Melanie Baker
@melle.ca
Reader, writer, editor, baker, sock zoologist, universal aunt, wayward. Tell your dog I said hi. (she/they) 🐾🖋🍪🇨🇦🏴☠️ | melle most places | linktr.ee/melledotca
Reposted by Melanie Baker
I’m so tired of the “What radicalized you?” question.
I’m tired of it because so much of what’s considered “radical” is just basic empathy and regard for human rights, taking a stand against obvious fascism and speaking out when people lie and defend cruelty.
That shouldn’t be “radical”.
I’m tired of it because so much of what’s considered “radical” is just basic empathy and regard for human rights, taking a stand against obvious fascism and speaking out when people lie and defend cruelty.
That shouldn’t be “radical”.
January 26, 2026 at 12:15 AM
I’m so tired of the “What radicalized you?” question.
I’m tired of it because so much of what’s considered “radical” is just basic empathy and regard for human rights, taking a stand against obvious fascism and speaking out when people lie and defend cruelty.
That shouldn’t be “radical”.
I’m tired of it because so much of what’s considered “radical” is just basic empathy and regard for human rights, taking a stand against obvious fascism and speaking out when people lie and defend cruelty.
That shouldn’t be “radical”.
Reposted by Melanie Baker
🧵 about murder bones vs. graveyard bones. Superb.
A few days ago, I stood in the graveyard of an 1100 year old church, getting damper and damper in the drizzling rain.
A woman walked into the graveyard, waved, said hello, and, as we had previously arranged, handed me a paper bag full of human bones.
The life of a churchwarden is a strange one...
A woman walked into the graveyard, waved, said hello, and, as we had previously arranged, handed me a paper bag full of human bones.
The life of a churchwarden is a strange one...
January 23, 2026 at 2:02 PM
🧵 about murder bones vs. graveyard bones. Superb.
I don't know how we're supposed to take this article seriously when it didn't even mention Forever Knight...
Canadian TV needs to get weird again
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, English Canadian screens were filled with bizarre, fever dream-like shows. #Canada
/1 thread
www.cbc.ca/arts/canadia...
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, English Canadian screens were filled with bizarre, fever dream-like shows. #Canada
/1 thread
www.cbc.ca/arts/canadia...
OPINION | Canadian TV needs to get weird again | CBC Arts
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, English Canadian screens were filled with bizarre, fever dream-like shows. Writer Niko Stratis argues that we need to back to that
www.cbc.ca
January 21, 2026 at 11:45 PM
I don't know how we're supposed to take this article seriously when it didn't even mention Forever Knight...
Reposted by Melanie Baker
Thrilled to see @jenreadsromance.bsky.social talking all the sense in the Guardian today!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Why can’t women enjoy Heated Rivalry without being treated with contempt? | Zoe Williams
The TV hit has cracked open a rich seam of misogyny: romance is written off as a weird thing that women like, and the audience is dismissed as ‘wine moms’, writes Zoe Williams
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Thrilled to see @jenreadsromance.bsky.social talking all the sense in the Guardian today!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Melanie Baker
BODIES OF MAGIC, out Sept 2026: Grey's Anatomy meets A Deadly Education, a mystery set during the final exam week of a magical medical school. (Or: five queer nerds solve a murder and have some feelings.)
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill.
Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US
Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill.
Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US
Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK
January 16, 2026 at 7:12 PM
BODIES OF MAGIC, out Sept 2026: Grey's Anatomy meets A Deadly Education, a mystery set during the final exam week of a magical medical school. (Or: five queer nerds solve a murder and have some feelings.)
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill.
Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US
Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill.
Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US
Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK
Is there anything more dangerous than impatient pickup drivers when there's a big snow? Jeeziz.
January 15, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Is there anything more dangerous than impatient pickup drivers when there's a big snow? Jeeziz.
As a Canadian, our lord and saviour Anne Murray requires us to ALWAYS point out when things are Canadian. So this piece pleases me at a cellular level.
Plus the title makes it sound like Canadian is a sexual orientation. Which I won't argue with... 😉
medium.com/@angelolexie...
Plus the title makes it sound like Canadian is a sexual orientation. Which I won't argue with... 😉
medium.com/@angelolexie...
Heated Rivalry isn’t for gays or straights. It’s for Canadians.
