In Toronto: The bike lanes are a 1,000x safer and more numerous. New indie bookstores are opening. I saw a busker so good I almost burst into tears. There's a subway operator whose whole mission is to say kind and helpful things. People ask for and use pronouns like it's always been that way.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 18h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

This Friday, join us live on Twitch as Shaun and Paul talk to Suyi Davies Okungbowa about SEASON OF THE SERPENT. Live! 7pm Central twitch.tv/alphabetst...

This is wisdom regardless of the original context (in which it was also wisdom).

Nola Pfau@ohnola.bsky.social · 21h ago

Divorce yourself from the need to have a take

Friday, 7pm on the podcast live, We talk to Suyi Davies Okungbowa! ( @suyidavies.com) Come watch and hang out live! 7pm Friday Central Http://www.twitch.tv...

It is *technically* possible to buy Jays tickets without downloading *both* the Ticketmaster and MLB apps but it's such a counterintuitive time-wasting PITA to try that I eventually gave in. Now I have *two* apps to keep track of and probably selling my data to who the heck knows.

Seanan McGuire@seananmcguire.bsky.social · yesterday

I hate the fact that life has turned into an endless series of single-use kitchen gadgets. Want to go to a theme park? Better install their proprietary app. Want to go to another theme park owned by the same company? That will be another app.

Soft Rains Day. "Today is August 4, 2026, in the city of Allendale, California. Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills." RIP Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

It sometimes seems like every "mainstream" political party in the Anglosphere is in a heated competition for who can be most cartoonishly evil.

Mark Carney has: -scrapped consumer carbon tax -scrapped oil/gas emissions cap -cut $1.3B from environment Canada -weakened industrial carbon pricing -axed 2 billion trees program -approved 1M barrels/day pipeline -weakened greenwashing laws While this is happening:

This is excellent.

Micaiah Johnson@micaiahjohnson.bsky.social · 2d ago

I was beaten to it by the amazingly generous @mollytempleton.com but yes! The blog I was nervous about yesterday is a reality today. She’s free. She’s long. She contains multiple cat photos. www.patreon.com/MicaiahJohns...

www.oglaf.com/settle/

I tried rapier at my fencing class today (I've been learning foil up til now). It's so much fun! But dang, those things are HEAVY. I'm TIRED.

The portal opens tomorrow… are you ready? We want horror stories up to 6,000 words, including flash. Originals and reprints. We pay $0.08 per word. Simultaneous submissions are accepted so long as you keep us informed. More details on our website (below).

Second Cup is *right there* and a lot more Canadian than Timmies these days. Even Starbucks for all that it's anti-union and American-owned at least doesn't drape itself in Canadiana and pretend to be a vital part of our national fabric while supporting attacks on our trans siblings.

Ed Macdonald@ed4words.bsky.social · 5d ago

It’s not just shitty coffee and bad food. The American-owned Tim Hortons is politically vile and insists on being on the wrong side of history. Also, if you’re an adult who just loves Harry Potter, fuck-off, you dick. Grow up. Adulthood is not optional. #transrights #timhortons #bigotry #harrypotter

Even their name—Science Fiction Weekly—is unoriginal, the same name as the Sci-Fi Channel magazine edited back in the day by @scottedelman.bsky.social. (Even more aggravating, they've reprinted some of Scott's own DSF stories, and they're the first result when you Google their and his name.

Beth Cato@bethcato.bsky.social · 6d ago

Hey! If you were published at Daily Science Fiction, be aware that a site called Science Fiction Weekly has stolen the entire story database & posted it on their site. All of my DSF stories are there without my permission. sciencefictionweekly.com

Nobody ever contacted me about republishing any of my DSF stories. They are just stealing our stuff and hoping we don't notice. In the comments, it looks like they're also hiding their identities. So that's fun.

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them)@bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 6d ago

They claim the stories are hosted with author consent, but that seems to be a flat out lie. They also tell authors to contact them for removal, but there is no contact on the site, no email or form.

If anybody was excited that Science Fiction Weekly is aiming to "revive" Daily Science Fiction, you should know they are straight-up lying about having gotten permission from writers to republish DSF stories on their website. (Yes, I have sent a DCMA takedown notice.)

*takes deep breath* *ululates* WE ARE OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS hornedlarkpress.moksha.io/publication/...

Scholarship pretty much started as a series of sick burns back when reading wasn’t something everyone did and has been elliptically orbiting that ever since

Jordan S. Carroll 🌹@jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 6d ago

I think when you write a bad review, it should be in the service of a larger point — an alternative set of aesthetic criteria, an observation on the larger scene. But her review is now circulating as a listicle of "sick burns" on some sites. Is that really what scholars want to do?

Good-faith concern on this issue would be going, "hmm, professional sports leagues should probably have some standards in place to ensure trans competitors aren't getting an unfair advantage," googling for 5 minutes, realizing every sports league already has those standards and dropping it.

Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 6d ago

i don't believe anyone has "good-faith" concerns about trans women in sports in 2026. there's been too much time to hear the actual evidence, the actual people affected, and the role the debate plays in attempts to purge trans people from American life. anybody picking that side has made a choice

Bravo to the UEFA.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb@nkalamb.bsky.social · 6d ago

UEFA has just unanimously decided to boycott both men's and women's World Cups over FIFA's attempt to sell the global game to private equity. Damn.

Submissions close tomorrow! We’re looking for speculative fiction up to 5,000 words by immigrant and diaspora writers, as well as translations from any language into English. Submission guidelines can be found on our website. Share your work with us before the deadline!

Your Protagonist Is a Terrible Person — Can They Still Be Likable? Sure, they're utterly reprehensible — but you still want readers to root for them. reactormag.com/your-protago...

Your Protagonist Is a Terrible Person — Can They Still Be Likable? - Reactor

Sure, they're utterly reprehensible — but you still want readers to root for them.

reactormag.com

This is a compelling essay that I want to mull over. Right now I *think*, in the end, that it doesn't quite convince me of its thesis. But I very much appreciate that it takes a close look at the language of the story, takes it seriously, and considers what Le Guin's choices *mean*.

Typebar Magazine (Issue 10 Out Now!!)@typebarmagazine.bsky.social · last wk.

"Those who treat Omelas as a utilitarian allegory wish to view the child as a concession, a 'gotcha' moment illustrating the ethical quandary alleged to inhere in all joys and comforts. But such a reading is erroneous."

In a bit of a metaphor, Chris Alexander is unable to locate his house in the model of Toronto. (It's apparently just past the display's northern threshold.)

Irritating to see the Toronto island airport battle framed as NIMBYism. This was a project with zero business case that would have destroyed economic value and soft power – and stopped homebuilding! It was a terrible project that deserved to die. When people say no, sometimes they are correct.

A marine Cretaceous "turducken" from Queensland, Australia, where an ichthyosaur ate a pterosaur, then a giant pliosaur (Kronosaurus) ate the ichthyosaur. Extraordinary example of how gut contents can show us trophic relationships of ancient ecosystems. 🧪🪨⚒️

New Scientist@newscientist.com · last wk.

The remains of an orca-sized ichthyosaur include evidence of what it ate – before it too got eaten by an even bigger marine predator

I love any blue cheese, but especially a cambozola.

Tom & Lorenzo@tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · last wk.

People on Bluesky sigh and talk about The Discourse as if it were something required of them instead of something they opt to partake in, day in and day out. You really don't have to. Post about your favorite cheese

Are you an emerging BIPOC author in Canada? You have until August 3 to apply for this. https://writersunion.ca/bipoc-writers-connect #CanLit #WritingCommunity #BIPOC

@mark-carney.bsky.social needs to be more direct. Not the weasel-worded 'pause' or 'for now' statements. Say it with your full chest, Mark - there will not be a Billy Bishop airport expansion on your watch.

Toronto Star@thestar.com · last wk.

Blasting the federal government for listening to “a small fringe group in Toronto,” provincial Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria insists the Billy Bishop expansion is not dead.