[{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/accessibility/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Accessibility","type":"tags"},{"content":"Here you can find all the interviews and articles I have written including those from other platforms.\n","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHere you can find all the interviews and articles I have written including those from other platforms.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Articles","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"Hello! I\u0026rsquo;m Canopy Falls an advocate for disability rights and mental health accessibility based in Sheffield, UK. My work is rooted in challenging ableist structures and discriminatory practices that prevent equal access and inclusion within society.\nCurrently I\u0026rsquo;m resting and relaxing because I\u0026rsquo;ve had a huge flare up with my fatigue. I\u0026rsquo;m building small projects for myself, you can read more about what I\u0026rsquo;m up to below.\n","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Canopy Falls","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHello! I\u0026rsquo;m Canopy Falls an advocate for disability rights and mental health accessibility based in Sheffield, UK. My work is rooted in challenging ableist structures and discriminatory practices that prevent equal access and inclusion within society.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Canopy Falls","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/canopyfalls/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Canopyfalls","type":"authors"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/community-management/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Community Management","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/content-creators/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Content Creators","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/creator-networks/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Creator Networks","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/disability-rights/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Disability Rights","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/discrimination/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Discrimination","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/inclusion/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Inclusion","type":"tags"},{"content":"Before dissecting the state of the Yogscast, I must make my position clear. I am a paying member of the main channel, a long-time viewer, and a massive fan. I write this not to tear down a community I love, but because I believe it is capable of being better. My perspective is that of a disabled viewer who wants to enjoy content on equal footing.\nHowever, I also write this as a white individual. This distinction is vital. According to the 2022 census by UKIE (UK Interactive Entertainment), 66% of the UK games industry workforce identifies as White. In the broader UK population, that number is roughly 82%. Yet, when we look at the Yogscast main network, the representation of people of color appears to be significantly lower than both the national average and the industry standard. Therefore, my opinions on racial diversity within the network are outside observations and should never be used to talk over the lived experiences of racial minorities.\nThe Catalyst: When \u0026ldquo;Nice\u0026rdquo; Isn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ldquo;Good\u0026rdquo; # In the wake of my recent attempt to discuss accessibility on the r/Yogscast subreddit, I have spent time reflecting not just on what happened, but why.\nWhen I posted, I set a clear intellectual boundary: I asked that we discuss the logistics of subtitles (budget, implementation) but that we not debate the necessity of them. Accessibility is a human right; it should not be up for debate. The community failed to respect this boundary. I was not met with budgetary concerns; I was met with a debate on my right to be there.\nMore damning was the response from the moderation team. When I pointed out that people were debating my human rights, a moderator replied:\nPeople are allowed to share their opinions, even if others (or we) disagree, as long as they share them politely enough!\nThis interaction revealed the core rot. The Yogscast is not a monolith of intentional malice. It is a community recovering from trauma, trying so hard to be \u0026ldquo;safe\u0026rdquo; that it has prioritized \u0026ldquo;politeness\u0026rdquo; over \u0026ldquo;goodness.\u0026rdquo;\nThe Trauma of 2019 and \u0026ldquo;Toxic Positivity\u0026rdquo; # To understand why a polite request for subtitles is treated like a hostile act, we cannot look at 2025 in a vacuum. We must look back at the summer of 2019.\nThat year, the network imploded. The CEO and a top content creator resigned following allegations of harassment and abuse of power. It was a devastating breach of trust. In response, the community circled the wagons. The moderation team and the fanbase adopted a policy of \u0026ldquo;aggressive positivity\u0026rdquo; to protect the remaining creators from the volatility that nearly destroyed the company.\nIn 2025, this defense mechanism has malfunctioned. It has become an auto-immune disorder. It intends to stop harassment and bad-faith attacks, but in reality, it suppresses any conversation that is not glowing praise. Valid critique is now conflated with \u0026ldquo;hate,\u0026rdquo; and disabled fans are told to be quiet so we don’t \u0026ldquo;ruin the vibes.\u0026rdquo;\nThe Politeness Trap # In a community governed by toxic positivity, the worst sin you can commit is not bigotry—it is friction. This manifests through tone policing, where the validity of a marginalized person\u0026rsquo;s argument is dismissed based on the emotion with which it is delivered.\nDuring the discussion on the subreddit, despite my request being framed as a matter of rights, the focus shifted rapidly from the content of my words to my \u0026ldquo;attitude.\u0026rdquo; One highly upvoted comment encapsulated this:\nI did want to mention though that after the opening, the tone feels a bit intense\u0026hellip; Finding it astounding and such does come across a little entitled.\nLet us unpack that word: Entitled. When a disabled person expresses frustration that they cannot consume the content they pay for, they are called \u0026ldquo;entitled.\u0026rdquo; When they point out that a media company is failing basic industry standards, they are called \u0026ldquo;intense.\u0026rdquo;\nThis creates an impossible standard. We are expected to ask for our rights with a smile. We must be patient, soft-spoken, and infinitely grateful for any scrap of access we are given.\nContrast this with how the community treats those who defend the exclusion. In the same thread, a user argued against removing the slur \u0026ldquo;psychopath\u0026rdquo; by saying:\n\u0026hellip;there\u0026rsquo;s also a reality where not everything people say is going to be 100% nice to everyone\u0026hellip; if you removed every insult that might be potentially offensive to someone, every video would just be polite nodding.\nThis comment effectively argues that the comfort of able-bodied people to use medicalized insults outweighs the safety of neurodivergent people. It was upvoted. Why? Because it was phrased calmly.\nThis is the Politeness Trap:\nA disabled viewer speaks firmly about exclusion? Downvoted for being \u0026ldquo;intense.\u0026rdquo; An able-bodied viewer argues that exclusion is natural? Upvoted for being \u0026ldquo;calm.\u0026rdquo; The message is clear: You can advocate for the Devil as long as you use your inside voice. But if you shout for your rights, you are the problem.\nThe Economics of Exclusion # The Yogscast is rightfully proud of the Jingle Jam. Since 2011, they have raised over £27 million for charity, including millions for Special Effect, a charity specifically dedicated to helping disabled gamers play video games.\nThis creates a jarring paradox. The Yogscast will raise millions to help disabled people play games but will not spend $40 to help disabled people watch them.\nLet us look at the hard numbers. Professional captioning services like Rev charge roughly $1.50 to $2.00 per minute for human-verified captions. For a standard 20-minute main channel video, the cost is approximately $30 to $40. This is only an estimate but it 1 or 2 orders of magnitude smaller than most production costs and while time is a non-monetary cost, lots of production has a significant time cost associated. It is critical to ask why those costs are seen as intrinsic, but costs associated with access are not.\nFor a media company that publishes video games and runs a multi-million pound charity event, this line item is negligible. By relying on auto-generated captions, which struggle with the chaotic, overlapping audio that makes the Yogs so funny, they are making a financial decision that Deaf and Hard of Hearing fans are not worth a $40 investment.\nAbleist Slurs \u0026amp; Comedy # We also need to talk about language. The Yogscast has roots in the \u0026ldquo;edgy\u0026rdquo; gaming humor of the late 2000s, and while they have matured, certain habits persist.\nThe \u0026ldquo;Spaz\u0026rdquo; Defense The continued use of the word \u0026ldquo;spaz\u0026rdquo; in 2024 content is indefensible. When this is brought up, the defense is almost always: \u0026ldquo;It means something different in America!\u0026rdquo; This argument is flawed for three reasons:\nThe Yogscast is a British company in Bristol. In the UK, this is a high-severity slur. Even in the US, artists like Lizzo and Beyoncé have removed the word from their catalogs. The global consensus has shifted. Using the \u0026ldquo;American meaning\u0026rdquo; as a shield implies that the comfort of the American audience outweighs the safety of the British disabled audience. The American meaning came fromm the British slur, just because you imported a slur and changed it\u0026rsquo;s meaning does not make the slur go away and it\u0026rsquo;s almost more offensive to that community to disconnect the slur. The \u0026ldquo;Psychopath\u0026rdquo; Problem Similarly, the overuse of \u0026ldquo;psychopath\u0026rdquo; in games like Blood on the Clocktower reinforces dangerous stigmas. The Blood on the Clocktower community has already begun discussing alternative names for this role. We have the vocabulary to do better; \u0026ldquo;Traitor,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Imposter,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Killer,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Fanatic\u0026rdquo; without relying on medicalized insults. Asking for this change is not \u0026ldquo;policing speech\u0026rdquo; or asking for \u0026ldquo;polite nodding\u0026rdquo; as some Yogscast community members have suggested. It is asking for precision and empathy.\nThe \u0026ldquo;Friend-Hire\u0026rdquo; Loop # It is important to acknowledge where the Yogscast has succeeded. The network has become a genuine sanctuary for LGBTQ+ representation. The inclusion of creators like Zoey Proasheck, Fionn Riches, and Boba has been transformative.\nHowever, this success highlights the stark failure in racial diversity. The network remains overwhelmingly white. This is largely due to the \u0026ldquo;Friend-Hire\u0026rdquo; Loop. In a post-2019 world, the Yogscast is terrified of hiring strangers, so they hire friends. But if your friend group is white, your hires will be white. By prioritizing \u0026ldquo;safety\u0026rdquo; over outreach, they have inadvertently segregated their own network.\nThis creates an unfair dynamic for the few people of color who are part of the network. The emotional labor of educating the community about race often falls squarely on their shoulders. It is not fair to ask them to be the sole ambassadors for inclusion. That burden belongs to leadership.\nConclusion and a Roadmap # I do not believe the Yogscast, its moderators, or its fans are malicious. I believe they are tired. They are tired of drama, and they just want to watch their favorite creators play games. But inclusion is not \u0026ldquo;drama.\u0026rdquo;\no move from a culture of \u0026ldquo;polite exclusion\u0026rdquo; to one of \u0026ldquo;intentional inclusion,\u0026rdquo; the Yogscast needs a concrete strategy. This is not about changing the soul of the content—the chaos and the camaraderie are vital—but about ensuring that soul is accessible to everyone. The following roadmap prioritizes low-cost, high-impact changes first, moving toward necessary structural shifts.\nImmediate Action (Next 30 Days) # Pledge to Human-Verified Captions # The network must commit to 100% human-verified captions for all Main Channel and Yogscast Games videos immediately. Auto-generated captions fail spectacularly with overlapping dialogue, accents, and comedic timing—the very staples of Yogscast humor. Without verified captions, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community is effectively barred from understanding the punchline. Utilizing professional services or dedicated freelancers for a year of main channel content—approximately 150 videos—would cost roughly $6,000 to $8,000. For a company of this size, this is a negligible operating expense that yields a massive return in audience retention and SEO discoverability, while finally treating disabled fans as paying customers rather than afterthoughts.\nUpdate the Editorial Style Guide # Management must explicitly ban the use of ableist slurs—specifically \u0026ldquo;spaz\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;retard\u0026rdquo; in all titles, thumbnails, and dialogue. This requires updating the internal style guide used by editors and talent. If a slip-up occurs during a recording, it should be treated with the same severity as a racial slur: beeped or cut entirely. It is impossible to claim to be an inclusive community while casually using vocabulary classified as hate speech in the company\u0026rsquo;s home country. This change signals to disabled fans that their dignity is more important than a creator\u0026rsquo;s habit of speech or a reluctance to edit.\nEstablish a Dedicated Accessibility Feedback Loop # Currently, if a user needs to report a seizure risk in a video or an unreadable font, they are forced to make a public Reddit post, which often opens them up to harassment or accusations of \u0026ldquo;drama.\u0026rdquo; The Yogscast should create a dedicated email address or a pinned, private Google Form for reporting accessibility failures. This moves the conversation away from public forums where \u0026ldquo;toxic positivity\u0026rdquo; reigns and into a professional inbox, providing editors with immediate, actionable feedback while protecting vulnerable fans from the \u0026ldquo;politeness police.\u0026rdquo;\nShort Term (Next 6 Months) # Reform Community Culture \u0026amp; Moderation # The \u0026ldquo;Toxic Positivity\u0026rdquo; Clause The subreddit and Discord rules must be rewritten to explicitly protect good-faith critique regarding accessibility and inclusion. The current rules are too vague, allowing moderators to conflate necessary friction with malice. The new rules must clearly distinguish between \u0026ldquo;Harassment\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Advocacy,\u0026rdquo; explicitly stating that tone-policing marginalized groups discussing their access needs is a violation of the community\u0026rsquo;s respect policies. By protecting the right to critique, the community signals that \u0026ldquo;keeping the peace\u0026rdquo; does not mean \u0026ldquo;silencing the problems.\u0026rdquo;\nRename the \u0026ldquo;Psychopath\u0026rdquo; Role # The network should work with its storytellers to adopt a homebrew name for the \u0026ldquo;Psychopath\u0026rdquo; role in games like Blood on the Clocktower and TTT. Transitioning to terms like \u0026ldquo;The Fanatic,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;The Saboteur,\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;The Wildcard\u0026rdquo; costs nothing but carries immense weight. Continued use of \u0026ldquo;Psychopath\u0026rdquo; reinforces the harmful trope that mental illness is synonymous with violence and treachery. Changing a single word sends a priceless message of solidarity to neurodivergent fans and those with personality disorders.\nMandatory DEI Training for Community Moderators # The volunteer moderation team is currently the frontline police of the community, yet they appear ill-equipped to handle the nuance of intersectional discussions. The Yogscast should provide professional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for its head moderators. Since mods are currently enforcing the status quo, they need the tools to distinguish between a \u0026ldquo;toxic attack\u0026rdquo; and a \u0026ldquo;cry for help.\u0026rdquo; Proper training will help fix the root of the subreddit\u0026rsquo;s hostility toward critique, shifting the culture from defensive to receptive.\nLong Term (Next 12 Months) # Break the \u0026ldquo;Friend-Hire\u0026rdquo; Loop via a Creator Residency # The demographic data suggests an insular hiring practice: you cannot diversify a network by only hiring people you already know, because friend groups tend to be homogenous. To break this, the Yogscast should establish a paid \u0026ldquo;Creator Residency\u0026rdquo; or scouting program specifically designed to find talent outside the current social circle. Instead of relying on a \u0026ldquo;friend of a friend,\u0026rdquo; the network should open quarterly guest slots for creators from underrepresented backgrounds to join TTT sessions or streams. This actively invites strangers to the table to normalize their presence before making hiring decisions, disrupting the cycle of segregation.\nHire a \u0026ldquo;Lived Experience\u0026rdquo; Consultant # The network must stop relying on its few minority members, such as LGBTQ+ creators or occasional guests of color, to do the heavy lifting of education for free. Asking marginalized employees to fix the culture that marginalizes them is unpaid labor and leads to burnout. The Yogscast should retain an external consultant to audit internal culture, recruitment practices, and community safety guidelines. This ensures that difficult truths can be spoken to leadership by a professional who does not fear losing their social standing in the \u0026ldquo;friend group.\u0026rdquo;\nA \u0026ldquo;State of Inclusion\u0026rdquo; Annual Report # The Yogscast should commit to publishing a blog post or video segment annually, perhaps following the Jingle Jam, reviewing the network\u0026rsquo;s successes and failures regarding diversity and accessibility. This report should share the \u0026ldquo;wins,\u0026rdquo; such as reaching 100% captioning, but more importantly, it must admit the \u0026ldquo;losses,\u0026rdquo; such as failing to hit diversity targets for guests. Admitting failure is not weakness; it is the strongest evidence that the organization is actually trying to improve and is accountable to its audience.\nIf you’d like to support the push for accessibility, please politely request captions on videos, mention the steps availible to the Yogscast in this article, and support the Jingle Jam’s incredible work for Special Effect.\n","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/inclusion-in-the-yogscast-successes-failures-and-a-path-forward/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBefore dissecting the state of the Yogscast, I must make my position clear. I am a paying member of the main channel, a long-time viewer, and a massive fan. I write this not to tear down a community I love, but because I believe it is capable of being better. My perspective is that of a disabled viewer who wants to enjoy content on equal footing.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Inclusion in the Yogscast: Successes, Failures and a Path Forward!","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/minorities/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Minorities","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"25 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/yogscast/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Yogscast","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"24 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/captions/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Captions","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"24 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/subtitles/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Subtitles","type":"tags"},{"content":"I have been a viewer of the Yogscast for a long time. Recently, specifically after enjoying their incredible Blood on the Clocktower series, I decided to become a paid member. I love the content, the production value, and the creativity. However, as a disabled individual with auditory processing issues, loving the content comes with a caveat: I often can’t understand it.\nRecently, I took to the r/Yogscast subreddit to make a straightforward request: The implementation of verified human subtitles and a dedicated role for accessibility standards.\nI didn\u0026rsquo;t think this would be controversial. I expected discussions on budget or logistics. Instead, I was met with a community and moderation team that seemed fundamentally unable to distinguish between \u0026ldquo;free speech\u0026rdquo; and the invalidation of human rights.\nThe Boundary That Was Crossed # In my original post, I set a single, clear boundary. I explicitly asked that we discuss the logistics (how to afford it, how to implement it) but that we do not debate the necessity of it.\nWhy? Because accessibility is a UN-recognized human right. Debating whether disabled people deserve to understand the content is not an intellectual exercise; it is a debate on whether we are welcome in the space.\nThe community, unfortunately, could not keep to this boundary. Instead of engaging with the accommodation request, the focus immediately shifted to policing my tone and debating the validity of my request. It seems that in the Yogscast community, a disabled person asking for a seat at the table is viewed as \u0026ldquo;shutting down discussion\u0026rdquo; rather than asking for equity.\nSuppression by Downvote # There is a supreme irony in how the subreddit reacted. While commenters and moderators extolled the virtues of \u0026ldquo;free speech\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;open opinions,\u0026rdquo; they engaged in the very suppression they claim to detest.\nAcross the thread, my comments, regardless of content, were heavily downvoted.\nWhen I clarified the difference between logistics and necessity? Downvoted.\nWhen I politely pushed back against the idea that human rights are a matter of \u0026ldquo;opinion\u0026rdquo;? Downvoted.\nThis wasn\u0026rsquo;t a disagreement on facts. This was personal. It appeared that members of the community decided they didn\u0026rsquo;t like me or my boundary, and used the downvote button to bury my perspective. The result is a \u0026ldquo;hidden\u0026rdquo; comment section where the voice of the disabled person is silenced, while the voices of able-bodied people explaining why I’m wrong are amplified.\nThe Myth of \u0026ldquo;Polite\u0026rdquo; Exclusion # The most disappointing aspect of this interaction was the response from the moderation team. When I asked that comments debating the necessity of accessibility be removed, a moderator replied:\n\u0026ldquo;We will not do this for the same reason we are allowing your post. People are allowed to share their opinions, even if others (or we) disagree, as long as they share them politely enough!\u0026rdquo;\nThis statement highlights a fundamental misunderstanding of Freedom of Speech.\nThere is a critical nuance between a difference of opinion (e.g., \u0026ldquo;I didn\u0026rsquo;t like this video\u0026rdquo;) and speech that is inherently exclusionary (e.g., \u0026ldquo;We shouldn\u0026rsquo;t have to cater to disabled people\u0026rdquo;). By framing the debate of my human rights as just another \u0026ldquo;polite opinion,\u0026rdquo; the moderation team effectively took a stance: Inclusion in the Yogscast community is optional.\nAllowing \u0026ldquo;polite\u0026rdquo; debates on whether or not I deserve to access the content sends a message that my existence here is up for a vote. It isn\u0026rsquo;t.\nA Correction Too Late # Eventually, after I expended significant emotional labor explaining this distinction, the moderator agreed with my request. They acknowledged the difference between debating logistics and debating necessity.\nHowever, the damage was already done. While the moderator agreed deep in the comment thread to watch for rule-breaking comments, they did not edit or provide context to their initial, highly upvoted comment at the top of the post. To any casual observer, the \u0026ldquo;official\u0026rdquo; stance remained one that prioritized \u0026ldquo;polite opinions\u0026rdquo; over safety.\nI acknowledge that the moderation team manually overrode Reddit\u0026rsquo;s automated spam filters to allow my post to appear in the first place. They \u0026ldquo;let me speak.