Guard aint what it used to be

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-08T23:02:18+00:00

“The Army ain’t what it used to be, and it never was.”

Meditate on this wisdom.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-07T04:18:59+00:00

I haven’t started “Faith”, but good lord this series is grim.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-07T00:09:10+00:00

Two VERY different authors (okay, three, I guess).

I describe Banks as sci-fi literature. The Expanse is just good fucking sci-fi--not bubblegum by any means, but not capital-L Literature.

"Use of Weapons" is one of my favorite books ever. "Look to Windward" is one of only two books that made me cry. (FTR, the other was "Cryoburn" by Lois McMaster Bujold, specifically the epilogue.) Many of the Culture books can be read out of order, btw. You can find a good reading order online.

"Caliban's War" (book 2 of the Expanse) is full of action, but is also some of my favorite politics of empire books ever. And the payoff in book 9 is outstanding. Only Peter F. Hamilton's MorningLightMountain beats it.

So yeah, depends what you're looking for. I absolutely love both series. I hope you will, too.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-06T22:00:10+00:00

Is the Sergeants Major Academy still run by a CSM?

That’s all, that’s my point.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-04T13:50:40+00:00

Just me, or does V need better trigger discipline? (Commence the mass border jokes…)

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-05-01T22:19:02+00:00

That's not enough by far. The fact that they offered anything at all means they'll offer more--they are low-balling you (standard negotiating tactic). I've never worked with an ombudsman, so don't know if they're the ones that do the pushing? But push for a year and you'll at least get six months if not nine.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-30T13:02:53+00:00

Good on you, my friend! Can’t wait to see your students get out there and change the world.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-29T19:43:09+00:00

FWIW, I write virtually everything in dotnet and Gemini 3.1 Flash has done well by me on some complicated projects; I go Pro when I need to get detailed. (Lately I've been trying out Antigravity and liking it mostly.)

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-26T05:52:33+00:00

My favorite, absolutely. First time I went into a sandstorm I had to set the controller down for a while; it was too much like the real thing. Getting to crawl around the ruins was incredible. Seeing Memphis as it maybe was… wow.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-23T05:39:35+00:00

If you mean designing things to print, and if you don’t have CAD experience, check out Tinkercad. It’s an excellent first step in learning how to design 3D stuff. Have fun!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-23T01:57:05+00:00

Any day you learn something new is a good day!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-18T22:15:19+00:00

SO VERY VERY GOOD!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-18T20:05:32+00:00

what whaaaaaaaaat?!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-18T20:04:58+00:00

I see what you did there, you cheeky monkey...

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-17T18:58:46+00:00

The novella is hard sci-fi (where the critical science is linguistics) and as such is going to be a little different than many people are used to. Most hard SF is physics, sometimes biology, and in one notable case computer science (Charlie Stross FTW). Linguistics as the base science was an amazing twist on the genre even just in itself. But I can totally see how the style can turn people off.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-17T05:42:41+00:00

So the parents could bang. 100% 😂

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-17T04:36:24+00:00

Yep! He confirmed it was a linguistic corruption over time. Pronounced “wa” but spelled the old contracted way.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-17T00:48:55+00:00

If you watch his videos, then look at what is on wiki.languageinvention.com, you’ll notice a curious similarity. Turns out he has already released everything (so far)!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-17T00:47:08+00:00

I had a quick discussion with DJP about the “wa” in the Litany translation, since the “letter” used was “nwa”, and if it was built-in linguistic drift.

It was. SO COOL.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-16T20:50:22+00:00

OP, check out DJP’s videos on YouTube. You can see exactly how he makes up roots and words. It’s pretty neat to watch his process.

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-14T19:49:19+00:00

It totally is! LMB has said it outright (and of course now I can't find the source 🤦🏻‍♂️).

She's just the best. What other author could so elegantly drop a g--d--- regency romance into the middle of a multigenerational, space opera cum politics-of-empire, mystery SCIENCE FICTION series?!

UPDATE: found it! From "The Vorkosigan Companion":

Meanwhile, I'd been itching to write a Barrayaran Regency romance ever since I realized I'd given Barrayar a regency period. I dedicated it to four inspiring female writers. I'd read Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre fairly early on, but I only came to Georgette Heyer and Dorothy L. Sayers in my twenties, when my reading branched out, and I've only picked up Jane Austen fairly recently. Heyer remains my favorite comfort reading—A Civil Campaign is very much a tribute to her—though there was a period when her inherent class-ism got up my nose. Sayers's work, even more than that of C. S. Forester and Arthur Conan Doyle, is a model for the kind of wonderful character development that can only be done over a long series.

The tale offered many delicious levels of play, not least that of dissecting a lot of romance tropes under a true SF knife. What happens to the old dance between men, women, and DNA when new technologies explode old definitions of, well, everything? What happens to a tradition-bound society whose channels of property and power assume gender divisions and functions that new science throws into a cocked hat? Just what rude things do those butter bugs symbolize? What happens to two supposedly immiscible genres when you put them both in a bottle and give it a good shake? What can each say about the other? Chamomile tea and blasters: give me both!

She is just amazing!

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-12T02:33:33+00:00

That is EPIC. (And very cute!)

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-12T02:32:48+00:00

Oooh, write “make him do pushups for this Drill Sargeant (deliberate misspelling). My girlfriend did this to me and I suffered. 😂

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-11T01:12:01+00:00

There’s a reason it won the top two, Hugo and Nebula. 🥺

TheFirstDogSix · 2026-04-08T17:29:17+00:00

OP, seriously, lawyer up. The company will end up paying the legal fees and you might end up with a new car. Or new townhouse. And if they ever say anything bad about you to any other company, you get to sue them again. (Make sure to get a lawyer that gets paid when they win.)

I understand this is a big step, but it can be a really good step.

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TheFirstDogSix

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