pearls-gone-wild

[pearls-gone-wild]

This is probably the best thing about this book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Bujold for examining gender in such thorough ways, using the most Galahad of Galahad archetypes, during the freaking 1980s.

ok i came into Ethan of Athos with curiousity but also some trepidation as to how this book from the 80s would handle a man from a planet of only men questing into the wider world. i knew that Gender would be happening, but i had not expected it to be used as this sort of lens to examine gendered bias and oppression!!! ty ms. bujold!

[pearls-gone-wild]

The latest rescue from Lady Sybil Ramkin's Sunshine Sanctuary found his forever home! For a mere two dollars a month, you can feed fifty dragons until they too find homes. All rescues are spayed and neutered, and will only be placed in homes that meet their needs.

[pearls-gone-wild]

Several years down the line, Laisa notices that Gregor is constantly getting texts from people who aren't ministers of state. She finds out what's going on and gently tells him, "Gregor, you need to trust your subordinates to do their jobs, even the guy in the Imperial Commissary who orders coffee."

Gregor looks up from his phone, looks lovingly into her blue-green eyes, and says, "Oh, I'm mostly here for the Vorpatril drama. I have to know who's going to challenge Ivan to a duel over his sister's honor this week."

(I suspect that many sci-fi authors never predicted the advent of texting because if technology eliminated lag, that would remove all those adorable miscommunication plots. Little did they know that humans can miscommunicate just by being in our own heads. We could miscommunicate given telepathy, ffs.)

the real tragedy of the vorkosigan saga, like, the real true actual tragedy of the vorkosigan saga, is that lois mcmaster bujold wasn’t able to Predict texting back when she started it in 1986

because like, we haven’t seen enough of gregor for me to have any real sense of the miles-gregor relationship, but if i was miles, and i was in the Imperial Service, and the Emperor, he in whose name all my actions and orders are carried out, was That Guy I Grew Up With, and i had his personal number (and idk what their relationship is like but miles would have his personal number), it would just be a constant stream of BarrayApp messages like 

“nearly suffocated in a tent buried under a meter of mud For You” [hypothermia selfie]

“found a corpse in the sewer For You” [selfie with pair of boots sticking out of sewage]

“stood naked in the snow at midnight For You” [hypothermia selfie #2]

“charged with high treason For You. again.” [handcuff selfie with middle finger salute]

[pearls-gone-wild]

AI isn't

people. You can and should use people to train an AI, or monitor AI output and decisions, but fundamentally, AI is machines doing tasks. Anything else is not AI.

data analytics. 90% of the time, you don't need ChatGPT, you need Excel. In fact, there are quite a lot of things that ChatGPT is worse at than Excel, because Excel does what it's told, and only what it's told.

software engineers. AI tools like Copilot can be a force multiplier for software engineers, but it won't make up for not having enough developers on your team. Someone needs to tell the AI what to do, so forking hire them.

domain expertise. AI is not a very good reference for advanced areas of human knowledge (PhD and beyond). There's far less training data for the AI to learn from, and at that level, evidence and facts aren't completely clear. Sure, you can feed the latest scientific results to the AI, but it's not going to know if any given paper is bullshit because it's built on thoroughly disproven premises, or came out of a sketchy lab, or comes with so many conditions and requirements that it's useless IRL.

coming to kill us all. At least not of its own volition. AI is still taking orders from humans, and that should scare you more than Skynet.

This list is based on actual conversations I've had with people. I have been working with and on AI for 12 years, and in that time, AI capabilities have changed, but how people use it has not. Always look for the people behind it, in front of it, building it, running it, giving it orders.

[pearls-gone-wild]

Robert Moses talking to any New Yorker

Vetinari waved a languid hand. "Full carts congesting the street, Vimes, is a sign of progress," he declared. "Only in the figurative sense, sir," said Vimes.

Terry Pratchett, Thud!

[pearls-gone-wild]

Reblogging to share with my sweetie because anyone old enough to have read Calvin and Hobbes in the paper and watched Lilo and Stitch in theaters needs a break from the kids, mostly by remembering being a kid.

Calvin's parents decide to take a Hawai'ian vacation. They're not sure how much of it their son will tolerate but they would like to do at least a few things that involve sandy beaches and scenic cycling routes. They are therefore pleased when Calvin seems to make friends with a local girl about his own age and the two of them run off to play

Now, from Calvin's point of view what has happened is that he spotted actual aliens, and starts trying to bring this to the attention if the adults. But the tourists are like, "that's nice, go shoot 'em with your water gun, have a good time," and the locals are like, "yeah, they're an older couple who decided to retire here. Happens all the time." Eventually, it becomes clear that Spaceman Spiff is going to have to handle it himself.

From Lilo's point of view, Jumba and Pleakley are her gay uncles, do you mind? Calvin does mind, and so the two of them spend the rest of the afternoon terrorizing Kaua'i in the effort to destroy one another while the aliens alternate between bailing them out of trouble and attempting to escape.

Hobbes and Stitch, meanwhile, are calmly playing checkers and drinking non-alcoholic margaritas.

