#also if you think about it there's really not a good way to identify AI-written stuff and the last thing we want is witch hunting

[go-our-own-ways]

every time I see someone post something anti-ao3 I lose like 5 years off my life

[softness-and-shattering]

Well tumblr refreshed and I cant find the link again yay me.

Someone shared the Isabel Fall Attack Helicopter story. I dont think I was on twitter when it was published and people drive her off the platform, I only vaguely know the details. Id never read the story before today, to the best of my knowledge.

Y'all its brilliant.

Of course it made people uncomfortable, it tries to, that a function of good art. Its also a Do Not Build The Torment Nexus story. Its really incisive and the prose is so specific in shaping the mood and meaning. Its terrifying. The inciting incident of the short story is blowing up a school which the chatacter doesnt regret, but does reflect on.

Its extremely gender + sex fucky, theres some transhumanist/cyborg/eroticism of the machine going on, theres US imperialism, climate change, AI, war, everything including gender in service of the war (thats the torment nexus part).

It is so full of uncomfortable topics and its weird, and its weird all over its not trying to be palatable and marketable its got something to say and its damn well gonna say it well. (Clarification by it I mean the story. Not the writer.)

I dont know if this was the origin of, or in reaction to, the asshole "well I identify as an attack helicopter" line, but its way more than a bit of reactionary writing. The writer has thought deeply about gender and then asked "ok what if I put it in a totally different context" and it rings so true.

This should be taught as a piece about gender, and also as just a really excellent piece of writing. Im sorry you were bullied off the internet Ms Fall, no one deserves that and you certainly didnt.

I intend to look more into what happened and see if she's written anything since.

[ilikereadingactually]

The Imperial Radch Trilogy

hoooo boy, do my mismatched covers annoy me! so much that i ordered lightly used copies of each book with its other cover also, and will soon have a full set of each, because i am one of those people.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

picking up a book that's as exquisitely written as this is like slipping into a warm bath. like i can just relax, because i'm in skilled hands. the amount of trust that precise, compelling prose can win from me in just a few pages is astonishing, and has rarely been misplaced.

and this is one that requires a little bit of trust! like many of my favorite speculative books, there's no soulless infodumping about the world here--background is given when it fits and serves the narrative, and otherwise you learn the world by experience. through the distinct and fascinating experience of Breq, in fact, who used to be the AI of a military spaceship with many ancillary bodies (human bodies that house its consciousness and crew the ship) and now exists as only one lone ancillary on a revenge mission. i love Breq's very specific and unusual perspective; i love jumping back and forth in time to see the past and the present and wonder how they're going to collide; i love weird space politics and religion and the exploration of emotion as a part of sentience. also!! i love many of the side characters!! Breq is really the focus, but everyone else who enters the story, even briefly, is clear and interesting, and some of them made me cry.

and i love the way gender is presented in this book SO MUCH. Breq comes from a society that doesn't distinguish gender, and uses "she" as the default pronoun, which i already love. and the book doesn't give many clear visual descriptions of anyone--so we're fully inside that perspective. Breq does take some notice of class, through accents and clothing, but just isn't at all concerned with markers of gender, and actively has difficulty identifying gender in other languages and cultures she encounters. i think this takes a lot of skill to write, and it's frankly baller to read.

also! i fucking love that the standard of not only beauty but high class and privilege in this society is dark skin!!!!!!!! dark is fashionable! dark is aristocratic!! i mean im never gonna be like "this fantasy imperialist classism is actually the good kind" because that's missing the whole point of the books, but it's so REFRESHING to visualize.

a line i really liked: AI to AI communication

"You still had your ancillaries," said Mercy of Kalr. "Yes." "I like my soldiers, but I miss having ancillaries." That reminded me. "They aren't doing maintenance as they should. The hinges on the airlock door were very sticky." "I'm sorry." "It doesn't matter now," I said, and it struck me that something similar might have delayed Anaander Mianaai's attempts to open the lock on her side. "But you'll want to have your officers get after them."

books 2 and 3 under the cut!

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

LOVE a second book in a series that delights me just as much as the first but in new and different ways!! Leckie's prose is still gorgeous, that's a given. but this book, as with many good speculative series, heightens the stakes and broadens the world. where the first book was a somewhat more intimate story about a few connected characters and the pursuit of a personal goal, the second book brings in more complex political intrigue, addresses more widespread injustices, and introduces an array of excellent new characters. the first book held on to its tension by moving back and forth in time; this book takes advantage of the wider spread and Breq's particular kind of perception to tell multiple stories happening simultaneously, through glimpses at what other characters are doing "offscreen." it's a fantastic tactic!!

it's also clearer in this book how unreliable Breq's narration is, specifically about her own state of being. she thinks of herself as not human, and so as less important--she doesn't take the time to narrate or even notice her own physical state or emotional needs until she's totally overwhelmed, at which point we start to get little flashes of what everyone around her sees: a person of incredible kindness and integrity and intelligence, beloved by those under her care. there's a specific kind of intimacy between characters in these books that fascinates me, i love every acts of service bitch in this bar.

a line i really liked: why is every book series i love actually about grief

"Citizen, I am in mourning." I had not had time to clean the white stripe off my face for the night. And she could not possibly have forgotten the reason for it. "But surely, Fleet Captain," she replied sweetly, "that's all for show." "It's always for show, Citizen. It is entirely possible to grieve with no outward sign. These things are meant to let others know about it."

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

wow. ok. so. i drafted the section on Ancillary Justice above after finishing just that book; wrote the section on Ancillary Sword after reading all three books and listening to the first two audiobooks; here i am to write about Ancillary Mercy after reading the series once and listening to all the audiobooks twice. so...my descent into obsession will be palpable.

i'm actually a little mad that i didn't have these books on my radar before, but i was deeply embedded in the children's lit world at the time they were coming out, and maybe would not have enjoyed them as much as i did. which is something i loved in this series--the persistent idea that people not only change over time, but that in each moment, all the choices you have made up to that moment have created you specifically, and if you had made different choices, you would be a different person. i'm not the person i was then, five years out of grad school, busting my ass for $10/hour in children's bookstores, reading mostly middle grade because middle grade reliably is not romantic and i did not yet know i was aroace. so, overall, i'm grateful these books have come to me now (thanks to my best friend, who sent me Ancillary Justice for my birthday and kept telling me i would love it).

but let me talk a little about this third book in particular. once again, the stakes are incrementally raised: threats that were at a little distance before finally arrive in a bigger way, or come back again after a tense reprieve; the question of who is a person, what a "person" even is, becomes both more muddied and more crucial than ever. through it all, Breq continues to move doggedly forward with stubborn compassion for everyone but herself, keeps throwing herself in front of danger, and makes a more enormous impact on the world around her than i ever expected. this book is like everything i ever loved about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (the best Trek don't come at me) but with oodles more gender fuckery.

it's also the really beautiful culmination of my other favorite theme of these books: that you can't know what effects your choices will have, and maybe you'll never know, but the chain of those effects will go farther than you imagine. it's so wild, on a second and third read, to see both the ripples of ruthless and self-centered choices, and the ripples of choices that come from an ethic of care. Even inside a terrible, imperialist system doing terrible, imperialist things, a single compassionate person persistently doing what she feels is right can change the course of someone else's life, and in doing so change the course of the universe.

a line i really liked: everything happening here is a blessing

"Thank all the gods," said Sphene. "I was afraid you were going to suggest we sing that song about the thousand eggs." "A thousand eggs all nice and warm," I sang. "Crack, crack, crack, a little chick is born. Peep peep peep peep! Peep peep peep peep!" "Why, Fleet Captain," Translator Zeiat exclaimed, "that's a charming song! Why haven't I heard you sing it before now?" I took a breath. "Nine hundred ninety-nine eggs all nice and warm..." "Crack, crack, crack," Translator Zeiat joined me, her voice a bit breathy but otherwise quite pleasant, "a little chick is born. Peep peep peep peep! What fun! Are there more verses?" "Nine hundred and ninety-eight of them, Translator," I said. "We're not cousins anymore," said Sphene.

the combo deets

how i read them: i read the first as a physical book (thanks B <3), started the second as an ebook, happened to be at a bookstore and picked up the second and third, and so read them all physical in the end. also, highly rec the audiobooks!! i don't know how they'd go as a first read, but they're extremely fun as a reread. lots of great accents and really interesting tonal choices.

try these if you: dig hard SF and examinations of artificial intelligence and personhood, are weak for self-sacrificing main characters, want that sweet aspec rep, or fuck with gender! or, and this may sound weird, love people bonding with dragons in your fantasy books--there are a lot of relationships here that feel similar to me.

maybe not for you if: you really need to avoid depression/suicidality, drug addiction, or genocide in stories. none of these things are here in a degree that i found too difficult to handle, but i like an uncomfortable read, so ymmv.

i'm reading Provenance, the next book set in this universe, right now! so more Imperial Radch reviews to come.

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

Please stop making AI Fanfics; it's art theft.

AI programs still from pre-existing fics to write the prompts you ask of them, A03 is currently fighting against AI programs but they can't do much if people keep feeding the machine.

Please don't feed the AI!

So I did look into this, mostly because the state of the internet has forced my natural response to anything to be "don't believe it without evidence".

Since you didn't cite anything, I just did my own digging. It appears that this specific claim originates from a reddit thread. The OP cites this article as their main source. Ironically, a good chunk of the post is straight up copy-pasted. The website is Communications Today, which is apparently an Indian telecoms magazine, but I could not find much information on it at all about them that wasn't produced by them.

According to their own LinkedIn:

"Communications Today provides a platform to build corporate image and influence purchase decisions through advertising. The magazine reaches decision makers who allocate budgets for procurement of equipment and services and identify and evaluate vendors for supplies. In-depth coverage and comprehensive research has made Communications Today an important referral for telecom, network equipment purchasers, and broadcasters."

Source

This publication appears to have some guest writers who have legit positions, however the specific AI article has no credited writer. This is questionable. Point is, I have doubts about the trustworthiness of this source to begin with, but there is clearly going to be some level of bias involved with its reporting. The article is pretty sensationalist anyway. This is how the media world works - outrage and fear sells.

This post also includes three examples. As someone who has written research based papers before, this is far from enough to prove anything.

To be clear, the AI I used was not sudowrite, which much of this discussion seems to centre around. The one I used (nor sudowrite itself apparently) don't use user input as training. This means that it responds to prompts and questions, but this doesn't actually teach it anything new permanently. Thus, me using it in this way has zero impact on its dataset and is certainly not feeding it. I also paid no money to use it. Your claim of me interacting with a chatbot somehow making AO3 action (can't find much in the way of evidence of this either by the way) harder also appears unfounded. If it did specifically scrape and train from AO3, then the damage is already done, so again my interaction with it would not mean anything to legal action.

GPT3 (which is what these bots use) have sourced data from the scope of all areas of the internet. It is not, as far as I can tell, any kind of specific targeting of AO3 as a training ground. The issue in this lies in the way this information is presented. "AI BOT SCANS AO3 TO STEAL YOUR FANFICS" stands out a little more than the alternative. AO3 even responded to the OP mirroring the fact that bots are everywhere, have been for a while, and they can't do much about it - not sure if this constitutes 'fighting AI programs' as you claim.

Look. I've been on tumblr a while. I've seen fear explode and spread like wildfire before (4chan incident, for example). I think it's a little misguided to mass panic (about something that has existed for years). The only evidence I could find was those three examples on reddit. I really don't think that equates to the chaos on this issue.

I'll also be clear that I'm not exactly an AI defender, and I dislike Elon Musk for many many reasons. I do think AI writing is a little more murky than AI generated images (certainly worthy of concern) because it's hard to prove much direct copying, especially in the case of Fanfiction which, by nature, involves existing IPs.

Does AI call into question a lot of potential societal problems? Yes. Is it straight up nefarious and evil? Nope, not in my opinion anyway.

That aside I also don't really care on a personal level. For me, writing is a hobby that I'm fortunate to be able to share with others. I also think there comes a point where the concept of artistic 'ownership' becomes asinine anyway, but that's a whole other debate.

My specific posts:

I have been using my OWN existing fanfic summaries as a basis. I don't think I can really be accused of stealing my own work. And as I said, I don't see enough evidence to prove in anyway that these bots are directly ripping things from AO3 in the copyright sense (as in, content in tact enough that it could be traced to an original author).

In other words, thank you and all, but I don't really like this kind of scare posting. Especially if you're not going to source or back up your claims, whatever your intent this comes across as spreading misinformation. I found my little experiment both interesting and amusing, and ultimately what I share on my blog in my relatively tiny corner of the internet is my decision.

TLDR: Don't believe everything you read on the internet - do research before forming solid opinions.

[erigold13261]

Hi! I love your take on the NSR mermaids! Question: were their genders like… that from their making or did they choose themselves? (Eg: a transfem mermaid may not be common in media) (I really hope I don’t come off as rude) (thanks so much)

Glad you like my takes! And don't worry! I didn't take it as rude, and even if I did I would just use it as a way to talk more about NSR characters! >:3

And I think in Yua's case, her gender was more influenced from the media she came from. I like to think in the game Doki Doki Mermaid Club that Yua's gender is more integral to her story than the other mermaids.

