The Reading Room

12:22 AM

@Randal'Thor you couldn't guess? For example I'm relatively transparent about how I vote.

@Hamlet Oh, I'm not surprised by who it was. Just commenting on a small loophole in the "you can't see who voted for what" rule on SE.

Napoleon Wilson

12:38 AM

@Randal'Thor I can't, and I have no idea how you can.

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson You, Ash, Hamlet, and myself were the four downvoters.

Although I'm no longer publicly outed as such, as I've downvoted another answer today.

Napoleon Wilson

Well, sure, I guess. But I still don't have the slightest idea why you think that or what loophole you're talking about.

So I'm not sure how I am "publicly outed" as such either (other than by you claiming and me kind of calling it possible).

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson Look at the weekly rep leagues. You, Hamlet, and Ash all gained a single point today.

How did that happen? Because an answer you downvoted was deleted.

Napoleon Wilson

Ah, I see.

Rand al'Thor

Then on the last page of the same leagues, there's a guy with a -22, who must have deleted a +3/-4 answer today.

And sure enough, he did (but I don't think you have enough rep here to see it).

Napoleon Wilson

12:42 AM

That's some thick research and conclusioning, though. It's not a loophole if you dig for it really. ;-)

I can only surmise it's that non-answer I think to remember flagging as such recently.

Rand al'Thor

The only reason I went looking was because I was curious where my own +1 came from.

Napoleon Wilson

Oh wait, that was SciFi.SE.

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson It was an answer to this question, if that helps.

Napoleon Wilson

Probably rather old then. I don't know.

user15026

@Randal'Thor I don't even remember this question much less any deleted answer :P

Rand al'Thor

12:55 AM

@Ash Clearly you need to get more rep here, so that you can see deleted posts ;-)

user15026

@Randal'Thor grins True, true

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor And in order to make it more difficult for nosy users to get her into discussions like this. ;-)

user15026

Although that did remind me of a question I wanted ot ask

user15026

(and if I missed the detail I am going to be frustrated because it means reading while sleepy made me miss stuff, which is unusual for me)

Bookworm

1:10 AM

0

Q: Is there ever a clear explanation of why Rivka wears a mask over her face?

In Shira Glassman's Mangoverse novels, Rivka/Captain Riv is a woman pretending to be a man in order to work as a guard for the Queen (and later becomes Captain of the guards). It's noted that she wears a mask over the lower part of her face. There is a lot of mention of the reasons other people...

Rand al'Thor

@Bookworm @Ash fancy writing wiki excerpts for those two new tags? :-)

user15026

@Randal'Thor Do we have any sort of guidance on what we want to see in a tag?

Rand al'Thor

@Ash There's a couple of metas about it, but the most important thing for an excerpt is usage guidance: for an author, mention "for questions about X or about any of their works"; for a book/series, mention "use with the [authors-name] tag".

Napoleon Wilson

With SE not removing the auto-deletion process, the most important guideline is "by any means, just write one. Make it Lorem ipsum if nothing else!". ;-)

user15026

laughs alright, they're not long or anything but they're there for someone to review :)

Rand al'Thor

1:24 AM

@NapoleonWilson Even with that, I'd rather see no excerpt at all than the kind of "x For questions about X" things that were being written in private beta.

Napoleon Wilson

Hmm, I'd rather see a tag than no tag. But I ackowledge that tagging policy here might be different from what I'm myself used to.

user15026

1:50 AM

Although that question I asked is one of those ones where I am pretty sure it won't get an answer or votes because of it being a Kindle fantasy-romance and I would be very surprised if anyone else using the site has read them

user15026

and this is kinda why I ask as few questions as I do - most of what I read I know won't be read by many others here

user15026

which is fine, I don't care, it just makes it hard to want to bother because I am more likely to have things get roomba'ed rather than getting votes/answers

Napoleon Wilson

That never stopped me from asking questions, though.

Even an unanswered question is a great contribution to the site (provided it is a good question to begin with, of course ;-)) and its repertoire of questions from various works. And you never know if it might not get answered some day.

If it got roombad because noone actually gave you an upvote for a good question, then that's a different problem, though.

user15026

Yeah, that last bit is more my fear

user15026

Like if they're bad questions, fine, but if they're just not getting eyeballs/votes because they're unknown to the usual demographic here that's disheartening

Napoleon Wilson

1:56 AM

Hmm.

user15026

and I know from conversations I've had here that a lot of what I read (not just the romance novels but other stuff too) is outside the usual for most other people here that I've chatted with

user15026

which is fine, that's why the world is full of books

user15026

it just makes it harder for me to participate here in a meaningful sense

Napoleon Wilson

But I'm sure you know the vicious circle of inactivity and lack of broadening scope thinking like this can lead to.

user15026

Oh, I do, which is why I keep trying to force myself to do the thing anyhow

user15026

1:57 AM

Part of it is also like...I don't really introspect when I read

user15026

I just enjoy whatever story I am interacting with (fiction, non-fiction, whatever)

user15026

Oddly enough my having an English degree hammered the desire to analyze my reading kinda out of me

Napoleon Wilson

Well, sure. Coming up with reasonable questions isn't easy.

Sometimes I just stumble across an interesting thought and it slowly develops into the idea that it might make for an interesting question.

And sometimes I watch something that I'd have a big desire to ask a question about but simply can't think of anything worth asking. ;-)

user15026

Like I want to ask romance novel questions I just struggle to come up with any

Napoleon Wilson

But I also primarily ask for the sake of contributing, discussing and "hearing myself talk" (reading myself write?), rather than genuinely having to know the answer before my life can go on. ;-)

Which is why I'm usually delighted when Wikipedia or the first few Google results turn up empty. ;-)

And why I'm usually not too fussed about getting an answer immediately either.

Fortunately these are sites where answers aren't really urgent or particularly practically useful to begin with.

(Unless you seriously need to find that awesome novel your mother doesn't remember the title of before her birthday, or are worried how your books will survive the 8 hour hike you're doing next week.)

@Ash Which sounds a little disillusioned. Are you generally happy with your decision to strive into that academic direction (if that's not too bold to ask)?

user15026

2:10 AM

@NapoleonWilson Not really, no

Napoleon Wilson

Oh.

user15026

I'm not really using it in any real form

Napoleon Wilson

Hmm, that's also unfortunate.

user15026

it was a bad choice made for silly reasons that I get to now pay for for years. Like I guess you could kinda say I am using some aspects of it but it really was not the best choice for me

user15026

(It was, however, a very clear reminder that I like reading, I don't like studying literature)

user15026

2:12 AM

(at least not in a heavily bounded academic environment)

user15026

(sorry, I know I sound very bitter about it. I'm not, really, other than the fact that I'll be paying for it for eons because loans)

Napoleon Wilson

I'm sorry to hear that.

user15026

I like the idea of university

user15026

I liked some aspects of what I studied

user15026

but I should have been more...forceful, I guess, in doing what I wanted rather than what I felt was expected

Napoleon Wilson

2:14 AM

@Ash Well, don't worry. I'm not entirely satisfied with some of my academic decisions either. I'm still glad with what I studied, but I'm really glad I got out of the academic job sector.

user15026

Oh well. :) Life goes on, and it works out. I sometimes get brave and dip my toes back into analysis a la academia. :)

Napoleon Wilson

@Ash Oh, I hear ya. ;-)

user15026

I'm trying now to like....teach myself the things I want to know and find the ways to like...prove I know stuff without having to go back to school. Luckily, the tech stuff I find myself enjoying I can learn through self-directed stuff and get certifications and things that will prove I am not a complete turnip, I just gotta make myself do it

user15026

The hardest part of that is believing I can, as goofy as that might sound

Napoleon Wilson

Well, it's good you're doing something you enjoy now.

user15026

2:30 AM

Yep. Like I'd someday like it to be less of the residential level 1 support stuff and more actual focus on the tech stuff but it is a start :)

user15026

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble

Napoleon Wilson

Heh, don't worry. Have a good night. ;-)

Mithrandir

8:41 AM

@Bookworm @Ash - nice, post #5000!

skullpatrol

8:58 AM

Winter Bash 2017 countdown link.

Mithrandir

9:14 AM

@Ash if you get roomba'd, you can ping me and I'll usually undelete it if it's not a bad question

Gallifreyan

11:56 AM

@DVK-on-Ahch-To sad :'( On the other hand, I was very happy to re-discover this story. I'm on The Time Wanderers (Волны гасят ветер) now.

Matt Thrower

2:37 PM

My rep here is now higher, inside a year, than I've accumulated on SO in nearly 8.

2

I felt compelled to mark that somehow :)

Bookworm

0

Q: At the end of The Scarlet Letter, is it plausible that Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale will marry?

At the end of The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale seem intent on returning to Europe to marry. Is this plan at all plausible? After all, she's married to someone else, and they are adulterers. Was there really a country in Europe where they could have married (with or without ...

realism

Mithrandir

@MattThrower nice! Congrats! :)

user15026

8:04 PM

@Mithrandir ooooh nice I didn't even notice that :D

Napoleon Wilson

8:20 PM

Anyone remind me, are tags for individual novels and plays appropriate here?

Mithrandir

yes

Napoleon Wilson

8:37 PM

And am I assuming correctly that author tags for novels and plays are still somewhat of a matter of taste?

Mithrandir

They're kinda required by meta kunsensus

Napoleon Wilson

On all kinds of questions?

Mithrandir

(I always misspell that word, so I decided to go all the way :P)

@NapoleonWilson Well, most questions... depends on what exactly the question is. What's your title?

Napoleon Wilson

Title?

Mithrandir

What's the title of the question that you're asking about here?

Napoleon Wilson

8:39 PM

Oh, this one.

Mithrandir

@NapoleonWilson I'd say stick the author tag for Melmoth on there.

Napoleon Wilson

Because the question is primarily about that? Makes sense, I guess.

That does mean I have to write another tag wiki pair, though. :'(

Mithrandir

just ask @ChristopheStrobbe to do it ;)

Napoleon Wilson

With pleasure. I made sure the tags I really care about won't die. ;-P

(I also don't want to deytroy my nice 250 with another approved edit.) ;-)

Bookworm

9:03 PM

0

Q: What is "vulgar white of personal aims"? Why is it "white"? (Aurora Leigh by E. Browning)

From Aurora Leigh: 'I have not stood long on the strand of life, And these salt waters have had scarcely time To creep so high up as to wet my feet. I cannot judge these tides–I shall, perhaps. A woman's always younger than a man At equal years, because she is disallowed Maturing...

meaning

Gallifreyan

9:16 PM

...Ahm.

Tweeted by GlytchTech on December 11, 2017 at 4:18 AM

Shokhet

9:55 PM

@Randal'Thor Took me a minute, but YES.

Not sure if I read all of them, though.

Mithrandir

...wow

Shokhet

@Mithrandir "wow" what?

Mithrandir

you two have a freaky amount of books in common :P

Shokhet

Yes, we do :)

Shokhet

10:09 PM

@Randal'Thor ...wish I read them recently enough to help you out with the Tumbleweed question. I'm coming up with nothing :/

...I think I have them at home, so maybe I'll try to look at it over the weekend.

Rand al'Thor

11:54 PM

@Shokhet WOW. Is there any book series we don't have in common?

Suffice to say, if you recommend me anything, I'll take it seriously :-)

Also, if you didn't finish the Vampirates series, it's worth it. The second half of the series is possibly even better than the first - certainly more intense, with higher stakes - and, without spoilers, I liked the way it ended. There are so many supporting characters and minor plotlines to tie off, and the series had a reasonably satisfying and believable denouement, essentially everyone coming together in one massive confrontation.

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