The Reading Room

A J

11:06 AM

@Randal'Thor Would asking what does a particular sentence or something means will be on-topic here?

BESW

@Randal'Thor "This is psychic justification. It's so thin it's actually imaginary."

Rand al'Thor

@AJ Don't ask me, ask meta. Or just go ahead and ask your question on the site, and see how it's received.

Like I said over at Area 51, at this stage we're setting site scope by discussing it on meta and setting an example on the main site.

Chat is never a place for scope to be decided :-)

BESW

Some examples of that would be better left for English Language & Usage, others would do well here.

So yeah, take it to meta and be specific.

M.A.R.

@BESW Or rather, English Language Learners

BESW

Depending.

M.A.R.

11:11 AM

Yes.

BESW

The example I linked is on english.se, and seems to fit the broad category AJ's describing above.

M.A.R.

Well, if they feel that the OP is nonnative, things would go south

BESW

That's their problem.

b_jonas

I'd be happier if people posted good questions here that aren't obviously on topic on Sci Fi or Mythology.

BESW

Overlap is important to deal with.

It happens, it's inevitable, it's cool, we need experience with it.

b_jonas

11:15 AM

Sure, we do have to deal with it, but it fragments the information and makes it harder to search, just like the overlap between Sci Fi with Movies&TV and with Anime&Manga and with Arquade.

Before I ask a question, I have to search on multiple sites to see if it's been asked.

Rand al'Thor

Dammit, @Emrakul! That was less than a minute!

M.A.R.

@b_jonas Well, that's an unfortunate side-effect of trying to have sites with defined scope.

A lot of questions over at chem would be on-topic on Physics, Biology, Math, SO etc.

BESW

Or coffee.se and cooking.se, or... the list is not small, and thus far it hasn't caused anything to implode or explode. Generally speaking trusting the querent to ask on the Stack they feel is best suited to have the experts they need is a useful and sufficient tactic.

M.A.R.

Yup

BESW

(Heck, there were cooking.se people railing against the existence of coffee.se at all.)

b_jonas

11:18 AM

@BESW It has led to some dupe questions, including one I posted on Sci Fi because I failed to check Movies.

BESW

Organically-occurring cross-site dupes aren't a problem.

There's no "Vote to Close as Duplicate on Another Stack," and that seems reasonable.

b_jonas

Now I'll have to decide whether to ask my questions here or on Sci Fi.

M.A.R.

@b_jonas This would only be a problem if we take reps to be the end.

BESW

Spoilt for choice.

M.A.R.

@b_jonas Throw a dice

Ankit Sharma

11:20 AM

@AJ not evening even in India

M.A.R.

If it's an odd number, Sci-Fi. If it's even, LC.SE

b_jonas

@M.A.R. No, it's more complicated than that. I originally considered asking on Sci Fi to find out the limits of what the community considers on-topic there.

A J

@AnkitSharma Pre-evening then

Ankit Sharma

lol

k

b_jonas

So I might still want to post there, even if it would be off topic there and on topic here.

M.A.R.

11:20 AM

@AJ Or post-noon

A J

@Randal'Thor MetaReel will be bringing it anytime.

b_jonas

As in, to find inconsistencies about what they close and don't close as off topic.

A J

@M.A.R. Hmm

BESW

Hah. Don't go poking scifi.se's topic policies too hard, or with too sharp a stick.

They'll either vanish in a puff of logic, or turn into an angry badger.

b_jonas

@BESW I already did that at least once. It was a funny story, with Octodad.

M.A.R.

11:22 AM

Or both

Rand al'Thor

@AJ We don't have MetaReel here.

M.A.R.

An invisible angry badger

Rand al'Thor

And I'm afraid to let BESW curate the feeds, in case he makes them tickers instead of oneboxes :-P

BESW

@Randal'Thor As I've said, I have experience customising feeds to the needs of the chat.

Rand al'Thor

@BESW The topic policies have got nothing on the tagging policies. Those are angry badgers all the way.

b_jonas

11:23 AM

Also, I'll have to try to recall the few questions I wanted to ask about literature that aren't sci fi and weren't important enough to ask elsewhere.

BESW

That means if tickers make people go mad with rage, there won't be tickers.

M.A.R.

@Randal'Thor Make me RO! I'll make Literature Chat great again

Rand al'Thor

@BESW I was kidding :-)

M.A.R.

Or great without an again

I have experience annoying people with feeds.

Mithrandir

That was a pain to write on mobile

..

That answer

M.A.R.

11:25 AM

Two dots is neither an ellipsis nor a period. TRIGGERED

At least two dots is better than nine.

user61230

@Randal'Thor You'll never get a unique answer in again! Mwahahaha!

Rand al'Thor

@DVK Could you cast an expert eye on this answer to see if it's largely accurate (and maybe add a better one if not)?

@Emrakul It's almost scary how similar our answers are.

b_jonas

I seem to remember I had some unasked question about Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes stories, but I can't tell what it was.

Rand al'Thor

I guess that proves that what we're saying makes sense.

@b_jonas The Naval Treaty / Second Stain question on Area 51 wasn't yours, by any chance?

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor Wasn't mine.

Mithrandir

11:28 AM

Emrak is the sock! Not me!

Rand al'Thor

I came up with an idea last night for a self-answered question, but now I've forgotten it again.

user61230

@Randal'Thor It doesn't surprise me. We tend to agree about Stack stuff, up to small (but possibly significant) framing issues.

b_jonas

I think I haven't even read all of the Holmes stories, only like half of them. I should read the rest.

user61230

We've really got quite similar baseline views about how SE sites should work, we just have small philosophical differences that show now and again.

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas I believe at this point I've read all of them except one. I slowed down dramatically towards the end, and now I guess I'm saving "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" for a VERY rainy day.

@Emrakul Like on the author/work tagging issue? :-)

Well, even there we can see each other's point of view.

The voting on those answers changed quite a bit overnight ...

user61230

11:31 AM

@Randal'Thor Yeah! Like that. And it's easy enough to see POV.

user61230

They sure did, jeez.

BESW

I feel like private betas move way too fast; there's no time to ruminate on an issue.

It's all hot takes.

Rand al'Thor

Good answer on that Area51 question, btw.

It's weird how often the highly-voted example questions in Area 51 are completely unsuitable for the site itself.

BESW

Which, given we seem to have to re-learn basic Stack principles every time we start a new beta, is problematic.

Rand al'Thor

You would've thought there are enough serious Stack people on Area 51 to downvote the unsuitable ones.

user61230

11:33 AM

I think questions in Area 51 serve a different purpose than questions do on a Stack site. In principle, they should line up, but in reality, they do slightly different things.

user61230

But, thanks!

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor why not

b_jonas

@BESW Isn't that only for the first few days?

Ankit Sharma

I can understand not having mains site bot but we should have meta bot here

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Nobody's set up any feeds yet.

Did you see how fast the new questions were coming in yesterday?

Ankit Sharma

11:36 AM

We can call him bookworm

Rand al'Thor

The room would have been flooded. It was amazing.

@AnkitSharma Good idea!

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor I was busy and missed all early fun

@Randal'Thor then ticker feed can work

0

Q: Should asking about meaning of a particular excerpt/quote of a book be on-topic?

Sometimes, I (I think we all do) come across a passage or quote where we couldn't quite understand what author means in that context. So, should asking such questions be on-topic? Users can get better perspective from others who actually read this.

Rand al'Thor

13 hours ago, by Rand al'Thor

@BESW Oh, please not the ticker :-(

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor hmmm, mayeb I should raise a meta

@AJ i think it should be allowed ^^

user61230

Attempting a self-answered question, let's see how this goes...

Mithrandir

11:41 AM

Hmm, I can still earn another 41 rep today....

b_jonas

Heheh, in meta.literature.stackexchange.com/a/14/139 Rand al'Thor says about id questions

Rand al'Thor

Testing link: English Language & Usage

b_jonas

> but to read a book you need to sit down and give it your full attention for a longer period, which again makes it more likely to stick in your head better

Rand al'Thor

Good, that works

Ankit Sharma

@b_jonas -1, not agreed

b_jonas

11:42 AM

Which is funny because the single ID question I had on Sci Fi is about a book series I saw in a book store, without sitting down for a moment, and since it's a very thin children's book, I read one of the series right there quickly..

user61230

I wonder if we're going to get interesting self-answered questions from people who had a thought about a book, and want to open it to other well-developed opinions.

Ankit Sharma

I only have a question from Hindi novel "Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda"

Not sure if I should post it in private beta

Gallifreian

Question: do we accept answers on policy questions on meta? On one hand, there's no point, since it's the vote count that matters. On other - it'll look like we don't have a consensus if a question has no accepted answer.

b_jonas

(There's also the case of the only time I got banned from a book store, when I read about a third of one of the volumes of the Alex Rider series in a book store. It took a longer time, but I wasn't sitting down, because it's a small book store with no couch. The guard told me to leave and that I'm welcome again if I actually want to buy the book. I was a bit pissed because it was a hardcover book, so it didn't get hurt from reading.

I wouldn't do that to new paperback books, because those are amortized when you first read them, even though there's a book store with a lot of Discworld novels in English paperback, many of which I couldn't yet borrow and would like to read without buying.)

Ankit Sharma

0

Q: Why don't we have a meta bot now?

First day meta enthusiasm has been cooled down a bit now then why don't we make a meta bot for our chatroom now? We can even call him bookworm.

discussion chat

done

user61230

11:47 AM

@Gallifreian I'd consider it good etiquette to hold off for a while, unless the policy question is pretty stark or very short-term.

Rand al'Thor

@Gallifreian Accepting won't affect consensus, but it does help the place to look tidy.

7

A: Why even accept an answer on Meta?

For the same reason as you'd accept an answer on the main site. Basically, accept an answer if it solved your question. If you post a support question, accept the answer that solves your problem by telling you how to do whatever it was you wanted to do. If you post a feature-request or bug repo...

user61230

There are a lot of questions that are getting speedy answers right now, which we're going to want to take a look at and comb through more carefully and slowly after private beta ends.

Mithrandir

I find it amusing that I got a downvote on my self answered question...

Ankit Sharma

16

A: What should our main site chatroom be called?

The Reading Room Is there a more obvious pick?

^ When is chatroom renaming ceremony

b_jonas

> Anecdotally, I've also discovered on SFF that book ID questions tend to be higher quality than film ID questions. This vague gut feeling is backed up by quantitative evidence. According to this Data.SE query, the average score of ID questions tagged with [movies] on SFF is 5.49 while the average score of those tagged with [short-stories] is 8.55.

Ankit Sharma

11:48 AM

@Mithrandir People on SE are not so loving to self answer stuff

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Why assume the bot must be male? :-P

b_jonas

From same post by Rand. But aren't the votes skewed because short story ID questions often get correct answer quickly from our amazing short story catalog users?

Rand al'Thor

Droids have gender issues too!

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor look again :P

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas Getting a correct answer quickly shouldn't change the quality of the question though.

@LaurenIpsum It's that 'famous' which, IMO, makes the question opinion-based. How do you define fame? The junior novelisations of the Star Wars films are pretty famous over on Sci-Fi SE, but I don't think they'd make a good answer to this question. — Rand al'Thor 4 mins ago

I just made myself chortle.

b_jonas

11:50 AM

@Randal'Thor But it can change the votes.

Benjamin

Is literary nonfiction on-topic?

Gallifreian

@Benjamin - why not ask on meta?

Mithrandir

Think so

Gallifreian

Please use the scope tag though

Ankit Sharma

What about mythological books, are they literature ?

Gallifreian

11:54 AM

10

Q: Overlap with Mythology, how to draw the line?

The Mythology site has been around for some time and has a lot to offer. How can we best deal with the relation, and provide insight for the community which question to place where? Maybe examples would be most illuminating?

discussion

b_jonas

Okay, so question. I have some questions about literature (that isn't sff) I had posted on other forums. This includes a story-id, for which I got the correct answer, and more vague questions, for which I often got only partial answers. When should I repost such questions here?

Ankit Sharma

hmmm

Gallifreian

@b_jonas why would you?

Ankit Sharma

Asking moral of the story is also on topic?

Yannis

@b_jonas I'd only post the questions where you weren't satisfied by the answers, with a short explanation of what more you are looking for. Even if only to save yourself from getting exactly the same answers you got in the forums.

Ankit Sharma

11:56 AM

Or it's opinion based?

Benjamin

0

A: Is literary non-fiction on-topic?

Yes, this is on-topic as long as the question is about the work itself and the question would be on-topic if it were asked about an equivalent fictional book. However, questions about the facts behind a work of literary non-fiction books are off topic and probably belong on a different Stack Exch...

Gallifreian

17

Q: Is literary analysis on-topic?

Should questions like "what does the author mean by saying XX?" or "what is the significance of YY item in this context" be on-topic? On one hand, they can facilitate opinion-based discussion (and worse - homework essay questions). On the other hand, there may be well-written essays or even inte...

discussion scope

b_jonas

@Yannis So no self-answered ones?

Benjamin

@b_jonas Self-answered questions are acceptable and I think you should repost any of the, without plagiarising as that is part of the SE model.

b_jonas

This is the story ID question I asked, and I got the correct answer for it and verified it by borrowing the book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/…

Ankit Sharma

11:59 AM

K will craft my question tonight then, not sure if he have Hindi literature enthusiast here or not

Mithrandir

Don't repost id questions

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Great! It's nice to see the scope of the site expanding with more non-English literature.

Benjamin

@b_jonas I think especially given the fact that Wikipedia Reference Desks don't show up high in search results, you should reask it as long as it would be considered a good question in it's own right/

b_jonas

@Mithrandir Ok. Obviously I can't post it yet, until you figure out whether id questions are allowed in first place.

Benjamin

@Randal'Thor The more literature is included the more sustainable the site.

Rand al'Thor

12:01 PM

@b_jonas No, no, that's not how it works. Those of us who are in favour of ID questions should set an example by creating some really exemplary ones.

Ankit Sharma

@Mithrandir better don't post ID ever

Rand al'Thor

Remember, scope is set not only by meta consensus but also by setting an example with actual questions on the main site.

Mithrandir

ID questions are only useful to the op. Other questions are useful for everyone. Once you have the answer to an ID question, I don't think that you should repost them.

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor Ok, but I don't know what ID questions are really exemplary, and I also don't know if I'm in favor of ID questions.

Ankit Sharma

@Mithrandir word of wisdom

Benjamin

12:02 PM

@Mithrandir ID questions can be useful in the future.

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Sorry, nope. I've collected quantitative evidence to prove that ID questions are not only useful to the OP.

Mithrandir

@Benjamin how?

b_jonas

@Mithrandir Rand argues in that meta post that many ID questions are useful to other people who are searching for the same story too.

Ankit Sharma

@Benjamin uhuunnn, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Same way as any other post: by helping other people who have the same question.

user61230

12:03 PM

Oh dear. The Battle over ID Questions Begins...

user61230

I was hoping we could wait until at least day 3.

Ankit Sharma

burn the ID and live happily ever after

Rand al'Thor

@Emrakul First ever question on meta!

Gallifreian

18

A: What do we think about story identification?

Identification questions are like... The cabbage, radishes and shredded carrots that some sushi shops put on the platter before stacking up the meat & rice. They make the plate look nice and full, and they're something to chew on once you've eaten all the meat... ...But no one goes to a sushi r...

This answer says don't burn but also be moderate

b_jonas

Ok, so looking at particular questions I've asked. There are multiple about Arany János poems, since I'm fond of them.

Ankit Sharma

12:04 PM

Is Gallifreian a bot O.o

@Gallifreian bummer

Mithrandir

ID questions are useful, yes. But usually only to the op. They usually aren't detailed enough to help random Internet searchers :)

b_jonas

hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Tudakoz%C3%B3/… is what might be a "shopping" question: I'm trying to find a good voice recording of reciting a particular poem. Is that on topic?

Yannis

@AnkitSharma Aren't we all?

Gallifreian

@AnkitSharma Gallifreian, Time Lords, TARDIS, time travel? duh...

b_jonas

@Mithrandir It's often the answers that are detailed enough.

Ankit Sharma

12:06 PM

@Yannis Not me, I am zombie-fairy hybrid trying to get rid of all the time travelling robots

Mithrandir

Usually the answer tries to specifically mention the points in the question, not much more.

b_jonas

These two questions ask about the meaning of particular phrases in one of his poems: hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Tudakoz%C3%B3/… and hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Tudakoz%C3%B3/… . Are those on topic?

Ankit Sharma

@Gallifreian not a Dr Who person

Rand al'Thor

1

Q: Should asking about meaning of a particular excerpt/quote of a book be on-topic?

Sometimes, I (I think we all do) come across a passage or quote where we couldn't quite understand what author means in that context. So, should asking such questions be on-topic? Users can get better perspective from others who actually read this.

discussion scope

b_jonas

(I've asked such a question on French Language SE, where it's on topic if it's in French.)

> Before posting your question, you might want to think about whether it's more a language question or a literature question. If you're asking about the meaning of a word or phrase, one of the language sites might be the best place to ask.

Mithrandir

12:07 PM

Oof. I need another answer upvote :)

Then I can edit freely

b_jonas

> Questions should show work done, otherwise be downvoted as "not sufficient research".
>
> If too many crappy homework questions get posted, we should institute formal moderation policies, similar to quality controls required for questions like ID on MTV, or Software Rec in general, or Skeptics notability.

from meta.literature.stackexchange.com/questions/42/…

Gallifreian

@Mithrandir 'ere you go

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir @Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ needs to get to the Suggested Edits review queue too.

b_jonas

That's true. The hu.wikipedia refdesk gets a lot of very bad quality homework questions, often giving a list of obscure words from Egri Csillagok and asking what their meaning is.

Mithrandir

Thanks Doctor

@Randal'Thor ...He has?

b_jonas

12:12 PM

There was even a so bad it's bad question about Egri Csillagok: hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Tudakoz%C3%B3/…

Mithrandir

Now I need to reach 750 so that I can approve tag wiki edits...

Ankit Sharma

@Mithrandir And I am still stuck with association bonus

@Mithrandir ufff greed :P

Mithrandir

@AnkitSharma merely trying to get as much as possible done :)

b_jonas

The interesting part is that at least one good discussion came out of those bad homework questions, when people couldn't agree what the phrase "külyüs malom" means in Egri Csillagok.

(We don't know what answer the teacher who set the question thinks is correct, because those posters asking this don't come back with such info.)

Mithrandir

... Why was that migrated here?

Ankit Sharma

12:15 PM

0

Q: How to help a postgraduate student to write a book?

What is the best way to help a weak student who has already completed her post-graduation but has also secured a result much worser than her expected result during the completion of graduation, to write a good quality book which shall be recommended to higher secondary level students after it get...

authors books careers education science

^ wow user deleted

this soon

Mithrandir

Ah right

Thought that it was migrated because of the Grey name so soon

Ankit Sharma

@Mithrandir I think migration is prohibited in private beta

Mithrandir

... And one more point to cap...

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Ouch.

@AnkitSharma Yep, I just checked and Literature doesn't come up in the list of possibilities to migrate to from SFF.

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor as I expected

Rand al'Thor

12:19 PM

Doubtless CMs could do it, but it'd be strange anyway to send someone to a site where they need to go via Area 51 to sign up.

user61230

There is no need of closing this question as this website (Literature StackExchange) is exactly the right StackExchange for this question — user211 46 secs ago

user61230

I think this is the same user. user209, user211. Maybe the deletion of their own profile was an accident?

Ankit Sharma

Q: What is the point of migrating a stuff from graduate or beta site to a private site?
Ans: None

@Emrakul you mean accident happened twice O.o

6 mods and 1 CM here O.o

user61230

@AnkitSharma needs more blue

A J

That Screening Room is now abandoned.

Ankit Sharma

12:23 PM

No it's not

And most of the chatters here are not even from screening room

Mithrandir

I'm not on m&tv

BESW

[amused]

Rand al'Thor

@AJ So is Mos.

Literature: the new hub of Stack Exchange!

Mithrandir

^starbait, that

Ankit Sharma

Rand al'Thor

12:25 PM

-1

A: What should our main site chatroom be called?

The bus Because I read the most literature while traveling to or from work on public transport.

HA!

A J

What's about The Sphinx Lair?

Benjamin

@Randal'Thor There are more books than programming languages?

Mithrandir

Everyone was eaten by the sphinx

Rand al'Thor

@Benjamin Books are more interesting than programming languages.

^ even more starbait

Mithrandir

Which? :)

Rand al'Thor

12:27 PM

Wow, three suggestions almost tied for the chatroom name.

I wonder how we're going to decide which to choose.

Mithrandir

... Vote.: p

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor bleh -1

user61230

We need to change the name of the room once a day, forever.

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir I've already upvoted two of them (and the third is my own).

user61230

Compromise. A good compromise is one nobody likes, right?

