Animal Exploitation is Inextricably Linked To Death
Sep. 4th, 2025 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unspeakablehorrorAnd that's not even getting into the fact that all of these animals are routinely killed at a fraction of their lifespan after they stop being sufficiently profitable. Many chicks are routinely killed shortly after birth if they are not judged to be egg layers, and calves are often killed just so they don't have to be fed and/or so they can be used in something like dog food. Here's an article that is from an animal welfarist perspective, not a vegan one, but which I think has some value in that it discusses the practicalities and economic incentives behind the widespread slaughter of calves in the dairy industry that the layperson may not be familiar with.
Artist Spotlight: Zel Howland
Sep. 4th, 2025 09:28 amduckprintspressWe’re getting an early start on ringing in the new year by producing a 2026 calendar of queer art made by artists who work with Duck Prints Press! All the artworks are also available as prints. If you’re looking to support a queer indie press, queer creators, and queer art, check out our pre-order page now!
Today, meet Zel Howland, who is also a writer with Duck Prints Press. Her piece, entitled Chrysopoeia, is the art for January!
Zel created this piece as a tie in to her story of the same title, Chrysopoeia.
Zel had this to say about the inspiration for this work: “This piece was inspired by my short story Chrysopoeia, featuring (spoilers!) Faith comforting the ghost of Viola after a botched resurrection. I wanted to capture the emotion of the scene rather than making a perfect depiction, which means many of the details aren’t the same as in the story, but the tenderness, yearning, and eeriness shine through.”
Want this piece for yourself?
- order our 2026 queer art calendar!
- buy an art print of this piece!
- buy the digital download in our Patreon store!
Bohemian Rhapsody (Zulu version)
Sep. 4th, 2025 03:09 pmtrobadorabrithistorian: the South African Ndlovu Youth Choir has translated Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody into Zulu. It's gorgeous - and after I saw the video, I just had to share it. It's completely stunning:YULETIDE!!!!
Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:56 pmtrobadoraYuletide is still my favourite multifannish exchange, and this year's schedule is out - nominations start on the 15th. And they're running an experiment with giving us more nominations and requests this year! Very cool, and I hope it works out well!
What's new this year:
- The deadline is 12 hours earlier than it was the last few years. (First time in a while that the deadline will be when I'm actually awake, but I'll try not to cut it too close. *g*)
- Reveals are also 12 hours earlier than they've been the last few years. (First time in a while that I'll be awake when the collection opens!)
- We get 5 fandom nominations instead of 4. (Woohoo!)
- We get 8 requests instead of 6! (And again, woohoo! It's so hard to choose between rare fandoms.)
Who else is doing Yuletide? Have you thought about what you're going to nominate/request/offer this year?
WWW Wednesday
Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:14 amduckprintspress1. What are you currently reading?
idk why I'm procrastinating badly on The Tainted Cup but. I'm procrastinating badly on The Tainted Cup. No Progress since last week. My only other reads-in-progress are both in Chinese - the manhua of 破云/Breaking Through the Clouds by 淮上, which I'm almost done with, and 我和我对家/I Ship My Rival x Me by PEPA, which is my first really serious attempt at reading a novel in Chinese and which I expect to be a read-in-progress for at least the next month, maybe longer. Like seriously, I'm reading like half a page a day and it's over 200 pages long, so if I'm done by the end of the year that'll be a win. Don't expect me to include it every Wednesday but. assume I'm chipping away (or have failed miserably and given up.)
2. What have you recently finished reading?
I've been reading so much manga because I haven't managed to brain novel.
- Lout of Count's Family manhua chapters 1 to 100 by Yu Ryeo-Han and PING
- Dinosaur Sanctuary vol. 2 by Itaru Kinoshita
- Cover My Scars with your Kiss vol. 2 by Io Amaki: it's been long enough that I don't really remember volume 1 beyond "I know I liked that" but I liked this too. Very porny this time.
- Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox: I'd accidentally read Hancox's second autobiographical graphic novel about a year ago; I think this one is the better of the two.
- Far Sector by N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell: the DC comic that poses the question, "where do Green Lanterns fall in the spectrum of ACAB?" It had some pacing issues imo but otherwise was quite good (and queer! the mc is bi. and into aliens.)
- Yona of the Dawn vol. 15 by Mizuho Kusanagi
- Kindred Spirits on the Roof by Aya Fumio and Hachi Ito: I didn't know when I borrowed this that it was based on a gl otome, but it was fine without knowing that. Very cute and low stakes fluffy wlw stories.
- Tegan and Sara Junior High by Tegan and Sara Quin and Tillie Walden: fictionalized history about the singers. One is a lesbian. It's cute enough.
- The Way of the Househusband vol. 10 by Kousuke Oono
- I Ship My Rival x Me manhua vol. 1 by PEPA and Qualia: my 4th time reading this, trying to refresh my memory to help with reading the novel in Chinese. Wei Yanzi why you gotta use so much slang
- Kaiju No. 8: B-Side vol. 1 by Kentaro Hidano, Keiji Ando, and Naoya Matsumoto: I didn't realize this'd be a manga version of stuff covered in the light novel I read. It's fine. Nothing new tho.
- Haikyu!! vol. 40 by Haruichi Furudate
- Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide vol. 4 by Mone Sorai: ngl I'm liking this more and more.
- Sakamoto Days vol. 6 by Yuto Suzuki: this is getting more ridiculous but not in a bad way, lmao. tbh I mostly read it to free up a slot in my "borrowed from the NYPL Libby" (which caps at only 3 books, sigh) so I could borrow Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide vol. 5 lmao.
3. What will you read next?
I really need to actually read The Tainted Cup. I really liked what I've read so far! I think I'm mostly stressed about my kids starting school (today's the first week) and the last week has been kinda all over the place, busy-ness wise. I def won't be starting another novel til I'm done, not least because my next novel is Dream of the Red Chamber, which will NOT be easier on my brain or more enjoyable, lmao.
Next-up from the physical library is the second Tegan and Sarah book, Crush, and then I've got most of the run of Marvel's Runaways.
On Libby, nothing is due in the next week so I'll probably read whatever I feel like reading. Which will probably be Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide vol. 5.
September posting, and Guardian Wishlist
Sep. 2nd, 2025 09:56 pmtrobadora![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sid_guardian. August has been (finally) back to normal at work, but the month just flew past before I could get back on my feet, never mind in the saddle. *g*But this month I'm trying to make that happen. Writing more than alibi sentences: something I need to relearn, LOL.
And I'm trying to post more again here too, finally! My plan for that is twofold:
- post something every day of September, and
- because I keep feeling like I did literally nothing at all since April other than work, but that's not in fact literally true, I want to remind myself of that by posting about stuff I did do during these months.
For today, here's another thing I did do recently, together with
china_shop: preparing for guardian_wishlist! And then sign-ups just opened at the end of August:
I really love this fest. It's our Guardian-and-related-fandoms version of
fandomtrees (rules), and we're in our fifth year already, wow! I love that this fandom is still going strong. :DOur schedule for 2025:
- 28 August: sign-ups open - open now!
- 5 September: first wishlists posted
- 15 September: sign-ups close
- 16 September: final wishlists posted
- 6 October: gifts revealed
We already have 8 sign-ups! I haven't finished mine yet, but soon. Definitely hoping so see some more of you there as well! ♥ ♥ ♥
Created Works Round-Up: August 2025
Sep. 2nd, 2025 10:18 amduckprintspress
Duck Prints Press’s monthly “created works round-ups” are our opportunity to spotlight some of the amazing work that people working with us have done that ISN’T linked to their work with Duck Prints Press. We include fanworks, outside publications, and anything else that creators feel like sharing with y’all. Inclusion is voluntary and includes anything that they decided “hey, I want to put this on the created work’s round-up!”
Check out what they’ve shared with us this month…
(or check out all the created works round-ups in this master post!)
( Read more... )
duckprintspress
Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher owned by @unforth/Nina Waters, founded by fancreators to help fanartists and fanfiction writers publish their original work, with an emphasis on works featuring LGBTQIA+ characters, needs YOU! 
There are two ways for you to help, now through September 30th:
- like and share a version of this post post on the platform(s) of your choice to help us spread the word – and to enter a giveaway for an original copy of the first edition of our debut anthology Add Magic to Taste! (Scroll down for details.) Shareable posts: Tumblr | Pillowfort | Mastodon | Bluesky
- become a Patreon supporter, help an awesome small business, get backer rewards, AND get a merch freebie valued up to $5 US!
To help us maximize the amount of money we can pay to creators, we rely on our Patreon to pay our overhead costs. As things stand, we need to bring in about $750 a month to pay our baseline monthly expenses…and as of now, we’re bringing in about $550 per month. Factoring in our website and other online sales, vending, and crowdfunding campaigns, Duck Prints Press is currently breaking even, but we can’t grow, initiate more projects, pay creators more, expand our offerings, get software and equipment that will help us streamline our processes, and more…without enough money coming in to ensure we make ends meet each month.
That’s where you come in! The more people support us on Patreon, even just at $3/month, the more we’re able to do!
In exchange for monthly support, we offer a bunch of cool rewards to people who choose to back us, with 5 support levels ranging from $3/month to $25/month. All backers get coupons to use in our webstore, access to our Discord, behind-the-scenes blog posts, voting rights on polls that decide anthology themes, and at least one free short story per month. At higher levels, backers get exclusive merchandise, one artwork per month, access to our monthly Duck Prints Press Panel, bonus stories, free selections from our book catalog, extras for supporting our crowdfunding campaigns, and more!
We can reach our goals, and you can get lots of excellent stuff, by backing the Press on Patreon now! AND you’ll get your choice of a freebie if you back during the month of September! (All our current backers will get to claim a freebie too, as a THANK YOU for their long-time support of our work.)
What can you get?
This giveaway is the only way to get access to Patreon-exclusive merchandise usually reserved for Patreon backers who also support our crowdfunding campaigns! Here’s the exclusives we have on offering for this year’s freebies:
You can get any merchandise item we offer on our webstore that costs $5 or less, or you can claim a backer-exclusive reward previously only available to Patrons! The Patreon exclusives that I have leftovers of, listed left to right, top to bottom, are:
- A Truth Universally Acknowledged – this version of this design is only available in this set of 5 note cards with envelopes (art by A. A. Weston)
- The Salt in the Sea – blue iridescent acrylic wave pin (art by planetsandmagic) (only 4 available)
- Pride Dragons – Gilbert Baker Pride Flag and Intersex Inclusive Pride Flag acrylic pins (art by Florilege) (only 5 and 4 of these respectively)
- Hockey Bois – standee of chibi art of the two main characters (art by diminuel) (only 1 available!!)
- Scrap Metal Angel – rainbow feather magnet featuring the same art as the chapter dividers (clip art) (only 4 available)
- He Bears the Cape of Stars/She Wears the Midnight Crown – sun/moon day/night mask die-cut sticker (art by Aceriee)
- Aim For The Heart – musketeer of pierced hearts magnet (art by Aceriee) (only 1 available!!)
- Many Hands – poly pride flag dragon with hologram stars (art by reshipkmn)
- Missed Fortunes – post card of the cover art (art by Jade Hallett)
If none of these are to your taste, on duckprintspress.com we’ve got bookmarks, stickers, key chains, magnets, and more!
All backers, current and new, who back at the $25/month level by the end of September will ALSO get our 2026 Calendar of Queer Art as a freebie! You can learn more about the calendar on our webpage.
Wait, what was that about a giveaway?
Don’t want to be a backer but want to help us spread the word? Have we got a giveaway for you! To encourage people to share this post, we’re offering a free copy of the first edition of our first anthology Add Magic to Taste, which features 20 sweet, fluffy, queer stories set at magical coffee shops, tea houses, and bakeries. There are only three mint, print copies of this book left, and they’re not for sale – this is the rare chance to get one for yourself!
Want to help a small, fan-run, aroace-agender-owned independent business get more support, and maybe win something awesome for your efforts? Then enter the giveaway! You get one entry for liking this post, and one entry per reblog/reskeet/share for up to three reblogs/reskeets/shares! AND you can get additional entries by sharing our posts on different platforms: we’re posting shareable versions of the giveaway on Tumblr, Pillowfort, Bluesky, and Mastodon! (Note: we will NOT give entries for people making their own posts. We love when people make their own posts, but they’re too difficult for us to track for giveaway purposes.)
TL:DR: Duck Prints Press is a growing indie press working with fancreators to publish queer art and fiction. Become a backer on Patreon during September 2025, and get all the backer rewards associated with the backer level you select PLUS a freebie worth up to $5. Help spread the word and get entries to win a fabulous print anthology available nowhere else!
Stuff for us, stuff for you – couldn’t be better! Don’t miss your chance: this event ends September 30th, 2025!
(And don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list so you can hear about our latest projects, merchandise releases, crowdfunding campaigns, publications, coupons, and more!)
Thanks in advance, everyone.
(For all legalese related to this promotional event and giveaway, go to this link! Make sure you check it out.)
Let's blame the change of season for today's restlessness and this disjointed post
Sep. 1st, 2025 04:03 pmumadoshiThis morning I did manage to do some small puttery things that needed doing, but most things require input from both of us and
scruloose's mind and energy are currently elsewhere (long-overdue reno project). Also, y'know, I have a rewrite due in less than two weeks that I'm having real trouble focusing on; both that and the general restlessness are presumably not being helped by inevitable mild worry about Jinksy having dental extractions (also long-overdue) tomorrow.(I'm reminding myself that any surfaces we can declutter before the fall crunch starts at Dayjob will be a significant help for my brain while that's going on. Here's hoping we can manage some of that.)
