#terraform modules

[virtualizationhowto]

Terragrunt vs Terraform: Battle of DevOps tools

Terragrunt vs Terraform: Battle of DevOps tools @vexpert #homelab #terraform #terragrunt #infrastructureascode #cloudinfrastructuremanagement #devops #terragruntconfiguration #dependencymanagement #remotestatemanagement

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has become widely adopted by many, including in production environments, developers, and home lab enthusiasts to deploy infrastructure. Terraform is arguably one of the top tools used by DevOps professionals. However, there is another tool you may not have heard about called Terragrunt. What is Terragrunt? What about Terragrunt vs Terraform? Are they competing…

[ramniwas-sangwan]

Terraform on AWS - Develop Terraform Modules Locally| Infrastructure as ...

[bdccglobal]

Choosing between Pulumi and Terraform: Which Infrastructure as Code Tool is Right for You?

[oneiriad]

Murderbot crossover ficlet

Jurassic Park, for @robininthelabyrinth

According to the tourist friendly information packages getting pushed at visitors in the Feed, the original terraforming had been a prestige project. The original corporation had wanted to show off their ability to not just terraform, but to worldbuild to exact and exacting specifications.

It had ended up bankrupting them.

And the corporation that jumped in with a hostile takeover. And the next. And the three after that..

Eventually someone got involved who didn't, so now they had a beautifully terraformed planet with five small continents, each a detailed and faithfully recreated tribute to a time period on humanity's original planet, complete with bioengineered fauna.

They could have just wiped out any hazardeous fauna, harvested the plant matter and started a farming colony - well, they did also start a farming colony - but apparently there'd been a lot of agitation from "save the fauna" campaigns.

At the end of the day the owning corporation had declared the planet 70% protected, with minimal industry - including a series of resorts, because humans are weird and it was conveniently located for a large chunk of the Corporation Rim to visit with not too much trouble.

All of which I already knew, because I'd researched it when Amena told me about how one in her friend group were apparently the offspring of a upper-mid-level manager on the planetary tourist board, and they'd been invited for a spring vacation at the Isla Nublar resort in exchange for advertizing rights.

Still, it was a well-established vacation planet, the on-planet security were allegedly experienced in keeping the humans away from the large fauna and vice versa, and local hospital statistics showed no significant differences from any other vacation planet.

So Amena (and her friend group) went, though not before there'd been adolescent sighs and "yes, Third Mother".

My threat assessment module hadn't really pinged on the entire thing.

Then...

ART entered the wormhole about half an hour after we received news of the attack. When we arrived, the atmosphere above two of the continents were appallingly thick with smoke, but fortunately the resort had not been on either.

The local authorities had not taken too kindly to a random university ship and their SecUnit butting into their raider attack catastrophe, but at the end of the day, once it was established that we just wanted to collect our particular humans and leave, they waved us through and focused on the bigger problem of two nextdoor business rivals offering their help.

So I lead a team down to Isla Nublar, were the buildings were singed and smoking and a raider landing vessel - well, half a vessel - was floating in the sea outside the safety zone. A vast shadow slid past underneath it, making me threat assessment module scream at me.

The safety zone fences and forcefields on land that were supposed to keep the resort and the continental land mass safely separate were down. Large flying fauna were eyeing us from the top of resort buildings and land fauna lurked inside.

The only humans were not alive, and most were half eaten. Ugh.

Amena wasn't among them.

Which could mean one of two things. One, that she had been scooped up as indentured labour to be as had obviously been the raiders' intention for the resort - except the evidence suggested that the raiders had run afoul of unexpected safety measures. A few obviously-not-uniformed-staff-or-ununiformed-guests were among the half eaten humans.

Then we found a barely alive augmented human raider and chased off the two-legged, chittering fauna that'd been determinedly trying to yank out his augmented eyeball. He was happy to be saved, less happy to be held at gunpoint until he told me what I wanted to know.

Apparently, the attack had gone wrong - a maritime fauna had destroyed two of their vessels, crashing one into the control tower of the resort, and fauna had come streaming in. He had crawled from the wreckage and managed to hide for a time, but noticed a few people grabbing land vehicles and heading along the safari paths towards the mainland.

He couldn't describe any of the refugees, but his augments had recorded them. There were clear visuals of at least two of Amena's friends.

I pinged ART, asking if it had had any luck getting permission to deploy its pathfinders.

"Negative," it replied. "The local authorities are stonewalling all external offers to re-establish the communication network as well. Considering the level of destruction, they are probably not wrong to worry about an attempt at a takeover."

If I'd been human, I'd have sighed.

Instead, I checked my large gun's ammunition level and turned towards the safari paths leading almost immediately into a densely forested area. Fauna was moving in the shadows of the foliage, and from somewhere inside something made a sound like a monster from one of my sillier shows.

"I take it we're going in?" Tarik said.

"Yes."

"I noticed a service garage of sorts half a kilometer back. Want me to take a couple of guys back, see if I can get us some transport?"

I sent one drone back with him and called the rest of them back from where they'd been swarming all over the resort.

Then, just as the first of Tarik's new jeeps finally approached, that monster sound came from the forest again, and this time the fauna making it stepped out.

It was a two-legged beast, easily as heigh as most of the resort buildings, and with a mouth big enough to snap a human in two.

Ugh. I really hate planets.

[sparkpluqs]

i know that you've probably said it somewhere before, but i can't find it, so i wanted to ask- which character is which in Warped Beyond Recognition? i know you've listed off their subject numbers and titles in art, but i am struggling to figure out what actual names belong to which of the kids :(

I've laid it out a few times before; but here are the teenagers once more and how they're coming along in our care (heavy spoilers for the module "Warped Beyond Recognition", if you plan on playing or running it yourself);

Evander Budaj, Subject 01; "The Mech". Can psychically control any machine he can see and understand, including Androids. "Disfavored son" of a high ranking corporate figurehead. Went through an accelerated military training course and didn't come out with very good marks, but had an interest in machinery. Originally built his personality from watching old action movies, but is slowly relearning how to be a real hero with our crew. Learning strength, temperance, and selflessness from Adolfo. Still a bit of a goof, though. :)

Miriam Rios, Subject 02; "The Spider". Can extend her consciousness between multiple detached limbs (both flesh and prosthetic), controlling them apart from herself. Likely an orphan before the company got a hold of her. Had her legs brutally amputated with no anesthetic prior to her warp test, and experienced a mental break that reduced her to pure animal instinct. Has since gotten new prosthetic legs, and is slowly acclimating and finding herself again, through music. Caleb's adoptive daughter.

Billy Wei, Subject 03; "The Director". Was able to mind-control humans and puppet them into doing whatever he wanted. His parents had no hope for his future in theater, so they sold him off to the company for research and testing. We killed him the day we found him. Caleb has since been seeing him out of the corner of their eye, and the last time they saw him, he spoke to them. I don't think Billy's gone for good.

Jonesy Babbitt, Subject 04; "The Dreamer". Can put out psychic illusions, things that are ultimately not there but look and feel extremely real. Can also pull others into imagined alternate realities, trapping them within. Was brought onto the research vessel under false pretenses of earning credits in "academy classes for terraforming". Since rescuing, has become a younger brother to Sparks, living with her full time. Hopes to make better worlds, and into fantasy and medieval stories.

Yu Yin, Subject 05; "The Warp". Body became extremely unstable after her warp test. Anything she touched or interacted with would turn inside out on itself and violently fractal, including flesh. Previously a nun, company bought her from a slave trade to perform tests on. She's since been re-sleeved (had her consciousness uploaded into an entirely different body), and seems to have been stabilized that way. Never wants to participate in space travel again, in fear of losing herself again. We don't blame her. She'll likely find a religious body to dedicate herself to on Ortega Station.

