highpotinnoose | Reading

Artwork of a small orange dragon flying upward, wings visible on its sides and belly exposed. Its belly is yellow with a purple circle, in the shades of the intersex pride flag. Its wings are striped with the colors of the intersex inclusive progress pride flag. Below the dragon is the intersex-inclusive progress pride flag and text that reads "Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag."

Artwork of a small red dragon with a large head. It has wings with stripes in the 8 colors of the Gilbert Baker Pride flag. They are spread above it, and it is looking playfully to its right. At the bottom is a reproduction of the Gilbert Baker Pride flag and text that reads "Gilber Baker's 8-Color 1978 Pride Flag."

We recently unveiled our next crowdfunded merchandise project, featuring ten adorable cat-like Pride-flag-inspired dragons by the artist Florilège! Before and during the campaign, we’ll be spending a little time giving y’all a better look at the individual Pride dragons – and where better to start than with rainbow Pride flags! We’ve chosen to do dragons inspired by two of the many general LGBTQIA+-inclusive flags – the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, created in 2021 by Valentino Vecchietti; and the 8-Color Pride Flag created by Gilbert Baker in 1978.

These and 8 dragons inspired by the Pride flags for specific identities will be featured in our upcoming campaign. Florilège has made dragons inspired by the polyamorous pride flag; non-binary pride flag; aro-ace pride flag; genderqueer pride flag; demigender pride flag, pansexual pride flag; bisexual pride flag; and genderfluid pride flag.

Want one of these cuties as a sticker, magnet, key chain, or pair of earrings? Then make sure you don’t miss your chance to get ‘um – become a follower of our Kickstarter pre-launch page today!

Campaign launches Wednesday, June 18th and will end on Wednesday, July 2nd.

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Meghan: Our 11-year-old daughter is not motivated by personal hygiene. She will shower when reminded to, but she does not wash her hair effectively (I still have to wash it for her sometimes to make sure it gets clean). She is in puberty and is starting to get pimples on her face, but she will not wash her face at night unless I basically walk her into the bathroom and do it with her. When she brushes her teeth in the morning, she still has morning breath afterward, so clearly is not doing an effective job.

I am at a loss. We have worked with her and, frankly, nagged her for years, and I’m just tired of it. Is this developmentally appropriate? We do not believe she is neurodivergent, and she’s a great kid — smart, social and involved in a lot of activities. I don’t understand this refusal to do the basics of effective personal hygiene. The approach we’ve been taking is clearly not working, so I would love some advice. Thank you!

— Nagging Not Working

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conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Carolyn: I made the horrible mistake of developing a relationship with a parent of one of my child’s friends that ultimately led to me cheating on my boyfriend of two years. The affair lasted about two months. My boyfriend found out and confronted me about two months ago, at which point I owned up to it, albeit after much resistance and hedging on my part.

The affair is over because my affair partner broke up with me upon finding out I had not broken up with my boyfriend as he had demanded. I want very much to repair things with my boyfriend. This whole experience has shown me how artificial the affair was and how I was willing to throw away my relationship for what was ultimately a facade.

The past two months have been hell — being insulted and called horrible names, constant sarcasm, throwing things I’ve said back in my face, refusal to hear my apologies, etc. My boyfriend has since started dating other people after telling me he’s going to do to me what I did to him: try other people out. How long do I keep fighting to fix this and make amends? At this point, I just agree with everything he says about the affair, even if it’s not true, just to avoid another daily argument. My hope is almost gone, I’m defeated, and he seems to take joy in being mean and hurtful toward me. Do I cut my losses? When I ask him if he even wants to try to repair this, he flips the question back on me.
— “I’m so sorry, but please stop beating me up”

( Read more... )

duckprintspress

Graphic 1 of 2. Text over an orange blot and four book covers over the 8-striped 1978 Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag. The text reads: Orange Books for Pride. The books are: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan; Hockey Bois by A.L. Heard; Meal by Soleil Ho & Blue Delliquanti; Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin.

Graphic 2 of 2. 10 book covers over the 8-striped 1978 Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag. The books are: Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk; The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce; Missed Fortunes by Tris Lawrence; Firebird by Sunmi; Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore; The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O'Neill; A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green; Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree; Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel; A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy.

HAPPY PRIDE 2025! For Pride this year, we’re changing up our usual rec lists. Instead of doing books with specific identities or themes, we’re focused this time on cover color! Throughout the month of June, we’ll be doing 8 rec lists, each with covers inspired by one of the colors of the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag. We drew a little additional inspiration from the meaning behind the color and why it was included in the original LGBTQIA+ flag (in this case, orange = healing), but we prioritized color over meaning. The contributors to this list are: Sanne, Tris Lawrence, Nina Waters, polls, Shannon, Linnea Peterson and Owl Outerbridge.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Hockey Bois by A.L. Heard
Meal by Soleil Ho & Blue Delliquanti
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce
Missed Fortunes by Tris Lawrence
Firebird by Sunmi
Can’t Take That Away by Steven Salvatore
The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O’Neill
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy

Find these and many other queer books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join Book Lover’s Discord server to chat with us about books, fandom, and more!

spiralsheep posting in

booknook

What are you reading?

duckprintspress

A graphic with a white rectangle over a background showing the stripes of the intersex inclusive progress flag. Within the white rectangle there are ten cute dragons in bright colors and playful poses. Text reads Pride Dragon Merchandise Stickers, Magnets, Key Chains, and More! The dragons are each in colors of a different Pride flag.

Announcing our next merchandise campaign: ten playful, joyous dragons by Florilège, each in the colors of a different pride flag! Whether you’re bi or pan, genderqueer or queer, we’ve got a dragon for that. We chose ten designs to reflect a range of identities, each whimsical and completely unique.

The ten Pride flags we’ve chosen to feature this project are… Top row, left to right: the polyamproud Polyamorous Pride Flag; the Genderfluid Pride Flag; the Bisexual Pride Flag; the original Pride flag created by Gilbert Baker; and the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag. Bottom row, left to right: the Non-Binary Pride Flag; the Aroace Pride Flag; the Genderqueer Pride Flag; and the Pansexual Pride Flag. These flags were picked based on the results of a general interest survey we did last year, and with an eye toward featuring some flags we haven’t made merch for before and those we don’t see as merchandise often!

We’ll be offering each design as a sticker, magnet, key chain, and pair of earrings. We’ll also be doing sticker sheets, washi tape, and a lanyard featuring all 10 Pride dragon designs.

This Kickstarter launches June 18th 2025. Make sure you don’t miss the news – follow our pre-launch page today!

minoanmiss posting in

agonyaunt

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duckprintspress

1. What are you currently reading?

About the same as last week tbh (no progress on TGCF Chinese manhua or on A Memory of Empire, didn't start anything else instead of those). This week has been pretty chaotic and I haven't had much bandwidth for anything requiring focus. Thus, manga...

2. What have you recently finished reading?

The Troublesome Guest of Sotomura Detective Agency by Sakae Kusama: this was fine when all was said and done, I just prefer my couples a little softer for each other.
Witch Hat Aterlier vol. 4 - 8 by Kamome Shirahama: definitely an interesting series. Unsurprisingly I'm more interested in what the adult characters are doing (Qifrey and Olruggio) than the kids, and so it doesn't quite hit for me a lot of the time. It's very interesting to see how it's coming together as a story fundamentally about disability and privilege
Spy x Family vol. 13 by Tatsuya Endo: I'm now caught up on what's available on Libby, so the waiting starts.
Acid Town vol. 4 by Kyuugou: I'd probably like this better if I wasn't showing up at the Very Dark Angsty series like "so when do things get better and happy?" Def my brain going into a bar like "why's everyone here drinking?"
This is but a Hell of a Dream by Senco Yoshimoto: the thinnest trappings of an incubus story to explain why it's pretty much cover to cover sex lmao.
Fire Force vol. 4 by Atsushi Ohkubo
The Way of the Househusband vol. 7 by Kousuke Oono
Yona of the Dawn vol. 13 by Mizuho Kusanagi

3. What will you read next?

I'm just trying to get through each day rn tbh. idk. probably some more manga. I'm probably the only parent on the planet counting days waiting excitedly for my kids to be done with school. My life will be so much simpler once I'm not juggling this intense a schedule for them plus all my own crap. One week left...

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Pay Dirt,

My brother and his wife recently bought a broken-down house. They asked my husband, who runs his own construction company, for a quote to fix it up. My sister-in-law brightly chimed in, “and we expect the friends and family rate.” Well, my husband immediately drew a hard line.

He responded that he would prefer not to engage in a business agreement with family, as it can lead to misunderstandings, and he recommended another company. Well, my sister-in-law completely lost her mind.

She screamed at him and said that they would never have bought the property if they knew he wasn’t going to help them. It seems that they, without any encouragement, expected him to offer his services at a significant discount and are now in a bind because they cannot afford the reconstruction and will make a huge loss if they sell.

Now my entire family is being drawn into a massively acrimonious discussion. My brother and sister-in-law are claiming we “betrayed them” and left them bankrupt. I get daily calls from my weeping mother begging my husband to reconsider, while my father has threatened to beat him up. It’s insane. I don’t want to lose my family, and I can’t ask my husband to change his mind, so what do I do?

—Built on Sand

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conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Eric: My husband and I have been estranged from our 17-year-old granddaughter for eight years. We were loving, supportive grandparents but after the mother of our granddaughter broke up with our son, the father, she stopped our granddaughter from seeing us as well.

