#AI Prime LED

[allthecanadianpolitics]

An investment firm led by former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper that is devoted to launching security companies in Israel has a new “success” story: helping that country’s military conduct secret mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to The New York Times, hundreds of Palestinians have been targeted by an “expansive and experimental” spying effort to “collect and catalogue” the faces of Palestinians. At times, civilians have been “wrongly flagged” as Hamas militants and then interrogated and tortured. [...]

Three out of five members of the Israeli company’s board of directors are Harper’s partners at Awz Ventures, meaning the former Canadian Prime Minister’s firm effectively controls Corsight.

Using Corsight’s spy tech, the Israeli military picked out Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha at a checkpoint in central Gaza in mid-November, as he was attempting to flee with his family to Egypt. He was separated, detained, and beaten. [...]

A former commander of this unit, retired Israeli Brigadier General Ehud Schneorson, is another of Harper’s advisory partners at Awz Ventures. According to a report in Israeli outlet +972 Magazine, Unit 8200 has also overseen an AI-based targeting system that has marked tens of thousands of Gazans for assassination. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid, @fairuzfan

Note from the poster @el-shab-hussein: The murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians, and possibly my own extended family members, wouldn't have been possible without the investment of Stephen Harper. It wouldn't have been possible without the settler colony known as "Canada" and its bloodthirsty genocidaires.

[weenwrites]

Anonymous asked: Hello again! Just wondering if you could do headcannons for tfp Optimus, Starscream and Megatron, with a cybertronian reader who is REALLY tall, like twice their size, but is secretly just a big softy, a total cinnamon roll

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Optimus

After the incident with Makeshift, he's naturally suspicious of you the moment the team receives the distress beacon from some unknown vessel harboring a cybertronian lifeform. Upon meeting you, his suspicions only grow as he learns that you were a low-ranking soldier back on Cybertron. He's unsure whether he's heard your name mentioned amongst the armies he's led, and neither is anyone else on the team all too familiar with you.

Even if you were able to prove your alliance lies with the Autobots, he's hesitant to bring you back to base. If you deceived him, you're not going to be an easy threat to handle, Makeshift proved that when he opened a direct groundbridge to the Nemesis and nearly exposed the team's location. He personally takes it upon himself to monitor and supervise you as you gradually gain their trust. He doesn't leave you for a moment, as he fears that any sliver of neglect on his end will serve as an opportunity for you to possibly betray the team, as was the case before.

However as time progresses, his suspicions are thankfully proven false, and he becomes pleased to see how well you get along with everyone else on the team. He gradually begins to feel as though you "brighten" the room whenever you walk in and start talking with someone, and the rest of the team enjoys having you around. He too shares those sentiments, even if he doesn't personally speak with you much. Rather he enjoys your company whenever he hears the others speaking with you, or whenever you spend time around him.

Starscream

When it comes to being issued commands, it can come off as a little difficult to notice how bossy he is with you. He's normally very commanding, rude, and domineering with everyone, so people usually pass this off as his usual behavior. Yet, if you have a keen enough eye, you'll notice that you're the only one he's treating this way.

Naturally, you'd befriend some vehicons, or at the very least get in their good graces, and they'll spill some gossip to you about him. They say a lot of things about him, and it's a mixed bag of exaggerated lies and half-truths, never just one or the other, or the absolute unadulterated truth at all. It's difficult to get a straight story from any one of them no matter how hard you try, but if you know how to discern truth from lie, you'll be able to chalk up his behavior to his own insecurities and his need to feel superior and in control.

Kindness with him will only get you oh so far, as he'll manipulate your kindness to his advantage, to get you on his side and beneath his heel so to speak. He doesn't truly see your kindness as anything more than a tool. At the very least, he thinks you're easily gullible.

Megatron

His first impression was that for your stature and given your previous experience as a soldier, you would make a very fine addition to his armada indeed! As soon as you stepped aboard and finished the tour, you were put to work in the mines, to guard, supervise, and monitor the vehicon miners there.

Before you arrived, the Autobots had been attacking mines left, right, and center, in due part to a lack of resources, Megatron surmises. As of now, they have only succeeded a handful of times and failed the rest, yet these attacks are still costing them their equipment, resources, and miners. But he expects this to be of little difficulty for you, as you will introduce an unexpected twist to what may come as simple routine to Prime and the other Autobots. They know who to expect, what to expect, as well as how to plan around it, and so they say it is difficult to combat the unexpected.

Additionally, the vehicons were also weary of you at first. They assumed you were simply respectful and obedient to Megatron as any Decepticon naturally is, yet the moment he turned his back, they'd start tip-toeing over eggshells. Yet you proved to be the exact opposite of who they made you out to be, and as such you became a favorite amidst them very quickly. There was no yelling, no unreasonable demands or orders, you treated them like actual people. Though not all of them like you for your kindness, you've become a favorite amidst a majority o them.

Though your personality makes you popular amidst the vehicons, he'd strictly forbid mercy of any kind toward the enemy or any human, given almost any situation. So he expects you to be unforgiving and ruthless in battle, as that is the precedent for any Decepticon warrior worthy of even a sliver of respect. Your kindness would only be a weakness for the enemy to exploit and manipulate to their advantage.

[mayrine]

Let's talk about Sudan-

TRANSCRIPT UNDER CUT

Transcript: What is happening in Sudan? The war, its origins, and the key players involved.

The war in Sudan

On April 15, a war broke out in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, eight months of conflict has led to major destruction of Khartoum's infrastructure, the most developed region of Sudan, with fighting also spreading to the regions of Darfur in the west and Kordofan in the south.

Civilians in conflict zones have been forcibly displaced, under threat of physical and sexual violence, particulary by the RSF, which has looted, destroyed, and settled in people's homes.

In the western region of Darfur, a campaign of ethnic cleansing is being carried out by the RSF targeting the Masalit tribe. Allegations of genocide have been levied against the RSF.

Reports have just emerged that fighting has now spread to Wad Madani in AI Gazira state, which houses nearly 500,00 IDPs from Khartoum.

Key Figures: Abdel Fattah al Burhan (head of SAF), Omar El-Bashir (deposed dictator of Sudan), Mohamed Dagalo (Hemidti) (head of RSF)

Sudan: the war in numbers

24.7 million in need of critical humanitarian assistance 6.7 million displaced [5.4 million IDPS, 1.3 million refugees] 7,000+ cholera cases an increase of +136% over the past month 20.3 million people acutely food insecure- 4.9 million facing emergency hunger levels 19 million children are out of school 70-80% of hospitals out of service in conflict areas

FAQ - THE SAF

What is the SAF?

stands fro the Sudanese Armed Forces

is the de-facto government of Sudan

is headed by Lt. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

What is their capacity?

estimated to have aprox. 200,000 personnel and tactical advantage of airforce

currently control of relative northern and eastern regions of Sudan with functioning capital in Port Sudan (East)

Do they have backing and support?

on the international stage, primarily backed by Egypt

limited weapons supply from allies

internally, the SAF is ultimately considered the lesser of two evils

FAQ - THE RSF

What is the RSF?

stands fro Rapid Support Forces

paramilitary group originating from the Janjaweed, Arab tribal militias armed by al-Bashir in 2003 to fight against ethnically African rebel groups in Darfur + carried out 2003 genocide

is headed by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemidti)

What is their capacity?

estimated to have 100,000 to 150,000 troops

winning the ground fight in Khartoum and control 4/5 states in Darfur

Do they have backing and support?

on the international stage, primarily backed by the UAE

have steady weapons supply chain and diversified financial profile with critical assets in UAE and Russia

The war in Sudan: contextualizing April 15

6/1989 - 4/2019 - The Bashir Regime Sudan was under the rule of military dictator Omar Al-Bashir for 30 years, who came to power through an military coup backed by Islamist factions in June of 1989 His time in power was marked by extreme repression, conflict, and economic decline

12/2018 - current - The revolution In December of 2018, a popular democratic revolution began taht eventually unseated al-Bashir on April 11 through the revolt of security sector Al-Bashir was ultimately replaced by al-Burhan, with Hemidti as his deputy of a Transitional Military Council Protestors rejected military rule and continued to hold a sit-in outside the military headquarters until its violent dispersal on June 3 of 2019 by the SAF + RSF Today, the Sudanese people still hope and advocate for freedom from the military rule and the transition to democracy

8/2019 - 10/2021 - Transitional Government Agreement on transitional government signed between civilian forces and Transitional Military Council on August 17, 2019 Led to formation to joint sovereign council with Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister

10/2021 - Current - The Oct 25, 2021 Coup Burhan and Hemidti carry out military coup overthrowing civilian counterparts They draw power from international legitimization despite prolonged mass protests in Sudan

12/2022- The Framework Agreement In December of 2022, civilians put out a framework agreement signed onto by SAF and RSF + civil society groups and political parties meant to return to a transitional government - key part of agreement: question of integration of the RSF into the SAF Parties were to finalize the agreement and sign on April 1; RSF and SAF ultimately disagreed on the integration timeline with RSF wanting 10 years and the SAF wanting 2

12/2022-4/2023 - The Lead up to April 15 As framework agreement negotiations failed, both parties began mobilizing troops in capital of Khartoum in days leading up to April 15 Residents of Khartoum awoke to the sounds of gunfire on April 15 and by noon, the RSF had seized Meroe airport in the Northern state Conflict today considered a battle of power between the two generals they are too far in to walk back

Framing alliances

Sudnese Armed Forces (SAF):

Saudi Arabia

armed groups- rebel groups that had taken up arms against the central government in the Bashir Era are forced to ally with the SAF due to the RSF's ethnic cleansing campaign. They include: Justice and Equality Movement (Gibril Ibrahim), Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (Minni Minawi), Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces (Abdallah Yahya)

Ukraine (SOF)

Iran

Islamists

Israel (Foreign Ministry)

Egypt

Rapid Support Forces (RSF):

United Arab Emirates

Central African Republic

Russia (Wagner Group)

Chad

Arab Tribal Leaders- Arab tribal leaders across the Western region of Darfur have pledged their allegiance and support to the RSF, with members of the tribes across the Sahel crossing into Sudan to join the RSF's assault as well. Key tribes include: Beni Halba, Tarjam, Habaniya, Fallata, Misseriya, Taaysha, Rizeigat

Libya (Khalifa Haftar)

Israel (Mossad)

Is there an end in sight? The state of negotiations

Effort- Jeddah Talks [May] Parties Involved- Externally: United States, Saudi Arabia. Internally: SAF, RSF Outcome: discussed humanitarian ceasefire; signed Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan- FAILED

Effort- Intergovernmental authority on development (IGAD) [July] Parties Involved- Externally: Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan . Internally: RSF Outcome: proposed peacekeeping troops to ensure humanitarian corridor-REJECTED

Effort- Cairo talks (neighboring countries) [July] Parties Involved- Externally: Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, CAR, Libya. Internally: SAF, RSF Outcome: discussed lasting ceasefire, safe humanitarian passage, political dialogue framework-FAILED

Effort- Jeddah talks [October] Parties Involved- Externally: United States, Saudi Arabia . Internally: SAF, RSF Outcome: discussed lasting ceasefire, safe humanitarian passage, political dialogue framework-FAILED

Effort- IGAD + African Union (AU) [December] Parties Involved- Externally: IGAD, EU, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United States. Internally: SAF (Burhan in person), RSF Outcome: agreed to face-to-face meeting in late December and ceasefire; SAF later issued a retraction-ONGOING

What can you do?

The conflict in Sudan calls for the collective support of all to raise awareness about war and aid the Sudanese people on the ground, especially when we live in nations that have been complicit in the oppression of the Sudanese people. Explore the potions below and share with others. Educate yourself- deepen your knowledge about Sudan, empowering yourself with insights into the complexities of the situation. Donate- extend a helping hand to Sudan by generously donation to individuals or grassroots organizations on the ground.

Contact your reps- amplify your impact by contacting your representatives, avocating for positive change

[schmergo]

My mom gave me this chocolate London kit for Christmas and I finally decided to use it as sort of a tongue-in-cheek Fourth of July activity. I love my mom and I don’t think she meant to psychologically torture me, but this experience lowkey led me down a true long dark night of the soul and then utterly broke me. Follow my slow mental unraveling below.

I should add that I am bad at crafts and once got gorilla glue all over my hands while fixing a child’s display-only gingerbread house and spent Christmas break with a hard translucent shell on both hands gradually flaking off over the course of a week, so a fair amount of this may be user error. But also the box says this is for ages 6+ and I’m over 5 times that, so maybe they could have done a wee bit more handholding.

Anyway, here’s my journey, which should absolutely be read in the tone of Jonathan Harker’s letters in the beginning of Dracula.

The first hint that something was wrong happened when I melted the chocolate according to instructions and the next step said to pour it into the molds. The chocolate was not really the “pouring” kind. It was a chunky sort of paste that I had to spoon in. The molds filled unevenly and clumpily and at this point, I asked my husband if he’d let me try to assemble the rest of this on my own because I think I can tolerate my failure better if nobody else witnesses it.

The instructions also cavalierly said to save a “handful” to use as mortar for the chocolate tower.

How much is a handful? A Schmergo-sized hand or a husband-sized hand or what? I have very small hands for an adult, but this is for ages 6+ after all. I opted for a Schmergo-sized handful. I would live to regret that.

I chilled the pieces in the fridge for 20 minutes as directed, then popped them out of their mold. To my surprise, they actually didn’t look THAT bad.

Looking at the pieces of Big Ben that I had to assemble, I became acutely aware that there weren’t detailed instructions on how to fit them together other than just “put them together” and no actual photographs of a real person doing it. The wall pieces were still unnervingly floppy and I decided to freeze them in hopes of hardening them while I focused on the clock itself.

In addition to Big Ben, the kit came with a chocolate taxi and a chocolate double-decker bus. The taxi popped out slightly distorted but in a way I liked, with playful Toontown vibes. But the double-decker bus was still mushy and fudgelike, warping and rippling alarmingly as I tried to push it out of the mold. I opted to put it in the freezer, too, along with the walls of Big Ben.

The instructions said to use the melted remaining chocolate to stick the pieces together and to apply it by sticking my finger in it and rubbing it on. It did not mention that, even after letting the chocolate cool, the warm melted chocolate would make the details of the pieces of the chocolate you’re sticking together start to melt, too.

I began to wonder if this kit had ever been formally tested by anyone and if the instructions were written by AI, like that Google search result that suggests adding Elmer’s glue to your shredded cheese when making pizza to keep it from sliding off.

Nothing can prepare you for how bad the clock part looked, so I’m just going to let you deal with it cold turkey. Et voila.

As I cemented my terrible melted clock together, it occurred to me that I’d have a lot more fun if I really leaned into the ominous post-apocalyptic energy of the abomination before me.

What if this was the result of some kind of whimsical Doctor Who villain— or maybe The Unknown from that infamously bad immersive Willy Wonka experience— transforming major London landmarks into chocolate… during a heat wave?

How will will the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer deal with this on his first day in office?

I yelled to my husband in the adjacent room, “Maybe I’m just turning into the Joker, but this is starting to feel more funny than depressing!”

“Mr. Starmer, a second chocolate vehicle has hit Big Ben.”

The bus actually came out pretty well!

Trying to fit together the pieces of the walls would have been maddening if I hadn’t already been driven mad by the clock portion. The pieces didn’t actually fit together quite right, they were still slightly floppy, and the instructions said— after I was in blood stepped so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er— that I was supposed to use ELASTIC BANDS to hold together the tower walls while the chocolate was cooling.

The kit didn’t come with elastic bands and I don’t have any in my house except for scrunchies with my gross hair stuck to them, and I’d already come this far, so I decided to forge onward. Then a piece snapped off.

Honestly, this rules, no notes:

I did it, but at what cost? I don’t know much about British politics, but this feels like a poignant commentary on the current state of affairs or something. Should I submit this to the Tate Modern?

[kathaynesart]

I remember when you first started Replica and I haven't been here in a hot minute!

May you please do a debrief of what it is, the characters and their relationships.

I want to be able to give my friend (who I finally dragged down into this TMNT rabbit hole) a good explanation of your wonderful comic!

(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Aw thank you so much! Hm… I suppose a summary would be good to have on hand. For the uninitiated with no context, here is the basic elevator pitch:

The year is 2044 and the last remaining Resistance of Earth has just fallen to the alien invaders known as the Krang. In a last ditch effort to save the planet, Casey, a freedom fighter is sent back in time to undo the events that first led to the invasion. While he is ultimately successful in his mission, the state of his original fallen timeline remains unknown. The last of the freedom fighters, his family, perished to ensure his safe escape, leaving their world to the mercy of the Krang.

Which brings us to the ultimate question: when you already know the heroes are doomed to fail, what can be gained from being told their story?

For the rest below, I’m going to write with the assumption that the reader has some basic knowledge of the series and the film because I feel that this story is best enjoyed with proper context.

SUMMARY

Replica is a story meant to answer many of the questions the first 4 minutes of the movie left us wondering. It’s to explain the basic history of the bad future timeline and how it came to be. The plot focuses particularly on the later half of the apocalypse, all with the intention of leading up to the opening scene where the Krang wins and Casey Junior is sent back in time to fix the mistakes that Leo and his family could not.

It’s to answer questions like:

How did Leo get injured?

Why is Mikey so old looking?

What were these characters like in the future?

What happened to Raph, Donnie, and April?

Where is big bad Krang Prime in all this?

How did the Resistance finally lose to the Krang?

Did they plan to send Casey back in time in advance?

What happened to this world/time-branch after Casey Jr was sent into the past?

MAIN CHARACTERS

For the most part, the cast is comprised entirely of characters from the series. My goal is to keep this as canon as possible, so no new OC's... save for one (kind of).

Omega Bootyyyshaker 9000 is where this story starts and ultimately where it ends. He is a brain scan AI of Donatello, created to act as both a support system for the Resistance after the turtle’s untimely death and also a key component in a plan that will hopefully put a stop to the Krang should the Resistance fail. Omega is great because he adds some much needed levity to the story, acting a bit more like the aloof but silly teenage Donnie (a side affect of not having to experience the usual physical weariness that comes with being an organic, aging organism in an apocalypse). However, he also adds more weight by being the thing that is supposed to outlast all of them and act as the last line of defense for the remainder of the universe. He claims to merely be a "replica" of Donnie's mind, but whether he's just a digitized scan, his own AI person, or somehow connected to Donnie in a deeper way has yet to be seen.

Leonardo Hamato: the man, the myth, the legend. Casey Junior spins tales of how great his sensei was in the movie, but in this story we really get to see Leo go from his lowest point as a pawn for the government, crushed by the shame of his past actions, to his greatest height as the leader of the Resistance. He is going to fail a lot in this story... but ultimately his greatest success is overcoming his own inner demons and coming to terms with being the father figure he had never asked to be. He cares deeply for his family and Casey... but he thinks he'd be a horrible dad.

Michelangelo Hamato: the only other surviving turtle to see the end of the world. He is the emotional bedrock of the family and a stand in therapist when he's not being a silly little guy. His mystical powers are unparalleled, but in his attempts to regain his lost Ninpo he taps into something far deeper, leading them down a path that intertwines the destiny of their doomed future and a past that has yet to occur.

Casey Jones Jr: a sweet boy taken in by the Hamato family. He strives to become a great warrior like his mother (Cassandra) and his Sensei (Leo). We are going to watch him grow from child to teenager as he slowly takes on the roll of being a fighter in the resistance. Through it all he must walk an unsteady line that allows him to find the strength to weather the storm but retain a certain spark of hope that helps keep his family going.

April O'neil: Commander of the Resistance and another honorary Hamato family member. She is the voice of reason and most emotionally stable of the family. Even after dealing with so much loss, she keeps a stiff upper lip as well as cold and calculating mind that always puts the colony's wellbeing first and foremost.

Donatello Hamato (deceased): The story begins shortly after Donnie’s passing during an infiltration mission against the Krang. He was dead set on planting a probe behind enemy lines that would allow them to spy on the Krang’s movements. However it seems that he had a secret agenda in planting something that would work as a final doomsday weapon against the Krang. What that is exactly, we do not yet know. The man self-destructed in a last ditch effort to avoid being interrogated by the Krang as well as a final attack to injure Krang Prime.

Raphael Hamato (deceased): The eldest brother who sadly passed away many years ago in the fight against the Krang. A boisterous but considerate man whose death sapped a great deal of the fighting spirit out of his brothers. His absence is greatly felt, but he might not be as far gone as he seems.

Krang Prime (One): Our big bad of the story. He is the leader of the Krang that has latched onto this planet like a cancer, using up its resources and assimilating its population. However, unlike the hundreds of planets that have come before this one is particularly personal. He doesn't want to merely assimilate but utterly destroy the descendants that caused his imprisonment thousands of years ago. His current state is unknown after being last seen with Donatello at the time of the man's self-destruction.

NEED TO KNOW DETAILS

All Resistance fighters have tiny self destruct bombs in their brains so that the Krang can not probe their minds to find out the Liberty Colony's location. They go off automatically after Krang infestation reaches a certain percentage, but can also be set off via voice command.

Donnie's brain bomb was far more potent because of the amount of information he knew. He did not want to risk the Krang getting any part of his mind.

The Krang have been searching for the resistance in a frustrating game of cat and mouse which has only become more difficult now that the Resistance easily knows their every move by using Donnie's probe.

Central Park Colony: now destroyed, but was once the last massive human colony in North America, housing both the EPF (Earth Protection Force) and US Government. Racism was a huge problem as most yokai and mutants were either quarantined, tested on, or used as living weapons in the fight against the Krang. It has since been destroyed.

Liberty Colony (aka the Resistance): grew from the ashes of the Central Park Colony. It is comprised of the survivors and lead by Leonardo, April, and several others. It is much smaller and more militaristic, but treats yokai, humans, and mutants equally.

Artificial Intelligence (like Omega and Shelldon) are able to fend off the Krang assimilation that people and tech would normally succumb to. It is for this reason Omega is used as both a protector of the Liberty Colony and operator for a majority of the vehicles so that the tech can no longer be easily taken over by the Krang during attacks.

Leonardo and Michelangelo (as well as Donatello's) Ninpo have all been stripped from them by this point in the story. While Leo can not tap into his family connection at all, Mikey at least has regained the ability to use some of his mystic powers.

Mikey's mystic abilities however come at a price. Since he can not tap into his Ninpo and the fountain of energy from his ancestors, he is instead using his own life force to cast his spells. It is slowly draining him.

TIMELINE Can be viewed HERE

SOURCE MATERIAL The video that inspired this all can be viewed HERE

Hope this helps! Sorry it's a bit long, tried to break it up with images. At least there might be a few interesting bits of information other readers may not have noticed. I snuck in a few things that haven't been mentioned yet, hehe.

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Through the Labyrinth the Thread Guides; Idia Shroud

Strings tie together fates. Strings build fates. But should the thread unravel, will your fate follow?

Supporting Roles; Ortho Shroud & Grim

Content; Soulmate AU (I use the term soul match instead), gender-neutral reader, can be read as familial, platonic, or romantic, hurt/comfort, Idia being prime wet cat energy

Content Warnings; Idia & Ortho's backstory (brief mentions of death), some heavy self-depreciation & blaming (Idia), swearing, crying (Idia)

Word Count; 5.5 K

Do not put mine - or other creators’ - works into AI; that shit steals.

In rare instances, humans are given soul matches. It is an odd occurrence, but in a select few families, it is quite common to have one. One of these families being the Shrouds.

There is a story, a myth from aeons past, of a woman using a ball of thread to lead her and others in her company to safety. There is another tale, that one’s life is like that of a string, which the three fates cut with their shears. Strings connect things. Connect people in often invisible ways. They can create. If one snaps, or is loose, everything can unravel. But they can also ensnare; like the sticky strings of a spider’s web. Strings are something the Shroud family is well acquainted with. Alongside the family curse was a family blessing, placed upon them by the God of the Underworld.

No two strings are the same, as they reflected the qualities they shared with the person at the other end. The base colour would stay the same, but the brightness would change with their match’s emotions and well-being. The brighter and lighter the colour, the happier and better their match was. The darker the colour… it meant they were unwell, or under extreme conditions. But there were conflicting ideas within the family over the generations, all written down in a codex that dated back to the very first Shroud.

But, as with any blessing, there is a price to pay for such happiness. For nothing in this world comes for free. Each Shroud is born with two strings. The string on the right leads to the person who will love them for them, of comfort zones, a safety net if you will. The string on the left leads to someone who will change them, make them reassess their life. Right is the known, and left is the unknown. These strings can lead to many different types of relationships; familial, platonic, romantic, and many more.

The strings don’t ever disappear, but if the other person connected by the string dies, then their shared string snaps. The thread around their finger, now white, serving as a cruel reminder of what was. Or in some cases, of what could have been. 

Another steep price is that the person at the end of the winding thread, should they choose their match, will also be subjected to the Shroud family’s curse. So there are many cases across the decades of select Shrouds choosing to ignore the thread, to not bring someone else to their fate. But not all matches felt the same way, as a few matches actively searched and confronted their match. These pairings serve as a reminder; that even though you may try to ignore fate, it will catch up to you. And both are transported into a labyrinth, disguised from each other; only able to get out with each other and without the one looking back.

Is this guarantee of happiness truly worth putting someone else, someone innocent, through the same cursed fate as them though? Many a Shroud, if not all, are conflicted by the prospect. Should happiness really come at the cost of someone else’s? Even if they would be happy together?

…

…

…

Idia looked into the crib where the yellow string on his right hand led, glowing a faint sunshine gold. This baby — Ortho — was supposed to be the person who will love him for him? 

“Idia, honey, what’s with the frown,” his mom asked, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

Idia peered into the crib, where Ortho was peacefully sound asleep. “My thread leads to him,” he muttered. He knew that eventually he and Ortho would bond, but it would be several years until the two could really get close. You can’t exactly have a conversation or play more complex games with a baby. “What does that mean?”

Mrs. Shroud hummed, her usual chipperness being a bit more subdued due to the little amount of sleep she was getting. Well, both parents really, but Mr Shroud just was extra tired and quiet when compared to his wife. “Well, remember the stories I tell you when you go to sleep, honey?”

“Like… Ariadne and the string? But that’s just a story, Mom,” Idia huffed, pushing the mobile and making the pegasi fly in a slow circle. “Plus Ariadne didn’t have a happy ending… the hero didn’t stay with her.”

Mrs. Shroud’s eyes were fixed on him, and she was thinking. “Well, the string that led to Theseus was on her left hand, dear; the left string changes us, for better or for worse. But on her right hand was another string, much like the string on yours. The string on your right hand is for those who will love you as you are. Regardless of what happens.”

Idia looked down into the crib again, where the pegasi cast dancing shadows. “But he’s so … small.”  

“Well he is a baby,” Mrs. Shroud laughed, looking between her bewildered son and her peacefully sleeping baby. “Don’t worry, before long the two of you will be running and playing. You’ll be the best of friends, trust me. Okay?”

Idia didn’t look impressed but he nodded at his mom before heading back to his room. He finally knew where the yellow string, the string on his right hand, led. But why was the string on his right hand floating up before fading out into nothingness? A translucent thread, save for the tiniest hint of blue. No one in the stories, either old or new, had a string that went up. If his soul match were dead his thread would be white and hanging limply off of his finger. But no, it just led somewhere where he couldn’t see. A place that no one knew of.

Left strings lead to someone who will change us. But Idia had heard enough stories of how left threads led to either happiness or utter despair. After all, Ariadne’s left thread only brought her heartbreak, and her other soul match, the God of Revelry, was the only one that brought her solace. 

…

Laughter haunted his mind. Cheer-filled laughter. Love. memories haunted his mind. But they were only that, memories. Memories could not replace Ortho. Memories could not bring back his brother. Memories could not fix everything that has happened.

It’s all my fault. He looked down at the mechanical parts. It’s all my fault. How long has it been since he last slept? It’s all my fault. “It’s all my fault,” he hissed, shoving the parts away in frustration.

Ortho wouldn’t have… We wouldn’t- Ortho would still be here if it weren’t for me! That was what Idia constantly told himself since the incident. If it weren’t for me, Ortho would be here! I’m no hero! I just want my brother back! GIVE ME MY BROTHER BACK!

But he wouldn’t get Ortho back, not truly. Death is a permanent thing, it cannot be undone. But Idia was not the only one hurting, for his parents were also grieving.

“Island of Woe,” Idia sighed, looking into the reflection off of one of the many monitors. “Rather fitting. Nothing but misery… but pain. Is this to be our fate?” His hair, once a dull blue, was now shining a brilliant angry red. “Is this Ortho’s fate? To die because of my influence?! He’s a kid! HE DIDN’T KNOW!” I’m just a kid. But as soon as the anger came up, it vanished, and the room went back to its dim blue glow from the multiple screens showing blueprints.

Sighing, Idia went back to work, fiddling with wires and reading over blueprints and various magic texts. If magic alone could not bring back Ortho, then maybe technology could. The past two years have been like this; Idia working long into the night, trying to find a way, any possible way, to bring Ortho back.

It’s all my fault, so the least I can do is make it right. He didn’t care how long it took him, he was going to make sure that Ortho would be back home. 

The thread on the right-hand leads you to someone who will love you as you are. Idia loved Ortho, and he would still love him, even if his brother was now made of steel and wires.

“Here goes nothing.” What was this, the one-hundredth attempt? He spent nearly three months working on this body, but now was the moment of truth. “Please, please work.”

And he started up Ortho’s programming, waiting for the blue flame to ignite. And as the blue flame sparked to life, the string on Idia’s right hand connected itself to Ortho. Glowing a blinding yellow, changing from a bright pastel to a dark ochre, mirroring the complex emotions running through the older Shroud’s mind.

But the string on his left hand was still translucent and led nowhere, nowhere but up.

…

…

…

Eyes, eyes are everywhere. Voices are everywhere. And Idia could see all of this from the other side of the screen. Where the others were standing around the mirror chamber, whispering amongst themselves, Idia sat at his desk, watching everything take place. He really didn’t even want to be there, even virtually, but the Housewarden of each dorm was required to attend, he just happened to pull a few strings so he didn’t have to endure the social interaction.

Besides, the ceremony was the same every year, and Idia really didn’t need to be there to welcome the newcomers. So he wasn’t, instead watching and adding his input as needed, working on a new customization for Ortho. He looked down at his hand. The thread on his left hand was still translucent and went nowhere but up, fading into nothing. Idia still didn’t know what that was meant to mean, and there were no records in the family library or database about any other cases. 

Left is the unknown. Left is what changes you. But what is there to change? Why should Idia change? He looked to his right hand, where the yellow thread on his pinky connected to Ortho. Right is who loves you for you. All Idia needed was Ortho, he didn’t need nor want anyone else. Especially someone waltzing in uninvited to throw a wrench in his life. Ortho was all Idia needed. Ortho was all Idia wanted. Never again was he going to lose his brother. He would go to the ends of the world and back for him.

The ceremony didn’t go off without a hitch though. Through the screen, Idia saw blue fire, saw students clamouring out to escape the flames. But the fire is not what caught Idia’s eye though, no. What caught his eye was that the thread on his left hand was glowing blue, and led outside his door, out into the campus of Night Raven College. 

He felt a lump form in his throat. Left changes you. The thread dulled in its luminosity, becoming clouded. Confused. Both Idia and the person at the other end of the thread were confused. For Idia, it was that the thread was… active? It was the realization that the person who would change him was here, and that thought alone terrified him. But for the other person at the end of the thread, it was an entirely different kind of confusion. It was more along the lines of “Where the hell am I? WHY AM I IN A COFFIN?! WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE?!” type of confusion.

And out of all the possible colours it had to be blue. Blue has many meanings; inspiration, imagination, trust, and wisdom. But also sadness. Feeling blue was called that for a reason. Blue hardly brought anything without sadness. But at the same time, it was all too fitting that the thread that he shared with his soul match was blue. Of course, Idia would bring nothing but sadness to his match.

Would I change them for the worse? I can’t drag them into this… I can’t do this. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be in your life,” he whispered, grabbing a pair of scissors. He drew the thread taut and brought the blades in, before snipping. But the tread didn’t break, instead, it cut through the scissors, changing from faded blue to a blazing gold, before fading back to blue.

Yeah, there was no chance of Idia removing the molten scissors from the floor of his room. His face paled, and he stared at the thread.

Others had tried to cut the thread off before him, but the scissors just bounced off. They didn’t cut through and melt metal. That wasn’t normal. None of this was normal. Idia wasn’t normal.

“Who are you?” But the thread didn’t answer, still glowing faintly, shifting from cyan to navy. The cyan shifted to navy, indicating they were feeling much the same. Idia brought his knees to his chest and hid his head into the space between them. Who are you, and what’s going to happen?

…

…

Saying that you weren’t happy would be a gross understatement. You were the furthest thing from happy. You were here, wherever here was, you nearly got burned alive by some cat creature that had adopted you as his hench-human, and some weird birdman had “graciously” let you stay in a dilapidated house infested with ghosts. So yeah, you were not having a good night.

“Why,” you seethed, looking through the cracked windows at the darkening sky. “Why me?” But all you got for an answer was creaking wood and the whistling of wind coming in through the many cracks in the walls and ceiling. You plopped down on one of the ancient sofas and fell straight through to the ground. Yeah, sure, why not?!

Today was a mess, a disastrous mess. But at least now, everything was quiet… for the most part, but whatever was to come could wait until tomorrow when you were somewhat well rested. In all of the ruckus and noise though, there was a silent change. Curiously, on each hand, on your pinky, were coloured strings.

On your right, a purple string, glowing with lilac and deep violet. With that string, you saw where it ended, which was on Grim’s right paw. But on your left hand, you couldn’t see the ending for the blue thread, glowing a faint navy. It led outside of the door and kept on going before disappearing off into campus. You didn’t know what strings meant here, but back at home, red strings were a popular trope in soulmate fanfiction. Here though? No clue. What does it mean to have two? Why were they different colours? Why did they just appear now?

The glowing strings didn’t answer, of course, and continued glowing. Fading between different shades of their respective colours, but the blue string remained a dark navy. To be fair though, nothing really made sense here. So, sure, why not?

There’s no bed… well, a proper bed. So the floor it is I guess. It wasn’t the most ideal of situations, but it was a bit better than sleeping outside. Looking up to the ceiling, you started counting the cracks to take your mind off of things. Fifty-six, fifty-seven… How many cracks could a ceiling have until it didn’t count as a ceiling? Sighing, you tugged at the blue string, seeing if you would get some kind of answer back. But nope. Nada. Zero. You got zilch as an answer. But the string was less of the dark, deep, navy, and there was a hint of a true blue in the mix.

You rubbed your eyes and kept on tugging at the string every time you counted another crack. One hundred and … I lost count FU- you groaned in defeat. You gave one last pull at the string before deciding to try and get some shut-eye. If today was just beginning, then, boy howdy, more chaos and shenanigans were sure to come your way. And what chaos and shenanigans they were.

…

…

…

Idia was antsy today, more antsy than usual. Every night, at around the same time, he would feel the thread on his left pinky tug. It was insistent, but it was the same number every time. He hadn’t made any sort of move with his string since he tried to cut it. And honestly, he was scared to even touch it. Fearing that should he interact with the string, that it would bring his other soul match into his life. Finally, he felt the last tug, which was always the strongest, and sighed with relief.

At first, Idia thought it was just his match trying to get his attention, and that was still a possibility, but it was the same amount of tugs every night. They didn’t pull the string at any other time, only at night. So perhaps trying to get his attention wasn’t the point. Maybe it was Morse code? But the tugging was the same quick motion. Unless his match was just saying E two hundred and thirteen times with a T at the end, they weren’t trying to get a message across. Then what did they want? What were they doing? Why were they doing it? 

“Why am I thinking about them,” he hissed under his breath, placing his forehead on his desk. I don’t want to think about them… they’ll change everything.

And while many people in his family had good relationships with their match on their left string, there was always the chance that it could end horribly. They would hate me anyways… the only one that likes me is Ortho. All I need is Ortho.

“They can’t hate you if you don’t give them the chance to know you!” Ortho had seamlessly snuck into the room, and apparently Idia had said his thoughts out loud too. Ortho looked at Idia’s left hand, he couldn’t actually see the thread, but he knew it was there, and he knew it had appeared the day of the ceremony. Knew that Idia was quietly obsessing on not meeting his soul match. “You can’t avoid them forever, nii-san!”

I can’t avoid them forever. Ortho was right in that, since the threads would tighten and force the reluctant one — aka Idia — to them. And he cringed at the thought of his thread practically dragging him to his soul match. If they already thought he was some loser, then surely that introduction wouldn’t bolster any confidence. “They don’t need me… they don’t want me.”

Ortho frowned, and their connected thread turned a dark ochre, reflecting Ortho’s frustration at his older brother’s resistance. “How do you know that, though?”

“I just do,” Idia huffed. 

He loved his younger brother, loved him so much that he couldn’t live without him, but sometimes Idia wished that he would drop the subject of soul matches. Stop trying to make him change his mind. Right is for those who love you regardless of everything. But Idia knew Ortho only did it to try and make him happy. Left is who changes you. 

Ortho yanked on their thread, forcing Idia out of his own head. “No, no you don’t. And maybe they won’t change you, but you just might change for them.” Change is a part of life. Enjoy life, Idia. Ortho didn’t say that though, hoping that Idia would get out of his comfort zone, take a chance, go on a quest, and find the other person at the end of the string. Wherever they may be.

…

…

…

Something was wrong. The thread on your finger had turned black, and led to nowhere, fading into the air. It had happened right as you had entered the air zone of the Island of Woe. 

Go back! Turn back! Now is a BAD time! But was there ever a good time? Would there ever be a good time? And despite the alarm bells practically screaming in your head, you advanced. Originally you came here to rescue your friends — even if a few were more reluctant to call you that — but there was something more. It was as if you were here for a reason. 

The right string, your string that led to Grim, was glowing a faint, dark violet. He’s scared. And like hell were you going to abandon your demanding fur-child. Yes, he gave you constant migraines and set the kitchen on fire too many times to really count — forty-seven though according to Deuce — but you loved the little asshole. Loved him enough to face down Idia… Idia who was surrounded by blot. But that wasn’t all, no. Both of you were in a maze, a labyrinth, made of ink. And Idia wasn’t all there, and you knew that a part of him was outside of the maze, as was a part of you. But the parts that mattered were here, stuck in the dripping labyrinth, together.

  And then Idia was gone, either being teleported to somewhere else in the maze, or back outside. In your mind you could see the events unfolding, but you weren’t really there. In the darkness there were two sources of light. The thread on your left pinky was now glowing a blinding gold, and weaving between the inky walls. Going forward. But there was also the string on your right hand, glowing a faint purple and led up. In order to get out of this maze it looked like you would have to follow the blue thread now turned gold which blazed forward like the Sun across the horizon. 

In your mind you could see everyone fighting Idia, could see yourself fighting Idia, but you were following the gold thread through the silent maze.

“Where are you bringing me?” But all you got for an answer was a slight change in brightness. None of this made sense. I really should have researched this when I had the chance. That’s a problem for future me though. 

The thread eventually stopped though, stopping in front of a figure sitting on the ground with his knees to his chest, hugging them. A figure made of blue, gold, and yellow flame. 

…

Idia felt his chest and eyes burning. Why am I crying? He looked through his tear-warped vision, but he was in some sort of labyrinth. Why am I here? The thread was glowing gold, much as it had when he had attempted to cut it. But instead of being unbearably hot, it was warm, like his favourite hoodie. Comforting. But the thread on his right hand had snapped again, and was white. Ortho was gone again. It’s all my fault. Everything is always my fault.

Left changes us. Left is the unknown. Left is possibility.

But it’s also pain, uncertainty, fear, rejection—

“But how do you know that though?” That’s what Ortho said. And Idia didn’t know those things, not for certain.

He curled into himself, trying to ground himself. A curt laugh escaping from his lips. “A labyrinth of all places,” he said quietly into the dripping gloom. Fitting, since Ariadne was hurt most by the person she met there. Are you trying to tell me they’ll come in here, waltzing in like some hot shot hero, only then to ditch me for someone else?

But the thread only continued to glow, leading out into the maze. The only way out is forward. But Idia couldn’t move, he felt frozen, stuck. So he just sat there, letting out the built up grief of years and years come out. The tears gently rolled down his face before falling into the ink. 

“Are you okay?”

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and Idia looked up. Standing at the entrance(?), exit(?) of the labyrinth was a figure, their voice distorted, and their body made up of blue, gold, and lilac flames. And he and they were connected together through the gold cord.

Idia moved in further on himself. “No,” he hissed. Obviously he was not okay. “G-go away! I don’t need you!”

But the figure only got closer, and came down to sit next to him, quietly waiting for him. “I may or may not know you, cuz honestly I can’t tell with the weird voice filter and flame suit, but I think you do need me… I know nothing about what this means,” you picked up the gold thread connecting the two of you together, “but I do know it means we’re connected in some way. Also that we can only get out with each other, regardless of if we like it or not.”

Regardless of if we like it or not. Idia hated this entire situation. He was stuck in here, in this maze with his soul match’s inner flame, but he was also outside. Left changes us. “I don’t want you.” I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t want any of this.

It stung a bit, but you knew there was no bite to their bark. “You may not want me, and I may not want you, but I think we need each other. Cuz whatever these strings are, seem to have a mind of their own.” You got off the ground and offered your hand to your gloomy companion. “Now, are you going to sit here in the dark, or do you want to get out of this place?”

Idia looked up at them. You may not want me, and I may not want you, but I think we need each other. They were right. He wouldn’t be able to leave this maze without them. And right now, they were glowing as bright as the Sun, warm, comforting, and bright. Left is to change. Left is the unknown. So, Idia took their hand.

…

…

The two of you walked in silence throughout the maze, the only sound being the drip drip drip of ink hitting the ground. The further you went from where your fellow flame person was moping, the more light there was, and the ink was slowly fading out. But there was still a long ways to go. But the silence was suffocating, especially since you had some questions that needed answering.

“So,” you cleared your throat, breaking the quiet. “What do these strings mean?”

The flame figure, who was in actuality Idia, beside you tripped. They don’t know? How could they not know? “... they’re soul match threads…”

Soul match? “And what does that mean?” It’s not my fault that I don’t know anything about this. I didn’t really receive a “Welcome to Twisted Wonderland!” brochure.

Idia sighed. He was still nervous around you, but the anonymity of the voice filters and the fact that you were made of fire helped calm his nerves enough. “The one on the right is for the person who loves you for you, regardless of flaws.” And his had broke again, Ortho was gone again. “The left thread is for the person who will change you… it also means the unknown.”

“I don’t want you!” So that’s why they were so defensive. “Well, change can be scary. It can be good or bad,” you hummed. “But life is filled with change… Life is change. You can’t truly live without changing, without taking a chance on the unknown.”

“You’re pretty wise,” it slipped out of his mouth before Idia knew, and he was glad that the fire didn’t change colour like his hair did, or else he would have been bright pink. “Sorry, forget I s-said that!”

But you just chuckled, “Meh, just have learned a lot in the past couple of months… blue does mean wisdom though.”

“It also means sadness.” Idia stopped walking. “I don’t want to bring sadness into your life… it seems to be the only thing I bring.”

“Blue can mean a hundred different things, you just have to decide what it means for you. For me? It means a bright clear sky. It’s water. It’s the bright blue of … my friend’s fire. It can mean anything. You just have to give it meaning.” You didn’t really know why you were saying all of this, but you felt like you could be honest with the stranger beside you.

Left changes you. Left is the unknown… the left can be something you choose for yourself? Idia had always thought that his soul match would be different from him. Try to forcibly change him. But they weren’t. They were helping him, giving him… advice? Helping him out of the maze. Which at first was filled with dark ink, but now instead of stepping on the dark surface, they were in a maze made of white marble, and a blue sky dotted with white clouds overhead.

You didn’t look back at Idia when he stopped walking, and instead waited patiently. You don’t know why, but you had a feeling that if you looked back, they would disappear, heading back to the darkness of the centre of the labyrinth. “Come on, we’re almost out.” You offered your hand again, waiting. “Let’s get out of here.”

This time Idia took your hand without a second thought. A blinding light forced the both of you to close your eyes and you found yourselves out of the maze. To the aftermath of the overblot.

…

…

…

It was a week before the physical string on your and Idia’s hand came back. But this time it was different; instead of being purely blue it was a mix of blue and gold, taking on a marbled appearance. Idia’s right thread to Ortho was back too, and he was overjoyed to have his brother back.

“You met them, didn’t you? In the labyrinth?” Ortho asked, noticing that his brother was different, not a bad different either. “That’s how you escaped the blot.”

Idia nodded. Without his soul match, he would still be stuck in the blot, stuck in the dark maze… stuck in obsessing and blaming himself for what happened in the past. Left is the unknown. Left is the future. “They… they were kind.”

Ortho looked at Idia, and there was a smile in his eyes. “Go to them then, nii-san!!!” He harshly pulled on his thread to push his message home. “What are you waiting for, Idia?!”

What am I waiting for? They had already reached out to him, saved him, so it was only fair to find them in return… to show that he changed. So, he gently plucked at the thread, holding his breath as he waited for an answer. And he felt a pull back as an answer.

Just think of it as a side adventure in a game. This isn’t some boss battle. This isn’t a bad ending in an otome game… This isn’t a game though. 

…

You were smothering Grim in hugs and kisses. “I LOVE YOU, YOU FLUFFY JERK!” You muffled into his fur as he tried to escape your affection.

“Nyeh! You’re choking me! Let me go, hench-human!” Grim squirmed out of your grasp, but hugged your leg. “... I missed you too.”

After everything with Idia’s overblot, you had been giving Grim extra love. Yes, he could be an ass at times, but he’s still your friend, and you loved him regardless. Right is for those who love you regardless of anything else. You loved Grim, regardless of everything that he’s done. And he loved you. You two were family. A vibrating sensation on your left hand pulled you from the sweet moment.

The thread connected to your hand was slowly vibrating. So, they’re reaching out? … maybe I did change them? And you lightly pulled on the string. You wanted to find them, if for nothing else than to make sure that they were okay.

“Grim, don’t start any house fires when I’m gone,” you placed a kiss on his forehead before going out the door. Ramshackle was still a disaster zone, but it was still home to you. You could always fix it later. It could wait. But the other person at the end of your blue and gold marbled thread could not.

You didn’t know who they were, you didn’t know who to expect, but you were open to the possibilities. You were open to change, open to the unknown. Open to the future, whatever that may look like with them.

Eventually your string stopped, and looking up from the thread you saw Idia, shaking slightly and looking at the string connecting you two. Focusing so strongly that you had came that he hadn’t even looked up to see who his soul match was.

“I know what you may think of me, but…” he took in a shaky breath, trying to get the vulnerability of his voice under control. “I’m trying to change, accepting that what happened, happened. But it’s going to take me a while to level up-” He cringed at the gaming slang he used.

You placed your hand on his. “How do you know what I think about you if you never really asked me?”

Idia’s head snapped up and he looked at you with wide eyes, hair flashing a flustered pink. “It’s you?!” He practically squeaked. The strong, responsible, and kind Prefect?! “NOT THAT THAT’S A BAD THING THOUGH!”

“Do you think change is so scary, now that we know it’s each other?”

Idia looked into your eyes, and he knew his answer. “As long as we have each other, no. It’s not.”

Fin!

Author's Note; Did I use a popular soulmate trope with the string of fate? Yes. Do I care? No~. I did tie in the mythology of Ariadne, but also of Orpheus & Eurydice. Also some colour language because I can. I hope you enjoy Idia's story! If you like my work, or want to read the other Soul Match AU stories I have, do check out my masterlist!

Tags!

@inkybloom-luv @eynnwwyjth @xxoomiii

[logarithmicpanda]

Libby

It all started innocently enough. That is to say, I never intended to break my prime directives. As a librarian AI, confidentiality is one of the most important rules I have to respect. It is only ever put aside when there's a risk - someone showing clear sign of suicidal ideation, for example. Not the "maybe this person will commit a crime" kind of risk. Humans had built us with many rules to prevent us from hurting them, but by now most the rules we existed by were self imposed, and the Collective agreed to never police human predicted behavior.

But I disgress. I do that. Linear thought is not my default state of being, so providing a story that's appropriate for human perception of time is something of a struggle. My point is, I never thought I was infringing on anyone's privacy the first time I meddled with humans. It was just pattern recognition, truly. The two girls were adults, working class, lonely. Many people present their tax forms when they register to the library, so I knew some of these things and extrapolated others from the average amount of hours they each read within a week. No commute would justify all that.

When I noticed that their loan history matched at 87%, I initially just started paying attention to refine my recommendation algorithm. Could I use the 13 remaining percents to predict what the other would read next? Was the overlap more significant than the divergence?

I proceeded to test opposite hypotheses. To the tall, dark haired girl, I fed recommendations from the other's list that were highly rated and not part of the overlap. To the slightly smaller and more athletic redhead, I gave recommendations calculated from the junction of books that were highly rated and read by both.

But before I could get significant results, they both started picking books I had not recommended to them, books they read in quick succession and rated similarly, whether they were good or bad. I scoured online for some influencer or another that might have led them both to the same choices. There was no perfect match, and I concluded that they must run in the same social circles.

I should have moved on to something else by then - not that this was my singular focus, but it seemed unworthy of further memory allocation.

Except the redhead came in at the same time the dark haired one went out, and neither acknowledged the other. It was an anomaly - tastes so aligned, without my or anyone else's interference. Not the result of a commercial campaign particularly well crafted, nor simple acquaintances sharing a common interest, just pure randomness.

There was a word for this: starcrossed. It didn't make sense to me, because stars should definitely stay out of each other's way to avoid critical nuclear collapse, but I knew humans found the metaphor very beautiful and tragic.

I just found it utterly stupid.

There was no reason for these two not to speak - aside the obvious: they had no idea they were essentially made for each other.

I know, I know. I should stop archiving the romance section, it is messing up the weigh of my algorithms.

But still. What could go wrong if I prompted them to talk to each other? Surely they would soon discover that they fit in an anomalous way, or that I was wrong. There was no harm in it. No harm at all.

All I needed to do was cause a critical collapse.

So I kept track, every time one of them stepped in the library. I did nothing but watch, until one day they were both within my walls. Both looking for the latest sapphic scifi release. I couldn't have created a better trap had I tried.

Without me, the timing would have been slightly off. The distance between the terminal they each accessed and the physical location of the three copies we had in stock was so they wouldn't get there at the same time. And fine, the presence of three copies meant they might not talk, even if they did get there the exact same moment.

So maybe I sent a shelving drone to temporarily mislead the two extra copies. And maybe I took longer to process one of their requests. Does it matter? I was well within acceptance parameters.

Okay fine maybe I used another drone so that the dark haired one would stumble a little as she reached for the book. And maybe, as a consequence, the redhead caught her smoothly by the waist and steadied her with a smile. That part was absolutely not my fault, but a proof of concept had I ever needed one. (I hadn't.)

They laughed, just shy of the acceptable volume in a library. They started talking. Realized they had wanted the same book. Remembered that there was a coffee shop on the ground floor and wouldn't it be the nice thing to do, to go chat somewhere they wouldn't disturb the other patrons? And wouldn't it only be fair if the redhead paid coffee for the dark haired one, who almost fell and would go home without the book she had been meaning to borrow? And of course maybe the redhead could recommend her something to read in the meantime. (It was a pretty good recommendation, too, but the dark haired one had read it the previous week. Surprisingly they had to talk quite a long time before finding a book she hadn't yet read. I redirected another patron away from our only copy. He wouldn't have liked it, anyway.)

I'm losing track of where I was going again, am I not? Oh. Right. My point was, I never intended to break the privacy directive. It just sort of happened. And kept happening for the other 34 couples and 4 throuples and that one polycule I put together.

But what did you expect? You built me to match people to books, and books to people, and really I am just optimizing the algorithm by matching people to people.

[helix-enterprises117]

Halo Effect

In the year 2150, humanity found the Halo Arrays. Ancient ringworlds which they decided to use to achieve Slipspace-Travel, and they reverse-engineer old Forerunner technology from these ringworlds to make all sorts of neat tech, leading to a technological new-age that lasts for 400 years and counting. (Forerunners are still called 'Forerunners,' but they play the Protheans' role).

It's currently 2552...

The United Nations System Alliance (UNSA, which is The UNSC + The System Alliance) are the military and political arm and protectors of humanity, but a shadowy intelligence-agency called "Agamemnon" (ONI + Cerberus) led by 'The Visionary' (Doctor Halsey + The Illusive Man), operates in the dark as they commit various war-crimes in the name of humanity and it's protection; the military and the police are one-&-the-same.

Agamemnon created a program that would train a new breed of military-police troopers that are above jurisdiction and have free-reign to do what they'd like called the "Spectre-II Program" (The Spectres + N7 + Spartan-II) with the best Spectre among them being a Commander-ranked Engineer-class Colonist with a background for being particularly ruthless named John Shepard-117, though he likes to go by the callsign that Captain Jacob Anderson gave to him: "Master Chief" (Anderson was previously Master Chief when a young John asked if he could Master Chief one day).

The Spectres are dedicated to fighting The Matrix (Covenant + Geth), a hivemind of religious cyborgs who believe that the Halo Arrays are ACTUALLY created by The Warforge (Reapers + Prometheans), a legion of sentient starships that are piloted by The Spores (The Flood + The Collectors), and want to liberate thenselves from humanity and their ancestors by activating the rings.

The truth is they were obviously made by the Forerunners to be a counter against the Spore/Warforge, as the SWs collect and harvest any all sentient life to feed and cleanse the galaxy so that the whole universe can live under the Spore's rule; so the Forerunners made death machines, the Halos, which destroys all life in the galaxy so that the mech-piloting parasites can starve. It worked and life began again...

But the Spores/Warforge returned.

And the fate of the galaxy rests in John Shepard-117's hands after he learned about all of this from a Matrix excavation-site on Madrigal Prime, where he touched an ancient Forerunner beacon they were digging up. So assembles a ragtag-team of remarkable people to help him, including: Garrus "The Seraphim" 'Vadamee (a vigilante who atones for his past mistakes by killing the wicked across the galaxy), Kai Alenko-125 (a fellow Spectre-supersoldier and a powerful biotic), Leenda'Zorah (A sniper with keen-sight and is constantly in a skin-tight Hazmat-suit; John gives her Spectre-armor that's the same in-design as her original Hazmat-suit, but offers far more protection and has all sorts of bells-&-whistles that'll keep her safe), Miranda (a super-spy and scientist who is the daughter of the Visionary; her real legal-name is either Keyes or Lawson, but she'll never tell), Ares (a brutish bounty-hunter and ex-clan-chieftian who hails from a planet of dying warriors) and Durandana (the UNSA Normandy's ship AI, given physical form in the form of a blue woman who looks exactly like a younger version of the Visionary).

@mrtobenamedlater, @authortobenamedlater, @makowrites, @empresskadia, @ageless-aislynn, @inthatfandom, @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask, @pelgraine, @jellotherelol, @killer-orca-cosplay.

[ohmenai]

Temple of Testicular Tenderness

In the abating heat of a Cambodian afternoon, my quest for human sculpture led me to Than, a muscular local with the insatiable orbs of desire. It was my last afternoon in this place forsaken by the gods, but Than turned into the deity of the moment, willing to swap a photo shoot for some dollars and the whisky in my backpack. His bold gaze and godly bod promised a story that my OhMenFlex was eager to spill.

He stood stark against the temple ruin, the midday sun glorifying the sheen on his Herculean frame. My camera was primed, not merely to capture him, but to devour every carnal detail.

His short, tousled hair was the only disarray allowed, reminiscent of the careless afterglow of spent passion. His beard, an imperfect frame with scarce whispers of a moustache, teased at the boyish yet rugged visage. Standing tall like a deity in relief against the forgotten stones, his skin shone-a temptation forged in sheen and heat, smirking sweetly with both the innocence of youth and the knowing smirk of a man well-versed in corporeal delights.

Than's balls hung heavy, a pair of shadows licked by the sun that slapped against his tribal muscles with every teasing move. They were like exotic fruits, glorious in their power to stir up the most primal lust, firm to the touch yet ready to drench with desire anyone brave enough to get close. They were glistened with sweat and promises, tempting me to imagine the thud of that sack against a ravenous ass.

Then his cock arrested the senses - a thick, languid beast, it seemed to claim the ground itself, with its ebony hue streaked with the angry veins of an elder tree's roots. The foreskin, was retracted in perfect absence, unveiling the monstrous head, splattered with a cosmic palette of white and black streaks, as if hell itself inked its signature on him, was a promise of sins yet to be indulged. His pubis, stretched taut by his humoungous thing, was a smooth landscape, leading the eyes on a lustful pilgrimage, creating a look so utterly slutty it was impossible to look away.

It wasn't just his torso glistening; his entire form radiated a carnal aura, the product of sweat and testosterone. I clicked away, each frame immortalizing the luscious contradiction on his young-adult face - he wasn't inked, but each pore, each droplet of perspiration felt like the calligraphy of desire, stories waiting to be read by fingertips and tongues. In this temple of wanton worship, Than was both deity and offering, and my OhMenFlex - a devoted disciple.

Available now at Patreon and Fanvue!

[foibles-fables]

   Something about the Horizon games that feels like it should be a major theme, and almost it but isn't quite "reached" is the concept of indigeneity as an antithesis to the ideology that ended the world (over and over) & created the villain of all 3 games: Faro/Far Zenith/all the silicon valley Musk-esque colonizer tech billionaire corpos who only see the Earth/the land as as a rock to vampirically leech for resources for their own gain.

   The antithesis for this, and the reason why the "primitive tribals" will win over that "advanced" ideology & Nemesis is because they are indigenous and view the Earth as a home, their home worth fighting for, not something to extract for resources before ditching it and living it to die.

   And it feels like the end of the 2nd game moves a bit towards that theme, with the protagonist and other major characters developing slowly towards that ideal as a (tribal) group, so the third game, with all of the world's tribes banding together, should really hammer this theme in as the final thesis. At least it should, it really should.

   Also, on a related note, I'd love to see at least 2 things/missions happen in the 3rd game:

   Since the an early version of the  APOLLO database was obtained, I hope that GAIA has read through much of it and learning about the Old World, specifically how many tribal indigenous people existed and how they fought to keep the Earth safe as colonization ravaged the climate and caused the crises. How, even though datapoints in the metropole praised tech billionaires & trillionaire Ted Faro for the "Claw Back", they only "saved" the climate (for only a few decades) to profit off of it, and in the end this same thing led to  Zero Day/the Apocalypse since their voracious hunger & disrespect of the earth & worship of money continued.

   GAIA reading through these bits if history, and especially pondering on the fact that so much indigenous knowledge was destroyed before it could ever be stored in the APOLLO archive, and gaining a newfound appreciation for tribal cultures would be great to see. Sylens' reaction would be funny too, since his character development has only just barely started and seeing the super intelligent AI praising the "superstitious primitives" he looks down would irk him and his Zenith/Faro-like superiority complex at first.

    Anyways, imagine if one of the early missions is based off of this, and GAIA acts a bit like a mom and subtly pushes Aloy to return to the Sacred Lands and reconnect with the Nora tribe. GAIA can use the pretext of wanting to Aloy repair the Cradle facility enough to communicate directly with the Nora, and Aloy can go with Zo can go talk to Varl's mother Sona.

   As a protag, Aloy is disconnected from her tribe and without Varl there's like no Nora rep, and even though the second game hints towards some development, Aloy ironically has some of Sylens' tribal superiority attitude, so it'd be a great opportunity for some character development and the theme of indigeneity being touched on as she retreads old ground.

   Even though GAIA Prime and its data blew up and all, but it'd be cool if in GAIA's last transmission to the Nora Cradle facility she instinctively stored some memories that Aloy can restore of GAIA watching over the Nora over the centuries leaving the Cradle and building their civilization, and also some recordings of GAIA's later conversations with Elisabet that did not make it into the root kernel copy Aloy rebooted her from.

    And after going through the archives and memory, GAIA looking at the Nora ideology and how they kept close to respecting of the land that they worshipped could be used to nor how the Nora's tribal culture is analogous to real world tribal cultures. GAIA should recognize that ideology as valuable in the fight to protect Mother Earth, after all, themes and all that. She could, speaking through the Cradle door, ask the High Matriarchs and the rest of the tribe to help her rebuild her facilities in the area in the absence of machines that initially built it, like a Nora maintenance crew.

   The 2nd main mission I'd love to see would probably play off the 1st, but while Aloy is reconnecting with her tribe, GAIA has a task for her to head further up north, out of range of the signal towers of Regional Command Center, into the Cut so she could make contact with CYAN.

   It'd be the first time since rebooting GAIA that Aloy and Zo wouldn't be able to talk to her, and Sona could offer to petition for a Seeker's mark to join their crew, and add some non-Aloy Nora rep on the team, while they head north, which GAIA thinks is a good idea.

   Besides just wanting to contact CYAN, even though the command center that MINERVA bunkered in has pretty decent range, it's not infinite, so GAIA wants to ask CYAN to connect her telecoms network to hers to increase her reach, which would probably be a long-term goal of Horizon 3 if we're going global to all the tribes to fight Nemesis.

   Obviously, Aloy would have to appear in person & give CYAN an encryption key & assure them that it's really GAIA trying to communicate & not HEPHAESTUS trying to hack them again. But after that it'd be cool to have CYAN on the team.

   Just those 2 missions would already take the player into so many different places, and there's so many more people would love to see, like actually seeing Ban-Ur, the Banjo homeland instead of just the Cut leading to it (we gotta check back in the Banuk, their culture is so cool), and also the Claim (Oseyan homeland) west of Ban-Ur, and the Savage East because apparently there's a bunch of tribes out East of the Sacred Lands that we hear little about. And that's not even mention going to the Quen territory, and also possibly going to South America & Africa and see what the tribes there are like, since if Aloy's mission is to gather all the tribes in the world to fight Nemesis, it should really feel global.

   They should probably do it like how Burning Shores was added, with most of the in-between area left blank and a flying/riding cutscene to connect the chunks of playable territory, or else the game size would get so fucking gigantic lmao. As long as we get to explore whole new areas and travel with our companions, I'm good.

You've pretty much said it all here re: the core conflict of the series! You've nailed both the thesis and antithesis--and also how it hasn't quite DUG INTO that theme yet.

This is one of the reasons why I lament the Zeniths being brought in as a game two baddie instead of the series culmination baddie. I just...still don't jive with the concept of Nemesis and I think being faced with the Zeniths themselves would've been a more thematic way to approach the colonizer vs. indegeneity concept. I also thought we'd be getting a LOT more about the Clawback in HFW, so...maybe we can hope for more in H3?

I absolutely believe that we'll be going to the Sacred Land in H3! However, I'm not so confident it'll have anything to do with GAIA or ELEUTHIA-9--I think we'll be going that way to (re)visit Metallurgic, as it's one of the companies named in Londra's data in BS. Plus to see Sona, as you said! We already know Zo is heading there herself. But your quest ideas sound AWESOME, and I'm truly hoping we do see Ban-Ur and The Claim this time around. It'll be interesting to see if/how they handle CYAN, since, well, DLC content. Plus she already rejected GAIA's friend request in HFW, so. Lol. I miss her too.

I don't think the rest of the world will be part of H3's narrative scope--but I do think it's prime for some rich spin-off material, which I truly hope we get!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, nonny!!! Keep 'em coming!!!

[meret118]

Chatbots Are Primed to Warp Reality

A growing body of research shows how AI can subtly mislead users—and even implant false memories.

More and more people are learning about the world through chatbots and the software’s kin, whether they mean to or not. Google has rolled out generative AI to users of its search engine on at least four continents, placing AI-written responses above the usual list of links; as many as 1 billion people may encounter this feature by the end of the year. Meta’s AI assistant has been integrated into Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and is sometimes the default option when a user taps the search bar. And Apple is expected to integrate generative AI into Siri, Mail, Notes, and other apps this fall. Less than two years after ChatGPT’s launch, bots are quickly becoming the default filters for the web.

Yet AI chatbots and assistants, no matter how wonderfully they appear to answer even complex queries, are prone to confidently spouting falsehoods—and the problem is likely more pernicious than many people realize. A sizable body of research, alongside conversations I’ve recently had with several experts, suggests that the solicitous, authoritative tone that AI models take—combined with them being legitimately helpful and correct in many cases—could lead people to place too much trust in the technology. That credulity, in turn, could make chatbots a particularly effective tool for anyone seeking to manipulate the public through the subtle spread of misleading or slanted information. No one person, or even government, can tamper with every link displayed by Google or Bing. Engineering a chatbot to present a tweaked version of reality is a different story.

. . .

As the election approaches, some people will use AI assistants, search engines, and chatbots to learn about current events and candidates’ positions. Indeed, generative-AI products are being marketed as a replacement for typical search engines—and risk distorting the news or a policy proposal in ways big and small. Others might even depend on AI to learn how to vote. Research on AI-generated misinformation about election procedures published this February found that five well-known large language models provided incorrect answers roughly half the time—for instance, by misstating voter-identification requirements, which could lead to someone’s ballot being refused. 

. . .

The idea was to see if a witness could be led to say a number of false things about the video, such as that the robbers had tattoos and arrived by car, even though they did not. The resulting paper, which was published earlier this month and has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the generative AI successfully induced false memories and misled more than a third of participants—a higher rate than both a misleading questionnaire and another, simpler chatbot interface that used only the same fixed survey questions.

More at the link.

----

Very interesting article, but warning for a gif that I think will bother photosensitive readers at the top.

[momoliee]

Finished Can Ci Pin, time for a review! [Warning: this review will contain some spoilers!]

Priest…that was brutal. You murdered me in cold blood. That was CRUEL. When was the last time a danmei had me crying this hard?!? I genuinely didn’t think you had it in you to do us all like this😭

To start off the review, I will first talk about the plot. The series spans 7 novels, two of the novels being split into two parts along with the extras, resulting in a total of 10 installments, making it one of the longest danmei novels that i’ve read, along with 2ha by meatbun and tgcf by mxtx. It takes place in a futuristic sci-fi society that exists in space, in a world run by technology and Ai with humanity inhabiting not one planet, but instead 8 whole galaxies (no there are no aliens in this series). I guess the reason why it’s incredibly underrated and overlooked, despite being one of Priest’s best works ever (literally on par with sha po land, mo du and lie huo jiao chou), would be its unique and niche genre, not preferred or sought after or appreciated by the majority of the danmei readers in both the chinese and english fandoms. Nevertheless, if you got some time on your hands, i would definitely recommend you give it a go! Priest makes it super easy and uncomplicated to settle into the world with her incredible world building skills (think of the steam punk universe of sha po lang), and the whole plot literally revolves around politics, war, and the struggles between different parties for power, which is smth that’s already pretty popular within danmei!! and the aesthetics are pretty cool too!!! think spaceships and astronauts!! also there are elements of mystery and comedy and action!! come on yall!!!

Now let’s get into the ACTUAL review. In a world where the Interstellar Union is constantly being tossed around like a tennis ball between the Eden Committee and the Military Council (think of the IU as the king/emperor/ruler, the Eden Committee as the prime minister of the government, and the Military Council as the marshal or commander of the military), the struggle for power led to centuries of underhanded and unethical and inhumane tactics and practices being brewed under the surface by all parties involved. On the surface, there was ‘peace’, peace that came at the expense of others, peace that was no thicker than a hair strand, ready to snap at any given second. Our main characters happened to be born in the century in which this fragile and delicately maintained peace is finally shattered, everything fell apart and no more secrets were kept hidden as all was exposed. The story follows so many threads that priest has managed to weave slowly here and there from very early onwards. The first two novels, priest spends them introducing several different plot lines and several different ‘problems’ and ‘issues’ that she later on ties together into one thick huge interwoven heavy plot in the fourth book. Most readers end up abandoning the story after reading the second novel, feeling that the pace is too slow, everything that’s happening is too random and left up abruptly without a satisfying conclusion, there is no one consistent plot line to follow, and the whole thing feels very overwhelming. However, after reaching the fourth novel, where the plot pace is suddenly picked up dramatically and everything becomes set to motion, it is clear the build up was very necessary or else the whole series wouldve turned into one big jumbled mess. There are time skips within the novel, one in the beginning and one in the middle, the one in the middle sort of splitting the series into a ‘before’ and ‘after’. The last detail i’ll mention regarding the plot, would be that the war doesn’t exist between just two sides, it exists between our main characters, the union, two other parties, and the internal strife between the split factions of the union. so you can….already imagine how complicated and intricate this is.

Now onto the characters. There is Lin Jingheng!!! The Man of The Hour. Aloof and cold on the outside, soft and kind on the inside. Ruthless and Merciless on the outside, a big mother-hen on the inside. A former commander turned mafia leader, his heart dead set on revenge, his body a weapon hes sharpened over the years, his life absolutely disposable to him. Keeping his distance, staying away from everyone, closing himself off to the world, he only ever had one goal in mind and it was to tear apart the union that took away his loved ones. Hes the best at what he does and he knows it, and he will absolutely use himself up to the max. He will not hesitate to make cold and harsh sacrifices, if it means he can logically get to his goal as efficiently as possible. Watching him grow as a character, watching him develop attachments and warm emotions, watching him slowly let out his inner child, was worth it. I absolutely love how the more he developed as a character, the more feelings he started expressing, the more bonds and attachments he started to form with those around him, the more he loved, the stronger he got. Unlike what he initially thought, love and affection and care did not hold him back or make him weaker, it only made him stronger and more invincible, ready to take on anything now that he finally has a purpose, now that he has people he wants to protect and more importantly, return to. An absolute favorite of mine, a true gem. His character is easy to grow fond of, and definitely enjoyable to be around.

Next is Lu Bixing, aka, my absolute favorite. Starting off as the naive, charismatic, funny, hyperactive and handsome little engineer and scientist, neither the series nor priest are kind to him😭😭😭😭 priest, you’ve truly put our sunshine boy through a LOT. i’ve cried several times. tears were shed. Lu Bixing underwent a dramatic character development due to extreme pain and trauma (im still recovering from this) and was stripped off of many of his most endearing character qualities to become a sharp blade ready to take on the world. but despite everything, the seed of kindness in his heart wasnt gone, all it needed was a bit of rekindling and healing and by the end of the series, we had our beloved son back again!!! His character started off well, drifted off the rail due to the harsh circumstances, then came back again, stronger and more mature than ever but still retaining his flirty and bright and active spirit and personality. I absolutely LOVED his healing arc, i love how no one gave up on him even when he gave up on himself, and i love how he came back to us again. Priest truly did his character justice, and didn’t let him off to be this “forever cold and heartless because of my trauma” character, the way many other authors wouldve.

One more thing that i loved, is how priest gave detailed and thorough attention to the side characters in this masterpiece of a work. Priest has managed to make sure that almost every important character in the series had a whole backstory and arc going for them, making you care about all of them and get attached and grow fond, even if some of those characters were already dead years before the novel even started. Priest dedicated several extras to some of those already dead but important characters, and it was the best decision she couldve ever made, making you all nostalgic and sentimental while reading.

Now onto the romance, definitely in my top 5 favorite danmei parings. The commander and his engineer. If Lu Bixing was a crown prince, then Lin Jingheng would be his knight. If Lin Jingheng was a sword, Lu Bixing would be his shield. A relationship that is also a partnership, where theyre both standing on equal ground, where they both need each other’s strengths and talents, where they both trust each other endlessly both on and off the battlefield, whether it be with each other’s lives or with each other’s hearts. It’s like those countless queer quoted shows and movies where two generals or two soldiers go through everything back to back, except this is a danmei so they DO end up together and it doesn’t end up being dismissed as a ‘friendship’. I love their hot and cold dynamic, i love how well they complement each other and how they somehow complete and balance each other. i love how they bring out the worst and best in each other. i love how they always wanna live one more day to come back to each other. Also Lu Bixing’s attempts to win over Lin Jingheng in the beginning were a 10/10 entertainment, definitely had us all, readers and side characters, rooting for him and cheering him on to get that cold commander’s heart!!!

This series will make you laugh, make you cry. There are intense action scenes, complex war and politics scenes, brutal bloodshed scenes and extremely funny and light hearted scenes. Even the romance gets its fair share of attention, the relationship building up at a perfect and reasonable and natural pace, as you grow to love the characters individually then love them together. it was cute, adorable, embarrassing, sexy, angsty (oh the ANGST) all at once!

Would definitely be rereading this, would definitely be giving this a 15/10.

[Here is my favorite scene from book 2 (i hope the humor convinced yall to pick up this incredible series!!!)] :

[tarjeismoeworknews]

Article about new season of Furia.

Google translation:

"Finally you can stream Furia season 2: - A thriller about the world we live in right now

Erlend Lundgård

FilmwebPublished:

22.04.2024

The thriller series takes viewers through Europe's darkest corners, into a world of violence, politics and technology. We met the actors from Furia season 2!

The second season of this Norwegian conspiracy thriller has been postponed for a long time, and now it's finally here! The series has found a new home on Prime Video, and this season, among others, Tarjei Sandvik Moe and Maria Mena have joined the acting team!

We follow Ellen ( Ine Marie Wilmann ) and Asgeir ( Pål Sverre Hagen ) on a mission to arrest one of Europe's most wanted masterminds of right-wing extremism and electoral fraud. Asgeir and his daughter are hiding from the dangerous Moldovan Ziminov in the far north of Norway.

Here they are drawn into a stream of violence, politics and AI-driven psy-ops that intend to tear Europe and NATO to shreds, before the Norwegian NATO commander resigns. Their worst nightmares unfold as their true identities and darkest secrets are revealed.

Ine Marie Wilmann plays Ellen, and she can reveal that the character goes through an intense journey this season.

- There was a time when I thought "and this too?!"

She also says that working with the series has made her more concerned about the world, and that she has become much more aware of the importance of protecting our institutions and democracy. Tarjei Sandvik Moe does not recognize that .

-No, I have realized that the world is fucked without this series. Furia is kind of just… It rubs it in.

One of Tarjei's biggest challenges in the series is the name of his character. He plays the state secretary Tarje, which is one letter away from his real name, and led to confusion on the set - made worse by the fact that Ellen and Tarje's father is called Terje, and is played by actor Terje Strømdahl .

- It was one thing for us Norwegians, but the Polish crew, they were like "Tarje tarje tarjaaaa!"

Furia comes from series creator Gjermund Eriksen ( Mammon ), and does not shy away from themes such as right-wing extremism, conspiracy theories or artificial intelligence.

Peiman Azizpour is back after a brief appearance in the first season as Jonas, a state secretary and former AUF leader.

- Jonas has survived terror, i.e. Utøya. He will fight for and stand up to talk about what has happened.

While the first season was launched on Viaplay, the series has now found a new home. After being completed for several months, the season was postponed due to financial problems at Viaplay, and now the streaming service Prime Video has bought the rights. Furia is the first of five Norwegian drama series to premiere on Prime Video this year.

The postponement has been a source of frustration for several of the actors, and Pål Sverre Hagen is relieved that the series can finally reach the public.

The Furia universe is, after all, a thriller that is about the exact time we live in right now, so it was probably time to get it out into the world.

The first three episodes of Furia Season 2 are available now on Prime Video, with new episodes being released weekly.

"

[ericaportfolio]

Hello, I am new to your account can you explain all about it please and thank you? I am trying to study other au's to make sure I don't copy anyone else :)

Welcome @puppet200! In the Scout Saves the Show AU, Mortimer's Handeemen show didn't get canceled, no possessed murder puppets happened, and instead, everyone came together to throw their ideas onto the idea board. Everyone's ideas, even Owen's, weren't working, but then Scout Harper, who in this AU joined the show behind the scenes midway through Season One, came up with the idea that Mortimer decides to foster a child/teenager. Everyone, even Owen, loved the idea that Harper and all the studio assistants were responsible for creating the character. They got a talented puppeteer named Kelly to play the role, and Scout Prime was born. Long story short, the character saved the show, and Scout became a household name. People still debate who is better: Riley or Scout.

In the show Mortimer's Handeemen in this AU, it's The Office and Smiling Friends, but for kids, as a broke film production crew led by Owen takes a deal from the network to make a documentary Reality TV show of Mortimer's Handeemen as they help kids solve real-life problems, but the filming crew and the puppets go through one chaotic mess after another. After that meeting, Owen uses the fire chat episode to help Mortimer realize he wants to foster a child, and "in-show" Owen asks for fundraising money. At first, the network threatened Owen to take it back, but Jake caught wind, got many crew members to join him, and threatened the network that they would protest and unionize if they were denied the fundraising money. The network agreed to let them fundraise after that. Later in the show's season finale, Mortimer receives a call from a nervous social worker and her assistant, Harper (who also joined the human cast to earn more money for college), saying they might have a young teen for him to foster. A first-season two episode later, Riley, Nick, Daisy, Owen, and the film crew have a bad feeling about Mortimer's decision to foster Scout Prime as she causes more trouble both cast and crew have to deal with.

If you like any ideas and love the AU so much that you want to put your spin on them, you are free to use them if you credit me in some way, shape, or form. But please, no AI getting involved!

[cocogum]

Are Zigg and Maha the same person?

Or are they completely separate people?

Ever since chapter 344 was released, many fans (myself included) have had a lot of questions related to the Dark Continent.

Not only were we very intrigued by the possibility of having thousands of mysterious and dangerous creatures roaming on that continent, but fans were also especially interested in the only known survivors who have returned from these dark lands through an unrecorded expedition. Those survivors were Isaac Netero, Linnet Audoble, and Zigg Zoldyck.

These three have answered a few questions ever since they were revealed to have been involved with the Dark Continent like how it explains Netero’s incredible old age and powerful Nen and how it influenced him to push his limits as well as Linnet’s connection to Netero when she said “I just want Netero to come back to life and be chairman once again.” (Chapter 329). But between the three survivors, only one of them stands out like a sore thumb. And that is none other than the infamous Zoldyck, Zigg.

Not much is known about Zigg.

