@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

DejahEntendu

@DejahEntendu@dice.camp

TTRPG gamer, geek, life-o-phile
Parent of an adult person.
I try to be nice and I can be taught.
Leaper before looker...
I love books that explore how people and societies react to/change with circumstances.
I have no patience for stories that celebrate prejudice.
I fall asleep listening to historical romances and never review them.

10th level office worker with the IT archetype and a specialization in Active Directory. Multi-classed into management.

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/dejahentendu

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

DejahEntendu, to scifi
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie Valdes.

Very different from her series starting with Chilling Effect, Where Peace Is Lost is much more serious. It reads as a quest to save a world, a journey or personal forgiveness, romance, and anti-capitalist philosophy. That's a lot to cram into 12 hours. It's all well done though, not seeming patchwork at all. Thus I zoomed through the story in two days.

1/2

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Valdes delivers a solid book, perhaps leading us to "the further adventure of..."

Rebeccsa Mozo, the narrator, had a handful of mispronouciations that should have been caught by someone. Not enough to be ruinous, but distracting nonetheless. ☹️ Pronouncing buffet as the noun form, for instance, when it was used as the verb form.

LGBTQIA+ positive

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu, to scifi
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice.

Rice weaves a gorgeous follow-up to Moon of the Crusted Snow. About 12 years have passed since the power went out, and the Anishinaabe in what was the northern Ontario province are in need of a new home as local resources are dwindling. Moon of the Turning Leaves follows a group south and east as they search for a better place, preferably in their ancestral lands.

1/2

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Along the way, they learn more of their world, both past and present. I felt that the characters learning they were big fish in a little pond was a nice touch, as many times lead characters are practically infallible.

Rice's prose is lyric, and his characters are rounded out. As soon as I saw he'd written another book in this world, I knew I had to read it. Billy Merasty, the narrator, adds to the immersion of the story.

2/2

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu, to Cats
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Meowlcolm Reynolds, my old man, my stalker, my grouchy boy, died suddenly today. He was 15 years old and loved no one so much as me for the past 7 years, the time we had him. My heart hurts so much. I can't believe he's gone. I'll miss his steady presence.

Kokirimuscle, to random
@Kokirimuscle@woof.group avatar

When I hear people say in #ttrpgs that they like to make up the character’s backstory and personality as they play rather than beforehand or at a session 0, I think they must have players that are far better at improv than the ones I play with.

In my experience, if a character doesn’t have a backstory at the beginning, they never will have one.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@Kokirimuscle
I play with one guy who never writes a backstory. I explicitly told our group that I needed them for the game I'm currently running. After two weeks, I wrote it for him and told him it was canon. Surprisingly, he was ok with that, but I hated having to do it. He is more of a puzzle player than a role player, so it does make some sense.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@zdl @Kokirimuscle
I get that. He says it's because bsckstories only allow the GM to mess with your character. He actively doesn't want the hook, I guess.

IzabelaKaramia, to animals
@IzabelaKaramia@writing.exchange avatar

Sometimes Ginza gets so excited when we wake up in the mornings I have to pin her down with Dinker Donkers. Which she enjoys, she purrs even louder when I pin her down with the stuffie dinosaur.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@IzabelaKaramia
I watched your journey of bringing Ginza inside. Beautiful work bringing joy to her!

DejahEntendu, to Anthropology
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.

This was a great book! Graeber and Wengrow integrate new archeological discoveries with anthropology and turn common belief on its side. In the same way that we used to think that evolution was a progressive march to new and improved species, we also thought that human development was on an upward arc to better things, with capitalism and

🧵

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Democracy at the apex. But we learned that evolution is a collection of paths through a forest, sometimes heading where we want to go and sometimes not. Mutuations are random and not always more beneficial. Thus, species don't always progress with change.

They posit the same for human history. We haven't been heading in a direct line to where we are, and we don't have to stay here.

@bookstodon #anthropology #nonfic #books #bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Levels of equality and freedom have come and gone, and maybe European patriarchal society isn't the apex.

Read this one.

#anthropology #books #nonfic #bookstodon @bookstodon

rivetgeek, to random
@rivetgeek@dice.camp avatar

I used to think my Dad was being ridiculous with the precise steps he insisted on taking to configure my Mom's PC with the JAWS screen reading software. And then I had to configure SQL Server failover clustering and suddenly I understood.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@rivetgeek
Hahahahha! I feel your pain. I had to write that documentation for server 2012 at my old job.

ColleenDoran, to random
@ColleenDoran@mastodon.social avatar

Death of the Endless. Brush and ink with a metallic ink that actually looks better than the real gold I often use.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@ColleenDoran

My Death and Delirium tattoo. It's a celebration of my daughter and me.

DejahEntendu, to books
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Eversion by Alastair Reynolds.

