Toil and Trouble
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alixmiddlec.bsky.social
Toil and Trouble
@alixmiddlec.bsky.social
PNW dog & cat mom
weirdo, reader, pinko, crone
she/they

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality” - Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
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6. if i was a really talented cis man like Joss Whedon or Neil Gaiman or Marlon Brando or Roman Polanski or Woody Allen i would simply not be a sex pest/criminal, abusing my position of authority and instead just make cool stuff that ruled and i feel like that would be enough for me? 🤷‍♀️
February 10, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Already?
[spotted in our yard today]
February 7, 2026 at 1:13 AM
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Whilst we are discussing the president’s physical capacity and stamina for a demanding and arduous job, let’s keep this right here at the forefront of the conversation:
Incontinence is not a moral failing
February 1, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Favorite nonfiction, short stories, and poetry of January
February 1, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Favorite books of January (fiction, novel/novella length)
February 1, 2026 at 2:12 PM
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Thinkinge of askinge Chat GPT a questioun about your plannes, thoughtes, ideas? Trye a tarot deck ynstead. Cheaper, bettir for the environment, bettir resultes, not evil.
January 31, 2026 at 8:48 PM
For Burns Night, and for these times:

Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that.
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.

January 25, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Just finished I Was A Teenage Slasher

SGJ “kills” it once again.
Ugh, I am demolished 😭
January 23, 2026 at 7:23 AM
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Artist Nicole Dextras collaborates with winter 🌲
orionmagazine.org/article/ice-...
January 21, 2026 at 1:20 PM
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YOU CAN'T REUSE BRIGHTON AND BRIGHTON

Miserable! Infuriating! Frankly I'M GLAD THIS AUTHOR IS DEAD.

Thank you for playing this limerick game with me. I will post another because this is very fun.
January 13, 2026 at 10:11 PM
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I love being terrible at chess. I love having no idea how to do a proper checkmate. I love sacrificing all of my pawns fewer than ten moves in. People devote their entire lives to it and I’m just like “wheeeeee horsies”
January 17, 2026 at 8:40 PM
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I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.

And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”

Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
January 16, 2026 at 12:17 AM
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Nature valentines. This comic is now available as a set of 6 Valentines cards: topatoco.com/collections/...
January 15, 2026 at 2:00 PM
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Somebody said the U.S. has big “dying mall” energy right now and I can’t stop thinking about his accurate that feels
December 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I managed to read SO many amazing books this month:

The Reformatory - Tananarive Due

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M. Danforth

O Caledonia - Elspeth Barker

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix

… continued in comments …
November 1, 2025 at 4:43 AM
I JUST finished this book. No, not book — masterpiece. I read the audiobook, which is in and of itself a piece of art. If you have read the physical copy, I can not recommend the audiobook highly enough. If you have read neither, you know what to do.
October 31, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I love this so much!
Magical Girl Rat tattoo for my client Chelsea! ✨🐁✨
October 29, 2025 at 1:37 AM
No notes, Natasha. No notes.
October 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
🎵 Look at my son…
❤️🤣
October 11, 2025 at 5:22 AM
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yes this timeline is a rough route. yes there are waves of strife. but behind it all lies the inertia of all things which prompted fish to trot out of the ocean and humans to gather in commune. we are driven to fill the nothing with ourselves, with LOVE. its the unconquerable wind behind our sails
October 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
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John Wick, Wicker Man, and Wicked make for a *very* odd trilogy.
October 7, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Making the best of a flare-up - reading with Rufus.
September 28, 2025 at 12:48 AM
And here I was assuming I am autistic because my dad is autistic. My bad.
September 23, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Oof 🤣
She’s a 10 but mostly on therapist intake questionnaires
August 26, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Death death death death death! (you had to be there 🤣)
THE TINGLEVERSE IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST thank you @powells.bsky.social in PORTLAND and third place books in SEATTLE. we had huge trot at both shows including 700 sold out buckaroos in seattle DANG. now headed to pittsburgh for another sold out trot LOVE IS REAL
August 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM