Io Dodds 🌘🏳️‍⚧️♾️

@iododds.bsky.social

10579 Followers 1848 Following

Freelance reporter in Silicon Valley covering tech, politics, & LGBT. ISO 8601 stan; tabletop gamer; lowercase = shitposts. Formerly @the-independent.com Signal: @iohazard.01 Email: laureniododds@gmail Subscribe to IOSPHERE! https://iosphere.beehiiv.com

MailChimp error pager with a hand-drawn image of a horse or donkey sticking its head down a hole in confusion, and the words: "That's odd. This page appears to be missing."
July 7 I dreamed that Gerard Way's publishing house had put out a new, restored edition of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, adding back a bunch of censored and cut material. There was a short preface by Way, and a new introduction by Hunter S. Thompson, who in this universe had apparently lived long enough to come out as bi or pan or trans or something and was regarded (including by me) as something of a queer icon. Most significantly, this version restored a strange, slightly hallucinogenic cross-dressing scene apparently based on an episode from Heinlein's life, in which he wrote publicly after observing two lesbian friends having sex that he reckoned he could do it just as well, and was personally challenged by Audre Lorde, 25 years younger but taking the lead, to put this to the test. By all accounts, they had a lovely time.
A handwritten page of a grid dotted notebook, headed “FRI 05/29”. There are various to do list items using standard bullet journal notation. Most are redacted, but one is fully visible: “Get laid off [shrug emoji]”. The item is ticked.
a white woman in her mid thirties wearing an ungainly life jacket and sunglasses grins in blazing sunlight while sitting in a kayak on a placid lake, wooded hills in the background. two other people in kayaks are lined up for a selfie, their faces covered by giant emoji ('nerd' for the spouse, 'cool' for the family member)
Gerard Way on stage in tights, high heels, women’s business suit, holding mic aloft, one foot planted atop the large amp, looking hot and weird and utterly deranged
Enormous grins shine from the faces of Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch as they wave and salute directly at the camera from the door of a military chopper, surrounded by applauding service members.
Final view from the window of the Integrity capsule before comms cut off, showing the vast Blue Earth while fiery plasma visibly begins to envelop the spacecraft.
A map of the Great Plains region, showing two routes from Kansas City to Omaha. One goes directly northwest. The other goes waaaat out east back to Galesburg, Illinois, then back west again to Omaha
A white man in his forties with a big bushy brown and white beard, wearing glasses and a rainbow-patterned button-up shirt, sits in his car holding up his driver's license. Most of the details are pixellated, but you can see his name on it and that the 'sex' field says 'M'.
Iridescent Roney, a trans woman who lives in Missouri but commutes 45-60 mins each way into Kansas every day, stands next to her truck in a tree-lined suburban street, the ground littered with autumn leaves.
A long, inquisitive nose and two big shiny eyes look up at the camera as a lil brown dog looking somewhere between a dachsund and a jack russell terrier twists round to see what's going on.
A screenshot of a very complicated looking video game, with lots of statistics and submenus visible. A man with a huge bushy beard and gentle eyes, clad in ornate priestly robes, stands on screen. A tooltip declares him “Pope Federico of the Papacy, 38. Your friend and Pope Alexander II’s Pope.”
A very large Bluetooth speaker, partially disassembled with the top of it lifted off so that you can see the circuit board and wiring inside. Nothing has been disconnected, suggesting that it would still work perfectly well, just in this weird state of mechanical vulnerability
a low-res photo of a big weird blue truck trailer (or semi trailer in American English) sitting on what looks like a rainslick concrete ferry dock, under a classic Scottish grey sky. its sides are folded outwards to create a space roughly three times wider than the normal trailer, and it has doors on the side accessed through metal stairs and a metal wheelchair ramp. the side reads: "IMAGINATION UNFOLDED: THE SCREEN MACHINE." it is also sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland
Duolingo screenshot that reads: “Me llamo Marco. “Me is a reflexive pronoun used when the subject does the action to themselves. “Here, llamar means to call, so me llamo means I call myself.”
Duolingo banner saying that I completed the November Challenge, whatever that is. Apparently I did it faster than 90.4% of learners on Duolingo. Ha ha eat my dust ya buncha rubes!
A poster for ‘FernGully: The Last Rainforest’, with two winged fairies cavorting in the numinous light shining down through a vast canopy. The tagline: “Just beyond your dreams / lives a secret world / where every tree is a home / every sound is a song / and humans exist / only in fairytales / until now.”