I won't think it's properly autumn until equinox anyway, but I do think maybe I'm ready for it.
东极岛 Dongji Rescue
Sep. 1st, 2025 08:23 pmtrobadoraIt's based on a historical episode from World War 2 (the sinking of the Lisbon Maru), though it's heavily fictionalised and in no way historically accurate. *g*
(There's a 2024 documentary on the real event, which I'd love to see if anyone knows where to find it!)
Anyway, Dongji Rescue is a really well done, effective film! ( spoilers below the cut )
Also, watching this movie was a very multilingual experience - the film itself has Chinese, Japanese and English dialogue all aplenty (which you don't see nearly enough of, IMO!), handling the language barriers really well - and then we had German subtitles on top of that. *g* They were good, too, and not as distracting as I might have expected. Since I've generally watched Chinese media with English subtitles, and also learned what Chinese I have with English-language material, all my Chinese is routed through English, and it's usually somewhat disorienting to watch something with German subtitles instead. But the multilingual mix of this film somehow balanced that out, and I didn't have an issue. Though I was happy to have the Chinese subtitles as well as they helped me follow along the Chinese dialogue where I could!
Pre-Order Your 2026 Calendar & Art Prints Today!
Sep. 1st, 2025 11:17 amduckprintspressPre-orders for our 2026 calendar of queer art, featuring 12 gorgeous pieces formerly posted to the Duck Prints Press Patreon, are now open! We’ll be taking pre-orders for this 8.5 in x 11 in/21.6 cm x 27.9 cm full-color calendar now through September 15. Not only does every month feature lovely work by 9 different artists, but we’ve also marked major queer events such as Bi Visibility Day and Trans Day of Remembrance right on the calendar, so you can celebrate LGBTQIA+ days all year round!
Calendars are $20 US, plus shipping.
Each art piece is also being offered as a 5 in x 7 in/12.7 cm x 17.8 cm art print – or you can get a full set of all 12 art prints for half the price of buying them all individually!
Learn more about the calendar and art print by visiting our page now!
Or – already convinced?
All the art pieces are shown above, and the order matches the months. These pieces are:
Top row, left to right: Zel Howland, “Chrysopoeia” (January); May Barros, “Magical Friendship” (February); Jagoda Zirebiec, “I want to be different.” (March); radicalhoodie, “april’s sweet showers” (April)
Middle row, left to right: swev.art, untitled (May); Aaron Kotze, “Ol’ Reliable” (June); Max Jason Peterson, “Treasure” (July); Jagoda Zirebiec, “Sunset” (August)
Bottom row, left to right: May Barros, “Spark” (September); Aceriee, “Samhain” (October); Shea Sullivan, “The Riddle” (November); Max Jason Peterson, “Snow Heart” (December).
Did you know? Every purchase you make helps artists get paid – artists earn royalties on every single calendar and art print sale!
Did you know? Our backers on Patreon at the $5/month level and higher have already gotten access to digital versions of all these art pieces – and backers at the $25/month level will receive a copy of the calendar complementary as a THANK YOU for their support! You can get one too by becoming a backer today!
A bit about sleep, but primarily about peaches, plus a long-ago happening in Toronto
Sep. 1st, 2025 11:36 amumadoshiFirm reminder to self: that used to be the norm. And at least there's no Dayjob today.
We didn't go to the wee local market this weekend, because when we were out with a car on Friday we were able to stop by the stall for a produce place ("place") I love, even though this was only our second time there. It's produce from a variety of farms down in the Valley, and they usually have a lot of different things, but for us it's not super feasible to get to without driving, even though it's not that far.
We came home with a pint of blueberries and three quarts of peaches, encompassing four peach varieties! ( cut in case you DGAF about peaches )
Back when we lived in Toronto (over twenty years ago now--what even?), of course, we had access to Ontario peaches, which are a glory upon the earth. And because my exposure to popular music (or, y'know, an awful lot of music generally) was even worse then than it is now, a couple decades later, I didn't actually know the "millions of peaches" song other than the "millions of peaches, peaches for me; millions of peaches, peaches for free" bit. Like. At all. But I would go around singing that bit in sheer joy over peaches, and sometimes about other things that I loved. No context.
(The classic example of that last bit is the time or three I was singing about "millions of Quake-chans", because a] the original Quake is one of my lifetime favorite games {am I still ridiculously annoyed both that the name/"franchise" has had absolutely nothing to do with the original game beyond the fucking game engine AND how bad Quake II was? Yes} and b] I had mostly left behind my early-anime-fangirl habit of using fragments of Japanese, but was still blithely appending "-chan" now and then for fun.)
