2026 Photo #6
20 Mar 2026 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitEarly in the week we visited Aberglasney Gardens in Wales. In the Ninfarium the Bird of Paradise plant was flowering.
smallhobbit
Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir by Kayano Shigeru (1980)
20 Mar 2026 01:15 pmpauraqueThe Ainu are an indigenous people native to northern Japan and nearby parts of Russia. Kayano Shigeru (1926-2006) was a leading activist for Ainu rights in Japan, and eventually became the first Ainu member of the Japanese legislature. But his career in the Diet came after the publication of this book, which mixes memoir, history, and ethnography.
Kayano relates what he knows of his people's oppression in the 19th century, when the Japanese government pushed many Ainu groups onto marginal land and conscripted people for forced labor at minimal pay. This leads into his own childhood, when his family's generational poverty was exacerbated by his father's alcoholism. As a young man Kayano came to feel ashamed of being Ainu, culminating in a demeaning job at an Ainu-themed attraction, performing sacred dances five times a day for gawking tourists.
But the tourists' ignorant questions sparked Kayano's realization that there should be a real Ainu museum curated by actual Ainu people and fostering respect for their culture. He was inspired to travel the Ainu lands collecting one traditional tool or piece of clothing at a time (and always paying the people who made them) and eventually succeeded in opening the museum and renewing his own sense of pride in his heritage.
This short book highlights important issues, but I have to be honest—I found the presentation pretty dry. Maybe it's partly the translation? I also noticed that Ainu women weren't given much attention; Kayano has a wife, but her only character trait shown in the book is "supportive of her husband". But I'd say the book is still a good resource on a significant figure in global indigenous rights.
(As an aside: This book was on my TBR list for at least 15 years. This year I'm really trying to either read some of the long-time lingerers or admit I'm not going to read them, so having read this is a great success for me!)
Kayano relates what he knows of his people's oppression in the 19th century, when the Japanese government pushed many Ainu groups onto marginal land and conscripted people for forced labor at minimal pay. This leads into his own childhood, when his family's generational poverty was exacerbated by his father's alcoholism. As a young man Kayano came to feel ashamed of being Ainu, culminating in a demeaning job at an Ainu-themed attraction, performing sacred dances five times a day for gawking tourists.
But the tourists' ignorant questions sparked Kayano's realization that there should be a real Ainu museum curated by actual Ainu people and fostering respect for their culture. He was inspired to travel the Ainu lands collecting one traditional tool or piece of clothing at a time (and always paying the people who made them) and eventually succeeded in opening the museum and renewing his own sense of pride in his heritage.
This short book highlights important issues, but I have to be honest—I found the presentation pretty dry. Maybe it's partly the translation? I also noticed that Ainu women weren't given much attention; Kayano has a wife, but her only character trait shown in the book is "supportive of her husband". But I'd say the book is still a good resource on a significant figure in global indigenous rights.
(As an aside: This book was on my TBR list for at least 15 years. This year I'm really trying to either read some of the long-time lingerers or admit I'm not going to read them, so having read this is a great success for me!)
Shaking off the echoes of yesterday
20 Mar 2026 11:58 amsovayHow has this month been going? I woke up to spring and didn't even realize. It looks the part: the occasional crocus, a faint fluff of clouds in a harebell sky. Hestia is absorbing the sun-flood from my desk. I will be celebrating the equinox with an MRI. My major accomplishment of yesterday was successfully wresting a permit from the Parking Department. I am filing a request for an intercalary year.
Eid [status]
20 Mar 2026 12:43 pmrebeccmeisterA good friend of mine invited me to Eid Mubarak last night*, and another good friend was willing to be the driver, so I went and was grateful for the chance to join a community to celebrate the breaking of the day's fast at the end of Ramadan.
This was a similar idea to other sorts of interfaith dinners. Food can be an important way of bringing people together, and this is the sort of thing we need to do to continue the challenging work of finding common ground with people different from ourselves. I really appreciated eating the first date after the sun went down, even though I did not fast the way my friend does/did.
There were henna artists in our midst! I've never had a henna tattoo before, so it was time to see what it's like!
Showing off our henna art as it dried:
I have a number of Muslim students, and it can be helpful to convey a visual sense of support, too.
*My understanding is this isn't quite the right conjugation of words here, but this is how I want to write it.
This was a similar idea to other sorts of interfaith dinners. Food can be an important way of bringing people together, and this is the sort of thing we need to do to continue the challenging work of finding common ground with people different from ourselves. I really appreciated eating the first date after the sun went down, even though I did not fast the way my friend does/did.
There were henna artists in our midst! I've never had a henna tattoo before, so it was time to see what it's like!
Showing off our henna art as it dried:
I have a number of Muslim students, and it can be helpful to convey a visual sense of support, too.
*My understanding is this isn't quite the right conjugation of words here, but this is how I want to write it.
Korean Wordle
20 Mar 2026 05:33 pmprofiterole_readsI've run into a Korean Wordle. It feels strange putting all the letters in a line, but it's good vocabulary practice.
And here's another one with 3 levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). You can only input nouns in this one (at least at the beginner level, I haven't tried the other ones).
And here's another one with 3 levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). You can only input nouns in this one (at least at the beginner level, I haven't tried the other ones).
A Thousand Deaths
20 Mar 2026 08:21 amsusandennisWhenever someone popular and old dies, he/she dies on my watch, on my phone, in several emails, and some alerts and then he/she continues to die all day long until we get to the evening news tonight where, his/her death will be BREAKING NEWS!!!!! A death well done.
We have a couple of robot vacuums around here. They are little R2D2's and they are named Sarah and Hillary. Today when I came back from the pool, there were 3 maintenance guys on the floor over Sarah who was on her back with her bits spilled onto the carpet. I said OH NO!!! Is she ok???? And instantly 4 old ladies who were in the mailroom next door came running out to see which of their compatriots had bit the dust.
I will say they were all a bit dismissive about Sarah and annoyed with me for scaring them. The guys said that a few twists of the screw driver and some lint removal and Sarah would be fine. The mail room bitties, I'm not so sure but I care less.
On my way down to the pool, I shared an elevator with Bonny who's off on her California trip. She's already bitching that it will be too hot. Doh.
Today I need to clean up my yarn act here in the living room. It's getting a little out of control. Stuff I'm not working on needs to get put away. Ditto crochet hooks and knitting needles that I am not using. Today.
We have a couple of robot vacuums around here. They are little R2D2's and they are named Sarah and Hillary. Today when I came back from the pool, there were 3 maintenance guys on the floor over Sarah who was on her back with her bits spilled onto the carpet. I said OH NO!!! Is she ok???? And instantly 4 old ladies who were in the mailroom next door came running out to see which of their compatriots had bit the dust.
I will say they were all a bit dismissive about Sarah and annoyed with me for scaring them. The guys said that a few twists of the screw driver and some lint removal and Sarah would be fine. The mail room bitties, I'm not so sure but I care less.
On my way down to the pool, I shared an elevator with Bonny who's off on her California trip. She's already bitching that it will be too hot. Doh.
Today I need to clean up my yarn act here in the living room. It's getting a little out of control. Stuff I'm not working on needs to get put away. Ditto crochet hooks and knitting needles that I am not using. Today.
Magical Realism, Mystery, & More
20 Mar 2026 03:30 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
smartbitches_feedThese Violet Delights
These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux is $1.99! This is a standalone historical romance with a pair of star-crossed lovers. Have you read this one?
Passion engulfs an aspiring painter and her old childhood friend in this stunning Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux. But can the star-crossed pair overcome a simmering family feud for a chance at love?
Violet Arden is a burgeoning painter who insists on a life of passion and vivid colors, but scandal is heaped on humiliation at her artistic debut in London. It would be one thing to withstand withering critiques, but the night goes from bad to worse when an illicit affair with her art instructor is exposed. She flees the London limelight to recover from her humiliation at her cousin Emilia Graddock’s country estate, where she plans to continue honing her art under a new mentor and leave all thoughts of love and heartbreak in the past where they belong. That is, until she comes face-to-face with the man who scorned her paintings in front of her friends and family. . . her new next-door neighbor, Alasdair Kerr.
Alasdair Kerr has recently set aside his life of art and travel to return to Clafton, his family’s estate and the site of a tragic fire that claimed his cherished father’s life. Now, he’s ready to finally rebuild the home that was lost and step into his role as man of the house. But his rakish younger brother Freddie can’t seem to leave the off-limits Graddock woman alone, and his mother has brought an overbearing clergyman into their home who appears keen to fill his spot as the favored son.
Violet is determined to ignore Alasdair, which shouldn’t be hard to do considering their families have been in a long-standing feud. . . if only their attempts to end Emilia and Freddie’s secret relationship would stop bringing them together. And when new fires threaten their homes and lives, Violet and Alasdair reluctantly join forces to uncover the identity of the arsonist once and for all. But can they ignore the feelings kindling between them that are but an ember away from igniting into a full blaze?
Happy Medium
Happy Medium by Sarah Adler is $1.99! Hoping this is a lasting deal. Lara gave this one a B:
I really enjoyed my time with this book and recommend it for anyone who enjoys a contemporary with a touch of the paranormal and a big dose of growth.
“A sincere and sincerely funny romance.”—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.
Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficentone. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?
Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.
Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.
Witch of Wild Things
Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is $1.99! This is book one in the Wild Magic series. Carrie reviewed this and it earned a B:
This book desperately needed to be streamlined, but within all the plot threads is a sharp, painful portrait of a grieving family as well as a lovely story of magic and nature. The romance is fine, especially if you like grumpy/sunshine dynamics. But Sage’s struggle to mature, to become a person who is not solely defined by her mistakes and by responsibilities she never should have had, is the real center of the story. In that light, I enjoyed the book very much.
Legend goes that long ago a Flores woman offended the old gods, and their family was cursed as a result. Now, every woman born to the family has a touch of magic.
Sage Flores has been running from her family—and their “gifts”—ever since her younger sister Sky died. Eight years later, Sage reluctantly returns to her hometown. Like slipping into an old, comforting sweater, Sage takes back her job at Cranberry Rose Company and uses her ability to communicate with plants to discover unusual heritage specimens in the surrounding lands.
What should be a simple task is complicated by her partner in botany sleuthing: Tennessee Reyes. He broke her heart in high school, and she never fully recovered. Working together is reminding her of all their past tender, genuine moments—and new feelings for this mature sexy man are starting to take root in her heart.
With rare plants to find, a dead sister who keeps bringing her coffee, and another sister whose anger fills the sky with lightning, Sage doesn’t have time for romance. But being with Tenn is like standing in the middle of a field on the cusp of a summer thunderstorm—supercharged and inevitable.
History Lessons
History Lessons by Zoe Wallbrook is $3.99! This was a debut mystery with a hint of romance. I mentioned it on Get Rec’d last August.
A college history professor must solve her superstar colleague’s murder before she becomes the next target in this funny, romantic debut mystery, perfect for readers of Janet Evanovich, Kellye Garrett, and Ali Hazelwood.
As a newly minted junior professor, Daphne Ouverture spends her days giving lectures on French colonialism, working on her next academic book, and going on atrocious dates. Her small world suits her just fine. Until Sam Taylor dies.
The rising star of Harrison University’s anthropology department was never one of Daphne’s favorites, despite his popularity. But that doesn’t prevent Sam’s killer from believing Daphne has something that belonged to Sam—something the killer will stop at nothing to get.
Between grading papers and navigating her disastrous love life, Daphne embarks on her own investigation to find out what connects her to Sam’s murder. With the help of an alluring former-detective-turned-bookseller, she unravels a deadly cover-up on campus.
This well-crafted, voice-driven mystery introduces an unforgettable crime fiction heroine.
Viola come il mare: Fanfic: Undercover
20 Mar 2026 04:52 pmveronyxk84 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fan_flashworksTitle: Undercover
Fandom: Viola come il mare (category: tv)
Author:veronyxk84
Pairing: Viola Vitale/Francesco Demir
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Ellipsus)
Spoilers/Setting: Set some time during S1.
Summary: Viola goes undercover for a fake job interview to plant a bug for Francesco.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.
Challenge: #509 - Plant
—
( READ: Undercover )
☙ ☙ ☙
Fandom: Viola come il mare (category: tv)
Author:
veronyxk84Pairing: Viola Vitale/Francesco Demir
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Ellipsus)
Spoilers/Setting: Set some time during S1.
Summary: Viola goes undercover for a fake job interview to plant a bug for Francesco.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.
Challenge: #509 - Plant
—
( READ: Undercover )
☙ ☙ ☙
Birds
20 Mar 2026 10:45 amribirdnerd posting in birdfeedingFriday - First day of spring - although it has felt more like winter most of this week.
Still the days are getting longer and the sun is brighter. We had a pair of Canada Goose come up from the pond to join the other regular visitors today.
Still the days are getting longer and the sun is brighter. We had a pair of Canada Goose come up from the pond to join the other regular visitors today.
Friday Videos Love Old Songs
20 Mar 2026 12:00 pmsmartbitches_feed
It’s FRIDAY FRIDAY GOT TO GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!
But don’t worry, that is NOT this week’s Friday Video.
HOWEVER. This week we are talking SONGS.
Specifically, what is your earliest favorite song that you can remember?
My earliest favorite song that I heard on the radio when I was with my friends and beginning to define my own taste was very 80s: “Into the Groove” by Madonna.
I was obsessed with this stupid movie, and boy, is it dumb and mostly a way for Madonna to pose and look terminally cool. I remember dancing my arms and legs off in the front yard of the church where we were holding a car wash fundraiser. I was probably 11.
But my earliest favorite song?
“Don’t It Make my Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle
This song came out when I was about 3 or so, but it is the earliest song I remember LOVING. Full body adoration, similar to my incredible dance moves to “Into the Groove.”
What about you? What was your first favorite song? Do you remember?
Happy weekend, everybody!
A Reader’s Guide to the Omegaverse
20 Mar 2026 09:00 amsmartbitches_feed
Recently in the podcast Discord community, Jfhobbit was giving a thorough and very thoughtful explanation of Omegaverse and its variations, and I asked her to expand on those thoughts for anyone who has heard of but isn’t super well-versed in Omegaverse fiction, its tropes, and its history. Plus, she offers recommendations of some of her faves.
Jfhobbit is a long-time reader, writer, and English teacher. She reads in almost every romance genre under the sun, plus Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Historical Fiction. She lives in Germany with her spouse and two very spoiled cats, and spends her time reading, playing cozy video games, and walking around her area marveling at the layers of history in the architecture. She loves all sorts of romance, from sweet contemporaries to the knottiest monster books she can find. She got into Omegaverse stories via DeviantArt and soon after KU was introduced she dove headfirst into the cornucopia of different Omegaverse takes.
An educator by training, she often finds herself in the role of teaching people about the Omegaverse and other weird and wild romance trends that they may have only vaguely heard of.
What is Omegaverse?
“Omegaverse” is an umbrella term for any setting that includes characters who have a secondary sexual distinction that influences attraction, relationship roles, and fertility compatibility. The primary sexual distinction spectrum is still male/female and the secondary spectrum is most commonly spread across the three categories of Alpha, Beta, and Omega (AKA A/B/O).
Anyone who is an Alpha can sire children.
Anyone who is an Omega can bear children, so yes, this will be talking about male pregnancy, or mpreg for short.
Betas have the potential to do both but only as determined by their primary sexual distinction (male or female), and the roles they play (or whether or not they exist in the world) vary based on fics.
Where did it come from?
Short answer, fanfic.
Longer answer: The Supernatural fandom who turned to Real Person Fiction because they desired a way to ship the two main characters without crossing the incest line + an early 2000s TV show that Jensen Ackles was in that featured heats + bad wolf science* as popularized by werewolf/wolf shifter fiction + desire for a M/M pairing to be able to have children without a third party involved = Omegaverse, which then quickly got picked up by many, many other fandoms and jumped the fanfic barrier into (mostly indie) published novels by the early 2010s.
Omegaverse stories have been a staple of AO3 and KU alike. Many people point to Bride by Ali Hazelwood as one of the first Omegaverse novels published by an established big name, but in my opinion it was actually just paranormal with knotting.
One of the best known Omegaverse authors is Kathryn Moon (Baby & the Late Night Howlers).
*Bad wolf science refers to the studies done on captive wolf populations between 1950-1980s that observed the behavior of unrelated wolves forced to exist in the same space over long periods of time, which first introduced the idea of Alpha, Beta, and Omega roles in a wolf pack. Behavioral studies done in the decades since on wild wolf populations have conclusively disproven this as being “the natural order of things.”
Terms:
Alpha
Alphas tend to be physically larger and stronger, and are often brash and aggressive, but also have very strong protective drives particularly when it comes to their mate(s). Alphas can always sire children, with female Alphas developing either an extended/engorged clitoris that functions as a cock or an Extendo-Cock that emerges from that general area when they are aroused or in a rut. Alphas often have a semi-mystical ability to use Alpha compulsion to enforce their will, usually through a mixture of pheromones. Other times, they can use the same pheromones or a “purr” to comfort or calm someone down (especially a mate).
Omega
Omegas can always bear children, and are typically smaller in stature and less aggressive. Omegas are usually cast as the nurturer, homemaker, and generally submissive. How far those roles go and how much characters have to adhere to them depends on the author. Male Omegas cannot impregnate anyone. They usually experience semi-regular heats, which often triggers an Alpha’s rut.
Beta
Betas occupy the vast middle ground between the comparatively rigid Alpha and Omega roles. Some Omegaverse stories cut them out entirely, while others put them in a societal role that essentially boils down to “the ones who make sure society doesn’t come crashing down while the Alphas and Omegas fall prey to their hormones.” Often worlds will make Alphas and Omegas more rare designations, while the bulk of the population are Betas. Betas tend to be either fully infertile, or a normal amount of fertile (as opposed to Alphas and Omegas who are almost always hyperfertile during the heat/rut).
Mates/Fated Mates
This concept is not unique to the Omegaverse, but it is very prevalent in most Omegaverse stories. With the hormones and pheromones present in the A/B/O system, “mating” is often portrayed as their scents melding or matching perfectly. Generally, a person will prefer the scent of their mate over any other, and be able to smell them better than any other person they encounter.
Scent glands
The main places from which the unique personal scents are produced. These are usually located at the base of the neck and sometimes also on the inside of wrists. These are also the source of the Alpha/Omega pheromones.
Claiming Bites
Part of a mating ritual, these are specifically very deep bites over one of the scent gland locations to meld their scents and mark their claim. They are permanent and lifelong, and will scar over to be visible to others. Alphas are most likely to be the one giving the bite, though many stories have mutual biting as a key feature. A mated polycule will sometimes have multiple bites spread out across the different scent glands.
Knotting
A key feature of an Alpha’s hyperfertility. The base of the penis swells just before orgasm, and locks them together with their partner to help ensure conception. Takes between 15-45 minutes to deflate. Only Alphas can knot someone, and Omegas typically have more flexible corresponding holes to accommodate the knot. Betas can almost always take it though, albeit less easily. Alphas can sometimes knot another Alpha if the author so desires.
Heats
Heats are based on the heats that wolves or some other mammal species experience, and refer to a period of 1-5 days where Omegas are insatiably horny, specifically for Alpha knots, and experience a feverish hypersensitivity that heightens the experience to the point of pain if their needs are not met. Often depicted as Omegas being out of their minds with need, or unable to consent to anything not agreed to ahead of time with their partner.
Omegas are either only fertile during heats or are hyperfertile during heats. The amount of time between heats is usually no shorter than three months, but can be up to a year or more. Sometimes heats are only triggered by the proximity of their mate. Other times, the intensity and satisfaction of fulfillment are just heightened with a mate as opposed to a random partner.
Ruts
The corresponding heightening of fertility, sensitivity, and stamina for Alphas, almost always triggered by the proximity of an Omega in heat, especially when they are mated. Alphas will be even more aggressively protective of their partner during this time, and will usually take on a highly focused caretaking role by making sure that all partners involved eat and drink during their rare refractory periods. Occasionally, Alphas will go into rut on a semi-regular basis similar to the Omega heat cycle. Sometimes Alphas can only knot a partner during a rut, but more often they can control the knot in any sexual encounter.
Nesting
A behavior associated with Omegas, particularly those in heat or approaching a heat. They will start to build an area of soft blankets, pillows, and other comforting items that serve as their home base during a heat since their skin is often too hot and/or sensitive during a heat to handle wearing clothes.
Mpreg
Short for male pregnancy, a key feature of M/M Omegaverse stories. How that works anatomically is a hotly debated topic, and often involves anal births through a cloaca-esque mechanism. Plenty of authors have handwaved a birth canal into the perineum to avoid that. Otherwise, mpreg typically progresses the same way all pregnancies do, unless you have a shifter story where the gestation times are adjusted for verisimilitude…because that’s clearly a primary concern here.
Why did it skyrocket in popularity?
This one is harder to answer, but my personal theory is that people tend to like things that mirror the strictures of the roles they’re forced into but with some extra bonuses. These roles both define the society of the world and allow for ways to explore different dynamics between partners. Theoretically, the protective instincts of the Alphas are a guarantee against intimate partner violence, which can also be played up as a story point.
Socially, Alphas are typically the ones in positions of power, and their Alpha status is used as a reason why they’re better than Betas or Omegas. A/B/O designation, more than gender, is used to determine how characters are viewed by society and the jobs and social roles they are considered for, opening the door for people to write people in roles that might seem out of the ordinary to the reader.
Men who are omegas are put automatically into caretaker roles, women who are alphas gravitate towards high-powered business or military positions, betas try to find the middle ground somewhere between those two. And similarly, they are looked down upon for trying to find jobs outside of the norm. A male alpha working at a daycare would be notable. A male omega scientist or politician is sneered at. It shines a light on how gender still plays such an outsized role in how we perceive how qualified a person is for a career.
Perhaps most importantly, Omegaverse presents a new way to have sex and often leans into so-called “primal” instincts, where the characters shake off the inhibitions of modern life to bow to their biology.
FAQs:
Do all Omegaverse stories feature all these elements?
Not at all. These are the broadest of broad generalizations. Basically every author will have their own take on how this system works, and lore for how it came into existence. Often, you will find a brief note about how their particular system works as a foreword in books, or in the Notes of fics. Other times, they will just explain it all through world building. A lot of times the elements authors use in their particular flavor of Omegaverse are tailored to the other tropes or kinks that exist in the story.
Is Omegaverse always shifters?
No, though many are. But it has expanded far beyond that and can be found in everything from fantasy/sci-fi to modern AU to post-apocalyptic settings.
Is Omegaverse always focused on the procreation goals of the system?
