Thoughts and Creations

So. I found my way to tumblr when I first discovered Brandon Sanderson's books. As a result, this, my main, was all Sanderson all the time. Tumblr won't let us change which blog is the main blog and my brain won't let me make this blog more general, so you'll find my general tumbling (currently including a great deal of Imperial Radch and Murderbot) on my "side blog" RithmatistKalyna.tumblr.com .

[kalynaanne]

Item: The Welcome Mat Rarity: ⏶ Common

What game feels like "home" to you no matter when you come back to it?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Civ II

[kalynaanne]

Item: A Cursed Amulet Rarity: ✶ Rare

Best video game villain?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

GLaDOS

[kalynaanne]

Trick or treat!🧟

You get the Rhombic Triacontahedron, a shape formed of 30 identical golden rhombi. Fun fact: I once used a portion of a rhombic triacontahedron as the roof of a house in ceramics class in high school.

Rhombic Triacontahedron -- from Wolfram MathWorld

The rhombic triacontahedron is a zonohedron which is the dual polyhedron of the icosidodecahedron (Holden 1971, p. 55). It is composed of 3

[kalynaanne]

trick or treat?

You get the Petersen Graph! There are lots of pretty embeddings of it on MathWorld

Petersen Graph -- from Wolfram MathWorld

The Petersen graph is the cubic graph on 10 vertices and 15 edges which is the unique (3,5)-cage graph (Harary 1994, p. 175), as well as the

[jennlyons]

Last Chance to Pledge for Full Negative Book

Friends. Readers. Fellow nerds with impeccable taste. We are officially in the home stretch. The final 24 hours. The last lap. The dramatic climax of the movie where everything explodes in slow motion and the music swells and someone says something heroic right before punching a fascist in the face. (Okay, that last bit’s just wishful thinking, but after the week we’ve all had, I think we…

Last Chance to Pledge for Full Negative Book

[rithmatistkalyna]

You can click through the link in the reblogged post to see the full blog post on Jenn Lyon's Blog or can go straight to the backerkit campaign. The backerkit ends on Apr 11, 2025 at 4:00pm EDT. There's one part of that blog post that I'm going to copy over to here to highlight:

Why does it matter?

Because, for me right now, and hopefully for you, later, this isn’t about publishing a book. It’s about launching a world—telepaths, shapeshifters, space empires, doomed romance, glorious betrayals—and all the weird, wild joy that comes with that. It’s also about proving that stories like this—genre-rich, character-driven, unapologetically extra—have a place in the world. And yes, okay, also on your shelves. Possibly in multiple formats. With cool merch.

[jennlyons]

oh god I'm back

I know, I know. I said I’d just step out for a second. Maybe touch some grass. Maybe not scroll for hours through a website that is basically a dopamine slot machine designed specifically for me. But here I am. Again.

So, hi. I’ve been avoiding Tumblr like it’s a cursed artifact because every time I log in, I lose entire days to posts about sad wizards, incredibly niche fandom memes, and, let’s be honest, pictures of adorable cute animals. But I return to you now, at the turning of the tide, because someone at a recent book signing mentioned that I really needed to talk to y'all in some other way than an 'automatic repost from my own site.'

Fair. It was never you. It was always me.

Now, that said, I'm still talking about FULL NEGATIVE, the scifi book that I'm crowding over on Backerkit, because, well, it's still live, and will be until April 11. I am actively trying to convince you all to throw money at it in exchange for an absolutely unhinged space opera full of telepaths, betrayals, sexy spies, and—because I’m me—an aggressively overcomplicated plot full of feelings. If we hit our stretch goals, we get more cool stuff. YOU get a very cool book. (And there is a limited edition, numbered version of the hardcover available that will ONLY be available through this crowdfunding campaign. Once that window is gone, it's gone FOREVER.)

If you like X-Men, Star Wars, Jason Bourne, or just generally enjoy watching characters make terrible decisions in space, this book is for you. And if you don’t like those things… honestly, what are you doing here? Go, live a better life. Read something wholesome. Avoid the pain I am about to unleash.

So yeah. Click the link, check out the Backerkit, and help me make this book a reality. And if you see me reblogging cat pictures at 2 a.m.? No, you didn’t. I’m totally working.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Queer Book Ship Tournament 2025 Round 1

Nangong Jingnu/Qiyan Agula- Clear and Muddy Loss of Love/Jing Wei Qing Shang

Dr. Arada/Overse- The Murderbot Diaries

Harrowhark Nonagesimus/Gideon Nav- The Locked Tomb

Renarin Kholin/Rlain- The Stormlight Archives

Voting ended onJan 20, 2025

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Nangong Jingnu/Qiyan Agula- Clear and Muddy Loss of Love/Jing Wei Qing Shang by Please Don't Laugh/Qing Jun Mo Xiao

Dr. Arada/Overse- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Harrowhark Nonagesimus/Gideon Nav- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Renarin Kholin/Rlain- The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson

[rithmatistkalyna]

Spacefunk!

Space is the place! A collection of science fiction stories and poems by authors of African/African Diaspora Descent.

Hey tumblr, I stumbled across this kickstarter for a sci-fi anthology featuring stories and poems by authors of African and African Diaspora Descent. It sounds cool and when I tried to dig up a tumblr post to reblog about it I couldn't find one, so I'm making it myself.

The kickstarter is running through noon eastern on July 19th, 2024. The pledge level for the ebook with over 40 stories and poems is just $10. For $30 there's an ebook bundle with this new anthology and their previous anthologies (Steamfunk!, Dieselfunk!, Cyberfunk! ,and Spyfunk!). There are also options to get a physical copy of the anthology, cool posters, and more.

If you are interested in sci-fi from voices that are currently underrepresented in the community, go check it out!

[finchwingart]

Gonna attempt Febroary, a snow lep for day 1 !

[kalynaanne]

PSA: Brandon Sanderson is holding a T-shirt design contest for the release of The Lost Metal. 

There are 3 design prompts to choose from:

*  Wayne’s Haberdashery 

* Take anything from the books and give us an Art-Deco design 

* An in-world product (you can also make up your own in-world product for Mistborn)

More details on Sanderson’s site at: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/design-contest/

[bemusedlybespectacled]

I have exactly one (1) lifehack for every adult thing and that is “admit your ignorance to customer service people”

no, seriously! I know how nothing in adult life works, but I have learned it by calling up the customer service division of whatever agency I am having a problem with and then just asking about whatever the problem is, emphasizing my complete lack of knowledge about the thing.

my actual literal script for these interactions: “Hi, my name is [name]. This is my problem: [problem]. I don’t know how [adult thing] works. could you explain how [adult thing] works?” it fucking works every time.

me: I keep getting conflicting information as to whether my therapist is covered by my health insurance. I don’t know anything about health insurance, so this is very confusing to me. could you explain why this might be happening? health insurance customer service: it’s because your normal health insurance is X company but your mental healthcare is subcontracted out to Y company, and Y covers your therapist but X doesn’t. just always bill Y when you go to your therapist and you’ll be fine.

me: I accidentally put the wrong date to pay my credit card off and I’m afraid it will post before I get paid. this is my first credit card so I don’t know what I’m doing. could you tell me when it will post? customer service person: it will send a message to your bank today, but your bank won’t respond to it until tomorrow when you get paid, so you’re fine. and even if it does bounce, the fee is only $25 and you qualify for a waiver.

me: I went to an urgent care place that said they’d take my health insurance, but now i have a big bill. I don’t know how billing works: can you explain why the amount is so much for such a routine trip? customer service person: it’s because you were out of network at the time. however, since your insurance hasn’t covered the cost of care, the urgent care people should refund you for the cost of the services you paid for. me: [gets actual check in mail for the $200 I spent on testing my pee]

I would not recommend this method for retail (for the love of god, do not tell a sleazy car dealer that you don’t know how cars work), and sure, sometimes you have to speak to the manager or threaten a credit card chargeback or whatever you need to do. but 99% of the time, speaking nicely and admitting to needing help has worked wonders for me, and means I don’t have to stew in terror over doing some adult thing Wrong.

[unpretty]

The Brooklyn Public Library is giving eCards to teens nationwide to challenge book bans.

Like we needed another reason to love libraries: with book bans ramping up in school systems around the country, the Brooklyn Public Library

Right now, and for a “limited time,” anyone in the United States between the age of 13 and 21 can apply for a free Brooklyn Public Library eCard, which gives access to 350,000 eBooks, 200,000 audiobooks, and online databases.

Teens who want to apply for the free eCard can send an email to [email protected] or a message to @bklynfuture on Instagram.

[rithmatistkalyna]

This feels like a crazy long shot, but do I know anyone who plays Pokemon Go in the Uxie region?

[mandrathekandra]

I haven’t heard anyone talking about the land octopi yet

[mandrathekandra]

🐙🐙🐙

[kalynaanne]

My immediate thought was of the sarpenthyn Shallan saw at the not-a-zoo that one time! These critters: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Sarpenthyn

[chasmkata]

active footage of me trying to rationalize chapter 99 in my brain

[kalynaanne]

Look. One of Wit’s goals in life is to poke fun at people and make them uncomfortable. I’m choosing to believe that that is Wit’s goal here. Jasnah gets it and knows that reacting will just encourage him, so she does her best to avoid reacting outwardly and just inwardly rolls her eyes.