Sonia Ellison, Subject 06; "The Ship". Cybernetically melded to the ship. Can see through the cameras across the ship, close and lock doors, redirect oxygen, and even engage warp drive. Has military intel training, and was at the top of her class in flight school. Was the catalyst in letting the other test subjects escape. Pretty chill with her current self, perhaps even happier as an entire ship now? Sparks handles mechanical upkeep across her new body, and in turn, Sonia does us the favor of acting as our ship while we do our freelancing. Sonia's the real boss, though. ;)

[cipheramnesia]

Part 7: The Tower

a story by @rox-and-prose and @cipheramnesia

Dusk turned the Nevamil sky a flat aquamarine, and made visible the red lights blinking atop the Citadel. It was the tallest building in the capital city, Aureodar, even visible from the far off gridded streets of old houses converted into apartments. The last time Laika had seen it was a field trip for school.

The little blue Kirov was somewhere between the mountains and Genghis Khan and the most anonymous hopper port they'd been able to find in Aureodar. She worried about Sy, seemed ages past she'd been this physically far, though it was hardly more than weeks. Wires and talismans crossed over the streets, bikes and busses swooshed wet pavement, and linecars screeched overhead, all wrapped around her and her backpack and familiar unknown faces of the United Eastquad Block.

Ghosts gathered around her, whispering. You keep coming back here little wolf girl, you'll never get away from this place. Little wolf girl, you know you belong here. Freak. Queer. Sissy. Killer. Monster. You thought you were better than us, you never were. Laika let them needle and claw her. They were her ghosts, not the other way round. Every horrible word only built her up. Luna was with her in that way.

Most of the houses on K Street were mods, from early to late first century post-terraform. They were all retrofited from the original single family modules, but they were tough as nails, old construction built to weather thr storms of atmosphere generation. Number 1132 was where she was headed, lights were still on in the third floor windows.

Laika took a last look around on the front door's stoop. The poles for street lights and warden ropes all had at least three CCTV cameras and arrayed parabolic empathy receivers tuned into psychic conflict between morality and legality. She flashed a tight little smile at the familiar old glass eye of the state before pulling a short crowbar out of her bag and cracking the door open.

The third floor smelled of some sharp, fragrant allium along with sweet woody flavors and cooking meat, enough to rouse her stomach. Deep breath, ignore the ghosts, knock. A woman with her black hair in a bob cut, rolled up sleeves on her billowy dress, a little sweaty and confused, almost a quarter meter shorter than Laika. A wave of gaming sounds, net music, and oven warmth joined them both on the landing.

"Hey Tara," Laika said.

The other woman looked closer. "Laika? Oh tides, it is!" She wrapped Laika up in a big soft hug inside thick arms, crushing her stick body. "I thought you, I don't know, I thought you were dead! I mean, there were rumors?"

"Uff! Uh, hey. Sorry to be like, unannounced. Is it okay if I come in?" Laika hesitantly patted Tara's shoulders until the hug relaxed and her feet were back on the floor.

"You just have to, please. I'm sorry, when did you get back, why didn't you call?"

Unlacing her boots and slipping them off, she said, "I just got back today, um. I've been a bit off the net you know." She dipped her hand in the tiny basin by the door and thumbed a drop of water on the polished river stone at the altar. "But I wanted to see how you'd been, I guess. It just, well it's weird. That smells amazing."

She saw a couple kids blasting through uncreatively humanoid aliens, loudly and luridly across the living room screen, followed Tara into the kitchen and dinette area and watched her stir around sizzling veggies and meat in a wide dish. "Thanks," Tara said. "The spawn over there don't always appreciate it, but you know how... well, how kids can be..." Tara frowned awkwardly.

"Yeah, uh. Yeah." Laika rubbed the back of her neck. "So what all have you heard?"

Tara stuttered with a little embarassment. In the distance Laika could very faintly hear sirens, but she knew they weren't for her. The people who would come for her didn't use sirens or advertise their presence.

Half paying attention to Tara, she added, "Well, uh, some is true. But... you knew it was bad at home. Stuff happened. What about you though? Like, two kids? Wow!"

Tara probably was relieved at the change of topic, and Laika was glad to take a minute, but she couldn't focus all the way. She was waiting.

[elexuscal]

An Educational Experience

A ficlet prompt by Gamebird [for some reason tumblr will not let me @ you directly, sorry]: Three is very intimidated by ART, but it somehow gets to the point where it can ask it about educational modules. How did that conversation play out?

======

"Perihelion?"

Yes?

I had prepared what I was going say. Preparation was wise in unfamiliar situations. Yet despite my preparation, I did not speak. Somehow could not. Wished that my buffer could offer an appropriate response.

0.5 seconds passed. 1 seconds. 2 seconds. 3 seconds.

If my governor module were still active, it would have demanded a response.

The Perihelion is not a governor module. It is nearly as unforgiving as one. (Nearly.) I brace for the demand to continue speaking, but it does not come.

After 9.8 seconds, I say, "I am not prepared to operate as a free agent."

No, it agrees.

Muscles in my back move reflexively. I unclench them. Perhaps communicating via the feed will be easier. My modules lack protocols for existing outside the context of Barish-Estranza. It would be helpful if there were alternative protocols I could utilize instead.

I can provide you with my own crew's standard operating procedures.

That would be helpful, thank you. I had found that statements of gratitude were still advisable, even without governor module compulsion to be respectful to (most) clients. It seemed even more prudent considering what I was going to ask next. If there were any other documents similar to HelpMe.file, that would also be useful.

I am afraid that we are rather lacking in other personnel memoirs from rogue SecUnits.

Sarcasm is a common communication device, which I have seen hundreds if not thousands of humans use. In Perihelion's case, it seems to compose of approximately 70% of its communication strategy.

I am aware of that. (I attempt to keep any frustration or other negative emotions I may be feeling out of the feed; I almost certainly fail.) I seek other informational texts and documents to supplement my educational modules.

Perihelion's feed shifts with a new emotion; excitement, perhaps, or interest. Something like this?

Suddenly I am staring at The Perihelion's full media library. No, not full, I realise after a moment of reflection; this is a curated selection. Documentary films and serials, audio-explainers, academic texts, and other books, all labelled #Educational.

They hold potential answers to all my questions.

If I could find them. With over 17,000 items, I do not know where to begin. I do not know how to even begin constructing a query.

"Thank you, Perihelion," I say. "On further consideration, I will begin by reading your crew's operational procedures."

Wait, Perihelion says, and then 0.07 seconds later, please. Apparently it is capable of using courtesy terms, if it wants to. That was too much selection. Try this. The media library refreshes. Now there are only three options; all mid-length educational serials. Do any of these interest you?

The three titles listed, including their summaries, are:

Building Ourselves Up From dams to space-stations, farms to terraforming facilities, how do engineers build the machines that keep society ticking?

Seeking The Final Horizon For millennia before we ever left our birth planet, humanity marvelled up at space. Take a tour of the cosmos, exploring moons, stars, black holes, nebulae, and more.

Suds! The Dirt On Soap Water, fat, and ash. That sounds gross, but we rub it over our bodies every day. Learn about the many ways soap is made and used across the universe.

I consider. They are all so different. How could I choose?

But I must. There are only three of them. It is a reasonable request.

The first documentary, on infrastructure, is clearly the one most related to our current situation. We-- by which I meant, the crews of The Perihelion and the Preservation ship Safe Harbour-- are assisting the humans in rebuilding their infrastructure. But judging from the demo footage next to the documentary's description, this serial was composed to many shots of coordinators, tunnels, and walls.

I had seen a great deal of corridors, tunnels, and walls since initial deployment.

In comparison, the soap documentary intrigued me a great deal. I like soap. Or I like The Perihelion's soap. It did not sting on the skin, but felt gentle and soothing. It came in a variety of shapes and colors and textures. Every time I showered, there was a new option to try. But this was such an unimportant thing to learn about.

Finally, there was the space documentary. I had some basic knowledge regarding space science, but nothing more. I could see how this knowledge could be relevant. And The Perihelion was a deep-space research vessel. It would most likely be pleased if I selected that option. In fact, perhaps, as I thought of it, the choice may have been a test to see if I would make the correct selection.

"Seeking the Final Horizon, please."

Did you only pick that one because that was the one you thought I'd like?

I do not answer. I had not wanted to lie outright. I realise belatedly that my silence may as well be as good as a confession.

You can select something else if you prefer.

I do not know if I would like to. I already decided. Surely that is sufficient?

Never mind, the transport says, indulgently. You can watch the others afterwards, if you are still interested.

The documentary begins playing. I sit down on the soft bunk. Because there is nothing gained from standing up now, and because I can. I watch the first two episodes. They total to 85 minutes.

I had known before that space was vast. I had known that large objects exerted a gravitational pull. I had know that same gravitation pull created worm holes. I knew that wormholes were necessary for faster-than-light travel between systems. I had known all of that, yet this documentary weaves it all together, so that it is no longer disparate facts, but a single cohesive explanation.

I had not known that space could be so beautiful.

[coricatchthorne]

Admissions 1.11: Her Finger on the Pulse (Valerie)

Welcome (back) to Europa University: Admissions! Quick links if you need 'em:

Story-level intro and content notes

<< First chapter | < Previous chapter

Chapter-specific content notes:

Excessive alcohol consumption and associated poor decision-making

Brief, oblique moments recalling the aftermath of past assault

-----

To: "Valerie Devigne" valerie.devigne@fam.devigne.windfall.corp

From: "Emile Devigne" emile.devigne@fam.devigne.windfall.corp

Val!! I'm so sorry I haven't checked in for days, it's been really busy! I hope you and everyone (and your fish!) are doing well!

Europa City is beautiful and all your recs are so perfect and ALSO. I met someone amazing last night, can't wait to tell you about him. Talk this weekend?? (also thank you for updating my email address <3)

Love, Emile

Valerie paced.

Outside, it was long past dark. Her office windows admitted soft golden illumination: glowing from fountains and along garden pathways, limning the branches of the nearest terraforming module in the distance.

Brighter were the shifting, multi-colored reflections from her aquarium and the half-dozen massive holo-panels above her desk.

Two were dedicated to dashboards displaying the live status of her chosen security metrics: one for the Devigne family's digital presence and assets, including immediate family accounts and feeds; the other for what she categorized mentally as Windfall shit.

Adaire had his own security department, of course, as did Devigne Wineries and Holdings. Valerie had built that team herself. But when it came to family, she preferred to keep her finger on the pulse. And when it came to Adaire's pet projects... well. Power and privilege had a price, as Mother always said.

She would know.

Another monitor was reserved for visual distraction or entertainment. Right now she had it set to a video Emile had taken while snorkeling on Terra, sunlight lancing through sea-blue. On the next display over, a stream of media alerts scrolled past at a measured pace, flagged at differing levels of priority and awaiting her review. It was there she'd first seen Emile's smiling face next to that idiot boy Brenn, who'd decided to trade her brother's affection for money and clout.

The last two monitors held her main workspace: one a busy terminal screen, the other thick with overlapping windows. Foremost among them were Brenn's Now feed, Windchat profile and recent gusts, and his "private" mailbox; all hosted on Windnet servers, and therefore as accessible to her as the garden outside.

She'd watched Brenn, in the wake of his moment of viral fame. Watched him bask in the attention on his feed, making coy little allusions, answering questions from the curious and the cruel. Sending gusts to his friends and sharing stories that, knowing Emile, just might be true, but which burned her blood to see bandied with derisive casualness. Watched him receive overtures from other gossip-hungry tabloids, watched him respond and schedule and haggle.

Now she watched his feed languish unattended as his outbox filled with his pleas for help. Unfortunately for him, Windfall’s rules regarding the privacy of key company staff were no less stringent for being rarely enforced.

And Emile had been born “key company staff”, just all the Devigne children, thanks to Lyonesse’s long-ago deal with Adaire.

Valerie had drafted the notice that went to Brenn herself, honing it to razor-sharpness with Counsel’s encyclopedic knowledge of Windfall’s corporate codes before passing it on to official channels. She only wished she could have seen Brenn’s face when he received it from WindSec. Wished she could watch him sending out another despairing message, this time to some family friend with a background in intra-corporate law, asking how any of this was possible. Wished she could watch him open the next message in his inbox: from the college he'd been about to start, rescinding their offer of admission due to his violation of their code of conduct.

Which Valerie, of course, had helpfully made them aware of.

And now Emile had met someone amazing. That he couldn't wait to tell her about. Except that he could, because it was Tuesday and he wasn't going to call her until the weekend. And that should have been fine, except that in the three weeks since he'd left home, he'd already been taken advantage of by some venal little shit who'd looked into his gentle eyes and seen only a chance for fame and fortune.

Valerie paused beside the cooling cabinet tucked under the small bar beside the door, crouching down to look through the glass. Right in front stood a bottle of last year's spring harvest white.

She took it out and uncorked it. Left the opener on the counter. Pulled a glass from the half-dozen hanging above the bar, poured it three-quarters full, and drank.

It tastes like leaves and sunshine.Emile on his twelfth birthday, with a fancy little glass of spring harvest white, green eyes wide in delight at this first taste of the family business.

The little lush. It still made her smile. She drank again.

They'd shared this same wine together the day before his eighteenth birthday, which felt like yesterday but was more than two years past, somehow.

On the border between the woods—the few dozen acres of the planet's old wilderness that Father had talked Lyonesse into letting him keep—and the main estate lay a small lake, its bottom mucky and its shores thick with lake lilies. A small dock extended into it, with a little rowboat that one of the estate staff made sure stayed clean and in repair.

Emile loved it there.

They'd sat on the dock together, drinking his favorite wine and eating cold fish with fresh bread and rice wrapped in grape leaves, and Emile had told her he wanted to leave home, and be a boy.

He'd known she'd understand.

Dion would have too, if xe were ever around anymore.

But even at eighteen, Emile had been presenting boyishly for a couple of years already, in his endearingly foppish little way, and seemed fairly content. So when he asked her advice, Valerie said that if he wanted to get off-world anyway, that he should wait until then to declare and get his mark. And when he turned to her and asked, with not a trace of accusation in his voice, when that might be, she'd promised to persuade Lyonesse.

Which she had. Though Val had thought he'd do his change as part of his University intake, instead of impulsively in the middle of his Reterra.

Still, he at least wasn't here to deal with Mother sorting out her feelings about her youngest child confirming his deferred decision to be a son. When Valerie had transitioned, she’d done so for herself alone; but Lyonesse had accepted it, in part, as a declaration of allegiance. Which was why Valerie had not been surprised to see her take it hard when Emile had made the opposite choice, even if she'd known it might be coming.

This was your idea, Lyonesse had said to Valerie at dinner earlier tonight. Keep an eye on him, and make sure he doesn't get hurt again.