Heated Rivalry isn’t for gays or straights. It’s for Canadians. In a media culture and political climate dominated by the United States, when it comes to Heated Rivalry, Canadian’s are not …
medium.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:26 PM
As a Canadian, our lord and saviour Anne Murray requires us to ALWAYS point out when things are Canadian. So this piece pleases me at a cellular level.
Plus the title makes it sound like Canadian is a sexual orientation. Which I won't argue with... 😉
medium.com/@angelolexie...
Plus the title makes it sound like Canadian is a sexual orientation. Which I won't argue with... 😉
medium.com/@angelolexie...
"The fervent popularity of Heated Rivalry suggests that for many, the real romantasy is not sex and romance with dragons and fairies, but sex and romance without misogyny and gendered hierarchy."
I spoke to women (and one man) about what they find so hot about Heated Rivalry.
"The main reason I read MM is I just absolutely cannot stand reading or watching women suffer at the hands of men – in any way, big or small, anymore... We, as women, can just watch this and relax.”
"The main reason I read MM is I just absolutely cannot stand reading or watching women suffer at the hands of men – in any way, big or small, anymore... We, as women, can just watch this and relax.”
Women are feral for Heated Rivalry. What does that say about men?
The explosive popularity of the gay hockey TV drama reveals women’s desire for sex and romance without violence or hierarchy
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:45 PM
"The fervent popularity of Heated Rivalry suggests that for many, the real romantasy is not sex and romance with dragons and fairies, but sex and romance without misogyny and gendered hierarchy."
Journey
What is the most overused word in your industry?
Let it out.
Let it out.
January 13, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Journey
Reposted by Melanie Baker
Synopsis: Everyone's favorite hockey players are back! Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander continue the romance that began with viral sensation Heated Rivalry—now streaming on Crave in Canada and on HBO Max in the US—
January 10, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Synopsis: Everyone's favorite hockey players are back! Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander continue the romance that began with viral sensation Heated Rivalry—now streaming on Crave in Canada and on HBO Max in the US—
Reposted by Melanie Baker
This is lovely, doesn’t matter if you’ve been reading romance for decades or since you discovered Heated Rivalry. It’s a genre that is delighted by your feelings, and happy to make you feel more of them.
i wrote about dissociation, reading as comfort, vice and self obliteration during times of horror, and also about reading exclusively about gay love for like. a year
buttondown.com/theswordandt...
buttondown.com/theswordandt...
My Own Inner Elba
Let me start by saying that the news is incredibly awful. I’m very aware of this, in the way you’re aware of, say, a ninety-seven degree day with one hundred...
buttondown.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:15 PM
This is lovely, doesn’t matter if you’ve been reading romance for decades or since you discovered Heated Rivalry. It’s a genre that is delighted by your feelings, and happy to make you feel more of them.
The tech support can be challenging, but then there are good days when Mom asks how to turn off the new AI crap in Gmail. 💙
January 9, 2026 at 5:04 PM
The tech support can be challenging, but then there are good days when Mom asks how to turn off the new AI crap in Gmail. 💙
I used to work with a guy who was from Moscow, Of an age to also grow up in the Soviet era. He was gay (and autistic) and needless to say he and his partner weren't *together* (and then married) until they moved to Canada. The stuff he said sometimes was chilling.
this hit me like a fucking freight train, but it’s important and I am so glad to have read it. Good for him. Fuck.
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
January 8, 2026 at 3:02 PM
I used to work with a guy who was from Moscow, Of an age to also grow up in the Soviet era. He was gay (and autistic) and needless to say he and his partner weren't *together* (and then married) until they moved to Canada. The stuff he said sometimes was chilling.
Reposted by Melanie Baker
CBC Canada Reads longlist announced #CanLit www.cbc.ca/books/canada...
The Canada Reads 2026 longlist is here! | CBC Books
This year, the great Canadian book debate is looking for one book to build bridges. The panellists and the books they choose to champion will be revealed on Jan. 22.
www.cbc.ca
January 8, 2026 at 12:20 PM
CBC Canada Reads longlist announced #CanLit www.cbc.ca/books/canada...
A show about two gay Canadian meteorologists, Sleeted Rivalry.
A show about two gay computer hackers from the 90s, “1337ed Rivalry”
A show about two gay clay-pigeon shooters, Skeeted Rivalry
January 8, 2026 at 2:23 PM
A show about two gay Canadian meteorologists, Sleeted Rivalry.
Last place I would have expected to find a good HR take. This is excellent. #HeatedRivalry
www.linkedin.com/pulse/heated...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/heated...
Heated Rivalry and the Rejection of Romanticised Harm
Why audiences are craving intensity without entitlement and what that shift reveals about masculinity, safety, and control I didn’t expect a hockey romance to get under my skin. I certainly didn’t exp...
www.linkedin.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:44 AM
Last place I would have expected to find a good HR take. This is excellent. #HeatedRivalry
www.linkedin.com/pulse/heated...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/heated...
Reposted by Melanie Baker
Adriana Anders's WHITE OUT is the rare book to both make our Best-Of list and get a deep dive episode. It's $2 today.
KOBO mf.fatedmates.net/aawo
B&N www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whiteout-adriana-anders/1129678146?ean=9781492698715
APPLE books.apple.com/us/book/whiteout/id6753874735
AMZ amzn.to/3YpaAV2
KOBO mf.fatedmates.net/aawo
B&N www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whiteout-adriana-anders/1129678146?ean=9781492698715
APPLE books.apple.com/us/book/whiteout/id6753874735
AMZ amzn.to/3YpaAV2
January 5, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Adriana Anders's WHITE OUT is the rare book to both make our Best-Of list and get a deep dive episode. It's $2 today.
KOBO mf.fatedmates.net/aawo
B&N www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whiteout-adriana-anders/1129678146?ean=9781492698715
APPLE books.apple.com/us/book/whiteout/id6753874735
AMZ amzn.to/3YpaAV2
KOBO mf.fatedmates.net/aawo
B&N www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whiteout-adriana-anders/1129678146?ean=9781492698715
APPLE books.apple.com/us/book/whiteout/id6753874735
AMZ amzn.to/3YpaAV2
My dog is nature’s perfect winter ambush predator. 😂
January 4, 2026 at 6:36 PM
My dog is nature’s perfect winter ambush predator. 😂
Reposted by Melanie Baker
January 3, 2026 at 5:21 PM
The horrors persist, but so do cats.
January 3, 2026 at 4:36 PM
The horrors persist, but so do cats.
Reposted by Melanie Baker
Finland stuns USA in OT at the World Junior Hockey Championships
It’s a 4-3 Finnish victory in Minnesota to send the Americans home.
And now over to Canada vs Slovakia in the last quarterfinal.
It’s a 4-3 Finnish victory in Minnesota to send the Americans home.
And now over to Canada vs Slovakia in the last quarterfinal.
January 3, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Finland stuns USA in OT at the World Junior Hockey Championships
It’s a 4-3 Finnish victory in Minnesota to send the Americans home.
And now over to Canada vs Slovakia in the last quarterfinal.
It’s a 4-3 Finnish victory in Minnesota to send the Americans home.
And now over to Canada vs Slovakia in the last quarterfinal.
OMG. Guy at the 🍕 place this morning:
- Petted dog
- Went in to get the dog a stack of pepperoni
- Lovingly admonished dog’s greediness when she tried to yoink them all
- Let her lick his hands after
- Complimented her sweater
- Kiss on the head
No wonder she likes everyone else more than me. 🍕
- Petted dog
- Went in to get the dog a stack of pepperoni
- Lovingly admonished dog’s greediness when she tried to yoink them all
- Let her lick his hands after
- Complimented her sweater
- Kiss on the head
No wonder she likes everyone else more than me. 🍕
January 2, 2026 at 6:22 PM
OMG. Guy at the 🍕 place this morning:
- Petted dog
- Went in to get the dog a stack of pepperoni
- Lovingly admonished dog’s greediness when she tried to yoink them all
- Let her lick his hands after
- Complimented her sweater
- Kiss on the head
No wonder she likes everyone else more than me. 🍕
- Petted dog
- Went in to get the dog a stack of pepperoni
- Lovingly admonished dog’s greediness when she tried to yoink them all
- Let her lick his hands after
- Complimented her sweater
- Kiss on the head
No wonder she likes everyone else more than me. 🍕
Reposted by Melanie Baker
If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free.
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
January 2, 2026 at 2:26 AM
If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free.
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov