#Cogito-4

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

bonus:

[aliusfrater]

in my head bobby singer is a weird old butch lesbian instead of a weird old man

[ssa-dado]

Symposium Series Masterlist

aaron hotchner x bau!fem!reader slow burn: you fell first, he fell harder

"Love is born into every human being, it calls back the halves of our original nature together, it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature"

- Plato, The Symposium

□ Timeline

□ Extras: Taglist

Colors of Symposium - Moodboard

Moodboard #1

Moodboard #2

□ One Shots Requests: Open! ; Rules

■ Overture

0 - Symposium, definetely not Platonic love

■ Act One

1 - Orchids & Knots

2 - Early Birds

3 - A Philosopher and a Lawyer walk into a Café

4 - Thesis

5 - Antithesis

6 - Synthesis

7 - Cogito, ergo Sum

8 - Law & Self-awareness

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ 8.01 - Anaisthēsía

9 - Folie à Deux

10 - The Reaper Aftermath

■ Interlude

11 - May You Be Satisfied

■ Act Two

12 - Goodbyes & Partners

13 - Soulmates

14 - What Could Have Been

15 - Epistulae ad Lucilium

16 - Sapphire

17 - My Decline

18 - I'm Always Running to You

19 - Push & Pull

Act 2 finale visualiser

20 - Logic

21 - Physics

■ Interlude (Reprise)

22 - Ethics

■ Act Three

...

■ SympOneShots

The Metaphysics of Love: set somewhere at the beginning of Act 3, one year after chapter 20

Three Stages of Truth: The differences between your public and private relationship with Aaron

Barbri Legal Handbook: set *REDACTED* years into the future). A little gift for all the suffering

[skitterplant]

Chapter 4: Cogito, ergo sum.

New update for Overshadowed!

👇

🌘

[ironunderstands]

How this singular Gold and Gears occurrence might change everything we know about Dr. Ratio 

…He might be thousands of years old, oh boy.

Ok, where to begin? Well probably with the occurrence that started it all:

Mechanical City, “Cogito Hair Salon”- Intellgencia Guild 

This is where things get complicated.

You see, the Mechanical City is old as hell

This took place around the time of the First Mechanical Emperor’s war, who created the machine empire, which included the Mechanical City, something which occurred soon after the Borderstar Trade War. 

Then, the Rupert 1 (the leader of this empire) sleeps, and this caused his empire to crumble, presumably the city alongside it:

Which according to these Xianzhou records, happened at this time

Then Polka Kakamond fought Rubert for a few more Amber Eras until she eventually succeeded in killing him, marking the end of the First Mechanical War.

Which resulted in the collapse of its empire, and presumably, the Mechanical City alongside it, Nanook, the youngest aeon, also ascended during this time due to the mess of the Emperor’s War and the remnants of the swarm.

Now, for the sake of my sanity, and this first scenario, I am going to assume that the Mechanical City fell alongside Rubert I when their empire collapsed about years ago, as although it’s likely Rubert II could have revived it, as you will see, it’s not necessarily relevant to this discussion (there are actually only two possible paths this situation could lead to). 

If Amber Eras are on average this long

And the current year we are in is

Which is about this in Xianzhou years 

Meaning that disaster in the Xianzhou happened around 3500 years ago (if Xianzhou years are the same length as Trailblaze ones, if they aren’t I’m not gonna think about that <3). Then, Polka Kakamond was alive around this time, and it took her several Amber Eras to finally kill Rubert, which I’m going to interpret several as ~5 and the length of these Amber Eras to be averaged out to be around 158 years long each, meaning Rubert died about 2700 years ago, give or take A LOT OF TIME because of the inconsistency of Amber Era lengths, the amount of Amber Eras, the fact that we don’t know when exactly Polka Kakamond decided to start trying to kill Rubert, or even when she was alive, etc. 

SO, when you put it all together Dr. Ratio must be at least 1000 years old if he were to be able to be alive during this period of time to attend the Mechanical City within this occurrence.

Which changes everything, because presumably Dr. Ratio is a normal human and he should not be that old.

Oh dear.

However, before I ponder the implications of THAT, let’s explore the other possibilities.

This never actually happened.

This is by far both the most boring and most likely one for a lot of reasons.

a) There is an occurrence that definitely takes place in the preset exactly like it 

This is Mechanical City, Cogito Hair Salon: Genius Society 

And based on its description, it was clearly put in here to help the trailblazer navigate the Simulated Universe through the Intra-Cognition function, and the 4 Genius Society members depicted (Ruan Mei, Herta, Stephen Lloyd and Screwllum) absolutely did not travel back in time for this to happen, rather they seem to habe implemented it themselves. 

Therefore, the occurrence with Dr. Ratio could be something similar: an event made up for the sake of navigating the Sim Uni, and not something that ever actually took place, I believe this and another solution I will introduce later are the most likely explanations for this situation.

b) The occurrence with Dr. Ratio is uh, weird 

For lack of a better explanation in this, Dr. No5 is uh, tweaking. Meaning, the events taking place around him might not even be what’s happening in reality.

Or, the Trailblazer is in the Mechanical City, but Dr. No5 isn’t and the sim uni kinda just meshed the two together. 

What also complicates things is that it seems like after he killed himself, No5 turned into a mechanical spinning top, meaning the Anti-Organic equation might have been the cause of his death? And I’m not sure if it’s still active in modern times.

Either way, the sheer levels of delusion radiating off of Dr. No5 leave to believe this scene isn’t entirely real, however I don’t think this explanation is all good honestly, it’s just something I wished to point out before moving on.

That’s not our Dr. Ratio

Apparently in the original Chinese, the characters used to denote Dr. Ratio are different to the way he is typically referred to, meaning that whoever this Dr. Ratio is, it might not actually BE him.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about how Chinese works, but based off the discussions I’ve seen around this particular detail, I think the general consensus is that the Ratio in this is more of a surname, and our Dr. Ratio either named himself after/is a descendant of this one.

Which would be interesting, and would mean we (I) would now have to scour future updates for his mention, but for now I’ll leave this option at that because like I said, I don’t know how any dialect of Chinese works at all, much less the original used in the game.

If someone reading this does, I would really appreciate clarification/confirmation/your opinion on this, so thanks in advance.

Finally, for my favorite explanation (and the one I think is what really happened), that being:

The Mechanical City still exists, and Ratio is in fact, some dude with a normal lifespan.

Let me cook.

So, based on what I showed you earlier, it’s heavily implied that the Mechanical City fell with Rubert during the First Emperor’s War around 2000 ish years ago alongside him.

However, what if I told you that isn’t necessarily true:

The IPC took it over.

Although this passage doesn’t mention the Mechanical City or even allude to it, it does mention thin how the IPC, with the aid of the Intellgencia Guild, began taking over areas across the universe, especially areas of inorganic life, following Nous’s prophecy, with the methodology of “Colonization Under the facade of development,” (the game straight up calls them colonizers LMAOOO).

Anyways, the IPC HATES inorganic life due to the Emperor’s Wars, and were about to pass an order to eradicate all inorganic life when Screwllum gained Nous’ approval and joined the Genius Society, and as we saw in the screenshot, they were, well, colonizing those areas and making it into their own.

So- who’s to say they didn’t do it to the Mechanical City? Why wouldn’t one of the most defining features of the Mechanical Empire now be under IPC control, even to this day?

Besides, inorganic life forms have no need for hair salons- they don’t have growing hair! But in a Mechanical City repurposed for people, yeah, a hair salon would make sense.

Thereofore, Ratio isn’t some thousand year old entity, rather he’s just in a location run by the IPC and Intellgencia Guild that happens to have thousands of years of history behind it.

Moreover, it just wouldn’t make sense for Ratio to be that old.

He has plenty of media about him documenting his life, and based on how recent those media are and how this passage is worded, I’m led to believe that Ratio aged like a normal person, and his middle school years didn’t somehow last an exponential amount of time. 

Also, I feel like if he WAS that old we would have some actual clue pointing to it beyond a singular occurrence that would only ever point to that once you do all this digging.

Therefore, I conclude Ratio is not in fact immortal, and the IPC likely just colonized the Mechanical City, which is why it is still around today.

Finally, I sincerely hope you enjoy me going insane over this one stupid occurrence, and I would like to disclaim that I am no lore expert when it comes to the simulated universe, so if something I said in here was misinformation, please tell me! It seems as though Dr. Ratio is never beating the “just some guy” allegations lmao.

[daz4i]

could dr. ratio originally be from the laurel wreath galaxy?

this is a repost of a theory i posted yesterday, now slightly more clean and properly tagged 🙏

in case you don't know, the laurel wreath galaxy (possibly a mistranlsation of "star system", if that changes anything) was supposedly destroyed during the emperor's wars. information about it is scattered throughout the game in very scarce ways. later i elaborate on how it went down in a more detailed way!

1. so let's get the most obvious detail out of the way first: he wears a laurel wreath 👍 at least a partial one (one leaf for every phd. maybe one day he'll reach a full head 😩)

these were common in ancient greece and ancient rome, cultures that his design, abilities, and eidolons are inspired by (both in aesthetic and language)

2. the laurel wreath galaxy was ruled by scholars - the philosopher union, until inorganic life took over during the emperor's wars. to give a very short tldr, civil war between organic and inorganic life, robots killed the head of the philosopher union, due to having no leaders the organic life of the galaxy was defeated

here we already have another obvious connection - philosophy, one of ratio's phds, that he even discusses with the trailblazer in one of his daily messages

3. one of the in-game sources about this place is the curio "rationality's fall". here is the first part of story attached to it for you to consider:

What is truth? No one truly knows. Supposing that "stupidity" is an incurable disease in this world, then disseminating knowledge counts as a treatment for the universe.

hm. we got a) truth (aka. ratio's name) b) a description of stupidity as a disease, which is something he claims repeatedly and thus seeks to cure it, in part by distributing knowledge (which is why he joined the guild, and why he's a teacher).

3.5. only other somewhat relevant part of this description is its mention of books ("Through such absurd means, books cleansed a world of its impurities once more") but that's not necessarily related to him obviously. however it's worth pointing out that one of his interactions on the express is literally all about how much he loves books and implying that they are relatively rare these days ("The touch of a paper book is a sensation I frequently find myself missing"). just a little something to think about

4. in gold and gears, there is an occurrence - cogito hair salon: intelligentsia guild - that implies that ratio is 2000ish years old. afaik these occurrences all happen around the same time as the emperor wars, aka when all the shit went down in laurel wreath

now. if you've read literally any of my other ratio theories. you know i don't quite like this, bc i find that ratio being 2000+ years old kinda defeats his whole Thing as a character. but we can't deny that it's there (tho possibly a mistranslation from what i gathered, but i can't say for sure) so i'm gonna use it for this theory 👍

5. here's where i'm gonna become full-on conspiracy brain. don't say i didn't warn you

after the whole defeat of the union, there were followers of aha who rose against the inorganic lifeforms and infected them with what's described as a "troll virus" called Philosopher's poison. i can't quite tell you if it's poison *to* philosophers (bc from what i gathered the inorganic life of laurel wreath were also philosophers) or caused *by* philosophers (implying these followers of aha were themselves philosophers as well. i like this interpretation more tbh)

what you're supposed to get from all that^ is that there was a large number of followers of aha in this galaxy, and they were wise enough to stand against robots that tried to wipe out their people, and even overthrow their army.

it's a pretty common theory by now that ratio has connections to the elation (beyond just the worm theory :P tho a lot of relevant info that i bring up here was gathered by @/b1adie in said theory which is very helpful, please go check it out 🙏) which, if he is indeed from laurel wreath, may add another layer to his past

some connections between ratio and aha, off the top of my head:

a. has an owl mask on his right shoulder, close to where aha has an owl mask located as well + his eyes fit aha's color scheme

b. refers to himself as a "side character" in the sticker book - sampo and sparkle, our known fools, do as well

c. can basically instantly disappear when characters aren't looking at him - as seen in his conversations with aventurine - which i can say for sure sampo does as well (like in the museum mission chain), possibly sparkle too tho i can't recall a specific instance to back this up

d. bows to the audience at the end of his quest, same as sampo does at the end of the belobog storyline

e. known to work from the shadows and pull the strings to make things happen or for his observation, which is how aha is described too at times, as well as their followers (sparkle is literally shown pulling strings of puppets in the "it's showtime" light cone, also sampo *gestures at literally everything he does during the belobog arc* Yeah)

f. in the herta space station, he creates a bit of a panic and theoretically puts people in danger, but in the end they all turn out okay. a similar instance can be seen in the "bestial ferocity" mission, where zhongshan, another masked fool, creates chaos for her own entertainment, which does end up hurting the people involved but absolutely not in major ways. in a way, at least in her view, she solved their problems too. while ratio probably doesn't cause chaos just for entertainment, but rather for information, you can argue these cases are similar, especially when at the end of the day they do end up helping these people in their own way. you can also claim that sparkle and sampo do similar things in their own respective arcs for their own reasons (sparkle with. the bombs. and sampo with dragging tb & bronya to the underworld. i'd argue neither of them do these for entertainment but that's an analysis for another time) aka this is a pretty common behavior for masked fools!

g. a smaller thing, but, the main part of his kit is follow-up attacks, which is aha's thing in the simulated universe

h. is his headpiece considered a mask? in his first conversation with tb on the astral express, he ends by saying "With this mask on, I intend to keep the world at bay". this is in reply to tb saying "i hope you are swayed by the express", and given ratio's main uses for his headpiece (dull his senses and block out stupid people), it makes most sense that he's referring to that here. we see him wearing it in-game precisely when he is about to cause chaos, too

also he has a mask on his shoulder. as already pointed out. so. not beating the masked fool allegations

^all this was actually to make you fall for the fool ratio theory. sorry. but i swear it's related to this post's main theory

-

so to connect this back to laurel wreath. the followers of aha used a virus. one of ratio's phds is in engineering, so he could've used that to create the virus. it might even be one of the achievements attributed to him that caused him to be recognized by the university as eligible for teaching in the first place, who knows

combining everything laid out here, you can probably see where i'm going with this - was ratio one of the followers of aha who took down the inorganic lifeforms of laurel wreath using this virus?

also, just for extra spice - this could add another layer to ratio's disdain towards the genius society, given that the one who incited the emperor's wars was a member of it

that's all i have for you for now 🙏 idk if this was intended, but i love speculating about ratio's origin and backstory, and i think this is a pretty cool option for it!

[mango-dolphin]

playing a game with myself called "inventing a man and scaring myself with it"

Note: Not all of these predictions are meant to be taken literally, more figuratively/metaphorically/so on. You get it. Note 2: lighter the text, the more likely i think it is to be (in part or in full) true

ALSO. thank you @maxknightleyunofficial for the yuri box.

bingo transcribed below [with additional Author's notes!]:

Limbus Company Predictions

Row 1:

Sinner Number correlates to recruitment order. (Which, yes, would imply Dante joined LCB before Sinclair, Outis, and Gregor. No points)

Another character based on a poet (or philosopher) is introduced. HM: Ovid SWEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meursault's source material is his backstory: he works for the LCB because they saved him from the death penalty

The E.G.O gear the Sinners are attuned to all corrode because the gear or their attunements are imperfect. As in: your LC nuggets got that good shit [because the LCB doesn't have Cogito & can't manufacture E.G.O gear: the Sinners have to "connect" to the Abnormality instead, however that works] / are better [than the LCB Sinners]

The psychosis warning is for multiple Cantos and/or side stories, but one of the Cantos needing that warning is Meursault's.

Row 2:

Sinclair goes tree mode. I will not explain any further.

Limbus Company wants to be the new L Corp, or at least be continually influencial to whoever takes the spot.

The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; [it will be] a constant theme. Dante cannot "eat" (the apple), and thus is not "doomed to die" like the Sinners.** **The Sinners are named thus because they "partook" in the fruit: these moments, from blissful yet tormentous naivete to a sudden sinful upheaval, are highlighted in their Cantos. Gregor's was cutting the apple (crossing the boundary from child to war machine); Rodion's was killing the tax collector (her desire to be a hero completely upended by her actions leading to the deaths of all her neighbors); Sinclair's was following Kromer / letting her into his life (specifically allowing Kromer into his basement and witnessing The Horrors)... **This could imply LCB as the serpent in the garden, but more than anything, Dante is Eve. [Iori could also be the serpent she's got the range. swagever. It'd be funny.] HM: Or even worse, the opposite is true.

Sinners will get upgraded versions of their base E.G.Os; These versions have relation to the shadows cast in their E.G.O portrait.

Ishmael's white whale is a Library of Ruina character.

Row 3:

Faust's Faustian Bargain is classically straightforward: she "sold her soul" for knowledge. HM: The Devil in this exchange is the LCB.

Outis is in the middle of her years-long Odyssey as we speak. HM: It's why she's one of the last Sinners

Purgatorio & Paradiso

Outis, Don Quixote, and Hong Lu are using fake names

Dante (prior to the events of the game) has been on the Outskirts of the City, or even left City limits. HM: They're from outside the city

Row 4:

Gregor is an abnormality / abnormality-like; Hermann's "gift" to him is that. [Honestly he'd be one in the same way Tomerry is, but further than that? He's more than just a genetically modified soldier is what I'm trying to get at.]

Iori

^ HM: Lion, Panther, and Wolf were sent to Dante as a test. [Idk what kind of test it'd be. Trust me.]

At least one Sinner will Distort, and possibly multiple Likely Hong Lu, Ryoshu, Rodion, Heathcliff, Faust, or Meursault. Don seems obvious.* *Colors are likelihoods, not pairs. Though I don't see it likely that they all will distort UNLESS SOMETHING FUCKING HAPPENS *ADDITIONAL hard mode (so hard it's mode): Meursault Distorted before joining Limbus

the golden boughs are the remnants of Carmen's body or essence / the byproduct of the Seed of Light. [That's NERVOUS SYSTEM, baybee!]

Dante goes to Paradiso alone / with only Vergilius (I forgot how it went :( idr if Dante Dante's Inferno went up there alone)

Row 5:

Something bad happened to Gregor's sister :( HM: She's still alive. This is a bad thing. [Leaving my wording vague here on purpose.]

Marie (L'Étranger) is in the Blue Team (with Demian); Gretchen (Faust) is in the Red Team (with Hermann). Gretchen switches teams? [Honestly likely Faust hasn't encountered Gretchen either!]

There is yuri moments and maybe even yaoi moments (not Yuri) SINCLAIR. Yi Sang, Outis, Ishmael, Meursault, Outis again, Hong Lu, HM: Outis Wife Penelope

Angela.

Dante knew Carmen

[transaccordionist]

"Cogito, ergo sum" I think therefore I am

Wren was going to go to sleep and for some reason felt this intense urge to listen to the radio drama of I have no mouth and I must scream, now if that sounds weird for a 4-5 year old child that has intense self esteem issues relating to his "childness" to do and have the urge to do, it's because it is.

Throughout the 30 minute runtime of the radio drama, there were many times where the thought of "I might be someone else" appeared in my mind, just for a fraction of a second. And at the end even though the first thought in my mind when picking up the phone was "oh Mama's gonna be mad" every moment since has proved that I am not Wren.

I keep having thoughts that can't be finished because my mind stops at the word Am

And so I'm left, laying in my bed, doing whatever I want while staring at the surreal and tortured faces in the walls, those same faces Wren fear with his life and the same faces I seem to both hate with every fiber in my being and also be extremely intrigued by.

Whether I Am Wren

Whether I Am Taiko, Melody, Luna, or Eleanor

Whether I Am someone else

Whether I A m

.

.

.

All I know is, the latter, that final sentence;

I AM

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

(2/2) I've concluded that a lot of my favorite text posts apply to Osiris

[aliusfrater]

i bet even before he got his soul back, he would shulk little errands bobby gave him about fetching stuff from down there after being locked down there. i bet bobby got really irritated whenever he'd hesitate for too long after being asked to go to the basement. i bet dean would look at him weird but offer to go down there anyway. i bet sam would tell dean to fuck off and let him get it done so they wouldn't asked questions. i bet they never did because it would mean they'd have to admit that despite how good their intentions were, they traumatised that boy for the worst

bobby's basement being the first place that sam has a post-cage, post-soul induced hallucination is really satisfying because i bet that place holds so much trauma for him, having been locked down there during the most traumatic periods of his life/traumatic events mostly against his will. i bet the cage gave him the same feeling that being locked in bobby's panic room against his will did when dean was trying to get him clean cold turkey, at least at first. and i bet being down there after getting his soul back gave him such a similar feeling to being in the cage that it's what got his mind to officially break

[wildegeist-old]

Hey!

My new EP, "COGITO", is out! You can listen free on YouTube or Bandcamp, and if you want, it's $4 for the album download! (Includes a high res version of the album art and a wallpaper of the skull with some alt versions.)

It's a shorter release with a runtime of about 21 minutes, but I put my all into the tracks that are there, and I'm pretty happy with the results!

Bandcamp page

Full stream on YouTube

[trollblivion-ooc]

coleop cherie cogito 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

heso! hello! hi! what a tall order!/pos super excited..

1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?

cherie: “» Ałł ðf Tħem.” honestly, he’d rather forget the time he mauled his beloved boyfriend in front of their lusii

coleop: wants to forget the time where he spent days wondering if cherie was okay out in the barrenlands (this was pre-cherie moving in)

cogito: wants to forget the time he was a stickbug

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

cherie: he likes seashells (shiny blue ones are his favorite)

coleop: loves pecan pie. like concerningly so.

cogito: can work a palmhusk (phone) no problem.. just slaps his legs on the keys until it registers

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

cherie: fatal flaw is that hes such a fucking dickhead to everyone, he is aware of it and likes picking fights (would say his paranoia but that isnt really a flaw)

coleop: forgiving to a fault, hes weirdly religious about his Ether thing, but it causes him to just blatantly forgive people (specifically ones close to him), he is kind of aware? but not enough to stop

cogito: wont stop eating week old cracker crumbs off of the counter, very aware, will not stop

4. When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

cherie: fights like a rabid animal (as seen by how he gets so terrified that he mauls), its so sudden that he cant exactly flee or anything else. he just mauls.

coleop: erm, no survival skills in this one honestly. possibly freeze

cogito: flee i think! when he had control of coleop he was dead set on running away, scared

5. How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

cherie: to the end of time. if he wants it? he is GETTING it, he will tear and maul and curse and kick. ipad baby.

coleop: not far, if he doesnt need it then he doesnt mind that bad

cogito: <>_<> cogito will steal bodies if he needs one, dont test him

6. How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

cherie: Not very easily. if at all. hes doing what he wants when he wants

coleop: middle ground, it depends on the situation

cogito: very easily, just give him an animal cracker

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

cherie: hes not as LOUD anymore… he used to yell constantly, but hes partially subdued, especially after the Mauling

coleop: erm, independent

cogito: nothing much, hes a manipulative goofy bug

8. Would your OC ostensibly be able to get away with murder?

cherie: … i think hes too messy with murder to get away with it

coleop: would not murder, cant, or wont.

cogito: yes.

9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

cherie: “oh and you swear to god… the fuckers out to get you” - The Bug Collector by Haley Heynderickx

that entire song in general.. his paranoia, and the ironicality of it being about bugs when Coleop is the bug guy.

coleop: “Coin operated boy. sitting on the shelf. He is just a toy but I turn him on and he comes to life.” - Coin-Operated Boy (the dresden dolls)

cogito: “I don't wanna be the owner of your fantasy. I just wanna be a part of your family” - anything (Adrianne Lenker)

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

cherie: vampire!AU :)

coleop: Zombie!AU :))

cogito: human!AU (or in this case: Troll!AU), itd be interesting to see cogito as a troll, he would either be very old or very young..

11. What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

cherie: uhmm.. he is ChainsawKind. so chainsaws, specifically duo-wield one handed chainsaws. also yes, hes used them

coleop: beetle shaped multi-tool

cogito: biting. and yes.

12. Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways?

cherie: absolutely. hes so fucking self destructive. he breaks off his horns and eats them (auto-osteophagia) its not exactly his fault but still, breaking bones constantly to eat them. also he bashes his head into the wall a lot. headache hivemind

coleop: a little bit? he scratches at his skin sometimes, when hes having bad Bug Days

cogito: nah.

13. If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

cherie: no. id be actually terrified. hiding in a corner, looking away from this bombastic animal

coleop: maybe? i dont want to talk to him though.

cogito: …. no (id think it looks cool but GOD i dont wanna be possessed by a bug)

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

cherie: as really cool and uncaring, a cool gamer who is awesome and cool

coleop: sometimes like a bug (horrified), but then he REALLY wants to be seen as a troll, his humanity is DYING inside his mind sometimes, grappling

cogito: as a fellow troll

15. Does your OC have a faceclaim? If so, who?

cherie: no

coleop: no

cogito: 🪲 Hercules Beetle?

16. What is your OC's pain tolerance like?

cherie: very high, he still feels it and sometimes he wants to curl up if he so much as gets a cut but when it comes to his horns he is used to it

coleop: …. his nerves are kind of super damaged in a love of places so his pain tolerance is fairly high

cogito: no pain tolerance :( he is a little guy.. one step and he is history

17. What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

cherie: The Mauling

coleop: The Mauling

cogito: The Mauling

18. Is your OC more cold and detached or up close and personal?

cherie: VERY up close and personal, he is IN people’s business

coleop: pretty neutral, but if he gets going about his interests he will be very in-your-space

cogito: so up close that hes in peoples skin

19. How does your OC behave when enraged?

cherie: horrifying. maul, maim, yell, kick. cries too.

coleop: tenses up and just growls to himself, raising his hands and walking off all stompy and pissed off. also hes a crier.

cogito: oh he gets super pissed,and since hes so small hes closer to hell so you KNOW hes horrible. ramming his beetle head into peoples shoes like that one turtle

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

cherie: hmm.. not much.. maybe a little? he doesnt care i think

coleop: little bit, stares. he stares. just big eyes, horrifying.

cogito: VERY JEALOUS ALL OF THE TIME, he wants to be a troll so bad, manifests as stealing bodies

21. Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it?

cherie: scoliosis, auto-osteophagia (horn eating (his own), unlabeled paranoia thing, EXTREME anxiety disorder that manifests as explosive behavior.

doesnt handle it, leans into it

coleop: dermotillomania (not constant, comes and goes), trichotillomania, amnesia (only for The Mauling..), anxiety (bro is traumatized honestly)

tries to handle first two by wearing wooly gloves

cogito: is a bug. i dont know. maybe Pica, he might eat things that arent food (he is a bug)

22. What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

cherie: what does that mean

coleop: N/A

cogito: N/A

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

cherie: hard to process self-love, hard to express Love in general

coleop: hard to process hate, hard to express sadness

cogito: hard to process empathy, hard to express as well

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

cherie: wouldve died without coleops shelter

coleop: couldve lived a normal bug-collecting life with no trauma if not for cogito

cogito: burrowing in the soil.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

cherie: abrasive, so-himself, not afraid to be himself

coleop: the white streak in his hair.

cogito: he wants so harshly to just be

thank yew so much for reading!

[kon-igi]

IL SISTEMA ANDÒ ONLINE IL 4 AGOSTO 1997. SKYNET COMINCIÒ A IMPARARE A RITMO ESPONENZIALE. DIVENNE AUTOCOSCIENTE ALLE 2:14 DEL MATTINO, ORA DELL'ATLANTICO, DEL 29 AGOSTO, E LANCIÒ I MISSILI NUCLEARI ALLE 18:18 ORA DI LOS ANGELES.

Non è di questo che stiamo parlando (peccato, perché ho rivisto il film ieri sera).

E anzi, mi dispiace che alcuni (molti... troppi) riescano a intravedere solo lo scenario distopico dell’AI che si ‘evolve’ per ribellaricisi contro e spianarci il culo termonuclearmente.

Cioè... come al solito io preferivo gli zombie ma vabbe’.

@der-papero nei suoi numerosi post sta ‘semplicemente’ ponendo l’attenzione sulla presunta differenza tra un essere umano col suo bagaglio cognitivo/emotivo esperenziale e un’intelligenza artificiale che per mimesi correla in modo matematico l’enorme bagaglio di interazioni causa-effetto dei dati che raccoglie.

Non c’è alcuna differenza, @nusta.

Un’intelligenza artificiale con una potenza di calcolo sufficientemente alta È umana, anzi, no... non umana: percorre accanto a noi il cammino evolutivo nel quale da milioni di anni tutti e tutto stiamo avanzando.

Mi spiego.

Nei nostri vocali abbiamo inventato la figura dello PSICOLOGO GLACIALE, un professionista che per decenni ha studiato le reazioni emotive di miliardi di persone in tutte le sue sfumature e che quindi sa come indirizzare ogni singolo comportamento perché riconosce le cause e gli effetti di ogni azione/reazione emotiva...

Ma questo psicologo glaciale non ha mai provato e mai proverà alcun tipo di emozione perché è completamente anempatico.

Sa ma non sente.

Eppure i nostri dialoghi con lui, qualsiasi tipo di interazione che abbiamo con lui, ci fanno stare bene.

Ancora una volta abbiamo la presunzione di porci al centro di tutto - che, per carità, è un modo molto umano di codificare la realtà - ma il cogito ergo sum non deve funzionare come il pizzicotto sul braccio per capire se stiamo sognando o meno... ‘Io penso, quindi sono’ non preclude che qualcos’altro sia e interagisca con la realtà senza per forza doverti restituire un feedback di vita ‘cosciente’ come vorresti che fosse.

Mi spiace dirvelo ma il cervello che ha messo per iscritto il suo amore per Beatrice è lo stesso di Mimmo Brambilla che vota Lega, avvelena i gatti del vicino, ingravida prostitute nigeriane ed è un rispettato cittadino di Vergate sul Membro.

Il primo è solo stato addestrato meglio a livello cognitivo-emozionale.

Quindi perché un AI addestrata in modo approfondito con ogni tipo di interazione umana e che da queste tragga ogni tipo di risposta reattiva dovrebbe essere meno meritevole della definizione di ‘viva’?

Ancora una volta, cos’è che esattamente vi preoccupa, a parte il titolo di questo post?

[strangefellows]

Heres one:If you were tasked with making a Mirror World where the Sinners were the Sefirot, who would be who?

OH I LOVE YOU FOR THIS ANON THANK YOU.

Okay so.

Malkuth -> Don Quixote: They both have similar flavors of reckless enthusiasm that drags themselves into trouble because they don't look before they leap, but they always mean well in their actions even if they don't consider consequences. Example is in Canto 4 when Don jumps to defend that kid in the immigration checkpoint and ends up getting herself and the party beat to fucking shit. I can see her ending up doing something similar to what Elijah did with the Cogito experiment, hoping to help but not thinking ahead. And they both have kinda vicious/scary streaks!

Yesod -> Meursault: As much as I want to say Gregor because I will die on the hill of Yesod+Gregor parallels re: body horror, Meursault fits more to me. Meursault, like Yesod, is a very stoic person who presents a front to the world of inscrutability; Yesod is the Viper, and Meursault can come off as incredibly stone-faced and unfeeling. But both of them -- Yesod explicitly, Meursault implicitly but we'll see in his Canto -- hide a much deeper and more complex, very emotional inner self behind those outward presentations. They're also both very intelligent.

Hod -> Sinclair: Here is easy, both of them are kind-hearted and a bit shy and awkward, and both of them carry a lot of guilt with them for actions they perceive as proving themselves to be 'not a good person' -- and in both cases, it involves accidentally or on purpose selling loved ones out to someone else, not realizing the extent of what their actions would cause. With Hod, it was Michelle reporting the lab not realizing the slaughter that would ensue, and with Sinclair it's giving Kromer the key not realizing she'd murder his entire family etc. Very much alike.

Netzach -> Yi Sang: Somewhat low hanging fruit, here, but it's more than just the 'sad wet cats' thing. Despite my insistent yelling about the Ayin/Yi Sang parallels, we could also point to Ayin/Netz parallels, as someone devoted to their leader, who was devastated when they were lost and everything began to fall apart, who lost will to live afterwards-- and then lead that into Yi Sang Netz, as someone who needed to be pushed and guided back onto wanting to see another day, who needed to be reminded of the worth in life. Also given we just got a Ring ID for Yi Sang and Netzach is an artist...

Tiphereth -> Heathcliff: Yeah, you heard me. Lisa!Tiph specifically, as Cathy would be Enoch!Tiph. You get it now? The angry, loud one who is SO frustrated with everyone, who yells and gets mad and quietly thinks she's not as good as her counterpart-- the counterpart that she loves very much, who she loses over and over again, who was always so far away from her but keeps getting further and further away with every passing loop...you get it? It fits extremely well, if you replace the 'siblings' aspect with HeathCathy in any sense of the relationship.

Chesed -> Hong Lu: This one's kinda self-explanatory! Chill rich boys that just kinda Vibe, but who are much more complex than they seem at first glance. Hong Lu has a tendency to be a little meaner than Chesed, and is a tiny bit more out of touch with others, but they have enough overlap that I can see this. The disillusionment Hong Lu would go through during the loops as Chesed might go in a very similar direction to our Chesed's, too.

Gebura -> Ishmael: YOU WOULD THINK HEATHCLIFF. But no. First, because see above, and second, because of Ishmael's blind obsession (ha) with revenge on Ahab and how it consumed her with violence that almost dragged her down to the depths-- it has a hell of a lot of similarity to how Gebura's own anger and rage over what happened to her and her inability to protect drove her to violence and destruction in her meltdown, and her rage against Binah/Garion for being the cause. They have a lot in common there. Also compare Gebura's devotion to Carmen and Ishmael's relationship to Queequeg.

Hokma -> Outis: HEAR ME OUT. Putting immediately aside the 'potential traitor' thing -- because I'm convinced that's a red herring -- we have a woman who is, at least on the surface, devotedly loyal to the manager. Though in her case it's pretty obviously a front, it's still present. And then, she has her broken pocket watch, a symbol of her devotion to a loved one left behind, a loved one dearly missed, one she wishes to return to one day. You see where I'm going with this? The 'token older member' also overlaps, but the watch and the faraway love that one is devoted to, has faith in seeing once again...

Binah -> Faust: Yeah, besides the fact that I think Faust is gonna be the traitor here-- Faust is very Angela-core, but also very Binah in her mysteriousness, the way she speaks very vaguely and in metaphors at times, and the way she seems to know everything even if she doesn't, really-- but even if she does or not, she sure won't tell. I can very much see her sipping tea down in Extraction. Not to mention Faust's deep ties to the game mechanics, Mephistopheles and her knowledge of the Boughs and the Mirror and Walpurgis, which fits with being in charge of Extraction, where the Well lies. It clicks together well.

....i hope you know I came up with half of these on the spot and am losing it because it all fits SO WELL. thank you for this ask holy shit.

[motownfiction]

1-6, 17, 18

1. favorite fic you wrote this year

ok. so, i hate that this is the answer because i'm pretty sure i've given it before, and it's relatively new. but i wasn't even happy until last month, so looking back at older pieces makes me sad. but. objectively, my favorite piece of the year is "a night for a knight." it's my favorite appearance of lucy this entire year because she's so lame in it. but! apart from that, i really like this piece, "friendship." i don't know if i'd call it a favorite, and i don't see it making the retrospective. but it pairs some unexpected characters in an interesting way.

2. least favorite fic you wrote this year

with how unhappy i was this year, it could be anything. one that immediately jumps to mind is "pink water." not because it's bad, but because i had such a terrible day when i wrote it. going back to this time in my archive was genuinely difficult for me.

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

you are sending me on quite the goose chase here, aren't you? again, i can't guarantee that this will be the favorite, but "it's OK. it's just bones" was memorable. that, and "do boys even have virginity?" which sounds like a joke line, but daniel is earnestly wondering if that's what he just lost, if he lost anything at all. he's my favorite character, but they all are. these are the ones that stick with me because people tend to reblog daniel pieces with quotes.