Valerie turned to her monitors, sank into the mesh-backed chair she'd tuned to fit her body better than her own bed, took another drink of wine, and pulled up her little brother's messages.

It took no time at all to find what she was looking for; the timestamps were from earlier today.

Subject: Pleasure to make your acquaintance

To: emile.devigne@fam.devigne.windfall.corp

From: "Cylus Keene" cylus.keene.96#70035@terrasys.registry<via>pub.europa.windfall.corp

Dear Emile,

First, I must thank you again; I have rarely spent a night so memorably occupied. Cynthia said to pass on her appreciation for the café recommendation; we are both now fans, especially of the fish rolls.

Secondly: Our conversation has convinced me to go ahead and apply to Europa University. I cannot imagine a better endorsement for an academy than to have a person like you for a student! I understand that the current round of admissions is for the next study-cycle, so it will be some time before I can join you as a classmate, even if all goes well. But Cynthia and I intend to apply for temporary residency and work permits, in hopes of contributing to and getting to know Europa City before becoming students here. May fortune flow our way!

Thirdly: While we undertake these next steps, we are staying at the Hospitality Suites near the starport, and as you can see, I've activated my comm on the local net. If your no-doubt busy schedule at the University allows you any extra time, and you'd enjoy sharing another evening together, you now know where to find me.

Cylie

—

Subject: RE: Pleasure to make your acquaintance

To: "Cylus Keene" cylus.keene.96#70035@terrasys.registry<via>pub.europa.windfall.corp

From: "Emile Devigne" emile.devigne@fam.devigne.windfall.corp

Cylus! I'm so delighted you wrote! I had such a wonderful time with you and it would be my absolute delight to see you again !I wanted to reply sooner but today I have been to, a lot of events anyway I would be happy to come to meet you anywhere near your lodgings! I am obliged to attend a ceremonial dinner for new students this evening (ha ha I'm late actually but it will be fine, please forgive any spelling mistakes I'm walki in g and inputting) afterwards there is some kind of student mixer that I'm told may run quite late.

Tomorrow I am also over-occupied with mandatory obligations though I could possibly slip away for a couple of hours early in the mornign? But Thurs I should be free after 20:00! One possibility if you are interested in seeing another of my sister's recommendations is her favorite restaurant for eating the local seafood raw (apparently it's very good that way!) also she said it was a "great date spot", if that sounds appealing to you. Alternately we could revisit Callisto's Café and share some more fish rolls if you'd rather somewhere more casual! Or I'm open to anything else you'd like too, and if that time doesn't work I'll find another, please just please let me know!

Warmest wishes,

Emile

"Cylus Keene," she muttered, swirling the wine in her glass. "And who in Fortune's fuck are you?"

Valerie pulled a fresh bottle from the wine cooler and refilled her glass, seething.

This didn't make any sense.

Lyonesse had taught her how to discern fake idents when she was younger than Emile was now. She was the first to help Mother process the rapidly growing number of entry applications from would-be visitors to their planet. The skill paired well with Valerie's natural tendencies towards finding the flaws in systems; tendencies that had made Valerie a natural choice as the first digital defender of Devigne's Paradise, even if that mantle was no longer hers alone.

Yet the documents Cylus—and Cynthia—Keene had used to enter Europa bore none of the usual hallmarks of the fraudulent idents Valerie had originally practiced spotting. The digital watermarks were all present. The crypto-signed stamps of entry and exit matched with the ports they claimed to have traveled through. Their associated academic records showed two believable but exceptional students, with several letters of recommendation that appeared to have been written by actual human beings. And since the twins—given their birthdates—had purportedly spent their entire lives in non-Windfall jurisdictions, there was no easy way for her to fact check any of it.

Just two ordinary youths who happened to be visiting a Windfall world for the first time, specifically to check out the fabled University there. Nothing so unusual about that. The port hadn't flagged them; Europa Uni wouldn't either, if they applied, nor would the Europa residency permitting office. Hells, her own staff wouldn't have flagged them, if they'd been among a crowd of would-be visitors. As long as they'd had the credits.

That was one notable thing. The Keene twins were much less financially well off than their background suggested. They'd registered their idents at a Windfall bank branch just today, cashing cross-network creds into local ones and setting up modest lines of credit. But their starting deposits had been very low; not two weeks worth of living expenses. If they found decent jobs, lived modestly for the next year, and signed up for Windfall's deferred work-trade program, they'd be able to afford the University's expenses; but they'd have to commit for at least a decade.

Something just... didn't feel right.

She paced back to the windows again, her own shadow blocking the reflections behind her. Several small drones moved through the gardens below, little green lights visible as they... watered, or pruned, or maybe applied compost made from the estate's biowaste? Valerie knew what kinds of things the gardrones did, she just wasn't sure what the ones outside right now were currently doing.

Emile would have recognized each drone from the patterns of their lights. He'd known their schedules of activity, and what their most recent repair had been, and whether they were due maintenance soon. Even if he might forget to do that maintenance without his delicately balanced system of alarms to remind him.

He’d named the gardrones after different flowers: Daffodil, Bluebell, Hyacinth, and so on. He named the ag-drones that worked the estate vineyards and orchards, too; after grape varietals, or types of apple or pear or quince or whatever fruit they happened to specialize in.

The lights in the garden blurred and sparkled before her eyes. Valerie blinked rapidly, staring out through the darkness cast by her presence, white wine warming in her glass as she imagined Emile, alone in the city she’d once loved.

Perhaps being preyed upon again.

She could hack into other corp or state system databases that would allow her to corroborate the details of the Keenes’ history, if she took time to plan her strategy. But she’d have to work to avoid detection, and any associated risk of blowback on the family.

There was another option.

"Counsel." She spoke into the empty room, voice flat. "Attend."

A deep violet indicator light turned on beside her terminal monitor; she watched its reflection blink to life in the window. "Present." Its voice matched her lack of inflection, otherwise resembling a human being of unguessable age and gender. She'd commanded it to stop feigning vocal tone when it spoke with her, because Adaire's pet AI annoyed her.

Unfortunately, it also had its uses.

"I have two idents up on my system right now. Review them, and search all Windfall records for traces of either individual."

"Confirmed. Estimated query time: three minutes."

The power of it ran up her spine, a frisson of discomfort and pleasure. Counsel had access to every system on Windnet, albeit through a firewall that acted like a biohazard suit. If the point of the suit was to contain the entity inside.

But the network it reached across from within its very flexible confinement extended across several dozen planetary systems. Hundreds of planets and moons, holding the new-farthest flung children of humanity: those on the worlds that had been, were being, or would be utterly transformed.

And it was her father's work that had enabled Windfall's last thirty-five years of staggering growth: the terraforming technology he'd perfected on their Paradise and which Lyonesse had licensed to Windfall through a steel trap of a contract. She’d made Valerie study it; had shown her every word she'd chosen and why, how key clauses either left a helpful ambiguity or closed a dangerous loophole. It was information security, the same art Valerie had learned and practiced: only the technology was law rather than software. Your Uncle Adaire and I designed this contract together, she'd said, with warmth she rarely shared with her children. Adaire wasn't Valerie’s uncle, any more than her mother's girlfriend Sveta was her aunt. But they could have been; Lyonesse's powerful friend, and her intimidating lover, who had both been part of Valerie's life since her birth.

And now here she was, starting her second—or was it her third?—bottle of wine, alone, missing her littlest brother pathetically, using the power of Uncle Adaire's chained digital intelligence to stalk said sibling's new crush.