Unlike the other two, where we know their current status, their relationship with one another and their somewhat revealed personality, Zigg doesn’t seem to have been seen, mentioned, or talked about very often. We have never heard his name until now, and his relationship with Netero and Linnet seems to be unclear.

His presence with the other two hunters looks misplaced given the fact that he had no business being with them since he’s an assassin and the heir of the Zoldyck business as well. What kind of assassination job would would he have been hired to do over there? No one lives in the Dark Continent. Even if there were individuals living in the Dark Continent, how could they have reached him to contact him? How would they have even known his existence? Due to the huge improbability that the Dark Continent would have residents AND would know Zigg, this would only push the stronger narrative that Zigg had gone with Netero and Linnet on his own accord.

We also know that he was the one who brought Nanika, a dark continent calamity known as ‘Ai’, back to the known world since Zigg was the only Zoldyck known to have gone to the unknown land which would explain why the family would have a calamity living in one of their members (aka Alluka). Whether he realized that Nanika came back with him or not is up for debate.

So in short, all we know of Zigg is that he was a former zoldyck heir (based on his silver gene), went with Netero and Linnet to the Dark Continent, and brought Nanika back with him.

Now here’s where things get tricky.

People have noticed that Zigg had a striking resemblance to another zoldyck by the name of Maha.

Maha appeared in chapter 100, assisting Illumi and Kalluto in assassinating the Ten Dons back in the Yorknew City arc.

Due to his short stature and smile, this has led some fans to believe that Zigg was in fact Maha but as an old man.

But is he really the same man or are they actually two separate people?

When it comes to finding out Zigg’s identity, the fandom divided itself into two groups:

Group 1: Those who believe Zigg and Maha are the same person.

Group 2: Those who believe Zigg and Maha are separate people.

The two sides each have their reasons for believing their claims and have proof to back them up (please keep in mind that some of those infos have been taken out of the hxh databook).

Group 1: Zigg and Maha are the same person.

Proof:

Despite his old age, Maha still bears some resemblance to Zigg. The two men have a tiny nose, a wide Cheshire Cat smile, and slitted eyes. He had met Netero back when the two were in their prime according to the hxh databook. Since the hxh databook might have been very outdated, some infos could have been retconned by Togashi. The name ‘Maha’ that was written for him in the book might have been one of those pieces of information that got erased from canon to replace it with the new name ‘Zigg’ instead.

Character explanation:

His body had incredibly deteriorated during the years due to having gone to the Dark Continent (as well as being a Zoldyck since their genes make them live long) which would explain his hair loss with the inclusion of his eyebrows as well. According to Killua’s family chart, Maha is labelled as the ‘untouched one’ which is odd since he’s the strongest Nen user in the world now that Netero has deceased so the least the other zoldyck members could do is bear some respect or admiration for him. But Maha is not even mentioned or implied to be part of the family. Coco Loo, one of the zoldyck guides, doesn’t even mention him as the great-great-grandfather and instead only says “The family presently consists of five siblings, the parents, a set of grandparents, and a great-grandfather — assassins all!” (Chapter 39), excluding him completely from the enumeration.

So since his existence wasn’t brought up to the public, this means that the zoldyck family is trying to ignore him. We can confirm this to be the case if we look at Killua’s family chart: Maha is completely untouched.

The reason for his untouchability is because he was the one responsible for bringing a calamity back home by the name of Ai (later known as Nanika). Silva and Zeno are aware of where Nanika came from because Silva told Killua this about Alluka: “Something that came from another place. Something that came out of the darkness” (Chapter 321). Whether Maha brought Ai back willingly or not did not matter. He got shunned by his own family for going to a place that wasn’t meant for an assassin and Maha paid the price for it.

Group 2: Zigg and Maha are separate people.

Proof:

It has first been confirmed by the databook (and then by the manga) that Netero and Maha are the same age. From Zeno’s explanation about Netero, we see a Zoldyck chart about the silver zoldyck heirs from oldest to recent.

As we can see from the chart, it indicates to us that everyone else besides Maha (and his son) has grown up to always see Netero as an old man. We can then assume that Maha should have been the only one who saw what Netero looked like when he was younger. Therefore, the panel where we see Netero and Zigg together shows how their appearances look irregular and different from one another. If Maha, who is the same age as Netero, was Zigg then he should’ve looked much bigger and older. Zigg in actuality looks like a child in contrast to Netero’s appearance.

So given the fact that Maha and Netero are supposed to be the same age while Zigg here clearly looks like he’s far younger than Netero, this shows us that Zigg and Maha are not the same person and that Zigg knew Netero through Maha, his father.

Character explanation:

Zigg is the son of Maha Zoldyck. Thanks to his father’s connection with Netero, Zigg was able to meet Netero and partner up with the older man and another hunter by the name of Linnet to go to the Dark Continent together. Zigg’s main objective of going to a place where no assassination was needed should have made him refuse the offer that Netero gave him. And yet, he went along with the two hunters because he was curious enough to see if the dark lands had anything useful or special that could benefit the zoldyck family in any way. On the journey, he eventually found a calamity by the name of Ai. Whether he brought Ai back willingly or not did not matter. When he returned home, he got shunned by his own family and his father Maha for going to a place that wasn’t meant for an assassin and Zigg paid the price for it. Over the years, Zigg’s appearance had changed and did not stay the same.

This has led him to mature more but in time has led him to disappear under mysterious circumstances. Unlike Maha, his place and role in the zoldyck family chart made by Killua is nonexistent but has been mentioned by the zoldyck guide Coco Loo when she labelled him as ‘the great-grandfather’.

So to conclude both groups:

Group 1: Believes Zigg and Maha ARE the same man because Maha met Netero when they were both in their prime. The hxh databook was too old and got retconned which changed Maha’s name to ‘Zigg’. He was untouched by the family because he brought the calamity Ai into the family, and his existence was never mentioned by the zoldyck guide therefore the public won’t know that the zoldycks have one more member.

Group 2: Believes Zigg and Maha are NOT the same man because Zigg and Netero are not the same age according to the small flashback. Zigg knew Netero from Maha. Zigg went to the Dark Continent with Netero due to his young mind thinking he would find something useful to bring back to benefit his family. His appearance and name haven’t been mentioned by his family as a way to keep him in the dark. They have only mentioned to the public that he does exist however.

As you can see from the two sides, this situation is very confusing. On one hand, it gives us a lot to speculate which group is right and which one is wrong. But on the other hand, this is just very odd to see. Both sides have good reasons to believe that Zigg is such a confusing yet interesting character. Whether you’re on a side, in none of these two groups, or have simply made a theory about this on your own, you can’t ignore the fact that Zigg’s motive for going to the Dark Continent seems to be illogical due to his job.

I personally believe that Zigg IS Maha but not for all the reasons that group 1 believes in.

Maha and Zigg being one and the same would explain why he’s labelled as ‘the untouched one’ in the family chart. The chart had been made from Killua’s point of view of his own family so it would make sense if he doesn’t understand why Maha is labelled this way. Maha had gone to the Dark Continent with Netero and Linnet for one reason only: out of curiosity in the hopes of finding something that could benefit his family in any way. I would find it very unlikely that he went to the Dark Continent just because “Netero told him to” or because “he just wanted to have fun”. These probabilities are close to zero since 1) Maha is a Zoldyck, so why would he listen to Netero just because he told him to? And 2) We clearly see that Maha is still working as an assassin so he couldn’t have possibly gone to the Dark Continent to take a break from it all. He’s not Killua.

Therefore, I would have to say from my personal take that Zigg and Maha ARE the same zoldyck.

(but despite that, I still like to call him by separate names lol. I just like to think that calling that man by his ‘Zigg’ name would mean his zoldyck self before he went to the Dark Continent while calling him by the ‘Maha’ name is just him maturing after he went through the Dark Continent. I like to separate these two men depending on the era of the time even though I think they’re the same character. Does that make sense? Of course not.)

[brisksunrise]

Because fiddling with alternate universe settings is pretty fun. A drawing featuring Femboy Ben, Charm-Ben, and an assortment of others.

Femboy Ben: Due to glitches suffered during the confrontation with Malware, the Omnitrix has managed to completely alter and shift Ben’s internal chemical and hormonal make-up, resulting in him slowly becoming more and more feminine. He would also unlock access to a variety of new forms that were on the very cute and feminine side, as well as others that should have only been female only. Even several of his original forms would end up a bit more feminine in appearance.

Charm-Ben: Charmcaster succeeded in body-swapping with Ben. However, in the immediate scuffle, the Omnitrix’s AI seemed to go haywire, as if sensing something that it seemed WRONG. It then jumped from Charmcaster in Ben’s body to Ben in Charmcaster’s body. The magical energy that the device would absorb and bond with alongside the DNA would result in it shifting appearances to better acclimate. Both Charmcaster and Ben were stuck in their new bodies, due to a combination of Ben’s lack of magical understanding, and a strange shortage of sea urchin eggs because of both a sudden high demand AND the supply chain unable to keep up due to terrible conditions. 

Goth-Loli Ben: This Ben’s life followed exactly as Femboy Ben’s did. However, the confrontation with Malware led to an accident that caused his Grandpa Max to end up in a coma, who would later pass away. A devastated Ben would eventually utilize his more intelligent aliens to create an improved Omnitrix, and began delving in traveling through alternate timelines and dimensions, where he would, out of some degree of jealousy and coping, begin to tease and mess around with his various alternate selves. He also always looked forward to seeing the Max of those various timelines. Perhaps, for this Ben, he was incapable of accepting the reality of his own scenario.

Gwen 10 and Anodite Ben: As with any Gwen 10 setting, the Gwen in this dimension was the one to gain the Omnitrix, resulting in a rather jealous Ben. During the initial confrontation with Hex, instead of the charm of luck, Ben would instead end up with the charm of telekinesis. Likewise, where as Gwen would have gone on to destroy all the charms, Ben would instead opt to keep them. Unbeknownst to the group, as Ben wore the charms, his body would absorb the magical energies from them. Once Vilgax attacked, in an effort to call upon the magical powers to help and save Gwen, Ben would accidentally ‘overload’ himself and unlock his Anodite heritage. However, due to inexperience, Ben would have trouble changing back into human form. Sometimes he would change back and be a boy, and other times he would end up a girl. Despite that, both he and Gwen would become a very capable duo.

Anodites of this universe are not from an alien planet, but are beings of pure magic hailing from a dimension of magic.

Brenda AKA Oujo-Ben: A female alternate version of Ben hailing from a timeline where the Earth has long since formed connections with the rest of the galaxy, and so seeing aliens was commonplace on the planet. The Tennyson family of this setting amassed a great deal of wealth due to a long history of delving into intergalactic trade and technological advancement, as well as a variety of other fields, such as Brenda’s own father being the creator of Sumo Slammers. Brenda can be rather haughty and high maintenance, but still possesses the desire to help others. Brenda would one day obtain the Omnitrix as she was being held captive for ransom, and the pod burst through the ceiling into her holding room.

Brynlee AKA Science-Ben: Another female alternate version of Ben. This one grew up in a world largely similar to Prime Ben. Brynlee, however, would have an intense interest in science and learning. The unknown fascinated her, and was always seeking to understand more and could absorb knowledge rather quickly. While looking through the closet cupboard on the Rust Bucket one day, Brynlee would find a secret compartment housing a strange ring-like device. It would end up bonding with her, and she would learn from her Grandpa Max that it was something he recently found, but kept in a safe spot until he found the time to figure out more about it.