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Public Key

npub1s6kdc74s556m4dk500wysnueq2x09g3ydtv9shplw058vc6gw40q0939lr

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsgdtxu02c22dd6km28hhzgf7vs9r8j5gjx4kzctslh86rkvdy82hsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqnqjdj

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Last Notes

2026-09-01 03:36:11 CEST

Just took another peek at a short story of mine after seeing a reference to the historical event, and I can happily report that this ending still wrecks me (italics in original converted to caps):
❝
And long after these buildings and this courtyard will be burned down almost three cycles of sixty years hence, with the enslaved shouting BURN THE SLAVE PAPERS while invaders march North toward the Capital; after the stately pillars and airy roof tiles spout flames leaving naught but cooling ashes for the Japanese to take—her answer will live on, indestructible, as memory shall outlast mere might and all our little lives.
❞
#LjWrites #HistoricalFiction

2026-08-29 03:40:56 CEST

So I wake up from an evening of bed rest and a full night's sleep with a mild cramp in my side — my RIGHT side???!!! Wtf is going on :blobcat_table_flip: I've been feeling it for a couple days now but it definitely seems like there's some problem/too much tension in my posture and it showed up first in my left side, and as I favor that side because of the pain the right side took up the slack and is now feeling the strain.
I think I'll start with something I've been thinking for a while, lowering my main monitor. It's been feeling a little high compared to my otherwise relaxed posture (keyboard halves hovering just over lap, upper arms straight down and elbows at about 90° angle) and I suspect the need to raise my eyes higher than where they want to go is straining my neck and torso.

2026-07-27 14:49:31 CEST

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I didn't entirely slack on my reading, though — I finished @npub1faz…vc22 's Blossoming of the Big Tree, which is a fun and thoughtful steampunk sci-fi with high stakes and an unforgettable protagonist. My copy was an ARC and didn't have a cover yet, but the book is out now in its final form! https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/

2026-07-27 14:45:08 CEST

Me buying a discounted book here, splurging on a bulk sale there, all in the touching hope that someday I'll have time to read them all.
#bookstodon #amReading #somedayISwear
https://fileproxy.writeout.ink/media_attachments/files/116/991/971/016/852/699/original/50a0af06e8c2e157.png

2026-07-27 07:35:13 CEST

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Can highly recommend, I read an earlier version of Blossoming and the story was fun, the worldbuilding vivid without being preachy!

2026-07-26 07:47:39 CEST

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can't help but think the colonial powers have historically dragged their feet on climate change precisely because they thought it would mostly hurt Africa and Latin America and they'd be somehow okay. How's that internalized externality feel, bitches? :blobcat_giggle:

2026-07-11 13:18:16 CEST

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Congratulations! The book looks really cute.

2026-06-28 16:39:48 CEST

#WritersCoffeeClub Jun. 26 – Have you ever included subtle (or unsubtle!) homage? Tell us about it.
The title of my upcoming short story, Between One Word and the Next, is a homage to the philosophy behind the phonetics of #Hangul, the writing of the Korean language. The Explication of Letter Formation (制字解) begins, translation very idiosyncratically mine:
天地之道，一陰陽五行而已。坤復之間爲太極，而動靜之後爲陰陽。
“The way of Heaven and Earth is but the Yin-Yang and Wuxing. Between silence and sound the Profound Polarity is born; and after movement and stillness Yin and Yang arise.”
For maximal chaos, King Sejong the founder of Hangul is in fact in the story (the events take place 7 years before the promulgation of Hangul) but not as a hero or main character; the mains are illiterate enslaved women in love with each other because of course.
#HistoricalFiction #linguistics #philosophy #Korea #queerFiction

2026-06-11 11:40:03 CEST

JULY 1–14, 2026: “The Orange & Bee is looking for original work that engages meaningfully with fairy tales and folklore while pushing beyond simple retellings. Editors are interested in stories, essays, poems, and hybrid works that challenge, expand, and rethink fairy-tale traditions. They welcome work from diverse voices and cultures, especially pieces that offer fresh perspectives on familiar motifs, myths, and storytelling practices. Experimental and cross-genre approaches are encouraged.” https://horrortree.com/taking-submissions-the-orange-bee-july-2026-window/
PAYMENT (USD): $50/poem; $80/flash piece; $0.08/word short fiction or nonfiction
#CallForSubmissions #publishing #folklore #mythology #FairyTale

2026-06-11 09:28:11 CEST

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good taste 👍 does she make it herself?

2026-06-11 03:36:55 CEST

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Yum!

2026-05-27 16:50:38 CEST

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What heaven is complete without nips?

2026-05-24 11:14:49 CEST

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revolutionary special interest

2026-05-22 10:17:26 CEST

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It is to be hoped Mrs. Rundkvist has no immediate plans to abandon you? xD

2026-05-18 13:04:15 CEST

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It's not often that audiences get two timelines in the same setting, sounds like a treat! xD

2026-05-18 11:41:03 CEST

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Is this the same timeline as The Blossoming of the Big Tree? (I'm almost done reading and enjoying it!)

2026-05-16 13:25:52 CEST

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Whoa! So like a special session for his character?

2026-05-13 13:27:04 CEST

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Ah so they're all about the meat but chickens about chicken, such man so masculinity wow

2026-05-12 15:38:00 CEST

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I hope it helps your finances and will be fulfilling!

2026-05-08 21:21:20 CEST

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I'm willing to believe it's better than my nonexistent skills! xD Also something about the discipline of archaeology seems suitable to fermented foods...

2026-05-08 16:15:25 CEST

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Congrats! 🎉

2026-05-07 02:20:19 CEST

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¶US Navy ships had arrived in Kinshansha and a drone battle had broken out.
I'm guessing this is modern-day Kinshasa because the invasion is headed by Kenya and the US, so Kinshasa is a port city in this future? Maybe because of rising sea levels, urban expansion, or both? 🤔

2026-05-07 02:11:55 CEST

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It's even more endearing that Adita knows Acen won't actually do the manual (or pedial, one might say) labor because as a programmer Acen can easily do a skill exchange. Also I'd imagine people would simply do her the favor on principle, as Acen grew up in the village and is currently pregnant to boot. Adita could have asked for a favor or exchange herself, as she knew from the start, she just has fewer social graces than a drunken elephant and ended up outsourcing the social exchange from what I can see xD

2026-05-07 02:04:38 CEST

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Acen and Adita's interaction is such mother-daughter feels, I'm cackling. Also it's worth noting that Adita is threatening to beat up her heavily pregnant daughter here... xD (I mean she wouldn't, I think. And it's pretty clear that even pregnant Acen can run circles around her septuagenarian mom.) “Rwot” means a village leader, more or less.
❝
“Eish!” Acen said. “You called me to dig your garden?”
“She forgot to charge her tractor,” Ogen said. “You’ll have to pedal.”
“Noooo!” Acen shrieked. “I won’t dig for a rwot!”
“To you, I’m not a rwot,” Adita said. “I’m your mother, and if I don’t find my garden ready, eish, just remember I can still use my slipper.”
❞

2026-05-07 01:54:12 CEST

From @npub1faz…vc22 's The Blossoming of the Big Tree:
❝Her ornithopter was blue,with orange wings and tail, and white geometric designs that seemed to glow, creating the illusion of a futuristic craft. Acen’s hair was blue, with white beads on her cornrows imitating the designs on the bruka. Her jumpsuit had the same colour and patterns. She taught programming at her village’s high school and was one of the three thousand engineers who maintained Yat Madit, but she dreamed of the stars and so led a project to build spaceships.❞
She's so cool, I love her 😍
#Solarpunk #Afropunk #amReading #ScienceFiction

2026-05-06 09:04:11 CEST

#WritersCoffeeClub May 6 – Talk about something you've written which you expected would (or expect will) divide readers.
Oh, where to start? I have an upcoming podcast story based on an early Joseon-era historical record about a Crown Princess Consort's "affair" with an enslaved woman, Sossang. Sossang claimed the Princess sexually assaulted her. Sossang was dating another enslaved woman, Danji, and the Princess is alleged to have stalked the couple to keep them apart. I have translated and analyzed the record here: https://ljwrites.blog/posts/sossang-danji/
You know how this record is interpreted, right? Yeah, people generally handwave the sexual assault and stalking parts to make the Princess out to be a queer heroine 🙄 Like I get it, princesses are appealing and it's very easy to see her as a victim of character assassination by the patriarchy (which was very real and violently oppressive). Still. Why do we feel for princesses and disbelieve enslaved servants? What if Sossang spoke the truth?
That's the premise of my story, that the record is true, that maybe, just maybe, the victim wasn't lying. What a thought! And I didn't even try to write it in Korean because I know people won't like it, as with many of my stories about Korean history xD
#history #historicalFiction

2026-05-05 19:45:30 CEST

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Let's face it, he probably knows an Ugandan grandma or 20 and drew on good references. Then again, what the excuse of the 20,000 other young writers (or old, for that matter) who write like they have never met anyone over 60 in their entire existence...

2026-05-05 18:37:29 CEST

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Not sure how old Dilman is, he seems to be a fairly young man but from my perspective as a woman coming up on 50 I didn't find the portrayal objectionable so far. Adita is cranky and odd by neurotypical standards (and all too aware of it!) and not as physically fit as she used to be which is an inconvenience early on, but she's also energetic, active, and practical. Her husband predeceased her but she doesn't spend a whole lot of time dwelling on it, she has grown children and grandchildren, her own issues, and a looming war to think of. @npub1hpf…4urc

2026-05-05 15:35:34 CEST

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Oh, I meant something a little more specific in this case, as in elderly characters' memories of the past helping them kind of take the readers' part because their own world is strange to them, despite also being deeply familiar. Maybe the second post in the thread will help clarify that part. https://writeout.ink/@ljwrites/116521823869909149
@npub1faz…vc22 @npub1hpf…4urc

2026-05-05 14:17:46 CEST

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Hurray! 🎉 As an author once said about writing for specialists, if you're writing a book for 10 people send them an email.

2026-05-05 13:56:30 CEST

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As in, The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin? I've read all 3 books cover to cover and neither of what might be called elderly character PoV parts (Alabaster and Schaffa) involves the effect I talked about. Can you elaborate? @npub1faz…vc22 @npub1hpf…4urc @npub1q60…kp90

2026-05-05 13:52:11 CEST

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What I find fascinating about an older character PoV in spec fic is that an elderly character is both a fish out of and very much in the water at the same time: They've been around a while and have seen more of the world than a lot of younger characters, but the world they're so familiar with can also seem strange because so much has changed since their own youth. In that sense all older characters who have lived through rapid social and material change are science-fiction protagonists, like older people in the real world. This push and pull between the familiar and unfamiliar puts older characters in a unique situation as both worldbuilding vectors and as characters, and is particularly powerful when they're in protagonist roles able to act from that combination of familiarity and "otherworldly" disorientation.
@npub1hpf…4urc

2026-05-05 13:36:20 CEST

I'm reading a draft of @npub1faz…vc22 's THE BLOSSOMING OF THE BIG TREE where an autistic grandma must coordinate the defense of her #solarpunk utopian federation from colonialist invaders, and one thing I find really interesting is the "old person PoV" as a counterpart — with both similarities and contrasts — to "fish out of water" (think Luke Skywalker, Bilbo Baggins, and many many mostly young sword-and-sorcery or isekai/rebirth protagonists) for exposition. An older character's PoV can be a very effective way to worldbuild from the perspective of a character who has lived through upheaval and change, and can be particularly effective in near-future #scienceFiction like Blossoming where the distance between our time and the time of the story can be bridged with the PoV character's lived experience, as in this passing thought from the protagonist Adita:
¶The caller . . . was two thousand miles away in what used to be southern Tanzania. Even after all these years, she oriented herself by placing people in their old countries.
See how Adita, located in present-day #Uganda, thinks like us in terms of nation-states while living in a future where many of those states are gone, helping the readers in turn orient themselves geographically with the information? And it's such a particular effect that our mode of nation-centric thought, shared with this elderly character, is a faintly embarrassing throwback in the book's timeline.
And yet the book isn't ageist about this: Adita isn't just some grognard who can't get with future but very much at home with the new technology and reality, a resourceful, adaptive figure who's poised to play a central role in the survival of her community almost in spite of herself. I find this interweave of technique, character, and story fascinating and am eager to read on.
You can pre-order Dilman Dila's THE BLOSSOMING OF THE BIG TREE here https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/ or grab an ARC of the current draft with a BookSirens account! https://booksirens.com/book/BUG035E/WXLHD4W
#amReading @npub1hpf…4urc @npub1q60…kp90

2026-05-05 11:53:34 CEST

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out on an afternoon walk with the kiddo, will be working on a translation job (synchronicity!) in the evening in between reading a mufo's book, going through my feeds and playing my usual vocabulary web game. Might submit a short story or two to magazines. Will you be discussing what went on at the panel? I'm curious!

2026-04-27 07:46:02 CEST

#WritersCoffeeClub April 27: Share a possibly unpopular opinion. 👀 (Be kind!)
I was just on this the other night: Peter Thiel and J.R.R. Tolkien are two sides of the same white supremacy coin, the choice between the creepy racist supervillain with a hard-on for world domination and the well-meaning artistic nerd who'll fight Nazis but not the Empire in his head. At least you can punch the supervillain, but tiptoeing around your liberal white friend's feelings can be a full-time job. (No, I will not be kind.)
Also here's my recent mini-rant on the subject, in case anyone wants to rise out of the bushes to splain to me about that time Tolkien said fuck Hitler. https://writeout.ink/@ljwrites/116472719361354673 I assure you, as a lifelong fangirl I know my Tolkien lore. I will not name every Elf, and you'd have to specify which branch of the Eldar anyway.

2026-04-26 21:44:16 CEST

As a longtime Tolkien reader it's Not Great that fascists are using his lovingly-crafted names in his invented languages for their stinky supervillain plot vehicles... but also Tolkien arguably brought it on himself with all that good white Western people vs. evil swarthy Eastern/Southern people stuff. Yes, I know he wanted nothing to do with Nazis and wrote a strongly worded letter. Yes, I know about the scene with the Dead Fantasy Indian, I mean man of Harad, and how this Proves dark-skinned people were totally humans to Tolkien, at least in death (what a high bar to clear!). That's all and well, the professor gets all the liberal progressive headpats. Doesn't change the fact that his Middle Earth is still steeped in the racist symbolism and structures that defined and continue to define British and European civilization, and that makes it catnip to the fash 🤷‍♀️ People are entitled to their own feelings about it, but it's hardly incongruous or unexpected.

2026-04-26 07:05:25 CEST

Highly recommending this no-strings-attached download of @npub1f5n…2tcs 's A Recipe for Marketing Indie Books. https://dl.bookfunnel.com/mymy5izu1p It's focused on indie publishing of fiction book series and she speaks on the subject with the detail and authority someone who has Done That Shit.
It's distinct from a lot of other advice I've seen (sharp divide between KU/wide strategies, recommendation against click-through ads, total lack of reliance on social media as a marketing tool), the down-dirty nitty-gritty delivered in no-nonsense, rapid-fire style that makes for a brief but packed read. It's quite current with a revision date of January 2026, I definitely recommend a look.
@npub1hpf…4urc
#publishing #indieAuthor #LjFeeds #writing #WritingCommunity

2026-04-23 08:46:57 CEST

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Lol I find that charming but somewhat inconvenient xD

2026-04-21 15:23:38 CEST

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Tbf I'm not sure anyone could sell The Name of the Rose to a traditional large publishing house in today's market — I think, in the Anglophone market, an agent or editor would want it to be rewritten in parallel timeline so a modern researcher or descendant undergoes their own exploration plot in the modern day. (Or the researcher and descendant have sex while uncovering the past, I guess.) On the other hand it might have a better chance with small and self-publishing, which is where I'm seeing the most interesting historical fiction nowadays. Not sure what indie publishing looks like in Sweden, though.

2026-04-21 13:49:49 CEST

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Ooh, good luck! 🤞

2026-04-21 11:23:29 CEST

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I've heard of writing novels or short stories on commission, but not about writing a chapter of a novel before! Will different authors be writing different chapters of the book? I hope it's both financially rewarding and fun for you :D

2026-04-21 11:20:05 CEST

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Oh my goodness! CONGRATULATIONS! 🎉

2026-04-20 02:49:53 CEST

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Yeah, implementations are imperfect especially across platforms! I just found it both funny and unfortunate that this, of all posts, didn't have alt text xD Thank you for updating, I have now boosted it.

2026-04-20 00:00:15 CEST

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Alt text: A colorful illustration of the front of a library with a librarian waving to community members outside. A banner over the library reads "FIND YOUR JOY!" Logos for ALA and Library Champions in top right. Text below the illustration reads "Celebrate NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK, April 19-25, 2026"

2026-04-12 10:26:08 CEST

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Other social media network algorithms: Outrage bait, porn, war...
Organic fedi algorithm: Nothing but octopi fucking 🐙
@npub1faz…vc22

2026-04-12 09:54:45 CEST

#WritersCoffeeClub Apr. 12 – How does being a writer influence your life outside of the work?
Occasionally throwing out pithy phrases and observations that make people stop and go "hunh 🤔" or double over in helpless laughter, maybe. But that quality may well be a cause rather than result of being a writer — or is there a feedback loop? Idk.
Also, having such a drive for creative writing arguably changed the course of my life because I have pretty much zero interest in power or prestige and would far rather have time & freedom than money, given the choice. Which is a long way of saying I'm a disappointment to my parents, setting high expectations with my brains and then systematically knocking them down with my temperament xD

2026-04-04 09:18:20 CEST

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Omg that's so exciting! It's a really evocative piece that uses the convention of the form for something unexpected yet understated, keeping fingers crossed for you 🤞

2026-03-26 07:12:10 CET

It says something about how miserable working with Windows and MS Word is for me that I chose to work around a bug that SHOULD make #LibreOffice under #Linux impossible for my work rather than resort to the functional Windows 11 computer that sits 60 cm to my left.
Specifically, any typing in Korean input while tracking changes in Linux/LibreOffice Writer causes LO to crash, meaning I really can't and shouldn't use it for my current assignment which involves adding tracked changes in Korean. However, it's such a nightmare to use Windows/Word, which is theoretically fine for this work, I chose violence — specifically, to copy-and-paste text into LO with track changes on. Need to add just a single character? Can't type it directly into the document, need to go through the text editor and copy-paste. How could this be happening? Will it ever be fixed? Fuck if I know, I hate everything at this point but it seems I hate Microsoft products a tiny bit more than everything else.

2026-03-24 07:04:47 CET

This list of 42 publishers that accept direct submissions of speculative fiction (not all are currently open) may be helpful to those who publish in #fantasy, #scienceFiction, #horror, or intersections of such genres. https://authorspublish.com/42-publishers-that-accept-direct-submissions-of-speculative-fiction/
#publishing

2026-03-16 02:08:26 CET

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buncha geopolitical wanking, I don't think it's supposed to make any sense at all

2026-03-14 08:57:56 CET

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 14 – Do you think readers want new experiences in structure or narrative, or do they prefer what's familiar?
Yes, please! There's space and markets for both. On the one hand readers want the comfort of the familiar, even formulaic, but other readers, or sometimes the same readers at different times, like to mix things up a little. Heck, I've sold BOTH to the same market, one story with a very standard linear narrative, and two years later a more experimental one with non-linear narrative using oral storytelling conventions (arguably making it traditional as well as experimental). The editor loved the way the latter story was structured and I'm very grateful to her for taking a chance on it. Looking forward to reader responses, whether hell yeah or what the hell, when it comes out!

2026-03-08 05:59:27 CET

#WordWeavers Mar. 6 – If you have several stories, which one should a new reader start with?
A Very Long Malaise is as good a starting point as any for those who would like to read about premodern working-class lesbians in Asia, especially since it also comes in audio. https://alpennia.com/blog/lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-episode-301-very-long-malaise-lj-lee A spiritual prequel, Between One Word and the Next, is also upcoming this year, based on a historical record of enslaved women in love with each other.
Those who like transfeminine heroines in antiquity and classical narrative poetry might enjoy A Maiden's War, a trans Mulan retelling. https://corvidqueen.com/stories/a-maidens-war-lj-lee I put "temporary detransition" in content notes, but per excellent content on my timeline this telling actually makes her TRIPLE TRANSGENDER.
#HistoricalFiction #Mulan #poetry

2026-02-28 02:09:36 CET

Curious whether the number of tags in a post affects people's willingness to boost. Is there a point where you think a tag has too many posts for you to comfortably boost it? :boost_ok: #accessibility

2026-02-28 01:25:12 CET

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Per Wikipedia, the palantíri "are used in some climactic scenes by major characters: Sauron, Saruman, Denethor the Steward of Gondor, and two members of the Company of the Ring: Aragorn and Pippin." That list isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, my guys: Big Bad, midgame boss, abusive dad, hero who possessed the "great strength of will and of mind" to use a palantír safely, schmuck who endangered himself and unwittingly tripped up the Big Bad. I guess Thiel & c. imagine they are Aragorn, but the whole point of the books is that EVERYONE who uses one of these objects of power thinks they're an Aragorn and they're usually Saruman at best, and a few are Sauron level to be destroyed by their own hubris. But first they'll destroy and harm a lot of good folks and beauty in this world that can never come back, and that will be their only true legacy.

2026-02-28 01:01:24 CET

As a #Tolkien fan it still boggles my mind that "Palantir" is a real company that exists and is being unironically used by corporations and governments. Are they proud to be the baddies here? #fantasy

2026-02-24 01:34:20 CET

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expressions like "moralism" and "moral absolutism" are right there, and exactly fit what Doctorow was criticizing. There was no need to reach out and take a term survivors of a very specific abuse are using, farther confusing the issue.

2026-02-19 06:37:36 CET

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mosquito and wailing cat--two of the most annoying sounds I'll bet.

2026-02-12 17:50:12 CET

#Mastodon / #feditip: Please don't use URL shorteners, they don't help with saving on character count because web addresses are counted as 23 characters. Many users won't boost or click on shortened URLs because links whose destinations you can't check are considered security risks, and are hostile to screen readers. Transparent and informative URLs are right there in the address bar for your use, there's no need to go through an opaque and potentially insecure shortening service.

2026-02-08 06:36:29 CET

“There are many more average or poor working people in the world than society or wealthy traveled ones. Books with normal characters are more intriguing.”
- M.K. Tod, Ten quotes from Readers https://awriterofhistory.com/2025/06/10/ten-quotes-from-readers/
#HistoricalFiction #WritingCommunity

2026-02-06 09:41:45 CET

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I'd also do a preface making note of the general direction of the editorial work, in addition to other information on history, context, and editions.

2026-02-06 09:17:41 CET

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Yes to 1) as far as I know--you don't own the original work, but you have rights to your editorial work. I don't think 2) is a problem if you make note of your changes.

2026-01-31 04:00:53 CET

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Another Pratchett non-getter! I don't think I'm his audience, either. I tried several of the early Discworld books before I decided they weren't for me, and the quotes his fans love just aren't very gripping to me outside of context--interesting subject matter and positions I tend to agree with, but too abstract and on the nose. I respect Pratchett as a person and author, am happy for the many who found amazing resonance in his work, and leave it at that. Maybe I just don't get a certain style of British humor, since Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy left me cold as well.

2026-01-27 08:14:28 CET

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world's most effective alarm clock

2026-01-23 05:01:09 CET

We have been born once and there can be no second birth. For all eternity we shall no longer be. But you, although you are not master of tomorrow, are postponing your happiness. We waste away our lives in delaying, and each of us dies without having enjoyed leisure
– #Epicurus, Sententiae Vaticanae 14 via Following Hadrian https://followinghadrian.com/2021/03/21/early-ad-121-plotina-writes-to-hadrian-on-behalf-of-the-epicurean-school-in-athens-hadrian1900/?ref=pasts-imperfect.ghost.io#:~:text=We%20have%20been%20born%20once%20and%20there,you%2C%20although%20you%20are%20not%20master%20of #philosophy #quote

2026-01-20 17:14:07 CET

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I remember someone in India discussing how he could only start using Ubuntu Linux (in the 90s I think?) because he requested and got the installation CD by mail. I guess a contemporary equivalent would be a thumb drive?

2026-01-13 19:03:05 CET

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omg what a mixup! xD I'm glad you still connected lol.

2026-01-10 07:29:01 CET

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Yeah it turns up an error for me, too!

2026-01-10 07:15:42 CET

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I would love to read and review your book on BookSirens @npub1faz…vc22 , I'm pleased with my experience there as a reader/reviewer and the service seems solid at driving reviews on crucial sites like GoodReads. I hope you'll publicize on here as well if you get your ARC on there, since I might not see it on my rather specific personal feed! @npub159p…dhu3 @npub1q60…kp90

2026-01-10 07:10:29 CET

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Oh I think you'll like BookSirens @npub159p…dhu3 , lots of queer romance though I generally splash around the nonfiction and occasionally poetry pool. Not as sure about romance with disabled protagonists, but they might be there if you really get into the romance feed which I'm sure is a firehose.

2026-01-10 07:01:16 CET

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NetGalley could be worth it, I understand there's a big audience there though it's not for me. My go-to is BookSirens https://booksirens.com/ which is very indie-friendly and has personalized feeds (something else NG lacks), but there are more choices out there!

2026-01-10 06:56:03 CET

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DRM was a big part of the reason I gave up on NetGalley for ARCs, it was just too restricting to be able to read only through their phone app.

2026-01-05 12:41:37 CET

Start a #blog. Start one because the practice of writing at length, for an audience you respect, about things that matter to you, is itself valuable. Start one because owning your own platform is a form of independence that becomes more important as centralized platforms become less trustworthy. Start one because the format shapes the thought, and this format is good for thinking.
The blog won't save us. But it's one of the tools we'll need if we're going to save ourselves.
- Joan Westenberg, The Case for Blogging in the Ruins https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-case-for-blogging-in-the-ruins/ #IndieWeb

2025-12-22 16:34:22 CET

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And maybe the hidden dwellers inside your walls who keep adding to your pile of dirty dishes will watch with you! xD

2025-12-22 12:42:42 CET

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Parasite (2019)

2025-12-20 12:43:53 CET

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Oh, so it really was possible for a Ugandan university student not to have heard of Karl Marx? That sounds like a fascinatingly different intellectual and social atmosphere than the ones I'm used to, I stand corrected! Of course he had good reason to play naïve with the FBI man since the feds were fishing for a reason to paint the Civil Rights movement as a Communist plot, but given how he maintains his ignorance at the time decades after the need for it was gone there's little basis to disbelieve him.
What awes me is that Mamdani was later made actually stateless when Milton Obote's government stripped them of citizenship for his dissent, but he went back AGAIN after Obote was disposed. Like there was nothing that could stop this Ugandan man from being Ugandan and he persisted despite two different regimes' attempts to get rid of him, you gotta love that xD

2025-12-20 11:35:46 CET

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wdym he was lucky to leave, was there a particular event in Uganda between 1963-1972 that he was lucky to miss? If you mean the Amin coup, Mahmood Mamdani went back to Uganda under Idi Amin after his studies. The elder Mamdani remains an Ugandan citizen and takes an active role with Ugandan institutions.

2025-12-20 11:07:58 CET

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I still don't entirely buy he was ignorant of Karl Marx as a university student in the 60s tbh, but if his upbringing was very sheltered I suppose it was possible when he was still so young.

2025-12-20 08:48:28 CET

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Seeing how Mahmood Mamdani, around 19-20 years old at this time, had come to FBI attention in the first place for going to Selma, Alabama to participate in the Civil Rights as a student from Uganda, you might say he was already a revolutionary to some degree.

2025-12-13 04:30:46 CET

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec. 13 – What have you written for another writer?
Writing detailed, heartfelt comments, reviews, and fannish live threads about books won me so many cool writer friends over the years! I guess the most formal of these is the #bookReview I wrote of @npub1gkg…kj5r 's The Lantern and the Night Moths, a collection of modern #Chinese #poetry translations. https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/reviews-1-1-1 The book since went on to win multiple awards, so you might say I know how to pick 'em :flan_coffee:
That is, as long as you disregard the fact that I was so honored but mildly freaked out when Yilin asked me to write the review, as I felt inadequate to the task when I know so little about modern Chinese poetry 😅 But it worked out, with very able guidance by the editor at Exchanges who worked with me and Yilin's ready answers to my questions. With such good help it really paid off to stretch myself and get a toe out of my comfort zone!

2025-11-30 02:29:10 CET

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I think Afro Puffs was the first I heard of you, from this list of 6 Black SFF Indie writers! https://bookriot.com/black-indie-sff-writers/

2025-11-02 17:51:39 CET

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Fun fact: You can still see the Northern-Southern divide in modern Koreans' looks to this day. Those aren't the only genetic influence to be found in modern Koreans by a long shot, but are two major ones. Mostly we're very mixed by now so skin tones have evened out and you'll see both Northern and Southern features in the same families and faces, but many individuals have typically Northern or Southern looks (though they'll almost certainly have both, and more, in their ancestries). It also doesn't correspond to the North Korean/South Korean divide since there's been movement and intermarriage in the peninsula for millennia, though there might be *some* population-level differences.
If there ever was a socially recognized divide between these genetic groups it has not been recorded and is unlikely to have been a political or economic factor for at least two millennia, although it may have had stand-ins such as regional hostilities. It's worth noting that the Southwest of Korea is still one of the most underdeveloped and marginalized regions, for instance.

2025-11-02 15:51:24 CET

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The siblings' mother was also an enslaved woman captured during travel and pressed into food prep and service on a work camp where she met her future husband. This part isn't exactly unusual, though, since slavery is a part of this world and anyone who could be captured without recourse was "fair game" for enslavement. The siblings' father worked to buy the freedom of the woman he'd come to love, which contributed to the chronic injuries and pain that would disable him later in life, and wanted her to go home but she decided to stay partly because she'd been running from a predatory man in her home community in the first place, partly because she couldn't secure safe travel back and she was relatively secure where she was as a free if poor woman, and partly because she loved him too. They lived happily ever after--until her sudden death after giving birth to their third and last child, that is.

2025-11-02 15:24:03 CET

#WordWeavers Nov. 2 - Share something unusual about one of your characters’ lives.
The refugee MC and her siblings in the big WIP have a very distinct look compared to most people in her area (roughly modern North Korea-China border) because their mother is from the southwest of the Korean peninsula, which my research tells me was originally settled by people who migrated from Southeast Asia during the prior ice age. As a result the MC and her siblings are darker-skinned and rounder-eyed than their fair-skinned and narrow-eyed Northerner neighbors and their own Northerner father, features that make them stand out in a crowd and earn them the occasional unwelcome reaction from fetishization to hostility. People also tend not to believe their dad is their biological father, despite each sibling having some of his looks.

2025-11-01 10:03:02 CET

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And the garden is being overrun with scraper bot locusts

2025-10-18 09:46:09 CEST

Your obligation is to the action, and never to its fruits.
Do not be motivated by the fruit of your actions.
But do not become attached to non-action either.
Abandon your attachment and engage in
worldly action, Arjuna, while standing firm in discipline
(yoga). Consider success and failure to be equal.
- Krishna to Arjuna in the #BhagavadGita https://theconversation.com/now-i-am-become-death-the-destroyer-of-worlds-the-bhagavad-gita-explained-214365
#quote #poetry #philosophy #ethics #Hinduism

2025-10-14 08:23:01 CEST

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I've seen it pointed out that this kind of doomerism is another form of whiteness manifesting itself, like it's easier for many white people to envision the end of life itself than the end of Empire and capital.

2025-06-11 15:06:30 CEST

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I'm not talking about alt text that transcribes text in the image, which is a perfectly valid use of alt text. I'm talking about alt text that has nothing to do with the image but simply repeats the main post verbatim without any relevance to the image.
An example might be a post that reads "The weather today was so nice, and I loved experimenting with my new camera!" Attached to the post is a close-up photograph of a bee climbing into a flower, but the alt text, instead of describing the photograph, simply reads: "The weather today was so nice, and I loved experimenting with my new camera!" The actual posts I've seen in the wild are longer and even more divorced from the image.

2025-06-11 09:42:28 CEST

What's up with posts that repeat the post's content in an image alt text? These "descriptions" don't actually describe the images but are just copy-pastes of the post body that came above it. It means these posts won't get a boost from me per my "no boosting posts that don't have useful image descriptions" policy, since repeating the post in the alt text seems if anything more annoying and confusing than having no description or terse and uninformative alt text, which at least won't waste screen reader users' time with wordy and useless repetition.

2025-02-17 05:02:36 CET

Vegetables in #mythology go back to the earliest beginnings of #Korea when Bear and Tiger, who lived together in a cave, prayed to Hwanung the Son of Heaven wishing to be human. Hwanung gave them holy mugwort and 20 bulbs of garlic to live on while they prayed for 100 days without seeing sunlight. Tiger failed to keep the taboo, but Bear turned into a human woman called Bear Woman (熊女) after three days by seven (21 days).
Bear Woman desired to have a child but had no man to marry, so she prayed under the Altar Tree (壇樹) for a child. Hwanung briefly transformed into a man to wed her and their son became Dangun Wanggeom (壇君王儉, lit. Altar King) who founded ancient Joseon with its capital in Pyeongyang and later Asadal to rule for 1,500 years. #history #MythologyMonday
Source: Events from the Three Kingdoms (三國遺事), Book 1: Marvels Recorded (紀異) https://db.history.go.kr/ancient/level.do?levelId=sy_001r_0020_0020_0020

2025-01-13 06:04:18 CET

Long ago on West Dongting Mountain (西洞庭山) there lived a young woman called Biluo (碧螺), and at the foot of the mountain a young man named Axiang (阿祥). The two loved each other from afar.
One year, an evil dragon arose in the Great Lake and demanded Biluo as tribute. Axiang fought the dragon with a harpoon for seven days and nights until they both collapsed. Biluo cared for the unconscious Axiang herself.
Biluo went looking for herbs one day when she came upon the scene of Axiang's battle with the dragon and found a young tea tree. She raised the tree and brewed tea from the leaves to give Axiang, and he grew better by the day as they fell more and more in love.
Sadly, Biluo herself lost her health and died in Axiang's arms. In great grief he buried her next to the tea tree, which was named after her. This is said to be the origin of the famous #tea Biluochun. #MythologyMonday #mythology #folklore
Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/259328205_100027664

2025-01-12 09:43:13 CET

I discuss how I removed #DRM from #Kobo books on #ArchLinux using a #Calibre plugin, #Obok. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/kobo-drm-removal/ The tutorial may be applicable in parts to other #Linux systems and Mac/Windows, too. #LjBlogs

2024-10-06 15:31:25 CEST

People who think homosexuality was invented in the 20th century by white people can feel free to contemplate my writeup on 1,000 years of recorded homosexuality in premodern #Korea . https://ljwrites.blog/posts/queer-premodern-korea/ And a lot of these records are by people who did not even remotely like what they were reporting.
My 13th-century ancestor Yi Gyubo, on the other hand, celebrated the hell out of his learned monk friend's romantic relationship with a young man because dude was cool that way. Neither he nor contemporary record-keepers found the idea of dudes in love with dudes anachronistic or irrelevant, I guess no one gave them the memo that gay people weren't supposed to exist yet. #QueerHistory #history #LjBlogs