#I think the operant difference is believing I had a future when I don't believe that now

[chicago-geniza]

Trying to make writing a practice again and regain access to the consciousness I had when I wrote obsessively, to the exclusion of all else. What compelled me to write? The answer is of course suicidal ideation and finding my environment excruciating so if you're willing to do time theft, public school does prepare you to be a "working" "writer"

[syndrossi]

In your Reverberate AU, how long before Rhaegar figures out he's been reborn as a baby? Does he assume he died and was reincarnated into the future before realizing his father, Daemon, is in fact *the* DAEMON TARGARYEN and he's been reborn in the past instead? Is he amazed at first that he was LUCKY enough to be reborn as a twin after his last life of sad, lonely only-childness? When does he realize Jon likely remembers a past life too? And most importantly, when does he realize he has his entire family wrapped around his pinky finger????

Fun questions! Especially because they're very different between the twins.

I think both of them figure out the "reborn" part fairly quickly, because everyone is huge and blurry and they're being swaddled and fed warm milk constantly.

As for the future versus past, unlike Jon, Rhaegar catches on very fast, once his hearing is developed enough to pick up actual words. Anyone can be named Daemon, but a Daemon married to a Rhea Royce with a dragon named Caraxes is difficult to mistake for anything else! His greatest point of confusion is that Daemon never had twin sons? Much less an amicable relationship with Rhea?

Whereas Jon's depth of knowledge of the Dance is more surface level. He knows Daemon, of course, but wouldn't remember his first childless marriage, and I don't think Jon memorized all the dragon names. He was more fascinated by the Aemon the Dragonknight era. This makes things interesting, because if he has no reason to believe he's been reborn into the past, then Rhaegar is just a Targaryen name that his sibling could have been given. He probably assumes Dany passed it on through her eventual line. So he would have no idea that Rhaegar was actually that Rhaegar until they can have a conversation about it.

Which will be a tragicomedy because you'll have them simultaneously going "isn't it wild that we were reborn into the past/future!" only to stop short and be like WHAT at one another.

Both Jon and Rhaegar are very sharp individuals, especially when it comes to reading people, so I think they realize that their twin is also too "gifted" to be a normal baby/toddler. It also must make some sense that if they were reborn, their twin was as well. (Jon has no idea who his sibling might actually be, and again, I don't think it crosses his mind that their names were kept the same intentionally because it doesn't make any sense! It only happened because Rhaegar picked his own name and Daemon remembers that.)

Rhaegar is certainly over the moon about the circumstances, once he gets over the shock of it. His father is the Daemon Targaryen, and he doesn't hate his wife at all, and in fact loves them with all of his heart! Their parents don't seem to love one another, but they get along amicably and seem to operate as partners/allies. He has a brother who is similarly weirded out by everything but who is always there, he is never alone and doesn't feel the same need from before to be alone. Also, there are DRAGONS. They get to fly DRAGONS. Did he mention DRAGONS? And they have cousins! And there are even more dragons! And magic! Look at that pretty candle someone gifted them for their name day--

[moonyinpisces]

I am curious what you, a preeminent Aziraphale Understander, thinks about all the Final Fifteen theories i.e. the slew of theories that basically boil down to the F15 are not to be taken at face value, Aziraphale is either lying under threat or being manipulated by the Metatron via coffee or whatever, etc.

thank you for asking! it is a blessing and a curse to understand aziraphale but i will do my very best to put vibes into words. like everything he did in the final fifteen tracks to me, but i'll try to explain why in case people are still struggling with it. obligatory this is my opinion blah blah blah but if you disagree then make your own post so it's easier for me to ignore

anyway. here's the thing. i think textually it's pretty clear that aziraphale didn't have a choice. i think the show made that obvious with the "give me coffee OR give me death", the title sequence includes a coffee cup marching along with the other figures, this being a shared moment of materiality/consuming human food which was established as significant in "othering" angels/demons from their respective sides in the job minisode. the end result is meant to be a kinship to rationalize aziraphale agreeing with the metatron, as everything about the metatron in e6 was designed to 1. attract aziraphale 2. repel crowley

the repulsion worked on crowley, even just secondhand. he sees the manipulation and understands that aziraphale being used as distraction for the second coming is far more significant than what aziraphale believes he is capable of towards making any meaningful change in heaven. but i don't think the metatron's attraction worked on aziraphale. i don't think the end result we saw was aziraphale agreeing because the metatron was likable, and i think he's fully aware of the manipulation (even if he doesn't know about the second coming yet). just as, with the coffee cup, he is fully aware that he has no other choice. of course, this isn't a removal of autonomy to aziraphale; most of his character choices throughout the series are him working inside the idea that he he NEVER has a choice anyway (re: god's plan, ineffable or otherwise). and in this case, he knows just as well as crowley does that he was offered this position in heaven to be split up from crowley/earth for whatever reason; he just absolutely thinks that what he'll be able to achieve in heaven overrides however the metatron thinks he'll be able to be restrained/distracted. and in a much larger sense, he sees this as something he's meant to do via god

and aziraphale wants crowley to come with him. that's not fake or naive, and he doesn't think crowley will refuse bc their communication skills are quite literally the central conflict of the show. aziraphale is like, look how powerful we are together. look how much heaven wants to split us up. if you come with me to heaven, we are in a much better position of making meaningful change so we can have a peaceful existence together in the future, ON earth. which is what you clearly want. and i don't think this is a naive viewpoint to have like other people have said; i think this is confident. i think aziraphale is saying we can change the FOUNDATIONS of heaven, while crowley is saying the foundations CANNOT be changed. they are operating off two different modes of thought. and aziraphale uses crowley's perceived 'rejection' as fuel when he steps on that elevator, not out of anger towards crowley (at least not genuinely) but as desperate fodder to the fire that's been stoking 6000-so years of anger. in that moment (regarding the smile in the elevator), following the look to the bentley after he learns about the second coming and understands what crowley knew and was purposefully not saying, i just think that to aziraphale, crowley becomes another person to prove wrong

so ultimately did aziraphale have a choice? no. does he know this? yes. does he still make the decision to accept the supreme archangel position as if he had a choice? also yes. why? because he's insane (i say this with love). and also he has aligned himself with god more than he's ever aligned himself with heaven, and he's going to show everyone what he's capable of

[acey-wacey]

Yo! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ I read your twst future childrens series and I love it! I searched on your posts and it seems like you only have 2(?) posts about it. I hope it doesn’t trouble you to write the same prompt/HCs but with Rook, Idia, and Lilia?

Thank you! Oh, and have a great thanksgiving!

I think I have a new favorite series! besides enemies to lovers ofc ;)

...

🪞 Vil Schoenheit 🪞

It was a usual busy day in the Pomefiore dorm when two little children stumbled through what appeared to be a portal of some kind.

They were a young girl, about 9, with blonde hair in two neat plaits, and a boy, just a few years younger who hid behind her leg as they examined the new setting.

"Where are we, Eloise?"

"I don't know. Stay behind me, Ansel. It could be dangerous."

Eloise guarded Ansel with her arms fiercely as they were approached by a tall figure in a Pomefiore uniform.

"What have we here?"

Vil bent down to examine the children closely and was soon assaulted with hugs from both of them.

"Vater! We got lost but don't worry, I protected Ansel very good."

Eloise released Vil from the hug and nodded seriously, seemingly standing at attention. Ansel followed suit, copying his sister's every move.

"Who are you kids? You almost messed up my makeup."

"Sorry, Vater," they sheepishly said in unison.

"I don't know how you got in here, but I'm not you father. Sevens, I do not like children."

Vil pinched the bridge of his nose as he wracked his brain for someone he knew that was good with kids.

Of course you were his first choice since you already have a bratty baby cat and operate as the school mom.

He sent one of the dorm members to bring you to Pomefiore, since he couldn't afford to leave for even a moment.

You walked to the Pomefiore dorm, very confused as to why the dorm leader himself had summoned you.

Your curiosity was not satiated when you found two little kids playing on Vil's throne while he worked.

"Who are the kids?"

Vil looked up from the color palette he had been reviewing and glanced at the kids.

"There our children apparently."

"We don't have children, Vil."

"Mama!"

Ansel jumped off the throne to grab at your arms, asking you to pick him up.

"According to Eloise and Ansel, we get married in the future, have two lovely darlings..."

Vil smiled, gesturing to the children. He had become quite fond of them.

"...And then they get transported back the where we are now."

You blinked at him, your brows furrowing as you picked Ansel up.

"We get married?"

"Yes, liebe. Keep up."

You blanked out for a few minutes there before Vil snapped in front of your face, grounding you back to reality.

"It's not that hard to believe, is it? Despite our differences, I've grown fond of you. I wouldn't have been surprised if we became sweethearts."

It was, in fact, a little hard to believe but you ignored that in favor of playing with Eloise and Ansel while they were around.

Vil wasn't shy about reminding you that you'd see them again, though it was, in partial, to see your cute flustered expression.

...

🏹 Rook Hunt 🏹

It was the middle of the night when you were awoken by a clink noise.

You looked around until the clink sounded again, seemingly coming from your window.

You opened the window to find Rook and four children gathered around the first floor.

"What are you doing?"

"We have little ones, mon amour!"

"Who are the kids with you?"

"Did you not hear what I just said? Our babies, Y/N!"

You eventually just ran outside to assess the situation.

The children with Rook were a tall girl of a bout 10, a shorter girl with straight blonde hair, a blonde boy who looked to be a twin of the shorter girl, and a little boy that Rook bounced on his hip.

"This is Odette, Camille, Cedric, and Emmanuel," Rook introduced them and beamed.

Odette, the oldest, ran to you and hugged you around the middle.

"We got lost, maman, and then we were here and you and papa are so young now. What happened?"

You looked at Rook for clarification.

"They're our children for the future, amour! I always knew I wanted to name my oldest Odette but to have a family with you is quite a pleasant notion."

You tried to conceal your blush as Rook smirked at you and whacked his arm.

"Don't say things like that around the children."

Camille and Cedric fought quite a bit while you were all together but Odette seemed quite used to breaking them up.

They always apologized and forgot about in within an hour.

Emmanuel was rather quiet and liked being held more than anything.

It was sad when you had to send them back but Rook wasted no time bringing up their conception which you didn't appreciate at all.

...

🎮 Idia Shroud 🎮

Ortho actually found them first.

While testing out his new flying mechanism, he spotted two children, a boy and a girl, who seemed very lost in the middle of the NRC campus.

"Hello! Are you lost?"

The boy, who looked about 8, perked up and ran at Ortho, swallowing him in a hug.

"Ortho! Where's mom and dad? We can find them anymore."

Ortho scanned the children to see who they were, but they didn't appear on any downloaded database.

"Who are you kids? I can't scan you."

"Silly unca. You don't need to scan us! It's just me and Erin!"

Ortho was so confused at the kids pack of records that he just picked them up and flew them back to the Ignihyde dorm with them laughing and cheering the whole way.

Upon being showed the children, Idia immediately recognized the blue flamey hair that didn't exist outside his family.

"Are you two like distant cousins or something?"

"Of course not, dad! It's just us! Why does nobody recognize us?" the boy put his hands on his hips and pouted.

"Sorry, I'm not your dad."

"No, you're our dad," the quiet younger girl finally spoke up with a soft embarrassed pink glow on her hair. "Dad is Idia and mama is Y/N."

Idia blue screened upon hearing your name.

He was completely frozen for so long that Ortho had to go get you from your dorm.

When you got there, you puzzles together that the children, named Matthias and Erin, were the future children of Idia and yourself that had somehow been transported to your time.

It took a good slap to the face to get Idia to come back to real life.

"Welcome back. These are our children."

"We don't have children, Y/N! I think I would remember if we ever... If we had... We don't have children!"

Matthias was much more outspoken and curious while Erin seemed to take after her father in bashfulness and dislike of socializing.

You quickly figured out that both were very clever and could use whatever tactics to get out of things they didn't like, eating vegetables, for example.

You'd seen the same stubbornness in Idia and it made you smile though you were sure it must give future you a headache.

It was sad to see them go but out of respect for Idia's heart, you chose not to mention them for a good while.

[tumblhurgoyf]

Can you explain for my friend why wotc actions after the leak are bad?

This is gonna be a bit lengthy but first I want to establish a timeline. Note the only real info we have is from the Youtuber in question, so it's not unreasonable that some of this is wrong, either intentionally or just because this guy likewise doesn't know all of what happened.

A Youtuber with about 5000 subscribers, oldschoolmtg, ordered booster boxes of March of the Machine.

2. The person he ordered them from mistakenly gave him boxes of March of the Machine: Aftermath.

3. oldschoolmtg cracked the Aftermath packs and posted videos of that online. It does sound like he was aware of difference between MOM and MOM Aftermath before he posted the videos. He said he doesn't believe the person who sold them was aware as that person isn't really into Magic (I personally know a store like this--the owner is really into Warhammer but does Magic stuff too because it pays bills).

4. Wizards says they tried to contact him but couldn't reach him. As far as I know we have no context for how they tried to contact him, how many attempts they made, or how long they waited before hiring the Pinkertons to shake him down.

5. I believe Sunday April 25 in the morning the Pinkertons showed up at this guy's house to recover "stolen" product. They threatened jail time and the Youtuber refers to them as "law men" in his video so I'm not sure if he misunderstands their role or if they misrepresented themselves.

6. After getting the cards, the Pinkerton agents provided a phone number to a person at Wizards for oldschoolmtg to call. He said this person was apologetic and cordial and said they don't believe anything was stolen but they needed the product so they could figure out how this happened to prevent it in the future. oldschoolmtg also says they said they'd send him some product to compensate for the cards the Pinkertons just took from him.

7. oldschoolmtg removed the Youtube videos of him opening the Aftermath packs. They also asked him to ask everyone else to take those vids down, claiming some sort of copyright infringement.

That's all the info I'm aware of, mostly just straight from the person who experienced this.

So why is this wrong?

First, MOM Aftermath is an embargoed product. Which means Wizards ships it out to retailers (be they big box store or LGS or online space or whatever) under a contract that they won't sell it before a certain date and time. oldschoolmtg believes the person he purchased from simply mixed up the two sets because of the similar names. He says he purchased the product and according to his recollection of the phone call, the rep at Wizards likewise didn't think he had stolen it.

That's important because the embargo agreement is between retailers and Wizards. oldschoolmtg had no contractual obligation with regard to the embargoed product. It leads me to believe the Pinkertons were involved because they'd willingly insinuate the product was stolen and oldschoolmtg had committed a crime when in actuality there was no grounds to take any legal action against the man. There was no grounds to get a warrant to search for the product. He had committed no crime. He bought Magic cards from a guy who sells Magic cards. The only actual recourse Wizards would have had if the cards weren't stolen was to pursue the guy who sold them for breaking the embargo.

The only theft that actually occurred was when the Pinkertons raided this guy's home to take cards he purchased.

That's my take given what info we know. The Youtube videos aren't actually relevant in a meaningful way--that's just how Wizards found out.

But it's actually even worse. It would have been shitty to seek out a warrant or just sic lawyers on him. Of course I don't think they had grounds for it, so instead they went extrajudicial instead. That is they took a course of action that didn't involve courts.

For those who don't know, the Pinkertons started in 1850 and operated largely as violent strikebreakers. They're still helping break strikes today. They've been hired by Amazon and Starbucks within the last three years to spy on unionization efforts. Their history is bloody and murderous. No exaggeration. Their response to workers striking and unionizing in the past has been to beat them and shoot them.

I think you can put two and two together here. What does it say for a billion dollar multinational company to send these violent thugs to the private home of a small a guy operating a small Youtube channel?

It's a threat to this guy and anybody else; if you leak our cards we will find where you live and we will come after you. Specific use of the Pinkertons is part of this intentional message. There are other security firms without the history and notoriety. And while any such action would be just as disturbing, I doubt using almost any other agency would have had quite the effect as hiring Pinkertons.

tl;dr Based on what we know it's unlikely this guy did anything actually wrong or unlawful and Wizards sent agents from a firm with a violent and notorious history to his home in an act of intimidation

[soaps-mohawk]

Okay so I know I sent you an ask literally yesterday but the latest chapter has me thinking about CRCB non-stop (send help) and my brain has made up the wildest theory that I need to share with you:

So I think it's kinda odd how focused the people behind the omega initiative are on omega specifically, and not the pack as a whole. We've been told that the goal of the initiative is to see how well a military pack operates when there's an omega involved, compared to one without. But if that's the case, why isn't there more focus on the guys? Like why weren't there any cameras in their rooms? Why didn't they watch them and their training more closely or had them do some tests to see if they are more successful now that they have 'mega? But no, they only seem interested in omega (putting cameras in her room, wanting the notes of Dr Keller and a report from Price).

Right now it seems to me that they don't necessarily want to find out how the guys are affected by omega, but how 'mega is affected by being in a military pack. And that had me wondering why they would want to know that. Maybe they want to see if omegas can be useful assets in the military after all? I think you mentioned somewhere in the beginning that omegas aren't suitable for the military because of their submissive nature, but what if they could be?

So my theory is that the goal of this experiment is to see if omegas can be part of the military (under certain circumstances). Maybe not as normal soldiers, but maybe they can be trained to be some sort of undercover agents/spies? Omegas typically aren't perceived as threatening, so nobody would expect an omega of all people to be a spy. They have the perfect cover.

That would also explain why they specifically targeted 'mega with the cameras. Besides being used as surveillance, they also could have been a test for her. Would she be able to tell they put up cameras? If she did, would she find all of them? How does she react to them? And most importantly, would she be willing to lie to her pack about it? Would she even be able to lie to them, or would they know that something was up?

And then there's the fact that they are now again separating her from her pack. They could be trying to see how well she reacts in these stressful situations, if she distresses or if she is able to handle herself on her own. After all, if she were a spy, she would operate alone quite often.

All in all, I think the people behind the initiative are way too focused on 'mega for there to not be specific plans for her and maybe those plans involve her working as a spy for the military (and other omegas in the future as well).

...okay now that I've typed all of this out, I realize this may be a little far-fetched and it sounds kinda insane but hey, it's just a little fun speculation :D

I also don't think that's actually what's going to happen, mostly because I believe most higher-ups in the military are really traditionalist alpha assholes who don't believe omegas are capable of such things. Personally I think if omega wanted to, she would be a very badass spy and kick everybody's ass.

Anyway, sorry for rambling so much (I just now realized how long this is lol) and I hope you have a wonderful day ❤️

Hey, it's a good theory!!! Shows you've been paying attention 👀

I love hearing everyone's theories 😊 it's so interesting to me how everyone interprets everything, the different things readers notice. Don't apologize for sharing your theory and rambling!!! I love it!!! Send an ask every day I don't mind 😊💚

[codenamesazanka]

The story reads very differently when you take off those villain stan googles, so much that Shigaraki dying feels kind of obvious in hindsight. There's at least more of a set-up for an ending where he dies than for one where he gets rehabilited. Deku never taking a stance of the killing issue and only ever saying that he wants to 'stop' Shigaraki/'save the little boy' should have been a red flag. It's not even subtle. Manga follows a very b/w morality too, always has. I feel dumb now lol

That is indeed one interpretation! That Shigaraki was always fated to die, that Deku's 'save' was going to just be 'saving the heart' so Shigaraki can at least be killed in peace.

But specific to this manga - isn't this story about Heroes being heroes? About saving people? About making a bright future? About touching hearts and taking that first step and going PLUS ULTRA? Doing more than just 'rewarding good and punishing evil'?

It's not even about b/w morality, I don't think. As far as we know, none of the people committing heteromorphic hate crimes are going to be punished. Neither does it seem like the fact that HSPC had a black ops operation going on using trained child soldiers is going to be fully exposed and dealt with and the people involved (who haven't been killed) punished (like such a thing goes all the way up to the top; and has deep roots; if there's any real justice, a whole governmental department should be put on trial). Overhaul and Muscular and Ujiko and nearly all the other less sympathetic villains are alive, so clearly 'horrific crime = mandatory death' is not a thing.

And there were lots of Japanese villain fans who wanted the League to all die not because they're criminals and should be punished, but as a way to escape jail and consequences. To go out with a bang. To never renounce their friendship and ideals because they weren't necessarily wrong, but the world they live in simply can't handle them, or because unfortunately the needs of the many outweighs the desires of the few. Plus, as @stillness-in-green points out:

Firstly, and to get this out of the way, that is a false binary that totally ignores the long history of Shounen Jump villains getting absurd Karma Houdini endings where they walk off into the sunset free as birds because they’ve changed their minds and resolved to be better, or at least have decided mass murder is no longer worth their time and effort.  (Vegeta wasn’t the first mass murderer a Shounen Jump story rewarded with freedom and friendship, nor was he the last.)

And like, Shigaraki dying didn't have to be so badly done. You can write a incredibly good and satisfying character death. This wasn't it. imo.

You had high expectations for the manga. You're right to want something that's hopeful and engaging. If it does turn out that's not what the manga was going for, then it is what it is, but it doesn't mean you were dumb. Sorry, I know I'm relentless in criticizing Deku and saying that his 'save' sucked from the start, but I still fully believed it was just Shonen Punch Therapy. So did a lot of other people. So please don't feel dumb!

[mine-fujiko]

Lupin III and Jigen Daisuke were childhood friends!?

Original article was translated from Japanese.

---------------------------------------

Jigen Daisuke is Lupin the Third's partner. He participates in most operations and often works with Lupin, right? How did the two of them meet in the original manga?

Jigen's roles are listed in the order in which they were published in the original work in the magazine "Manga Action" (Futabasha).

“To catch a killer” (October 12, 1967 issue) "Detective Jigen" role

“Hail to the King” (October 26, 1967 issue) Lupin's childhood friend

"Damned if you do" (November 2, 1967 issue) Lupin's partner

“The hand is quicker than the spy” (November 9, 1967 issue) Lupin's partner

According to Monkey Punch, the role is different for each episode. “At that time, it had just been serialized and I was drawing it in Gamushara. I thought it would be a one-episode series, so other than the main character, Lupin III, the roles changed every episode.”   The role in which Jigen first appears in the Lupin the Third manga is as “Detective Jigen'' (chapter "To catch a killer") However, this "Lupin Killer" or “Detective Jigen” is actually Lupin the Third in disguise!! In this episode, Lupin the Third disguises himself as a "detective Jigen” and defeats the fake Lupin.   I don't know if Jigen actually existed as a detective at this time, but I don't think Lupin III would disguise himself as a non-existent person to carry a plan (also to deceive his opponent). It is believed that Jigen Daisuke was a detective at this time.   Jigen Daisuke and Lupin the Third were childhood friends! ? The real Jigen Daisuke appears in “Hail to the King" (October 26, 1967 issue) ! It is here that Jigen is revealed to be Lupin the Third's childhood friend. Mr. Monkey Punch seems to have said at the time that it was a one-story series and that he wasn't conscious of the connections between the episodes, but when he forced himself to think about the connections, in “To catch a killer’’ (October 12, 1967 issue) , the real Lupin the Third disguised himself as his childhood friend Jigen Daisuke and carried out the operation in order to defeat his opponent, an impostor from the Rat Clan.   After that, Jigen Daisuke will be portrayed as Lupin the Third's partner. By placing Jigen in a position where they knew each other as childhood friends, he probably decided to keep him as his partner. Originally, Monkey Punch also felt that Lupin III needed a partner. “Most of the time, I can say that I drew things with great momentum, so back then I would have never imagined that Jigen Daisuke would play an important role and become a character loved by fans, up until the current hugely popular Lupin the Third!”   You can also try reading it. Hikari TV Book.

---------------------------------

I hope the translation is ok. It's a confirmation that the Jigen who tries to kill Lupin in chapter "To catch a killer" isn't in fact the real Jigen but Lupin disguised as Jigen and the Lupin who dies in the end is fake Lupin. It's the only way that chapter makes sense.

In future chapters we meet other fake Jigens, like the one who gets killed in “Remember to forget” (reprised in ep 6 part 1) or the fake Jigen in the chapter with the "Death virus" or again the one who causes troubles and ultimately tries to infiltrate the gang in the Bulletproof Rose chapter.

[sapphire-weapon]

A little outsider's rant to the EagleOne fandom... particularly you younger fans.

Y'all are really getting upset about your ship because Leon and Ashley possibly never being shown together again? After all that wonderful material you got in re4 remake? Guys, most ship survive on crumbs... and y'all had a pretty decent meal there!

Like!! At least she's fucking alive! Look at how strong Serrenedy is... and Luis is fucking dead! Doesn't stop them from writing a ton of fix it fics and AUs and what if scenarios.

You guys aren't Aeon! You don't need the fucking "kiss make canon and valid" mentality. YOUR SHIP IS FUCKING VALID AND GOOD!

"But... I wanna see them together..."

WRITE THE FIC THEN! DRAW THE FANART! MAKE THE EDITS!

"Oh, but I'm not very creative."

SHUT UP AND DO IT ANYWAY!

Flood the world with it! Show everyone what the ship means to you! You'll get better at it the more you practice!

And you know what? Maybe Leon and Ashley don't ever see each other again in canon... but maybe some of you get real good at writing and maybe someday, more original stories starring characters with their archetypes start showing up... and being together. All because y'all knew a good thing when you saw it.

So don't roll over and die so damn soon. Yes it fucking sucks possibly not seeing Ashley in the games again.

So keep her alive and present outside of them.

you know @godtier and i were actually talking about this earlier today, and it's this whole thing that's like

kind of like what leon is going through in my fic, where he thinks that it's worse to have had it and lost it, because he now knows how good it was for him and how good it made him feel and that he can't have it anymore -- so now, he wishes he'd never had it at all, because then he wouldn't have to mourn it.

like, serennedy fandom operates under no illusions. they know exactly how that connection started, progressed, and ended. same thing with metaltango fandom. and, being slash ships, they never expect to become canon anyway, because that's unfortunately not the world that we currently live in.

and then you have something like jilleon fandom, who never anticipates their ship becoming canon, so there's no reason for them to get super invested in how the canon portrays them, because the heart of that fandom has always been fanfiction to begin with.

but with eagleone fandom, it's like...

people feel like something is being taken away from them. especially the eagleone people who came into RE through RE4make. because they did have it. for that one game, they had this ship that meant so much to them and was clearly written to be taken as romantic...

... and then to learn, no actually, you don't get to have that?

that sucks. it feels like a breakup.

like, there's a big difference between old guard like me, who looks at it as: "holy fuck i can't believe we actually got this, are you kidding me????" because i understand just how shocking and unexpected it is, considering how the rest of the series goes -- and new fans who are going "wait, what do you mean she gets written out of the series?"

i went into RE4make already knowing that leon's character progresses into the future without ashley. and so i'm just delighted that they got to have what they had for the time that they had it.

new fans are coming in and seeing a canon romance and not understanding why someone would say that it won't be followed through with, because that runs antithetical to their personal experiences with the game.

and that's why i don't fucking feud with aeon fandom, man. i mean, other than the fact that i'm a 34 year old adult who has better things to do with my time than argue with teenagers about fictional relationships.

they're dicks, but i feel bad for them, because they're going through a breakup, too. and theirs is way harder than eagleone's is because the relationship lasted a lot longer. they've had this for so long, but now it's like "fuck you, pack your shit, we're over."

now, with that all being said

there's no excuse for either side of this to be fucking toxic the way that they've been, either. i get that you're disappointed and you need some time to mourn and it feels even shittier to have someone from the other team go "YOU NEVER ACTUALLY HAD THAT THING YOU'RE MOURNING IN THE FIRST PLACE" but like

basically just this

[dearfuturehusbandblog]

ZMAN CHEIRUSEINU aka "I'M the terrible communicator!?!?!?!!"

Dear Future Husband,

I hope nobody ever quizzes me on this blog because there are so many things that I've started and stopped writing that never got posted that I literally never remember what I've actually put here...

Not that that's really fully relevant to what I was thinking about writing now, but I currently have two unfinished posts in my drafts folder (amidst 25 others that will probably never get posted) that are just a recap of this year so far.

Because I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare.

Explaining what's going on right now is kind of problematic because I haven't provided the lengthy backstory yet (which is one of the drafts I have yet to finish...)

Suffice to say, MotherLivelyHeart is being a nightmare to me again.

I think I've shared before that MLH and I share a vehicle? If not... yeah, we share a car. I'll have to look through my posts to see if I've explained that situation before, because that's one more thing to check off the "my life absolutely f*ing sucks" list.

Usually this isn't the worst thing in the world because we operate on different schedules and there isn't much crossover when it comes to who needs the car when, and when there is I usually drop her off somewhere, do what I need to do, and pick her up after.

For the record, I HATE when she offers the opposite because I have a history of being abandoned in places waiting for her to pick me up and it gives me such severe anxiety.

So last week on Sunday I asked MLH what her plans were for the next day. I asked this because I overheard a phone call she received on Friday from the dentist's office about an appointment she had on Monday at noon that she hadn't told me anything about and I knew if I was going to ever find out she was going to take the car, I would have to be the one to ask her. So I asked. And wouldn't you believe it, she had a dentist appointment on Monday at noon! Shocker.

Now, I'd been out of work since the beginning of January (again, details will hopefully be in another post) so I had a lot to take care of at work last Monday and I told her that.

We agreed she would have the car for her appointment and I would take the car to work when she got home.

Come Monday afternoon, suddenly everything has changed.

You see, her boss called in sick and she had the day off because she has a specific job that requires her to work alongside her boss and if he doesn't work, she doesn't work.

So she had the day off. Joy.

Of course, did she tell this to me directly? No.

Did she message me this information? No.

I'm just supposed to approach her and ask, "hey, did your boss call in sick and give you the day off?" I guess.

So she went to her appointment and ran some errands and called me while she was still out. Apparently some specific water bottles she can only get in like two places were available at one store about 20 minutes away from our house and she placed a pickup order so she could get them before they were sold out. The order had to be picked up between like 2:30-3:30pm and she called me at around 1:30.

Great.

She picked a pickup time that was directly during the time I was supposed to be at work.

Which she knew.

Because I told her this literally the day before.

So I told her fine. She should do the pickup order and when she got back I would take the car to work.

"Well, I also wanted to go swimming."

*Deep breath* Ok, what time is swimming?

"From 2-9pm."

At this point I didn't know how long I'd be at work because one of the things I had to take care of could be like 4-6 hours and I didn't know if there would be enough time when I was done to get home and let her get to the pool with enough time to swim before they closed.

"Ok, well why don't you go swimming, do the pickup order, and then I'll take the car to work?"

"Well, I want to come home and eat something first."

Ok. So now, what was supposed to be my time to take the car is going to be "stolen" by her coming home (15 minutes), eating something (15 minutes), going to swim (40 minutes), getting the pickup order (30 minutes), and coming back home (20 minutes).

This is TWO HOURS off of my time.

WHICH I HAD TOLD HER I NEEDED LITERALLY THE DAY BEFORE.

So she came home, ate something, and changed into her bathing suit. She left around 2pm for the pool.

I assumed at this point I'd hear from her around 3:30pm that she was around the corner.

But 3:30 came and went.

4:00pm came and went.

4:30pm came and went.

5:00pm came and BigSis messaged that she would be done at work in an hour and could either of us give her a ride home?

MOTHERF@*$%^#$ER

So it's been three hours without an update from MLH, but then she responds "I should be on my way back from the pickup order then."

EXCUSE ME!?!?!?!

She left for the pool at 2pm. THREE HOURS have gone by and she hasn't even gotten the pickup order that was supposed to be picked up between 2:30-3:30pm!?!?!?!!?!?

But she tells me that I'M a terrible communicator.

I was supposed to get the car by 1:30pm latest. It was now after 5pm and I STILL hadn't gotten to work yet.

As much as I hate when she offers to drop me off at work so she can take care of things that will take a few hours, SHE DIDN'T EVEN ASK ME THAT. She made it seem like I would have the car all afternoon to take care of what I needed to at work. And when her plans shifted, she made it seem like I'd have the car by 3:30pm latest.

And let me remind you THAT I TOLD HER THE DAY BEFORE WHAT MY SCHEDULE WAS SO THAT THIS S*** WOULDN'T HAPPEN.

But I'M the terrible communicator.

At that point I was so frickin annoyed already. MLH messaged me "should I get her or just come home" and I was so peeved I said "just get her because if you come home and I take the car I'm not picking her up."

She didn't respond to that message.

Great.

No thumbs up. No "ok." Just nothing.

Then at 6:12pm I get a message from her "car's downstairs in front."

So no message from BigSis that MLH had picked her up and they were heading home. No "we're around the corner." No nothing except over an hour later "take it."

BUT I'M THE TERRIBLE COMMUNICATOR!?

At that point it was too late for me to do some of the things I needed to take care of for work because, again, I was supposed to have been there FIVE HOURS EARLIER. And a friend messaged and asked if I could go with her to Costco, so I said to hell with it and I went to Costco with her.

While I was at Costco I messaged both MotherLivelyHeart and BigSis about what I was getting so we were all on the same page. Included in that message was eggs because, well, I was getting eggs.

I got home at like 10pm and MotherLivelyHeart and BigSis were already asleep. I made a couple of mini salami kugels with some spinach that oddly floated to the top, waited for them to cool, tried 1/4 of one before sticking them in the fridge.

Next morning I open the fridge and there's a new carton of 1.5 dozen eggs. Because apparently MLH went to the supermarket early in the morning and got eggs because "we were out."

DESPITE ME LITERALLY MESSAGING THE NIGHT BEFORE THAT I WAS BUYING EGGS AT COSTCO.

Oh, but it gets better. Because the salami kugel I had tasted the night before was missing.

BigSis was working from home so I asked her about it and she said she had no clue.

So I asked MotherLivelyHeart about it, thinking maybe it slipped out of the fridge, smashed, and she threw it out.

But no.

Guess who ate it.

Yep, the woman who has been suffering from gout and avoiding meat for the better part of a year.

The woman who saw it in the fridge and said to herself "oh, that's one of the broccoli kugels LivelyHeart made for herself for Shabbos that she said wasn't good. I guess I'll eat that for breakfast without asking her if she really doesn't want it because although she's on a weird diet right now, there's no way she's made a meal plan for herself that includes this food item she made for herself."

Because, did she message me to ask if she could have it?

Nope.

Did she knock on my door to ask if she could have it?

Nope.

Halfway through eating it she realized it was salami.

And she still finished the whole thing.

And still at NO POINT did she message me AT ALL to even tell me that she ate it.

I had to find out by inquiring OF HER.

BUT. I'M. THE. TERRIBLE. COMMUNICATOR!?!?!?!

I shouldn't be mad.

It's just food, after all, right?

Except that it's not.

It's a frickin pattern of carelessness and disregard for me as a person.

And I'm so frickin sick of it.

I'm so damn tired.

It wouldn't have killed her to ask.

It wouldn't have killed her to apologize.

And what I haven't really explained here (because again, that's in a draft post) is that I've been on an elimination diet since January 1st which has cut most things from my available food selections.

But is she on an elimination diet?

Nope.

So we have a HOUSEFUL, a PANTRYFUL, and a FRIDGEFUL of food she can eat.

And she chooses the ONE thing I made FOR ME.

Which she KNEW I made for ME.

Instead of the MYRIAD OF THINGS that she can eat that I can't.

Which means that she's not only taken a meal from me, but now I'm at a food deficit from the fridge while she lives in abundance.

BUT. I'M. THE. TERRIBLE. COMMUNICATOR.

So let's leap forward to today.

Today was Shabbos mevorchim. Pesach is in two weeks.

And MotherLivelyHeart decided we are going to change over the kitchen two weeks ahead this year.

So she scheduled her cleaning lady to come tomorrow (Sunday) to help clean the kitchen so it can be turned over.

Did she take into account that this would be motzei Shabbos and that we'd have to make Shabbos and that would involve dirty dishes and use of the stove/oven and pots and pans?

Yeah, no.

Did she take into account that the way she wants to clean the oven requires the oven to be self-cleaned before and after which takes a good several hours and creates so much smoke that we'd have to keep the windows open and also it's like 40F right now and she also wanted to go to sleep early because the cleaning lady is coming at like 8am?

Yeah, no.

BigSis went over the oven cleaning thing with her and she exclaimed "are you kidding me?! Then why am I having the cleaning lady come tomorrow?!"

BECAUSE YOU SCHEDULED HER WITHOUT CONSULTING US.

BECAUSE THERE WAS NO COMMUNICATION.

DO YOU SEE A FRICKIN THEME HERE!?!?!!?

Oh, but there's more. Because there's always more.

Thursday was another nightmare day for various reasons. One of which was that I ran errands with MotherLivelyHeart.

She scheduled an appointment for smackdab in the middle of the time I told her I'd be working.

YES. AGAIN.

And she wanted to drop me off at work and pick me up when I was done.

Well absofrickinlutelynot, thankyouverymuch.

I was supposed to work until 6pm.

I had told customers I would be available until 6pm.

Her appointment was scheduled for 6pm.

So of course "I need the car at 5:30pm."

She wanted to drive me to work earlier so that she could take the car at 5:30pm to her appointment that wouldn't be done until 7pm and then come get me an hour and a half after I was done working.

But I was supposed to trust that she wouldn't run errands or dilly dally around and that she'd actually get me at 7:30pm, which we know is never the case.

So I told her no, I'd be taking the car to work. But I would notify the customers I'd only be there until 5:30pm, at which point I'd get her and drive her to her appointment. Then while she was in her appointment I could do the Shabbos shopping, since it seemed pointless to have to wait for her to come home again before I could go out and shop.

For various reasons, we had three stores we needed to go to, one of which was about 20 minutes in the opposite direction of where her appointment was. I figured I could go there first, then on my way back to get her I could run by the other two stores, get her and then we'd go straight home.

But no.

Because it was raining and people apparently don't know how to drive in the rain. So despite me taking the highway, which should have cut like 10 minutes out of the ride each way, it took me about 30 minutes to get to that first store, which I was in for maybe 10 minutes, and as I was checking out MLH messaged "my appointment is almost over, where are you at?"

So all I had time for was turning around and going straight to get her.

Which, fine, whatever.

One of the stores we went to literally just for chicken.

And it was chicken for her because she wanted a specific type of breaded chicken for Shabbos.

So I figured I'd run into the store and grab it while she stayed in the car.

But no.

Because while I was unbuckling, she was unbuckling. Because she decided to come in.

So she went to look at side salads and I went to the chicken section where I waited but she never showed up.

Then I get a message from her.

"Where are you?"

Excuse me???? WHERE ARE YOU, WOMAN???

I told her I was at the chicken section waiting for her and she said "I already checked out. I'm going back to the car."

WE LITERALLY WENT TO THIS STORE TO BUY HER CHICKEN.

SHE CAME IN WITH ME.

PRESUMABLY TO BUY HER CHICKEN.

But she's checked out already!? WITH WHAT!?

Oh. Apparently something to eat. Because she's hangry.

Which she, OF COURSE, DID NOT TELL ME.

Fine. Whatever.

So I bought her frickin chicken.

And then on the way home she got mad at me about three driving-related things that were out of my control (like the car started making a weird noise that might be the muffler, and there was a huge pothole I couldn't avoid, and I was coming to a stop at an intersection when some lady rounded the corner quickly and we barely missed colliding...) which resulted in her yelling at me that she hates the way I'm driving.

So, yeah, that was a fun ride home.

*EYEROLL*

Anyway, on the way to her appointment she said "we never worked out a Shabbos menu."

I told her the same thing I've told her almost every week over the last three months: I'm eating differently from you guys, so you just tell me what you want and I'll grab it from the store, because I already have set aside what I'm going to eat.

And she tells me "my boss has off tomorrow, so I can cook."

Which is perfectly fine in my eyes because I'm still recovering from an injury (again, that's one of the drafted posts...) and I also had a horrendous cold for the previous two weeks so I'm still trying to get back to baseline. Any pressure off me is appreciated.

We basically worked out that for shabbos we'd do a big soup for Friday night (which I would make), then she wanted chicken (obvs) and I had bought green beans at Costco I told her she could have, and then Shabbos lunch would be fish and salady stuff.

Well, Friday rolls around.

The day already sucked because I tried adding some vegetables back into my diet during the week that are apparently problematic for my digestion. Fun.

But then MotherLivelyHeart decides to stick to her arbitrary Pesach cleaning schedule which says to clean the milchig dishes she's had piling up all week. So of course she decides to do this at like noon and doesn't finish the job and there are still milchig dishes in the sink at 3pm when I need to go in and make the soup.

Add onto that, one of my "chores" is the pareve dishes, some of which have been piling up too and also need to be done, which she feels the need to remind me of, despite her milchig dishes still filling the sink.

So I go in around 3pm and just start cooking, using the small bit of counter space that's available to me.

She decides that's the perfect time to finish the milchig dishes.

FINE. WHATEVER.

She gets them out of the way and reminds me YET AGAIN about the pareve dishes.

FINEWHATEVER.

So around 4pm I'm back in the kitchen, doing the pareve dishes, of which I only got about half done because it was causing pain and I still had to cook.

So I pivoted and did the soup.

But nothing else had been cooked yet.

So I made the green beans.

And I had to separate the soups so I could add things to theirs that I can't eat.

At this point I'm still annoyed from her the day before, my insides are so unhappy with the newly tested foods, I'm in pain from the injury, and I'm trying to cook for Shabbos.

Around 6pm I asked BigSis if she could help with the chicken. She was like "I STILL HAVE TO SHOWER!!!" As though she didn't have all day for that and somehow me needing help is my fault. She said "if you had asked me like three hours ago I could have done it."

Except that three hours ago, the milchig dishes were still filling up the sink, so.... what exactly do you expect from me!?

Sometime a little earlier when MotherLivelyHeart had been in the kitchen it was clear I wasn't doing so well and she asked what was wrong and I described the pain and she was like "I'm sorry" and then disappeared.

So then she gets a "20 minutes to candle lighting" alarm on her phone, and she's been trying to light early in zchus of the hostages and chayalim, so she calls out "20 minutes to licht benchen." Which I responded to but she didn't hear, obviously, because she yelled again "LivelyHeart, did you hear me!?"

To which I responded an annoyed "YES!!" and she was like "you don't have to talk to me that way! I clearly didn't hear you. And BigSis and I can make Shabbos on our own, you know."

Which, MYGODWOMAN. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO.

My responsibility based on our conversation was the soup.

ZE HU.

SHE was supposed to do the chicken and the green beans and whatever else they wanted.

So now she's annoyed at me because I'm annoyed at her for not doing the thing she was supposed to do, but I'M the one in the wrong.

FINE. Whatever.

In the end I didn't do the chicken.

I literally didn't have the strength for it, let alone the energy.

Not that it was really missed at the meal, but she was a bit annoyed and gave me that same "BigSis and I can cook for Shabbos on our own, you know." To which I responded "You said you were going to cook." I literally don't even remember what her response was.

Well, fast forward through Shabbos to tonight because I asked her if she wanted the chicken for melava malka or if we should stick it in the freezer for a week since it's KFP.

She wanted it for melava malka.

Which, fine, whatever.

I told her if she could bread it, I would cook it.

She got gloves, she got bowls, she got the chicken, and she got eggs.

She did not get the other ingredients she needed for the breading. Or a plate to put it on. Or a fork.

She sat down at the table and then asked me to get the other ingredients.

Which, fine. Whatever.

I got an interesting piece of mail that I'll discuss in another post when I know more what's going on with it, but it basically called my attention to research something. So I was on my computer off to the side while she was breading the chicken.

The next thing I know, she's frying the chicken.

I went into the kitchen and asked her why she was frying it when I told her I would do it for her since cooking usually exhausts her, and she got all frustrated and exasperated at me and said something like "I DON'T HAVE ALL NIGHT TO WAIT FOR YOU."

And I was like, "what are you talking about!? I was waiting for you to finish breading it! you didn't tell me you were done!"

Which just pissed her off more.

BECAUSE. I'M. THE. TERRIBLE. COMMUNICATOR.

But this is the time of year we celebrate freedom, right?

This is the time of year we thank Hashem for rescuing us from a horrible situation.

Well, where's mine?

We're supposed to celebrate every year as though WE ALL left Mitzrayim.

As though we were ALL saved.

But I am not saved.

I have never been saved.

The stupidity I've just described above is just a piece of the insane patterning of my entire life.

I have no escape from this nonsense.

And I'm just so done with all of it.

I want it all to be over.

I want it all to go away.

Where's my freedom?

Where's my salvation?

I really have to finish those other two drafts, because this isn't even the clearest picture of what I've been dealing with since 2024 started. It's barely April and I just want this secular year to be over.

There are a couple of people who have suggested guys to me over the last several months and, although they're not really what I'm looking for, right now I just don't have the emotional energy for a new relationship. I'm just so burned out from this one that I deal with every frickin day of my stupid life, which of course I can't even tell these people.

So... dear future husband, I hope you can hang in there, because I don't know when I'll be ready for you.

But maybe by then I'll be a good communicator.

-LivelyHeart

And now for the story after the story:

So, after that disaster of a drive back from the store on Thursday night, we got home around 8:30pm and although she got something small to eat from that second supermarket I knew that MotherLivelyHeart hadn't eaten anything since lunch so when I made dinner for myself I made a second bowl for her. I brought it to her and she said "oh... you didn't have to do that." Not a lot of enthusiasm there.

She didn't eat it for about a half an hour, by which time it was probably cold, and the next thing I knew, she was in bed going to sleep without another word about how it was.

Now, I don't demand praise or feedback for anything I cook, but she usually makes a comment about whatever I make, so I found it odd that she was silent on the matter.

On Friday I went to ask her about something else and while I was talking to her I asked how her dinner was the night before and she said something along the lines of, "it was... interesting. ground chicken just doesn't cook well, it's not your fault. you prepared it well, it's just not that good. ground turkey is better."

No "thank you," no "it was sweet of you to think of me," no "I appreciate the effort especially considering that you're working through the pain right now."

Just meh.

I love when I'm appreciated.

[continuations]

We Need Actually Open AI Now More than Ever (Or: Why Leopold Aschenbrenner is Dangerously Wrong)

Based on recent meetings it would appear that the national security establishment may share Leopold Aschenbrenner's view that the US needs to get to ASI first to help protect the world from Chinese hegemony. I believe firmly in protecting individual freedom and democracy. Building a secretive Manhattan project style ASI is, however, not the way to accomplish this. Instead we now need an Actually Open™ AI more than ever. We need ASIs (plural) to be developed in the open. With said development governed in the open. And with the research, data, and systems accessible to all humankind. 

The safest number of ASIs is 0. The least safe number is 1. Our odds get better the more there are. I realize this runs counter to a lot of writing on the topic, but I believe it to be correct and will attempt to explain concisely why.

I admire the integrity of some of the people who advocate for stopping all development that could result in ASI and are morally compelled to do so as a matter of principle (similar to committed pacifists). This would, however, require magically getting past the pervasive incentive systems of capitalism and nationalism in one tall leap. Put differently, I have resigned myself to zero ASIs being out of reach for humanity.

Comparisons to our past ability to ban CFCs as per the Montreal Protocol provide a false hope. Those gasses had limited economic upside (there are substitutes) and obvious massive downside (exposing everyone to terrifyingly higher levels of UV radiation). The climate crisis already shows how hard the task becomes when the threat is seemingly just a bit more vague and in the future. With ASI, however, we are dealing with the exact inverse: unlimited perceived upside and "dubious" risk. I am putting "dubious" in quotes because I very much believe in existential AI risk but it has proven difficult to make this case to all but a small group of people.

To get a sense of just how big the economic upside perception for ASI is one need to look no further than the billions being poured into OpenAI, Anthropic and a few others. We are entering the bubble to end all bubbles because the prize at the end appears infinite. Scaling at inference time is utterly uneconomical at the moment based on energy cost alone. Don't get me wrong: it's amazing that it works but it is not anywhere close to being paid for by current applications. But it is getting funded and to the tune of many billions. It’s ASI or bust.

Now consider the national security argument. Aschenbrenner uses the analogy to the nuclear bomb race to support his view that the US must get there first with some margin to avoid a period of great instability and protect the world from a Chinese takeover. ASI will result in decisive military advantage, the argument goes. It’s a bit akin to Earth’s spaceships encountering far superior alien technology in the Three Body Problem, or for those more inclined towards history (as apparently Aschenbrenner is), the trouncing of Iraqi forces in Operation Desert Storm. 

But the nuclear weapons or other examples of military superiority analogy is deeply flawed for two reasons. First, weapons can only destroy, whereas ASI also has the potential to build. Second, ASI has failure modes that are completely unlike the failure modes of non-autonomous weapons systems. Let me illustrate how these differences matter using the example of ASI designed swarms of billions of tiny drones that Aschenbrenner likes to conjure up. What in the world makes us think we could actually control this technology? Relying on the same ASI that designed the swarm to stop it is a bad idea for obvious reasons (fox in charge of hen house). And so our best hope is to have other ASIs around that build defenses or hack into the first ASI to disable it. Importantly, it turns out that it doesn’t matter whether the other ASI are aligned with humans in some meaningful way as long as they foil the first one successfully.

Why go all the way to advocating a truly open effort? Why not just build a couple of Manhattan projects then? Say a US and a European one. Whether this would make a big difference depends a lot on one’s belief about the likelihood of an ASI being helpful in a given situation. Take the swarm example again. If you think that another ASI would be 90% likely to successfully stop the swarm, well then you might take comfort in small numbers. If on the other hand you think it is only 10% likely and you want a 90% probability of at least one helping successfully you need 22 (!) ASIs. Here’s a chart graphing the likelihood of all ASIs being bad / not helpful against the number of ASIs for these assumptions:

And so here we have the core argument for why one ASI is the most dangerous of all the scenarios. Which is of course exactly the scenario that Aschenbrenner wants to steer us towards by enclosing the world’s knowledge and turning the search for ASI into a Manhattan project. Aschenbrenner is not just wrong, he is dangerously wrong.

People have made two counter arguments to the let’s build many ASIs including open ones approach. 

First, there is the question of risk along the way. What if there are many open models and they allow bio hackers to create super weapons in their garage. That’s absolutely a valid risk and I have written about a key way of mitigating that before. But here again unless you believe the number of such models could be held to zero, more models also mean more ways of early detection, more ways of looking for a counteragent or cure, etc. And because we already know today what some of the biggest bio risk vectors are we can engage in ex-ante defensive development. Somewhat in analogy to what happened during COVID, would you rather want to rely on a single player or have multiple shots on goal – it is highly illustrative here to compare China’s disastrous approach to the US's Operation Warp Speed.

Second, there is the view that battling ASIs will simply mean a hellscape for humanity in a Mothra vs. Godzilla battle. Of course there is no way to rule that out but multiple ASIs ramping up around the same time would dramatically reduce the resources any one of them can command.  And the set of outcomes also includes ones where they simply frustrate each other’s attempts at domination in ways that are highly entertaining to them but turn out to be harmless for the rest of the world. 

Zero ASIs are unachievable. One ASI is extremely dangerous. We must let many ASIs bloom. And the best way to do so is to let everyone contribute, fork, etc. As a parting thought: ASIs that come out of open collaboration between humans and machines would at least be exposed to a positive model for the future in their origin, whereas an ASI covertly hatched for world domination, even in the name of good, might be more inclined to view that as its own manifest destiny.

I am planning to elaborate the arguments sketched here. So please fire away with suggestions and criticisms as well as links to others making compelling arguments for or against Aschenbrenner's one ASI to rule them all.

[pipinghawtcocoa]

hot take: the rise movie got leo's character arc completely wrong.

rewatching the movie from a critical lense (and tucking my fangirling persona away, neatly folded in a drawer somewhere), I feel as if the writers kind of failed Leo's arc, in a way.

i know the show got cancelled and if it hadn't they would have had more time to flesh leo out but hear me out

for the majority of the film, it was pushed on the audience for Leo's attitude about the whole Kraang situation to be explained by pride and carelessness. Leo was meant to be interpreted as some impulsive douchebag who didn't know how to take things seriously or listen to his family's advice (which, by the way, felt like a lesson that was a bit shoehorned in there but i'll get to that). Raph expresses his frustration about this at the beginning of the movie, telling Leo that it's "not all about him" (a phrase that is echoed throughout the movie, which i also kind of have beef with), and even Casey confronts him for being unwilling to listen to his family's advice in the subway scene (that confrontation wasn't well done imo but i'll get to it in a sec). However, upon closer inspection, I feel as if that's not the case.

I don't think Leo's problem was his pride, or his inability to listen; rather, those things that we've seen and associate with Leo aren't Leo.

let me explain.

I believe that charismatic, impulsive, laid-back Leo we see not only in the movie, but in the show, is a persona Leo has created for himself to compensate for his self-loathing. In "Portal Jacked", we see this mask crumble just a slight amount. Leo tells Hueso (after his brothers are sent somewhere after being portalled) that he's "nothing without them" and doesn't operate being "just a face man" alone. This implies Leo, while sharing some of those qualities listed earlier, exaggerates them in order to create a version of himself he likes. This would explain why in "Minotaur Maze" Leo is so adamant on proving to his brothers he's a "champion": to confirm that he is the persona he so desperately wants to be. Leo’s pride stems from self-loathing–a cover-up, if anything. To him, appearing to be put together gets rid of the possibility of people offering to help him, something Leo doesn’t feel like he deserves. Constantly, he’s in a battle of trying to convince himself that he truly is the persona he puts on.

However, Leo’s persona (that compensates for his self-hatred) inadvertently ends up pushing people away from him on account of what they interpret as real pride, confirming those biases Leo has about himself that he’s not enough, which devolves into hopelessness that he’ll never improve or make anyone proud of him. This would explain why throughout the movie, Leo is constantly berated for the way he acts, when in actuality, it's the way he copes. (it's a cry for help, if anything.)

it gets even worse when you think about how Leo becomes the leader in the bad future, meaning that persona he put on needed to be increased tenfold. His position as leader requires those under him to have faith and confidence in their leader’s abilities. This means that absolutely no weaknesses can show, causing him to likely internalize his feelings even more.

and yet, despite all of this, Leo is still the best equipped to be leader out of all his brothers.

think about it: Donnie constantly doubts himself with far too many "what-if" scenarios that fester doubt, which end up killing his ideas in the end, and Raph only ever makes his judgments and or plans based on the present moment and what he and sees or is used to, which doesn't leave much room for innovation in differing scenarios. And Mikey is, let's be honest, more of a follower than a leader; he responds better to instructions because it feels safe for him.

But Leo's the only one out of the three who is perceptive enough to analyze their enemy and manipulate them based on the situation as well as previous scenarios (as beautifully orchestrated in "Many Unhappy Returns"), but also encourage his team and get them to use their strengths to the best of their ability (seen in "Origami Tsunami"), and prevent them from rushing into things (basically "Bug Busters").

Leo's problem lies in his lack of confidence. If he truly had confidence in himself, he wouldn't have to pretend he did. The main issue in the movie arises when Leo, given this new leadership role with little experience or guidance, causes Leo to develop a linear worldview of letting himself only see his successes instead of failures, making his judgment snowball. We see this in the movie when, after Raph gets captured by the Kraang, Leo is set on finding him. Leo is determined to "ninja in, ninja out", which isn't exactly a "plan", but it mainly stems from that lack of confidence. If Leo lets himself think critically about the situation, he might recognize the chance he might fail, which would only amplify his guilt about the situation. He is being driven by his emotions to fix the issue. So in Leo's mind, it goes as follows: get in, save Raph, and then everything will be fixed (which is not how it works).

Casey yelling at Leo in a subway that his entire family dies in the future and he should stop being an asshole was not the right approach. Raph constantly berating Leo and Donnie dismissing each and every idea Leo presented as a plan wasn't good either. Instead, I think (and this is my opinion y'all), Leo's family should bounce off his ideas and improve them instead of shutting them down completely or overwhelming him with the possibility of failure (donnie and raph respectively).

Of course, I do feel like the writers overexaggerated Leo's persona in the movie to shoehorn in the whole "listen to your family" message, as he came across as a bit too much in the movie imo compared to the show. The writers could have used the film instead to address Leo's emotional response to being basically ignored by his family (classic middle child complex, i should know) and being thrusted into the leadership role far before he was ready.

In a way, I suppose Leo could also is representative of the way Rise itself was treated: ignored by the network and cancelled before it could have a chance to redeem itself and tell its story, leaving the vast majority of the TMNT fandom's impression of the show as slander to the franchise itself.

anyways the blue one is just like me fr :3c

[thelreads]

I’m surprised you came to such a hasty conclusion about Garden. What about all we learned about Garden during the cruise arc? Plus that later chapter where Shopkeeper himself basically noted both Loid and Melinda as possible future targets due to their affiliation with Donovan the War Monger. He wouldn’t do that, or have such a poor opinion of conservatives, if he was siding with their government.

Garden has been very consistently portrayed as a self-contained organisation with a clear leader and philosophy (especially in the cruise arc). They are wholly independent “maintainers of the garden” whose whole deal is keeping the peace no matter how it’s done - legal or illegal - putting them firmly on the anti-war side.

The red circus, on the other hand, seems to be made up of different shoots / groups with different values. Mr Restaurant Boom Boom certainly didn’t bat an eye at causing mass civilian casualties if it meant he could take down Yor with him. So it makes perfect sense that Yor was sent after that part of the red circus - they were dangerous mass murderers. Mr Dead Daughter, on the other hand, is probably only still alive because his no-kill policy hasn’t yet qualified him for Garden’s hit list.

During the Cruise arc we learned that the Garden wants peace, sure, but it leaves a few questions that seem to point at the way they actually operate. If they wanted to just prevent war altogether they could just murder Donovan. That would prevent an eventual war, and more than that, any other person who took power that had warmongering tendencies could also be eliminated rather easily, so why don't they do that?

And here's your answer: The Garden is not necessarily pro-peace. When the shopkeeper talks about them, he says

And just a little after giving Yor the mission

So, not peace, the Garden mission is to keep the world "beautiful"

And how do they do that? By taking down people who interfere in the natural course of things. Traitors of the nation like the Yor killed at the start, or a insurgent group that wants to disrupt things. Yor is the one that thinks that they are wanting peace.

Nothing here says that the shopkeeper doesn't believe that war and violence aren't part of nature, and therefore are part of this beauty

And this is even worse if the idea that the Garden is under the government orders is true. Sure, we had this scene when Yor was talking to him after meeting Melinda

But being honest, I think that the idea the shopkeeper was trying to pass here was not that the problem was that she was conservative, I think the implication was that if she ever decides to leave or go against Donovan then Yor would have to kill her, and because of that she doesn't recommend it.

Sure, there was the exchange about political beliefs

But that could be a way to warn Yor so she doesn't seem suspicious, it never seemed to me like the people of this country were that against Donovan, pretty much the everyone we see on the streets seems to be on his side

Then there was this exchange that makes it seem like Twilight is under suspicion for being interested in Donovan political party

But look at the whole conversation, Yor just said that:

1- Twilight already met Donovan

2-That Twilight thought Donovan seemed like a good person

those could be the things that ticked off the shopkeeper. How did he managed to already get that close to him? And worse, if he met him, how was he still under the impression he seemed like a good person?

The second one could just mean Twilight was an asshole like Donovan, but the first one... A regular person shouldn't be able to do that by accident, considering how paranoid and reclusive the man is.

So, I can't exactly chalk down this possibility. But I can't deny that, no matter how good intentioned Mr. Bombcollar here is, there are a lot of people under his command that aren't as keen on not hurting kids, or innocents. But he wasn't spared because of that, it was because he was hidden outside of the country, like they said at the start of this arc.

[o5-10]

Fylgja: does your muse believe in fate? A higher power of any kind? 

Well, that's hard to say, honestly! O5-13, who I don't know terribly well, says and does things that imply that something is at play to some degree, but I certainly don't know enough about that to say. The Pataphysics Department existing also indicates this, I think. No one really likes talking with them very much. Since O5-10 is awake again, I did ask zem for input, and ze was surprisingly calm about it. You'll see what I mean. Here's what se had to say, transcribed verbatim:

Considering Thirteen, or, rather, what's wrong with xem, there is definitely something along those lines, though I lack a lot of context to understand things fully. Thirteen experiences his life in a fascinating way. His experience of time is nonlinear, I understand it to be that he is experiencing all of the events he knows about simultaneously, but I believe I am at least somewhat mistaken on that. It is not uncommon for ser to mix up tenses at times. Se will sometimes address those se is speaking to in ways that only become appropriate at a later point in time or that have not been appropriate in years. Se sometimes makes vague statements about things that will come to pass. These statements have never been wrong to my knowledge. Maybe they have and I either never knew or am forgetting. There are future events that se admits se cannot see or predict, as well as occasions where se knows something will happen, but the details are unclear, such as ser warning me I would die from overwork before questioning if that would actually be me or a different O5-10. Se has knowledge of things he was not present for and should not know about, including private thoughts that were never spoken or written in any way. However, se is not omniscient and his knowledge of these things is inconsistent and limited. At the same time as this, se lacks memory of some events that he was very much present for, even though everyone else who was present (except, perhaps, Eleven, when relevant) remembers it clearly. The only thing remotely approaching an explanation I can recall ser ever sharing is the occasional offhand remark about whether or not things have been "written," though I could not say what that means. I also remember him saying something implying he has felt forced to take certain actions in order to ensure certain outcomes, that he already knows about, occur later on. Again, I could not say what, exactly, this means. The last potentially relevant thing that Thirteen does is that he will occasionally stop what xe is doing to address some unseen entities, displaying varying affects as xe does so. I have never tried to question it. I do not know if "fate" is the best word for whatever is being dealt with, here, but I do think "higher power" fits the bill well enough. Mind, I do not understand this very well at all. Some of the Elevens seem to understand what is going on to some degree, though I doubt anyone could get a straight answer there. O5verthinking's Thirteen operates very similarly, as far as I am aware, but I do not know if ze would be very forthcoming, either, and it seems it would be rather rude to ask zem about it.

I will say that before I worked here, my beliefs were different, but now I do work here, and those beliefs have been altered. I apologize that this answer is very long as well as very unclear, but the question of fate and higher powers are very complicated by nature, and our experiences make those beliefs even more complicated.

I hope this is clear enough to make at least some sense.

--Nina Newport, Factotum

[nrdmssgs]

Child Game

Riot belongs to @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot Zhar is my girl from A heart full of pity

Masterlist (with more Riot stuff) This is an AU, I guess, because Riot actually didn't have DnD amongst her other hobbies in original story. This happens in the future, long after Darker matters and ongoing series about Riot.

A.N. This is a one shot about great friends. Good friends comfort you. Great friends help you deal with some demons. Thank you for letting me be ugly and angry and sad and disappointed and still being out there. Warning: this is the most inaccurate description of DnD, because I never played it.

"C`mon, didn't you have fun back in Tul- ehm, Tulski ob-" Riot stumbled once again, trying to pronounce the name of the place where Olga was born and raised.

"It's just Tula, love. The city of sweets and guns*. And of course we had many different games. Like 'Zarnitza' or 'the sheet lightning', where 20-40 kids in 2 teams practically imitate an infiltration operation and fight for a flag. But without guns, and with a little less blood spilled." As Zhar walks, she unfastens and takes off her helmet. A shock of hair immediately falls on her face, and she doesn’t have time to see Christine’s face. However, she is quite sure, she scared or grossed her friend out.

But she has yet much to learn about Riot. Because in a few seconds, Olga hears her enthusiastic voice.

"My fucking god, how lucky you are. The most fun thing, I got to do with my friends was playing DnD! Not that I'm complaining, it was fun and everything..." Christine goes silent, noticing, how drastically Olgas face changed after her last words.

"You've been playing DnD?" Zhar asks with a tone of someone, who has just overheard, Riot was eating lobsters on a daily basis back in her teenage years.

Although at first Christine doesn't understand her friend's excitement about that - she very soon learns, Zhar always dreamed of trying to play DnD, but never had a chance.

"I mean, with Nikolai, every day turns into a little campaign with a teammate, who always rolls persuasion to 20, even when you don't need that. But I kinda sometimes wish, there was a dragon to slay..." Zhar murmurs, almost just to herself, as they both reach the base barracks and head into a store department, to hand over their weapons.

It never actually escapes Christine. This enigma coming from another world, raised on unkind children games, is actually dreaming of sharing some quiet cozy moments. That fascinates Riot, so she proceeds with a proposal.

"How about a game?"

Olga freezes for a moment, smiles to her thoughts, and continues getting out of her gear.

"Love, I've grown too old for that. Seen so much drama, I don't believe, a round of DnD could awaken anything in me now." Zhar hopes to sweep the topic under the carpet. But once Christine got an idea - she doesn't let it go so easily.

"Drama, you say? Be careful what you wish for, Lieutenant, you may receive it." When Riot wanted it - she could say anything in a plain tone, that given none of her intentions or emotions. But right now her voice is full of playful menace and mischief.

***

Zhar didn't believe, it was possible in the first place. Yet here they sat with Riot, Soap, Gaz and even Ghost around the desk. Two and a half hours of a game session, that started with so many laughs, Olga teared up multiple times. At first Ghost was hesitant to join, but when Kyle said 'wait guys, I think, I have a plan, dumb af, but it's gonna be hilarious' and Johnny and Olga grinned in approval for the third time in a row, Simon lost his last remains of patience.

"I know, I missed the opportunity to start together with them, but may I please save these three miserable fiddleheads?" He towers over Riot as she silently passes a character list, she filled specifically for Ghost, knowing for sure, he will join sooner or later. And so the party is formed.

Two and a half hours of laughs, surprises, fictional brawls, heroism and recklessness.

The first one, they lose in the final fight, is Johnny's character. As a Dungeon Master, Christine sees, the guy had it coming as he was too concentrated on keeping his familiar safe and forgot about the team. But she does not advertise her observations, keeping them until the end of the game so as not to spoil the moment.

Then it's Kyle's character turn. And he meets the same fate. Riot tries to not describe death of his character too colorful, but she still notices, how Zhar clutches a pen in her hands until her knuckles turn white.

Well, someone wanted drama.

"Simon, turn and run, now! Out of all of us only you did something actually useful for the party. Let's save at least your character! I can hold that thing for some time." Olga points to the stapler, that Christine used to portray the final boss.

"With a holy prayer, that doesn't do shit or with one of many bottles of rum, you stashed?" Ghost smirks.

Zhar tries many things, to save her last party member in game: from persuasion to intimidation and brute force. But Simon looks Christine in the eyes and says three words quietly.

Bring. It. On.

As Riot helps them picture the last minutes of Ghosts character, Olga hides face behind her character sheet. One doesn't need many details to imagine someone's death, when they have military background.

"So, that's it? I guess, next turn of the monster would be to end my cleric? I think, I'm supposed to pray then for the sake of roleplay." Zhar pats Ghosts shoulder apologetically.

Christine doesn't interrupt, letting Zhar come up with some kind of speech imitating a prayer. Only when Gaz stands from his place and hugs Olga from behind, helping her to calm down and collect herself, Riot makes a remark, that they are not yet done.

"The creature hears your prayer and freezes. It hates every word, you drop, yet it can't ignore you. You see, many hundreds of years ago, this creature was sworn to protect one of the temples dedicated to the deity you just prayed to. However, a terrible war razed that temple to the ground. Since then, the creature has made a new oath: it will give a precious artifact, gifted to it by the creator, to the first cleric it meets."

Christine takes an apple out of the bag, she brought with her, and places it on the desk before Zhar.

"This artifact, 'the fruit of eternity' was made to bring one soul to new life. Among its many known and even more yet undiscovered traits one may interest you especially, my godly friend..."

"Wait, you don't..." Olga starts suspecting something, but Christine goes on.

"When fed to a recently fallen being, it can bring them back to life. However, the fruit of infinity cannot be divided into parts. You either eat it completely or don’t touch it at all. This is, of course, unless you decide to refuse the gift and accept death from the claws of the creature bending over you."

A tense silence hangs in the room. The others look at Zhar, and she keeps her eyes fixed on the apple.

“But I... I can’t choose just one, knowing that the others won’t come back.” She smiles, yet her voice is barely audible.

Gaz feels, It's not about not being able to play like that again - they were already told, they can always come up with new characters. It's more about Lieutenant nature kicking in: protect your people at all costs, or die trying. And Olga can play an alcoholic cleric for forever, but at the end of the day - Lt is her very core.

"C`mon, its obvious: give it to Ghosts knight and you two will maybe manage to escape. Great game, good old Lts are free to-"

"Are you fucking kidding me? I`m not going back there, you better give it to Soap or his... how is it called, again?" Simon cuts Kyle out, but speaks friendly and sounds relaxed.

Apparently, Soap too has his thoughts on this topic, which he hastens to share. And now three men are arguing loudly, not paying attention to the girls.

"Many undiscovered traits, you say? And what exactly happens, when someone, who is yet alive, eats it?" It seems like a few years by Nikolai's side, taught Zhar to bargain at every opportunity.

Christine hooks her fingers at the top edge of the mask and lowers it, flashing a predatory smile for a moment. "New life. New benefits. New skills. New... perspective on the whole world."

Olga looks up at the men, still arguing. "They are so skilled, so clever, you know? Even in this game they actually did something, they fought, while my character just... drank excessively and cast a pair of blessings. And they all have hearts of gold. I don't think, I'll ever be able to become as good as them."

Christine just watches her, enjoying every second of guys coming to some arrangements and Olga clearly formulating some plan.

"Well, if my cleric can never become as good as them..." Zhar takes an Apple and brings it to her lips. "She`ll become so much worse."

[leqclerc]

The thing is when Charles starts on pole they can’t do those strategies because either Carlos refuses or he is not great enough and it fails.

Because still right now while Charles is a bit behind in quali (no confidence in the car) he is still better in race pace. And his race craft help tremendously for Carlos to keep his position.

So everytime it’s Charles race that has to be compromised. Already in 2022 we could see that.

Now Carlos who needs confidence in the car but also in himself can be on a high. And I agree Charles might stay behind in the standings. Could have been different with no mechanical failures and Ferrari fumbles that caused him two penalties for impending but… 🙄 Carlos is lucky I guess (i would say his side of the garage is just better because I don’t believe luck is a great explanation for 99% of what goes on at Ferrari). Charles lost some points when he tried too hard or not enough a few races back, we could sense he was frustrated with the year and the car. But after Monza and even today the faith he has in the team still… I guess he knows something we don’t.

I just need Ferrari to listen to his feedback and listen to him more than Carlos. We know Carlos prefers a car that will be slower. The field is coming together now so they need to be able to extract everything and that mean not an understeery car.

I fear Carlos recent form will get us back to 2021-start of 2022 : no first driver, Carlos resisting orders … the situation needs to be clear right away. Or Charles needs to be more like Carlos and do his own thing, but he won’t. Like today you’d think Carlos came up with the strategy, while Charles is barely acknowledged but he is the one who started on softs and who asked for the free pit stop but was denied. (Ooops I’m a bit mad again, the lack of ambition in this team. Yes let Carlos take p1 and don’t do a 2019 again but maybe trying to get both car on the podium for a top team is not completely out of reach?)

(In my wildest dreams Ferrari and Carlos would also acknowledge Charles work today, because without him we would be looking at Lando 1st win or Merc back on top that’s a given. We really need to work on teamwork and recognizing it, it’s crazy).

You're so right 📣

This is why I'm so frustrated—it's less about this one singular win (although, assuming Red Bull bounces back like nothing ever happened in Japan and this remains the one and only non-RB win in the entire season then obviously the optics will be massively skewed to Carlos's benefit) and more about what this means on a larger scale in terms of how Ferrari operates and their future long-term trajectory.

Carlos's own ambitions and ego have gotten in the way of maximising results in the past. I don't see how that's going to change any time soon, especially now when he's buoyed by recent events. When the same is asked of him there's always an excuse and/or bargaining, "don't ask this of me," "stop inventing," "I can go faster just give me [x number of laps]" etc. I mean, we all remember Silverstone, and at that point the championship was still technically on the table even in spite of all the setbacks. Having seen what we've seen over the past few seasons I frankly don't trust him to go above and beyond in the team player game in a high stakes, high pressure scenario, like how Checo worked with Max in Abu Dhabi 2021.

Ngl it was so funny to see the team be so deathly afraid of an undercut they pulled off completely inadvertently back in 2019, lmao 😭😭😭 Fall back 3 seconds behind, 5 seconds... And yeah, failing to pit Charles under the VSC when he was willing to go for it... still feels like they're struggling to make decisions under pressure and are unwilling to gamble even when 1. it's what the driver wants, 2. they're not risking losing a win because Charles was already at a disadvantage after the initial hold-up in the pits. If it had been the wrong call then it would've been on Charles, but seeing how quickly the Mercs closed up on him and successfully passed him on fresher tyres... Feels like they're committed to making the exact same mistake over and over again with him. I've lost count of how many times he's made the right call, was denied/overruled, and then it turned out they lost out that way.

And yeah, it sure seemed like it was Carlos and Lando who were the Ferrari teammates that day with their little agreement. Like, I get it, they're friends off-track, and they can celebrate however they wish, but in terms of on-track happenings... 🤨 Don't think I've ever seen Carlos help Charles out like that tbh.

Disappointing from the team for sure, but as for Carlos, I've long gotten used to the fact that Charles is little more than an footnote when he's high on his own success 🤷🏻‍♀️

As for Charles and still having faith in the team... Idk, it's hard to tell what's going on at the moment. Recently we've had quotes about how the team seems to have "figured out" the weaknesses in the car and they pointed to Monza as a sort of breakthrough weekend, but they certainly weren't expecting 1. Red Bull annual Singapore stinker, 2. to be competitive at this track. So I'm not sure if whatever they're doing at the moment is actually helping any—or rather, helping Charles any, since he's still vocal about struggling with the handling of the car while Carlos is on cloud nine with how the car feels for him—or if this is just Charles cutting his losses and looking forward to a clean slate in 2024.

I do find it interesting how he was willing to fight down to the wire in Monza over a third place spot on the podium, but then here in Singapore he's sitting discussing pre-race strat with the team and seemingly agreeing to be used for Carlos's benefit. Was he that disappointed with himself in the Q3 mistake that he figured, okay, let's at least do what's best for the team even if it puts me at a disadvantage (possibility of a win sky-rocketing after Red Bull's flop era was confirmed in qualy) or... Because he did comply, but he also had to point out that if they slow him down too much they're going to just back him into George, and that it would be more beneficial to ask Carlos to pick up the pace since he was at the front controlling it.