Dr Zoyander Street

Neuroqueer disabled artist-researcher working with games and interactive media. PhD Sociology.

Pronouns: they/them
Website: https://zoyander.cc
Videos: zoy (npub1kjk…vpp7)

Public Key

npub1l2syeggp7ewsrmcg9hczhh85me65cysmhhdqcm79ac9j6lsrp09qmyvp8m

NIP-05 Address

zoy_at_merveilles.town@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs04gzv5yqlvhgpauyzmuptmn6dua2vzgdmmksvdlz7uzed0cpshjspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dskp6cu6

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1l2syeggp7ewsrmcg9hczhh85me65cysmhhdqcm79ac9j6lsrp09qmyvp8m

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Last Notes

2026-07-01 17:04:23 UTC

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This is reassuring to hear, and also helps me to think realistically about the kind of multi-layered pressures that I've been under. I don't think it's realistic for me to expect myself to build community AND fund-raise AND create original work. Even the people I know who focus on only two of these three are burnt out right now.

2026-07-01 12:27:29 UTC

I spent a large chunk of 2021-2025 working really hard to build community - first through starting a community bookshop, and then through running online live interactive events that centre queer and disabled people. I failed over and over and over again to attract enough people to what I was doing.
I should probably focus on the successes. Or, I should probably stay cognisant of the major barriers that I have faced that made all of this extra difficult.
But I can't escape the feeling that it is I who is extra difficult. There's something broken about me that I can neither identify nor fix. Every idea I have, every project I try, is repulsive to all but a tiny cohort. I seem to be repulsive to the majority of people. Even when partnering with large arts orgs, the audience still doesn't materialise.
Now I physically cannot do it anymore, but also I am really struggling psychologically to make sense of what did and did not happen. I cannot imagine a future where things go differently, because I cannot find anything fixable that caused this. I have to assume that whatever I do in the future, it will be small and lonely. Somehow I have to make my peace with that.

2026-05-15 09:19:08 UTC

I've heard people refer to Starmer's predicament as "pigeons coming home to roost" - he carried out a purge of the left, told people "if you don't like it you can leave", party members and voters didn't like it and left. Now the gang of bullies that he gathered together to ostracise Momentum have turned that same energy onto him.
I wonder anyone involved sees it that way. I would bet that they consider what they did to the party a perfectly normal way to behave in community, and what's happening to Starmer is all just part of the same game. It seems like none of it is about any kind of principle, it's all just about whether or not you win.
This is why they don't care about trans people or disabled people and are so comfortable making our lives miserable. We already lost the game that they think everyone is playing.
#ukpol

2026-05-11 02:00:06 UTC

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https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/116/553/469/385/966/256/original/5e9dbfaed87910cc.png

2026-04-15 05:33:32 UTC

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Ooh lovely! Any advice on custom spellcheckers? I've been trying to figure out a way to quickly check my Shavian transcriptions for words that are not in the ReadLex list, and highlight any discrepancies.

2026-02-21 01:33:17 UTC

Instead of defending the use of LLMs for polishing up your writing, we could be advocating for unpolished writing. Blog posts with spelling errors and awkwardly repeated words. Emails that sound a bit less warm and professional because you forgot the preamble of "Apologies for the late reply, hope you're well! Thanks for the thing last week".
If there's no budget for a human editor, why should the text meet a "professional" (middle class, formally educated) standard? Dyslexic people can just write how they write and people can deal with it. Autistic people can just say what they mean to say and not waste energy on the double empathy gap.
We can learn to read for a more inclusive world, instead of wasting the planet's diminishing resources masking our differences.

2026-01-21 16:32:41 UTC

Absolutely appalling AI error on YouTube here. Carney: "The intermediate powers like Canada are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values".
Google's context panel: "New World Order is a term often used in conspiracy theories which hypothesise a secretly emerging totalitarian world government"
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/934/033/251/241/148/original/e81563465133ef01.png

2025-12-11 17:39:50 UTC

Anyone in #London tomorrow want to help out a struggling independent artist? My beautiful, queer show about finding out you're an alien is at Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham. Only one person is coming. Even one other person would double our attendance!
If you're not in London, you can still support us by joining online.
It's interactive but you won't be personally put on the spot, it's all done via your phone!
https://app.lineupnow.com/event/talos-v-science-fiction-theatre-festival-assigned-earth-at-birth?ref=post.intrapology.com
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/702/152/845/077/212/original/01c9283f923d6847.png

2025-11-20 16:23:02 UTC

You should come and see this in-person performance of my interactive queer sci-fi play Assigned Earth at Birth, at Bread and Roses Theatre in London on 11th or 12th December: https://app.lineupnow.com/event/talos-v-science-fiction-theatre-festival-assigned-earth-at-birth
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/582/945/278/356/556/original/7cc93efbd6ad6c8d.png

2025-11-11 14:35:55 UTC

A hybrid performance of Assigned Earth at Birth is coming to London in December, as part of the TALOS V science fiction theatre festival! https://post.intrapology.com/news/talos-v-science-fiction-theatre-festival-assigned-earth-at-birth/
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/531/563/296/363/049/original/2db0bcc6e52c86ab.png

2025-10-26 03:58:06 UTC

Some (groups of) parks, mapped with Marcelo Prates’s Prettymaps https://github.com/marceloprates/prettymaps
All using my custom preset that focuses on green spaces and leisure / culture. Do you recognise any of them? I love how each has its own characteristic shape.
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/438/457/815/879/486/original/a03adc4cc01f6651.png
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/438/458/002/529/343/original/1c69d36d11df3239.png
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/438/458/165/050/830/original/f30478a5b0552cc7.png
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/438/458/349/840/802/original/f3c046b970277451.png

2025-09-06 17:19:36 UTC

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I agree, but you never know with living languages!

2025-09-06 12:04:44 UTC

I know how I say it, but how do you all pronounce the word "zine"?

2025-08-14 12:49:11 UTC

Map of regions supported by the UK government’s Department for Culture Media and Sports (DCMS) Create Growth programme. A frustrating time to be running a creative business in South Yorkshire.
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/027/197/196/506/341/original/ea07fafbc0942628.png
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/115/027/197/574/092/448/original/294125d2ffa1ab01.png
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2025-08-06 12:12:38 UTC

My workspace for the afternoon in Roscoff, France. Planning some queer tabletop games activities to explore young people's sense of place in Rotherham. Overheard the hotel reception worker talking about her journey from Ukraine to Portugal to here. "Habaita" by Fairouz is playing from a tinny radio.
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/114/981/753/090/489/661/original/faf234c5099ddf63.jpg

2025-05-16 17:38:56 UTC

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You wouldn't need to do much in the next few months, though a 150-word pitch of something you might like to do would be helpful. We're only at the proposal stage right now, and it's going to be slow because it's an academic press (though they're keen on responses well outside of academic essays, including illustration, interactive works, etc.)

2025-05-16 17:30:22 UTC

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I'm working on a book proposal for a collection of responses to Ursula K. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness - would you potentially be interested in contributing something?

2025-03-20 16:11:59 UTC

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Thanks. It sounds like I just can't make it work safely. I definitely cannot travel without masking, and my political stances are extremely easy to find. They wouldn't even need to know my social media handles.

2025-03-20 15:00:09 UTC

How seriously should I take the warnings not to visit the US right now? I have two events coming up in the next few months that I'm considering attending in person. It's already quite complicated to account for the environmental cost and the health risks of doing so as a disabled and immune compromised person. Add to that the possibility of being detained due to being a freelancer or a leftie, as indicated by a worryingly large number of anecdotal reports... what's a reasonable response to the current level of risk?

2025-03-18 15:07:43 UTC

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it's also an issue in educational settings, due to the NSFW associations with the term. It just seems so misguided to cede that ground, surely it's an ideal opportunity to build familiarity with open source software.

2024-12-18 23:53:31 UTC

𐑚𐑲 ·𐑧𐑥𐑦𐑤𐑦 𐑛𐑦𐑒𐑦𐑯𐑕𐑩𐑯 | by Emily Dickinson (1890)
𐑞 𐑕𐑒𐑲 𐑦𐑟 𐑤𐑴 – 𐑞 𐑒𐑤𐑬𐑛𐑟 𐑸 𐑥𐑰𐑯
𐑩 𐑑𐑮𐑨𐑝𐑩𐑤𐑦𐑙 𐑓𐑤𐑱𐑒 𐑝 𐑕𐑯𐑴
𐑩𐑒𐑮𐑪𐑕 𐑩 𐑚𐑸𐑯 𐑹 𐑔𐑮𐑵 𐑩 𐑮𐑳𐑑
𐑛𐑦𐑚𐑱𐑑𐑕 𐑓 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑜𐑴 –
𐑩 𐑯𐑩𐑮𐑴 𐑢𐑦𐑯𐑛 𐑒𐑪𐑥𐑐𐑤𐑱𐑯𐑟 𐑷𐑤 𐑛𐑱
𐑣𐑬 𐑕𐑳𐑥𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑑𐑮𐑰𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑣𐑦𐑥
𐑯𐑱𐑗𐑼, 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑳𐑕, 𐑦𐑟 𐑕𐑳𐑥𐑑𐑲𐑥𐑟 𐑒𐑹𐑑
𐑢𐑦𐑞𐑬𐑑 𐑣𐑻 𐑛𐑲𐑩𐑛𐑧𐑥
#shavian #𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯

2024-12-02 18:57:08 UTC

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omg yes I love this kind of thing

2024-12-02 17:17:40 UTC

Why is nobody talking about this? Despite massive increase in incidences of "murdery", it is still not in the dictionary, even though it clearly has different connotations than "murderous". My first memory of its use is Buffy Season 6 (2001), but it is also notably used in Undertale (2015) and Hazbin Hotel (2024).
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/113/584/339/578/911/444/original/966577c3955440b8.png
https://assets.merveilles.town/media_attachments/files/113/584/339/577/879/138/original/f4e9027c93db9c9c.png

2024-10-04 15:27:59 UTC

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yes that's what I've been inclined to go towards. Especially now that it's networked??? Might have a rave-from-home experience after the performance instead of a Q&A

2024-10-04 12:39:46 UTC

I'm exploring the possibility of including livecoded audio and visuals in the next episode of [@intrapology](https://assemblag.es/@intrapology ), but it's been a few years since I really engaged with the scene. I'd love to hear what's been exciting people recently. What should I be exploring?
[@tidalcycles](https://social.toplap.org/@tidalcycles ) is my comfort zone, but I'm hoping to use something that does visuals at the same time - I'm sure I remember learning years ago about something that does this.
I'm already looking through this resource: https://github.com/toplap/awesome-livecoding

2024-09-21 17:56:28 UTC

I'm running into an issue with my software / interface / web design being perceived as "retro", when that's not exactly what I'm going for. I want to imagine a future in which we make our existing devices run better, rather than replacing everything every few years. It's not about evoking the past, it's about imagining a more expansive present. It's frustrating to make anti-capitalist art, and then have it interpreted as nostalgia for old products of corporations.

2024-08-27 22:56:34 UTC

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I'm long overdue a rewatch, remedying that now!

2024-08-27 22:14:37 UTC

How is Xorg pronounced out loud? #linux