THREAD. A selection of haunting encounters I have had with folk horror creatures and ghosts during walks in the British countryside. You will find the full descriptions of these disturbing incidents in the alt text. 1. Weeping Fence Banshee.

Christmas is hard for many. The years roll, the ghosts at the table increase. We’re haunted by the absence of voices, of laughter engines who drank and ate with us. This can be day of remembrance rituals. For what it’s worth, Hooklanders near and far are in my candles today. Be gentle on yourselves.

Lud-In-The-Mist! Little, Big! The Worlds of Chrestomanci (potential for a limitless MCU-style IP here)! Hyperion! Fractured Europe! SHOW ME THE MONAYYYYYY

The manager of Hilbert's Grand Hotel, hearing the Christmas story and thinking "Fucksake - it's easy. You move the guest from room one..."

So if folks are wondering why they’re suddenly seeing activity or follows, there was a thing rolled out to Twitter that lets anyone apply GenAI to images Artists are understandably unhappy with this, and folks in countries like Japan take this pretty seriously Hence the incoming wave here

I think for me this word perfectly describes my experience of @hookland.bsky.social

Sir Terry Pratchett is best understood as one of the most interesting, deeply ethical practical (I would say Pragmatist but I cede to actual experts) philosophers of the late 20th Century who just happened to work in deconstructed fantasy literature as his medium.

The Magdalene travels:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, must be in want of an immortal wife. Or possibly husband.

Merry Christmas to my mother, who got my toddler a toy fire engine that not only makes lots of noise, it also sprays real water

Matthew 2:13: an angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” Shabana: To Stop the Donkeys we need to address enabling angels like this

Knútr (Cnut), king of the English, ordered the death of Eadric ‘Streona’ (‘the Grasper’), earl of Mercia, in London #OTD in 1017. Eiríkr, earl of Northumbria, beheaded him and cast his body over the city wall. In 1006, Eadric had murdered Ælfhelm, ealdorman in Northumbria. #medievalsky

I finished The Essence today and can confirm it's another stellar Dave Hutchinson joint. Had me wrongfooted throughout and always trying to pull the pieces together, ending up somewhere I never imagined.

Had a dream I was writing a script for an animated police procedural, except it was Anubis as a coroner-priest solving crimes in ancient Egypt. Anyway, call me, Hollywood, we’ll talk.

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

GOOD NEWS: The ICE agents in our nativity have decided to quit their reign of terror to become shepherds. Evil has already lost, and it’s not too late to choose another path. Love your neighbor, love your God, save your soul, and quit your job. Love wins. Merry Christmas!

Come on you cowards

And Tiny Tim, WHO COULD NOT DIE, crawled on under the glare of the dying sun

Hello Evening Crowd - all the cyberpunk for you today!

I guess that as always happens in the end, they ran out of gullible marks for their pyramid scheme?

Techbros seem to love Tolkien, so here's an analogy to help you understand what genAI is. GenAI is The One Ring. You think your use is justified, b/c you don't have evil in your heart. But it came from evil, it is intended for evil purpose, & anything you do with it will be twisted to that end.

There is a rhetorical device on social media where someone angrily starts off “You are bad because [thing]” or “You did X, [see what happened]”. The sensible thing is I think to understand they don’t mean “you you” (unless you are one of a very specific group). They are just unloading.

Was at a Christmas party with a load of clergy last night and as some people were leaving they found a person collapsed on the street outside so the Verger took over and called an ambulance and sent all the clergy away because "if they wake up surrounded by priests that'll just make things worse"

What idiot called it Fairytale of New York and not Police Navidad

It's funny that everyone who has *ever* programmed, knows how important attention to detail is. Hours wasted because you made a typo, forgot to add a character, etc. The tiniest thing you literally don't notice is wrong, and your program screams at you and dies. This is a universal experience.

Tigris and Euphrates, two of the four Rivers of Paradise said to flow out of Eden... are drying up from climate change and mismanagement. #ParadiseLost

New Review - two excellent novellas in one volume for you exploring choices Wiz Duos 3 - The Sheltering Flame by Ruthanna Emrys and Walking A Wounded Land by Andrew Knighton is strongly recommended! Out now via @wtpress.bsky.social www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/12...

Well, happy anniversary to one of the finest of festive exchanges

For anyone who may be hastily returning certain books they bought as Christmas presents, here's a thread of excellent children's books I highly recommend you buy instead: Loki A Bad God's Guide To Being Good by Louie Stowell Funny, chaotic and a little bit naughty okay, a lot naughty

It’s the weekend! And while I suspect many of us are busy running around for Christmas here is your Wombling Along to relax with and find something to read www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/12...

Thankyou so much for this lovely review!

Merry gentlefolk, it is time. Today is the day. Today is comma-mas. Today is the day where we contemplate the correct placing of the comma in 'God rest you merry, gentlemen'. And if we are lucky, we can have a row about it. >

Folk horror novel recommendations please!

Bought myself a couple of early Christmas presents - The Essence by @hutchinsondave.bsky.social and Visions of Grace by @alisonlittlewood.bsky.social. I blame @runalongwomble.bsky.social, that Svengali of booktempting. 💙📚

I dreamed I saw Tiny Tim last night, Alive as you or me Says I, "But Tim, you're ten years dead," "I never died," says he. "I never died," says he. And standing there as big as life And smiling with his eyes Says Tim, "What they forgot to kill Went on to organize, Went on to organize."

NEW REVIEW: I recently read King Sorrow by Joe Hill. I don’t normally go in for the ‘book of the moment’ vibe, but I thought I would give this one a go as I wanted to try Joe Hill again as I previously didn’t get along with his books. www.fantasybooknerd.com/2025/12/book...

In the face of hatred and violence, love must always be stronger. This Christmas, we’re reminded of Jesus’ call to love our neighbours, cherish our differences and stand together. Not by fear and hate, but by faith, hope and a brighter future for all.

Failing to find a semi-interesting way to post this today, so I'll go with: Hey, if you want to read my WWW Wednesday post for this week, here's the link! irresponsiblereader.com/2025/12/17/w...

I work at a lovely library in South Oxfordshire. We're looking for #authors to talk to our members about their books. If you would be interested in coming to our library (in the heart of a historic market town), please let me know and I'll send you more details #AuthorsOfBluesky #writingcommunity

I see there’s another article about a cis woman being thrown out of a public toilet for not looking like how a woman should look, or some bullshit along those lines, because no one ever saw that fucking coming, did they? Seriously, just stop with this utter cack and mind your business.

Today’s racist discourse on Facepalm is about how it’s okay to ignore the contribution of coloured soldiers in Burma and India because they were just defending their home from the Japanese invaders. Errrr…