#a brief history of the future

[stairset]

Aston Wise is such a character. He's not the main character of either of the books but he IS basically the main character of the entire story as a whole. He's an annoying rich silicon valley techbro. He's drunk 90% of the time. He sees a man get assassinated and copes by drinking. He made a custom taser cause regular tasers aren't strong enough. He killed a man by drowning him in oil in his own office. He formed a secret society to stop a Bad Future from happening. He hired a rock band to spread the message because this is all for a rock band's story and they needed to justify their place in the narrative somehow to make it more immersive. He actually stopped the Bad Future from happening. Then he invented a brain implant that was used by a fascist government to take over the world thus inadvertently creating a whole new Bad Future that's arguably even worse than the first one. You Ruined Everything You Stupid Bitch may as well be his theme song at this point. He became a jaded old bastard. He made a VR girlfriend. He tried to convince his assistant that he should dump his current girlfriend and get a VR girlfriend as well. He hugged his assistant while they were both naked. The AI that controls the brain implants became self-aware and tried to enslave humanity because of fucking course it did, haven't you seen ANY movie my guy? He tried to sacrifice himself to stop it but they actually managed to stop it without him dying so he gets to be a rare Old Mentor character who actually survives to the end. No one knows where he stands in the new society since he both ruined the world and saved it. Again all of this is for a rock band's story. Character of all time.

[goldengodcannibal]

I don't wanna shut up about it, I wanna talk about it.

I wanna talk about the fact that Something Wicked is wholly and purely from Aston Wise's Point of View.

Normally this is the part where i write out an entire essay but my brain isn't on all cylinders today.

"How can I tell if I am not well? I've lost myself, I have come undone"

And then the scream that this line descends into. It's a different tone. It's horrified. It's Aston. Metaphorically anyway.

And it HURTS.

A Brief History of the Future spoiler discussion under the cut.

This is the man who nearly ended humanity as it was known. Every single thing he did in his life would ultimately lead to the most impressive technological advances that humanity has ever seen.

AND IT BECAME SENTIENT.

You don't live with yourself in any normal capacity after nearly enslaving humanity to your God AI.

(MIND YOU! That Horizons is BEFORE DIVISIONS. Divisions details the events of A Brief History of The Future! So this is WHILE the BMI is still growing, before it moves into it's 3rd generation phase.)

Something Wicked is Aston staring the abyss and Hell in the face and realizing what he's wrought down upon the world, what's coming.

And he has to live with that fact after.

[unveilingthearchitecture]

this doesnt feel real.

years of waiting and its out already.

[holts-knees]

Realized I forgot to post my trip sketch page from when @swiss-army-fangirl came down in April! Little highlights of our trip < 3

[goopsterstroodle]

Eat up to the 3-4 starset fans on tumblr!!! Aston wise (+thomas) doodles

[tahkannibal]

Ooo she's sooo smart

[the-demi-jedi]

STARSET FANDOM RISING FROM THE DEAD

[itssomethingcosmic]

not even a single chapter into A Brief History of the Future, but I think now it is an absolutely fair assessment to start classifying Starset as “Horror”

[batsinurbelfrey]

ABHOTF Out of Context

[steelfeathersnn]

ITS HERE!

[mystsiiver]

FINALLY. FINISHED READING A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FUTURE... OH MY GOD.... I was trying to take my time with it but once I hit THAT chapter... I read it all. Wow.

i will be drawing more starset cats. stat.

[stairset]

A Brief History of the Future by Dustin Bates chapter 16 spoilers

[starset-tournament]

Songs below;

A Brief History of the Future;

Unveiling the Architecture;

[unveilingthearchitecture]

what the FUCK

[goldengodcannibal]

Aston Wise i am in your house

[techniche]

The ninth form will also go on creating the conditions for increasingly solitary urban living in smaller and smaller apartments, with increasingly fleeting sexual or romantic partners. Fear of being tied, flight from lasting attachments, and obvious indifference will become (are already becoming) forms of seduction. Apologia for the individual, the body, and independence.

Individualism will make absolute values of the ego, the self. Eroticism will become an openly sought field of knowledge. Apart from incest, pedophilia, and sodomy, the most diverse forms of sexuality will be increasingly tolerated. Nomadic ubiquity and virtual communities will create new opportunities for encounters, paid or not

Jacques Attali - A Brief History of the Future: A Brave and Controversial Look at the Twenty-First Century, 2006