Louie Stowell
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louiestowell.bsky.social
Louie Stowell
@louiestowell.bsky.social
Writer/illustrator of the LOKI: A Bad God's Guide books, Writer of Otherland & The Dragon in the Library. https://louiestowell.com. No terfs. Many fluctuating fandoms incluing BtVS + Doctor Who. This feed isn't for kids.
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Reposted by Louie Stowell
Draft guidance (up for consultation) is here
consult.education.gov.uk
February 12, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
So, it looks like the new DfE guidance on trans students in schools incorporates recommendations from the Cass report. Suffice to say that is an *incredibly awful* decision.

Here's a thread with my analysis of Cass on social transition from back in 2024.
In Chapter 12, Cass considers social transition.

As per §12.2, this might include haircuts, clothing, name change, and pronoun usage.
February 12, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
This draft guidance reproduces Cass insisting that clinicians must be involved in decisions about *social transition* which actually should be none of their damn business

They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
February 12, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
If you were trying to come up with more harmful guidance towards trans and non-binary young people you would be hard pressed to find it. The fact it is backed by Cass shows how wrong it is.
We are already seeing an increase in suicide rates among trans young people.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Vast majority' of parents should be involved if children question gender, schools told
School leaders welcome the
www.bbc.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
somehow there's an update... and it's not a great look. it shouldn't be the case that the admin react when there's an outcry then just don't change whatever system they've got in place anyway.
February 12, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
palestinian journalist posting on twitter that his bluesky account was immediately taken down purely because he was in gaza. all palestinian accounts are assumed to be spam.
February 11, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Because there wasn't enough computing power back in 2007/2008 to render a weekly cg-animated show with reflective shiny surfaces, Star Wars: The Clone Wars' animation models were given a matte, painterly texture, complete with visible brush strokes, that became the show's trademark visual style.
February 12, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I believe they came up with the idea for Blink because DT’s availability for filming was constrained.
February 12, 2026 at 2:03 PM
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Last of the Summer Wine - lead actor Michael Bates had a better offer with "It Aint Half Hot Mum" so was replaced with Brian Wilde
MASH - replacing both Frank Burns (annoying Dr) and Henry Blake (Commander). Got lucky both times!
February 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Jaws is probably the biggest one for me. The mechanical shark didn’t work for huge swathes of shooting so they had to imply its presence in other ways and, inadvertently or otherwise, turn it into a largely unseen adversary.
February 12, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Alllll of 'Staged'
February 12, 2026 at 1:42 PM
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Game Of Thrones scripts for the first series were way too short so they added relatively straightforward dialogue scenes, normally between just two actors, which ended up contributing to the deepening of characters and becoming a signature of the show.
February 12, 2026 at 1:27 PM
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It’s Always Sunny being forced by the network to bring in Danny Devito or face cancellation after their first season turned out pretty well.
February 12, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
This can be seen as a mixed bag due to where it ended up but a lot of the best of X-Files came as the result of Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, which led to the Scully abduction arc which had a huge impact on the mythology for the rest of the show's run (GREAT in the early years, less so later).
February 12, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The 4th series of Blake’s 7. The cast and crew allegedly only finding out on the continuity announcement at the end of s3 leading to that final ending
February 12, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I think Industry has had to grapple with losing two of the core characters in successive seasons. Idk if season 4 is better for losing Rob but it has definitely forced them into more adventurous territory
There are some terrible plot choices made due to external production factors eg actors wanting to leave. But can anyone think of one where it's turned out brilliantly -a "necessity is the mother of invention" type situation?
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Terry Farrel leaving DS9 sucked but they did really well spinning that into introducing Ezri, and Worfs plot tol
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
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The Brothers. Colin Baker's character was introduced halfway through season four as a one-off. But another member of the cast was being a dick so they wrote him out and brought Colin's character back as a regular. He was hugely popular and became the focus of the show in its later seasons.
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Yes — Mark Hamill getting cast as The Joker because he was begging to be on the show RIGHT when Tim Curry got fired is a classic example, as documented in my 2017 oral history of Batman: The Animated Series:

archive.is/uFoOU
February 12, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Babylon 5 series two? The loss of Michael O'Hare?
February 12, 2026 at 1:19 PM
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The guard in The Prisoner being a surreal weather balloon, after the robot they had built fell into the sea.
February 12, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Blake's Seven managed pretty well without Blake, when Gareth Thomas left.
February 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
although there they didn't necessarily have to do what they did - they *could* have done a more straight recast and got someone in who looked similar, would have played the role in the same way hartnell had.
February 12, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
It’s not a plot point exactly but the recasting of Donna in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me works so well - for me it’s like this is Donna as Laura sees her, younger acting and more painfully naive
February 12, 2026 at 1:15 PM
That is some greek myth shit right there
Not sure what this company is trying to imply…
February 12, 2026 at 1:12 PM