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Kate Nepveu

@katenepveu.bsky.social
567 followers 171 following 723 posts

Speaking solely for myself. Neither gives nor receives unsolicited advice. She/her. Also: kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org katenepveu.tumblr.com

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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
from the dawn of time right down to today, no one has ever said "I don't want to sound X" and then successfully avoided sounding X. (this includes me, btw. when I find myself starting to say that, I try to take it as a sign to reconsider.)
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
@courtneymilan.com this just popped out of my Tumblr queue and I thought you might like it collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O132842...
collections.vam.ac.uk
8-Bit Willow | Olly Moss | V&A Explore The Collections
Plate, ‘8-Bit Willow’, designed by Olly Moss, made in Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, 2013. Glazed bone china, overglaze printed in blue.
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
this is four sizes too big for me but I've been hugely tempted anyway. save me!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I went down a rabbit hole about portable sundials this morning at Tumblr in case it's of interest to anyone here. thanks to resident physicist @orzelc.bsky.social for consulting www.tumblr.com/katenepveu/8...
tumblr.com
Reblog by @katenepveu · 1 image
💬 2  🔁 395  ❤️ 719 · A Brief History of Timekeeping - BenBella Books · I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole looking at this: how does a portable sundial work? Would this one work? Sadly the mu…
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Our dog Charlie caught a chipmunk yesterday and then stood stock-still with its head and top half in his mouth and the back half hanging out. You have never seen a dog so clearly convey "ummm, NOW what am I supposed to do??" (I told him to drop it and he did, for which he got a very good treat.)
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
today in amazingly effective and welcome mood-lifters: Seven Nation Army where the bass line is samples of Homer Simpson saying D'oh. www.tumblr.com/eta-reductio...
tumblr.com
Reblog by @eta-reduction · 1 audio track
💬 1  🔁 323  ❤️ 519 · η - Seven Nation Army where the bass line is samples of Homer saying D'oh
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
spot the one plant around our lamppost, all of which I planted in the spring, that is NOT being eaten by local fauna
silver rod that isn't blooming because something's eating itirises what are being chomped ona stem of a cardinal flower extending almost horizontally because it's being crowded out, with a clean cut where the nice red flower used to bea frickin' enormous calico aster, nearly as tall as the lamppost, which is starting to think about blooming
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
this is so true and good and also immediately reminded me of the classic post from the other perspective (spoilers for Ancillary Justice) venndaai.tumblr.com/post/6573504...
venndaai.tumblr.com
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I did not see the tiny bird heads in D at first (or look at the description in the post) so I parsed it as an alien head with a long neck. (I will put a screenshot in the reply otherwise it'll break the quote.) and I think they look sick as heck. someone should buy them.
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
busy day today, broke out new T-shirt for morale
mirror selfie of me wearing the T-shirt that Nona is wearing on the cover of Nona the Ninth
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
not the last @readercon.org catchup, I hope, but the last for a while: Miles to Go: The Vorkosigan Saga at 40, with @ianrandalstrock.bsky.social @katherinecrighton.bsky.social and Meredith Schwartz kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1109607.html
kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
more @readercon.org catchup: Things Everyone Likes But You, with @casella.bsky.social, John Kessel, @karchwrites.bsky.social and Tracy Majka, which was so much fun and which I did actually take thorough notes for: kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1109438.html
kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
resuming the @readercon.org writeups with quite incomplete notes on The Odyssey in 2026 (pre-Nolan movie), with Charlie Allison, @kenschneyer.bsky.social and Sonya Taaffe! kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1109157.html
kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Readercon homework, part two: booklogging Emily Wilson's translations of The Iliad and the Odyssey, with bonus comments on three other Odyssey translations (two I did not read, and one I read about half of, but grudgingly and with suspicion). steelypips.org/weblog/2026/...
steelypips.org
Homer (tr. Emily Wilson), The Iliad and The Odyssey – Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu’s Book Log
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
trying to catch up on my blogging before vacation! First, somewhat abbreviated thoughts on Megan Whalen Turner's series The Queen's Thief, which was one part of my Readercon homework. steelypips.org/weblog/2026/...
steelypips.org
Turner, Megan Whalen: The Queen’s Thief series – Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu’s Book Log
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
goopy boys in musicals: thoughts on Oklahoma!, Les Miserables, and Hadestown (three times, including today). kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1108837.html
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
going to the Hadestown proshot!
reversed mirror selfie of me wearing a T-shirt with lyrics from Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" ("You got a fast car / I got a plan to get us out of here") over a picture of Richard Scarry's Lowly Worm in an apple car
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
okay this felt easy for a hard? I did almost no screenshot markup for it. I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Aug 2nd 2026 (Hard), in 04:55 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
cannot believe I got all greens on this, spending one zillion years running possibilities on a marked-up screenshot was worth it I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Aug 1st 2026 (Hard) 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I've been thinking about how you do the "Nobody" scene in the Odyssey without the cyclops--who is supposed to be reasonably intelligent--saying "yeah right, pull the other one." Tumblr has a suggestion. www.tumblr.com/rosethyme/82...
screenshot of a post from Tumblr user rosethyme, imagining the Muppets doing the Odyssey:

"Who stabbed you in the eye, Polyphemus?"
"Moi! Moi stabbed me!"
"He stabbed himself. Sad."
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
I'm still sad that Bluesky doesn't let you have multiple gifs, because posting them one at a time did not give the full comedic effect of this squirrel missing the catch and going spinning end-over-end, twice, before finally making it. so here's Tumblr: katenepveu.tumblr.com/post/8199961...
katenepveu.tumblr.com
acrobatic squirrel
This squirrel attempted to jump a full six feet (yes, I measured) from a nearby bush to the bird feeder. Its first two misses were spectacular, so much so that when it made it on the third try, I let....
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I'm pretty sure this is a dead steal and entirely sure that someone should buy it so I know it's gone and therefore cannot wist after something entirely out of my budget.
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I'm early for an appointment & listening to Mary Beard & Charlotte Higgins' pedantic reaction to Nolan's Odyssey, partly about the film's very different moral framework, which reminds me of the poem's omissions: no hint of women war captives in the poem, either. 1/ @instantclassicspod.bsky.social
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
this is how I found out that Emily Wilson is on here, which is a great way to start the morning (h/t @pameladean.bsky.social )
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
I'm so mad, that yellow was a misclick. (I removed the time because I mark up screenshots on the really complicated ones, so it is significantly understated.) hopefully this is a good sign for the day! I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Jul 19th 2026 (Brutal) 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
truly fabulous #Readercon panel Limits of Hope: A Meditation on Fiction as an Activist Force w/@djolder.bsky.social E.C. Ambrose @gillianlynndaniels.bsky.social @marissalingen.bsky.social @michaeljdeluca.bsky.social off @sarahgailey.bsky.social Locus speech kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1108681.html
kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
this was a fascinating panel and I look forward to reading/listening to these works!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
apropos of today's #Readercon panel on the Odyssey, I swear I didn't schedule this post to come out of my Tumblr queue this weekend: www.tumblr.com/katenepveu/8...
screenshot: 

i was on the way to the movies & i saw an old guy with a piece of wood over his shoulders. it was huge -- a pole several feet long with a kind of wide fan at the end of it. and i said "what the hell is that?" and he looked at me and had this kind of ear to ear grin, and he said "what do you mean 'what the hell is that'?" and he sat back on his heels, still with that big smile like the sun spilling from the underside of a cloud and waited for me to answer and i said "i mean i don't know why you're walking around with that thing, whatever it is." and he laughed and put down his pole and kinda clapped me on the shoulder. "can i get you a drink?" he said. and i said "no, the show's in ten minutes," and he said "oh? what are you seeing?" and i said "christopher nolan's odyssey, i'm pretty excited," and he sighed and picked up his oar and kept walking.
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I didn't even have feelings about bog bodies and I was RIVETED by the #Readercon panel on the Bog Body Motif in Trans SFF with @davering.bsky.social @robotleblanc.bsky.social and Sonya Taaffe ! Very much looking forward to the full list from dave. kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1108393.html
kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
what if aliens demanded a list of seven SFF books to honestly represent humanity? I and @grahamsleight.bsky.social @karchwrites.bsky.social @ecbatan.bsky.social had so much fun pitching books under @rwwgreene.bsky.social 's moderation. what's your list? kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1107971.html
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
#Readercon panel report: SFF Spanning Cycles of History with @epbirdsall.bsky.social @grahamsleight.bsky.social @kenschneyer.bsky.social @ecbatan.bsky.social @sarahwriter.bsky.social kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1107719.html
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
me: so I've just finished re-listening to The Odyssey, and I'm going to skim the notes and the various other translations I've got, but what now after I'm done my deep dive into the Homeric epics? my library holds:
a notification from the Libby app that my hold on GILGAMESH is ready to borrow
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I had a very fun #Readercon panel with @bethanypowell.bsky.social @marissalingen.bsky.social @swingingstorm.bsky.social @victoriajanssen.bsky.social about Lois McMaster Bujold, Megan Whalen Turner, and Tamora Pierce, and what they might have in common! notes: kate-nepveu.dreamwidth.org/1107659.html
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Emily Tesh’s THE INCANDESCENT did not quite work for me, for reasons that may not be entirely fair to it, but it’s still very interesting (and "You are, in fact, self-actualising! Well done!" alone made it worth reading). steelypips.org/weblog/2026/...
steelypips.org
Tesh, Emily: The Incandescent – Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu’s Book Log
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Did you know that the extremely popular and well-regarded classic Gothic novel REBECCA, by Daphne du Maurier, is very good and fun? Because it is. steelypips.org/weblog/2026/...
steelypips.org
du Maurier, Daphne: Rebecca – Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu’s Book Log
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
also I can't believe @grahamsleight.bsky.social 's talk about the Locked Tomb is scheduled against the Literary Cannibalism panel. #Readercon (Saturday 14:00) schedule.readercon.org/id/53286475-... schedule.readercon.org/id/b683e2c0-...
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I have a Readercon schedule! It's great and I'm excited! Here's a link and a screenshot! schedule.readercon.org/people/57da1...
My Readercon schedule: 

Friday, July 10, 2026
18:00
Lois, Megan, and Tammy; Miles, Gen, and Alanna
Salon A-B, Duration: 60 mins

Saturday, July 11, 2026
12:00
Building a Seven Stories Mountain 
Create - Collaborate, Duration: 60 mins

19:00
Miles to Go: The Vorkosigan Saga at 40
Salon A-B, Duration: 60 mins

Sunday, July 12, 2026
11:00
The Odyssey in 2026
Salon A-B, Duration: 60 mins

14:00
Things Everyone Likes But You
Salon E, Duration: 60 mins
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I turned this into a series of gifs because it amused me 1/3
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
you know, if it's going to work this hard, I'm almost inclined to just let it have those peanuts... (video: a squirrel leaps a full six feet from the top of a bush to a bird feeder, missing twice before landing. audio: our clock ticking and the faint clatter when the squirrel makes contact.)
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
The Iliad is a comedy?
Screenshot from Book 11 of Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad:

Strong Diomedes, unafraid, replied,
“You good-for-nothing archer! Sleazy flirt!
So rude! So cocky in your silly hairstyle!
If you tried fighting with me face to face,
your bow and your swift arrows would be useless.
You brag like this because you grazed my foot.
I barely noticed it—as if a woman
or foolish child had slapped me. Blows that come
from nobodies and cowards do not hurt.
Even a scratch from me cuts sharp and deep,
and instantly, my enemy is dead.
His grieving widow’s fingers tear her cheeks,
his children have no father now. His blood
reddens the earth. He rots and round his body
more birds than women gather.”

So he spoke.
And then Odysseus, the skillful spearman,
approached and stood in front of Diomedes,
so he could sit and pull out the sharp arrow
stuck in his foot. Then pain shot through his body.
He climbed into the chariot and ordered
the driver back towards the hollow ships,
because he was in agony. 

Highlighted are Diomedes saying, "I barely noticed it-- .... Blows that come / from nobodies and cowards do not hurt," and the narrator saying, "Then pain shot through his body.... he was in agony."
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
majestic beast declines to stir from his resting place, trusting (correctly) that his mere presence will drive off the tiny interloper
Charlie the dog lying down and staring at a chipmunk on the driveway, which has just realized Charlie is there and frozen only a few feet away
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
majestic beast enjoys the golden hour with me
Charlie, a brown brindle dog, lies peacefully in the grass highlighted by the lowering sun, in front of a garden that includes a peony with a big red bloom and ninebark shrubs with little pale pink flowers. also an ugly squirrel baffle on a bird feeder pole.
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
finding outfits with which to wear this ring will continue until morale improves @peculiarityshop.bsky.social
cropped mirror selfie of me wearing a ring that's a big cluster of rhodolite
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
spent the afternoon chucking the year's worth of accumulated program ideas into @readercon.org 's suggestion box, as I do. you've got until January 31 to make sure it's not just me in there! readercon.org/contribute
readercon.org
Contribute to Readercon's Program | Readercon Web Services
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
sorry not sorry?? (best on desktop; saves your progress)
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
today in technology: is my car refusing to remote start because the app just updated (vexing but hopefully will be fixed soon) or because it's single-digits Fahrenheit out (deeply defeating the purpose and making me long for the days when I could have a non-app aftermarket remote starter installed)?
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
I need to take a poll on the number of people who think the final Hilary Tamar book is worse than the others versus good or even better. It's definitely different, but last time I reread it, I thought it was the best of the four. Anyway: read them, they are amazing. steelypips.org/weblog/categ...
steelypips.org
Hilary Tamar – Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu’s Book Log
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
truly humbling how bad I am at counting I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 8th 2025 (Easy), in 05:17 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Moby-Dick (which I would have to buy a paper copy of, because all three of my copies are ebooks) and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. (via @cofax.bsky.social )
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Kate Nepveu @katenepveu.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
if the narrator in a work of fiction is telling the story by talking to "you," and the "you" is a character in the story, then the narration is first-person, NOT second-person. (via @avaayers.bsky.social )
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