thelaughingmuse

case posting in

⌈ Secret Post #6988 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 30 secrets from Secret Submission Post #998.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

raven

There's a feeling, I hope, a unidentifiable but deeply uncomfortable burn, felt by white women, who don't know, but should know, how many private brown group chats are typing.

And as I don't want to take on a cringe middle-class racist white woman (at this point there's about five of them that I have at various times decided not to take on, all terribly right-on, right-thinking, probably-vegan feminist pro-Palestine queer white women), that is all I have to say about that.

james_davis_nicoll

Orson finds Trump's approach to Greenland unacceptable and would like the President to keep focus on core American missions, like trade wars and ethnically cleansing Minnesota.

james_davis_nicoll

Can America's well-financed, highly-experienced, heavily-armed war machine hope to prevail against a numerically insignificant, poorly-armed, American teen movement?

Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy

fred_mouse posting in

unclutter

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

Congratulations to everyone who has found and/or disposed on any clutter in the last week!

ps. I'm going to be a bit sporadic for at least the next month; please cheer along others in the comments!

rmc28

Zach Sullivan was interviewed on the "Duke's Download" podcast about being openly queer in ice hockey, and his decidedly mixed feelings about Heated Rivalry. I liked listening to what Zach had to say, and was impressed by the thoughtfulness that obviously goes into his answers (I think the podcast host could stand to say less and interrupt less).

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

My daughter “Melody” is in the midst of the terrible twos. Five or more meltdowns per day over normal frustrations/limits are typical. Recently, my mother-in-law, “Darlene” took Melody and my 6-year-old son out to run errands, and true to form, Melody had a blow-up. It was how Darlene handled it that has me seeing red. She told Melody that she was leaving her in the store and that she could find her own way home, and left her screaming on the floor! She then moved off with my son, out of my daughter’s view, and waited for several minutes before coming back for her. I only learned of this later when my son told me what happened.

When I confronted my mother-in-law, she claimed her method was helpful because Melody behaved afterward. And she said Melody was “never in any danger” because she kept her in sight at all times. After this, I no longer feel safe with Darlene going places with the kids without my husband present or me. Sadly, my husband is no help. He agrees that this was a good “lesson” in behaving for our daughter and that his mother used to do it to him and his sister when they were kids! Please tell me I’m right in telling Darlene her days of taking the kids solo are over.
—Pissed

( Read more... )

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6987 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 36 secrets from Secret Submission Post #998.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

case posting in

fandomsecrets

[ SECRET SUBMISSIONS POST #999 ]

The first secret from this batch will be posted on February 28th.

RULES:
1. One secret link per comment.
2. 750x750 px or smaller.
3. Link directly to the image.

More details on how to send a secret in!

Optional: If you would like your secret's fandom to be noted in the main post along with the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret. If your secret makes the fandom obvious, there's no need to do this. If your fandom is obscure, you should probably tell me what it is.

Optional #2: If you would like WARNINGS (such as spoilers or common triggers -- list of some common ones here) to be noted in the main post before the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret.

Optional #3: If you would like a transcript to be posted along with your secret, put it along with the link in the comment!

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Carolyn: I know you love dogs, but in a reasonable way, so I figure you’re a good person to ask. Is there a “normal” amount of pets for someone to have? I never had dogs or cats growing up and didn’t want them in our home when our children were young.

All my children at times asked for a pet but grew to accept my aversion, except for my youngest daughter. When she used to insist she couldn’t wait to move out and get a pet, I took it with a grain of salt. She did get a dog in the house she shared with friends in college, and her obsession has only grown since then. The last time I saw her, she excitedly told me she’s a foster parent to a litter of puppies now. I’m not sure how that works, but it brings the number of dogs in her house from two to six, and she also has two cats.

I asked if she was going to get kicked out of her house, since her township can’t possibly allow that number of animals in a small home and yard, and she just laughed at me. She apparently doesn’t understand the law or care how this all must affect her neighbors.

Could this possibly be the start of some sort of mental illness? Should I try to intervene further?

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Care and Feeding,

My wife, “Lourdes” and I have a 2-year-old daughter, “Mackenzie.” Mackenzie was a difficult baby (long crying spells, difficult to soothe, hypersensitive to sound, fussy about solid food, etc.), and my wife has a low threshold for frustration. So most of Mackenzie’s care fell to me since Lourdes said she “couldn’t deal with it.” The result has been that our daughter is closer to me than she is to her mother. Well, Lourdes said something disturbing regarding our daughter recently.