\u0026rdquo; But allowing a person to speak is not the same as ensuring a safe environment for that speech.\nHanding someone a microphone while allowing the crowd to throw rocks is not \u0026lsquo;inclusion.\u0026rsquo; By leaving that initial dismissal unaddressed, the leadership implicitly endorsed the rocks.\nMoving Forward # I asked for a dedicated accessibility role. I asked for subtitles. I asked for my request to be treated with the dignity of a standard, not a debate.\nInstead of active engagement or accommodation, I was met with pedantry about \u0026ldquo;opinions\u0026rdquo; and a refusal to protect a marginalized group from hostility.\nThe Yogscast has the budget for sets, costumes, and high-production value. It is time they budget for the basic respect of their disabled audience.\nAccessibility is not a \u0026rsquo;nice-to-have\u0026rsquo; bonus feature for when the coffers are full; it is the rent you pay for occupying a space in the public sphere. Until the Yogscast and their community learn that human rights are not a \u0026rsquo;topic for discussion,\u0026rsquo; they aren\u0026rsquo;t just failing a standard, they are actively choosing exclusion.\n","date":"24 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/the-sound-of-silence-when-asking-for-accessibility-becomes-a-debate-on-existence/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI have been a viewer of the Yogscast for a long time. Recently, specifically after enjoying their incredible Blood on the Clocktower series, I decided to become a paid member. I love the content, the production value, and the creativity. However, as a disabled individual with auditory processing issues, loving the content comes with a caveat: I often can’t understand it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Sound of Silence: When Asking for Accessibility Becomes a Debate on Existence","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"24 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/web-accessibility/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Web Accessibility","type":"tags"},{"content":" Sign The Letter! # To the Organisers of Kelham Pride (KINCA, a registered charity), and all associated venues and sponsors,\nAs members and allies of Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s vibrant LGBTQ+ community, we are writing to express our profound concern and disappointment regarding your continued acceptance of sponsorship from the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University for Kelham Pride 2025. While we celebrate the spirit of Pride and the vital space it creates for our community, we cannot ignore the deeply troubling ethical implications of these specific partnerships.\nThe University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University stand accused of complicity in grave human rights abuses, specifically through their alleged involvement in the manufacture of components for weapons currently being used in acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and through their financial investments in companies linked to these actions. The report from the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP) details these accusations against the University of Sheffield, which has received over £72 million in direct funding from arms manufacturers between 2012 and 2022 [1]. Similar concerns have been raised regarding Sheffield Hallam University\u0026rsquo;s ties to the arms trade, with reports from Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) and Demilitarise Education (dED) indicating nearly £35 million in partnerships with arms companies [2, 3]. Both universities have been aware of these allegations for a considerable time and, to date, have refused to divest from these ties.\nKelham Pride\u0026rsquo;s stated mission is to create \u0026ldquo;fun and safe spaces delivering progressive, inclusive and respectful events.\u0026rdquo; However, by accepting funds from institutions implicated in such devastating violence, you are inherently undermining these very principles. These partnerships constitute a form of pinkwashing. Kelham Pride is using the vibrant, inclusive image of Pride to sanitise the reputation of entities facing serious accusations of complicity in war crimes.\nCurrent Known Sponsors and Associated Companies of Kelham Pride # As of June 7, 2025, the following are the known sponsors and associated companies for Kelham Pride:\n2025 Sponsors # University of Sheffield Sheffield Hallam University First Group South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Meadowhall Shopping Centre CMS Legal Hull Trains BT Group Henry Boot PLC Fitcheck Clinic Ally Venues # The Three Tuns (Fringe Venue) - 39 Silver Street Head, Sheffield S1 2DD Hymn to Ninkasi (Fringe Venue) - The Wedge, 5 Cotton Mill Walk, Sheffield S3 8DH Alder (Partner Venue) - Percy St, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8BT The Harlequin (Fringe Venue) - 108 Nursery Street, Sheffield S3 8GG Yellow Arch (Partner Venue) - 30 Burton Rd, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8BX Factory Floor (Partner Venue) - 92 Burton Road, Sheffield S3 8BX Saw Grinders Union (Fringe Venue) - Globe Works, Sheffield S6 3AE Neepsend Social Club \u0026amp; Canteen (Partner Venue) - 92 Burton Rd, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8DA Parrot Club (Partner Venue) - 92 Burton Rd, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8DA Kelham Kitchen \u0026amp; Wine Bar (Partner Venue) - 31 Ball St, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8DB Riverside Kelham (Fringe Venue) - 1 Mowbray St, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8EN Peddler Market (Partner Venue) - 92 Burton Rd, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8BX Happy’s Bar (Partner Venue) - 32 Rutland Rd, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8DP Grafters (Partner Venue) - Grafters, Burton Rd, Sheffield S3 8BX Violation of Charitable Objects # As a registered charity, KINCA has specific charitable objects that guide its operations and ensure it acts for the public benefit [4]. Your third charitable object explicitly states a commitment: \u0026ldquo;TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM BECOMING SOCIALLY EXCLUDED, RELIEVING THE NEEDS OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY EXCLUDED AND ASSISTING THEM TO INTEGRATE INTO SOCIETY.\u0026rdquo; It further clarifies that \u0026ldquo;SOCIALLY EXCLUDED\u0026rdquo; includes those facing \u0026ldquo;DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF SEX, RACE, DISABILITY, ETHNIC ORIGIN, RELIGION, BELIEF, CREED, SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER RE-ASSIGNMENT.\u0026rdquo;\nBy accepting sponsorship from institutions accused of complicity in genocide and ethnic cleansing, KINCA is directly contradicting this fundamental charitable object. This action actively causes social exclusion by creating an environment where queer Palestinians and other ethnic minorities feel unsafe, unwelcome, and discriminated against within a Pride event. For many queer Palestinians, their struggle for liberation is inherently intertwined with the broader Palestinian struggle, and these \u0026ldquo;pinkwashing\u0026rdquo; efforts can feel particularly alienating. It normalises the idea that the liberation of some can be divorced from the liberation and safety of others, particularly those facing systemic violence and discrimination. This is not promoting inclusion; it is a profound failure to uphold the very principles upon which your charitable status is founded.\nThis is not a distant issue; it directly impacts the safety and belonging of LGBTQ+ people right here in Sheffield, not just the Palestinians who are living in terror. When an organisation that claims to champion inclusion aligns itself with alleged perpetrators of genocide, it sends a chilling message. It tells queer Palestinians, and all ethnic minorities, that their safety and human rights are secondary. It signals to anyone aware of these atrocities that Pride, a movement born of protest and solidarity, can be bought and leveraged to obscure complicity in violence.\nSilence, in this context, is not neutral. It is a form of complicity.\nWe have, along with many other individuals and groups, attempted to raise these concerns with Kelham Pride directly. The consistent lack of reply is disheartening and deeply concerning. It suggests a disregard for the voices and genuine fears within the very community you claim to serve. This silence makes all LGBTQ+ people unsafe, not just those directly affected by the genocide. It normalises the idea that our liberation can be decoupled from the liberation of all oppressed people. It threatens the integrity of Pride as a space for genuine solidarity and liberation, not just celebration.\nTo the venues hosting Kelham Pride events and the sponsors whose logos appear alongside the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University: your association with Kelham Pride, while potentially well-intentioned, now carries this ethical burden. We urge you to consider the implications of these partnerships for your own values and your standing within the community. Are you comfortable being linked to an event that accepts funding from institutions accused of complicity in genocide?\nWe, the LGBTQ+ community and our allies in Sheffield, demand that Kelham Pride takes immediate and decisive action. This includes:\nPublicly addressing and condemning the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University\u0026rsquo;s alleged complicity in war crimes. Immediately divesting from the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University\u0026rsquo;s sponsorships. Issuing a transparent statement on your future policies regarding ethically compromised sponsors. Engaging in open and meaningful dialogue with the community members who have raised these concerns. Including minority voices in the LGBTQ+ community in positions of power so this kind of ethical compromise cannot be repeated. Pride began as a riot, a protest against oppression. It was, and must remain, a space for radical inclusion and unwavering solidarity with all those facing injustice. We stand with Palestinians, and we call on Kelham Pride to truly embody the spirit of intersectional liberation.\nUntil genuine action is taken, we struggle to see how Kelham Pride can truly be a safe or inclusive space for all members of Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s diverse LGBTQ+ community.\nSincerely,\nThe LGBTQ+ Community and Allies in Sheffield\nSignatures # Do you agree with the message set out in this letter? Then Add Your Signature Now!\nOrganisation Signatories # Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine | Email Individual Signatories # Canopy Falls (She/They/It) Alex Meier (he/it) Elisabeth George (she/her) Eve (she/her) Noah (they) Sarah Loasby (they/them) Yoana (she/they) Citations # [1] Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine. (n.d.). University of Sheffield Genocide and Apartheid Complicity Report. Sheffield UCU. Retrieved from https://ucu.group.shef.ac.uk/weekly-update/genocide-and-apartheid-complicity-report/\n[2] Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) \u0026amp; Demilitarise Education (dED). (2024). Weaponising Universities: Research Collaborations between UK Universities and the Military Industrial Complex. Yorkshire CND. Retrieved from https://yorkshirecnd.org.uk/arming-universities-in-yorkshire/\n[3] Demilitarise Education (dED). (n.d.). Does your uni support the global war machine?. Retrieved from https://ded1.co/\n[4] Charity Commission for England and Wales. (n.d.). KINCA Charity Details. Retrieved from https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5086315/governing-document\n","date":"20 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/open-letter-to-kelham-pride/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003ch2 class=\"relative group\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:open-letter-to-kelham-pride@canopyfalls.com?subject=Sign%20Open%20Letter%20To%20Kelham%20Pride\u0026body=Sign%20as%20an%20Individual%0AName%3A%20%0APronouns%20(Optional)%3A%0AEmail%20(Optional)%3A%0A%0ASign%20as%20an%20Organisation%0AOrg%20Name%3A%0ALinks%2FEmail%2FContact%20Info%3A%20%0A(Please%20note%20I%20will%20check%20that%20the%20email%20this%20comes%20from%20is%20associated%20with%20your%20organisation.%20Reach%20out%20to%20me%20separately%20if%20you%20can't%20send%20an%20email%20from%20an%20account%20affiliated%20with%20your%20org.)\"\u003eSign The Letter!