The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, all that wildlife stuff...you get to see Leo eat this gazelle or whatever.

That's the least of it, unfortunately. I'm not a vegetarian and I get that Leo needs to eat too. No, this was worse. People can do horribly cruel things to animals, but Mother Nature is full of horribly cruel things even without any help from humans. And I don't mean just "predator kills prey", though that can be cruel enough.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Edit: would you mind info dumps DURING gratuitous porn scenes (like in the early seasons of the Game of Thrones TV series)?

I haven't yet watched Game of Thrones. But that made me laugh

Heheh. I don't mind either gratuitous porn or info dumps. Unless either of them happens basically every other page.

I haven't read The Barrow, but I intend to (it has been on my read-soon list for a long time).

All I'm saying is buckle up.

I read The Barrow in 2019, so memories are hazy. I can't remember the characters or the basic story. But I can remember endless diversions of the history of such and such. These weren't info dumps that were germane to the story. The author clearly had the history of his land all worked out and damnit, you were gonna know it!

The Barrow is set in the same world as his Artesia comics (which I haven't read). But it is set before the comics and is billed as a standalone.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Barrow is set in the same world as his Artesia comics (which I haven't read). But it is set before the comics and is billed as a standalone.

He has written a sequel to The Barrow in three parts and self-published it. It's available on Amazon.

Thanks for the history dump warning. I can only hope I won't be too bored...

[DNSB]

My wife was getting a laugh out of the warning in a M/M romance she was reading. One of the triggers was a warning that there was male/male sexual contact. It reminded her of the warning on a jar of peanut butter: May contain peanuts. From the rest of the warnings, she felt the warning page was more an ad for the content than a warning.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It reminded her of the warning on a jar of peanut butter: May contain peanuts.

The word 'may' makes the warning even more hilarious (and perhaps slightly worrisome).

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

The word 'may' makes the warning even more hilarious (and perhaps slightly worrisome).

Also, this:



It's also gluten-free and vegan.

[DNSB]

At one point for my sins, I maintained the corporate WHMIS documentation. Some of them would be good for a laugh such as the excerpt below:

Safety Data Sheet
according to 29CFR1910/1200 and GHS Rev. 3
Effective date : 01.08.2015 Page 2 of 6

Distilled Water

SECTION 4 : First aid measures

Description of first aid measures

After inhalation: Move exposed individual to fresh air.

After skin contact: Wash affected area with soap and water.

After eye contact: Protect unexposed eye. Rinse/flush exposed eye(s) gently using water for 15-20 minutes.

Remove contact lens(es) if able to do so during rinsing. Seek medical attention if irritation persists or if concerned.

After swallowing: Rinse mouth thoroughly. Do not induce vomiting. Have exposed individual drink sips of water. Seek medical attention if irritation, discomfort or vomiting persists.

Most important symptoms and effects, both acute and delayed:
Irritation, Nausea,Headache, Shortness of breath.;

Indication of any immediate medical attention and special treatment needed:
If seeking medical attention, provide SDS document to physician.

[ownedbycats]

Flush eyes with water after exposure to water.

[issybird]

This is a mild request to drop the "I know something and I won't tell" schtick. Just don't bring it up in the first place; it's unnecessary.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It reminded her of the warning on a jar of peanut butter: May contain peanuts. From the rest of the warnings, she felt the warning page was more an ad for the content than a warning.

The scary word is MAY .
So much fake food being sold these days. XYZ Flavor
And in addition to shrinkflation, the ingredient list is the only obvious change on items you have been buying since forever.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, this:

Attachment 204058

It's also gluten-free and vegan.

Reminds me of a spice shop I was in a few years back. They had lime leaves, organic lime leaves and organic, gluten-free, non-GMO lime leaves. I made the mistake of asking the sales clerk about the gluten-free and got a 15 minute lecture on the dangers of gluten from someone who did not know what Crohn's disease or celiac disease were. The only real difference I saw was the price.

[hildea]

I see the conversation has moved on, but I wrote an answer in my head while biking to work this morning, and don't want to waste it

I don't understand why people have a problem with content warnings. It's like subtitles on films: If you need them, they are great, if you don't you can ignore them (except content warnings are a lot easier to ignore than subtitles).

The first few pages of a book have lots of stuff I just go past, all those copyright and edition notes etc. If I also have to flip past a few content notes, that's no hassle at all. (If there are major spoilers in the notes, I'd want them to be somewhat hidden, of course.)

It's not always obvious from the blurb that there's content which warrant a note. Take for instance KJ Charles' "The Magpie Lord", with this blurb:

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude…and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

The content warning for it is:

Animal abuse/death, suicide (attempted on page, actual off page), violence, questionable consent, power exchange dynamics, occult horrors, deaths, homophobia, references to sexual abuse and incest (off page)

(All her content warnings are here.)

A lot of those warnings are redundant. If you've read the blurb you won't be blindsided by the violence, deaths, or occult horrors. But the animal abuse could still be an unpleasant surprise. It really is graphic, I'm pretty sure it's not a coincidence that Charles has put it first on the list.

I didn't mind that scene, or any other part of the book, so for me the content note is redundant. But for others it could be welcome, and it doesn't inconvenience me in the slightest that it's there.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Do you have an example?

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust. There was nothing to indicate there was going to be a Sapphic subplot - it just appeared out of the blue. Contrast with Melissa Scott's Astreiant or Ellen Kushner's Riverside series, the gay plots are properly integrated as part of the storylines.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by maddz

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust.
... Sapphic subplot

Thanks for the recommendation

[Quoth]

Were these leaves off a citrus lime tree, or leaves from a linden tree, which is commonly called a lime tree in UK and Ireland?

AFAIK neither has gluten and I never heard of genetically engineered limes.