Not always. The concept of birth control exists in many Omegaverse stories. There are also medications known as heat blockers or heat suppressants that function as a way to minimize disruptions.
Is there Omegaverse Lite?
Yes. Omegaverse as a concept has been used by so many different authors across fandoms and genres that the variations are bordering on infinite. Omegaverse Lite is my term for stories (often contemporary AUs) that use the Alpha and Omega role to indicate biology and sexual preferences, but otherwise don’t use many of the more “extreme” things like heats, fated mates, claiming bites, and extreme social roles.
Wasn’t there a lawsuit about this in the news a while back?
Yes, and it was more than a little ridiculous. You can learn more about it in this excellent video by Lindsey Ellis.
How common are female Alphas?
Sadly, they’re not very common. Some stories feature them as background characters, with their existence mentioned, but the stories that feature female alphas are thin on the ground. There are more now, particularly with F/F pairings written by sapphic authors. Heterosexual female alpha stories are probably the least common of the whole subgenre.
Doesn’t this system create some serious consent issues?
It absolutely can, especially when writing heats where the Omega is very needy. How icky that feels to you depends deeply on both your personal preferences and on how the author handles it. Many authors will include a conversation before the heat takes over with boundaries being set ahead of time. Others feature Alphas who are just so protective that the idea of hurting their partner/mate is anathema to them. And some stories on the darker side will lean into the dubious consent or blow straight past the dubious and go right to noncon.
Sources/Further information:
- Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs by L. David Mech (PDF)
- Fated Mates podcast: “Omegaversity”
And, one of my favorite posts:
Do you have any recommendations?
Yes! A few of my favorities are already featured above, but here is a handy list.
Authors I’ve read with Omegaverse concepts I like:
Nora Phoenix – Alpha’s Sacrifice (Irresistible Omegas #1, my top favorite Omegaverse series bar none)
Susi Hawke:
The Pumpkin Spiced Omega (The Hollydale Omega #1, Omegaverse lite)
The Reluctant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #1, shifter romance)
Grabbed (Team A.L.P.H.A. #1, collab with Crista Crown)
L.L. Raand – The Midnight Hunt (Midnight Hunters #1, not strictly Omegaverse but it has a rare female alpha)
Crista Crown:
Pride and Pregnancy (mpreg Pride and Prejudice remix)
Freedom for His Omega (The Outcast Chronicles #1, collab with Harper B. Cole)
Vera Valentine – Planet Oster: Fertility Fusion
Lily X (sapphic Omegaverse author):
Let Me Be Yours (Seventh Star #1)
Ice Queen Alpha
Lexa Luthor (sapphic Omegaverse author) – The Iron Edge
Amy Bellows – A Pebble for Lewis (Alaskan Pebble Gifters #1)
Lorelei M. Hart – The Grumpy Grizzly’s Omega (Mail-Order Mates #1)
Anna Wineheart – Weight of Everything (Meadow Street Brothers #1)
Thank you JFHobbit!
What about you? Are you an Omegaverse fan? What are your favorite recs?
foulard
20 Mar 2026 07:27 amprettygoodwordfoulard (foo-LARD, fuh-LARD) - n., a lightweight twill- or plain-woven fabric of silk or silk-and-cotton, usually having a small printed design; a piece of clothing, especially a necktie or scarf, made of this fabric.
Including head scarf:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Taken from French in the 1820s, where it had both meanings -- in contemporary French foulard mostly means a headscarf or neckerchief -- but there the trail runs cold and is officially declared origin unknown.
And that ends an undeclared theme week of words related to clothing in some way, but really was five words that happened to pile up together randomly.
---L.
Including head scarf:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Taken from French in the 1820s, where it had both meanings -- in contemporary French foulard mostly means a headscarf or neckerchief -- but there the trail runs cold and is officially declared origin unknown.
And that ends an undeclared theme week of words related to clothing in some way, but really was five words that happened to pile up together randomly.
---L.
The Professionals: Fanfiction: Wondering Why?
20 Mar 2026 02:07 pmlucy_roman posting in fan_flashworksTitle: Wondering Why?
Author:lucy_roman
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: Spoilers for the episode Spy Probe. Doyle wonders where he went wrong.
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Word Count: 200
( Wondering Why? )
Author:
lucy_romanRating: Teen and up
Summary: Spoilers for the episode Spy Probe. Doyle wonders where he went wrong.
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Word Count: 200
( Wondering Why? )
friday
20 Mar 2026 09:26 amsummersgate
This is a picture of the entity that I took this morning through the window screen (you can see the screen if you look for it). Thinking I'll make one of those overpainted photo artworks with it tomorrow. When I print the pictures off I need to wait a day for the ink to dry before I can cover them with clear acrylic, otherwise the photo ink lifts and moves. I probably don't have to do the clear acrylic cover - the image would be crisper without it but I want the final surface to look homogenous.
Dave has a pile of sycamore wood stacked in the basement and over the years it has become covered with many things that are mine. Or things that we don't use that belonged to my parent's house and I can't seem to get rid of them. There are also about 6 lifesize cardboard halloween figures that Chloe made for an art show down in Pittsburgh right after she got out of college. And other big works of art that she made. Can't throw that away. We must find a better way to store them. Anyway, today I told Dave I'd help him move stuff around down there, and maybe I'll find some things to let go of too. Dave wants to open up the stack of wood so he can find a few pieces that he can use to make slats for that bench that used to sit beside the creek. I haven't nagged about getting it done at all but the broken bench is sitting right outside the back door so he sees it a lot. It'll be nice to have a bench beside the creek again. I used to sit on it every time I went down there. Just take a moment to rest and watch the water flow by.
NCT Wish: Fanfic: the garden, as I grew
20 Mar 2026 08:50 ambluedreaming posting in fan_flashworksFandom: NCT Wish
Mods please use the f: kpop rpf (category) tag
Rating: T
Length: 100 words
Content notes: cute anthropomorphic veggies or surrealist horror, take your pick
Author notes: The title is from THE FINAL FUTURE by Kim Yideum (translation credit missing).