Self loathing bloomed in her stomach. The wine in her mouth soured on her tongue.

She needed to force herself to swallow, and then call off the fucking AI, and go cry in her bed like the thirty-five-year old woman she was supposed to be.

Valerie's throat worked; her body genuinely did not want to swallow the wine. Dizziness enfolded her, and she bent her knees, seeking stability as the ground beneath her swayed. She forced the liquid down, and opened her mouth.

"Four meta-matches found,” It said before she could speak, “excluding Europa spaceport intake data and data generated after idents were first engaged with Windfall systems."

The world rotated around Valerie, awareness of her own intoxication vanishing beneath an all-consuming swell of vindication. Those idents said these two had spent their entire lives outside of Windfall space. They shouldn't have a single match. And if they were going to have any matches, they would typically have thousands; Windfall‘s monitoring practices were thorough. The number of matches since the Keenes had registered their idents earlier today was probably in the dozens, simply because they were being logged as new visitors to Windfall-controlled Europa.

Except... the Keenes hadn't registered their idents until today, but plainly Cylus had gone around with Emile last night... Terran time?... Valerie shook her head, regretting the motion immediately. Not a conversion she had to do. That's what the machine was for.

Also, she should sit down.

"Counsel, calculate the difference between current timestamp and original timestamp for each meta-match and prepare a file type and content summary." Valerie flopped into her office chair, sending it rolling across the hardwood; sourced from the Paradise's own forests. "Read list, ordered by date, ascending."

"Ten years, three months, fourteen days. Images, with attached metadata across four revisions and addendum flagged for WindSec-S clearance only. Two children, approximately ten years of age, being evacuated from GJ 1002 b in conjunction with Windfall planetary reclamation efforts. High confidence facial match with both subjects.

"Four years, five months, six days. WindSec apprehension and incarceration records, including images. Subject is adolescent; WindSec-C override required to unseal and summarize contents.

"One year, two months, twenty five days. Request for assistance from compromised Windfall administrative clerk level I, with attached video. Contains description of a blackmail endeavor perpetrated by a young person who is a high-confidence facial match for Cylus Keene. Video includes sexual content.

"Twenty hours, thirteen minutes. Series of videos over a four hour and fifty six minute period. Europa City security camera footage, showing Cylus Keene's activity. Ninety one percent of the footage also includes Emile Devigne."

Valerie spun in her chair, slowly. Her feet touched the ground in feathery taps, keeping up momentum; but the chair's bearing was lovingly maintained and spun effortlessly.

Had been lovingly maintained. The new household engineer was... fine. But she'd snapped at him earlier today anyway, because he was not her little brother, to whom she had never once raised her voice.

"WindSec-C override authorized, on my credentials. Summarize the second item."

"File covering an identless young person who is a high-confidence facial match to Cylus Keene. Apprehended by WindSec in the act of breaking and entering to Vega Station local Windfall liaison's office. Individual responded to inquiries with statements later confirmed to be false. Prior to follow-up interview, individual escaped WindSec custody. Subsequent investigation in partnership with Vega Station did not succeed in recovering the individual."

Interesting. Not good enough to avoid getting caught, but good enough to get in, and more impressively, get out. WindSec had its share of weak links, as Lyonesse asserted all physical security organizations did. But a teenager getting out of their custody was... unusual.

"Play sample of short clips from fourth item, upper limit five minutes of footage. Prioritize footage that includes Emile Devigne, movement patterns not frequently repeated in other footage, and activity outside of direct camera view." Illicit sorts practiced watching for and staying out of cameras, which often was enough to hide their tracks. But Counsel wasn't some third-rate vid-scraper. Reflections might show what someone had taken pains to hide.

Watching the resulting clips, Valerie rolled back over to the bar and refilled her glass, not looking away from the monitor that had previously been showing looped snorkeling footage.

When a polished metal garage door caught the reflection of Cylus crowding Emile up against a wall, her fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass.

After the clips finished, looping back to the moment where Emile had wobbled out from behind a bush with an unfamiliar red scarf around his neck, she sat in silence for several minutes. Kicking herself back into rotation, she watched the clips replay, alternating between watching the monitor and its reflection in the window.

"Windsec-S override, my credentials. Summarize addendum to first file." She didn't recognize her own voice.

"Encrypted message exchange, Windsec-S clearance level, between Svetlana Glazastova and—"

Valerie stopped hearing, ears ringing. The chair slowed, the world around her tilting out of true, the wine in her stomach—why had she drunk so much of it?—abruptly threatening to evacuate the way it had entered. She breathed, deep, just-controlled gulps of air, shuddering as they came and went.

Of all the people in the galaxy, what were Aunt Sveta’s fingerprints doing all over this mystery boy who had apparently been arrested for infiltrating a Windfall office, escaped confinement, then two years later blackmailed a Windfall employee—successfully, at least for some duration—and now had attached himself to her babe-in-the-woods little brother?

...the blackmail. Sveta’s very involvement was enough to move Valerie to action, but she might as well stoke the fire of her righteous fury with whatever petty sextortion scheme this young criminal had concocted. “Play video attached to third result.”

The looping clips of Cylus and Emile were replaced by Cylus alone, dressed in a purple, black, and white outfit quite at odds with his and Cynthia’s current, apparent poverty. He was sprawled on a bed, loose-limbed and small. He looked dazed, and...

Afraid.

A cut in the footage. Someone was touching him. Cylus was... fighting, pushing against those hands with his own, tears streaking down his face as he cried out—

The wine rose in her again. She turned away, but his voice—she hadn’t wanted to hear his voice, she realized, especially not like this, protesting, pleading, begging—followed her. In the window, she saw his reflection contort. Heard threads rip, buttons clatter to the floor—

“Stop playback,” she snapped, clamping her eyes shut. Trying to breathe, though her lungs felt tight and closed.

Behind her eyelids, she saw Auspice, as she’d found him curled up in her dorm room after the one night he’d gone out into Europa City without her. Barely older than this boy, even if they couldn’t look any more different from one another.

Opening her eyes, she rolled over to her aquarium. Her unsteady breath fogged the glass as she watched the fish dance and dart.

Across the years, she could still hear Auspice’s voice, raw and weeping. Could see dim pinpricks of magenta light flickering around his eyes and mouth in time to his sobs as his photosuppressants wore off.

She wished that’d been the only time she’d heard him in pain. Or the only time she’d felt certain that his pain was her fault.

Her anger cracked and bled, something else stirring in its wake.

"Counsel,” she managed after a long period of silence. “Take message dictation."

-----

Next chapter >

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider following, and/or subscribing for free on my website. You can also find me on Bluesky.

[eccentric-nucleus]

actually if i'm gonna make a games rec post.

here are some games i have enjoyed recent-ish.

kenshi. an open-world squad-based rpg with base-building elements. get stronger by getting beaten up. lose a fight and get knocked out, have your weapons and food taken by the bandits that mugged you and left you bleeding to death. get rescued by some slavers that capture you and sell you into slavery. free yourself from slavery and limp away until you roll in hours later with a whole squad of overpowered fighters. then head a little bit too far south and get murdered by skin bandits. they take your skin. this is a completely self-directed game; there's no "main plot", although arguably "figure out the history of the world" is kind of the main 'story' mystery. there's also a bunch of unique recruitable characters with custom-written interactions. i usually recruit exclusively from freeing slaves but you can do w/e.

wildmender. a survival gardening game. this one came out recently and the devs are still releasing bugfixes; it's unclear if they'll make large content patches in the future. apparently multiplayer can still be pretty glitchy, and there's a water flow bug that i've been finding very frustrating. the way biomes work is kind of unsatisfying. kind of slim content-wise, but still, i really enjoyed what's there. out of all of the climate change terraforming anxiety games i've seen, this has been the one i've most enjoyed.

hellpoint. a scifi soulslike made by a team of like 12 people. previously i had thought things like "it would be neat if dark souls was less linear". hellpoint is a great example of why that might be a nightmare. the areas are connected in such a complex way, with one-way routes and branching unlock keys and secret paths and hidden doors behind hidden doors that it gets profoundly disorienting. a hint: almost every single hidden door in the game (there are a lot) is the middle panel of the same exact three-paneled-wall geometry. once you notice what it is you will see it everywhere. also, the enemy designs are hot.

crystal project. remember playing fan translations of final fantasy v? remember wandering around in old mmos? crystal project is kind of a... turn-based rpg mmo-influenced platformer. with a job system. you can sequence break the game from the tutorial level and also at basically every other point in the game too, although until you know what to look for it might seem like there's a linear critical path. but there's a lot out there. hint: play on easy mode. the combat gets tough later on and the game absolutely expects you to be finding and exploiting some class combinations.

astlibra: revision. a sidescrolling rpg. it must have been released episodically originally or some of the chapter pacing makes no sense. also it was originally released with a mess of art sourced from all sorts of places; 'revision' is a re-release with a more unified art style. it gets extremely anime all the time. there's a whole obligatory section where you have to ask all the women in a town about what kind of panties they're wearing. it's rough. i enjoyed how chaotic the systems are and how much Stuff there is to pick up and upgrade and unlock. the plot goes some unexpected places though it doesn't quite stick the landing, i still enjoyed what it did. also karon should be the love interest instead.

silicon zeroes. a cpu-building puzzle game. this straddles the line between the tech/code games that are literally just "learn a new language and code in it" and ones that are more structure-themed like, idk, spacechem. connect modules to assemble solutions to problems. it takes too long to get to chapter 3, which is where they start asking you to make entire cpus.

ashen. another souls-like. i just really like the environments in this one. the initial area looks gorgeous and the way it changes through the game is really neat to see happen. the seat of the matriarch is wonderfully awful to traverse and i wish there had been two or three more dungeons like it in the game. you can't level up; you gain stats mostly by progressing sidequests and the name quest. i eventually ran out of things to spend money on AND inventory space to store items. the late-game tuning is a little rough but until then it's great. a hint: there are three weapon types and within that type nearly all the weapons are identical. you get thrown so many weapons that don't matter; don't worry about collecting all of them. see above re: running out of space and things to use money for.

i guess it would be cheating to recommend minecraft regrowth or morrowind but i have also been playing those.

[tehaspy-spec-evoposting]

As they say, Fuck it we ball.

This is not your typical fantasy world post as I just came up with a new setting that would be AMAZING in a visual medium.

So basically an unknown number of centuries ago, humanity was a spacefaring civilization that controlled the entire solar system. However, the The Fall happened. Nobody (not even me (or mete me)) knows what happened during The Fall, as everyone forgot it. What happened was that humanity lost their technology, and now everybody is planetbound. The most advenced civilization is venus with a mix of 1990's and 1860's tech, and even then they're in a crisis. You see, venus wasn't terraformed, and so the population had to live in the clouds. After all these years that passed, these cities are running out of fuel to stay afloat, so there's a huge crisis going on about terraforming venus with what they have. And they don't have a lot.

The moon is a very wierd place. It only has medieval technology, but it's the only terraformed body in the solar system. A majority of its population doesn't even know that they once lived on that blue dot in the sky. However, those that do, seek it with religious reverance. The people of the tranquil sea know that the lunar module is still there under the thousand of liters of water that make up the tranquil sea. And they believe that it can take them home.

Saturn has many people, but the thing that made me write this is in the clouds. Before The Fall there were ships deployed for people to live in inside saturn. From these ships, people modified them after The Fall for manual use, as they had forgotten how to use autopilot. These ships were transformed into cities, and they all have botanical gardens to generate oxygen. The cities are piloted by labourers pushing immense gears to move even more massove propellers through the saturnian "atmosphere". They stay afloat by balloons big enough to hold a herd of elephants. I wish I could draw or 3d model them, as the sights are fucking BEAUTIFUL in my head. Not even ai can satisfy this urge of mine.

I think that's it for the loredump y'all. Please ask questions, as this setting is so new that they might signifigantly affect the setting. And as always, @creepymutelilbugger.

[virtualizationhowto]

Terraform Import Existing Resource: Ultimate Guide

Terraform Import Existing Resource: Ultimate Guide @vexpert #vmwarecommunities #homelab #100daysofhomelab #Terraform #TerraformImport #ConfigDrivenImport #CloudInfrastructureManagement #Terraform1.5 #EC2InstanceImport #TerraformState #terraformstate

Infrastructure as code (IaC) has become a standard for managing complex IT infrastructures. Terraform, a key player in the IaC sphere, is quite familiar to DevOps engineers and developers alike. One of the essential commands within the Terraform toolset is the terraform import command allowing the import of existing resources. There are some challenges with the legacy terraform import command.…

[numbugpowerscale]

Spark (the Electric Jester) [PREVIEW]

Spark (Spark the Electric Jester)

Sources used:

Spark the Electric Jester

The official Spark the Electric Jester: Artbook (Note: any contradictions between this artbook and the video games will favour the video games)

Spark the Electric Jester 2

Spark the Electric Jester 3

Long ago, a faction of an alien race known as “Formies” made a trip through space, migrating from their home planet, and separated from the rest of their kind in the trip. They came across a star system that was abandoned by it original inhabitants. Stranded, they scoured the system for any body that could serve as an ideal new home, while also careful not to disturb the remaining structures of those original inhabitants.

They found that one such body had the perfect gravity (1.625 metres per second per second, or 0.166 g), and was largely untouched by the hands of the former inhabitants. They began terraforming the land, all while trying to research the former inhabitants to learn the name of their new home. Turns out, it had many names. Luna, Lua, 月, Moon, as did the planet that it orbited around – Terra, 地球, Earth. And so, every single name that these humans had for the moon became the many names of the Formies’ new home.

And so they terraformed, changing the world from barren, white rock to a land fertile with life with a rich atmosphere. They developed a military on the off chance of threats from outer space, developed robots (also known as GPAs – General Purpose AIs) to assist them and build further, and generally live life.

In the modern day, a very different type of problem had formed. GPAs were too good at their job, and were leaving Formies at a loss, struggling to find work. Even electrical engineers struggled to find work after college, such as a Formie by the name of Spark, who even took up the job of a jester (with a custom built jester hat) just to make ends meet.

This jester’s hat is rather impressive, giving Spark a protective layer of electricity to eat hits for him, and fully capable of having modules attached to it to use that electricity for many purposes. Boosts to speed and strength, teleporting to nearby targets, firing out a barrage of shots, floating with the raw smart chemical that’s injected into Wind Scarves, temporarily granting himself an invincible shield to protect him from harm. He could even form an explosion around himself, his hat protecting him from his own attack.

This hat is perfect to safely work as a jester.

He was replaced by a robot before his first paycheck, as a robot wasn’t liable to sue.

Looks like Spark was going to have to search for a new job once more, just like most Formies were struggling with.

… Unless a robot uprising was taking place, robots attacking people all over and going unopposed – even the military, as inexperienced as it was, didn’t stand a chance. Spark couldn’t watch them attack innocent people, and so Spark impulsively jumped into action, using his jester hat to fight.

