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Glittery Balrog

@glitterybalrog

A confused piece of cat furniture living in the Pennines and having periodic essay crises.

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09.10.2024
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Latest posts by Glittery Balrog @glitterybalrog

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Ok, the pseudepigrapha ascribed to unlikely Biblical characters are getting out of hand now

14.03.2026 14:08 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0

That is the most common kind of war, to be honest.

11.03.2026 03:51 πŸ‘ 711 πŸ” 43 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 4

I went out into our back garden during the haying last year, and fled back into the house. And that was *definitely* plants and fresh air.

(NB. I am not complaining about the haying. But you probably don't want to be in the middle of it unless you have to.)

10.03.2026 19:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Andrew O’Hagan Β· Stay Classy: Mummy’s Favourite The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the...

A savage, magnificent, virtuosic and unlikely to be surpassed evisceration of "Mummy's Favourite".

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

10.03.2026 08:58 πŸ‘ 151 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 5

oh cool, we're at the "I have this knot of anxiety in my chest which I can't do anything about because it's entirely due to the overall geopolitical situation" stage again, nice, happy Monday everyone

09.03.2026 09:28 πŸ‘ 739 πŸ” 81 πŸ’¬ 39 πŸ“Œ 4

I had this exact problem with the ending of Buffy Season 5, and I felt that no-one cared.

UNTIL NOW

07.03.2026 13:07 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

It's not like a *canal* boat. It's a giant metal boat full of oil! So much less vulnerable!

07.03.2026 09:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

My favourite is still the "historical" facebook post about Jane Seymour (uxor Henri. octa) that was illustrated with a photo of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman.

06.03.2026 23:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We turned away from the light when we invented a way to go online without the computer screaming in warning.

06.03.2026 04:02 πŸ‘ 1441 πŸ” 331 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 8
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Coffee, straight out of my nose.

06.03.2026 19:28 πŸ‘ 11199 πŸ” 2065 πŸ’¬ 304 πŸ“Œ 198

I do NOT volunteer

06.03.2026 23:00 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Got a great idea, lads! How long can a canal take to build anyway? And the water's RIGHT THERE!"

06.03.2026 22:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"MOUNTAIN HARD AND BIG. WATER NO UP. MANY MANY DIG DIG"

06.03.2026 22:58 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And anyone thinking of *invading* Iran should have a look at a map showing the borders of Iran. And the mountains.

*All* the mountains.

06.03.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Half dark elf, half sheep, fully defanged of the author's intented horror in the name of silliness and whimsy and whatnot. We killed him in seconds.

Half dark elf, half sheep, fully defanged of the author's intented horror in the name of silliness and whimsy and whatnot. We killed him in seconds.

I went & found a Baldur's Gate 3 mod for arachnophobes to be able to play the game without suffering the sight of a single spider. Instead, all spiders are now sheep.

Behold the drider from act 2, with half the legs but twice the wool, prompting debate over the ethics of humanoid mutton consumption

04.03.2026 12:03 πŸ‘ 391 πŸ” 105 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 11
Preview
An expat in Dubai has a startling revelation: the Stephen Collins cartoon Reality check …

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

03.03.2026 17:26 πŸ‘ 1121 πŸ” 416 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 47
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I know that one

03.03.2026 17:15 πŸ‘ 1324 πŸ” 268 πŸ’¬ 44 πŸ“Œ 43

The one thing that unites English parties of every variety across the political spectrum is not knowing what Northern Ireland is

03.03.2026 21:25 πŸ‘ 40 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Shock and Uh.

03.03.2026 17:56 πŸ‘ 687 πŸ” 107 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 2

Why does no-one leave steaming hot pies next to street-level open windows these days? This is not the future the Beano promised us

24.02.2026 07:03 πŸ‘ 351 πŸ” 67 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 5

obligatory link to one of my favorite fanfics ever, Anthony Bourdain in Narnia.

archiveofourown.org/works/137185

delightfully the New Yorker blogged it!

www.newyorker.com/recommends/r...

22.02.2026 02:26 πŸ‘ 183 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 3

Every ocean disaster story is either "they did everything right and planned perfectly then 1800 one in a million things lined up in a row to kill them" or "they rowed out 4 miles into a category 2 hurricane in a rubber dinghy with no life vests while drinking brandy from the bottle and drowned"

18.02.2026 16:22 πŸ‘ 1346 πŸ” 197 πŸ’¬ 36 πŸ“Œ 14
Preview
Episode 2: The History of Cats on Ships by The Untitled History Podcast From as early as 7000 years before the common era, we have evidence suggesting cats served alongside humans on ships. This isn’t just in a civilian capacity. As long as there have been warships, cats ...

Important news!

I am delighted to announce the launch of my new podcast: The Untitled History Podcast.

It's me, and guests, falling down all the history rabbitholes you can imagine.

Please, please spread the word, subscribe and listen. Because... SHIPS CATS!! cms.megaphone.fm/channel/the-...