For eight years, I have tried to keep contact with our granddaughter with gifts and cards on her birthday, Christmas and other times. I do not receive a response of any kind from her. We believe her mother forbids her from contacting us.

My question is should I continue to send cards and gifts to her? I’m ready to stop. I don’t want her to forget us but I’m very tired of attempting to reach out to her with no response.

– Estranged Gramma

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Eric: I’m married with four kids and have a sizable extended family. One son, who is in seventh grade, runs track and finished the season with personal records in his events, which also happen to place second in his school’s all-time best records.

I sent out a family text to all of our extended family raving about his achievements. This is common amongst all of the aunts and uncles. We got a load of congrats. However, my husband’s brother side-texted my eldest daughter, “tell your brother to stop being first loser.” (He did not text any “congrats” to the group text.)

My daughter showed me the text and chuckled. I’m not sure if she showed my son. I’m so deeply angry about this. I know that everyone will tell me he was joking. Or that I’m misinterpreting his meaning. I just cannot get over it.

My initial feeling is to keep my son as far away from his uncle as possible for the rest of his life. My second feeling is to call said uncle to tell him he is a complete loser himself (which would be super biting as he just got laid off, has to sell his house and downsize everything). I know I won’t do either but I am having a hard time imagining being around him this summer as our families usually get together each summer for a few days.

How do I express by complete disdain for his comments without upsetting the entire extended family? Am I being oversensitive?

– Second to None

( Read more... )

minoanmiss posting in

agonyaunt

I Left My 2-Year-Old Alone With My Husband for 15 Minutes. The Aftermath Might Haunt My Marriage Forever.

( Read more... )

minoanmiss posting in

agonyaunt

Help! My Husband’s Best Man Made a Stunning Admission During His Wedding Speech. I Might Never Get Over It.

( Read more... )

deckardcanine

I don't recall where I first learned of Jenny Greenteeth, the dangerous amphibious fairy from English folklore. It wasn't in A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits, which I still check on occasion. Regardless, Molly O'Neill's 2025 debut novel sounded promising.

( Cut for length )

On a whim the other day, I picked up a Silver Age collection of Doom Patrol comics. It may be a while before I pick up a non-graphic novel.

duckprintspress

Graphic 1 of 2. Text over a red blot and six book covers over the 8-striped 1978 Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag. The text reads: Red Books for Pride. The books are: The Devil's Luck by L.S. Baird; The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo; Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao; Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" ed. by Nina Waters; Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu; Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle.

Graphic 2 of 2. 12 book covers over the 8-striped 1978 Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag. The books are: Fat Ham by James Ijames; Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel; Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer; Husband Material by Alexis Hall; The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard; For Real by Alexis Hall; Jay Moriarty Violates the Official Secrets Act by Kit Walker; Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli; Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan; The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado & DaNi ; Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland; Devilman by Go Nagai.

HAPPY PRIDE 2025! For Pride this year, we’re changing up our usual rec lists. Instead of doing books with specific identities or themes, we’re focused this time on cover color! Throughout the month of June, we’ll be doing 8 rec lists, each with covers inspired by one of the colors of the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag. We drew a little additional inspiration from the meaning behind the color and why it was included in the original LGBTQIA+ flag (in this case, red = life), but we prioritized color over meaning. The contributors to this list are: Sanne, Neo Scarlett, boneturtle, Nina Waters, Shannon, Shadaras, Tris Lawrence, Linnea Peterson, Owl Outerbridge, Shea Sullivan and 2 anonymous contributors.

The Devil’s Luck by L.S. Baird
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” ed. by Nina Waters
Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
Fat Ham by James Ijames
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard
For Real by Alexis Hall
Jay Moriarty Violates the Official Secrets Act by Kit Walker
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado & DaNi
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland
Devilman by Go Nagai

Find these and many other queer books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join Book Lover’s Discord server to chat with us about books, fandom, and more!

deckardcanine

Some players complain about video games
Where your ammo is finite or weapons can break,
But many examples I know of are fun,
So I have to reply with an alternate take.

A whole lot of games have expendable items
For non-combat purposes such as to heal.
Allowing that feat without limit would make
The objective too easy and lose its appeal.

It’s true that disarmament during a battle
Is harsh and alarming to those unprepared,
But keeping the prospect in mind gives incentive
To swap out equipment for what can be spared.

It forces the players to vary their fighting.
The matches won’t feel so alike all the while.
It adds to the challenge, but not to the point
Of frustration, I find, so I’m glad for the style.

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Link

1. Dear Care and Feeding,

I work from home. My kids are 8 and 12. When they were little, we hired a sitter to watch them on the random days off from school, but they don’t really need a sitter now.