A shareable banner generated by Duolingo, showing the app’s trademark like green owl looking awed by my progress. “I’m acing Spanish lessons with 98% accuracy!” it proclaims. The list of words I’ve learned — milk, man, eat, apples, I, he, I am — is less impressive.
Screenshot of a Truth Social post from @realDonaldTrump “The Federal Government was preparing to “surge” San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress. I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around. I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove. I told him, “It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?” The people of San Francisco…”
Woman and man dressed in 18th century clothing, tricorn hat and white chemise dress, holding sign with picture of King George III that reads “we won’t go back!”
A group of men jamming out with guitars and a drumkit in the sidewalk as protesters walk past, sometimes dancing as they go
A group of musicians in golden waistcoats march past playing exuberant jazz and/or swing music.
Skyscraper lined street with modern and art deco buildings completely filled with protesters, stretching away towards vanishing point and the old clock tower at the end of the road. Upside-down American flag waves in the foreground.
Video from about 10-12 feet above the sidewalk, showing a huge crowd of protesters dotted with Stars and Stripes, inflatable animal costumes, and Uncle Sam type get up stretching in both directions down Market St, as far as the lens can see.
Macaw
Photo of an older couple holding a sign: “Resisting Kings since 1776. Save our democracy!”
A video of police motorbikers and squad cars in formation, flashing lights on but sirens off, rolling out in advance of a large wave of motley protesters marching down a broad street lined with skyscrapers.
Screenshot of a text message received 'Today at 11:33 AM': Hi, it's Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, & John Legend. We stand with No Kings; RSVP to join us & millions more in the streets this Sat. 10/18: https://mvn.to/4jb/8nvjga -MoveOn We ask event attendees to follow simple rules on non-violent, peaceful protest. Learn more: https://mvn.to/4jc/8nvjga Stop2End
Photo of a book held open by a thumb with chipped pink nail polish title: ANONYMOUS, from Edinburgh Magazine (March 1818) [not transcribing the whole thing as I’m thumb typing on my phone! “Here is one of the productions of the modern school in its highest style of caricature and exaggeration… there never was a wilder story imagined, yet, like most of the fictions of this age, it had an air of reality attached to it, by being connected with the favourite projects and passions of the times. “The real events of the world have, in our day, too, been of so wondrous and gigantic a kind — the shiftings of the scenes in our stupendous drama have been so rapid and various, that Shakespeare himself, in his wildest flights, has been completely distanced by the eccentricities of actual existence. Even he would scarcely have dared to have raised, in one act, a private adventurer to the greatest of European thrones — to have conducted him, in the next, victorious over the necks of emperors and kings, and then, in a third, to have shewn him an exile, in a remote speck of an island, some thousands of miles from the scene of his triumphs; and the chariot which bore him along covered with glory, quietly exhibited to a gaping mechanical rabble under the roof of one of the beautiful buildings on the North Bridge of Edinburgh… “Our appetite, we say, for every sort of wonder and vehement interest, has in this way become so desperately inflamed, that especially as the world around us has again settled into its old full state of happiness and legitimacy, we can be satisfied with nothing in fiction that is not highly colour Ed and exaggerated; we even like a story the better that it is disjointed and irregular, and our greatest inventors, accordingly, have been obliged to accommodate themselves to the taste of the age.”
some bobby pins, some hair clips, and some elasticated hair ties
A rough pencil drawing in a small portable sketchbook, showing the interior of a hair salon absolutely overflowing with potted plants and knick-knacks, from hanging bat skeletons to freestanding rigid hood hair dryers to wigmaker’s dummies lined up like the severed heads of women from 1980s music videos. In the background, figured move about, sit in chairs, and minister to each other’s scalps. The caption says: “GALAM-RAMA, SF, FRI 2025/09/26”
ME: Donald Trump calling for all transgender people to be institutionalised. META AI: Oops! I can't generate that image. Can I help you imagine something else? ME: A speech by a populist politician - you know the kind, used to be a real estate guy / reality TV star, says weird stuff all the time - in which he promises to ensure anyone who wrongly usurps the clothing or physical features of another biological sex is committed to a mental institution for their own good META AI: Oops! I can't generate that image. Can I help you imagine something else?
