Excuses! Recommendations! Most importantly, puppy pictures! · 7:41am Apr 12th, 2022
Heyo, all!
It's been one of these wordless whiles. The nastiest and longest-lasting bout of writer's block I've ever had continues to sprackle about and refuse to leave. It's a pain in the rear-end, going this long without publishing new horse-words, and I apologise to anyone who's been expecting anything resembling an update on that front. Horse-words do exist, albeit in scattered and incomplete forms — chapter five of Legends, the Flurry Heart piece I shared a snippet of last summer, a dark Luna/Nightmare Moon-centric short I started but never finished for FanOfMostEverything's third Imposing Sovereigns contest, a Hearthswarming adventure into the underworld starring Tempest Shadow — and there's not a day that goes by when they're not thought about to varying degrees. Progress'll come, hopefully, as and when I feel capable of properly sinning against the English language once more, and when I remember that a google doc's more scared of me than I am of it. Fingers crossed that day comes sooner rather than later.
But it's not all doom and gloom hereabouts, and I have the pictures to prove it.
Her name's Westray. She's about seven-eighths collie with a touch of husky. She's just over nine weeks old at the time of posting, having joined the homestead at eight. And she's a Very Good Girl.
(Her morality does blur a bit around the edges whenever I come upon a desecrated rug or whenever she decides that my hand's greatest and singular purpose is to be chewed upon, but her basic makeup probably remains Good in spite of those peccadilloes.)
Recommendations, then, for things I've been reading/playing in the last wee while. I do still do some other things nowadays apart from getting devoured by small dogs or recoiling from and hissing at word processors, and these are amongst them.
With regards to horse-words, I've been enjoying the hell out of JimmySlimmy's Fluttershy, Royal Game Warden (?) and its ongoing sequel. Pitch-black comedy matched to wee historical details matched to a refreshing narrative voice and neat prose are all matches I approve of. If you can abide a slightly, slightly more murderous main six being plunged in dreadful predicaments and bickering and mauling their way into deeper predicaments, it might be up your alley too.
With regards to non-horse words, The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy's a fascinating deep-dive into the sailing warships of the mid-18th century British Navy and how they worked, in essence - how they were manned, how they were provisioned and kept in order, the social contract and culture within and around them, the society that staffed and funded them. If any story you're planning features a ship-of-the-line or ten (and if it doesn't, correct this) this'd be well-worth a read.
Lastly, I've managed to achieve a state of zen, or something like it, via The Planet Crafter, an unreasonably serene early-access game all about terraforming a barren planet into lush greenery. Think something like the gameplay loop for Subnautica, but with less whimpering and trying to look inedible whenever the ocean depths start getting too deep and bottomless for comfort. Don't expect thrills, and do expect rising surface water that can threaten an unwisely low-lying base, but you'll get satisfying numbers going up and a lovely new world taking shape around you.
Puppers!
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Wee dugs!
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Mad respect!
Doggos make life worth living 😌
Glad to hear from you, and I'm sorry to hear about the ongoing block. I'm sure you'll be beating those documents until morale improves soon. And thanks for the puppy pictures as well.
She's undoubtly a Very Good Girl, and clearly whatever she does redefines what the words mean.
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Wanton percussive cruelty at the expense of a google doc may not be the most ethical way of improving my morale, but if it might work, it might work.
Glad to provide the pictures!
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Naturally, after posting this, she proceeded to desecrate my hallway repeatedly, often doing so while I had my back turned dealing with an earlier act of desecration. Collies work hard, you see, and they like to try and test words to destruction.
Dog!
Also, that book on sailing ships sounds really interesting. My favorite parts of the Horatio Hornblower books were the provisioning bits.
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Dog!
It's an informative read. The reviews I saw for it mentioned it's a natural companion for the Aubrey-Maturin series, which I haven't read but now badly want to.
Well that is indeed a very good girl.
Y'know, I've heard the occasional complaint or seen the occasional video clip of huskies howling/arguing or being uncooperative, but it occurs to me that I've never heard anything negative about collies.
As far as the mid-18th century British Navy goes, the main thing that I recall is that they were looking for a cure for scurvy around that time and trying all sorts of things. I remember reading about a trial of Dr. Lefèvre's scurvy cure which stuck in my mind because that name translates to 'The Fever'.
I think around the same time they were also advertising for a perpetual motion machine to be used in an sufficiently-accurate clock that they could use to figure out that dang longitude thing.
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Collies have the herding instinct. Keep them untrained and unchecked, and they'll try to round everything that moves and some of the things that don't in a confused bid to be useful. They and huskies are also active breeds, so the combination of the two's probably going to result in a perpetual motion machine in and of itself.
Scurvy-wise, the book does go into a wee bit of detail. By the time covered, they've more-or-less figured out that diet's a factor, and the fresher the food, the lesser the scurvy. Minor logistical problems arise when you're actually trying to get enough fresh food for long voyages and blockades, or trying to convince seamen to go for strange foreign substitutes when the homegrown staples run out. Likewise, navigation and longitude get a look-in, including the expensive clocks that were an attempt to solve the problem, and the increasingly-terrifying maths that was deployed to try and cost-effectively solve the problem.
Bless the pup, conquer the GDoc. Sounds like a wonderful time
Hurray for pupper! And I'm sure you'll wrestle the words to the ground sooner or later.
Though the animal companion does make you even more of a Disney princess you realize...
Dog.
Dorg! 💖
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'Bless the pup, conquer the GDoc ' isn't the ancestral clan motto, but it really ought to be. Shall write to the chief and advise him accordingly.
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Oh god, a characterful wee animal companion's part of the whole package. Do I just accept my destiny at this point? Do I just acquire the sparkliest gown?
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Dog!
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DRORG
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Clearly the answer is to become a Disney prince with the princess flair. Thus a sparkly suit perhaps?
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Sorted!
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Perfect!
What an adorable pup! Border collies are the absolute best! They're active and strong-willed, but amazing dogs when well trained and socialized. I'm sure she will be a joy for you!
i.ibb.co/MRyKzGP/tassheep.jpg
I hope you work out of your block soon; all those projects sound wonderful. Thanks for the recommendations in the meanwhile. I assume you've heard of Patrick C. O'Brian's naval adventure series starting with Post Captain? If not, you should give them a try. They're excruciatingly well-researched and lots of fun, particularly if you've got an ear for subtle humor.
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Collies are the best of dogs, and that point of view's not coloured at all by having grown up with them, honest. That's a handsome creature in that photo. Your own?
Heard nothing but good things, which means I really ought to read them. Currently reading through the last of the Flashman series, and no reason to stop the fictional imperial exploits flowing once I'm done. Might make them my next!
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That's my old Tas in the photo. Partially blind and partially deaf, but can still gather her sheep like a champion. I've got a young red who is a bit of a goofball for a border collie, but he knows his business and "does well under supervision." We plan on getting another pup next year, and I'm really looking forward to that.
I see that we are in complete agreement about the merits of the Best Dogs, Ever!
Ah, if you like Good (Bad) Old Flashy, you should get on quite well with Aubrey and Maturin!
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The best of animals. Give Tas and the young red a pat from me. And aye, shall give O'Brien's oeuvre a peruse.
I was reading this scrolling down line by line, and at the window size I had, there was a line ending in "when I feel capable of properly sinning against the English". Then a slight delay before I saw the next line, since I needed to scroll. So prior to seeing that the next word was actually "language", I believe I was thinking, if briefly and not formed into words, something along the lines of "Well, that is a grand old Scottish tradition". :D
Anyway, good luck with the writing, and in general! :)
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No sense in internal sinning, after all. Only best to export it to your neighbours.
And thank you!
May she never uncover any eldritch monstrosities while digging under any of your rugs.
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The things she leaves on these rugs is enough to scare off any eldritch monstrosity, trust me.