Summary: Gardening is fun.
( Read more... )
Mods please use the f: kpop rpf (category) tag
Rating: T
Length: 100 words
Content notes: cute anthropomorphic veggies or surrealist horror, take your pick
Author notes: The title is from THE FINAL FUTURE by Kim Yideum (translation credit missing).
Summary: Gardening is fun.
(other rambling notes)
I originally was going to use axe instead of shovel but I wasn’t sure if that was too horror? But with such a short story, horror can everything so maybe this is worse? Anyway, it’s funny because the Wishies are so cute (or rather, intentionally kawaii aesthetic) with Wichu and everything else so little cabbages both makes perfect sense on a cute level, but of course anything cute can be horror too when you look at it from the other side 😂( Read more... )
Questions: Dyslexia
20 Mar 2026 09:00 amasakiyumeIf you have dyslexia, what strategies helped you master writing? Was there anything that helped when you were of school age? If you weren't able to deal with it during school, how have you dealt with it since then?
If you have kids with dyslexia, how have you helped them with the task of writing?
If you have kids with dyslexia, how have you helped them with the task of writing?
Friday 20/03/2026
20 Mar 2026 12:30 pmdark_kana posting in 3_good_things_a_day1) going out for lunch with Lhune, in our usual spot ^^
2) there is an "art exhibition" in our daughter's school this afternoon. She is so looking forward to it :-)
3) going out for dinner. The most delicious pizza in town
Kitty kitty
20 Mar 2026 11:23 ammoemKitty, kitty, small and dark
in our tiny city park
framed inside my camera's eye
thou showst a lack of symmetry.
In what distant street or yard
dost thou live, alone and scar'd?
To what calling wouldst thou hear?
What the hand, dare skritch thy ear?
With what morsels, & what fish
could I invite thee to the dish
and when thy throat began to purr
would not my happy heart concur?
in our tiny city park
framed inside my camera's eye
thou showst a lack of symmetry.
In what distant street or yard
dost thou live, alone and scar'd?
To what calling wouldst thou hear?
What the hand, dare skritch thy ear?
With what morsels, & what fish
could I invite thee to the dish
and when thy throat began to purr
would not my happy heart concur?
In Case of Canadian Disasters?
20 Mar 2026 07:21 amdewlineThis seems like a good idea...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03/20/japan/japan-roaming-service-disasters/
Update: When I raised the question on Bluesky, reporter David Reevely pointed out to me that it was already in place to some extent:
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/emergency-communications/en
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03/20/japan/japan-roaming-service-disasters/
Update: When I raised the question on Bluesky, reporter David Reevely pointed out to me that it was already in place to some extent:
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/emergency-communications/en
gmrs and other radio adventures
20 Mar 2026 02:12 amsolarbirdSo I’ve been getting my radio game back together, since in adventurous times – particularly times with the possibility of particularly severe emergencies and communications troubles – it’s very good to have access to and practice with backup comms that will work under almost all circumstances.
I’ve also been brushing up on my Amateur radio skills, tho’ really in both cases this comes down to “buying and/or making antennas,” which has meant a bit of both, but particularly making antennas.
I feel like I’ve got the GMRS kit into decent nick. I need to make a longer-term version of the attic antenna rig; while I can do about as well in the highest front window, that setup is somewhat inconvenient and has to be taken down every day. So if I can just have something just set up full time somewhere out of the way, that’d obviously be much better. I’ve got it all worked out at this point, too; all I really need is cable. And to build a functional duplicate of my latest GMRS antenna.
There’s been a bit of a learning curve but at this point I can reach the West Seattle repeater on 15, the Beacon Hill on 16, the Queen Anne on 18 – hugely important, the busiest repeater, an unknown repeater on 19, the Maple Leaf repeater on 20, and the Snohomish repeater on 22. I can also occasionally reach the Redmond repeater on 17, but that’s kind of a best-conditions ping and I don’t know how useful it’d actually be given how weak my signal must be even when it does get picked up.
Also, I’ve gone ahead and coded up North Bend on 21, just to have it there even though there’s no way in hell I’ll ever reach it from here.
Meanwhile, over on the Amateur bands, the new 70cm/2m antenna – this one, I bought – has made a huge difference and really broken me out of my UHF Hole. I’ve been adding Amateur repeaters as I verify I can reach them, and I even managed to get the local 1.25m relay into parrot mode so I know my voice is audible for sure now.
So far tho’ GMRS is much more active, probably because it’s much easier and because the license doesn’t require a test. You can just buy one for $35 and it’s good for 10 years. And it works with FRS which requires no license at all.
It’s also far more limited – no HF component at all, just UHF, just FM, no arbitrary frequencies, just channels and repeaters – but low barrier to entry is most definitely a good thing here.
I’ve got more posts I want to get caught up on but tonight I just wanted to get something – anything, really – out there to celebrate digging my way out of this RF hole which is where I live. So, uh…
RADYA! Yeah! xD
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
Torchwood: Fanfic: False trail
20 Mar 2026 07:48 pmm_findlow posting in fan_flashworksTitle: False trail
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 915 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 509 - Plant
Summary: Jack knew there was a reason why everything felt slightly off.
( Read more... )
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 915 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 509 - Plant
Summary: Jack knew there was a reason why everything felt slightly off.
( Read more... )
smartbitches_feed Riss M. Neilson joins me today to talk about her new romance, The Bridge Back to You. This is a second chance love story between two exes who unexpectedly inherit shares of the same restaurant – the restaurant that he runs, and that she kind of ran away from.