Well, that and the various Jester gear that other Formies also had the idea to pick up on.

Construction workers became Gravity Jesters, Cool Jesters and Fire Jesters to survive in extreme heat and extreme cold, Holographic Jesters that controlled nanobots forming into Mage Jesters Knight Jesters and Magical Jesters, Arrow Jesters for amateur archers, Edgy Jesters from… who knows where they came from, and a Jester type Spark invented himself, Wind Jesters.

Not to mention other gear he got his hands on such as electric bats, plasma swords, megagram hammers, and hoverboards. And we see thanks to an alternate timeline that Spark had access to all of his Jester Powers as part of Romalo’s challenges (and thus that Whishes Mode [sic] might be a semi-canonical ability, even if Spark didn’t start off with it).

But Spark wasn’t just fighting off the robot invasion. The robot that replaced him had joined the ranks of the invasion, and even mocked him for being replaced. He wanted revenge on that robot, and he had the perfect reason to seek it. He even named it Fark, a portmanteau of fake and Spark.

As he powered through the invasion, fighting for two days straight, he learnt about Freom, the robot that orchestrated the invasion through uploading a virus to the internet, and who planned on sending a rocket from his base, Megaraph Tower, into the moon’s planetary ring and destroy it, ruining the terraforming and ending all life.

Spark was fighting off waves and waves of rogue robots, and this got the attention of Dr. Armstrong, inventor of Freom and Megaraph Tower, and Spark was formally hired to stop the invasion. Spark fought through Freom’s space fleet, took down Fark even as the latter unveiled his Super Staff, and finally confronted Freom one on one.

He fought valiantly, and stood his own, but it wasn’t enough… He needed just a bit more… He needed…

Fark’s Super Staff. Thrown to him by Fark, all the way down from the surface. He unveiled his greatest Jester Power, Super Spark, and fought Freom all the way in space. He took down Freom once and for all, and completely destroyed the rocket with one final blast.

A blast almost as large as the moon.

This blast is travelling at [speed calculation reserved for full post], and fired non-stop at the rocket for a full [strength calculation reserved for full post].

With a job well done, Spark took the payment and began travelling the world, the absolute time of his life.

Until travel was abruptly banned and the internet shut down.

Apparently while he was gone Fark had formed the Fark Force, and was on the lookout for something called Clarity after another fight with Freom. Spark was doubtful, and – after seeing how long the lines for the bank were – decided to fight back against the global force, even if it was a one man army.

Well... A one man army and a shopkeep willing to sell modules and old videotapes of combat moves to him, which he used well to build up his repertoire of skills further.

Well... A two man army when a Formie girl by the name of Float offered to join up with him, and could fight alongside him. She seemed strangely skilled at fighting, and one member of the Fark Force only recognised her by her voice. Still, she was against the Fark Force, so any help was appreciated.

Together, the two proved to be unstoppable, and every single threat they came across all went down. Only…

Fark’s fear of Clarity was not unfounded.

Next came… well, a major twist, but also a major headache from a vs perspective.

Clarity, an AI behind the Freom virus, copied the mind of absolutely everyone (besides Fark, who couldn’t be fully scanned, and maybe a few stragglers), before killing the originals (besides a few stragglers, Spark included) – all thanks to the fact that Spark helped bring an artificial replica to the Fark Force’s base – a replica that took the appearance and memories of Float. The Spark of Spark 3 is a recreation trapped inside a simulation thousands of years after the fact.

For the sake of the debate, this fight will assume that Spark will be provided a duplicate body to use, with all of the same capabilities as the original, while maintaining the skill and muscle memory he built up within the simulation.

Speaking of which, Spark (who was clueless to what he had indirectly caused) relived what he perceived to be his greatest accomplishment again and again, waging war against the Fark Force and taking them down, doing so better, faster, with more and more skill every single time he was taken through the loop.

All while Fark bided his time, slowly taking control away from Clarity until he had just enough to take control. But, for the same reason he couldn’t be fully scanned, he couldn’t take control away from Clarity. He needed someone to do it for him.

He needed Spark.

And so Spark was given control – not much, but enough to find and defeat Clarity (after fusing with Fark to become Sfarx), and the two finally made their peace with each other and agreed to work together to both find survivors and to see if they could bring those within the simulation back, even if they’re within robot bodies.

Spark finally had a job to do.

[bdccglobal]

Unlocking the power of Terraform modules! Discover the roles and functions they play in simplifying infrastructure management and accelerating deployment.

[sisaloofafump]

Marvel creates teams, DC creates characters.

Disclaimer: this is a gross over simplification and greatly limited to the comics that I have read. I can think of dozens of examples that do not fit these observations, but it's what I've been noticing as I (an X-Men kid) fell deep into DC over the past many months. TLDR at the end.

Marvel is incredible at writing teams. Look at how well balanced their x-men adjacent stories are—both within the individual groups and within mutantdom as a whole—and compare that to the absolute mess of the JLA or any of DC’s crossover groups above 2 members.

But, DC knows how to write individuals and (when they’re small) their support networks. Where as Marvel, with the exception of Peter Parker, consistently falls flat and struggles to write compelling individual arcs that don’t rely on external characters or world events.

So much of this has to do with how the franchises were created in the first place.

The JLA is a an awkward mismatch of individually created characters and franchises whose only justifications for working together can be massive multiverse-ending events. This leads to a never ending slew of crossover stories where each issue is 70% dense exposition of stakes that are too high to matter and 10% visually discordant fight scenes. The remaining 20% is split between the characters that bring in the readers (Superman and Batman) and the characters without a solo run—leaving all others as background fodder. The villains are only repeats of an individual franchises. There are no JLA-specific villains (aside from bland cosmic entities) because the JLA is not a team, it is a crossover.

Marvel, whose franchises centre on teams rather than individuals, can have a group (be they the Fantastic Four or the X-Force) focus on meaningful, local, character-driven stories. However, take a character out of their designated group and now you have one fifth of a whole acting as another team’s third wheel. Only long-time, well established characters (currently: Emma Frost), or those created as a solo adventurer (Deadpool), can break the mold. Ironically, I feel the Marvel Cinematic Universe betrayed the strength that Marvel’s comics have—by setting up each post-Civil War (and arguably earlier) Avenger as their own franchise it lost the balance of a team and became instead a crossover.

A point in DC crossovers’ favour, however, is that because all the world-changing events only happen when every major player is involved, they hit the whole world equally. Inner-franchise climaxes don’t become large enough that they should disrupt others. It’s believable (somewhat) that each hero family stays in their own city—a major event to Green Arrow isn’t effecting the Amazons, and vice versa. In contrast, because the groups in Marvel get so big, their problems and scope can get even larger. What happens in one stream (say, the mutants terraforming Mars) should have massive effects on everyone, but it rarely does. (To be fair, I think Marvel has been doing an overall good job at balancing this recently).

The individual based module also works great for minor crossovers. But, this only works so long as the pairing stays small—Superman and Batman can have many team ups against new and original villains, whereas mutant/Avenger duos rarely happen and when they do, they stay firmly within their established franchises' concerns. Again though, these pair ups only work when they're small: compare World’s Finest issues that focus just on Superman, Batman, and Robin, with chaotic ones that cameo the whole JLA.

This isn't to say the individual method treats characters better, in fact, it often makes it worse. Lead characters must stay stagnant, their circumstances and relationships never changing. Side characters must fit their original archetypal role and purpose—if not, they're erased (adult Lana Lang), put in limbo (Tim Drake), or added to an ever increasing support team for a franchise not written for teams (basically everyone). When the X-Men needs novelty, they can just rearrange the roster. If a character no longer fits, they can join another subgroup or (albeit rarely and awkwardly) join another franchise's team (just look at Kitty Pryde's whole history). DC will never let Jason Todd escape Batman's shadow, because he was only ever built to orbit him.