\u003c/a\u003e \n    \u003cdiv id=\"sign-the-letter\" class=\"anchor\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n    \n    \u003cspan\n        class=\"absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 ltr:-left-6 rtl:-right-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100\"\u003e\n        \u003ca class=\"group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700\"\n            style=\"text-decoration-line: none !important;\" href=\"#sign-the-letter\" aria-label=\"Anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\n    \u003c/span\u003e        \n    \n\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTo the Organisers of Kelham Pride (KINCA, a registered charity), and all associated venues and sponsors,\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"An Open Letter to Kelham Pride","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"27 May 2025","externalUrl":"https://pinknic.co.uk/alternative-prides/2025/","permalink":"/articles/alternative-prides-to-pinknic-2025/","section":"Articles","summary":"Find alternative Pride events to Pinknic while it isn't running this year, including SAYiT Youth Pride, Kelham Pride, and Sheffield Radical Pride.","title":"Alternative Prides To Sheffield Pinknic - 2025","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/free-palestine/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Free Palestine","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/gaza/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Gaza","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/genocide/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Genocide","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/sccp/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Sccp","type":"authors"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/the-university-of-sheffield/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"The University of Sheffield","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/university/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"University","type":"tags"},{"content":"Report from the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine on The University of Sheffield and their complicity in genocide and apartheid.\nDownload # You can also download the PDF for offline viewing using the link below:\nDownload Document\nFeature Photo Provided for free by Mike Hindel through Unsplash.\n","date":"17 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/university-of-sheffield-genocide/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003cp\u003eReport from the \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/sheffieldpsc\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine\u003c/a\u003e on The University of Sheffield and their complicity in genocide and apartheid.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"University of Sheffield Genocide and Apartheid Complicity Report","type":"articles"},{"content":"","date":"1 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/interview/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Interview","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/queer/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Queer","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/sheffield/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Sheffield","type":"tags"},{"content":"Sheffield is buzzing with the launch of a new initiative: the Queer Alt-Art Collective. I sat down with Zoo, the driving force behind this project, to understand what it\u0026rsquo;s all about and how you can get involved in shaping this exciting venture. If you\u0026rsquo;d like to get involved you can join their discord.\nWhat exactly is \u0026ldquo;queer alt-art\u0026rdquo;? # \u0026ldquo;There is no clear definition of \u0026lsquo;queer alt-art\u0026rsquo;, as the term has never been coined beforehand,\u0026rdquo; Zoo explained. They highlighted that while \u0026ldquo;queer art\u0026rdquo; is a recognized, albeit broad, phenomenon often sidelined due to heteronormativity and cisgenderism, \u0026ldquo;alternative art\u0026rdquo; refers to creative work outside traditional forms.\nZoo offered a fresh perspective: \u0026ldquo;Queer community itself is oftentimes already described as \u0026lsquo;alternative\u0026rsquo; - we are the minority.\u0026rdquo; However, they emphasized that the collective aims to break down these very labels. \u0026ldquo;One of the many \u0026lsquo;alternative\u0026rsquo; ideas behind Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;queer alt-art\u0026rsquo; collective is that any form of creative practice qualifies as art,\u0026rdquo; be it visual arts, performance, design, literature, music, even engineering or comedy. Zoo enthusiastically added, \u0026ldquo;Some people do say that the synesthesia, the inter-merging and intermingling of various art disciplines lets the art itself to flourish (and I do heavily agree with that statement)!\u0026rdquo; The core idea is to move beyond rigid definitions of what art is and isn\u0026rsquo;t.\nWhy Sheffield? What\u0026rsquo;s the gap being filled? # Zoo believes Sheffield, despite its \u0026ldquo;helpful organisations, quirky businesses and vibrant population,\u0026rdquo; lacks a cohesive \u0026ldquo;scene.\u0026rdquo; They pointed to the city\u0026rsquo;s rich history – from musical legends to pioneering astronauts and radical political movements – asking, \u0026ldquo;Where is the natural progress of all of it? Where are new, interesting groups, collectives and scenes?\u0026rdquo;\nThe motivation is clear: \u0026ldquo;Queer people in South Yorkshire lack safe space for expression and involvement, we do lack the \u0026lsquo;scene\u0026rsquo; - if we do lack it, then why shouldn\u0026rsquo;t we build it?\u0026rdquo; Zoo passionately stated, \u0026ldquo;As a minority, we do hold a lot of responsibility (actually, all of the responsibility!) for the development of our own culture.\u0026rdquo; The collective aims to harness the existing \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo; heritage and the energy of the queer community to create something new and visible. To put it simply, quoting Starship, Zoo declared, \u0026ldquo;\u0026lsquo;We Built This City\u0026rsquo; - citing the band Daft Punk, \u0026lsquo;Work it harder, make it better\u0026hellip;\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\nWhat are the collective\u0026rsquo;s goals? # The core mission, as Zoo envisions it, is \u0026ldquo;creating vibrant, visible, creative and supportive art scene for queer individuals - to express ourselves, to support each other, to enjoy our company, celebrate our community, enrich the vibrant heritage and \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; culture of Sheffield and make us visible through our creativity!\u0026rdquo;\nThis isn\u0026rsquo;t a top-down structure. Zoo emphasized, \u0026ldquo;Collectives are non-hierarchical by nature, therefore we all have to decide, we all have to be pro-active and we all have to build it, shape it, give it some directions and make it work together. We all decide about it\u0026rsquo;s fate.\u0026rdquo; The hope is to be a \u0026ldquo;motor of development for the local queer and art, and \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; (and queer alt-art) scene,\u0026rdquo; inspiring, engaging, and leaving a lasting impact.\nWho can join? # The collective is primarily looking for artists in the broadest sense – \u0026ldquo;LGBT+ people who are 18+, live locally to Sheffield/South Yorkshire area, and are keen to put some work into the broadly-understood art and the collective itself.\u0026rdquo; While collaborators and audience members are welcome, the initial focus is on building a core group of creators.\nWhat kind of projects are on the horizon? # As a \u0026ldquo;literal \u0026rsquo;newborn\u0026rsquo;,\u0026rdquo; specific projects will be decided collectively by its members. However, Zoo shared some initial ideas: \u0026ldquo;We are planning to create our manifesto, we are also planning to engage the community with our work through direct art actions on the streets of Sheffield and we are also hoping for our first exhibition as the collective in the time span of the first year of our work.\u0026rdquo;\nHow can artists get involved? # The joining process is refreshingly simple. \u0026ldquo;Joining us is as simple as joining a Discord server,\u0026rdquo; Zoo explained, providing the link at the end of the article. There\u0026rsquo;s no portfolio review or extensive interview, just an agreement to the community rules on the server. The key is a desire to \u0026ldquo;express, to engage, to create and to be involved.\u0026rdquo;\nWhat about non-artists? # While formal volunteering isn\u0026rsquo;t currently structured due to the collective being member-run and without funding, Zoo welcomes support in other forms. \u0026ldquo;If anyone would like to get involved in the collective through sharing skills or spreading the word about us - that\u0026rsquo;s absolutely great, 100%, go for it, we would love to hear back from you! We are also always keen to have you as our audience - it\u0026rsquo;s a great way to get involved!\u0026rdquo;\nWhat does membership look like? # \u0026ldquo;Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective is a non-hierarchical, non-registered and relatively structureless organisation, that relies on all of the members to equally contribute in the work of the collective,\u0026rdquo; Zoo stated. There are no fees or sign-up forms beyond joining the Discord. The expectation is active participation: \u0026ldquo;As a member, you should contribute into the collective\u0026rsquo;s work, actions, project and of course CREATE - as simple as it gets.\u0026rdquo;\nWhat support can members expect? # At this early stage, resources are limited to the collective\u0026rsquo;s members and their contributions. \u0026ldquo;We are creating our own support, and our resources are limited to the member\u0026rsquo;s and supporters contributions. We are able to offer as much support as our self-sufficient collective is able to collectively generate.\u0026rdquo;\nHow to stay updated? # While a full communication network is in development, the primary hub is currently the Discord server. Zoo mentioned plans for a Linktree to consolidate channels and encouraged looking out for \u0026ldquo;our posters about us and (in the future) our events, our actions and exhibitions in Sheffield and any local media.\u0026rdquo; Interestingly, the collective is consciously avoiding major American social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, opting instead for community-focused outreach. \u0026ldquo;You won\u0026rsquo;t find us on Twitter (called \u0026lsquo;X\u0026rsquo; by some), Instagram or Facebook, but you will for sure find us in the local community!\u0026rdquo; Zoo affirmed.\nWhat does this project mean to Zoo? # Zoo\u0026rsquo;s enthusiasm is palpable. \u0026ldquo;I believe that the whole project is very exciting! What not to love? We\u0026rsquo;re building, we are expanding, we have fresh heads and exciting ideas!\u0026rdquo; They are eager to see the creative outcomes, the community\u0026rsquo;s response, and the collective\u0026rsquo;s evolution. \u0026ldquo;We have a great chance to leave a long-lasting queer scene legacy in the \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; heritage of Sheffield! We have a chance to meet new people, to meet new ideas, make something new, enriching, flamboyant, unique. Isn\u0026rsquo;t it just all exciting?\u0026rdquo;\nThe vision for the future? # The immediate goals are foundational: \u0026ldquo;We for sure need to conclude a manifesto and try to give ourselves some direction and shape - we need to establish where we will be going as a collective.\u0026rdquo; Expect to see \u0026ldquo;several live art actions in Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s City Centre\u0026rdquo; and the collective\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;first exhibition\u0026rdquo; within the next year or two. Growth, in-person meetings, and potentially art workshops are also on the horizon. Ultimately, Zoo understands that \u0026ldquo;establishing a well-working collective isn\u0026rsquo;t a matters of days or weeks, it usually is the matter of years!\u0026rdquo;\nThis new Queer Alt-Art Collective holds immense potential to enrich Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s cultural landscape and provide a vital platform for queer creatives. If you\u0026rsquo;re a local artist looking for connection and a space to push boundaries, now is the perfect time to get involved and help shape this exciting new chapter.\nFull Interview # This interview happened over Discord, I sent a glut of questions and Zoo was kind enough to spend an age carefully answering them all. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of repetition in my questions and in the answers due to this hence why the article above attempts to summarise the learnings from the interview.\nWhat is The Queer Alt-Art Collective About? # For someone unfamiliar with the term, how would you describe \u0026ldquo;queer alt-art\u0026rdquo;? What kind of artistic expressions might fall under this umbrella?\nThere is no clear definition of \u0026ldquo;queer alt-art\u0026rdquo;, as the term has never been coined beforehand. The \u0026lsquo;queer art\u0026rsquo; is a well-known phenomena, although it is a very vague umbrella term, and sadly, oftentimes a genre of it\u0026rsquo;s own, due to the default heteronormativity and cisgender-ism. Alternative art, on the other hand, is a well-described and researched art movement, and describes creative artwork outside of traditional art forms. Queer community itself is oftentimes already described as \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo; - we are the minority, and therefore \u0026ldquo;alt\u0026rdquo; for the general population (which in majority is heteronormative and cisgender), although what we do in terms of creative expression oftentimes isn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ldquo;alt\u0026rdquo; in the LGBT+ community itself. One of the many \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo; ideas behind Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;queer alt-art\u0026rdquo; collective is that any form of creative practice qualifies as art, let it be visual arts, performance arts, happenings, design, literature, dance, fashion, trad crafts, music, engineering, comedy, storytelling, cyber-art and so on - it doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be visual in the slightest! Some people do say that the synesthesia, the inter-merging and intermingling of various art disciplines lets the art itself to flourish (and I do heavily agree with that statement)! We are trying to get rid of labels that are associated with what is and isn\u0026rsquo;t art, what is and isn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo;. Paradoxically, it does makes us, by definition, very \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo;. We are also queer, hence why the \u0026ldquo;queer alt-art\u0026rdquo; 🙂\nWhat sparked the idea for this queer alt-art collective in Sheffield? Was there a particular need or gap you identified that you\u0026rsquo;re attempting to fill?\nSheffield does lack \u0026ldquo;the scene\u0026rdquo;. There is a lot of helpful organisations, quirky businesses and vibrant population, yet somehow it isn\u0026rsquo;t always so visible. Sheffield is a diverse city with rich history and heritage, that doesn\u0026rsquo;t seem to flourish to it\u0026rsquo;s fullness. The home of many popular music discoveries (eg Spice Girls or Arctic Monkeys), important constructivist art, first British astronaut and the first Western European woman astronaut, the history of \u0026ldquo;Steel City\u0026rdquo;, the history of anarchist collectives, miner\u0026rsquo;s strikes and famous/infamous visit of Picasso - that\u0026rsquo;s a lot of unique heritage, although it already have happened. Where is the natural progress of all of it? Where are new, interesting groups, collectives and scenes? Where\u0026rsquo;s the current in the present, that everyone seems to live by and nostalgically mention here and there? Where is the vibrancy hidden? It seems to be around (and it is around for sure!), yet nothing conclusive does happen. There\u0026rsquo;s no \u0026rsquo;new\u0026rsquo;, but there\u0026rsquo;s plenty of dwelling in the \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo;. For the \u0026rsquo;new\u0026rsquo; to happen, there needs to be action taken - and it would be a shame to not base it on the \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo;, especially such a unique \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo; that everyone around seem to love! It\u0026rsquo;s a strong foundation to build on. There is plenty of queer people living in Sheffield and South Yorkshire that are more than eager to contribute to that rich heritage, by building something \u0026rsquo;new\u0026rsquo; on the \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo; foundations. Queer people in South Yorkshire lack safe space for expression and involvement, we do lack the \u0026ldquo;scene\u0026rdquo; - if we do lack it, then why shouldn\u0026rsquo;t we build it? Queer people are oftentimes associated with various \u0026ldquo;alternative\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;arts\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;the scene\u0026rdquo; - we already have it, but we need to make it happen. We need to organise to make it happen!\nAs a minority, we do hold a lot of responsibility (actually, all of the responsibility!) for the development of our own culture - in the end of the day, there is less of us (less than general public). There\u0026rsquo;s a huge potential to build a great art collective in Sheffield, based on the very strong foundation of \u0026lsquo;alternative\u0026rsquo; heritage, vibrancy of the queer community, accessibility to art and help of great organisations and other collectives! To be absolutely honest, I was genuinely surprised that such a collective doesn\u0026rsquo;t already exists in Sheffield, as everything that is needed to start is already there - the people, the diversity, the heritage, the vibes, the willingness to make it happen! Let\u0026rsquo;s create our \u0026ldquo;scene\u0026rdquo;, let\u0026rsquo;s engage with the audience, let\u0026rsquo;s show our community off, let\u0026rsquo;s make our creativity explode and cover the whole area with what we want to show! Let\u0026rsquo;s make part of Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s rich \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; heritage, culture and current scene about us (LGBT+), as we are already there - very visible, very connected, very much associated! To breifly sum up, citing the band Starship, \u0026ldquo;We Built This City\u0026rdquo; - citing the band Daft Punk, \u0026ldquo;Work it harder, make it better, Do it faster, makes us stronger More than ever, hour after, hour Work is never over\u0026rdquo;.\nWhat are the core values and mission of the collective? What do you hope to achieve?\nAs a Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective, our core mission (as I imagine) would be creating vibrant, visible, creative and supportive art scene for queer individuals - to express ourselves, to support each other, to enjoy our company, celebrate our community, enrich the vibrant heritage and \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; culture of Sheffield and make us visible through our creativity! We are a community. We are a queer community, and we are also a part of the local community. We need space to exist, we are all collectively creating our space to exist in. We develop local \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; heritage, we enrich local art scene, we exist in the art scene, we exist in the community, we innovate, we express, we engage, we provoke thought, we promote our community, we promote creativity, we promote ourselves, we work together to achieve as the collective, we promote our queer culture, we develop queer culture as a collective and as individuals. It is up to all of us, what the mission of the collective will be - in the end of a day, it is a collective. Collectives are non-hierarchical by nature, therefore we all have to decide, we all have to be pro-active and we all have to build it, shape it, give it some directions and make it work together. We all decide about it\u0026rsquo;s fate. I believe that we will be able to achieve whatever goals we will set for ourselves and the collective, we will be able to make a true impact on our community, and that we will be the motor of development for the local queer and art, and \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; (and queer alt-art) scene. I hope that we will inspire, I hope that we will engage, I hope that we will last, we will grow and we will achieve whatever goals we will set. I hope that we will innovate, and I hope that we will be a part of something great - something that we have created, something that we developed and something that will wake up the local creative community spirit once again.\nWho is the collective for? Are you looking for artists, collaborators, audience members, or a mix?\nWe are mainly searching for artists, in the broad meaning of the said word. As it is the very beginning of Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective, collaborators might not find what they are searching for just yet. Audience is of course always on the agenda, unless the direction of the collective would\u0026rsquo;ve change. If it comes to joining our collective, we are searching for LGBT+ people who are 18+, live locally to Sheffield/South Yorkshire area, and are keen to put some work into the broadly-understood art and the collective itself.\nCan you share some examples of the kind of projects or events the collective might undertake?\nOur collective is a literal \u0026rsquo;newborn\u0026rsquo; at the current stage of matter. It would be hard to decide it\u0026rsquo;s fate just yet, as we are not properly established yet. We are an idea that needs some work putting into it to make things work out. The course of action of the collective should actually be decided by the members of the collective, well\u0026hellip; collectively. As of now, I can for sure confirm that we are planning to create our manifesto, we are also planning to engage the community with our work through direct art actions on the streets of Sheffield and we are also hoping for our first exhibition as the collective in the time span of the first year of our work. Of course, as a collective, it is due to all of it\u0026rsquo;s members to decide it\u0026rsquo;s course of action. I personally have some high hopes for great themes, projects and general actions of the collective 🙂\nHow Can People Get Involved? # For artists interested in joining, what\u0026rsquo;s the process? What kind of work are you looking for?\nSheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective doesn\u0026rsquo;t have elaborate joining process. As of now, we are operating through a Discord server, as that seems to be the most convenient for all the members and the collective itself. Joining us is as simple as joining a Discord server. We don\u0026rsquo;t want to enforce a strict recruitment process, there is no need to showcase us with a full-on portfolio or undergo any extensive interviews. We have rules that have to be accepted upon joining, although those are more of the social rules of peaceful co-existence rather than any traditional \u0026rsquo;terms and conditions\u0026rsquo; or any form of contract. As I have mentioned beforehand, we are looking for local queer artists (in the broad meaning of the word \u0026lsquo;art\u0026rsquo;) who have the need to express, to engage, to create and to be involved in the collective.\nAre there opportunities for non-artists to get involved? Perhaps through volunteering, supporting events, or offering skills?\nSheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective is a very loose, non-registered and non-hierarchical organisation runned entirely by it\u0026rsquo;s members, without any finances involved, any income for the organisation nor the individuals involved. At the current moment, we cannot offer any form of volunteering other than through direct involvement as a member of the collective. If anyone would like to get involved in the collective through sharing skills or spreading the word about us - that\u0026rsquo;s absolutely great, 100%, go for it, we would love to hear back from you! We are also always keen to have you as our audience - it\u0026rsquo;s a great way to get involved!\nWhat does membership to the collective look like and what structure does the collective follow?\nSheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective is a non-hierarchical, non-registered and relatively structureless organisation, that relies on all of the members to equally contribute in the work of the collective, to make it happen. We will never ask our members for any finances or personal information, there is no official sign-up process other than joining our Discord server. We all collectively decide about the shape, the direction and the actions of our collective. We run it together. As a member, you should contribute into the collective\u0026rsquo;s work, actions, project and of course CREATE - as simple as it gets 🙂 We have to create the space, the \u0026ldquo;scene\u0026rdquo;, we have to make the queer community visible, we want to engage the local audience, we want to inspire, we want to provoke - this is what our work orbits around.