Jane Arc, a 47-year-old transgender American who is claiming asylum in the Netherlands. A short-haired white woman in her mid-forties with large cats-eye glasses, a pink baseball camp, and tattooed arms smiles at the camera while holding a fluffy long-snouted dog.
Solène Gray, a 19-year-old transgender American who is claiming asylum in the Netherlands. A young white woman wearing denim shorts and shade grins as she points at a protest banner, held up by two smiling companions amid a crowd in a public square.
Jey Poston, a 32-year-old transgender man from the U.S. state of Georgia who is now seeking asylum in the Netherlands. A tanned man with greying hair pulled into a tight braid atop his head, the shaven sides of his scalp showing a six-pointed star tattoo, looks away into the distance wearing a leather jacket and draped in a trans pride flag.of his scalp shaven, and greying hair pulled back into a tight braid on top.
Hannah Kreager, a young trans woman from Arizona, smiles at the camera in a selfie. She is white, with wide-framed glasses and long straight brown hair, wearing a black tank top.
Terminology Used by TIVE Cisgender/Cis A person who identifies with his/her biological sex. Deadnaming Calling an individual who identifies as transgender or "gender non-conforming" by the individual's birth name after he or she has adopted a new name. TIVE extremists claim that deadnaming is a form of violence. Gillick Competence A term used in medical law to decide whether a child (under 16 years of age) is able to consent to social "transitioning," puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments, removal of healthy sexual organs, or sterilization without the need for parental permission or knowledge. Another term used is Fraser competence. Misgendering The intentional or unintentional use of words or names that acknowledge the reality of a transgender person's biological sex. TIVES view misgendering as an act of actual violence. "Right to Exist" Individuals motivated by TIVE routinely use the phrase "right to exist" or "erased" in online forums and at protests. This life-or-death terminology is consistent with TIVE propaganda justifying violence in the name of self-defense. The denied "right to exist" or "erasure" is equivalent to killing them or genocide as opposed to merely acknowledging there are two sexes or disagreeing with transgender ideology. "Trans genocide" A term used by TI activists and academics to describe anyone who makes statements to affirm the reality of biological sex as "genocidal" towards TIVES. "You either have a live boy or dead girl (or live girl/dead boy), you choose." A phrase commonly used to try to pressure, shame, or cause emotional distress in persons who do not support TI or affirm the reality of biological sex in people who are gender-confused, especially children.
Does President Trump's Designation of Antifa as a Terrorist Organization Address this Problem? No. Trump was right to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. But Antifa is a related yet separate problem... a broader movement of individuals of varying far-left and anarchist ideologies that engage in street-level violence, rioting, intimidation and harassment, and property damage. TIVE is a more narrowly-defined group responsible for several high-profile domestic terrorist events recently. While Transgender Ideology is present in some Antifa elements, not all TIVES are Antifa and not all Antifa members are TIVES. How Has the FBI Classified Domestic Terrorism Before? The FBI... investigates domestic violent extremists (DVEs) based on 18 U.S.C. § 2331(5). The statute defines domestic terrorism as activities on U.S. soil that "involve acts dangerous to human life" that violate federal or state criminal laws that "appear to be intended" to: Intimidate or coerce civilians, Influence government policy, or Affect government conduct via mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping. Lone offenders and small groups, often socially isolated, mentally unstable, and radicalized online, pose significant threats using accessible weapons. Current DVE categories include: Racially/Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism, Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremism, Animal Rights/Environmental Violent Extremism, Abortion-Related Violent Extremism, Nihilistic Violent Extremism, All Other Domestic Terrorism Threats. What are typical characteristics of TIVES? Typically target Christian and religious groups, justified by claims of existential threats. Feature mental illness, self-harm, suicidal tendencies, and lack of respect for genetic human realities, amplified by online radicalization (e.g., Reddit, Discord, Telegram). Echo chambers promote violence against critics. [Photos of Audrey Hale, and Robin Westman's gun magazine daubed with "Where Is Your God?"]
