Network

ROUND 71: SCENERY BY SKYSEDGE

Hope I'm not too late!

Wolfwalkers (Movie)
https://i.imgur.com/mPaZW3v.png
https://i.imgur.com/IRzY2qK.png

Song of the Sea (Movie)
https://i.imgur.com/rok9s4f.png

Final Fantasy XIV (game)
https://i.imgur.com/dfb20aG.png

Entry tags:

[#045: vow] Modao Zushi fic: Sworn Sisters

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

"parsimonious" & Bujold's craft

Penric, from Lois McMaster Bujold's "Penric & Desdemona" stories in her "The World of the Five Gods," fka "The Chalion Saga," uses "parsimonious" in reference to his world's cosmology and metaphysics early in each story, and more often in the later stories, where he is older, and the teacher rather than the student. (As you know, "parsimonious" means an extreme frugality, careful to get everything possible from each resource and opportunity, not quite stinginess, but right on the edge.)

I recently re-read the "Penric & Desdemona" stories, and then read the newest, The Adventure of the Demonic Ox (2025), for the first time, felt sad at not having another in front of me, and so lapped all the way back -- well, chronologically, forward by a few hundred years -- to The Curse of Chalion (2001), the novel with which Bujold started this world, which I hadn't re-read in years.

I found "parsimonious" in the first paragraph of the first chapter of that first book. Chef's kiss.

Current Mood: curious

Entry tags:

*self,
blaugust

quand la musique est bonne (x3)

Do not let the title fool you, I will not be blogging in French today... it was just the first thing that came to my mind irt today's subject LOL. Which is: music!! Or rather, the fact that I don't really listen to music anymore???

( Now that song's stuck in my head. Thanks me. )

Little rec, not really music-related but also kind of... This Paper Mario tribute animation!!! It's super cute and I was so happy to see Super Paper Mario in there. Now that we got my Wii and games back I want to play it again so bad...

Watch on YouTube

Review: Befriending the Bear by Nora Phoenix

Posted by JayHJay

https://joyfullyjay.com/2025/08/review-befriending-the-bear-by-nora-phoenix/

https://joyfullyjay.com/?p=112069

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Calloway lost his husband, Marcus, seven years ago and he is still deep in mourning. Marcus’ sudden and unexpected death hit Calloway very hard and he has closed himself off from life in his small town of Forestville. Calloway rarely leaves his home […]

https://joyfullyjay.com/2025/08/review-befriending-the-bear-by-nora-phoenix/

https://joyfullyjay.com/?p=112069

Entry tags:

clarke award

Clarke Award Finalists 2009

2009: The Horrible Histories TV show debuts, Britons are treated to a Giles-worthy winter, and police decline to investigate the cash for influence incident so that they might better focus on the custard-tossing scandal rocking the nation.

Poll #33480 Clarke Award Finalists 2009

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19

View Respondents

Which 2009 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
1 (5.3%)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson
15 (78.9%)

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
5 (26.3%)

Martin Martin's on the Other Side by Mark Wernham
0 (0.0%)

The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
5 (26.3%)

The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley
3 (15.8%)

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

Which 2009 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
Martin Martin's on the Other Side by Mark Wernham
The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley

With an * on the McAuley because it was too grim and I didn't finish it.

Entry tags:

Profile + Background Text

Dead Boy Detectives

https://i.imgur.com/S3lCVyA.png

“Investigating Debug Mode in Telltale Games” – We Show You How

https://mixnmojo.com/news/Investigating-Debug-Mode-in-Telltale-Games--We-Show-You-How

So, you downloaded Telltale Explorer after learning about the script decompiler option, but now you’re stuck. How do you use it? It’s all so daunting. Or, it would be daunting, had it not been for Benzo himself showing you how to kick it off:

Here, you’ll learn everything from lua hacking (I mean, sorta) to diving into Tales from Monkey Island in debug mode – the type of nerdiry only a true Mojoite can enjoy. And enjoy it, you will!

This is only the beginning, mind you, and Benzo will return with a second part to the article soon. For now, get into that debug mode like a boss and see what you can find.

https://mixnmojo.com/news/Investigating-Debug-Mode-in-Telltale-Games--We-Show-You-How

Entry tags:

The Day in Spikedluv (Sunday, Aug 10)

I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, cut up chicken for the dogs’ meals, and changed kitty litter.

We went to a local restaurant for supper to celebrate my birthday. (I had their fish and chips which I remembered fondly; they were good, but not as good as in my memory.) I also finished the Kindle cozy and started the next Clare Fergusson book.

I visited mom and got my birthday raspberry pie. (I've reached the big 6-0 today!) I also got pressies from mom, my sister A (who left the bag there yesterday) and my brother (who visited mom today). Lots of gift certificates: Amazon, Bath & Body, and Panera. I also got some candy (Andes mints), some lip balm, a scented candle (mango tangerine), and some sunflower themed stuff (a wind chime, a mug, and a sun catcher) from one of Pip’s sisters.

I received a lot of birthday wishes from family on FB and from DW peeps

angelofthenorth,

angelskuuipo and

desdemonaspace, so thank you for that!

Temps started out at 60.1(F) and reached 92.3.

Mom Update:

Mom was actually doing better today. ( more back here )

Entry tags:

meme,
poetry

“we belong to the light we belong to the thunder / we belong to the sound of the words”

For Poetry Monday:

“when the proficient poison sure sleep,” e. e. cummings

when the proficient poison sure sleep
bereaves us of our slow tranquillities

and He without Whose favour nothing is
(being of men called Love) upward doth leap
from the mute hugeness of depriving deep,

with thunder of those hungering wings of His,

into the lucent and large signories
—i shall not smile beloved;i shall not weep:

when from the less-then-whiteness of thy face
(whose eyes inherit vacancy) will time
extract his inconsiderable doom,
when these they lips beautifully embrace
nothing
and when thy bashful hands assume

silence beyond the mystery of rhyme

First published in XLI Poems in 1925, in a section of sonnets.

---L.

Subject quote from We Belong, Pat Benatar.

Entry tags:

daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 11 -- Monday

Hello on Monday! How's the day going so far for fic? (If you haven't gotten started on your day as yet, how did yesterday go for writing fic?)

- Excellent!
- Terrible
- Somewhere in between
- Nothing doing

How much time have you spent on writing fic today, roughly?

- None
- 30 minutes or less
- 30-60 minutes
- 60-90 minutes
- More than 90 minutes

In five words or less, how do you feel about that?

Current Music: Chappell Roan - Casual

Entry tags:

Such radiant resistance, such luminous fight.

Recently read/watched and too lazy to write about:

Webtoons: Marry My Husband; The Remarried Empress (dropping at S4, which is ongoing); 穿越成反派要如何活命 To Be or Not To Be / How To Survive As a Villain (DNF)

TV: 女世子 The Heiress

Movies: 不說話的愛 Mumu (2025); Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy (2025); The Quiet Girl (2022)

Books: Burning Houses & Hush Harbor
( one last poem from that collection )

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

prompt call

Magpie Monday for August of 2025

Welcome to the Magpie Monday prompt call for August of 2025!

Change is an immutable element of the universe.

Today, let’s make change our goal. Call it the theme. Big or small, quiet and subtle or dramatic and incontrovertible, what change do you want to see? In the world? In a story with an unsatisfying moment (or worse, ending)?
( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Challenge 196: Blue

Gotham Knights

https://i.imgur.com/lNZpu1r.png

Next Color: VIOLET

Entry tags:

Challenge 196: Cyan

Aisha from Winx Club: Magical Adventure

https://images2.imgbox.com/9f/36/E2VLeIBv_o.png

Next color - Blue

(no subject)

https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/791583937568899072

A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue and Green are in bed. Green reaches eagerly towards Blue's side of the bed, while Blue squints his eyes tighter shut and lets out a wordless groan.Green: Cuddles?Blue: Möyrrnnnyöyggöh.Green draws back to his own side of the bed.Green: Was that a "no" or just sleepy sounds?"Blue: Yes. I mean yes, it's a "no".Content with the answer, Green turns around and curls up to sleep on his own side of the bed.Green: Okay. Goodnight.Blue: Night.

https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/791583937568899072

Review: Fire and Brimstone by Quinn Cameron

Posted by JayHJay

https://joyfullyjay.com/2025/08/review-fire-and-brimstone-by-quinn-cameron/

https://joyfullyjay.com/?p=112147

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Being immortal should have meant spending eternity with the man he loved, but there are two factors that are preventing Lorenzo “Lore” Meretti from doing just that. First, his immortality came from trading his soul to a demon named Moira, a […]

https://joyfullyjay.com/2025/08/review-fire-and-brimstone-by-quinn-cameron/

https://joyfullyjay.com/?p=112147

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just one thing: 11 August 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Entry tags:

editing,
writing

Re: Copy Editing and Hammers

> What's the point of copy editing if you have no sense of style?

Sorry I'm not done yet.

( Read more... )

I guess there are two points to take away from this. First, I should be more specific about what I want from a copy editing job. And second, experiences like this make me somewhat hesitant to spend actual money (ie, hundreds of dollars) to hire an editor for a longer project. Getting clueless and unnecessary feedback is actively harmful in that it makes me second-guess whether what I'm writing is accessible to the lowest common denominator of TikTok girlies who only read YA romance. Nobody needs to write like that.

Entry tags:

editing,
writing

Copy Editing and Hammers

The copy editor I hired to look over my wizard detective story says that "conspectus" is not a word that exists. This is a silly thing to say, because:

(1) Magic also does not exist.
(2) We therefore have to invent words to talk about it.
(3) It would make sense for wizards to use these words.
(4) The meaning is 100% clear from context.

Also: I would love to have the talent to invent fancy Latinate words, but "conspectus," meaning "a subdiscipline of a broader field of study," is very much a real word that exists. Which the copy editor would know if she googled it.

She said the same thing about "ensorcelled," as in "a magically ensorcelled object." That's definitely a real word, and it makes sense for its meaning to shift to become more literal in a story where magic is real.

Like what's the point of writing fantasy if you don't get to make things up?

And also, what's the point of copy editing if you have no sense of style?