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I’ll be at Readercon 34 this weekend after spending most of the last couple of weeks doing massive re-reads.

If you’ll be there, please feel free to stop and say hello! My schedule is below.

The Works of P. Djèlí Clark
Salon I/J Friday, July 18, 2025, 1:00 PM EDT
Andrea Hairston [moderator]; Leon Perniciaro; Rob Cameron; Tom Doyle; Victoria Janssen
Our Guest of Honor P. Djèlí Clark rounded out his first decade as a published author with a Nebula and a Locus for his fantasy police procedural novel, The Master of Djinn, and both those awards plus a British Fantasy Award for his monster-hunting novella Ring Shout. His short story “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” is short-listed for the Hugo this year. As a History professor at University of Connecticut, he investigates the pathways leading from West African storyteller/poets (griots, a.k.a. djèlí) to the American abolitionist movement. Help us celebrate the works of our honored guest!

The Purposes of Memorable Insults in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Salon I/J Friday, July 18, 2025, 5:00 PM EDT
Storm Humbert [moderator]; Anne E.G. Nydam; Charles Allison; Ellen Kushner; Victoria Janssen
Some of the most quotable lines in science fiction and fantasy are zingers. Wit can do a lot to build a character, a world, and a universe, and has the ability to either support or undermine reader expectations. This panel aims to explore and elaborate on the use of wit—and especially takedowns—in literature, exposing how a verbal jab can serve as more than just a punchline.

Moving from Traditional Publishing to Self-Publishing
Salon G/H Friday, July 18, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Cecilia Tan; Jedediah Berry; Sarah Smith; Steven Popkes
It’s becoming increasingly common to hear of authors whose self-published work was so successful that they were picked up by a traditional publisher. But what of the authors who have gone the other way, by turning their backs on traditional publishing and going into self-publishing? Panelists will survey the varying reasons for making this transition, how authors have navigated it, and what this might say about the state of publishing overall.

Kaffeeklatsch: Victoria Janssen
Suite 830 Friday, July 18, 2025, 8:00 PM EDT

The Works of Cecilia Tan
Salon I/J Saturday, July 19, 2025, 12:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Charlie Jane Anders; Laura Antoniou; Cecilia Tan (i)
Our Guest of Honor, Cecilia Tan, has a publication history that spans Asimov’s, Absolute Magnitude, Ms. Magazine, Penthouse, and Best American Erotica, among others. Writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy, especially as they intersect with erotica and romance, she is also the founder of Circlet Press, an independent publisher that specializes in speculative erotica. Her own writing earned a Lifetime Achievement for Erotica in 2014 from Romantic Times magazine. She also contributes to America’s other pastime, baseball, in her role as Publications Director for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Come hear our panel discuss Cecilia’s many talents and accomplishments.

Un-Kafkaesque Bureaucracies
Salon I/J Saturday, July 19, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Alexander Jablokov; J.M. Sidorova; Laurence Raphael Brothers; Steven Popkes
In fiction, bureaucracies are generally depicted as evil in its most banal form, yet many of the actual bureaucracies that shape our lives exist to protect us from corporate greed. How can—and should—we tell other stories about bureaucrats and bureaucracies, particularly as the U.S. stands on the precipice of disastrous deregulation? And might fantasies of bureaucracy (such Addison’s The Goblin Emperor and Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor) be the next cozy subgenre?

The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction
Create / Collaborate Saturday, July 19, 2025, 8:00 PM EDT
Kate Nepveu [moderator]; Claire Houck/Nina Waters; Laura Antoniou; Victoria Janssen
In an article of the same name (https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/endless-appetite-fanfiction), Elizabeth Minkel discussed how “2024 was the year [fanfic] truly broke containment—everyone seemed to want a piece of the fanfiction pie, leaving fic authors themselves besieged on all sides.” Attempts to steal and monetize fanfic proliferated, as did reviews treating living authors as distant and unreachable. What do these trends say about larger changes in attitudes toward stories and creators? How can fans of all kinds nurture supportive connections to authors?

james_davis_nicoll

2005: The Ulster Volunteer Force struggles to grasp the meaning of the term “ceasefire”, Britain is astonished by the unlikely coincidence that every known WWI veteran is over 100 years of age, and in what some experts hope is a sign Britain has begun to emerge from chaos after the retreat of the Roman Empire, Dr Who is revived.

Poll #33355 Clarke Award Finalists 2005

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

View Respondents

Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Iron Council by China Miéville
2 (40.0%)

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
1 (20.0%)

Market Forces by Richard Morgan
2 (40.0%)

River of Gods by Ian McDonald
1 (20.0%)

The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
3 (60.0%)

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
1 (20.0%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Iron Council by China Miéville
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

oursin

Dr rdrz may have noticed that (in spite of the FAIL at getting to the Birmingham workshop in early May) I have gradually been Getting Out Into the World beyond health-related appointments and walks in the local parks.

Am still being possibly unwontedly cautious.

But, anyway, on Saturday went to a BBQ in coughingbear and hano's garden - slightly earlier this year than the usual Mahv'll'ss Pahti of the summer - and it was lovely to see them and other friends after so long being A Hermit.

Still (as found at conference the other week) having issues adjusting to the hearing aids - when there are several conversations happening - I think this possibly depends a bit on where I am positioned in relation to them - a distinct sense of (very dating reference) trying to tune in radio and getting two or more overlapping stations.

But on the whole was, I think, Coping.

fox posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Miss Manners: The neighbor who lives directly across the street from me parks in front of my house. If this was occasional, I wouldn’t care, but it’s become the daily routine. I can’t imagine consistently doing this.

I enjoy looking out my window in the evening, but now my view is a car every night.

Today a work truck parked in front of my house, so the neighbor parked in their own driveway (which is always clear, as is their curb). When the truck left, they moved their car back to my curb, leaving their driveway empty the rest of the day.

I realize this could sound petty, but our other neighbors respect this unwritten rule.

In addition to unwritten, the rule is possibly unknown to this neighbor. Miss Manners trusts that you don’t think the car is purposely parked with the intention of blocking your view, and that you realize that others have a legal right to park on a public street.

Therefore, the neighbor would be doing you a favor by refraining from parking there. And to ask a favor requires purging any annoyance you feel and admitting that complying would be a voluntary kindness.

An amusing confession of your staring-out-the-window habit would be more effective than an admonishment for violating neighborhood expectations.

aurumcalendula

As of yesterday I have a complete Andy/Quynh The Old Guard vid! I submitted it to DC-Slas vidshow, since I hadn't sent in a premiere yet (I didn't get a confirmation email from the form, so I'm hoping it went through).

It was very exciting to see Seven Seas'July survey gauging interest in The Beauty's Blade and asking what other baihe novels they should license!

On the other hand, I'm a bit irritated about the changes to Seven Seas' danmei page (it's no longer a separate webpage with detailed info about the series. I'm most irritated because the books' section on the main site have lower resolution cover art for the volumes and doesn't include planned volume counts for in progress releases).

I finished the two most recent Astreant volumes the other day and am a bit sad I've run out of books in the series (Melissa Scott does have a Patreon with a bunch of short stories, so I'm going to check that out next).

languagelog_feed

Posted by Mark Liberman

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recursive-summarization

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004

Today's SMBC:

The mouseover title: "I saw an article that said it was a 3 minute read then offered an AI summary, and I believe it may be included in an eventual epitaph for civilization."

The Aftercomic:

Of course it's not just news…

So far, none of the AI helpers offer emotionally indicative grunting noises. At least not as far as I know, though maybe Grok is on it?

Accurate graphical summarizations would actually sometimes be useful. Current AI poster generation is about posters to advertise an event, not the sort of figures that would be useful as a summary of complex material, e.g. here:

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recursive-summarization

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004

malurette

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conuly posting in

agonyaunt

I’m a 20-year-old male college student who met someone new this spring. We clicked instantly and have been dating a few months. He visited me at college, and we’re both living in New York this summer. We enjoy lovely dinners and each other’s company with almost no issues, except one major sore spot.

I recently let him know I’m not interested in monogamy right now. Having been in a long-distance monogamous relationship before, the pressure and trust issues made me skeptical of that norm. I explained that because of my past, I struggle to feel deeply sexually attracted to someone I actually care about. We have OK sex, but it lacks the fire of casual hookups. I also explained that my interest in nonmonogamy was less about actively seeking others and more about lessening the pressure around potential lapses during travel or because of distance.

He seemed to take it all right, but I later discovered that within two weeks, he slept with three people without telling me — supposedly to avoid getting cuckolded or looking foolish. I haven’t seen anyone else in the meantime, so now I guess I look foolish. When I confronted him about acting out of anger rather than communicating, he immediately blamed my original sin of wanting nonmonogamy, which he says is for “hippies and sex addicts.”

I told him how I’ve seen relationships, including my parents’, destroyed by infidelity and deception. I asked whether he would prefer a relationship filled with lies or one built on honesty — to which he said he would rather not be with me at all, which definitely hurt.

To ease tensions, I agreed to four months of exclusivity to see where we stand. I emphasized my reluctance to rush things, especially because I haven’t felt deep love or trust yet and can see that he is much more into me than I am into him. Continuing, even not in my preferred way, seemed better than cutting off someone I care about.

But I’m still curious about nonmonogamy, especially while I’m young and good-looking and trying to understand which relationship styles work for me. Should I suppress my bohemian urges and go along with his desire for exclusivity or attempt another structured conversation about it? Am I too young for this to matter or is this actually the best time to test boundaries? Any thoughts on examining this situation and mending resentments before they spiral?

( Read more... )

oursin

Happy birthday,

swingandswirl!

sakana17

I finished 五福临门 | Perfect Match (2025) (Cdrama, 36 episodes) and 相続探偵 | Inheritance Detective (2025) (Jdrama, 10 episodes), both of them on Netflix.

( Perfect Match )

( Inheritance Detective )

( In other news (RL) )

bluapapilio

I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess
with Only Destruction Flags
Season 1

Episode 10: Lmao judgement day ended up being all her friends calling her too dumb to do all the bad things said of her.

NOO Maria! She was the only one who saw something was wrong and went along to check it out. Why didn't she she ask someone to go with her or tell someone what she saw??

Bakarina going back to class alone too. *smh*

Whew, a lot happened at once, I forgot about Catarina talking to her friend from her original world about the secret route.

Episode 11: I really like being able to see 'Catarina' as her original self, man I wish villainess/isekai stories would do that more.

Ahh the Saiyuuki reference!!

Too bad there's not a spell where you can go into someone's consciousness like in Paradox Live to wake them up.

Somehow Anne being upset was more upsetting to me than anyone else. :'(

...Now I want to see everyone taking turns giving Catarina water mouth-to-mouth. I don't really like Geordo x Catarina. Honestly I really only like Catarina/Maria. Of course polyam would be number 1 but a couple of them would hate that, mainly Geordo.

I spoke too soon, Sophia/Acchan did go into Catarina's consciousness. I teared up at Acchan and Catarina's parting ahh. But how are Sophia and Acchan connected exactly??

I'm never gonna take the name 'Sirius ~~Dick~~ Dieke' seriously with the way it's pronounced in Japanese.

Current Mood: tired

maevedarcy

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conuly

but it turned out to be a big bag of dog food.

This is... not so great, really.

*******************

( Read more... )

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
十 part 5 shí
南, south; 博, learned ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=24
卜 bǔ
占, to occupy; 卡, to get stuck/card/car; 卧, to lie down ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=25
卩 parts 1-2 jié
卫, hygiene/to protect; 印, to print/to engrave; 危, danger; 即, immediately; 却, but; 卷, to roll; 卸, to unload
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=26
⺁ parts 1-2 hǎn
厅, hall; 历, calendar/history; 厉, strict/severe; 压, pressure; 厌, to dislike; 厕, bathroom; 厘, 1/100; 厚, thick
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=27

语法
Using 吗 and 呢
https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/ma-ne/
Using 吧 and 吗
https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/ba-ma-sentence-particles/
长 vs 久
https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/chang-jiu-long-length-time/

词汇
危害, harm; 危险, danger
为, to act as/become; 为了, in order to; 变为, to change into; 称为, to be known as
围, to enclose; 范围, range; 周围, around
温暖, warm
文化, culture; 文件, file; 文明, civilization; 文学, literature; 文章, article; 文字, writing/character; 外文, foreign language
握手, handshake; 把握, grasp
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

玩玩
Two versions of 开花忘忧; pick whichever you like, an octave higher or lower.

大家过得怎么样？我还可以啊，我不在的时候我的棒球队赢得太多，为啥呀。

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Carolyn: I have an older sister, “Amy,” who was prettier and more outgoing than I was, so I kind of lived in her shadow, but I adored her and she was always my best friend growing up. Her sophomore year of college, I found out from a friend at her school that she was doing drugs and her boyfriend was a dealer. She’d secretly dropped half her courses and was barely passing the rest. I offered to find her some help, but she just ridiculed me. As things worsened, I was worried about her, so I told our parents. She lied and said I’d made the whole thing up because I was so jealous of her. My parents believed her and even said I might need therapy for telling a lie that big, until she was arrested a few months later and the whole truth came out.

For years following, she kept lying, stole so much money from me, wrecked my car and said/did many other horrible things to me. I moved away and cut her out of my life. She skipped out on her treatment program and got arrested again.

Last year, Amy completed rehab and is supposedly clean. She also had a baby last month, has minimal support from the father and is back living with my parents.

They want me to forgive and forget and be part of my nephew’s life, but I see it as insisting I give Amy another chance to hurt me. I still have so much resentment against her. I don’t want to take it out on her son, but I can’t stand the thought of being around her. She never apologized or tried to make amends for all she put me through, and I’m not sure I could ever trust her again. Is it even worth trying to be a part of my nephew’s life when I feel that way about his mom?
— Distrustful

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loganberrybunny

Public

163/365: The Holding Pens, Bewdley
Click for a larger, sharper image
My cheery historical reading today has been on the ancient Neo-Assyrians of around 700 BC, who -- it turns out -- were absolutely detested for their apparent revelry in cruelty. They not only went in for flaying alive, impalement and much more besides, but unlike other harsh empires they made a point of depicting the atrocities on their monuments as a way of ruling by fear and terror. They called this "calculated frightfulness", and they were hated for this even by other civilisations in that violent age. From what I've gathered, which is inevitably partial (in both senses) this contributed to their downfall, with some other rivalries suspended for a joint assault on the Assyrians.

Meanwhile, back in the modern world, it was a mere 28 °C today. I still had an ice cream, though (orange and dark chocolate flavour) and was very glad to get it. Today's 365 photo comes from Wribbenhall (the part of Bewdley on the eastern bank of the River Severn), very close to the Severn Valley Railway viaduct -- in fact, that's just about visible in the extreme top left. This is what's left of the Holding Pens. Before the railway arrived in the 1860s, there was a butcher's shop close by, and this is where animals were kept before slaughter. The more regular of the holes you can see in the sandstone are artificial, and once held fence posts and the like.

Current Mood: hot

shipperslist

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silverflight8

In a series where I love almost every book, it’s usually hard to pick a favourite, but Memory is unquestionably my favourite. It’s just emotionally so satisfying, the culmination the emotional investment as well as character development in the past 10 books. It’s so, so good!

( Memory )