@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2025-10-27 03:00:46
Day 30: Elizabeth Moon
This last spot (somehow 32 days after my last post, but oh well) was a tough decision, but Moon brings us full circle back to fantasy/sci-fi, and also back to books I enjoyed as a teenager. Her politics don't really match up to Le Guin or Jemisin, but her military experience make for books that are much more interesting than standard fantasy fare in terms of their battles & outcomes (something "A Song of Ice and Fire" achieved by cribbing from history but couldn't extrapolate nearly as well). I liked (and still mostly like) her (unironically) strong female protagonists, even if her (especially more recent) forays into "good king" territory leave something to be desired. Still, in Paksenarion the way we get to see the world from a foot-soldier's perspective before transitioning into something more is pretty special and very rare in fantasy (I love the elven ruins scene as Paks travels over the mountains as an inflection point). Battles are won or lost on tactics, shifting politics, and logistics moreso than some epic magical gimmick, which is a wonderful departure from the fantasy norm.
Her work does come with a content warning for rape, although she addresses it with more nuance and respect than any male SF/F author of her generation. Ex-evangelicals might also find her stuff hard to read, as while she's against conservative Christianity, she's very much still a Christian and that makes its way into her writing. Even if her (not bad but not radical enough) politics lead her writing into less-satisfying places at times, part of my respect for her comes from following her on Twitter for a while, where she was a pretty decent human being...
Overall, Paksenarrion is my favorite of her works, although I've enjoyed some of her sci-fi too and read the follow-up series. While it inherits some of Tolkien's baggage, Moon's ability to deeply humanize her hero and depict a believable balance between magic being real but not the answer to all problems is great.
I've reached 30 at this point, and while I've got more authors on my shortlist, I think I'll end things out tomorrow with a dump of also-rans rather than continuing to write up one per day. I may even include a man or two in that group (probably with at least non-{white cishet} perspective). Honestly, doing this challenge I first thought that sexism might have made it difficult, but here at the end I'm realizing that ironically, the misogyny that holds non-man authors to a higher standard means that (given plenty have still made it through) it's hard to think of male authors who compare with this group.
Looking back on the mostly-male authors of SF/F in my teenage years, for example, I'm now struggling to think of a single one whose work I'd recommend to my kids (having cheated and checked one of my old lists, Pratchett, Jaques, and Asimov qualify but they're outnumbered by those I'm now actively ashamed to admit I enjoyed). If I were given a choice between reading only non-men or non-woman authors for the rest of my life (yes I'm giving myself enby authors as a freebie; they're generally great) I'd very easily choose non-men. I think the only place where (to my knowledge) not enough non-men authors have been allowed through to outshine the fields of male mediocrity yet is in videogames sadly. I have a very long list of beloved games and did include some game designers here, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many other non-man game designers I'd include in the genuinely respect column (I'll include at least two tomorrow but might cheat a bit).
TL;DR: this was fun and you should do it too.
#30AuthorsNoMen
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.de2025-12-29 07:00:06
twitter_15m: Twitter 15-M movement (2011)
A network representing follower-following relations among Twitter users associated with the 15-M Movement or Anti-austerity movement in Spain, in the period April-May 2011. Metadata include hashtags in the tweets.
This network has 87569 nodes and 6030459 edges.
Tags: Social, Online, Unweighted, Metadata
@saraislet@infosec.exchange2025-10-28 09:11:21
I grew up with a lot of male cousins who loved watching sports. I understand that some people enjoy gambling for emotions, but I don't.
That's why I like books. Instead of gambling for feelings, a book takes my emotions on a journey, rips them to shreds in the middle in an unpredictable way, then grinds my feelings into a fine paste that they feed to their goat, which is sacrificed in a bloody feral ceremony whose carnage further defiles said emotional residue
Or you can …
@Techmeme@techhub.social2025-12-28 07:01:04
Sources: Bengaluru-based quick grocery delivery startup Zepto confidentially files for a ~$1.3B India IPO; Zepto raised $450M at a $7B valuation in October 2025 (Pranav Mukul/The Economic Times)
https://economi…
@inthehands@hachyderm.io2025-11-27 23:03:45
The experience @… describes here is deeply familiar to me: advertisers keep shoving in front of me ads in which I have •negative• interest.
Does the massive adtech surveillance apparatus actually work on someone out there? Because it’s sure failing to target me. https://wandering.shop/@Violinknitter/115624133826239199
@aral@mastodon.ar.al2025-10-28 08:50:42
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2025-10-27 17:35:45
How a focus on video helped News UK's Talksport transform from a radio station to a multi-platform sports brand, with 35M to 45M YouTube views per month (Alice Brooker/Press Gazette)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/
@timbray@cosocial.ca2025-10-27 16:47:56
FWIW, when people go on about “sportsball”, to me that sounds snotty and condescending and, well, a bit rude: “I ostentatiously don’t care about a thing you do and wish it didn’t exist.”
Not saying you’re not within your rights to feel that and say that. I have exactly those feelings about certain forms of music and religion and politics.
Just be aware that sometimes it doesn’t land well.
#LifeOnline
@callunavulgaris@mastodon.scot2025-10-29 10:23:24
I think it's time to crack out the daylight lamp. I'm not feeling low - stressed to the eyeballs but not flat - but I do feel like I haven't woken up yet and I've been at work for two hours 😄 My daylight lamp was about £25 and it's been money very well spent. I use it as the light on in the room when I'm getting ready in the morning, rather than sitting staring at it for 20 minutes, and it just works.
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2025-09-29 10:10:20
Day 6: Kamome Shirahama
Before I wander much father afield, I'd be remiss not to include at least one Mangaka (I've got 8 on my planning list; if you think Manga is pushing it just wait until you see what the next few days have in store).
I'm currently following "Witch Hat Atelier," and it's absolutely amazing in several dimensions: first class world-building, deep philosophical themes, nuanced diverse cast, tightly-constructed interwoven plots, deep mysteries that keep everything churning and show up in unexpected places, absolutely stellar art both in terms of in-panel depictions and page layouts (some are Watchmen-quality), especially if you are sartorially inclined, and general kindness of its core messages. This is a series I wish every programmer would read, because it includes excellent advice about software design in multiple ways (did I mention there's an intricate and logical magic system within which the main character innovates in legible-to-the-reader-as-innovation ways?). Also, I bet I would have enjoyed this just a much as a 10-year-old as I'm enjoying it in my 30's, which is something that takes well-honed skill to pull off.
Shirahama is a master of her craft, and I'm honestly kinda surprised to see Witch Hat is only her second series. Definitely thinking how I can get my hands on her earlier work in English.
#20AuthorsNoMen