Nerd; Board, Card, Pencil & Paper Gamer; Avid Reader; to find me in other places: https://lnk.bio/JaymesRS
Allow me to be the first to wish you a Happy Honda Days from my family to yours.
Until Trump’s DOJ decides to re-dismiss with prejudice.
The vast majority of email address domains aren’t chosen, they come from your ISP, Cell phone/computer OS manufacturer, or employer/school. That’s the opposite of the fedeverse account creation process.
When life gives you oranges, don’t make orange juice. Make life take the oranges back! Get mad! You don’t want those damn oranges, what the hell are you supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Bougie_Birdie oranges! Do you know who you are? You’re the man who’s gonna burn a house down! With the oranges! You’re gonna get your engineers to invent a combustible orange that burns a house down!
Twitter, where the response to “I like Hot Dogs” is “Why do you hate Cheeseburgers????”
Redshirts was where I started with Scalzi, one day I’ll get to Old Man’s War.
Lud is a one-off. I added it for bingo because a bunch of authors have listed it as a super formative book. I like her style, but it is a bit more dense than I expected going into it initially.
Pretty sure Jesus is a Lich since he was a sorcerer, not a Zombie; in the context of the question though that could be immaterial.
There has also been an influx of toxic people whose only joy is getting a reaction out of others that are joining because the people they’d normally target on X are leaving. I’ve seen them trying to get the same type of engagement they used to get and also a lot of other people calling them out as “Hey, this person is an ass, you can block them/add them to the MAGA Trolls list”. That could seem like a flood of toxicity to some.
I bet someone could make a good live action adaptation. It’s too bad NO ONE has ever tried.
Scalzi’s Kaiju Presevation Society is great, his Starter Villain is definitely in the same vein of light and easy and fun.
I made it most of the way through Lud-In-The-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. It holds up pretty well for being almost 100 years old.
I still plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl next.
Scalzi’s Kaiju Presevation Societt is great, his Starter Villain is definitely in the same vein of light and easy and fun.
I made it most of the way through Lud-In-The-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. It holds up pretty well for being almost 100 years old.
I still plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl next.
Yes, my hypothetical example to written to serve a specific point in my comment was not something anyone said, that’s usually how hypotheticals work.
The way I read this is there’s nuance in the messaging of (as one example) “Gender Affirming Surgery for All Who Want Them!” and “All People Deserve to Get the Care That it’s Determined They Need by a Medical Professional!”
The first one is unpopular with the general population because it’s different and scary. Similar to the time before the Civil Rights Act was passed Civil Rights for black Americans was incredibly unpopular because the general populace is stupid. There are many messages like that, Pete Buttigieg’s “Medicare for All Who Want It” when he was running was the same thing. People are afraid if you tell them you’re taking away their insurance, but make it an option and an attractive one at that and you’ll get converts.
Sometimes massaging the messaging to de-center positions that are “scary”, is better in the long run to get the people elected that can actually bring about the change. This isn’t about throwing any group under the bus.
I’ve been on Bluesky since February. I have yet to see any nudity that I didn’t actively seek out. It’s not too difficult.
There’s been a large-ish influx of maga users, looking for people to harass in the last week as the other normies have left Twitter too because they are sad and lonely people, so people’s ban fingers especially those with large accounts, are a bit heavy right now. So yeah, it probably completely came off wrong (like someone asking when white history month is) vs asking if there was a specific other ethnic starter pack that drew your interest. Sorry that was your experience.
Jill Stein paid $100,000 to a Republican consulting firm led by a suspected January 6 rioter
The Green Party leader has hired a GOP consulting firm and worked with Trump-affiliated lawyers.
RFK Jr. and star journalist Olivia Nuzzi had ‘incredible’ FaceTime sex, said they loved each other: sources
“Despite claims that it was a casual affair or flirtation, Page Six has learned that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and New York Magazine scribe Olivia Nuzzi had ‘incredible’ FaceTime sex.” … “They had ‘incredible’ sex over FaceTime, according to another source, with Nuzzi noting to pals that the 70-year-old had impressive sexual stamina.”
It’s important to take breaks and observe local flora occasionally.
Description: A picture titled “Russian plants” in a 3 x 3 grid with one of the grid items being Jill Stein, the rest are flora.
Based on a new NBC/Hart research poll, Tim Walz is more popular than Taylor Swift
Of the individuals they inquired about, (see page 10): Tim Walz, Taylor Swift, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Elon Musk, Donald Trump, & JD Vance; Tim Walz was the most popular person and second only to “capitalism” in the total list.
Minnesota Explainer
With Walz officially the VP now, what things do we need to explain to those who only see MN as a flyover state? The DFL party? Duck, Duck, Grey Duck? Our pride in our confederate flag? Lutheran sushi? Hotdish? Talking about the ‘91 Halloween blizzard? Ice fishing?
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - $1.99
A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.
After all, she was a normal American herself once.
That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.
In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.
Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.
As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.
But Carolyn has accounted for this.
And Carolyn has a plan.
The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.
Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, & Max Gladstone - $3.99
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.
Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. That’s how war works, right?
Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.
Witch King by Martha Wells (The Rising World #1) - $2.99
From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes a remarkable story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.
"I didn't know you were a... demon."
"You idiot. I'm the demon."
Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' WITCH KING....
After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.
But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?
Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.
He’s not going to like the answers.
WITCH KING is Martha Wells’s first new fantasy in over a decade, drawing together her signature ability to create characters we adore and identify with, alongside breathtaking action and adventure, and the wit and charm we’ve come to expect from one of the leading writers of her generation.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton (Hollow Kingdom #1) - $2.99
S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (i.e. "those idiots"), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos®.
But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to think something's not quite right. His tried-and-true remedies—from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis—fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he suddenly discovers that the neighbors are devouring one other. Local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of Seattle's dangerous new predators.
Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow whose only knowledge of the world comes from TV.
What could possibly go wrong?
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers - $1.99
If you’re doing Book Bingo, this completes any of the following squares (possibly others as well; 1B, 1C, 1D, 4A.
The remarkable Tim Powers—who ingeniously married the John le Carrè spy novel to the otherworldly in his critically acclaimed Declare—brings us pirate adventure with a dazzling difference. On Stranger Tides features Blackbeard, ghosts, voodoo, zombies, the fable Fountain of Youth…and more swashbuckling action than you could shake a cutlass at, as reluctant buccaneer John Shandy braves all manner of peril, natural and supernatural, to rescue his ensorcelled love. Nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards, On Stranger Tides is the book that inspired the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—non-stop, breathtaking fiction from the genius imagination that conceived Last Call, Expiration Date, and Three Days to Never.
The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker - $1.99
Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, who can hear the thoughts and longings of those around her and feels compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a restless creature of fire, once free to roam the desert but now imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and try to pass as human—just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwined—but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other.
Both Chava and Ahmad have changed the lives of the people around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets Dima, a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele—not knowing that she’s about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector.
Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart—especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - $1.99
The sequel The Hidden Palace is also on sale
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay by a disgraced rabbi knowledgeable in the ways of dark Kabbalistic magic. She serves as the wife to a Polish merchant who dies at sea on the voyage to America. As the ship arrives in New York in 1899, Chava is unmoored and adrift until a rabbi on the Lower East Side recognizes her for the creature she is and takes her in.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert and trapped centuries ago in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard. Released by a Syrian tinsmith in a Manhattan shop, Ahmad appears in human form but is still not free. An iron band around his wrist binds him to the wizard and to the physical world.
Chava and Ahmad meet accidentally and become friends and soul mates despite their opposing natures. But when the golem’s violent nature overtakes her one evening, their bond is challenged. An even more powerful threat will emerge, however, and bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their very existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, in a wondrously inventive tale that is mesmerizing and unforgettable.
The Princess Bride: An Illustrated Edition of S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman -$1.99
If you’re doing Book Bingo, this completes 2D if not others possibly as well.
Here William Goldman’s beloved story of Buttercup, Westley, and their fellow adventurers finally receives a beautiful illustrated treatment.
A tale of true love and high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts—The Princess Bride is a modern storytelling classic.
As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchman, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she'll meet Vizzini—the criminal philosopher who'll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik—the gentle giant; Inigo—the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen—the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup’s one true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.