For holidays when they are off and I’m working, my husband and I agreed to a set of rules for them: If the kids help with two small chores, read for 30 minutes, and play outside all before noon, then they can have screen time. The kids reluctantly agreed to this policy.

But they still demand my time. They will complete the list above, then ask to FaceTime with a grandparent (a clever loophole). They come into my office whining that they are bored. They are old enough to help themselves to snacks, but if I don’t supervise, they will eat everything before lunch. I make and serve lunch. Even after lunch, they play on their tablets and mindlessly snack. If they ate everything earlier, they come to my office whining for more snacks.

I feel like my husband is taking advantage of my work-from-home job. I feel like my work and time come second to his. I would like to have a full day off the weekend after one of the school holidays. A day when no one asks me for food or entertainment or a ride somewhere. A day when I’m not picking up after everyone. I don’t need a spa day; I need a day to myself. My husband says that’s not fair because his job doesn’t have working from home as an option, and I can’t just “quit parenting for a day.”

—Holidays Are Not Days Off

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**********

2. Dear Care and Feeding,

When should I let my daughter learn lessons on her own? My daughter “Chloe” is 12 years old. She recently went with her two closest friends to the zoo. She really wanted to wear a summer dress and white sandals and tried to leave the house without wearing sunscreen.

I talked to Chloe and made her go wearing sunscreen, and also shoes that would be better for walking on the dirt paths at the zoo (I couldn’t change her mind about the dress, so I picked my battles). But I’m not sure I like doing that.

She’s 12 now, and none of the consequences would have been disastrous. The next time something like this comes up, should I just let her make her mistakes and experience the consequences?

—When to Intervene

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Pay Dirt,

Our next-door neighbors were really welcoming when we first moved into our new home. Within weeks, though, they started complaining that our son was too loud and that he was “bothering” their dogs. He’s 5 years old and rambunctious, and he’s attracted to furry animals, which makes it really hard to keep him away from fun, furry floofs!

We tried talking it out with our neighbors, but they lodged a complaint with our HOA, presented us with a massive bill for repainting their fence after our son drew on it with chalk, and twice called the police because he was “trespassing” on their property (he entered their garden uninvited to play with their dogs).

We’re at our wits end. We are seriously considering selling up and moving, as we can’t reasonably expect a child to forever remain indoors. But it will result in a loss we cannot afford.

Is there any way to fix this situation? We feel like we’re being bullied out of our home, but our neighbors are operating well within the law and their rights.

—Homewrecker

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duckprintspress

Next Saturday, June 14th, I’ll be driving down to Kingston NY to join A Big Gay Market in vending at the Unicorn Bar! This awesome venue is the only queer-focused nightlife space in the Hudson Valley region, and I know I’m dang excited to get to go there for the first time. There’ll be over 25 vendors there, and a share of the proceeds from the market as a whole and from some individual booths (mine included!) will be donated to AYNI Farm, a queer-, trans-, and BIPOC-cenetered herb farm in Hillsdale.

We’ll be at Unicorn Bar, rain or shine, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday June 14th! I hope to see you there!

duckprintspress

1. Have you ever been to summer camp?
Yep, I went to day camp many years and sleep away camp four times.

2. Have you ever made a s'more?
Many many many times. Most recently last Saturday.

3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)?
I don't think I've ever had nothing. I don't want bugs or rain on me. I've had only a tarp tho.

4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
Many times? I don't really get this question tbh.

5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
I have a full. In my house there are, uh... two twins, two fulls, a sofa bed (a full or a queen?) and a queen.

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Noose/Moose/Mongoose

January 2025

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Base style: Ciel by carisma_sensei
Theme: Dried Flowers by dancing_serpent

Dear Diary,

Reading

Pride Dragons on Parade: Rainbow Pride Flag Dragons!

Want one of these cuties as a sticker, magnet, key chain, or pair of earrings? Then make sure you don’t miss your chance to get ‘um – become a follower of our Kickstarter pre-launch page today!

(no subject)

(no subject)

A Rainbow of Queer Books for 2025: Orange

RIP (Read In Progress) Wednesday

Coming Soon: Pride Dragon Merchandise Kickstarter Campaign!

This Kickstarter launches June 18th 2025. Make sure you don’t miss the news – follow our pre-launch page today!

Ask a Manager: May I Roundfile Male BYU Grad Applicants?

WWW Wednesday

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

Care & Feeding: Wandering Toddler

Dear Prudence: Wedding Toast Blunder

Book Review: Greenteeth

A Rainbow of Queer Books for Pride 2025: Red

Taking a Break

One column, two letters

I don't know why this was sent to Pay Dirt, but Pay Dirt gave excellent advice the LW will not heed

Vending Next Weekend in Kingston, New York!

We’ll be at Unicorn Bar, rain or shine, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday June 14th! I hope to see you there!

Friday Five: Camping

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January 2025

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