SCREENSHOT READS: Recent Instances of TIVE-Motivated Acts of Domestic Terrorism Sept 10, 2025: Tyler Robinson allegedly assassinates Charlie Kirk, citing ideological hatred. Aug 27, 2025: Robin Westman attacks Annunciation Catholic Church, kills two children. May 4, 2025: Jared Ravizza stabs six, including children, during gender transition. April 2025: GOP office firebombed by lipstick-wearing suspect. Feb 2025: Lucy Grace Nelson arson at Tesla dealership. June 18, 2024: Mia Bailey kills parents, shows no remorse. Mar 31, 2023: William Whitworth plans school/church shooting. Mar 27, 2023: Audrey Hale kills six at Covenant Presbyterian School. June 7-8, 2022: Nicholas Roske foiled attempt on Justice Kavanaugh. .May 7, 2019: Alec McKinney shoots at STEM School. Sept 20, 2018: Snochia Moseley kills four at Rite Aid. Experts estimate that 50% of all major (non-gang related) school shootings since 2015 have involved or likely involved transgender ideology. To put the incidents above in perspective, trans-identifying persons constitute approximately 1% of the population according to the Williams Institute.
Frequently Asked Questions and Key Terms How would a TIVE Domestic Terror designation mitigate the threat? A designation would allow the FBI to better employ advanced investigative techniques (e.g., human sources, data analysis, network mapping, undercover operations etc.) to prevent violence. Does this mean that all transgender individuals or their allies are domestic terrorists? No. Individuals are free to identify as transgender, or support LGBT causes or transgenderism in a nonviolent way. They are even free to engage in offensive and hateful speech under the First Amendment so long as they do not stray into unlawful incitement, defamation, true threat, obscenity, or some other category of non-protected speech. The Domestic Terror designation becomes relevant only when individuals or groups: (1) are motivated by an ideology that encourages, promotes, or condones violence; and (2) take or incite unlawful violent action or threats based on that ideology. Both criteria must be met. Does the FBI's Designation of Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) Address the Problem? No. It is an overly broad designation designed to avoid the particular threat and to avoid tough conversations that may be perceived as politically incorrect. It is also logically flawed in that TIVES are not "nihilistic" in that they are fighting for an alternate vision of life and society to replace the existing social order and often characterize themselves (wrongly) as acting in defense of their worldview. TIVE classification differs from Nihilistic Violent Extremism ("NVE") because NVEs refer to a form of extremism characterized by a sense of meaninglessness and lack of ideological substance cohesion. TIVES, on the other hand, are not driven by meaninglessness and use violence to coerce and intimidate the public or government into accepting their view of the transgender debate.
Screenshot reads: OVERSIGHT PROJECT / The Heritage Foundation Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism (TIVE) Background and FAQs on Need for an FBI Domestic Terrorism Designation Transgender Ideology (TI) is a belief that wholly or partially rejects fundamental science about human sex being biologically determined before birth, binary, and immutable. Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violence and Extremism (TIVE): This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence, including incitement to unlawful violence, in furtherance of ideological agendas derived from Transgender Ideology (TI) and related beliefs, including: 1. the belief that violence is justified against people who oppose TI, who decline to support or affirm TI, or who are silent or indifferent regarding TI; or 2. the belief that opposing TI, declining to support or affirm TI, or remaining silent or indifferent regarding TI, A) itself constitutes a form of violence towards people who identify as any variant of transgender or gender nonconforming; B) is a true threat to the existence of such persons; or, C) poses an imminent threat to such persons' emotional, psychological, or physical safety, including through self-harm or suicide. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken the nation. It is the latest example of a perpetrator brainwashed by a corrosive and disjointed transgender ideology to carry out horrific acts of violence against innocent Americans. The first step in solving a problem is identifying that one exists. he Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") has immense legal, intelligence, and law enforcement tools available to it to keep Americans safe... The Oversight Project and the Heritage Foundation urge the FBI to designate "Trans Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism" ("TIVE") as a Domestic Terrorism threat category and use the full toolkit of the FBI to prevent future attacks inspired by this ideology.
The Laughing Man symbol from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, consisting of a simple stylised graphic of a laughing face wearing a baseball cap, circled by the motto: “I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.”
Screenshot of Bluesky’s new ‘saved posts’ feature bulletin, which says: “Finally! Keep track of posts that matter to you. Save them to revisit any time.”
A screenshot from The Independent’s homepage, showing the first story under the masthead. “‘Chipocalypse Now’: Trump threatens Chicago with ‘Department of War’ and suggests ICE raids imminent,” it reads.
