John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶

@jrberkeley

John (he/him) aka. John Berkeley; Leovinas. UK-based writer of SFF, player of RPGs, Classics/archaeology/ancient history PhD, process/telecoms specialist. The sort of gay lefty Liberal your mother warned you about. Views my own, etc. (no TERFs or AI, ta)

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John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· 4d

The Squidward (Spongebob Squarepants) "Oh no, he's hot" meme

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· 8d

Not that I'm childish, you understand, but what an eye-catching combination.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· 9d

A beautiful story in three skeets.

A screengrab of Scary Gorgon's thread of three skeets, reading, in order:
'Might back some cookies.' (timestamped 3 hours ago);
'Salted almond and dark chocolate chip.' (timestamped 3 hours ago)
'I'll make those again. Phwoar.' (timestamped 1 hour ago)

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· 19d

A few glorious days in Whitby to blow away the cobwebs. A rail ticket from the Blasted Wastes of the South would have been £226 - but to York was only £80, and the bus from York to Whitby was through stunning countryside and was the princely sum of £3. Highly recommend it.

A view of Whitby, the Abbey ruins and St Mary's Church, under a blue sky and late afternoon sun, framed by leaves, with a little sailing boat anchored on the Esk beneath the Abbey.

The grand East façade of the ruins of Whitby Abbey under a white, clouded sky. Tall grass sits to the left, with the end of a path to the right. The next headland juts out in the distance into the silvery sea. A couple of people are wandering in the distance, dwarfed by the ruins and the view.

The surviving arches of the nave of Whitby Abbey, Gothic and eroded, in alternating dark and pale browns and greys, viewed through one another so the arches compound.

A view of the sibling lighthouses of Whitby Harbour under blue, sunny sky and over blue, lapping sea, framed by rocks in shadow as people paddle in the swash. There are pebbles amd a couple of larger rocks in the foreground, the middle right-hand of which is eminently suited for sitting on amd writing.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· 24d

I know that Christopher Nolan has made his film again, and this time it's The Odyssey (but with American accents). Whether you see the film or not, I urge you to read the book. There are some great translations, but the magical, affecting Wilson translation is by far the best. Do read it! 🛶

A picture of Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, on a purple cloth. The cover features the painting of The Ladies of the Minoan Court from the Palace of Knossos, fading to white: three women with elaborate gold-beaded black hair, one looking left and two to the right, with their hands raised as if speaking or waving.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Jul 4

I remembered that not only can I make biscuits, but I can make whatever sort I want. So, I had a go at caraway-nut shortbread - they came out tasting honeyed and adult. And with that, back to writing. ...Maybe with a cup of tea and a biscuit, though.

A wire cooling rack on a metal surface in the corner of a white-tiled kitchen, with roughly shaped golden-brown biscuits cooling on it. A large Cadbury's Roses tin is in the foreground, a bunch of Lego daffodils is in the background, along with a glass bowl with some ornaments in it.

The biscuits are caraway-nut shortbread:
- Take a basic shortbread recipe of your preference.
- Swap the sugar for light muscovado sugar.
- Add half a teaspoon of ground allspice and a pinch of salt.
- Add a handful of caraway seeds and a small handful of demerara sugar.
- Add ~75g of roughly-chopped mixed nuts (unsalted and unroasted) to the mix after you've finished the rubbing-together phase but before you start combining it into dough.
- Sprinkle extra demerara on top once you've arranged them on the baking tray.
- They'll probably take a bit longer than usual to bake, due to the nuts' thickness meaning you probably have to cut them thicker than normal. My recipe was for 15-20 minutes and these were in for 23.

Enjoy.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Jun 30

EXT - The town square. The BAKER steps up and reveals his new creation. BAKER: "...And I shall call it: a Victoria sponge!" THE CROWD whispers excitedly to each other: "A punge! A punge! A victorious punge!"

A picture of a large sandwich style Victoria sponge, with cream, fresh strawberries, and strawberry jam just visible inside, and icing sugar on top. It is in the upturned lid of a large, ornate blue Cadbury's Roses tin sitting on a square of kitchen roll wil the corners sticking like wings, or a fancy collar. Said Roses tin is in the background along with a silver kettle.