Mackenzie had a meltdown when my wife tried to get her dressed for daycare, so Lourdes told me I needed to do it because of her theory that our daughter “hates her” and “the feeling is mutual.” Mackenzie has a routine of putting her clothes on in a specific order. Lourdes is aware of it, but wanted to do it her way, which set her off. Mackenzie has her quirks, and if you work with her (her daycare providers follow them and have reported no issues), everything is fine. The trouble is that my wife is accustomed to people doing things her way, and she does not react well when her expectations are not met. I’m seriously concerned about her relationship with Mackenzie, especially because right after her mother tasked me with dressing her that day, she said, “Mommy is mean.” Lourdes balked when I suggested counseling. How am I supposed to resolve this?

—Daughter Division

( Read more... )

james_davis_nicoll

Seven books new to me. four fantasy, one horror, one ostensibly non-fiction, and one romance. Three are series. Yeah, there does seem to be a shortage of science fiction.

I had a bunch of stuff come in just after the cut-off time for these. Next week will look very different.

Books Received, February 14 — February 20

Poll #34247 Books Received, February 14 — February 20

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 41

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

I Want You to Be Happy by Jem Calder (May 2026)
3 (7.3%)

In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir by Francis Fukuyama (September 2026)
5 (12.2%)

A Divided Duty: An October Daye Novel by Seanan McGuire (September 2026)
14 (34.1%)

Wickhills by Premee Mohamed (September 2026)
16 (39.0%)

Hallowed Bones: A Sons of Salem Novel by Lucy Smoke (October 2026)
2 (4.9%)

Falling for a Villainous Vampire by Charlotte Stein (October 2026)
6 (14.6%)

I Am the Monster Under the Bed: A Novel by Emily Zinnikas (September 2026)
14 (34.1%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
34 (82.9%)

rmc28

February is flying by, the university term-time intensity is very high, my life is work, ice hockey, occasional time with my family. I did switch things up and also try out a couple of kpop dance classes in a relatively light week (the university has a KPop society!) and they were exhausting and fun in the best way. Now to find the time to go back before the end of term.

Ice hockey

( Read more... )

Driving

( Read more... )

Percy Jackson

( Read more... )

alias_sqbr

Watch on YouTube

alias_sqbr

I didn't watch Dunc and Egg but Cam did, and he found himself thinking about how fun it could be to have a story where a somewhat loner knight (disgraced/unproven/just antisocial, whatever) takes on a determined and surprisingly knowledgable page, who he eventually realises is a girl in disguise, and they have Adventures (but no romance, preferably)

He asked if I knew of any stories like that, since it feels like a really obvious premise, and I felt like I must have seen something along those lines by Tamora Pierce/ Mercedes Lackey etc but nothing came to mind. eg the Alanna series has the crossdressing page part but not the loner knight, Kel doesn't have the cross-dressing, etc.

So I come to you! At this point we're mostly just curious if it exists at all, but actual recs are definitely not unwelcome. Books/tv/movies, whatever.

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6986 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

Everything has spoiler or content warnings today!

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #997.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/friday-squid-blogging-squid-cartoon-3.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71585

I like this one.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/friday-squid-blogging-squid-cartoon-3.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71585

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3210/

'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.

https://xkcd.com/3210/

james_davis_nicoll

A successful businesswoman has the opportunity of a lifetime offered to her, only to have an old friend greatly complicate matters.

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/ring-cancels-its-partnership-with-flock.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71640

It’s a demonstration of how toxic the surveillance-tech company Flock has become when Amazon’s Ring cancels the partnership between the two companies.

As Hamilton Nolan advises, remove your Ring doorbell.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/ring-cancels-its-partnership-with-flock.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71640

Profile

thelaughingmuse

Me on the Fediverse

November 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Nouveau Oleanders by branchandroot
Theme: Memory I by dancing_serpent
Resources: OpenClipart

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Feb. 23rd, 2026 05:42 am

Overadvertised and underfunded

Network

[ SECRET POST #6988 ]

(no subject)

If I am reading this correctly

Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy

Weekly (ish) check in

Zach Sullivan again on Heated Rivalry

(no subject)

[ SECRET POST #6987 ]

[ SECRET SUBMISSIONS POST #999 ]

(no subject)

(no subject)

Books Received, February 14 — February 20

Quick catchup

Music: Full Flower Moon Band – Smoking ft. Drunk Mums

Fantasy story with loner male knight and cross-dressing female page

[ SECRET POST #6986 ]

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Cartoon

Eliminating the Impossible

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho

Ring Cancels Its Partnership with Flock

Profile

November 2025

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags