vivdunstan | Reading

In the 1970s, many of the best new authors were women — the trick was finding their work.

Women Have Always Written SFF — But It Wasn’t Always Easy to Find

Yes, I know comments are not working. No, I have no control over that. Yes, I have mentioned the issue repeatedly. No, I don't know when it will be fixed.

james_davis_nicoll

Bathed in unquenchable fire, Ruri struggles to maintain her grade point average.

RuriDragon, volume 6 by Masaoki Shindo

rolanni

What went before: So, back from needlework, where a good time was had.

Tomorrow, I have that 1:30 appointment in Augusta and I also have errands to run. I may just run the errands in the morning, before speeding off to Augusta, and get with the manuscript when I come home. Thursday morning I have, thank ghod, an appointment to get my hair cut; after that, I am Unscheduled until next Tuesday.

Right now, I need to wash a few dishes, find something to eat, then read for a bit -- Stone and Sky, in case anybody's wondering. I'm hoping for another good night's sleep, 'cause I'm walking the crinkly edge of Very Tired. Also, I have two coon cats on my lap, helping me write this.

Tali would like you to know that her kid brother is a rat. Trooper would like you to know that he ate two envelopes of gravy and half a can of cat food today, and now wants to see what on earth that Peter fellow is about. Honestly, you can't leave that man alone for a minute.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I'll check in tomorrow.

Wednesday. Sunny and heading for hot. AQI is in the 90s.

Breakfast was half a blueberry muffin and cottage cheese. Lunch will, I suspect, be taken in several parts.

Trooper has had his gravy-with-meds, and a few mouthfuls of regular gooshy food.

My tasks today are errands in-town, and a medical appointment out of town. I guess I'll finish off the day by cleaning the bathroom and running a vacuum or two.

I had another good night's sleep -- three in a row -- with very busy dreams.

Other than that -- and aside a mad case of the Zooms afflicting Rook, who passed it to Tali, who tried to pass it to Firefly, who bonked her in the head, thus releasing the Zoomfairy to other business -- there's really nothing more to report.

How're y'all doing this morning?

andrewducker

Day 1 of P1/P3
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

a_cubed

While visiting

purplecat last year and this, $OFFSPRING and I enjoyed playing the Cthulhu Mythos game "Mansions of Madness" with her and B (and maybe G last year, too). We also enjoyed a game with $NEPHEW this year. Having discussed the possibility of a remote game with $NEPHEW and taken advice from

purplecat I have bought a copy. The second edition of this game introduced a program to take on the role of the "Keeper" (aka dungeon master) which in the first edition meant someone had to run the game for the other players. The program now tells you what you can do and provides guidance on things like how the monsters move about the board, and keeps track of monster health. It also includes some fun puzzles. Nice for me is that it plays fine on the Steam linux program, which uses a Windows emulator under the hood to allow Windows-based games to play on linux. This game is one of those that works perfectly according to the database of game support. As it's not a heavy 3-d action game or anything, it's not that surprising, I suppose.

Looking forward to playing it with the family here. $WIFE likes Cthulhu Mythos so may be willing to play with us. We probably won't get to a remote game with $NEPHEW until the Christmas/New Year holidays, though, with the time zone issue making the timing awkward. The way we play (semi-role playing, heavy co-op discussion of actions) it was taking much longer than the suggested times. It will probably get faster as we become more familiar with the game, but even so, the time difference UK-Japan is long enough to make scheduling tricky, though not impossible.

Current Mood: excited

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

What lies in the heart of Orion?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250812.html

Where are all of these meteors coming from?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250812.html

purplecat

Outfit with the most votes
Romana in Destiny of the Daleks and Martha in Blink, both with 15 votes.

Outfit with the least votes
Bill in The Pilot.

Highest Average Votes per outfit (excluding characters with only one outfit in the round)
Winner: Romana 2 (12 votes per outfit)
Second Place: Martha (11 votes per outfit)
Third Place: Yaz (10.6 votes per outfit)

Most Winning Outfits
Yaz (2 outfits)

Highest Average number of winning outfits
Ryan (1 outfit, 100% success rate)
Second Place: Yaz (3 outfits, 66% success rate)
Third Place: Nyssa, the Romanas, Martha, Bill (2 outfits, 50% success rate)

Taking a week off since I'm on leave, then I'll start the quarter finals!

dorktower_feed

Posted by John Kovalic

https://www.dorktower.com/2025/08/11/19647/

https://dorktower.kovalic.com/?p=19647

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https://www.dorktower.com/2025/08/11/19647/

https://dorktower.kovalic.com/?p=19647

rolanni

Tuesday. 'nother hot one, so say the weatherbeans. The AQI isn't perilous, but it's not pleasant, either.

Second good night of sleep in a row. I could get used to this, though I'm still a bit groggy, which I suppose indicates that the sleep debt has not yet been paid off.

Breakfast was a bialy with the last of the cream cheese and grapes. Second cup of tea to hand. Lunch -- who knows. I have frozen dinners, or I could DoorDash -- can't skip, though. The late adventures have dropped me to slightly below my preferred lower weight limit of 160, so -- no cheating.

My Big Plans for the day are!

1 Get the trash and recycling to the curb
2 Dispatch one's duty to the cats
3 Call for a haircut
4 Work on the WIP

There's needlework, which I missed last week. I'd really like to go this evening. I suppose I'll see what the day has made of itself, after lunch before I make a decision.

All that said! What are your plans for the day?

Today's blog post title brought to you by ee cummings, [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

Firefly and Rookie planning last night's entertainment:

james_davis_nicoll

War crime survivor turned expert swordswoman and student sorcerer Cheon resolves to obliterate the nation responsible, make herself queen, and find a like-minded woman to court.

The Four Wishes (Cheon of Weltanland, volume 1) by Charlotte Stone

rolanni

42 Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41 I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40 To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39 These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38 Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37 Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36 The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35 Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33 The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32 Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31 The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30 The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29 Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28 The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27 Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26 The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25 Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24 The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23 Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22 The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21 The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20 A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19 The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18 A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17 All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16 Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15 The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14 A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13 Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11 Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10 Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9 House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6 Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.

ffutures

Leisure Games will be running a one day games con in Finchley, London on September 6th to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital and celebrate their 40th anniversary. I'm not going to be able to make it due to family stuff, but the details are on line here

https://leisuregames.com/pages/saturday-6th-september-ruby-con-our-40th-anniversary-celebration

Entry is free, they'll be selling goody bags to raise money for the charity, and I assume other fund-raising things will be happening.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250811.html

Everybody sees the Sun.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250811.html

ffutures

This bundle presents Ironsworn, Starforged, and Sundered Isles from Tomkin Press, which use Powered by the Apocalypse for solo and refereed games, with SF and fantasy settings included:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Ironsworn

So far I've only had a good look at the Starforged rules, which is a very nicely presented game although it does fall into a few common SF tropes - most notably the "jungle planet", "desert planet" idea where an entire world has only one type of environment, which seems just a little unlikely. The rules are more complicated than I like, but that's pretty common for games based on the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics. Art is very good - I suspect that some AI is involved given the sheer quantity, but it's a lot less obtrusive than some I've seen, and the characters depicted rarely fall too deeply into the uncanny valley. Characters seem to be dressed appropriately for safety and the environment, and there are no chaos spiky shoulder pads which is generally a good sign.

Overall, this is surprisingly cheap for what you're getting, and I think it's well worth a look.

james_davis_nicoll

Ironsworn, Starforged, and Sundered Isles, tabletop roleplaying games of perilous fantasy, space opera, and seafaring adventure by Tomkin Press.

Bundle of Holding: Ironsworn-Starforged

purplecat

Do you recall this paper (which is also summarised in this article in the Conversation) about which a YouTube video was made?

Well it's just gone and won the journal's best paper award.

I continue to think one should be wary of indulging in futurism and remain glad I managed to keep the words "Rogue AI" out of it.

selenak

Meme time! Bear in mind that we Germans used to get not just tv shows about a year later than they were broadcast (if not longer), and even blockbuster movies took their own sweet time in ye olde days before getting released overseas. This changed in the past 25 or so years, of course, and now we sometimes get to see coproductions in Germany before they're released in the US, and can stream tv shows simultanously.

MCU Meme from

vaysh and

muccamukk:

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

( It seems I watched a lot of Marvel )

Star Trek Meme from

aurumcalendula :

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).
( And I've watched even more Star Trek )

Current Mood: silly
Current Location: Bamberg