Aforedescribed cake, with a slice on a black, blue and white enamelled plate and a fork with a little excess jam on it.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Jun 3

We had my aunt Wendy's memorial service today. She was brilliant. My cousins spoke wonderfully. In 1989, Victor Zorza recruited Wendy to help set up Hospice #1, the first in Russia, and teach palliative care. Now, there are over 170 there. What a legacy. community.tiffingirls.org/news/alumnae...

A picture of the cover of an order of service "In Celebration of the Life of Wendy Joy Jones OBE, 29th July 1939 - 5th May 2026"

The cover features a black and white photo of an older woman in a short sleeved shirt sitting at a large Yamaha piano keyboard in a living riom next to a bookshelf. She has shortish hair anf is wearing glasses, chunky headphones, and a twinkly "are you done yet?" expression towards the photographer.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 29

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 23

"Mostly successful" 👀

A screenclip of a a BBC feed of a Starlink video at T+01:06:39, showing a large fiery mushroom cloud exploding over a dark ocean, in the way that "mostly successful" rocket journeys don't.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 23

Some days call for writing in the shade. Cold drink mandatory; pigeons and squirrels optional.

A picture of a battered pen resting on an open notebook. In the background is a shaded path with a little fence and a green park of sunlit grass and trees, with scattered groups of people sitting or strolling. A multistorey office blook looms over a copper beech in the middle distance.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 18

Surprising nobody, it turns out I'm a progressive Liberal (in the British, not American, sense of the term). I'm often sceptical of quizzes like this, but this one seems reasonably robust... Take the quiz: quiz.jmoxley.co.uk

A screenclip of a test result, showing my result as 'Progressive Liberal' - Socially liberal and cosmopolitan, with a belief in public services and an internationalist outlook. Prioritises civil liberties and constitutional renewal.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 14

Now with added alt-text, a wonderful bit of trivia.

A screenclip of a newspaper-style column, reading:
"In April 1943, MI5 was in the final stages of launching Operation Mincemeat, the bizarre deception plot to fool the Germans over the invasion of Sicily by planting false papers on a corpse. The organisers needed a pair of theatre stubs for the dead man's wallet to make the Nazis believe he had been in London on a specific day.

"They went to see the music hall comedian Sid Field performing at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The back-up act that night was a new song-and-dance comedy duo, aged 16 and 17, a pair of northern lads making their West End debut: Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise."

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 9

🧵 I've had a lot of worried messages from less-political friends about Reform. They aren't infallible: I'm proud that my old delivery spatula helped keep them out of Reading. Build community. Stand in solidarity. Call them out when you can. And don't let fear stop you from acting, or creating. 1/5

A picture of an array of mostly orange Liberal Democrat leaflets featuring Councillor Meri O'Connell (Tilehurst, Reading Borough Council) and the Tilehurst water tower, on a burgundy red cloth, and with a battered wooden spatula with a faded LGBT+ Liberal Democrats rainbow sticker on it.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· May 2

This really does look very good in person. (Glad we got to see it before it's inevitably defaced or destroyed by some moron, or removed by a humour and irony-less local council, in either case because we can't have nice things...)

A picture of the new Banksy statue on Pall Mall, showing what appears to be a cast-iron statue of a suited man holding a flag aloft, but about to stride confidently off the stone plinth wuth the flag blowing in his face. It's a sunny day with blue sky, the occasional cloud, lots of people milling around the white crowd barriers, and a hint of the inevitable scaffolding, in this case around the Athenaeum.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 26

The most recent meme in your camera roll describes your current mental state. (I mean. Not wrong, but still. ...I feel called-out.)

The test card from BBC2 circa 1995 - a rectangular graphic with colored and black blocks on the outside, gretscale blocks on thr inside, and a generationally-iconic photo of a blonde girl in a red dress, with a long, high pony-tail, playing Noughts and Crosses on a blackboard with a frankly terrifying clown doll in a green shirt, in the middle.

Best viewed with a long, penetrating, completely uninterrupted and infinite BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP tone.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 23

Nice to remember that there were people up there the other day.

An almost-half Moon in a brilliantly blue sky, above the green leaves of a hedge side-lit by golden evening sun.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 22

There is something very pleasing about bluebells, and the time of year when you pass by some woods and get flashes of purple and blue between the trunks.

Some brilliantly purple English bluebells in a wood on a sunny day, with leaves shining in the sun.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 20

I Kickstarted Defy the Gods ages ago - delighted it's arrived. Ancient Near East themed ttRPG with overtly queer punky themes and custom cuneiform dice. Might just make a cup of tea and dive in... #ttrpg #DefytheGods

A copy of the tabletop RPG Defy the Gods by Chrys Sellers, on maroon fabric. The book is surtitled 'Queer Sword and Sorcery' and the cover features a variety of heroes and heroines battling a vast bearded statue with its hand outstretxhed as if throwing the two clay coloured cuneiform dice sitting on top of the book.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 18

Less doomscrolling, more bloomscrolling, people. #flowersofbluesky

A white and faintly pink magnolia flower, with pale green leaves, in sunlight, with trees and a blue snd cloudy sky in the background.

A darker pink/purple lilac flowering head with darkish green leaves around.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 14

A fine Stargate SG-1 meme, featuring a slightly yellowish still of the Gate control room from one of the later seasons, looking in through the main windows, with, from left to right:
Teal'c saying "Indeed..."
Cameron Mitchell saying "I dunno 'bout you, Teal'c, but I'm kinda here for it."
One of the Gate control room staffers saying "No, sir, General. It's definitely a shitpost."
Daniel Jackson saying "Why are we reading it right-to-left?"
General Landry saying "Are we sure this isn't something meaningful, or an appreciation post?"
Sergeant Harriman saying "It seems to be some sort of shitpost, Ma'am."
and Samantha Carter saying "Walter, what are we looking at?"

In that order.

You are ever so welcome.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 13

Hard agree. A series that had a big impact on me as a kid was definitely a fever dream - a peak '90s Polish-Australian post-apocalyptic alternate world portal fantasy TV series called Spellbinders with a fabulous female antagonist and really interesting worldbuilding. No-one I know remembers it.

The title card of Spellbinder (1995), with the word in slightly steampunky die-cut metallic letters, on top of a roundel featuring what seems to be a snake and a sunburst.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 13

That's enough doomscrolling for now. Have some flowers. #flowersofbluesky

A bunch of cheerful red tulips with yellow-edged petals and black anthers, and their green leaves, in a large white and blue floral-patterned Victorian ewer, on a side table with a scented candle under a bell jar, and a Cadbury's Roses tin.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 5

If you see this, post a rabbit. (here, have two!)

A sunlit green field with tufts of grass, overlooked by looming, ivy-clad trees just coming into leaf above a ramshackle fence. In the foreground are two brown wild rabbits, one sitting and one rummaging in the grass.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 5

On the highest hill for twelve miles around, through a beech wood and with the occasional ancient barrow mound around, at this time of year there are rare pasque flowers. Felt like a good morning to go and see them.

A scattering of deeply purple six-petalled flowers with golden centres, most partly open in a bell shape, bent against the heathy grass in the wind.

Another cluster of six-petalled deep purple flowers, this time mostly facing the camera.

A view of rolling countryside with heath in the foreground, woods beyond, and fields in the distance, some of which are yellow with r_peseed flowers. The sky above is deeply blue, shot with cirrus and fluffy clouds, with April showers above the horizon.

A beech wood just coming into flower, with a carpet of greenery beneath, a path leading off to the left, and the shadows all reaching towards the camera.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Apr 2

Props to the live feed author tagline people at the BBC website for this clarification. 😅 #ArtemisII

A screencap of the BBC website live update feed covering Artemis II, with an update from 17:42 highlighted, with the title "The Moon is in the Artemis crew's sights - but there's a long way to go". The author is cited as "Jenna Moon, live editor (no relation)"

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Mar 19

Blackthorn blossom 🤍

A photo of a twig covered in white blossoms, with more visible in the background against a vibrant blue sky.

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Mar 11

A screenclip from an old Facebook 'report this image' prompt. It asks "What's going on?" The four radio buttons you can choose are "It's annoying or not interesting", "I think it shouldn't be on Facebook", and "It's spam". The one that's checked is "I'm in this photo and I don't like it".

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Mar 11

On the train to work this morning, I couldn't help but see what the guy sitting next to me sent his mate: "I think I'm sitting next to a homosexual" 😶

A selfie of me on a train, sitting in a green-upholstered chair and wearing a black jumper with my hair down, looking a little tired/done already...

John Berkeley Grout 🏳️‍🌈🔶@jrberkeley· Mar 6

The Christmas cactus has unexpectedly flowered again (usually it's pretty bang-on around Christmas). So... Merry Christmas? I suppose? 🤷‍♂️ #flowersofbluesky