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Elaine

@actuallyelaine.bsky.social
264 followers 104 following 2K posts

Freelance fairy's midwife.🌈 Signs, portents, omens, and foreshadowing, with chips and a side salad. Jabberwock champion. Eldritch horror. The Shrew Remains Untamed.

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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
A probably-not-cursed concertina has come into my possession. I've done everything I can to prevent terror ensuing. And by "everything," I mean that I put it on the top shelf of the front closet, along with the six umbrellas I've never used. Fingers crossed!
Black concertina.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Took this double rainbow snap two years ago today. Decided to bloop around with the basic adjustment sliders (brightness, contrast, saturation etc.) until it looked less like sky and more like dessert.
PNW double rainbow, after fiddling with filters.
Photo by actuallyelaine.bsky.social
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This popped up in my photo memories today.
Elaine, age 3, in a photo booth snapshot. December 1964.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Look, I can "fake" normal for a good long while, but every day? No can do. After front-facing the public all day, I can melt down faster than a summer popsicle over the tiniest thing. Any lighthouse keeper jobs available??
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Billiam William. Absolute goober. Love of my life. #blackcatsofBluesky
Billiam William.
Poofy black cat.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
On your left is Guinness Extra Stout Bold and Bittersweet, brewed and bottled in Dublin, Ireland. It is a fine brew, and my #1 choice. On the right is Guinness Extra Stout Dark and Lively, brewed and bottled in Philadelphia. It is foul goat-piss and should be heckled until it sinks into a swamp.
Guinness Extra Stout Bold and Bittersweet, bottled in Dublin.Guinness Extra Stout Dark and Lively, brewed in Pennsylvania.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My new work office. It's small, but it's mine.
Me, in the work cupboard, which I have decided is my spacious new office.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Today, at work: "...The Jabberwock, with eyes of FLAME Came whiffling through the tulgey wood and burbled As it came." Note to self: do not forget Vorpal Sword tomorrow!
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
What the...? My kid just turned 39 on Thursday. There is lovely Viv with my grand-catto Phoebe. Happiest of birthdays to you, my darling unicorn. 🦄🦄🦄
My genius DJ kid with my grand-cat Phoebe.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Well. (four gummies and three pints later, after a 10 hour workday) It's 8:10 PM, probably only five hours or so of fireworks to hear before I stand up and zombie back to work. You're a shite neighbour, "patriot."
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Apologies! Summer means tourist season (hooray!) which keeps the beachy island business alive, thus I'm rarely not at work, but on the odd day away, you'll find me in the garden, elbows-deep in tomato plants. I remain at the very edge of Bluesky.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
One more workday until my weekend. So very, very weary. I went to the TV room to bid my housemate a good night, but instead I somehow said: "I'll see you when it's light some more again. Night night!" #brainfail
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
When you ask a Higher Power to send you a sign, but your life is a David Lynch film.
Sidewalk sign that reads "HORSE AT FREEDOM PARK"
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Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
While forest furs the earth, a subterrain shrugged from shrubbery and trees mulches over land’s rock-bones, our lungs unpleat and iron streams our veins. 'The Gleaning' Fay Musselwhite A new collection Out now from Longbarrow Press longbarrowpress.com/2026/04/30/t...
Five copies of 'The Gleaning' by Fay Musselwhite against an orange background
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Professor Plum @davindaire.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
The British Crime Classics are an addiction for me & the gateway drug is their damnably fine cover art! The color design & vintage illustration force my barely resistant, hovering finger to hit "buy" before I've even read the synopsis! Someone stop me--it's a kind of madness!
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Professor Plum @davindaire.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
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Good Omens Appreciation Society @gociety.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Bilal Hasna - British-Palestinian actor, writer and playwright. @goodomensprime Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock Screenshot/X: Yuri Goddess - @youryurigoddess.bsky.social #goodomens3 #goodomens
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Taliesin: "What? There's plenty of room!"
Taliesin, in repose.
Tali the husky/collie mix, draped artfully over an armchair and ottoman.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
To quote Charles Darwin: “But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders.”
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and look at our lovely new planters which we'll be adding to our Interactive Orkney Flora Trail very soon! ❤️ Each planter is decorated by panels featuring illustrations of flowers done by local schoolchildren. 🌼🌸🏵🌺
A row of brightly coloured raised flower beds in the sunshine
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DanHELL M. Ford @soundingline.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There is no Ethical Use of Generative AI. There
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VegPlotter: Online Vegetable Garden and Allotment Planner @vegplotter.com · 15/03/2026
Short on time at your allotment? Build raised beds using old planks, logs, or bricks. Fill them with fertile soil and organic matter—the borders keep it contained. Benefits: loose, no-dig soil, warms up quickly, good drainage. Minimal upkeep—just add organic matter occasionally. #GardeningTips
beautifully laid our raised borders
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I cannot mentally differentiate between the rats I kept as pets and the ones who live outside in the woods. Pooky. 🩷
PNW wood rat on cement block. 
Photo by actuallyelaine.bsky.social
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Well, they survived escape, eagles and sheltered here moments before a massive storm on 3 July 2020. Richie Starshine took to their freedom flight early this morning. Mate George is bereaved. Wishing you clear skies, little buddy.
Green and blessings parakeet, little Richie Starshine.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
@gleafer.bsky.social Hello. My name is Elaine, and I am... a MegaPigeon. #littleblondeangelsupportgroup
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
And thus, with no kiss, I die..
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Photo of sunset, with the words "I worked in a bookshop from 2005 to 2020. Today, I thought about the kid who walked into the store during a severe thunderstorm in 2009 and said "I'm looking for something dystopian."
I don't want to be a jerk, kid, but you might have set some weird shit into motion.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
William, standing on his tippy-toesies to eat his dinner off a plate like a proper lil man... I cannot! 😭
A fluffy fat black cat stands on tiptoe to eat off a plate on a kitchen table.
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Neil Gaiman @neilhimself.neilgaiman.com · 02/02/2026
Reporting referenced in my statement: technopathology.substack.com/p/neil-gaima...
It’s been a while since I've posted anything anywhere, but I didn't want to let any more time go by without thanking everyone for all your kind messages of support over the last year and a half.