This is a lovely, slow book. Reynolds takes us through the time of a life lived on repeat, through the unraveling of the mystery, and to the hope of happy endings. Quite masterfully done.

@bookstodon

kyonshi, to fantasy
@kyonshi@dice.camp avatar

What's a good (urban) fantasy novel set in a Victorian/Belle epoque/Roaring 20s milieu?

Looking for a gift for my wife and feel somewhat uninspired.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@kyonshi
There's the Diviners series by Libba Bray. Set in the 20s, it's about a group that falls into doing paranormal investigations. She has another series, Gemma Doyle, that's set in the Victorianish age. It's YA, but I found it compelling and sumptuous.

The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton. Actually, I guess that's more steampunk. But pirates and flying houses in Victoriana!

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@kyonshi
I can't remember when it's set, but Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho was fun too.

If she hasn't read any Gail Carriger, her books are a hoot!

I was looking for a different one that I can't find. I went back about 4 years in my reading list. I should probably be working...

freemo, to LGBT
@freemo@qoto.org avatar

I would love to undertand better the reason/psychology/development of some homosexual men to speak in that distinctive way of speaking that seems exclusive to gay men. Like it isnt an accent, and doesnt seem to occur naturally since its exclusive to that group. Do gay men make it a point to learn to speak that way at some point? If so why?

My best guess is as a way to show their orientation publicly to signal to other gay men, in an effort to creat connections or find companions that are also gay? But that would imply its a conscious thing they learnedto do at some point?

PS please no inconsiderate responses. Be respectful people.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@freemo
It's probably less conscious than that. People start to mimic what they hear in order to fit in, like picking up an accent when you move to an area with a different one.

DejahEntendu, to random
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Well, I found a gorgeous house here with enough room AND sun rooms for the cats (and us)! We're closing in 10ish days. I'm very excited about the house and having all this crap behind me. I'm also kind of surprised that this whole thing has basically been FTL as far as moving goes.

My house in Texas went on the market March 15 and is sold already. I'm closing on the new house April 15.

DejahEntendu, to books
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Pushing Ice by Alistair Reynolds

Pretty long, kinda slow, but compelling. A crew of miners are called on to chase an alien spacecraft to the edge of the solar system in order to find out what they can about it before returning home. This is the story of how they survive when things inevitably go wrong. Reynolds gives us a realistic and yet optimistic view of humanity and our foibles.

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@hybridhavoc @bookstodon
right? I love being surprised!

Schnuckster, to books
@Schnuckster@beige.party avatar

This is not a serious way to arrange . 📚📖 @bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@bodhipaksa @Schnuckster
I used to work in a bookstore. You've no idea how many times the first descriptor I got for a book was the color.

theropologist, to random
@theropologist@beige.party avatar

Remember in Blues Brothers when they end up at the Nazi rally and the point isn't even that Jake really hates Nazis, it's that Nazis are about the biggest losers that anyone could imagine. They are portrayed as completely pathetic dead-ender assholes.

Or in the Rocketeer when the mobsters find our the Sinclair guy is a Nazi and join forces with the FBI to stop them because Nazis are clearly the worst thing.

Or when Christopher Plummer rips the Nazi flag in two in Sound of Music.

None of these films were making bold political statements. The Nazis were the bad guys because that was something that everyone in the audience could agree one. Dunking on Nazis was a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

When the hell did we stop agreeing on something so simple and self-evident as Nazis Are Fucking Losers?

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@shuttersparks @RickiTarr @theropologist
You can't push on a rope. People need to reach out for help and do the hard work in order to improve in addition to having the infrastructure in place to help them.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@Blahster @shuttersparks @RickiTarr @theropologist
What are teachers?
What are therapists?
What are community centers?
What are friends? Online or in person.
Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?
National help lines?
Religious leaders, if they apply in your life?
There's always someone to reach out to.

How do I know?
I've been painted into corners, feeling like there was no one. Until I lifted up my head and saw there were.

No one changes without wanting to.

rivetgeek, to random
@rivetgeek@dice.camp avatar

We got a memory foam mattress topper because I've not been sleeping well for months. I'm a side sleeper, and my hip hurts whenever I lie down, so I wake up stiff. It made quite a difference; I slept better last night than I have in a long time.

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

@rivetgeek I feel your pain. I'm glad it's helping you too.

DejahEntendu, to books
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

It was an interesting book, and a decent sequel. I never felt the main human romance was really believable or rooted in anything other than plot though. The interactions between the main female character and her alien companion were much deeper.

The politics were rather heavy handed, but the societal impacts were, sadly, quite well done. Humans would be a shit show of xenophobia and power...

1/2

@bookstodon

DejahEntendu,
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

grabs after first contact. And yes, there were those doing well by the aliens and showing the brighter side of humanity. Just not enough. Though, once again, probably accurate. It was kind of disheartening. I hope she can turn it around in the third book.

2/2

@bookstodon

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