\nWhat kind of resources or support do you hope to be able to offer to members of the collective?\nSheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective does not have any resources, aside from it\u0026rsquo;s members and contributors. We do not have any sort of finances nor courses, we do not run any centers nor galleries, we do not provide with work opportunities, volunteering or internships. The collective\u0026rsquo;s work is based solely on the work of it\u0026rsquo;s members, hence why equal contribution and pro-active approach are so important. We are creating our own support, and our resources are limited to the member\u0026rsquo;s and supporters contributions. We are able to offer as much support as our self-sufficient collective is able to collectively generate.\nHow can people stay updated on the collective\u0026rsquo;s activities and upcoming opportunities? (Website, social media, mailing list, etc.)\nAs I have mentioned beforehand, Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective is still a \u0026rsquo;newborn\u0026rsquo;. We didn\u0026rsquo;t developed all of the communication network yet, although it is a work in progress. As of now, we do operate a Discord server, we will also gather all of our communication channels on linktree. We also heavily encourage people to look out for our posters about us and (in the future) our events, our actions and exhibitions in Sheffield and any local media - let it be online or more traditionally. We are aiming to refrain from using American social media websites, especially the ones belonging to Zuckerberg\u0026rsquo;s Meta or Elon Musk, due to the crash of values - you won\u0026rsquo;t find us on Twitter (called \u0026ldquo;X\u0026rdquo; by some), Instagram or Facebook, but you will for sure find us in the local community! 🙂\nWhat Does This Project Mean To You? # What excites you most about this project? What are you personally looking forward to?\nI believe that the whole project is very exciting! What not to love? We\u0026rsquo;re building, we are expanding, we have fresh heads and exciting ideas! I do heavily wonder what kind of new ideas we might come up with, what we will present, what kind of art will we develop - maybe something absolutely new? How much synesthesia will occur? How the community is going to respond? How we will shape the collective and where it will head to? How the queer scene in Sheffield will benefit, how much it will grow? What will come out of it? Who will come out of it, or into it? We have a great chance to leave a long-lasting queer scene legacy in the \u0026lsquo;alt\u0026rsquo; heritage of Sheffield! We have a chance to meet new people, to meet new ideas, make something new, enriching, flamboyant, unique. Isn\u0026rsquo;t it just all exciting?\nWhat\u0026rsquo;s your ultimate vision for the collective in the next year or two?\nThe goals are quite simple really, as Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s Queer Alt-Art Collective is a literal \u0026rsquo;newborn\u0026rsquo;. It needs to grow and develop. We for sure need to conclude a manifesto and try to give ourselves some direction and shape - we need to establish where we will be going as a collective. Several live art actions in Sheffield\u0026rsquo;s City Centre should be expected, and our collective\u0026rsquo;s first exhibition! We are also expecting to grow, organise quite a few in-person meetings aside from the live actions and our first vernissage - potentially some art workshops as well. A lot will depend on the members, and whichever art disciplines we will be able to gather and execute. Establishing a well-working collective isn\u0026rsquo;t a matters of days or weeks, it usually is the matter of years!\nGet Involved! # Join The Discord\n","date":"1 May 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/sheffield-queer-art-collective/","section":"Articles","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSheffield is buzzing with the launch of a new initiative: the Queer Alt-Art Collective. I sat down with Zoo, the driving force behind this project, to understand what it\u0026rsquo;s all about and how you can get involved in shaping this exciting venture. If you\u0026rsquo;d like to get involved you can \u003ca href=\"https://discord.gg/SVJunA5mmB\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ejoin their discord\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Sheffield's New Queer Alt-Art Collective","type":"articles"},{"content":"Find out what I\u0026rsquo;m up to, be that fighting my local council or making a silly little project.\n","date":"10 April 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/","section":"Blog","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFind out what I\u0026rsquo;m up to, be that fighting my local council or making a silly little project.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Blog","type":"blog"},{"content":"","date":"27 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/audio-drama/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Audio Drama","type":"tags"},{"content":"Welcome to a new thing I\u0026rsquo;m starting to catalog all of the audio dramas and podcasts I\u0026rsquo;m currently caught up on and write a single sentence about each one. The sentences could be anything, they might be helpful, they might be entirely random, they might be something only I can interpret. Either way all of the podcasts on this list are well worth a listen, I highly recommend them all.\nThe Liminal Lands # Website | RSS\nOne day the main character will learn something, not sure when though.\nThe Amelia Project # Website | RSS\nThe writers and the people writing the timeline on the wiki are in a constant battle.\nMidnight Burger # Website | RSS\nOne of the characters enters a grudge match with the US government and commits unnecessary violence on a government car and it\u0026rsquo;s metal as fuck.\nWolf 359 # Website | RSS\nMy first experience of the joy that is gays in space, it would set off a long series of listening to other fictional gays in space.\nA Problem Squared # Website | RSS\nThis podcast taught me that not all solutions to a problem are useful solutions.\nHow I Died # Website | RSS\nPlease stop incriminating yourself for the love of god why the fuck did you record a mountain of evidence of yourself committing crimes?!?\nThe Layover (Paid) # Website\nSam and Ben contend to be the first to get themselves cancelled, Adam tries desperately to stop them.\nDesert Skies # Website | RSS\nNever before have I wanted to visit somewhere more than the world of desert skies.\nForgive Me # Website | RSS\nI feel sorry for Ben, though not as sorry as I feel for Clem\u0026rsquo;s doctor.\nArs Paradoxica # Website | RSS\nI thought this was a cool puzzle for my brain and then was shocked by the overwhelming quantity of child death.\nEOS 10 # Website | RSS\nThe time dragon was not something I expected in my silly gays in space podcast.\nTravelling Light # Website | RSS\nI\u0026rsquo;m so invested in these eccentric weirdos bumbling through space.\nSidequesting # Website | RSS\nI felt very seen and represented by this podcast\u0026hellip; Too seen\u0026hellip; Messed up my queer stealth.\nDo You Copy? # Website | RSS\nThese are the people handling paranormal events and aftermath?!? How are we not all dead already?\nThe Strange Case of Starship Iris # Website | RSS\nI could listen to Ishani Kanetkar play a queer, deeply traumatised and emotionally closed off computer nerd all day.\nFawx \u0026amp; Stallion # Website | RSS\nTaught me more about Victorian era queer history than I expected.\nStarfall # Website | RSS\nYou can tell this was written by and for queer theatre kids. Unfortunately I am included in that demographic.\nA Podcast of Unnecessary Detail # Website | RSS\nThe dynamic between these three is impeccable.\nDeath by Dying # Website | RSS\nI wish I could tell you what this was about but I\u0026rsquo;ve listened to it 4 times and it\u0026rsquo;s like the information contained within is cursed to never stick to my brain, good fun tho.\nEthics Town # Website | RSS\nTook my partner to their live show he loved it and, despite not listening to podcasts much, insisted we listen to it immediately that night.\nChain of Being # Website | RSS\nYou can tell the person who wrote this was heavily into sound design because the sound design and story are beautifully woven together pushing each other forward.\nHotel Daydream # Website | RSS\nI feel real smart when I understand the jokes and recognise the names.\nWorld Gone Wrong # Website | RSS\nBusiness as usual during a supernatural cacophony seems ridiculous but it\u0026rsquo;s probably how things would go.\nSoul Operator # Website | RSS\nI wonder how they got that tearing flesh sound effect so realistic?\nSorry About the Murder # Website | RSS\nMurder is okay if someone isn\u0026rsquo;t polite.\nDoctor Who: Redacted # Website | RSS\nLacking in Jemma Redgrave, more Kate Lethbridge-Stewart lines and this would have been perfect.\nUnseen # Website | RSS\nOne of the best through lines to an otherwise disconnected set of episodes I\u0026rsquo;ve ever seen.\nObservable Radio # Website | RSS\nSome of these episodes took me multiple attempts over many days to get through, the writers are true masters of making incredibly unsettling dystopias.\nGirl in Space # Website | RSS\nThe most hypercapitalism there ever did was.\nCtrl, Alt, Access # Website | RSS\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a little slow and rambly but I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t know what was going on in the world of video game accessibility without this invaluable resource.\nWanderer\u0026rsquo;s Journal # Website | RSS\nI need to relisten, I was only focused on creature\u0026rsquo;s wellbeing past a certain point and forgot to take in the rest of the plot.\nLast Known Position # Website | RSS\nA murder mystery and also there\u0026rsquo;s a big fish involved.\nSecond Star to the Left # Website | RSS\nI love the gay people bickering like shit but also being cute as all hell together.\nCamlann # Website | RSS\nFuck that ending got me right in the feels, also I need this soundtrack more than I need food and water.\nLeylines # Website | RSS\nTerrible name for SEO, nearly as bad as Ethan and Milo\u0026rsquo;s relationship with their dad.\nZero Hours # Website | RSS\nThe one about the city that floats above the clouds still plays on my mind every now and again.\nAll at Sea # Website | RSS\nI just want February to be okay, they don\u0026rsquo;t deserve this.\nThe Ballad of Anne \u0026amp; Mary # Website | RSS\nI wanna go be a queer pirate and meet a tragic end with my lover in a deeply poetic way after listening to this.\nDesert Skies FM # Website | RSS\nI mistrust everything Mac tells me as fact yet trust him implicitly, this conflict leaves me confused.\nDragon Shanty # Website | RSS\nPossessing a gold coin I cannot lose under any circumstances would give me a heart attack.\nSixth Door to the Left # Website | RSS\nWaiting for the 6th episode, something tells me it might be important.\nTime:Bombs # Website | RSS\nGabriel Urbina is a fucking wizard, wdym you produced this entire thing in a week?!?!\nEart(h) FM # Website | RSS\nI desperately hope there\u0026rsquo;s more where the first episode came from, absolutely adored the sense of radical hope it instilled in me.\nThe Finder\u0026rsquo;s Keeper # Website | RSS\nI love putting characters in the hands of unknowable Eldridge horrors and watching them suffer.\nCauterized # Website | RSS\nI have yet to hear any cauterisation, false advertising if you ask me.\nFootnote # Original Post This Is Based On\n","date":"27 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/one-sentence-per-podcast-october-2024/","section":"Blog","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to a new thing I\u0026rsquo;m starting to catalog all of the audio dramas and podcasts I\u0026rsquo;m currently caught up on and write a single sentence about each one. The sentences could be anything, they might be helpful, they might be entirely random, they might be something only I can interpret. Either way all of the podcasts on this list are well worth a listen, I highly recommend them all.