Stuff @tealeyedquatre - Tumblr Blog

Rewatched all of Stargaze in one sitting with my server. I have very complicated feelings about media.

so I don't know much about hacking or programming in general but from the way secunit talks about it, its style of "hacking" is really interesting. it doesn't break anything except as a last resort, and mainly uses its status as a (partial) machine intelligence to build trust with other machine intelligences to get into stuff. code walls are just like locked doors-- if you can convince someone walking in that you work in the building, you can get inside with no fuss. any changes to routine functions are inserted into the normal instruction list, in the system's internal language. the system doesn't have reason to consider whether the instructions are from a hacker, because there's nobody in here that's not supposed to be. secunit is sometimes a visitor politely asking for stuff, sometimes totally an employee, sometimes not even there at all.

so basically what I'm saying is that secunit is running a cyberspace leverage hit every time it fucks with a system

the-murderbot-chatlogs

@psumnt-studentcouncil

#I do know a thing or two about cybersec and this is actually a lot closer to how it works irl than most depictions of “hacking”#probably one of the reasons why I like these books so much#MB is doing the MI equivalent of social engineering#it doesn't talk to humans well so it resorts to convincing bots instead#cybersec is less about breaking down the door and more about convincing the guards you're supposed to be in there#which MB does more often with bots than humans actually#since it itself is part MI they're probably a lot more than just code to it#ANYWAY I LIKE TALKING ABOUT THIS BYE

this makes me so happy thank you for confirming my baseless ramblings

skygemspeaks

someone recommend me some good fantasy books that aren’t centred on a war, please, my crops are dying

ninja-muse

The Greta Helsing novels by Vivian Shaw - practical doctor to the undead defeats mildly ominous interdimensional threats with the aid of domestic vampires and a demon accountant.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley - practical baker is captured by vampires, escapes, reluctantly teams up with better vampire to kill the bad one.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - young hat maker ages 60 years overnight, proceeds to upend the life of a disaster wizard while learning self-confidence.

the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett - hard to encapsulate, but equally funny and hard-hitting, tackling race and gender and corruption and other forms of inequality while also, like, making fun of post offices and Hollywood and Shakespeare. Three or four tackle war, true, but there’s something like 35 others to choose from.

the Accidental Turn series by J.M. Frey - recent Ph.D of colour lands in the Fantasyland™ she did her thesis on, goes off about agency and diversity while recovering from the Dark Lord’s attentions and learning the truth about her fictional crush.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - evil alchemist creates superpowered children to assist world takeover; children just want to be a family; family is complicated.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - young woman takes over family business, must outwit fairies with a love of gold.

the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - princess runs away to become a dragon’s housekeeper, fights off rescuers, solves problems large and small, melts wizards.

the October Daye novels by Seanan Mcguire - Half-fae detective solves murders, finds missing persons, develops found family, can’t stop self from upending the social order.

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - A quiet golem, a tempestuous djinn, Gilded Age New York. Immigrants, identity, friendship, hope, and self-discovery.

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard - A witch from an outsider House enters New York’s magical Hunger Games, to prove a point. The problems of magic were not intended.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes - Part-time con artist gets hired to find two missing pop stars, with the help of the magical sloth on her back. Noir ensues.

Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica - Nature photographer lands on water-world, discovers lost family, tries to convince self magic is impossible.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - Greek gods, washed up in North London, curse Apollo to fall for the cleaner. Existential crisis, meet rom-com.

Among Others by Jo Walton - Loner teen sent to boarding school, discovers science fiction, might know fairies and do magic.

hermitknut

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - Austenesque story except all the characters are dragons.

Every Heart a Doorway (and sequels) by Seanan McGuire - the children of portal fantasy end up in boarding school coping with being kicked out of their various worlds, then some of them start getting murdered.

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan - the world is flooded, there’s a lady who works with a bear at a circus that sails to different places to perform, and a lady who is sort of an undertaker, and they fall in love

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees - there are fairies but no one talks about them anymore because That’s Just Not How We Are except this state of affairs cannot possibly last and people start getting lured to fairyland

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - fifth son of emperor who’s lived his whole life away from court abruptly becomes emperor when his father and older brothers are killed in an accident, spends entire book trying to make friends and figure how the fuck to do a) confidence and b) ruling ethically

The Various by Steven Augarde - girl spends summer at uncle’s farm, finds the group of “various” (no direct parallel, but think somewhere between gnomes and pixies) that live in the woods, mysterious history, flying horse, The Cat Is Evil (this is technically middle grade but it’s so good I can’t even)

Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - working on the translation of an ancient text is complicated when it might have a huge impact on the public perception of a highly stigmatised group; subterfuge, found family, mythology, and the rejection of men who steal other people’s work.

vr-trakowski

So You Want to Be a Wizard or Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses by Diane Duane.

Tam Lin, Juniper Gentian and Rosemary, and The Secret Country by Pamela Dean (all different stories).

The Spellkey by Ann Downer.

Swordheart or Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher.

The Curse of Chalion or the Penric series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Green Year Dragonfly by Kaye Bellot.

blueelectricangels

If by “no war” you mean “no or not focused on violence”:

The Terrier/Bloodhound/Mastiff series by Tamora Pierce Teenage former street rat aspires to and joins law enforcement in pseudo-medieval fantasy land, proves to have moral code forged of adamantium and more determination than an entire battalion. Also talks to unquiet ghosts carried by pigeons.

the Winding Circle books by Tamora Pierce (with the exception of Battle Magic) Four teenagers are snatched from the jaws of peril, discover they have incredibly strong yet overlooked magical powers, slowly become a found family, survive an earthquake, pirates, forest fires, plague, and puberty.

The Keeper Chronicles, by Tanya Huff Magic user accidentally gets roped into running a boarding house in Toronto. The decor is from the 50s, the handyman is an incredibly handsome and pureminded myopic Newfoundlander, and there is a (literal) portal to Hell in the basement. The third book adds lesbians and a mall that eats street kids to the mix. (Enchantment Emporium and its sequels are in the same world btw)

——————————————————————

If by “no war” you legitimately just mean that war is not the driving plot force:

the Hawk and Fisher books by Simon R Green Fairytale-destined prince and princess decide that destiny is bullshit, ditch their kindgoms, become the only honest pseudo-cops in fantasy-Gotham because strangely being a prince/princess doesn’t actually give you life skills that are not applicable to being a mercenary. Buildings eat people, gods are murdered, street drugs turn people into animals, Hawk and Fisher are so very tired.

Oath of Swords and its sequels, by David Weber

Guy from a species generally (unfairly) derided by “civilized people” as barbaric and evil thinks he’s going mad, but actually he’s been chosen as paladin by a god and he’s just stubbornly refusing to listen. Continues to go off and do heroic shit while doing the equivalent of jamming his fingers in his ears and saying “LA LA LA”. This does absolutely nothing to dissuade the god in question.

uovoc

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner A thief’s prison sentence is cut short when he is sent on a mission to steal an important (and magical?) object for the King. BIG plot twist at the end. Imagine going on a fun road trip through the fantasy pseudo-Byzantine Empire, except that all your fellow travelers have their own secret agendas.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Catherine Webb In this universe, there are a handful of time travelers – people who are forced to live the same life over and over, retaining their memories with each rebirth. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside with the following message: the end of the world is getting faster.

Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones The citizens of a fantasy world are getting really tired of being overrun by non-magical tourists from our world. This year, the role of Evil Wizard falls to Derk, who wants nothing more than to be left in peace on his farm/magical genetic engineering laboratory. Derk’s 2 human children, 5 griffin children, and 1 enchantress wife feel much the same. Wouldn’t it be a shame if someone were to sabotage this planet’s shitty contract once and for all?

yggidee

(For personal records)

arielsojourner

Saved for later!

the-tao-of-fandom

The Memoirs of Lady Trent, by Mary Brennan.

A five book series following Isabella, an upperclass woman in the fantasy-Regency era who decides to flaunt social expectations and become a dragon naturalist. Travels the world to study different draconic species and to answer the age old question of how the hell they could have evolved. Becomes more like hard scifi in places, but instead of focusing on tech it focuses on biology and anthropology. Turning Darkness Into Light is actually a standalone sequel so I would recommend reading the Memoirs first.

meammymommy

If the Sun was a man - it'd be him. (Yeah, I headcanon dimples for Hizashi cmon, he's so handsome)

yiqiie

chen qing ling | extras

disparition

i keep seeing people who are surprised that there is a new season of Alice Isn't Dead, and other than these occasional notes of surprise i see very little mention of it at all.

the new season has been out since mid-April and we are already halfway through it. i know the WTNV team has been posting about it on their social channels for months leading up to it. i dont think we are doing anything differently, promotion-wise, than we did with the first three seasons which seemed to find their audience much more quickly.

personally i find it rather frustating given the amount of work we put into this show, but im not really sure what to do about it. i know part of it is down to the fact that audiofiction is a far more competitive field than it used to be, and there's also so much noise and chaos in the world these days that its hard to find anything, and so many terrible problems that fiction feels less important.

these are obviously not all issues that i or anyone else on the team can solve but i am still curious if anyone has thoughts about why it seems to much harder to get the word out now

shitcecilpalmerwouldwear

Hey friends, this is a friendly psa that the third season of Alice Isn’t Dead is OUT NOW

kazroya

Grit your teeth and bear it, soldier

My dear Cody! Let him have a beach day episode, I beg of you. He needs downtime stat

buried-in-stardust

OP: "Grandpa made this for Dad when he was a child, and now it's been passed down to my son."

As pointed out in the comments on Douyin, a lot of thought went into the engineering: oval wheels slow it down, the frame is close to the ground and the handle is angled to prevent it from tipping over, the wood pieces on the back wheels lock it from moving in reverse, and the knocking sounds serve more than one purpose, both attracting the attention of the child as well as allowing the adults to easily hear the speed and location of the child.

owlspinningyarns

finished a shawl, blocked the shawl, took pictures of the shawl

very, very pleased with this one. it's soft and drapes amazingly, the gradient flows like i was picturing in my head and i was able to make the shawl i wanted

pattern is Knitting By the Pool by Romi Hill. great pattern, not so complicated i couldn't watch something while knitting while being just complicated enough to make sure my brain stayed engaged. also an excellent pattern for a gradient. i could see making this pattern again in another gradient, possibly for gifting purposes

yarn is a handspun 2 ply laceweight 100% BFL gradient from Hilltop Cloud's Never Ending Gradient Club. i used around 90 grams for the shaw,and i extended the last section by 8 rows. the yarn is from the beginning of my study of consistency in spinning lace and gradients so i can see the areas i was looking to improve at the time and how i would handle them now. still i'm very happy with how the yarn knit up

now to figure out what my next knitting project will be