Anyway, the point of this ramble is that (if I'm remembering correctly at this distance) one time Em was visiting and I merrily sang out "millions of kittens" etc. (this was before
scruloose and I were married, but we were already in it for the long haul, and at this point I had zero reason to think I would ever be able to have cats again because of their allergies), and when I finished the scrap of the song I knew and stopped, she quite reasonably belted out "KITTENS COME! IN A CAN!", which I had no way of predicting, and I probably didn't literally hit the floor in horror, but it came close.Then she and
scruloose had to explain WTF had just happened and talk me down a bit, I think. ^^;My August Reads
Sep. 1st, 2025 10:14 amduckprintspress
Another month, another fuckton of readings. You can see my new interests by which covers come up the most, lmao. List in text form is below; sorted by type of book; queer reads are marked with a 🏳️🌈; favorites are in bold.
Duck Prints Press Titles:
- Starstruck, Adrift by Cedar D. McCafferty-Svec 🏳️🌈
- Whispers Through the Leaves by Johnathan Stern
- Like it Sharp by E. V. Dean 🏳️🌈
- Business is Blooming by Genevieve Maxwell 🏳️🌈
- Nycticorax by S. J. Ralston 🏳️🌈
Novels:
- Lout of Count's Family vol. 1 - 4 by Yu Ryeo-Han
- Diary of a Roblox Pro 7: Cash Splash by Ari Avatar (MG, read with my son)
- Lip and Sword vol. 3 by Jin Shisi Chai 🏳️🌈
- What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna 🏳️🌈
- The Wizard by Shi Wu 🏳️🌈
Manga, Manhwa, Manhua:
- The (Pet) Detective Agency by noji 🏳️🌈
- One-Punch Man by ONE
- Fire Force vol. 8 by Atsushi Ohkubo
- Haikyu vol. 38 and 39 by Haruichi Furudate
- My Love Mix-Up! vol. 7 by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko 🏳️🌈
- Terano-kun and Kumazaki-kun by Yoriko 🏳️🌈
- Magical Girl Incident vol. 1 to 3 by Zero Akabane 🏳️🌈
- Witch Hat Atelier vol. 12 and 13 by Kamome Shirahama
- 天官赐福 vol. 5 by 墨香铜臭 🏳️🌈
- Yona of the Dawn vol. 15 and 16 by Mizuho Kusanagi
- A Beast's Descent into Love by Rui Asajima 🏳️🌈
- Bite Marks and Fluorite by Seno Yanase 🏳️🌈
- Dinosaur Sanctuary vol. 1 and 2 by Itaru Kinoshita
- Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 21 to 23 by Koyoharu Gotouge
- My Beautiful Man vol. 4 by Yuu Nagira 🏳️🌈
- UNDEAD: Finding Love in the Zombie Apocalypse vol. 1 and 2 by Fumi Tsuyuhisa 🏳️🌈
- Sakamoto Days vol. 4 and 5 by Yuto Suzuki
- Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide vol. 1 to 3 by Mone Sorai 🏳️🌈
- The Way of the Househusband vol. 9 by Kousuke Oono
- World's End Blue Bird vol. 1 by Anji Seina 🏳️🌈
- Day Off by Dailygreens 🏳️🌈
- Something Important by Ereyz 🏳️🌈
- Lout of Count's Family chapters 1 to 100 by PING and Yu Ryeo-Han
- Cover My Scars With Your Kiss vol. 2 by Io Amaki 🏳️🌈
- Kindred Spirits on the Roof: The Complete Collection by Aya Fumio and Hachi Ito 🏳️🌈
Other Graphic Novels:
- The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill 🏳️🌈
- Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries 🏳️🌈
- Clementine vol. 3 by Tillie Walden 🏳️🌈
- Disney Gravity Falls Cinestory Comic vol. 2 (read with my son)
- Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones 🏳️🌈
- Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox 🏳️🌈
- Far Sector by N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell 🏳️🌈
A little post
Aug. 31st, 2025 10:37 pmsakana17The other day a video or ad crossed my path with George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" as the background music, and the opening notes made me perk up before I was disappointed that it wasn't the recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" my parents had on vinyl, the one I grew up listening to. I went poking and found it (down to the same LP cover) on YT (00:00-13:48).
( One farmboys pic )
Things learned in August
Aug. 31st, 2025 10:33 pmtinny( 10 things, some history, some Wu Lei-related things )
And while I'm at it, a youtube channel I found this month that does fun science experiments: https://www.youtube.com/@JaDroppingScience - I have learned a few things from it so far, but I guess pointing you to the channel makes more sense than reiterating everything I've learned from them. :D