They get along well. They are friends. They are co-conspirators. They challenge each other. Jasnah appreciates that enough to put up with the nonsense. That’s all. 

[kalynaanne]

So I saw @ultimateinferno theorizing about this, and I want spoilers hidden under a cut on my blog, so I’m making a new post rather than reblogging to add to his excellent theory/meta. There are *major Rhythm of War spoilers* mixed with theorizing under the cut.

Ultimateinferno makes a good argument that Lift is the one who is eventually going to deal with Taravangian!Odium. This is *perfect*.

Lift’s “I don’t want to ever change.” You know what? If she kills Taravangian she’s going to get the opportunity to absorb Odium and ascend. Either her boon is going to give her the strength to resist taking the power so that she can deal with it some other way (maybe she could team up with Rysn??? I wonder what kind of affect shattering Odium would have...) OR she *will* take the power, but because of Cultivation’s boon it won’t affect her ability to think clearly.    

Heh, although, Lift, as she is right now, but with the power of a shard might be a whole different kind of problem. As Yanagawn points out, “She often does what she isn’t supposed to.”

[yahoo-geddon]

Yahoo Groups Will Be Shutting Down - What Each of You Can Do

This post will be frequently updated - check the Google Doc linked here for the latest version. Follow this Tumblr for more information in the days ahead.

Yahoo Groups will be shutting down key features and restricting access to Groups, with user-uploaded content being deleted on December 14, 2019. With this shutdown, decades of fandom history will vanish. But there is something that every member of the fandom community can do now - whether they’ve ever used Yahoo Groups before or not.

I am a member of a Yahoo group - what can I do?

Immediately contact the admins to find out what their plans are.

Download PGOffline, a Windows tool to save the files and messages. Any member of the Yahoo Group can use this tool - you do not have to be an admin to save the mailing list. 

Since many admins are busy or inactive, install the free Windows software program yourself and start downloading - focus on Files, Photos, Links, and Messages. A step-by-step walk through is available here and a video tutorial here.

Submit your plan to download here.

 Export the messages and backup up the files and photos by copying them to another folder on your computer. Then contact Open Doors, the OTW preservation program. The OTW is open to providing storage of Yahoo Groups backups that are assembled by moderators and non-moderators alike. Details are here.

If you are a member of a Yahoo Group and have downloaded the files and messages, and the admins do not respond, please contact your fellow mailing list members. Remember, anyone can save a mailing list messages, files and photos and submit them to Open Doors.

Click here for instructions on how to use the Chrome plugin

If you need help from fellow fans, try asking on the “Save Yahoo Groups” Discord Channel

Mac Users: try this Chrome based plugin

Instructions on how to use the Chrome plugin

Alternatively, if you are familiar with Python, please experiment with the tools found at https://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Yahoo!_Groups

I am Admin - what can I do?

Communicate with your Group members - let them know your plans

Download your Group messages, files, photos, and links using the tools above. Don’t forget to download your members list.

Decide if you want to simply archive the old posts and disband the mailing list or start up somewhere else.

Please take a look at setting up a Dreamwidth community - it allows explicit material, threaded conversations, privacy locks and is free. Image uploading is limited to 500MB for free accounts and 1.5GB paid accounts. Also, if you are considering Groups.io as an option, please note that it does not allow any material that depicts sexual activity, even implied sexual activity or anything that could be considered a fetish.

I am not certain I have time to help download? Is there something else I can do?

If you are a member of a mailing list, submit the mailing list for consideration. It will help volunteers focus their efforts. Don’t forget check here to see if your group is already being downloaded.

Even if you are not a mailing list member, consider creating a page for the mailing list on Fanlore, so that there will be a place for people to talk about the mailing list, its history. Details here.

Login Problems?

Has your “inactive” email been purged? Is your email email address not linked to a Yahoo Group ID?

An “inactive” account is one where you haven’t sent an email or logged in for the past year. Receiving emails does not count as activity. The email address is then released, and can be used by someone else.

If you used your Yahoo email to subscribe to a mailing list, your access to the Yahoo Group is gone (along with all your emails). If your account was deactivated within the past 90 days, you may be able to reactivate it. (more here). Alternatively, you can try contacting Yahoo Mail support.

Outside the 90 day window: you can try creating a new Yahoo email account using the same screen name as long as no one else has snapped it up. Simply sign up as you would for a ‘new’ email account. Reclaim an inactive mailbox. Then log into your Yahoo Group.

[ao3commentoftheday]

Signal boost! If you or any of your followers know someone who was active in Yahoo Groups, here’s how they can save their fics, role play threads, head canons, metas, art, chats, and so much more. 

Another piece of fandom history will disappear if it isn’t taken care of.