There is so much to discuss in this book: we talk about characters with chronic illnesses like endometriosis, or mental illnesses like OCD. We talk about the astrology of her characters and what insights she can gain from their charts, and then, she gives us a list of restaurants to try if we’re ever in Providence, Rhode Island. And Riss even expands my theory about which foods are the universal expression of human love.
Listen to the podcast →Read the transcript →
Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:
You can find Riss M. Neilson on her website, RissMNeilson.com, Substack, and on Instagram.
We also mentioned:
- “I was Prince’s Private Chef” – The Iconic Prince
- Episode 690. Disability in Romance with Lux Raven
- Ivy Wolk Reacts to Viral Selena Pictures – Reddit
And if you’re in Providence, Rhode Island, Riss recommends:
- Carolina’s Family Restaurant – Dominican cuisine
- Cap’t Loui – Seafood
- Ebisu – Ramen
- Ten Prime Steak and Sushi – don’t miss the bread pudding
- Baja’s Restaurant – fresh Mexican buffet
If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.
Thanks to our sponsors:
More ways to sponsor:
Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)
What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.
Thanks for listening!
Podcast Sponsor
Support for this episode comes from Savage Bonds, book two in the Shadowmist Pack series by Evie Mitchell!
If you are looking for a body-positive slow burn romance with very spicy scenes, knotting, an emotional support glory hole, and shared psychic orgasms, listen up.
A gritty, paranormal shifter romance, Savage Bonds follows Lithia, the first female Beta of the Shadowmist Pack, after she is betrayed and imprisoned in a silver-lined torture facility.
Her only lifeline is a voice from the next cell: Kier, a nomad who has been held in isolation for three years. His sanity has been eroded after years of psychic assault, but when he connects with Lithia though a small hole in their shared prison wall, he finds an ally, and a reason to endure.
Together, they must navigate a brutal escape through a burning wilderness to the safety of her pack. And as the pack prepares to dismantle the organisation that imprisoned them, Lithia and Kier must decide if they are brave enough to claim a future built on more than just shared trauma.
While Savage Bonds is the second in the Shadowmist Pack series, it can be read as a near-standalone. One reviewer on Goodreads says, “I enjoyed this book even more than the first in the series! Lithia is my favorite. She’s such a baddie and I love her for it! The world building in this one is awesome too. If you like werewolf romance, this series is for you.”
And I think you need to know about the dedication from author E.V. Mitchell:
To the readers who saw a hole in a prison wall and immediately thought, “…yeah, I’d fist that.” You brave, horny disasters. You trauma-bonded, violence-inclined little gremlins. This book is for you.
Savage Bonds and the Shadowmist Pack series by E.V. Mitchell are available now in Kindle Unlimited, and in print on the author’s website, or in your local library – woohoo! Audiobooks are coming soon.
Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
Topics for talk March
20 Mar 2026 12:20 ampattroseTopics for talk:
Things I Need/Want to Control
I like being in control of myself and realized that if I can control myself, I wouldn't need as much help from other people. Ì like taking care of my own destiny.
Things I Need/Want to Control
I like being in control of myself and realized that if I can control myself, I wouldn't need as much help from other people. Ì like taking care of my own destiny.
90 discussion questions.
20 Mar 2026 12:17 ampattrose90 discussion questions.
1. When were you most outside of your comfort zone?
When I have to talk about things that bother me.
I'm not crazy with this focusing on myself all the time.
1. When were you most outside of your comfort zone?
When I have to talk about things that bother me.
I'm not crazy with this focusing on myself all the time.
March Not quite 365 days questions
20 Mar 2026 12:13 ampattroseMarch, not quite 365 days, questions.
20. Was learning a new language part of your education when you were at school? Can you still remember any of it?
Yes, I took two years of Latin. And no, I don't remember any of it. I wish I had taken something more beautiful. I'm terrible at languages. I’m not even good with English.
20. Was learning a new language part of your education when you were at school? Can you still remember any of it?
Yes, I took two years of Latin. And no, I don't remember any of it. I wish I had taken something more beautiful. I'm terrible at languages. I’m not even good with English.
no subject
20 Mar 2026 02:09 amdisneydream06Today it is my pleasure to send out...
*~*~*~*~*GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES*~*~*~*~*
To my friend,starwatcher.
I hope you have a fantastic day. :)
*~*~*~*~*GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES*~*~*~*~*
To my friend,
starwatcher.I hope you have a fantastic day. :)
Dreamwidth and Icons
20 Mar 2026 06:47 amsoc_puppet posting in the_great_tumblr_purgeBuckle in, everyone, this is going to be a long one!
One of the things that has made Tumblr wildly popular with fandom is its unlimited image hosting capacity. Content, Tumblr eventually put limits on, but number of total images (rather than images per post) and size of images? Not so much.
Unfortunately, that's one of the big reasons why Tumblr is basically hemorrhaging money: Because data is expensive, and image data is much more so than text data, mainly because it's a lot more data. That number just goes up with gifs and videos, the former especially being a favorite on Tumblr.
The ways to get money to run a social media site on the internet are basically venture capitol (the investors will want their money back someday, somehow), selling user data (doesn't everyone love ads and hate privacy?), and users directly paying for services (in this economy?).
Dreamwidth started from a foundation of prioritizing privacy and user freedom, and that meant that they compromised on image hosting in order for their users to truly be the main focus of this site. A dedicated user base pays to keep Dreamwidth running, and while there's a price rise on the horizon, we've managed to keep Dreamwidth's doors open with just our own money for sixteen years now.
So what does this have to do with icons? Well, with the limited image hosting options in Dreamwidth's budget, they're one of the main ways we use images at all—and Dreamwidth users make the most of them!
( Hold up; what exactly IS an icon? And what do you mean by 'make the most of them'? )
( How do I get and upload icons? )
Is that it?
Well, it's everything I can think of, at any rate! But you might have questions that I haven't covered. This is a great place to ask them! I may not have the answers, but odds are decent that someone here will be able to point you in the right direction.