[pearls-gone-wild]

As a result of rampant, unlicensed hunting for commercial purposes, wild elf populations dropped to near-extinction levels by 1962. Dedicated conservationists have been attempting to rebuild the elf population through careful breeding in captivity, while raising money by auctioning off ethically harvested elf flesh (limbs can be severed at a sustainable rate, with minimal harm to the whole organism, which rapidly regrows flesh, especially when fed on a diet of high-fructose corn syrup).

Unfortunately, the genetic bottleneck in the elf population has resulted in the current homogeneity of holiday Cheer, resulting in an oversupply of lukewarm Swiss Miss and Mariah Carey albums. Biologists are currently experimenting with engineering recovered variants into existing populations, resulting in the highly popular Spicy Aztec Chocolate and Ugly Sweater Contest strains.

Elf flesh is actually just raw Christmas cheer given shape. If you damage an elf enough to sever a limb, the unbound Cheer rapidly transmutes into a shower of hot chocolate, wet cookie particulates, and other thematically appropriate "gore"

[pearls-gone-wild]

Reblogging to repeat to my kids.

When I was in kindergarten I saw a painting of the American Revolutionary War. I asked my mom, “Who were the good guys and who were the bad guys?” And she said, “That’s not really how war works. It’s not like a TV show. Both sides thought they were right, otherwise they wouldn’t have been fighting.” And my seven year old ass went “Oh ok”

Anyway having internalized that fun fact in literally kindergarten? It surprises me how many college-educated adults still don’t seem to know about it.

[pearls-gone-wild]

Wait, but one of the key elements of the Manic Pixie Dream X is the way they find a romantic partner and break them out of repressive or humdrum...

Oh.

Well played, OP, well played.

Admiral Miles Naismith is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy. In this essay, I will

[pearls-gone-wild]

"Agatha Christie wrote Poirot as a Belgian, but never built on that beyond dropping in the occasional French."

Talking about Belgians like how people talk about bisexuals.

[pearls-gone-wild]

Ask A Manager: Am I obligated to report my manager's demonic possession if the team is performing better?

Dear Alison,

I've been the team lead for my technical group for a year. Our manager, Fergus, was possessed by a demon about a month ago, in the middle of a working lunch. At first we all thought it was the catered vegan sandwiches that gave him a violent coughing fit and a deeper voice afterwards, but his voice continues to resonate with the dark understanding of our mortal frailties. Also his eyes are glowing red, and it's definitely not a reflection from the Power Point slides he's always working on.

I feel obligated to report this to HR, but the truth is that our team has been performing better since it happened.

Fergus's emails, which used to delay our work with endless "fixes", have stopped entirely because the demon failed to make the quarterly password change. Because he's been locked out of his computer, he hasn't been able to access his calendar, which means no new meetings. The meetings we do have are much more efficient because he no longer cares to attend. When some higher-ups came to visit, which usually requires three days of mandatory attendance meetings and presentations, he sent them away in a cloud of sulfur. Yesterday, I gave him the most recent progress report, and he even intoned, "Adequate work, puny mortal", which is more praise than we ever got from Fergus before.

As a result, team morale has surged, and we're ahead of schedule for the first time in anyone's memory. Two people that were planning to quit are now planning to stay. The team has developed an enjoyable camraderie, and I've heard there's even an office pool on who gets dragged into the abyssal dimensions first (4-to-3 odds on me, apparently). Honestly, the worst thing about current Fergus (no one has asked the demon's name) is that he keeps asking us to sign contracts. (No one in our department is an authorized signature, so that hasn't been a problem.) Word of Fergus's possession has started to leak inside the company, but no one seems to have told HR or management, and our IT requests are actually getting filled much faster.

I've heard through unofficial channels that our team is in the running for highest performance this quarter, and everyone's excited about the $10 Starbucks gift card prize. Is this something I really have to report?

It depends.

I'm assuming that no one in this situation is a religious official, because they're mandated reporters in cases of demonic possession. Normally, HR only gets involved in demonic possessions if there is religious discrimination involved, but that can be hard to prove to a degree that poses a legal risk to the company. I'd also advise you to talk to HR if the demon was torturing team members or demanding blood sacrifices, but that doesn't sound like the case here.

If your team was terrified, or otherwise experiencing negative impact from having regular contact with a demon, I'd advise bringing this up with Fergus's manager at the earliest opportunity. If possible, this should be done in person, as these situations are easy to sweep under the rug unless you're smelling the sulfur.

(Speaking of which, your team is lucky that no one there has a fragarance sensitivity, otherwise I suspect Fergus would have been reported long ago.)

Regardless, you should check in with the team, and look for signs of demonic influence. In addition to negative signs (fear, supernatural creatures appearing on the premises), you should check in with anyone who has had a recent run of financial or personal luck, or who acts overly excited. These can be classic symptoms of someone who has recently entered a demonic pact and is getting their end of the bargain, symptoms which are not as widely well-known as the effects of late-stage demonic bargain. Ask senior team members who you can trust to report potential issues - you're a team lead and not their direct manager, but people might still feel uncomfortable confiding in you.