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"One Sentence Per Podcast (October 2024)","type":"blog"},{"content":"","date":"27 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/podcast/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Podcast","type":"tags"},{"content":"Welcome to the start of my blog where I\u0026rsquo;ll be telling a few life stories, moaning about the government and updating on projects I\u0026rsquo;m currently working on. I\u0026rsquo;ve been procrastinating starting up a blog for ages, I\u0026rsquo;ve known I should do it to document all my software development and other such projects, especially through university, but I\u0026rsquo;ve been unmedicated for ADHD for 23 years of my life (so far) so I think I can cut myself a little bit of slack on that one.\nI want to make this a space I can write my thoughts out more long form about the goings on in what I\u0026rsquo;m doing, both in terms of projects I create but also to share the frustrations I experience as a disabled individual navigating the UK social care system which seems to be dying a little more every day that passes. So in summary about anything interesting I think will be enjoyable to read I\u0026rsquo;ll write up to go here.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve already done a basic write up for my currently ongoing project PodTally which you can read over on my projects list or by going directly to the PodTally article.\nA Little History # Content warnings: Discussion of memory loss and autistic burnout\nWe\u0026rsquo;re going to cover the history of my life in a fairly rushed whistle stop tour to get you caught up, nothing deeply personal but enough to get you up to speed on roughly who I am and hopefully give you some motivation to care about what I write in future by getting you invested in my story.\nPre 18 (and a lil bit after) # I know a lot of info about my time as a child but unfortunately I have dissociative memory loss and it most severely impacts my memories before I turned 18 so I don\u0026rsquo;t actually remember a lot of it directly.\nI know I went to school at private school where I met a group of chaotic queer individuals who mean the world to me, I haven\u0026rsquo;t spoken to a lot of them in a while because I\u0026rsquo;m really bad at staying in touch (oops). School was an awful time as both an undiagnosed Autistic individual and an unmedicated, undiagnosed ADHD child. I learned to ignore my own boundaries and assume that pain was normal and I was just lazy because I couldn\u0026rsquo;t get the work done till it was an emergency. Very much in the \u0026ldquo;gifted and talented\u0026rdquo; throughout school till it all crashed and burned at A-Levels when I just couldn\u0026rsquo;t push myself any more.\nNow I said \u0026ldquo;crashed and burned\u0026rdquo; but I still came away from A-Levels with decent grades, they just weren\u0026rsquo;t astounding which felt like the world ending at the time. Top tip to parents, grades are all fake, grading on a curve is deeply unethical. Do not push your kids to be outstanding or even to get a good grade, they are only useful if your kid wants them but be real with them and let them know that the system of GCSEs and A-Levels requires that thousands of kids across the UK fail, regardless of their own individual effort or aptitude. The system is broken, be honest with kids, they deserve to know how messed up it is and not to have to contend with that after attaching all their self worth to a grade and crashing out if they get unlucky.\nAnd that\u0026rsquo;s about all the important things about me before I left school. I could talk for days about how often I hung around the computer science department (how did nobody spot I was autistic, I was obsessed with computers) or about the CCF and all the odd things that went on there but maybe another time.\nSheffield University # After absolutely muddling my way through the university clearing process because I shot way too high with my initial picks. Thank fuck I didn\u0026rsquo;t get a lot of those though because they would have burned me out way sooner if I\u0026rsquo;d gotten into any of those. The University of Sheffield seemed like a really good option and I did enjoy what little of the first year I managed to get in, but the pandemic quickly killed my education experience, moved back home for a year or so and utterly destroyed my mental health again through the pandemic.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s also during the pandemic I began to become increasingly physically disabled and finally after a year and a half of the pandemic I hit autistic burnout and had to completely drop out of university half way through my 3rd year. For a little context on autistic burnout, it\u0026rsquo;s nothing like the typical burnout that allistic individuals experience and much more like a traumatic brain injury. You completely loose the ability to function, skills regress and your threshold for things going wrong absolutely plummets.\nI\u0026rsquo;m still recovering from that to this day and have been unable to return to university and complete my degree, both because I\u0026rsquo;m not done with recovery years later, and because accommodations never got put in place. The University of Sheffield never even put a personal evacuation plan in place despite knowing I couldn\u0026rsquo;t consistently use stairs in an emergency. The NHS still hasn\u0026rsquo;t gotten me ADHD medication and I\u0026rsquo;m stuck using caffeine to bridge the gap.\nWhere I am now # I\u0026rsquo;m now living where I can trying to hammer out stable accommodation and fighting with my local council to get them to provide housing and social support. Luckily I have my incredible partner of 2 years who is an absolute gem in my life and absolutely the reason I\u0026rsquo;m still here.\nI\u0026rsquo;m incredibly tired and doing my best to rest and unlearn the idea that work is the end goal. Recovery from burnout is about me enjoying myself and living as well as I can, as authentically as possible.\nThere are a few more stories to tell in there that I will at some point but that covers the basics, look out for more to come.\nThank you for reading to the end :)\n","date":"10 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/a-very-tired-start/","section":"Blog","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the start of my blog where I\u0026rsquo;ll be telling a few life stories, moaning about the government and updating on projects I\u0026rsquo;m currently working on. I\u0026rsquo;ve been procrastinating starting up a blog for ages, I\u0026rsquo;ve known I should do it to document all my software development and other such projects, especially through university, but I\u0026rsquo;ve been unmedicated for ADHD for 23 years of my life (so far) so I think I can cut myself a little bit of slack on that one.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A Very Tired Start","type":"blog"},{"content":"","date":"10 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/adhd/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"ADHD","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"10 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/autism/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Autism","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"10 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/disability/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Disability","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"10 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mental-health/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mental Health","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"22 July 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/development/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Development","type":"tags"},{"content":"PodTally is a service I\u0026rsquo;m currently developing to allow users to sync their podcast listening progress across apps and services like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and RSS podcast apps like the open source Antenna Pod.\nUsers will be able to create a personalised profile to let them share their listening progress and recommendations with friends or even publicly.\nFor the moment I\u0026rsquo;m just collecting sign ups to the mailing list while developing things behind the scenes. Join if you\u0026rsquo;d like to be kept up to date on the work I\u0026rsquo;m doing behind the scenes and for early access to the site.\nView the live website | Join the Mailing List # 🏗️ This article is still under construction # ","date":"22 July 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/podtally/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003ePodTally is a service I\u0026rsquo;m currently developing to allow users to sync their podcast listening progress across apps and services like \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSpotify\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eApple Podcasts\u003c/a\u003e and RSS podcast apps like the open source \u003ca href=\"https://antennapod.org/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAntenna Pod\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"PodTally","type":"projects"},{"content":"Browse all my projects both past and present, more to come here as I write them all up.\n","date":"22 July 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBrowse all my projects both past and present, more to come here as I write them all up.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Projects","type":"projects"},{"content":"","date":"22 July 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/website/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Website","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"26 May 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/lgbtq+/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"LGBTQ+","type":"tags"},{"content":"Queer Calendar Sheffield is a website designed to archive and publish all the information about LGBTQ+ and Queer events within Sheffield. It was launched off the back of a public google calendar and behind the scenes the website runs off that google calendar.\nCurrently the site is not being updated due to my ordeal with housing. I hope to be able to bring it up to date sometime soon.\nView Live Website | View On GitHub # 🏗️ This article is still under construction # ","date":"26 May 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/queer-calendar-sheffield/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eQueer Calendar Sheffield is a website designed to archive and publish all the information about LGBTQ+ and Queer events within Sheffield. It was launched off the back of a public google calendar and behind the scenes the website runs off that google calendar.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Queer Calendar Sheffield","type":"projects"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/com1003/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"COM1003","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/com1008/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"COM1008","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/css/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"CSS","type":"tags"},{"content":"This assignment tasked us to create a website for the Fourth Floor of the Diamond Building with some specific requirements for design, CSS and javascript interactivity.\nView Code Here # 🏗️ This article is still under construction # ","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/university/first-year/fourth-floor-website/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis assignment tasked us to create a website for the Fourth Floor of the Diamond Building with some specific requirements for design, CSS and javascript interactivity.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Fourth Floor Website","type":"projects"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/html/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"HTML","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/java/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Java","type":"tags"},{"content":"This exercise was designed to test the ability to read in and decode files based on a file specification and the use of graphics by displaying decoded images. I did well on this one, learned from previous mistakes and validated the code didn\u0026rsquo;t call too many stream readers. Other than that it was fairly easy.\nPart of the COM1003 Module.