delight | Reading

Yesterday, a far-right authoritarian dictator was ousted from government, much to the relief of Europe and much of the rest of the world. This particular dictator is one whom the American administration has modeled many of its tactics after, including its targeting of transfolks and erasing of LGBTQIA+ individuals from public life, and so to see it ousted with such deafening victory gives a small sense of relief, even as the danger continues to lurk, there and elsewhere.

~o~

I either ate or came into contact with something I shouldn't have, as the last couple of days have yielded a fine but irritating rash all over my face/neck and arms, and some light difficulty getting a deep breath. I did do a little yard clean-up on Saturday, but I kept it minimal due to the dryness and the pollen. I scrutinized my meals and didn't find any different ingredients beyond what I expected, so, unless I am reacting more to bell peppers or peanuts while other allergens are in the air, I'm not sure it's that. I need to try to follow up on my injection meds today and I'm not looking forward to it given the attitude I received on Friday. But also... breathing and not having painful itchy skin constantly would be great. Thankfully, L. took on the mowing of weeds along the front of the house/road yesterday, and I decided to stay in.

I had moved the dormant trees that I received to water soak and then to pots, but with the complete lack of rain and extended drought, it is requiring a certain amount of vigilance to keep them happy. I also found a tulip popular seedling has landed right behind the house in my "to be" herb garden bed. I tried to measure off to confirm that it is at least 15 feet from the back porch, and it seems that it is, so I may well leave it where it is. Tulip poplars are one of my favorite natives, but they are also troublesome to have too close given that they grow more swiftly than other trees, and are known for more breakage. We have at least 3-4 others in the yard of various ages - the largest is along our property right between the two houses, and is quite tall, but I have yet to see it flower, so it is presumably still a tween.

~o~

It seems fitting to oust an old-world mindset at the beginning of spring. Here's hoping that what buds in its place can be nurtured into a more democratic and just world. Here's hoping its tendrils spread and grow and provide bravery and strength for the rest of those that need it.

goodbyebird

testing

snopes_feed

Posted by Jordan Liles

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/south-carolina-flamingos/

Online users discussed a story of a woman named Pam Luongo placing decorative plastic flamingos in her yard, only to find quite the surprise later on.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/south-carolina-flamingos/

snopes_feed

Posted by Aleksandra Wrona

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/canada-criminalized-quoting-bible/

The bill does not outlaw Bible quotes, and as of early April 2026, it had not yet become law.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/canada-criminalized-quoting-bible/

jazzfish

One guy at the open house last weekend.

Price drop mid-week.

Nobody at the open house today.

I'd say I am running out of optimism but I didn't have much to start with. I am running out of hope, though.

Fallback plan: all my stuff to storage, rent out the condo for enough to cover the mortgage, take up residence on someone's couch, go looking for a service job to stanch at least some of the bleeding. Steph has offered to take in Mr Tuppert temporarily, so at least I won't be abandoning him entirely.

I hate this more than I can reasonably express.

(Comments off.)

mific posting in

fanart_recs

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Shane Hollande & Ilya Rozanov (but ofc they're together)
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: leporidaee on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: More lesbian Hollanov - excellent staunch portraits of them both, with WIP vids below. Very nice!
Link: Heated Yuri, backup link here

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

snopes_feed

Posted by Laerke Christensen

https://www.snopes.com/articles/472594/human-ashes-galaxies-microscope/

Memorial art company Innerstela says it uses light-reflecting microscopes to create colorful art pieces from human or animal ashes.

https://www.snopes.com/articles/472594/human-ashes-galaxies-microscope/

hannah

There's some satisfaction in realizing that between the canned tomatoes, canned beans, rice, frozen vegetables, garlic, herbs, and spices around my apartment, dinner's something I can throw together for the next couple of nights while working around a couple of obligations keeping me from investing the usual amount of time into cooking the evening meals.

I don't mind the obligations - I'm genuinely looking forward to some of them - but the timing would have me choose between cooking into the evening or working on writing, and I'm pleased I won't have to make that call.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Secret Garden - Bruce Springsteen

snopes_feed

Posted by Aleksandra Wrona

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/italian-town-cage-politician/

At Trento's annual festival, a mock trial ends with a performer — not the actual "condemned" figure — dunked in the river.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/italian-town-cage-politician/

kaberett

Reading. Still, uh, not quite exclusively She's A Beast archives. ("Not quite" because I am reading some of the things the links letters link to...)

Writing. Over 11k words. Progress is very very slow but it IS progress. (I'd feel worse about She's A Beast eating my entire brain apart from the fact that a whole bunch of it is extremely relevant, and yet more of it is sparking decidedly useful contemplation...)

Cooking. NEW OVEN NEW OVEN NEW OVEN today used for Kaiserschmarrn (worked just fine) and a new cake recipe from Blackberry Cottage (used settings suggested in oven manual and... it took over twice as long as it ought've to cook). Cannot yet report on what I think of it because have not yet eaten any. Elsewise: ... lots of the smitten kitchen braised chickpea thing?

Other NEW THING: brand new microplane zester. my goodness that was a Life Changing Experience (even if I do think I could probably reasonably have got More zest off that just the very topmost single-pass layer...)

Eating. Of particular note: blood oranges!!! and Decadent Spanish Raspberries, acquired on our way out of the Big Supermarket post-vaccination.

Making & mending. ... ADAM NOW HAS TWO GLOVES. I just (...) need to Weave In The Damn Ends. (Does anyone have a favourite weaving-in-ends guide? Because twenty-five years into this hobby I still pretty much hate every end I have ever woven in as Lumpy and Unsightly.)

Growing. Aubergines hatching! Whole buncha weeding including sorting out the raspberry thicket! When last I made it to the allotment the cherry tree had two bundles of blossom out, and was clearly on the point of Bursting Forth en masse...

Observing. SO MANY baby waterfowl, and, also, A Goldfinch. A friend's tiny cherry tree In Flower! Holly getting Extremely enthusiastic about flowering also.

umadoshi

Our impending new raised planter is still showing as scheduled to arrive tomorrow while we're both home/not working, so here's hoping!

We just spent a while sifting through some seed listings on the Halifax Seed website (and I mostly kept myself from looking at tomato seeds, since we are not growing any tomatoes from seed*).

*I really wish there were some indication of what tomato varieties will be offered as seedlings, and also wish I knew if the different plant nurseries tend to offer similar varieties of tomato seedlings or not. (ALSO-also, we need to decide whether to focus on trying a few different types to see how we like them vs. focusing on a few determinate plants with the intention of just processing most/all of the fruit into sauce.)

(The seedling sale from a relatively nearby nonprofit that I'm hoping to make it to does offer a short list of potential varieties of things, with the caveat of "These are all the options that we have intended to grow but as all farmers and gardeners know, not every crop pans out. We apologize in advance if some of these options are unavailable, or not ready." For tomatoes, it says "Roma, Brandywine, Scotia +more! / Tropical Sunset, Sungold, Red Torch +more!")

But as noted yesterday, we don't plan to put tomatoes in the actual planter anyway. Thoughts for the actual planter so far: ( thoughts + variety notes )

Current Mood: hopeful

snopes_feed

Posted by Nur Ibrahim

https://www.snopes.com/collections/fake-trump-truth-social-posts/

While Trump is known for making provocative statements on social media, many fabricated posts attributed to the president also spread online.

https://www.snopes.com/collections/fake-trump-truth-social-posts/

forestofglory

Back in January I said I was going to make “comfort” my media theme for the first quarter of the year and then think about if I wanted to change. The first quarter of 2026 has been over for a bit. I’ve been having an amazing reading year so far! Other media not so much – I’ve been watching things only with other people, but that’s fine. Honestly I’ve not been thinking about my media theme much. So I guess it's going fine? I don’t see any need to change it anyways.

But now that I am thinking about my theme I kinda want to watch another crossdressing girl drama – those are so fun and comforting.

And now for some thoughts on recent media. It’s been a bit because I was busy and sick – but I’m doing better now.

NewsPrints by Ru Xu —Sometimes I read a thing that it seems like I should be really into and I'm just like "This is nice" That's how I feel about this book. It's got a crossdressing girl, cool diesel punk tech, found family! I'm not sure why I don't love it. (I started reading the squeal but it was somewhat darker and I didn’t really want to deal with that.)

Justice Society of America vol 1 and 2 by Geoff Johns, Mikel Janín et al. —I ended up reading this for convoluted reasons: I read Stargirl and the Lost Children because it had an appearance by a minor character that I was curious about, and then I wanted to know what happened next, which is told here. I would have liked even more lost children. But really the problem with this is that its too much story for the space, everything happens very fast and there is not enough time to get to know the characters. Probably I’m expected to come in already knowing and caring about some of them, but since I didn’t it really just felt like no one got much space to be interesting.

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner—This queer regency romance is billed as “inspired by Jane Austen and queer history” but you could just as easily call it “a queer retelling of Emma”. I enjoyed it! I love how expressive the faces are. Also I really appreciated the facts and references in the back. And It’s super cool that all of the clothing is based on existing surviving garments or historical fashion plates!

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girlvol 1-2 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, et al— this continues to be very fun! Featuring such delights as dinosaurs and a zine issues!

Nezha (2019)— I watched this Chinese animated movie with my group watch discord. So I generally I write up notes on each item for these posts a day or two after finishing it so it will be fresh in my mind (Then I wait until I have several things so I can post them all together) But this time I had to run off after watching Nezha and now its been a week so I don’t remember this as well as I’d like. It was fun though.
Content Note traumatic childbirth, gross bodily fluids

delphi

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

nanila

What was the last book you read (or are currently reading)?

Jan Morris’ Trieste and the meaning of nowhere, for what I feel are obvious reasons. It is a very romantic, forgiving view of the city.
What was the last movie you watched?

We caught a bit of the Minions movie dubbed into Italian last night. It was (perhaps unsurprisingly?) easy to follow in another language.
What television series are you currently watching?

Nothing at the moment. We finished a few things before the Easter holiday (new series of Death in Paradise, Small Prophets).
What are some of your favorite blogs or communities online?

I really only read DW and LJ these days. That's enough for me.
What social media do you belong to and check often?

I still have accounts on the usual platforms but I haven't checked any of them since January 2025 when I removed all the apps from my phone. I vaguely miss contact with a few people but it has generally been a good move. I spend more time communicating directly through messaging or email, or more diffusely but in greater depth here on DW & LJ.

snopes_feed

Posted by Jordan Liles

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/10-year-old-tsunami/

The young English girl credited her geography teacher with educating her about one specific warning sign of an oncoming tsunami.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/10-year-old-tsunami/

lockedtomb_ao3_feed

Posted by Silver_styx

https://archiveofourown.org/works/82863176

by Silver_styx

“Holy shit, you’re fucking hung.”

The words slipped mindlessly from Gideon’s lips and she immediately cursed the day she ever learned to speak. Harrow did not startle, they simply turned their head and focused those black hole eyes on Gideon, mindlessly cleaning their piercing.

“I see you’re back from your date early.”

Words: 4770, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F
Characters: Gideon Nav, Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Relationships: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Additional Tags: Trans Gideon Nav, Nonbinary Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, they're both idiots, The title is extremely literal it's a dick measuring contest, Top Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Bottom Gideon Nav, Harrow has body piercings, so much banter they can't stop yapping, Harrow is a small creature with a huge dick

https://archiveofourown.org/works/82863176

delphi

The first episode of the newest Dimension 20 campaign premiered on Wednesday, and I am so on board for this one.

City Council of Darkness is in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, the tabletop roleplaying game most commonly set in the modern day, where vampires belonging to various clans and bloodlines engage politically in their home cities while trying to manage their own bestial urges, avoid the vampire hunters of the Second Inquisition, and above all keep the existence of vampires secret from humanity at large. City Council of Darkness is about what happens when a group of ambitious San Francisco vampires' bid for attention from the vampiric elite goes comically wrong, resulting in them being banished to the town of Purpee, Oregon, and forbidden to leave until they establish vampiric dominion there.

So far, it's been supremely silly in the best of ways, well-paced and plotted, full of mayhem, with characters and relationships that I'm looking forward to learning more about and an important reminder that the real monsters of San Francisco are Silicon Valley billionaires. I especially can't wait to see more of the friendship between Ventrue finance hustlers LaVonte Worthy and H.J. Wingstreet (joining Kingston Brown & Pete Conlan and Montgomery LaMontgommery & Olethra MacLeod as characters played by Lou Wilson and Ally Beardsley whose dynamic immediately grabbed me) and whatever the deal is between chaotic '80s(?) Brujah childe Zaeth Bondana and his respectable sire Koschei Severov.

Watch on YouTube

The series as a whole is exclusive to Dropout.tv or through Youtube membership, but I'm pretty sure that in the tradition of Dimension 20, the first episode of the campaign will go up for free on the Youtube channel's Season Premieres playlist.

denise posting in

dw_maintenance

I keep forgetting to post about this: we've been troubleshooting the "missing notifications" problem for the past few days. (Well, I say "we", really I mean Mark and Robby; I'm just the amanuensis.) It's been one of those annoying loops of "find a logical explanation for what could be causing the problem, fix that thing, observe that the problem gets better for some people but doesn't go away completely, go back to step one and start again", sigh.

Mark is hauling out the heavy debugging ordinance to try to find the root cause. Once he's done building all the extra logging tools he needs, he'll comment to this entry. After he does, if you find a comment that should have gone to your inbox and sent an email notification but didn't, leave him a link to the comment that should have sent the notification, as long as the comment itself was made after Mark says he's collecting them. (I'd wait and post this after he gets the debug code in but I need to go to sleep and he's not sure how long it will take!)

We're sorry about the hassle! Irregular/sporadic issues like this are really hard to troubleshoot because it's impossible to know if they're fixed or if they're just not happening while you're looking. With luck, this will give us enough information to figure out the root cause for real this time.

reading page

sketches and ghosts

Reading

Good morning world.

(no subject)

Did South Carolina woman attract real flamingos to her yard with fake ones?

Canada didn't criminalize quoting the Bible. Here's the proof

well.

Heated Yuri by leporidaee (SFW)

Just one thing: 13 April 2026

Do human ashes look like galaxies under a microscope?

Pantry staples.

Does Italian town cage politicians, dunk them in freezing river? Here's the real story

vital functions

Garden pre-PRE(?)-planning. Or something.

Beware of these 15 fake Trump Truth Social posts

Media Roundup: Mini Update on Reading Goals

Six Sentence Sunday

The Friday Five on a Sunday

How 10-year-old Tilly Smith helped save dozens of lives on Thailand beach during 2004 tsunami

A Dick Measuring Contest

What's Making Me Happy Today: Dimension 20 City Council of Darkness

The case of the missing notifications

Most Popular Tags

Links