Nostr notes by ig 🏳️‍🌈

#WritersCoffeeClub 18. Talk about a time you had a revelation. ...

2026-10-18T02:27:05Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 18. Talk about a time you had a revelation.

reading books from past decades shows you how fashions change, and how writing mandates that seem like irrefutable laws are really more like fads that may be out of style tomorrow. it also shows you a diversity of styles that readers not only tolerate but love, in defiance of the sameness that publishers are inflicting on books today.

#WritersCoffeeClub 16. How do you feel about people reading your ...

2026-10-17T12:47:28Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 16. How do you feel about people reading your works without buying a personal copy?

you can read my book for free right now, if you want. it features the archangel Lucifer teaching a young woman to read, which makes it eminently bannable in fascist districts. that and the trans stuff. https://archiveofourown.org/works/62147545/chapters/158967184

it's a quirk of psychology (or perhaps only W.E.I.R.D. psychology) that people don't value things that they don't have to pay for. 'Money dignifies what is frivolous if unpaid for.' after all, how could it be any good if they're just giving it away? but i would encourage you to put aside that mercenary thinking and give open books a chance.

if i have to unhinge my jaw to bite into the sandwich then the ...

2026-10-16T01:25:30Z

if i have to unhinge my jaw to bite into the sandwich then the sandwich is too tall

#ScribesAndMakers 15. How confident are you feeling about your ...

2026-10-15T13:25:55Z

#ScribesAndMakers 15. How confident are you feeling about your work today?

i'll let Orlando tell it.

'He soon perceived, however, that the battles which Sir Miles and the rest had waged against armed knights to win a kingdom, were not half so arduous as this which he now undertook to win immortality against the English language. Anyone moderately familiar with the rigours of composition will not need to be told the story in detail; how he wrote and it seemed good; read and it seemed vile; corrected and tore up; cut out; put in; was in ecstasy; in despair; had his good nights and bad mornings; snatched at ideas and lost them; saw his book plain before him and it vanished; acted his people's parts as he ate; mouthed them as he walked; now cried; now laughed; vacillated between this style and that; now preferred the heroic and pompous; next the plain and simple; now the vales of Tempe; then the fields of Kent or Cornwall; and could not decide whether he was the divinest genius or the greatest fool in the world.'

#WordWeavers 11. Share a passage from your WIP where the setting ...

2026-10-11T02:39:29Z

#WordWeavers 11. Share a passage from your WIP where the setting is doing as much storytelling as the characters.

this will be a longer excerpt because it relies on atmosphere. the scene when Lucifer confirms that her illicit lover has been disappeared is told mostly through descriptions of his empty house. she arrives, expecting the door to be bolted fast; however, it opens at only a touch.

'The rooms had been stripped bare. There was nothing left of Eli's personal effects, nor even any remnants of untidiness that would have told the story that a person ever lived here. There was an underlying geometry to the rooms that [Lucifer] still recognized, but which only gave them a strange sense of facsimile, more like a model of Eli's home than the home itself. All was still but for the sweep of air that she had admitted from outside. [...]

'The air made chords of mournful harmony as it blew across the various doors and porticos of the apartment complex. Lucifer retreated a step or two back into the hallway. As she was gathering her thoughts, she looked in the direction of the wall, and noted a tiny blemish in the middle of its surface: a nub, which was a filled-in hole where a nail had been.'

helped set up the local bonsai show today. (this is a little ...

2026-10-09T21:30:41Z

helped set up the local bonsai show today. (this is a little show, not the big Toronto one, which is the following weekend.) there was way more ironing than i'd anticipated, lol...those black backdrops really wrinkle up in storage.

i got a snap of my jade when all was done. i may get a better quality photo with the real camera later; i may also switch out the stand(s).

#plants #succulents #houseplants #bonsai

#ScribesAndMakers 29. What fruit do you like best for a still ...

2026-09-29T01:49:54Z

#ScribesAndMakers 29. What fruit do you like best for a still life?

the first fruit that came to mind was quince, which i suppose is as good as any other. but to me the most interesting thing about still lifes is how they record what fruits and vegetables used to look like. for example, this article tracks changes to the watermelon beginning with a painting from the 17th century. https://hyperallergic.com/the-evolution-of-the-watermelon-captured-in-still-lifes/

#WritersCoffeeClub 21. What can a reader know to be true about ...

2026-09-21T04:16:59Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 21. What can a reader know to be true about you from your work?

readers will probably get a general idea of my politics. tyranny is bad, as are racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and so on. knowledge is better than ignorance, intelligence and reason are important virtues.

but i think there is a limit to what you can infer about a writer from their works. to paraphrase Virginia Woolf (herself a flawed person), a writer can have 'sensitivity to the crepitations of a leaf, but not the needs of his wife and child.' there are many writers throughout history whose works have more humane values than they had in real life. probably the most well known modern example of this is JKR, whose Harry Potter books' liberal values advocate for kindness and the acceptance of difference, in a way that is markedly at odds with her anti-trans rampages.

(it's popular for people to point to the books' moral impurities as signs that They Were Evil All Along, but i honestly think these are revisionist readings that are coloured by hindsight. i found way worse values in the text of Terry Pratchett, which doesn't seem to have translated into the same kind of real world cruelty.)

#ScribesAndMakers 17. To what extent do you think art can promote ...

2026-08-17T15:27:14Z

#ScribesAndMakers 17. To what extent do you think art can promote social change?

regimes would not censor art if it were powerless.

@nprofile…cm0q the big grift of the Pokemon series is making ...

2026-08-10T03:29:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…cs3w
_________________________

nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqfgle6lnth5pces3v5hayhvdsaqg7r842gxhg9fh5a7l66jm2qp3q98cm0q (nprofile…cm0q) the big grift of the Pokemon series is making you buy multiple copies of the same game, over and over, to truly catch em all. although Mew was still unobtainable until some enterprising person found the Mew glitch. god bless the glitchiness of Gen I...without glitches, where would we be?

i decided to replay my Yellow game, with no glitches, trades, or ...

2026-08-10T03:04:20Z

i decided to replay my Yellow game, with no glitches, trades, or cheating this time. (last time i used the Mew glitch.) your opponents' pokemon maintain a pretty fair level against yours until the very end, where all of a sudden you're fighting at a 15 level disadvantage against everyone (though still managing to one-shot a fair number of enemies.) this is what we call 'fake difficulty,' friends. though the game kind of needs it, given how primitive the AI is.

regardless, if you know what you're doing, you're never in any actual danger of losing. final team: Venusaur, Dugtrio, Jolteon, and Lapras, with mascot Pikachu warming the bench for the majority of the game. he didn't seem to mind.

she thinks nobody notices when she's hunting the other cats ...

2026-07-29T02:03:53Z

she thinks nobody notices when she's hunting the other cats

#CatsOfMastodon #TabbyCat

she thinks we put out this tablecloth just for her #cats ...

2026-07-24T00:41:56Z

she thinks we put out this tablecloth just for her

#cats #CatsOfMastodon #TabbyCat

do commenters on mastodon think that social media is supposed to ...

2026-07-23T18:19:33Z

do commenters on mastodon think that social media is supposed to be like food service, where the servers are helpless and contractually prevented from giving back exactly as much rudeness as they receive

#ScribesAndMakers 21. Tell us about a non-fiction book you've ...

2026-07-21T21:12:55Z

#ScribesAndMakers 21. Tell us about a non-fiction book you've enjoyed.

for a lighter read, i've been enjoying Storm by Hank Schyma, which is a coffee table book featuring information on storms, and some great photographs. the text is meant for general audiences but it goes over the basics of storm physics, including thunderstorms, supercells, tornadoes, and weird aurora-like phenomena called transient luminous events. for me the main draw was the storm photography, but Schyma is an engaging storyteller, too.

she always flops down right when i'm about to sit in this ...

2026-07-15T01:40:06Z

she always flops down right when i'm about to sit in this chair

#cats #CatsOfMastodon #TabbyCat

#WritersCoffeeClub 27. C&R: Describe your opening scene ...

2026-06-27T01:36:06Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 27. C&R: Describe your opening scene without using your text. Everyone: What mood does it set?

Raphael has been summoned to Yahweh's tower for reasons unknown, though he understands that it is for a matter of some importance. privately he suspects it is something to do with his Father's health, which has needed more careful management in recent years.

on entering Yahweh's chamber, however, Raphael finds Him seated before the dimensional portal, gazing at the cosmos; the planet Venus is in centre focus. a still figure is lying on a plinth in the corner, covered by a shroud. Yahweh reveals this to be Raphael's newest Brother, who is unfinished: a creation with the blessing of the Morning Star, who will be the conclusion of His efforts, surpassing all His previous creations.

but there is something a little off kilter in Yahweh's speech. He starts ranting, a little, about previous creations that have fallen short, and even the light within the room begins to flicker and sway. doubts about the project form in Raphael's mind, though they are quickly suppressed. surely his Father knows what He is doing, after all.

eventually, Yahweh burns Himself out, and the shadows in the room stop flickering. He invites Raphael to look beneath the shroud, which he does. and what does Raphael think of what he sees? a multitude of things that he can't say.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62147545/chapters/158967184

am i the only person on fedi who doesn't despise self ...

2026-05-17T23:09:58Z

am i the only person on fedi who doesn't despise self checkouts? sometimes i'm buying five items and i don't want to stand in line with melting ice cream while the person ahead of me is buying enough to get them through the next apocalypse.

who knew that this trivial consumer choice could become yet another moral test that you can fail

@nprofile…dyu0 this is beside the point but breast reduction is ...

