Jules Jones
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julesjones.bsky.social
Jules Jones
@julesjones.bsky.social
87 followers 98 following 800 posts
I write science fiction, fantasy, and (mostly) lgbt romance. I read *lots* of things.

Started on Usenet and mailing lists, added LJ and IRC, moved from LJ to DW, mostly on Mastodon.

www.julesjones.com

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julesjones.bsky.social
Down and safe.

#Blakes7

Photo of Blu-ray boxset of Blake's 7 series 2.
November 10, 2025 at 7:29 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
And once again my Bluesky feed manages to juxtapose current events in the US with an unpleasantly appropriate quote from a dystopian science fiction series from five decades ago.

Screenshot of Bluesky post showing video of a crowd of bystanders in the US rescuing someone from an ICE kidnap attempt. Text reads "This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram. Community action works." Screenshot of a Bluesky post immediately below the one which has video of an attempted abduction by ICE. This one is a post from ‪@blakes7bot.torpidity.net‬ with a video clip and quote from #Blakes7 Series A, Episode 01 - The Way Back BLAKE: Where are we? VILA: In a transit cell. BLAKE: I don't understand.
October 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Bonus chromatography strip. Fortunately this was underneath the card, and I don't think has been affected, although maybe I should do another. I was *not* expecting a purple dye as one of the components.

3/3
Chromatography strip of Van Dieman Ink "leatherwood honey" #FountainPenInk showing that the major components are a blend of a yellow dye and a purple dye.
September 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
This is what happens when you put your swatch card folder down on the windowsill to take some photos and forget to pick it up again - for a week. On the left in each photo, inadvertent lightfastness test; on the right, a new swatch of Van Dieman Ink "leatherwood honey".
#FountainPens

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Fountain pen ink swatch cards of a honey-coloured ink. The left card is faded to a pale yellow after being accidentally left in the sun for a week. The right card is a fresh swatch made a couple of hours before the photo was taken. It's a much darker honey-coloured yellow-orange. Fountain pen ink swatch cards of a honey-coloured ink. The left card has faded a little after being accidentally left in the sun for a week, even though it's on the side away from the sun. The right card is a fresh swatch made a couple of hours before the photo was taken. The cards have swatches made by layering swatches using a cotton bud, and have dry time samples of scribbled lines smeared after set times.
September 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
My contribution this week is the first two pages in my Dominant Industry Log of Atlantis, which now have all 16 colours from the Cult Pens "Fruity and Iridescink" collection of wee tiny bottles of their special edition Diamine inks.

#SwatchWednesday #FountainPens

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Underwater scene with line drawing studies of various flora and fauna, coloured in with fountain pen ink. Underwater scene with line drawing studies of various flora and fauna, coloured in with fountain pen ink.
August 27, 2025 at 8:47 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Here's a writing sample using Diamine Sapphire Blue ink on Clairefontaine 90gsm brushed vellum with 0.5cm squares.
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Writing sample.
August 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Just tried my first fude nib, a cheap Lanbitou 2053 from my last binge on Ali. Um... It's very disconcerting to use. Much too broad for my normal handwriting so I couldn't use this as a daily writer, but I think it could be great for testing shading and sheen on new inks.
#FountainPen
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Dark blue grey fountain pen, capped. The cap has a logo and the model name "Lanbitou 2053", and below that a line of Chinese characters. Dark blue grey fountain pen, uncapped to show the fude nib. The nib is in rainbow colours. Close-up of the fude nib in rainbow colours, showing the decorative stamping and the name Lanbitou below a logo. You can see that the tip of the nib is bent upward. The fountain pen taken apart. Top left cap, bottom left barrel, top right nib, bottom right converter.
August 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
The nib unit on my blue green acrylic Jinhao 51a had more of a spa week than a spa day, because the water just wouldn't run clear. Anyway, it finally did, so I picked it out of the dish. And this happened...

I was not looking for practice reseating a 51a nib, but there you go.

#FountainPen

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Disassembled Jinhao 51a nib unit - left to right nib, feed, housing.
August 2, 2025 at 6:33 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
I had way too much fun over the weekend with the Diamine Cult Pens Fruity and Iridescink 12ml set and my Dominant Industries Log of Atlantis. Flash photography rather than natural light.

#SwatchWednesday #FountainPenPics #FountainPens
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An ink swatch book open at a page with a partially coloured in undersea scene on the right, and on the left four ink swatch cards, clockwise from top left Loving Lemon, Bored Banana, Gruntled Guava and Wistful Watermelon. An ink swatch book open at a page with a partially coloured in undersea scene on the right, and on the left four ink swatch cards, clockwise from top left Bashful Blueberry, Disdainful Damson, Robert, and Livid Lime.
July 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Last of this month's #FountainPen related purchases. This parcel was from Cult Pens. The Clairefontaine Evolutive was the actual reason for making an order, because the one I use as a pen/ink log is almost full. The Tinkerbell swatch cards and Colorverse Minis were Just Because.

Contents of a packet of fountain pen related purchase. Clairefontaine Evolutiv notebook, Penorama leaflet, mini roll of Love Heart sweets, three pack of minature bottles of fountain pen ink, and a pack of ink swatching cards, lying on beige carpet.
July 30, 2025 at 3:00 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
For those of my followers who would understand why I was cackling when I looked at my Bluesky feed yesterday and saw this:

Life imitating (nearly) fifty year old art.
Bluesky feed. The top post is a quote repost of two posts: "Nobody that is pro-Trump is your friend. 2) Not everybody that is anti-Trump is your friend. Get it now or regret it later" commenting on "The lesson here? The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend..." The bottom is a post by the Blakes7Bot, with a quote from Series B, Episode 02 - Shadow. BLAKE: [V.O.] Later, Cally, this is more important. We've made a deal but we need the rest of the money as a demonstration of good faith. They don't entirely trust us yet. Have...Zen collect it and bring in across. CALLY: All the money? [Largo's... [1/2] with a picture of Cally on the flight deck.
July 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
The squee being a 5ml bottle of Colorverse ink, in the teardrop shape. Not the cheapest of samples at £4, but it's cute.

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5ml bottle of Colorverse fountain pen ink in front of its carboard box.
July 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Box of shinies arrived today from a vendor I haven't used before , Art From the Heart. Some of this I specifically wanted, one I thought "I like that" while browsing the range, one item to get to free postage and one squee.

#FountainPens #FountainPenInk

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Box of fountain pen inks, swatch cards, and a convertor.
July 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Two more colours used in the Dominant Industry Log of Atlantis. Van Dieman Ink "Leatherwood Honey", and Diamine "Sultry Strawberry" from the Cult Pens Fruity and Iridescink set of 16 12ml bottles.

#SwatchWednesday #FountainPenPics #FountainPens

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Wearingeul ink swatch cards, sitting on an open ink archiving logbook with a line drawing of an undersea scene. One swatch is honey brown fountain pen ink, the other pink. On the swatch card there are looped lines that have been smeared after set intervals of time to show drying time. The drawing is partly coloured in. The sea area is blue, one piece of coral is brown, and another pink.
July 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
It isn't Wednesday yet, but just for laughs, here's a #swatch of #VanDiemanInk's "Leatherwood Honey" next to some actual leatherwood honey. :-) The colour's a pretty good match. Cotton bud swab and glass pen for dry time.

#FountainPen #FountainPens #ink

Swatch of Van Dieman Inks' "leatherwood honey" #FountainPen #ink on a Wearingeul #swatch card, with three layers of ink and several looped lines for drying time tests. Next to it is a blob of actual leatherwood honey for a colour comparison.
July 20, 2025 at 4:47 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Did another Diamine Sapphire Blue swatch, and took a photo with it on top of the first page of Dominant Industry's A Log of Atlantis. The sea colour is DSB applied with cotton bud, paintbrush, and glass pen, with varying numbers of layers and water.
#SwatchWednesday #FountainPenPics #FountainPens
Wearingeul ink swatch card with swatch patch of blue fountain pen ink, sitting on an open ink archiving logbook with a line drawing of an undersea scene. The drawing is partly coloured in. The sea area is blue, and a sea urchin is brown. On the swatch card there are looped lines that have been smeared after set intervals of time to show drying time.
July 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Finally got myself some swatch cards today, Wearingeul 'Jaquere'. First up, the ink I use for testing a new pen, Diamine Sapphire Blue. I love this ink, both colour and the way it writes. Photo in artificial light, alas.

#SwatchWednesday #FountainPenPics #FountainPens

Wearingeul 'Jaquere' fountain pen ink swatch card, with swatch of blue ink and two drying time samples, one for 5 seconds and one for 10. Swatched by laying down one layer, letting it dry, and then laying down another layer across part of the first.
July 16, 2025 at 9:46 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Parcel from Pure Pens arrived. Guess what colour I bought from the Van Dieman's Ink range.

(No, the honey was not included in the order. I had a 3kg tub already.)

#FountainPens
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Boxed bottle of Fountain pen ink made by Van Dieman's Ink, sitting on a tub of Tasmanian leatherwood honey.
April 7, 2025 at 8:39 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
I've now installed one of those rainbow coloured nibs on a Wing Sung 3008 #FountainPen. Not used it for writing yet (will report later), but it does look pretty.
Close-up of a rainbow nib on a Wing Sung 3008 fountain pen next to the pen's metallic blue cap.
November 16, 2024 at 2:14 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
Logged into my other Twitter account to check on it. It opened in "For you" even though I've previously set it to "Following". Switched to the "Following" tab and was greeted with this:

I wonder if being able to see who had liked a tweet was making it too easy to trace botnets and the like?
Twitter message on switching from "For you" tab to "Following" tab: "Your Likes are now private. We are making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy. Liking more posts will make your "For you" feed better.
November 12, 2024 at 8:06 AM
julesjones.bsky.social
I can haz shiny.

#Blakes7
Bluray of remastered Blake's 7 series 1, sitting on the cardboard envelope it's just been removed from.
November 11, 2024 at 7:42 PM
julesjones.bsky.social
I don't know who made this meme. Whoever you are, thank you.
Picture of actress Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa with the caption “Take your pills. Do self care. Live to flip off the world another day. Make space mom proud.”
November 8, 2024 at 11:22 PM