Screenshot from Linehan's Substack: "Later, during the interview itself, the tone shifted. The officer conducting it asked about each of the terrible tweets in turn, with the sort of earnest intensity usually reserved for discussing something serious like… oh, I dunno—crime? I explained that the ‘punch’ tweet was a serious point made with a joke. Men who enter women’s spaces ARE abusers and they need to be challenged every time. The ‘punch in the bollocks’ bit was about the height difference between men and women, the bollocks being closer to punch level for a woman defending her rights and certainly not a call to violence. (Not one of my best as one of the female officers said “We’re not THAT small”). He mentioned “trans people”. I asked him what he meant by the phrase. “People who feel their gender is different than what was assigned at birth.” I said “Assigned at birth? Our sex isn’t assigned.” He called it semantics, I told him he was using activist language. The damage Stonewall has done to the UK police force will take years to mend."
Screenshot from Graham Linehan's substack: "The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets. In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet (and no, I promise you, I am not making this up." TWEET: "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls."
A pencil sketch in a small sketchbook, showing a tall Spanish style folly building with an arched facade standing in the shade of many types of tree in front of an ornamental lake surrounded by rose bushes. A few people are sitting on benches or grass, and the shadows are long, indicating that it's late afternoon on a sunny day. The caption says "MORCOM ROSE GARDEN, OAKLAND, SAT 2025/08/16".
A stylised cartoon of a woman with big boobs, a halo, and little tiny angel wings, wearing glasses and a mischievous evil expression. A caption says: “(bad.)”
SCREENSHOT READS: It isn’t clear how the letter with Trump’s signature was prepared. Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person. “Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,” the note began. Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is. Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is. Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it. Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that? Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you. Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.
SCREENSHOT READS: Epstein’s own abuse of minors has been extensively documented, and his “madam” Ghislaine Maxwell was criminally convicted for her role in trafficking girls for him. Allegations he also provided victims to rich and powerful “clients” have never been definitively proven. Thousands of pages of documents have already been made public, including Epstein’s address book. The term ‘Epstein list’ often simply means a list of all the people mentioned in these documents, which includes victims and bystanders as well as alleged associates. But in recent years, Trump and his allies have embraced the idea that there is another “list” the government is covering up: a client list containing the names of everyone who abused girls trafficked by Epstein. That was red meat for the ardently conspiracist MAGA movement and the professional fantasists who sustain it, many of whom see Epstein as merely the tip of an iceberg involving more fanciful theories such as QAnon. On Sunday the official account of Sesame Street muppet Elmo even weighed in, having been temporarily taken over by an unknown hacker. "RELEASE THE FILES @realDonaldTrump CHILD F*****," wrote the hacker, in between calls for genocide against Jews.
A rough pencil sketch of Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, wearing a billowing vertical striped blouse and tight jeans, clutching the mic with both hands and singing at the top of her lungs. Alternately jagged and flowing lines of energy radiate away from her in all directions.
A pencil sketch on a ‘Stern Grove Festival 2025’ souvenir card, showing a woman in a floofy skirt playing electric guitar on a giant display screen, surrounded by trees and crowds that cover the hills beyond the screen.
A woman holds up a sign reading “ICE RUNS ON PALANTIR” as she stands in the road among a crowd of protesters in the blazing sun. Two bit moving trucks have been parked outside the nearest building, impeding view of the sidewalk for passing cars
A crowd of people of various ages, including a man with a walking frame and a woman with a HANDS OFF SOCIAL SECURITY sign, mill around or follow a conga line outside a two storey redbrick building in the blazing sunlight. A large moving truck is parked beside the building; someone with a rainbow flag tucked into their fedora has climbed on top of it and is waving a sign.
The author — a white woman in her mid thirties with long wavy wispy brown hair, wearing wide-framed glasses, a corduroy jacket, and a KN95 mask — smiles (with her eyes at least) at the camera while Bay Area scenery whips past the train window behind her.
An image of a fluffy ginger Persian cat, its face scrunched up in what looks like, to human eyes, the comical consternation of a very posh and very stupid English major general. Taken from Wikipedia.
A looping gif of me, a white woman in her thirties with long reddish-brown hair wearing a white KN95 mask, raising and lowering my eyebrows at the camera as the silver thread of the young Colorado river speeds past outside the window.
A pale yellow index card is taped to the rear window of a station wagon, inscribed with blue sharpie: “Cheers pal! Haven’t heard bagpipes in ages.” Then a love heart and a Scottish flag.
A short video taken from an upstairs window, showing a steeply sloping street lined with large pastel-painted houses. A person with long hair wearing a tartan kilt and long woolen socks stands beside their station wagon playing the bagpipes, a screeching droning instrument which sounds kind of like an alien buzzsaw (in a good way).