Ankit Sharma

12:28 PM

40 mins ago, by Ankit Sharma

^ When is chatroom renaming ceremony

user61230

"That's a stupid idea!" you say. "It's a good compromise!" I say.

Ankit Sharma

@Emrakul nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Rand al'Thor

@Emrakul I was about to say the same thing!

Mithrandir

Ack too much blue

Rand al'Thor

The Reading Room on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; the Library on Tuesday and Friday; The Book Club on Wednesday and Sunday.

Ankit Sharma

12:29 PM

@Randal'Thor no, The Reading Room is clearly wining

Mithrandir

This isn't Teacher's Lounge ;)

Benjamin

@Randal'Thor I like this idea. Could you put that as an answer?

BESW

I'd propose Rehevkor if I thought it'd make any sense at all. But a good mainsite room name should indicate to the lay scroller-by which topic it's related to.

Benjamin

@Randal'Thor Oh, so very true.

A J

I'd like to say a tagline of a popular ad.

**Divided by Movies, SFF, and Puzzles; united by Literature**

Rand al'Thor

12:30 PM

@Benjamin Nah, it'd be way too much work for some mod or RO to change the chatroom name every other day.

Ankit Sharma

@Mithrandir You can't be sure O.o

@Benjamin I am ready with the DV

user61230

@AJ United we fall, divided we win!

Rand al'Thor

@BESW Yeah, I would downvote that suggestion for being too obscure.

Mithrandir

... I'm not a mod, as far as I know, so

Ankit Sharma

@AJ bold don't work in multiple lines

BESW

12:31 PM

@Randal'Thor I'm downvoting almost all the suggestions for being to cutesy to clearly convey the room's intent.

A J

@Emrakul Yeah, I know.

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Also, The Library loses points for being a duplicate name.

Benjamin

@AnkitSharma @Randal'Thor Could we have a ModBot?

Rand al'Thor

That's the name of the chat room for Biblical Hermeneutics.SE, in case there's a reason to avoid duplication (besides my convenience). — Nathaniel 18 hours ago

Ankit Sharma

@Benjamin what is a modbot O.o

BESW

12:31 PM

@Randal'Thor Also that. Clarity is all.

Rand al'Thor

@Benjamin No. It's right there in the job description: "Moderators are human exception handlers."

user61230

I think The Reading Room is likely to take it, though.

BESW

The RPG General Chat has several times modified its tagline and room tags to more clearly be NOT about computer games.

Rand al'Thor

@BESW I wonder if I should even delete my suggestion for that reason.

Mithrandir

Lovely, I've already lost 18 rep to the cap...

Rand al'Thor

12:32 PM

And get probably the first Disciplined badge :-P

Ankit Sharma

Then just rename it or should I do it?

Mithrandir

Today

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Why keep track?

BESW

@Randal'Thor Dooo eeeet.

Mithrandir

I'm bored, that's why

BESW

12:33 PM

@Mithrandir Read a good book? I recently finished Tales of the Starbuck Avenger.

Mithrandir

Nope no new books

I'm sitting on Sherlock Holmes

BESW

Or Summer in Orcus. It's episodic, for easier small-bite reading.

user61230

@Mithrandir Don't do that, he'll suffocate!

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir I have the Complete Sherlock Holmes open in front of me.

Hunting down quotes to support Holmes's asexuality and Watson's heterosexuality.

(Yeah, I bit the bullet and answered the most controversial question on the site so far :-P )

Mithrandir

@Emrakul I'm not that fat

A J

12:35 PM

@AnkitSharma What's Bob doing there when we're all here?

Ankit Sharma

@AJ spy's work never end

Mithrandir

@AnkitSharma until he's dead

user61230

@Mithrandir Shoot, sorry, that's not what I meant!

BESW

@Randal'Thor Careful, the Irregulars are vicious.

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor An obvious one is "It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler." from en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Scandal_in_Bohemia

Ankit Sharma

12:40 PM

@Mithrandir O.o

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas That doesn't rule out the possibility of him being homosexual though.

I'm getting quotes which show he's not interested in romance at all, not just that he's not romantically interested in women.

b_jonas

Whoa, I'm lost in the website interface. Where do I edit my username for the site?

I want to show up as b_jonas here too.

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor asexual

b_jonas

Ah, got it.

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas literature.stackexchange.com/users/edit/139

Ankit Sharma

12:42 PM

@b_jonas what ?

b_jonas

Done.

Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Exactly.

b_jonas

@AnkitSharma As b_jonas on Literature SE, not on Chat.

Rand al'Thor

Personally, I would be happier to see an answer which logically follows from a textual analysis than one which simply quotes a famous literature professor. But +1 to this anyway. — Rand al'Thor 1 min ago

BESW

@Randal'Thor Just be sure you're not cherrypicking.

A good answer will admit any evidence which muddies the point, too.

Ankit Sharma

12:42 PM

@b_jonas k

Rand al'Thor

This is one of my pet peeves with SFF: too much emphasis on Word of God, too little on just working things out from a logical analysis of the work in question.

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor Hehe, ibid just told me the opposite in scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/23805/…

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas Honestly, I was tempted to downvote that answer. The question is about Tolkien, not Dahl.

@BESW Yep.

Mithrandir

If there is wog, I use it. Otherwise, it's down to logic

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor I was tempted not to post it, but for a different reason. It's probably not about the Lord of the Rings, which the question is asking about.

But Dahl is probably channeling his own opinion through the characters there.

Rand al'Thor

12:45 PM

@Mithrandir Exactly. I just feel that SFF has too few answers based on logic.

And some questions get closed as opinion-based just because there's no WoG answer, even if there is a clear logical answer.

Mithrandir

You're blue

user61230

@Randal'Thor Comment on your answer might also be useful in finding quotes. ACD plays into the asexual = cold, calculating, impersonable trope, but it's still at-best tenuous evidence of asexuality, even if it's textual/historical evidence.

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor But there's less of a risk of that in Literature SE, right? On SFF, the most frequent works are Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, of which the writers are alive and often talk about their works in interviews (though they often give conflicting answers), and Tolkien who has left a lot of letters that are still being processed.

@Randal'Thor Yes, that's true.

Rand al'Thor

@b_jonas I hope so!

BESW

@b_jonas When asked about the meaning of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Frost said, "It's about stopping by woods on a snowy evening."

user61230

12:47 PM

The reality is that authorial intent matters, but it doesn't matter that much. If the author says one thing but the text says another, frankly, the text wins.

Mithrandir

Rand why did you diets the answer

*delete

BESW

When asked what his songs are about Bob Dylan said "Oh, they're about four to six minutes."

Mithrandir

On the name of the chart

*chat

Rand al'Thor

@Emrakul Yep. But I'm pretty sure I already know which stories to look in.

b_jonas

Ok, I think I should ask at least one of the two Jules Verne questions here, even if that means I get to probe SFF rules less.

Rand al'Thor

12:49 PM

@Mithrandir I left a comment to explain.

17 mins ago, by Rand al'Thor

@AnkitSharma Also, The Library loses points for being a duplicate name.

16 mins ago, by Rand al'Thor

@BESW I wonder if I should even delete my suggestion for that reason.

BESW

And good luck getting Daniel Handler to say anything useful about his books.

Mithrandir

Ah, OK.

BESW

On the other hand, there's a wealth of information about Margery Allingham's process and opinions, from essays to letters to interviews with relatives.

user61230

@Randal'Thor Yeah, you've got this. ACD was using different politics to talk about asexuality. Your quote is a good example of that.

b_jonas

Of course it might serve for probing the rules of Literature SE instead.

Rand al'Thor

12:51 PM

@Emrakul Apparently ACD viewed homosexuality as an "illness", but I haven't found a first-hand source for that.

user61230

But now, instead of being late, it is extremely late, and I must sleep. Goodnight!

BESW

(Bob Dylan has also said... basically whatever comes to his mind at the moment... about his songs. So you'll find him actively contradicting himself.)

Rand al'Thor

Night @Emrakul!

user61230

@Randal'Thor It wouldn't surprise me. Most people at the time did.

user61230

Okay, now I'm off to sleep. Night!

b_jonas

12:56 PM

Oh, that reminds me. There's a question that I have asked on en.wikipedia refdesk and that I should check because perhaps I can cross-post to Mythology SE

Benjamin

Should we have a separate satire tag?

Rand al'Thor

Woo, first double silver badger.

@Mithrandir Boom. Word of God answer.

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