\nView Source Code # 🏗️ This article is still under construction # ","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/university/first-year/java-fish/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis exercise was designed to test the ability to read in and decode files based on a file specification and the use of graphics by displaying decoded images. I did well on this one, learned from previous mistakes and validated the code didn\u0026rsquo;t call too many stream readers. Other than that it was fairly easy.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Java Fish","type":"projects"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/javascript/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"JavaScript","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/web-development/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Web Development","type":"tags"},{"content":"Fairly simple currency conversion assessment designed to get us using the input, output and mathematical operators in Java. I managed to mess up the input reader when I wrote this so I actually failed it quite badly.\nPart of the COM1003 Module.\nView Source Code # 🏗️ This article is still under construction # ","date":"22 October 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/university/first-year/currency-conversion/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFairly simple currency conversion assessment designed to get us using the input, output and mathematical operators in Java. I managed to mess up the input reader when I wrote this so I actually failed it quite badly.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Currency Conversion","type":"projects"},{"content":"This lists all the projects I completed as part of my study at The University of Sheffield.\n","date":"11 September 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/university/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis lists all the projects I completed as part of my study at The University of Sheffield.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"University","type":"projects"},{"content":"This lists all the projects I completed as part of my first year of university.\n","date":"11 September 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/university/first-year/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis lists all the projects I completed as part of my first year of university.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"University - First Year","type":"projects"},{"content":"This is the earliest example of my code I\u0026rsquo;m currently aware of, I think all the code I wrote before this is lost to time. Potentially there\u0026rsquo;s some earlier works hidden away in python on my archive of my school drive. Sorting through all that is a job for another day though.\nRunning the Code Again # Thanks to the wonders of Java the code was pretty easy to just run again after 7 years of being archived away. I did however have absolutely no idea what bits of the code worked and how a younger me had designed the user interface. Below is the first time I tried running the code:\nName of Player 1: Player 1 Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): That name is too long.(sarcasm) Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): AI: Computer Select AI difficulty(Easy, Medium or Impossible): Easy This is essentially a random number generator you are playing against so it will act very stupidly. Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): p Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): p Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): p Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): p Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): P Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): p Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): b Exception in thread \u0026#34;main\u0026#34; java.lang.NullPointerException at com.company.Main.AIMove(Main.java:243) at com.company.Main.AIVSUserGame(Main.java:151) at com.company.Main.main(Main.java:52) You can tell I had no idea what I was doing from this alone. I also deeply despise my terrible error message That name is too long.(sarcasm) when you don\u0026rsquo;t add a name. From what I can tell of the code the functionality of the AI doesn\u0026rsquo;t actually work despite a lot of the logic for it being in the code. Presumably I gave up after getting frustrated with the code. The PvP mode might work, so I gave that a try next, however in doing so I ran into this odd behaviour:\nName of Player 1: p1 Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): p2 That name is too long.(sarcasm) Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): p2 That name is too long.(sarcasm) Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): p That name is too long.(sarcasm) Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): player2 Now I\u0026rsquo;m wondering how this ever worked, what sequence of inputs will ever get this code to run? After much more testing I cannot seem to get this code to run a game at all. So now I\u0026rsquo;m gonna dig through older versions of the code and the commits to try and find anything that works.\nFinding Working Code In this Mess # I tried an excessive quantity of the code running every single one of the versions available on the git history but none of them seemed to work. Every commit contained multiple changes part fixes for the code, part broken new features that completely disabled the game. Thank god I now do better and make smaller commits to my code.\nThe best I could do, after an excessive quantity of effort, was get the below output after which point the game didn\u0026rsquo;t even load any further:\nName of Player 1: Yellow Name of Player 2 (Make the prefix to the name \u0026#39;AI:\u0026#39; should you want an AI to play against): AI:Green Select AI difficulty(Easy, Medium or Impossible): Medium This mode is either non-existent or hasn\u0026#39;t been fully implemented yet please make another choice. Select AI difficulty(Easy, Medium or Impossible): Easy This is essentially a random number generator you are playing against so it will act very stupidly. Would you like to start(enter: p) or would you like the bot to start(enter: b): b The code itself looks nearly functional but it seems like I only ever committed it when the code was broken and I took a break never actually committing the working versions of the code. The commit messages were deeply unhelpful constantly suggesting that the code should work despite it\u0026rsquo;s refusal to do so. I do not think I can get this ancient code to run again.\nFixing the Code # I\u0026rsquo;m not giving in till I get to play a game on my ancient code, some of this code should work, I just need to pull it out and reorganise the whole thing a little. Thankfully, it\u0026rsquo;s quite over annotated, and split up into functions that I can pull apart. The goal of this is not to recode it to be better code, I just want to play a game on as much of my old code as I can salvage. So lets start with a high level plan of how this code was supposed to operate and work backwards from there.\nHow the Code Should Work # The main function is the entry point to the code and clearly meant to serve as the control sequence for the game performing the tasks needed for setting up a game and then calling a function to play a game based on the setup inputs the user gave. Next there are the 10 other functions SetUpBoard, ReadUser, PrintTable, UserVSUserGame, AIVSUserGame, PostMoveModification, DirectionalModifiers, AIMove, ReadUserInt and UserMove. Though it should b noted UserVSUserGame is never called in the latest version of the code, presumably because it was disabled for testing purposes while implementing the AI game or doesn\u0026rsquo;t currently work.\nThe game also relies on two data structures that seem to be set up as global variables for all functions to access, v not great programming practice but also the idea that I was using deliberate data structures at this point is impressive. Here they are in the code right at the start:\n//This is the grid array that will be used in the game to store all of the grids info. //0 = Not Taken, 1 = White Occupation, 2 = Black Occupation. private static int[][] Grid = new int[8][8]; //This stores the last move made so that the programme can change the grid according to the move made. private static int[] LastMove = new int[2]; The Grid data structure is okay but kinda odd that it isn\u0026rsquo;t a boolean grid with null denoting where there is no piece placed, I assume this is just because I didn\u0026rsquo;t know that was a thing you could do. The LastMove stores coordinates of the last move which makes sense with how the code works but I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t end up needing such a data structure if I made this now.\nSetUpBoard: Fills the grid with 0\u0026rsquo;s using iteration over every space to represent empty spaces and then sets up the center 2x2 checkerboard of pieces needed at the start of the game. ReadUser: Little more cryptic, prints out the string message it is passed and takes a user input using the Scanner library. It opens a new scanner every time which is very janky, I didn\u0026rsquo;t find out this was bad practice till I was half way through my first year at University. PrintTable: Prints out the players names, then the grid of the board. Oddly this takes the players names as inputs but not the grid itself. Why I chose to make the grid a global variable but not the player names is beyond me. UserVSUserGame: Looks like it\u0026rsquo;s meant to run a PvP game but the code is incomplete currently and only allows one player to make a move before exiting, this explains some of the odd behaviour while trying to get the code to work. AIVSUserGame: Again much like the UserVSUserGame it looks like it just isn\u0026rsquo;t completed but it\u0026rsquo;s meant to allow the user to play against an AI of variable difficulty. It\u0026rsquo;s a shame because lots of the grunt work is done the control loop to run the game was just never completed and sits empty. PostMoveModification: This is the beginning of my deeply cursed blind coding, 3 nested loops, not the worst in this code but still quite bad. As far as I can tell this code checks if the last move enclosed any pieces and then flips them. It does this in quite a general way, at least considering the coding and mathematics skills I had at the time, I\u0026rsquo;m just disgusted at the horrific use of nested loops past me was so keen on. DirectionalModifiers: Again this function is shocking in how clever the idea behind it is even if the code itself is deeply cursed behaviour. It would create vectors indexed between 0-7 each one would represent one of the 8 directions you could form a line along in the game grid. This function seems useful for generalising directions but an indexed constant array would be much more reliable and much less cursed. AIMove: Clearly meant to spit out a move based on the state of the current board but I could not even begin to tell you how it works, it is some of the most cursed code I\u0026rsquo;ve ever seen. 4 loops and 4 conditions deep in a single function. ReadUserInt: Function for looping until the user inputs an integer using Integer.parseInt function and handling the error from it looping for as long as it errors. UserMove: This one is meant to do all the steps of taking a user\u0026rsquo;s move through the command line but it contains one of the most cursed if conditions I\u0026rsquo;ve ever seen, I have no idea how it works and I\u0026rsquo;d clearly gotten bored and stopped annotating my code at this point. Not actually sure how much of this code I can salvage having looked through it and all of the errors, also I think it will be a lot of work not to fix all of the things that aren\u0026rsquo;t errors but just really bad practice.\nUnit Testing # I figure the easiest way to get this code to a workable state, besides recoding everything from scratch in a completely different way, is to set up some unit testing on the functions so I can wrangle wrangle them and check they\u0026rsquo;re behaving how I\u0026rsquo;d expect.\nWork In Progress Article Still Being Written Up\n","date":"25 September 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/projects/mini-project-game/","section":"Projects","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the earliest example of my code I\u0026rsquo;m currently aware of, I think all the code I wrote before this is lost to time. Potentially there\u0026rsquo;s some earlier works hidden away in python on my archive of my school drive. Sorting through all that is a job for another day though.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mini Project Game (Othello/Reversi in Java)","type":"projects"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"}]