2026-05-16T20:29:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…lpv5
_________________________

nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqujvv3vtk50qvk0ex78v73vp4ma4ayn5s5anuzea9k207h6hvpx4qdwdyu0 (nprofile…dyu0) this is beside the point but breast reduction is not some breezy low-risk surgery. you can get tissue necrosis and your nipples can die off. plus you end up with visible scars.

has this guy considered a penectomy perchance? 🙄

@nprofile…cm0q Björk is great live, too. some of her biggest ...

2026-05-11T03:28:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…7v6q
_________________________

nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqfgle6lnth5pces3v5hayhvdsaqg7r842gxhg9fh5a7l66jm2qp3q98cm0q (nprofile…cm0q) Björk is great live, too. some of her biggest hits are even better on the live albums.

'Isobel' is another favourite from Post. somehow she hasn't been able to top the studio version in any of her live recordings, though...the studio string section always sounds richer.

#PennedPossibilities⁩ 1011. Do you have a favorite song? What ...

2026-05-11T03:03:25Z

#PennedPossibilities⁩ 1011. Do you have a favorite song? What is it? Has it ever inspired anything you’ve written?

i have a ton of Björk on my playlist, and it's hard to top Hyperballad. the song has nothing to do with anything i've ever written but i imagined a lot of scenes with it playing in the background. her idiosyncratic style lends itself to some unusual thoughts, and therefore inspiration.

because Björk means 'birch,' i set a few important scenes in birch groves, as easter eggs.

https://youtu.be/O0BvgbnGTM4

#WritersCoffeeClub 20. What's a (maybe silly) hill you're ...

2026-04-21T00:58:37Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 20. What's a (maybe silly) hill you're willing to defend?

that 'hook the reader' does not mean 'fling us into a violent fight scene with zero context or reason to care.'

so many times, i've scrolled past aggressive opening lines involving fists colliding with faces and spears stabbing into creatures with no prior setup, and it isn't exciting. it's monotonous, and infantile.

i don't need to see a gun getting shoved into someone's face in the opening line to maintain my interest. some of the best stories i've ever read started with something like 'The primroses were over' (Watership Down), 'The river flowed both ways' (The Diviners), or 'His tiny, tightly permed maternal grandmother, Anita Moody, had never liked him' (Son of a Trickster). even Jurassic Park opens with a description of the weather. i kept reading past those opening lines, because 1. i knew already from the synopsis that the story was going to get interesting, 2. curiosity is more a more compelling hook than generic sword-fighting.

#PennedPossibilities⁩ 991. Tell us about your WIP. What is the ...

2026-04-20T02:43:55Z

#PennedPossibilities⁩ 991. Tell us about your WIP. What is the genre or genres?

the current WIP is a sequel; the first book is available for free on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62147545/chapters/158967184

i can't talk much about the sequel without flagrant spoilers, so i'll talk about the first book.

i find the broadest description to be the best—historical fantasy, fantasy set in the past. but unlike a lot of fantasy, the focus is not on action or combat but the characters' psychological responses to the events—the biggest of these being the fall of Lucifer.

i repotted my native red maple today. 🍁 the main purpose of ...

2026-04-18T16:23:31Z

i repotted my native red maple today. 🍁

the main purpose of this operation was to change the substrate ('soil'). i grew the tree in 1/3rd lava rock last year, and i was disappointed with the growth i got, compared to when i grew the tree in my cheap 'Nigel mix' of perlite and Safe-T-Sorb. i think the lava rock was just too porous, and it dried out too quickly. so it's back to the cheap mix.

another consequence of too-porous substrate is that you will mostly get root growth at the bottom of the pot, as the roots are constantly searching for moisture. this is bad for developing surface roots, which this tree needs to improve the nebari (rootbase).

note that some of the twigs on this tree have been left intentionally long. i plan to prune these back short once the tree expels its coarse spring growth.

#plants #bonsai #gardening

#WritersCoffeeClub 16. Must writing always [be] in complete ...

2026-04-16T03:26:23Z

#WritersCoffeeClub 16. Must writing always [be] in complete sentences? Unusual syntax?

i've seen books experiment with syntax but this is one of those things, like punctuation, where innovation often costs more than it gains. if you're going to deliberately make your sentences hard to understand, there had better be some kind of payoff in proportion to the difficulty. otherwise you're wasting everyone's time.

i'm generally tolerant of sentence fragments (incomplete sentences) so long as they're not overused. they can come across as melodramatic and adolescent when there are too many in a row.

@nprofile…pfuj paging the 50-foot woman ...

2026-03-27T20:15:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…cen5
_________________________

nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqzdp33shl69xr0uq3x8n5gsjykq9upycwh6nqm02c3f6x0frrn0dqlrpfuj (nprofile…pfuj) paging the 50-foot woman