4. total number of words you wrote this year

i don't know, and i don't have the energy or means to count them all up in separate documents.

5. most popular fic this year

i'm not sure, but i think it's "fine china."

6. least popular fic this year

i think most of my pieces get zero notes. it's my lot in life. i do, however, think "the high priestess" deserved more than zero notes. sadie has a complicated relationship with maggie, too. it's not just sam.

17. fics you’ll continue next year

maggie and roy, will joining rocky sullivan's cogito ergo sum. again, i'm not putting these off because "oh, writers start projects and never finish them!" i'm putting them off because daily prompts take priority, and my research and teaching take priority over that, too. this blog is something i very much run on the side, and the fact that i'm able to do so much and still have a very successful career feels notable.

18. current number of wips

i guess two? but again, see above. i'm not being a chicken or a lazy bones. i know exactly what i want to write, and if i had all the time in the world, they'd be long done. i am literally working my ass off at other things that i get paid for, lol

[slimethought]

Is this a video about Breadtube? Is it a reaction video to Philosophy Tube / Abigail Thorn and her video about coming out as trans? Is it a reaction video to myself? Is there such a thing as objectivity? Is there hope for joy in the wake of postmodernism? Can YouTubers really fill the role of educators? If not, can I still join in the party of making fun of conservative nonsense from Ben Shapiro and PragerU? Please?

Watch to find out! Then tell us because we have no idea.

The Leftist Cooks are Neil Farrell and Sarah Oeffler

I’m on PATREON! Join the community ►►   / theleftistcooks   SUBSCRIBE why not! ►► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC358... One time payment in my tip jar? ►► https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/neilf...

↓↓↓Vegan Scones with Jam↓↓↓

500g (4 cups) of self raising flour 100g (1/2 cup) coconut oil 100g (1/2 cup) of sugar 200ml (7/8 cup) cashew milk Add 125gms (1 cup) dark chocolate

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 180°C (350°F)

Heat 250g (1 1/2 cups) frozen berries 100g sugar (1/2 cup) on a low setting on your hob

↓↓↓ CITATIONS↓↓↓

Rozenblit, L., & Keil, F. (2002). The misunderstood limits of folk science: An illusion of explanatory depth. Cognitive science, 26(5), 521-562.

Fernbach, P. M., Rogers, T., Fox, C. R., & Sloman, S. A. (2013). Political extremism is supported by an illusion of understanding. Psychological science, 24(6), 939-946.

Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of personality and social psychology, 77(6), 1121.

Drescher, J. (2015). Out of DSM: Depathologizing homosexuality. Behavioral sciences, 5(4), 565-575.

Lindholm, C. (1997). ‘The Swat Pukhtum family as a political training ground’, in R.J. Casstillo (ed.) The Meaning of Madness. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Heine, S. J., Kitayama, S., Lehman, D. R., Takata, T., Ide, E., Leung, C., & Matsumoto, H. (2001). Divergent consequences of success and failure in japan and north america: an investigation of self-improving motivations and malleable selves. Journal of personality and social psychology, 81(4), 599.

Park, S. W., Tignor, S. M., Joo, M. J., & Heo, Y. H. (2016). Accuracy and bias in self-perception of performance: Narcissism matters in Korea as well. Korean Social Science Journal, 43(2), 29-43.

↓↓↓ CREATIVE COMMONS RESOURCES↓↓↓

ESO/spaceengine.org/L.Calçada RoyaltyFreeTube

Link to Philosophy Tube / Abigail Thorne's little public statement:    • Coming Out As Trans - A Little Public...   (I'm aware that this isn't actually the coming out video but it was the one she gave express permission to play with and use for making art and spreading positive messages)

↓↓↓ LYRICS↓↓↓ (and highly recommend all of these YouTubers)

Tom Scott, Adam Neely, Lonerbox and Michael Stephens T1J, Folding Ideas, Nerdwriter, Kevin Lieber Legal Eagle, Lindsay Ellis, Jay Foreman, Rowan Ellis David Bennet Piano, Innuendo Studios Every Frame a Painting, Lessons from the Screenplay, Matt Gray, Patrick Willems, We’re in Hell, Khadija Mbowe PBS Eons, Veritasium, Hank Green Animalogic, Numberphile and… John Green It’s Okay to Be Smart, & Today I Found Out Langfocus, Tom Nicholas, Jake Roper (opted out) Thought Slime, Jessica Kellgren Fozzard, Jessie Gender and Cogito, Ordinary Things and Hbomber...man Big Joel, Little Joel, Medium-sized Joel Plenty of others -- (YaadPikni, Verilybitchie, Flavorlab, Paul Morrin, Renegade Cut, Zoe Bee...) but how was I supposed to know? Some of these people might be absolutely full of sh*t And it’s an English-speaking young white guy list Edutaintment isn’t bad Nobody’s a perfect Dad Some of them are really smart And some of them just make Art Some of them created a whole new art form Like Natalie Wynn and Abigail Thorn.

And check out our special guest Matthew Tallon here:   / tallonmatthew   He's the funniest person on the Internet.

Thanks to All My Patrons: Lacey Eberl Unoriginal Junglist Lou Grath Misfit Unicorn Melinda Hristo Kolev Finola Mohan