I've learned firsthand how effective a smear campaign can be, so to be clear:

The allegations against me are completely and simply untrue. There are emails, text messages and video evidence that flatly contradict them.

These allegations, especially the really salacious ones, have been spread and amplified by people who seemed a lot more interested in outrage and getting clicks on headlines rather than whether things had actually happened or not. (They didn't.)One thing that's kept me going through all this madness is the conviction that the truth would, eventually, come out. I expected that when the allegations were first made there would be journalism, and that the journalism would take the (mountains of) evidence into account, and was astonished to see how much of the reporting was simply an echo chamber, and how the actual evidence was dismissed or ignored.

I was a journalist once, and I have enormous respect for journalists, so I've been hugely heartened by the meticulous fact and evidence-based investigative writing of one particular journalist, whom some of you recently brought to my attention, who writes under the name of TechnoPathology.

I’ve had no contact with TechnoPathology. But I’d like to thank them personally for actually looking at the evidence and reporting what they found, which is not what anyone else had done.

If you are curious about what they've uncovered so far, the link in this post takes you to really good investigative reporting.It's been a strange, turbulent and occasionally nightmarish year and a half, but I took my own advice (when things get tough, make good art) and once I was done with making television I went back to doing something else I love even more: writing.

I thought it was going to be a fairly short project when I began it, but it's looking like it's going to be the biggest thing I've done since American Gods. It's already much longer than The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and it's barely finished wiping its boots and hanging up its coat.

And I spend half of every month being a full-time Dad, and that remains the best bit of my life.It's a rough time for the world. I look at what's happening on the home front and internationally, and I worry; and I am still convinced there are more good people out there than the other kind.

Thank you again to so many of you for your belief in my innocence and your support for my work.

It has meant the world to me.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Six weeks ago, Merlyn got a new little brother. After a bit of hesitation, they are now officially Best Friends. #MerlyntheAusPyr #TalitheHuskyMuppet
Merlyn the AusPyr and her new little brother Taliesen, the husky-Muppet mix.
Photo by actuallyelaine.bsky.social
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Andrew O'Neill @andrewoneillcomedy.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Come to this or I will have to remonstrate with you on your doorstep. andrewoneill.co.uk/shows
Poster for my tour. A version of the Flamarrion Woodcut, with me in it. All occult and shit. ANDREW O'NEILL - ESCAPE - First tour dates now on sale! Manchester Feb 16th Leicester Feb 17th Cardiff Feb 18th Leeds Feb 25th Portsmouth Mar 8th  TICKETS: andrewoneill.co.uk/shows
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Andrew O'Neill @andrewoneillcomedy.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Out now!
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
2026 has a Warning Label, at least.
Machinery warning sign. Shows a hand being crushed between two cogged wheels.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Happy sleepy 2026 from this lil pupper. Taliesin.🩷
Taliesin Dante, husky shepherd x, asleep on the slate by the wood stove
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
@paganmusic.bsky.social Our wee Taliesen, having a nap, listening to Uncle Damh. Blessings to you, my friend.
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Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Sheffielders: surprise someone (yourself, even) with a hand-delivered book. Last day to order for Christmas delivery
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Silver RavenWolf @silverravenwolf.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Belschnickel Night at Boogie Knight Castle. Boots on stone, a sack of sweets, and a twinkle that says, “Tell the truth, keep your promises.” He rewards effort, not perfection, and he does NOT negotiate with excuses. Come meet him. It’s FREE. ✨🎁 #GreatReleaseProgram
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Our little Taliesen, enjoying his "portion" ( the cardboard bit) of #Guinness. 💙
Taliesin,  shepherd husky mix, with his Guinness.
Photo by actuallyelaine.bsky.social
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Silver RavenWolf @silverravenwolf.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Day 22 – Great Release Program 2025 by Silver RavenWolf DAY 22 — The RuneMaster’s Visit Theme - Today launches into “major party week” across the world, so we’re keeping this day light, interesting, and fun, without letting the season boss us around. Reward - 10 Stars Magickal moment - A stranger…
silverravenwolf.wordpress.com
Day 22 – Great Release Program 2025 by Silver RavenWolf
DAY 22 — The RuneMaster’s Visit Theme - Today launches into “major party week” across the world, so we’re keeping this day light, interesting, and fun, without letting the season boss us around. Reward - 10 Stars Magickal moment - A stranger arrives at Boogie Knight Castle just before dusk, not loud, not flashy, but impossible to ignore. He calls himself the RuneMaster, and he wears a dark blue clothing stitched with small glowing runes that glint when firelight hits them.
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Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
There's still time to order from us for Christmas delivery to Sheffield addresses (postcodes S1-S17), and we're happy to gift-wrap books, if you like, at no extra cost. Orders received by 23 December will be delivered - by hand, on foot - on or before 24 December. longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...
'To the End of the Land', a text & audio collaboration between Martin Heslop & Helen Tookey, in pamphlet and CD editions.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Somewhere, in an alternate Universe, I am with the love of my life, watching snow fall over a paddock with ponies and a recalcitrant donkey. Pachebel is playing on the radio. They say "This is our Life, and it is beautiful, as it should be." I know this is a Dream. But is enough for two lives.
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phillypencircle @phillypencircle.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Over at the Bike Shop, we’re hosting a Pop-UP of everything that ain’t AI: fountain pens, post cards, ink, journals, stationery and so on! Sat+Sun, 10-5. OH, and the incred @phillyprfm is right up the street from us. Hit two shops in one swoop.
Big sale of pens, ink, postcards, journals, more; inside Trophy Bikes, 12/20-21. 133 S 23rd St. 10am to 5 pm.
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Imagine a world where instead of queuing up to buy the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, you can just download it for FREE using your Orkney Library card and the FREE BorrowBox App. Once again, libraries: 1) saving money 2) cutting waste 3) spreading joy #LoveLibraries
The cover of the Christmas edition of Radio Times
Good Food Magazine
Gardener's World magazine
Good Housekeeping magazine
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hookland.bsky.social @hookland.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Folklore walks. Not just across imagined lines on maps of nations, not just across time itself. Folklore instinctively walks towards landmarks. When stories see a ruin, a notable tomb or impressive tree, they travel towards them to tether themselves in the landscape. – Dr. M. Benn #Folklore
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Heckuva windstorm here for the next 12 hours or so. Fingers crossed for the almost- brand-new electric lines connecting us to mainland WA.
media.tenor.com
a light bulb is lit up in the dark and looks like a skeleton
Alt: an Edison bulb is flickering.
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Elaine @actuallyelaine.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
I remember this exact moment so clearly, one of the first times I had a photo taken alone. December 1964, Leonard's Department Store in Fort Worth. Mine was the last photo in the four-panel strip, which cost a whopping twenty-five cents. Happy December, little Me.
Small Elaine, December 1964.
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