James Baillie
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jubalbarca.bsky.social
James Baillie
@jubalbarca.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.2K following 120 posts
Historian of the Medieval Caucasus, web community organiser, game developer, liberal activist, songwriter and storyteller. Somewhat hobbitish.

Also at https://exilian.co.uk/, https://scholar.social/@JubalBarca, and https://hcommons.org/members/jubalbarca/
Posts Replies Media Videos
jubalbarca.bsky.social
It's always tricky working through old family stuff. Just been looking at a folder with these old photo pages in, not sure where from, heck knows if of use to anyone - whole bunch of St Andrews, some of Fountains Abbey, and then a scattering of European places.

#archives #history #photography
January 7, 2026 at 3:22 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
Last set of reading notes for 2025 - finished the year with The Whalebone Theatre, Death at the Sign of the Rook, and The Love-Girl and the Innocent. Would recommend all these, though all very different in feel!

exilian.co.uk/forum/index....

#books #reading
What are you reading? - Page 21
What are you reading? - Page 21
exilian.co.uk
December 31, 2025 at 6:32 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
So you know there are some people with birthdays that get overshadowed by Christmas?

Well, there's a saint who has the same fate! Anastasia of Sirmium's feast day is on December 25.
December 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
New poem! Thoughts welcome :)

This one is entitled "bad photography":
exilian.co.uk/forum/index....
Jubal's poems - Page 24
Jubal's poems - Page 24
exilian.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
Happy solstice, everyone, from the beautiful foggy bleakness of home mud. :)
A fenland landscape - a green muddy path is on the bottom right of the picture, with the middle being water and clumps of reed. In the background lines of trees can be seen, with a grey sky overhead.
December 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
exilianofficial.bsky.social
New article! We have a book review of Predators, Reapers, and Deadlier Creatures, a fantasy-realism tragicomic tale set amidst the horrors of the wars in Afghanistan, and an interview the author, poet and war veteran Matthew James Jones.

You can read the piece here:
exilian.co.uk/article.php?...
exilian.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
I think "sigh" sums this up.

I actually have an in-development paper that specifically explores why this is a bad idea, but in summary as that's several months off publication due to journal nonsense: AI is an uncreativity engine. It pulls every concept back to a statistically average version.
December 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
We still have open spaces for CODING MEDIEVAL WORLDS 6, a workshop and discussion space for historians and game developers!

It'll be Feb 20-22, it's online and free, anyone who's involved in medieval history, game dev, or both is very welcome.

Please boost this to help interested people find us!
Coding Medieval Worlds 6: Manuscripts and Mechanics Call For Participants A workshop for historians & game developers: 20-22 Feb, 2026 A core challenge of making more interesting medieval worlds in game formats is sharing and building the different processes needed to create them. Historians and game developers have different ways of representing, exploring and constructing the material we get from medieval sources. How, then, should we approach this, and how can we share and synthesise our different methods? How do we take the particular affordances of games and engines and how do we develop mechanics and systems to best present historically inspired material in them? Coding Medieval Worlds 6 is a workshop and discussion forum for sharing developers’ and historians’ perspectives and finding solutions to these shared problems! When: Main Sessions 21th-22nd Feb 2026, 1pm — 8pm CET Evening Events 20th, 21st, 22nd Feb 8:30pm-10pm CET Where: Wherever you can connect to a video call! How to participate: Email exilian@exilian.co.uk or james.baillie@oeaw.ac.at by December 31st with your name and a sentence or two on your background and interest. We have a limit of around 40 people, half spaces for developers and half for academics (independent scholars, early career researchers, and hobbyist & indie developers are all welcome). We examine all applications and ensure places are available for scholars & developers from diverse & marginalised backgrounds. Do get in touch with any enquiries at the above email addresses. This workshop is a collaboration between Exilian and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
December 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
For those of you not familiar with the excellent fantasy webseries Ren : The Girl with the Mark, they're doing an advent run of making patreon-exclusive posts public - including one of a number of short fiction pieces I wrote for them to help give some more more viewpoints on the world of Alathia 🙂
December 6, 2025 at 10:44 AM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
For anyone who vaguely follows my politicking, an update to say that I did not get elected to the Liberal Democrat party committees I was running for - I came 29th of 48 candidates for Federal Council (top 21 were elected) and 17th of 46 for Federal Policy Committee (top 15 were elected).
December 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
If you want to understand the internal politics of the #LibDems, you might be able to glean some interesting things from who endorses who in internal election races.

Here's a blogpost doing some social network analysis of that:
thoughtsofprogress.wordpress.com/2025/11/29/w...
Who backs who in the Lib Dems?
We’re still awaiting, at the time of writing, the results of the Lib Dem internal elections: we’ll find them out in the middle of next week. In any case, one question I raised in my res…
thoughtsofprogress.wordpress.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
exilianofficial.bsky.social
Announcing CODING MEDIEVAL WORLDS 6, our next workshop for historians and game developers! It'll be 20th-22nd February next year, and if you're an interested historian or dev we'd like to see you there!

Please share widely to friends, all questions welcome :)

#GameDev #Medieval
Coding Medieval Worlds 6: Manuscripts and Mechanics Call For Participants A workshop for historians & game developers: 20-22 Feb, 2026 A core challenge of making more interesting medieval worlds in game formats is sharing and building the different processes needed to create them. Historians and game developers have different ways of representing, exploring and constructing the material we get from medieval sources. How, then, should we approach this, and how can we share and synthesise our different methods? How do we take the particular affordances of games and engines and how do we develop mechanics and systems to best present historically inspired material in them? Coding Medieval Worlds 6 is a workshop and discussion forum for sharing developers’ and historians’ perspectives and finding solutions to these shared problems! When: Main Sessions 21th-22nd Feb 2026, 1pm — 8pm CET Evening Events 20th, 21st, 22nd Feb 8:30pm-10pm CET Where: Wherever you can connect to a video call! How to participate: Email exilian@exilian.co.uk or james.baillie@oeaw.ac.at by December 31st with your name and a sentence or two on your background and interest. We have a limit of around 40 people, half spaces for developers and half for academics (independent scholars, early career researchers, and hobbyist & indie developers are all welcome). We examine all applications and ensure places are available for scholars & developers from diverse & marginalised backgrounds. Do get in touch with any enquiries at the above email addresses. This workshop is a collaboration between Exilian and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
November 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
goingmedieval.bsky.social
While I get this person means that Republicans are attempting to usher in a very bad, unequal form of government, I literally have no idea why this could be read a "feudal" or what people think "feudal" means at this point. (This is quite aside from the fact that feudalism never existed ofc.)
A screen shot of an original skeet that reads "Greg Abbot's campaign platform on property taxes: - voters should vote on abolishing school property ta, - no tax hikes without 2/3rds voter approval - property appraisals only once every 5 yrs - apprisls capped at 3% Somwone has quite skeeted this and added "I think it is cool how republicans are independently converging on neo-feudalism".
November 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
Final call reminder for anyone who's a member of the Liberal Democrats: this is the last evening for voting in the internal elections!

(Relief on the horizon for non Lib Dems as I'll soon stop posting about internal election cycles for another three years).
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
stephenkb.bsky.social
The two child cap is a test of the government’s seriousness: if you are serious about child poverty, you lift it, and if you are serious about not wasting money, you don’t fritter away cash on dumb things like vouchers to try and manage the PLP.
danpaskins.bsky.social Dan Paskins @danpaskins.bsky.social · Nov 10
If the government chooses to keep the 2 child limit and spend money on vouchers and parenting programmes instead, child poverty will rise and this will be a conscious and deliberate political choice in defiance of all the evidence
jdportes.bsky.social Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · Nov 10
Scrapping the cap entirely is both good policy *and* good politics.

Half measures will "save" some money short-term, but will piss *everybody* off and still leave very large numbers of children suffering from a policy designed to make them poorer.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
janeyislittle.bsky.social
Super grateful to have James Baillie's support for Federal Board!

@jubalbarca.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
lswisnom.bsky.social
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by James Baillie
gonzohistory.bsky.social
So, Dragonmeet is coming up, and if you want to hear me and @lostpages.co.uk talk about making magic in RPGs more, er, magical, why not come to our talk on Saturday 29 November at 1430? It's part of Seminar Track 1.
November 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
Finished another poem, this a rather grim one entitled "A Thing Done Nicely" if anyone feels like a read:

exilian.co.uk/forum/index....
Jubal's poems - Page 24
Jubal's poems - Page 24
exilian.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by James Baillie
radicalassociation.bsky.social
Polls are now open in the Lib Dem federal elections! We recommend votes for these excellent, radical candidates, who can be counted on to fight for a distinctive, bold and liberal identity for the Lib Dems.
Radical Association Voting Guide 2025
The Radical Association's voting guide for the Lib Dem internal elections, with recommendations for candidates who'll fight for a distinctive, radical and liberal identity for the party.
radicalassociation.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
aprilciate.bsky.social
Have come back on here for party reasons.

Looking for your #1 vote for federal council. I’ll post my manifesto in the thread.

But MAINLY, please push our president candidates to act better regarding the absolute scandal re gender / quota.

#Libdem #poltics #terfsdni
October 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
I think "this is their home" is such an important message.

That said, why are we writing to Kemi Badenoch rather than just dunking on her directly? Lam is a shadow cabinet minister, Badenoch shouldn't need to be written to in order to take responsibility.
libdems.org.uk Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · Oct 22
People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home.

@eddavey.libdems.org.uk has written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
October 22, 2025 at 8:56 AM
jubalbarca.bsky.social
Another #LibDems internal election post: I'm running to be a member of the party's Federal Policy Committee, and here's my pitch for why you should vote for me.

Questions, boosts, and support are all very welcome!
Why am I running? We need a clear liberal platform for the coming years, based on our core values and a strong evidence base. I want to help us change the narrative and change our country, with policies that challenge the other parties and set the terms of the discussion across policy areas. We need to understand the digital age and how to tackle big tech in ways that protect our data and civil liberties. As a humanities data specialist with years of experience running online communities, I’m well placed to be that needed voice on FPC. We need some more radical policies that tackle the root causes of problems. We can’t maintain credibility by approaching the biggest problems like climate change, disinformation, and inequality in a way that’s too timid to be useful. On the policies I’ve been motivated to run again because civil liberties are under threat, especially online. I want to see us tackling the business models of tech titans rather than resorting to unwieldy paternalism and the processing dangers of feeding huge quantities of personal information to “AI” data models. Labour and Tory policies like the botched Online Safety Act are putting people at risk—we need a liberal answer. I want us to be a strong voice for social liberalism in Britain. We have a duty to make policy that speaks for and amplifies the voices of people often marginalised by society, including trans people and migrants who are under particular threat right now. I want us to articulate a more distinct liberal economic policy, focusing on cooperative and social business models, rejoining European free movement and trade, strong standards and social security, and tackling rent-seeking, wage theft, and other unfair, unproductive and unequal practices. Endorsement by Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds Who am I? I’m a historian, based in Vienna at the Iranian Studies institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. My specialisms are in digital data, how computers affect our understanding of history and identity, and the history of the Caucasus region. I’ve worked with digital creative communities making space for hobbyists and small businesses over the years, and I’m keen to ensure we properly tackle digital policy and support the innovative, economically dynamic world of small creators & artists. I grew up in rural Norfolk: rural issues and strong pro-environmental, pro-biodiversity policies matter strongly to me. That’s why I successfully campaigned for Nature Recovery Networks to become Lib Dem policy, and why I’m committed to building a liberal platform that works for rural towns, not just for London suburbs. What I’ve Achieved I co-wrote the policy motion that committed the party to back a Universal Basic Income in 2020, and drafted the subsequent party report on UBI implementation. My successful amendments to conference motions have included strengthening our commitments to restorative justice, keeping LGBT+ rights at the heart of our campaigning themes, and supporting immigrants by rejecting income and social security limitations for partners immigrating to join spouses in the UK. Outside the party, I’ve campaigned on a range of issues, most recently leading a parliamentary petition effort against censorship by payment processors where businesses use their near-monopoly power to block clients’ or third party content. How do I find out more? You can check out my blog, https://thoughtsofprogress.wordpress.com: contact me there, at @JubalBarca@bsky.social, Mastodon at @JubalBarca@Scholar.Social, or by email to james@wavcott.org.uk. I’m happy to answer any questions - and hope you’ll support my candidacy for FPC. Endorsement by Steff Aquarone, MP for North Norfolk
October 21, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
innkeep.bsky.social
Looking for a creative community online beyond social media? Check out Exilian!
exilianofficial.bsky.social Exilian @exilianofficial.bsky.social · Oct 19
Our latest newsletter is out! We have several new little TTRPGs to report, more new free music and images for your projects, and new writing and music from our community too!

Check all that out here:
exilian.co.uk/forum/index....
Updates from the Forge 59: Autumn 2025
Updates from the Forge 59: Autumn 2025
exilian.co.uk
October 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by James Baillie
trwier.bsky.social
Weekly Georgian Etymology: საბანი sabani 'blanket', from Middle Georgian, from Greek σάβανον linen cloth or towel, from Coptic ⲥⲁⲃⲟⲛ sabon cloth, from Egyptian 𓋴𓃀𓈖 seben bandage for wrapping mummies, perhaps reflecting Afro-Asiatic *sVp- weave, sew.
October 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM