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   Flick ?? (flick@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 14-Apr-2026 23:36:31 JST Flick ??

   An Ian story.

   One of my university lecturers, “John”, once mentioned in passing that he’s got interested in art history after he read a “trashy science fiction novel” that had Bosche’s Garden of Earthly Delights on the cover.

   I immediately thought “aha”, because I knew it had to be Ian’s The Gardens of Delights, and he was in stitches when I told him the story a few months later, so we cooked up a plan: I tracked down a copy of that edition and posted it to him, with a return envelope addressed to John. Inside, Ian wrote “Dear John, I’m very proud that my trashy science fiction novel had such a big impact on your life” and signed it.

   Obviously, John recognised my handwriting on the envelope, put two and two together and made three.

   Once John realised that no, I hadn’t forged it, he was simultaneously absolutely delighted by the signed copy and mortified that I had told Ian how he described the book. Ian was literally cackling when I described the scene to him.
   
   RT: https://spinster.xyz/objects/56a866a4-fa9e-467d-8759-75dde56dab24