In a lot of cases, I tell people that "your boss sucks and isn't going to change". It seems that you're having the opposite experience, and that no higher-ups have yet taken notice. Unfortunately, demonic possessions only tend to get worse, and I think your best bet is to go outside the company and reach out to religious authorities (call your local Unitarian church for a list of multi-faith options). The risk of someone on your team entering a demonic pact is too high, and you really don't want a growing demonic infestation in your office.

On the upside, once Fergus has been exorcised, he's unlikely to stay in his position; this kind of thing permanently affects your reputation, and he'll probably want a fresh start somewhere else.

It's been over a month since your manager was possessed by a demon. Yet, instead of fetching the nearest priest or throwing a bucket of holy water at them, you and your coworkers have just rolled with it, as the demon is WAY more bearable to work under.

[pearls-gone-wild]

I really want to know what these annotations mean.

[pearls-gone-wild]

I don't know what the deal is with this Monet self-insert, but I feel strongly that I need to recreate it, either as a quilt or a piece of jewelry (unfortunately stained glass would be a technically poor choice).

[pearls-gone-wild]

Reblogging to get back to later when it's dark out.

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

[pearls-gone-wild]

I have wondered this since both second books (Barrayar, which is second chronologically, and The Warrior's Apprentice, which is second in publication order) both of which make a Big Stinking Deal about how Cordelia and Aral's firstborn son is supposed to be named Piotr Miles, but then isn't because of the whole soltoxin damage thing.

I'm just going to assume that Kareen, while studying the Vorbarra family tree as a young royal fiancee, looks at the endless repetitions, like the world's worst intergenerational song that never ends, just said, "NOPE" and this is the one time that Serg being a predatory asshole to everyone including Dad-Emperor Ezar actually works out for her (and Gregor).

Ezar - Serg - Gregor

Wasn't it supposed to be

Ezar - Serg - Ezar?

Or does royalty have different rules?

[pearls-gone-wild]

Reblogging so I can save it for my 8 yr old who

loves writing

writes really well

is really upset that she keeps starting stories, but never finishing them

like that was her big meltdown last night

yes I'm mining Tumblr for parenting aid

when you're a parent, you'll consume a universe of sand to bring your child a tiny grain of truth, the kind you can stick to other truths and build a life with

I do have a piece of writing advice, actually.

See, the first time I grew parsnips, I fucked it up good. I hadn't seen parsnips sprouting before, right, and in my eagerness I was keeping a close eye on the row. And every time I saw some intruding grass coming up, I twitched it right out, and went back to anticipating the germination of my parsnips.

But it turns out parsnips take a bit longer than anything else I'd ever grown to distinguish themselves visually. It's just the two little split leaves, almost identical to a newly seeded bit of kentucky bluegrass when they first come up, and they take a good bit to establish themselves and spread out flat before the main stem with its first distinctive scallopy leaf gets going.

I didn't get any parsnips, not that year, because I'd weeded them all out as soon as they showed their faces, with my 'ugh no that's grass' twitchy horticulture finger.

The next year, having in retrospect come to suspect what had happened, I left the row alone and didn't weed anything until all the sprouts coming up had all had a bit to set in and show their colors, and I've grown lots of parsnips since. They're kind of a slow crop, not a huge return, but I like them and watching them grow and digging them up, and their papery little seeds in the second year, if you don't harvest one either on purpose or because you misjudged the frost, so it's worth it.

Anyway, whenever I see someone stuck and struggling with their writing who's gotten into that frustration loop of typing a few words, rejecting them, backspacing, and starting again, I find myself thinking, you gotta stop weeding your parsnips, man.

[pearls-gone-wild]

OMG thank you thank you for finding a thread back to the Kew Gardens Krynoid situation! I've been waiting so long for a clue...

Also love the intra-referencing. In one of the opening paragraphs of the first book, Peter talks about how he's about to do just about the dumbest thing ever, aside from standing on top of a tower building about to go down and holy shit that happens in book 4. Ben Aaronovitch, what kind of end game are you working towards here?!?

ive recently relistened to all the RoL books TWICE and caught up on the comics and novellas

I know most of the comics suck but I have to say I do like Monday, Monday. Nightingale and Molly end up looking after the twins! (who look like they are about 3 years not 3 months but whatever) They have bee onesies! There are flashbacks to Nightingale's school days but I thought it fitted in quite well and worked with what he says in Amongst our Weapons. The story was fun and either i've been desensitised to the art or its vastly improved (i do not remember being revoluted by any of the panels at the minimum)

More or less binging all the books and comics did make me notice how often they reference each other thought the chronology vs publication order is wacky. One thing that is repeatably brought up though it Kew Gardens which is not specified in anything and iirc Peter mentions the incident in book 2, and by the later books he says he's talked to a tree. So big mystery that I half think is just a running gag and won't be answered. BUT in Masquerades of Spring, Gussie says he enchanted a tree in Kew Gardens to sing but that it would only be noticed by other practitioner. SO I think Peter rang into Gussie's tree, somehow activated it and knowing Peter he probably set it on fire.