One last favor before I go...
Dreamwidth users, if you've got favorite icons, show them off in the comments! I think it would be great to be able to share examples of just how fun and creative we can get with this medium, and this seems like the perfect opportunity 😉 Reply to your own comment if you have more than one, or to other people if the icon fits, so it's not just a mass of top-level comments.
As for any newcomers, if this post gets enough comments, you may get a chance to try out another one of Dreamwidth's features; at 50 comments, comment threads will collapse to keep loading time down and limit data transfer costs. Towards the topmost comment, at the bottom of the comment below which everything gets folded up, there's a clickable option to Expand the thread. This will open up and display all of the comments below that for you! The thread will collapse back down if you click away, though.
If this post doesn't get that many comments but you still want to try it out, I'd recommend checking the latest post at![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png)
dw_news. (Incidentally, if you have a Paid account, there's an option to expand all the comment threads at once at the top of the comment section. Pretty neat, yeah?)
Thanks, everyone, and I hope this post was helpful! I'm going to go collapse for a while now 😅
Edit: I've added a clarification about which icons will be kept if you go from a paid account to a free account with more than 15 icons.
One of the things that has made Tumblr wildly popular with fandom is its unlimited image hosting capacity. Content, Tumblr eventually put limits on, but number of total images (rather than images per post) and size of images? Not so much.
Unfortunately, that's one of the big reasons why Tumblr is basically hemorrhaging money: Because data is expensive, and image data is much more so than text data, mainly because it's a lot more data. That number just goes up with gifs and videos, the former especially being a favorite on Tumblr.
The ways to get money to run a social media site on the internet are basically venture capitol (the investors will want their money back someday, somehow), selling user data (doesn't everyone love ads and hate privacy?), and users directly paying for services (in this economy?).
Dreamwidth started from a foundation of prioritizing privacy and user freedom, and that meant that they compromised on image hosting in order for their users to truly be the main focus of this site. A dedicated user base pays to keep Dreamwidth running, and while there's a price rise on the horizon, we've managed to keep Dreamwidth's doors open with just our own money for sixteen years now.
So what does this have to do with icons? Well, with the limited image hosting options in Dreamwidth's budget, they're one of the main ways we use images at all—and Dreamwidth users make the most of them!
( Hold up; what exactly IS an icon? And what do you mean by 'make the most of them'? )
( How do I get and upload icons? )
Is that it?
Well, it's everything I can think of, at any rate! But you might have questions that I haven't covered. This is a great place to ask them! I may not have the answers, but odds are decent that someone here will be able to point you in the right direction.
One last favor before I go...
Dreamwidth users, if you've got favorite icons, show them off in the comments! I think it would be great to be able to share examples of just how fun and creative we can get with this medium, and this seems like the perfect opportunity 😉 Reply to your own comment if you have more than one, or to other people if the icon fits, so it's not just a mass of top-level comments.
As for any newcomers, if this post gets enough comments, you may get a chance to try out another one of Dreamwidth's features; at 50 comments, comment threads will collapse to keep loading time down and limit data transfer costs. Towards the topmost comment, at the bottom of the comment below which everything gets folded up, there's a clickable option to Expand the thread. This will open up and display all of the comments below that for you! The thread will collapse back down if you click away, though.
If this post doesn't get that many comments but you still want to try it out, I'd recommend checking the latest post at
dw_news. (Incidentally, if you have a Paid account, there's an option to expand all the comment threads at once at the top of the comment section. Pretty neat, yeah?)Thanks, everyone, and I hope this post was helpful! I'm going to go collapse for a while now 😅
Edit: I've added a clarification about which icons will be kept if you go from a paid account to a free account with more than 15 icons.
Just One Thing (20 March 2026)
20 Mar 2026 05:48 amnanila posting in awesomeersIt's challenge time!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Overwatch x Sanrio Collab Icons
20 Mar 2026 12:40 amtinkaton posting in icons30 Overwatch x Sanrio collab icons
Juno, Mercy, Kiriko, Dva, Widowmaker, Lucio
icons here @tidemakers
Juno, Mercy, Kiriko, Dva, Widowmaker, Lucio
icons here @
tidemakerseureka
20 Mar 2026 01:00 ammerriamwebster_feedMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 20, 2026 is:
eureka • \yoo-REE-kuh\ • adjective
As an interjection, eureka is used to express excitement when a discovery has been made. When used as an adjective, eureka describes something (typically a moment) that is characterized by a usually sudden triumphant discovery.
// After years of trying to piece together a concrete business idea, I had a eureka moment and everything made sense.
Examples:
“Back in 2020, Trautmann and fellow college student Max Steitz were lamenting the unrelenting loss of Louisiana wetlands, while sharing a bottle of wine. It was a eureka moment, as Trautmann and Steitz realized that by crushing wine bottles and other disposable glass into sand, they could relieve pressure on landfills and simultaneously help fend off coastal erosion.” — Doug MacCash, nola.com (New Orleans, Louisiana), 5 Dec. 2025
Did you know?
When people exclaim “Eureka!” they are harking back to a legendary event in the life of the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. While wrestling with the problem of how to determine the purity of gold, he had the sudden realization that the buoyancy of an object placed in water is equal in magnitude to the weight of the water the object displaces. According to one popular version of the legend, he made his discovery at a public bathhouse, whereupon he leapt out of his bath, exclaiming in Greek “Heurēka! Heurēka!” (“I have found it!”), and ran home naked through the streets. The absence of a contemporary source for this anecdote has done nothing to diminish its popularity over the centuries. The English word eureka, which of course hails from heurēka, has also retained its popularity; its use as an interjection dates to the early 17th century, and it gained a brand-new use in the early 20th century as an adjective describing moments of discovery or epiphany.