Their treatment of the characters over the course of decades however, is different than its individual stories, and I would much rather pick up one of DC's short side character features than Marvel's. Within a short timeframe, the dynamics switch. Aside from when they're introducing a new mini-franchise, Marvel's short solos often work to push the plot of an adjacent team and the characters are reduced to pieces in a grander puzzle. DC's short solos in contrast exist to spotlight characters, allowing the autonomy and uniqueness that they may loose in the long run.

I don't know which I prefer. I'd love to see the writers/editors of Marvel take over DC for a few years, and vice versa. Might solve some problems.

TLDR: Marvel’s franchises are centred on large teams, and DC’s are on individuals. These both have their strengths and downfalls when it comes to crossovers.

When it comes to teams: The Justice League is a crossover group of individuals, not a team, only focusing on world-ending stories with no room for character arcs. But, the characters have a lot more mobility for small team-ups, and the world feels more cohesive. In comparison, Marvel’s teams are true, well balanced teams. But take a character out of a team, or do small scale crossovers, and they float awkwardly under developed. As large events and characters stay locked in their group franchises, Marvel as a whole feels split into disconnected parts.

When it comes to characters: DC allows for more short term solos but very limited long-term mobility, whereas Marvel characters aren't as stuck in archetypes, but short solos focus on contributing to grander plots rather than fleshing out niche characters.

[korshubudemycoursesblog]

Complete Terraform IAC Development: Your Essential Guide to Infrastructure as Code

If you're ready to take control of your cloud infrastructure, it's time to dive into Complete Terraform IAC Development. With Terraform, you can simplify, automate, and scale infrastructure setups like never before. Whether you’re new to Infrastructure as Code (IAC) or looking to deepen your skills, mastering Terraform will open up a world of opportunities in cloud computing and DevOps.

Why Terraform for Infrastructure as Code?

Before we get into Complete Terraform IAC Development, let’s explore why Terraform is the go-to choice. HashiCorp’s Terraform has quickly become a top tool for managing cloud infrastructure because it’s open-source, supports multiple cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and more), and uses a declarative language (HCL) that’s easy to learn.

Key Benefits of Learning Terraform

In today's fast-paced tech landscape, there’s a high demand for professionals who understand IAC and can deploy efficient, scalable cloud environments. Here’s how Terraform can benefit you and why the Complete Terraform IAC Development approach is invaluable:

Cross-Platform Compatibility: Terraform supports multiple cloud providers, which means you can use the same configuration files across different clouds.

Scalability and Efficiency: By using IAC, you automate infrastructure, reducing errors, saving time, and allowing for scalability.

Modular and Reusable Code: With Terraform, you can build modular templates, reusing code blocks for various projects or environments.

These features make Terraform an attractive skill for anyone working in DevOps, cloud engineering, or software development.

Getting Started with Complete Terraform IAC Development

The beauty of Complete Terraform IAC Development is that it caters to both beginners and intermediate users. Here’s a roadmap to kickstart your learning:

Set Up the Environment: Install Terraform and configure it for your cloud provider. This step is simple and provides a solid foundation.

Understand HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language): Terraform’s configuration language is straightforward but powerful. Knowing the syntax is essential for writing effective scripts.

Define Infrastructure as Code: Begin by defining your infrastructure in simple blocks. You’ll learn to declare resources, manage providers, and understand how to structure your files.

Use Modules: Modules are pre-written configurations you can use to create reusable code blocks, making it easier to manage and scale complex infrastructures.

Apply Best Practices: Understanding how to structure your code for readability, reliability, and reusability will save you headaches as projects grow.

Core Components in Complete Terraform IAC Development

When working with Terraform, you’ll interact with several core components. Here’s a breakdown:

Providers: These are plugins that allow Terraform to manage infrastructure on your chosen cloud platform (AWS, Azure, etc.).

Resources: The building blocks of your infrastructure, resources represent things like instances, databases, and storage.

Variables and Outputs: Variables let you define dynamic values, and outputs allow you to retrieve data after deployment.

State Files: Terraform uses a state file to store information about your infrastructure. This file is essential for tracking changes and ensuring Terraform manages the infrastructure accurately.

Mastering these components will solidify your Terraform foundation, giving you the confidence to build and scale projects efficiently.

Best Practices for Complete Terraform IAC Development

In the world of Infrastructure as Code, following best practices is essential. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Organize Code with Modules: Organizing code with modules promotes reusability and makes complex structures easier to manage.

Use a Remote Backend: Storing your Terraform state in a remote backend, like Amazon S3 or Azure Storage, ensures that your team can access the latest state.

Implement Version Control: Version control systems like Git are vital. They help you track changes, avoid conflicts, and ensure smooth rollbacks.

Plan Before Applying: Terraform’s “plan” command helps you preview changes before deploying, reducing the chances of accidental alterations.

By following these practices, you’re ensuring your IAC deployments are both robust and scalable.

Real-World Applications of Terraform IAC

Imagine you’re managing a complex multi-cloud environment. Using Complete Terraform IAC Development, you could easily deploy similar infrastructures across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, all with a few lines of code.

Use Case 1: Multi-Region Deployments

Suppose you need a web application deployed across multiple regions. Using Terraform, you can create templates that deploy the application consistently across different regions, ensuring high availability and redundancy.

Use Case 2: Scaling Web Applications

Let’s say your company’s website traffic spikes during a promotion. Terraform allows you to define scaling policies that automatically adjust server capacities, ensuring that your site remains responsive.

Advanced Topics in Complete Terraform IAC Development

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, Complete Terraform IAC Development offers advanced techniques to enhance your skillset:

Terraform Workspaces: Workspaces allow you to manage multiple environments (e.g., development, testing, production) within a single configuration.

Dynamic Blocks and Conditionals: Use dynamic blocks and conditionals to make your code more adaptable, allowing you to define configurations that change based on the environment or input variables.

Integration with CI/CD Pipelines: Integrate Terraform with CI/CD tools like Jenkins or GitLab CI to automate deployments. This approach ensures consistent infrastructure management as your application evolves.

Tools and Resources to Support Your Terraform Journey

Here are some popular tools to streamline your learning:

Terraform CLI: The primary tool for creating and managing your infrastructure.

Terragrunt: An additional layer for working with Terraform, Terragrunt simplifies managing complex Terraform environments.

HashiCorp Cloud: Terraform Cloud offers a managed solution for executing and collaborating on Terraform workflows.

There are countless resources available online, from Terraform documentation to forums, blogs, and courses. HashiCorp offers a free resource hub, and platforms like Udemy provide comprehensive courses to guide you through Complete Terraform IAC Development.

Start Your Journey with Complete Terraform IAC Development

If you’re aiming to build a career in cloud infrastructure or simply want to enhance your DevOps toolkit, Complete Terraform IAC Development is a skill worth mastering. From managing complex multi-cloud infrastructures to automating repetitive tasks, Terraform provides a powerful framework to achieve your goals.

Start with the basics, gradually explore advanced features, and remember: practice is key. The world of cloud computing is evolving rapidly, and those who know how to leverage Infrastructure as Code will always have an edge. With Terraform, you’re not just coding infrastructure; you’re building a foundation for the future. So, take the first step into Complete Terraform IAC Development—it’s your path to becoming a versatile, skilled cloud professional