19.02.2026 17:57 πŸ‘ 553 πŸ” 237 πŸ’¬ 54 πŸ“Œ 31

Yes.

Staph infections were fatal so often that we distinguished them by what part of the body they attacked first. "Childbed fever" is a term for a variety of post-birth complications that killed a lot of women. There are reasons wet nurses used to be so common. (And they're not all class-based.)

17.02.2026 21:21 πŸ‘ 1175 πŸ” 253 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 2
A large Regency house. Two sisters named Emilia and Charlotte talk on an upper floor.
"Mister Blackwell has come to call again." says Emilia as she looks out of the window "Oh, how I despise his uncouth manners and electric bicycle!"

Charlotte says "Sister, you will end up a spinster if you insist on a historically accurate suitor." 
and continues "The romance novel has changed, Emilia, and so must we."

Emilia replies "Easy for you to say. You are engaged to the richest werewolf in the county!"

They are walking through the house.

Charlotte says "Look at Cousin Lucy: She is quite plain, yet made a most advantageous match with the dragon queen of nalthrax."

"True." says Emilia opening the door.

The tall, solid figure of Miuster Blackwell stands at the door wearing a top hat and tailcoat:
"Ladies, I triumphed In my ice hockey match and won ten thousand a year in sponsorship! Miss Emilia, will you be my bride?" he is holding a hockey stick.

Emilia swoons into Charlotte's arms.

A large Regency house. Two sisters named Emilia and Charlotte talk on an upper floor. "Mister Blackwell has come to call again." says Emilia as she looks out of the window "Oh, how I despise his uncouth manners and electric bicycle!" Charlotte says "Sister, you will end up a spinster if you insist on a historically accurate suitor." and continues "The romance novel has changed, Emilia, and so must we." Emilia replies "Easy for you to say. You are engaged to the richest werewolf in the county!" They are walking through the house. Charlotte says "Look at Cousin Lucy: She is quite plain, yet made a most advantageous match with the dragon queen of nalthrax." "True." says Emilia opening the door. The tall, solid figure of Miuster Blackwell stands at the door wearing a top hat and tailcoat: "Ladies, I triumphed In my ice hockey match and won ten thousand a year in sponsorship! Miss Emilia, will you be my bride?" he is holding a hockey stick. Emilia swoons into Charlotte's arms.

A romance cartoon for the @theguardian.com

15.02.2026 10:30 πŸ‘ 1134 πŸ” 373 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 27
My friend recently attended a funeral, and midway through the eulogy, he became convinced that it had been written by AI.
There was the telltale proliferation of abstract nouns, a surfeit of assertions that the deceased was "not just Xβ€”he was Y" coupled with a lack of concrete anecdotes, and more appearances of the word collaborate than you would expect from a rec-league hockey teammate. It was both too good, in terms of being grammatically correct, and not good enough, in terms of being particular. My friend had no definitive proof that he was listening to AI, but his positionβ€”and I agree with himβ€”is that when you know, you know.
His sense was that he had just heard a computer save a man from thinking about his dead friend.

My friend recently attended a funeral, and midway through the eulogy, he became convinced that it had been written by AI. There was the telltale proliferation of abstract nouns, a surfeit of assertions that the deceased was "not just Xβ€”he was Y" coupled with a lack of concrete anecdotes, and more appearances of the word collaborate than you would expect from a rec-league hockey teammate. It was both too good, in terms of being grammatically correct, and not good enough, in terms of being particular. My friend had no definitive proof that he was listening to AI, but his positionβ€”and I agree with himβ€”is that when you know, you know. His sense was that he had just heard a computer save a man from thinking about his dead friend.

You can’t offload emotional labor. Believe me, I’ve tried

11.02.2026 20:50 πŸ‘ 619 πŸ” 124 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 17

the people who spread the β€œfemale brains are bad at math and spatial reasoning” lies should be tried at the Hague

11.02.2026 14:41 πŸ‘ 1756 πŸ” 263 πŸ’¬ 66 πŸ“Œ 49
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The talented and all round lovely guy, Simon Guerrier joins me to talk about getting a break writing Doctor Who books, his time editing Bernice books, and gives huge insight into his David Whittaker and upcoming Terrance Dicks books... @0tralala.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

03.02.2026 14:14 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
Kindergarten teacher wants kindergartener deported
Kindergarten teacher wants kindergartener deported YouTube video by Ben Palmer

Kindergarten teacher called a prank ICE hotline thinking it was real. She called to report her 6 year old student to ICE to try to get them and their family deported.

6 years old.

She does not enjoy hearing her own words and actions played back to her.

04.02.2026 05:26 πŸ‘ 2987 πŸ” 1121 πŸ’¬ 128 πŸ“Œ 311
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If they actually do bring back the Muppet Show as a full series, there’s a non-zero chance that THIS Tumblr post becomes a reality so I need everyone to watch the new special right now because this NEEDS to happen.

04.02.2026 19:28 πŸ‘ 94 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2