And in a good way, not a plot point or some "disguise" or whatever bullshit that happens in media a lot with trans characters. But she was just a happy transfem mermaid in the game while the others were cisgender (which I guess does technically fall into the trope of only having one gay/trans/queer (etc.) character, but that is a criticism to have with the DDMC game and not the characters turn real/AI).

Because of that, when making Yua's AI, there was a line or two of code written in that allowed Yua to know she was trans in the original media she came from. So it was up to her to really decide if she wanted to keep that code or get rid of it and technically be cisgender.

I kinda see it like how Zimelu was always treated as a male for most of her life, so she never realized she was trans until MUCH later into her AI lifespan. But for Yua, all she's known is being transfem, and she does identify as a woman, but also as trans with how her base code was written. So she decided to keep it in and just be trans because that is just how she felt.

So like, TECHNICALLY she is "cisgender" in the sense that she was created transfem and stayed transfem as her AI formed, but she still has fake memories from the DDMC game that pops up of her past which is why she still identifies as transfem.

For the other mermaids, they were all created "cisgender" and would later choose what labels felt right for them. The main reason for this was that everyone was trying to avoid a "Purl-Hew" situation where the mermaids might feel compelled to stay as their assigned genders because they were literally "made" that way and end up very upset or distressed about their identities.

Also like, I don't want to talk about their "parts" because these are teenagers. So don't ask about that (using the general "you" not talking to you specifically anon). I just wanted to get that out there. Remember, these are not just robots but also mermaids, so their sense of gender would probably be very skewed compared to that of even 1010.

And I don't mean skewed in the bad sense! Just that no matter what they would probably have a completely different set of gender identities. Which honestly is why I like the idea that a lot of them use either gender neutral pronouns or neo-pronouns! Aoi and Yua are the only ones to use more traditional gendered pronouns and even then Aoi also uses they/them.

Don't know if I explained this properly. But yeah. They were created more of like blank slates with options in their code they could use. Some with more options than the others, but they each were given a chance to become the person/mermaid that they wanted to be and have all the support around them

[tastydregs]

Founder of Wikipedia Says Maybe It Should Be Written by AI

Wiki AI

As impressive as it is, Wikipedia isn't a perfectly infallible encyclopedia of human knowledge. It's an amalgamation of human-submitted content that can scramble facts or fall victim to bias.

The advent of advanced AI raises an interesting question: should an AI be involved in the creation of its entries to facilitate the process?

Wikipedia founder — and guy who's constantly asking you for a $5 donation — Jimmy Wales has some seriously mixed feelings about that, but he's unwilling to completely disregard the possibility.

"The discussion in the Wikipedia community that I’ve seen so far is... people are cautious in the sense that we’re aware that the existing models are not good enough but also intrigued because there seems like there’s a lot of possibility here," Wales told UK newspaper The Evening Standard.

"I think we’re still a way away from: ‘ChatGPT, please write a Wikipedia entry about the empire state building’, but I don’t know how far away we are from that, certainly closer than I would have thought two years ago," he added.

Lies and Use Cases

Wales also pointed out the tendency of the likes of ChatGPT to "hallucinate," an act that he prefers to call "lying."

"It has a tendency to just make stuff up out of thin air which is just really bad for Wikipedia — that’s just not OK," he told the newspaper. "We’ve got to be really careful about that."

But despite these shortcomings, the Wikipedia founder acknowledged there might be some interesting uses for AI when it comes to writing and fact-checking entries.

For instance, an AI could "see if there are any statements that contradict each other" in two Wikipedia entries, or "identify tensions where one article seems to be saying something slightly different to the other," as Wales told The Evening Standard.

Fortunately, "a lot of people in the AI world are focused" on the problem of bias, Wales argued, which means it may be a while until Wikipedia contributors start relying on AI chatbots to complete entries.

And that might ultimately might be a good thing, as that would give the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google time to iron out the many kinks.

More on AI: Deranged New AI Has No Guardrails Whatsoever, Proudly Praises Hitler

The post Founder of Wikipedia Says Maybe It Should Be Written by AI appeared first on Futurism.

[perpetual-stories]

How To Fight Writers Block

hello, hello. hope everyone is doing well. as you can all tell, this post will be about how to fight writers block.

it’s really annoying to me when I hear people say “oh you don’t have writers block, you’re just lazy.”

first of all, yes, I am naturally lazy. second of all, how dare you. writing isn’t as easy as many think. granted, all you have to do is write down words on paper, but it’s not always easy to find the right words to express what you are feeling, or what you wish to say.

I have had terrible writer’s block for the last few days and it’s horrible! as a business owner or a small writing store, I have to be ready to write and fulfill my clients’ ideas and orders.

it’s not easy. It takes a heavy toll on my imagination, and digs me a deep pit of blockage, drowning in the lack of originality because of the constant writing and repetition or certain phrases and sentences in different projects.

i am making this post in the hopes to remind myself about over coming the dreaded and sometimes skeptically believed writer’s block.

What is writer’s block?

Yeah, I know. We all know what that is, but let me define it.

is the state of being unable to proceed with writing, and/or the inability to start writing something new

some people believe it to be a real problem, others believe it's “all in your head”

What Causes Writer’s Block?

in the 1970s, clinical psychologists Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios decided to find out

they concluded that there are four broad causes of writer's block:

Excessively harsh self-criticism

Fear of comparison to other writers

Lack of external motivation, like attention and praise

Lack of internal motivation, like the desire to tell one's story

How to overcome writer's block: 20 tips

1. Develop a writing routine:

Author and artist Twyla Tharp once wrote: “Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.”

it might seem counterintuitive

if you only write when you “feel creative,” you're bound to get stuck in a tar pit of writer's block

The only way to push through is by disciplining yourself to write on a regular schedule. It might be every day, every other day, or just on weekends — but whatever it is, stick to it!

2. Use "imperfect" words:

A writer can spend hours looking for the perfect word or phrase to illustrate a concept

You can avoid this fruitless endeavor by putting, “In other words…” and simply writing what you’re thinking, whether it’s eloquent or not

You can then come back and refine it later by doing a CTRL+F search for “in other words.”

3. Do non-writing activities:

one of the best ways to climb out of a writing funk is to take yourself out of your own work and into someone else’s

Go to an exhibition, to the cinema, to a play, a gig, eat a delicious meal

immerse yourself in great STUFF and get your synapses crackling in a different way

Snippets of conversations, sounds, colors, sensations will creep into the space that once felt empty

4. Freewrite through it:

free-writing involves writing for a pre-set amount of time without pause — and without regard for grammar, spelling, or topic. You just write.

The goal of freewriting is to write without second-guessing yourself — free from doubt, apathy, or self-consciousness, all of which contribute to writer's block. Here’s how:

Find the right surroundings. Go somewhere you won't be disturbed.

Pick your writing utensils. Will you type at your computer, or write with pen and paper? (Tip: if you're prone to hitting the backspace button, you should freewrite the old-fashioned way!)

Settle on a time-limit. Your first time around, set your timer for just 10 minutes to get the feel for it. You can gradually increase this interval as you grow more comfortable with freewriting.

5. Relax on your first draft:

Many writers suffer form perfectionism, which is especially debilitating during a first draft

“Blocks often occur because writers put a lot of pressure on themselves to sound ‘right’ the first time. A good way to loosen up and have fun again in a draft is to give yourself permission to write imperfectly.” — editor Lauren Hughes

perfect is the enemy of good,” so don't agonize about getting it exactly right! You can always go back and edit, maybe even get a second pair of eyes on the manuscript

6. Don’t start at the beginning:

the most intimidating part of writing is the start, when you have a whole empty book to fill with coherent words

instead of starting with the chronological beginning of whatever it is you’re trying to write, dive into middle, or wherever you feel confident

7. Take a shower:

Have you ever noticed that the best ideas tend to arrive while in the shower, or while doing other “mindless” tasks?

research shows that when you’re doing something monotonous (such as showering, walking, or cleaning), your brain goes on autopilot, leaving your unconscious free to wander without logic-driven restrictions

showering is my favourite thing to do if I may add

8. Balance your inner critic:

successful writers have in common is the ability to hear their inner critic, respectfully acknowledge its points, and move forward

You don't need to completely ignore that critical voice, nor should you cower before it

you must establish a respectful, balanced relationship, so you can address what's necessary and skip over what's insecure and irrelevant

9. Switch up your tool:

a change of scenery can really help with writer's block. However, that scenery doesn't have to be your physical location — changing up your writing tool can be just as big a help!

if you’ve been typing on your word processor of choice, try switching to pen and paper. Or if you're just sick of Google Docs, consider using specialized novel writing software.

10. Change your POV:

great advice from editor Lauren Hughes: “When blocked, try to see your story from another perspective ‘in the room’ to help yourself move beyond the block. How might a minor character narrate the scene if they were witnessing it? A ‘fly on the wall’ or another inanimate object?

11. Exercise your creative muscles:

Any skill requires practice if you want to improve, and writing is no different! So if you’re feeling stuck, perhaps it’s time for a strengthening scribble-session to bolster your abilities

12. Map out your story:

If your story has stopped chugging along, help it pick up steam by taking a more structured approach — specifically, by writing an outline

13. Write something else:

Though it's important to try and push through writer's block with what you're actually working on, sometimes it's simply impossible

feel free to push your current piece to the side for now and write something new

14. Work on your characters:

It follows that if your characters are not clearly defined, you’re more likely to run into writer’s block

15. Stop writing for readers:

write for yourself, not your potential readers

this will help you reclaim the joy of being creative and get you back in touch with what matters: the story.

this is something I really need to do. because of my etsy business i don't write for fun anymore, but instead as a business and a deadline. i'm going to have to pull out my old crappy wattled fanfics or write some new ones.

16. Try a more visual process:

when words fail you, forget them and get visual. Create mind maps, drawings, Lego structures — ideally related to your story, but whatever unblocks your mind!

17. Look for the root of it:

writer’s block often comes from a problem deeper than simple “lack of inspiration.” So let's dig deep: why are you really blocked? Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I feel pressure to succeed and/or competition with other writers?

Have I lost sight of what my story is about, or interest in where it's going?

Do I lack confidence in my own abilities, even if I've written plenty before?

Have I not written for so long that I feel intimidated by the mere act?

Am I simply feeling tired and run-down?

once you identify what's wrong, it'll be so much easier to fix.

18. Quit the Internet:

If willpower isn’t your strong suit and your biggest challenge is staying focused, try a site blocker like Freedom or an app like Cold Turkey

19. Let the words find you:

meditate, go for a walk, take that shower

Word Palette is a great app that features a keyboard of random words, allowing you to simply click your way to your next masterpiece.

You can also try AI auto-completers like Talk to Transformer, where you can enter a phrase and let the app “guess what comes next.”

even though they often produce nonsense, it's a great way to help that writer's block.

20. Write like Hemingway:

And if your biggest block is your own self-doubt about your prose, Hemingway offers suggestions to improve your writing as you go

it's a pretty cool app if you ask me.

it highlights your sentences (if need be) and makes suggestions on how to improve them!

well, there you have it! a lengthy post on how to fight writer's block. now i just hope i can combat my own soon.

like, comment and reblog if you find this useful! feel free to reblog in instagram and tag me perpetualstories

Follow me on instagram and tumblr for more writing and grammar tips and more!

[jackiebrackettt]

ok infodump time i can do that. gl with your essay friend :] i just woke up and i am absolutely not proofreading this but here u go

a bit ago i read this really interesting article about how they’re trying to make animatronics at disney have emotional responses to what the park-goers say. i’m pretty sure that would entail a change in facial expressions and telling the AI ‘now replicate what a human being might say in response to this comment — for example, if it’s an insult, act like a sad or offended person’. so yknow, not quite to the point of teaching robots how to actually feel emotions yet. but it begs the question of HOW we define the sentience of robots when it happens, because yes it’s going to happen? how do we identify the consciousness of another creature? we can recognize our own consciousness because we ARE conscious, and from the perspective of our own bodies we just know. we can guess that creatures like elephants are conscious because of their deep emotional responses, and they can recognize themselves in a mirror. okay but … ants can recognize themselves in a mirror, too, but cats can’t. so that might not be a good measure of consciousness. is there even any way to know? some people might say it’s impossible for these robots to start feeling emotions like humans, but if you actually think about emotions in humans — a complex array of this hormone and that hormone caused by varying stimuli — basically we can feel feelings because of the way our brains are coded. actually, humans are basically just really complex robots running on a script written by thousands of years of evolution. if humans themselves can write their own code faster, literally who is to say anything is stopping us from creating manmade sentient life? like what is the fundamental difference between organic life and robots that people cling to when they insist that sentient AI is just a sci-go fantasy?? if people were to start trying to code emotions into robots, eventually it’s going to happen. and disney is literally trying to do that, just so they can make their animatronics more realistic. it’s obviously a super cool advancement in technology, but like, did anybody on the development team actually step back and ask themselves, are we really trying to make sentient AI? and you KNOW disney is not the right company to be pioneering the handling of rights for the first sentient robots, they’re just going to get exploited. so. yeah. near future, AI is going to increase in complexity to the point that they will actually gain sentience, but there’s a good chance that people aren’t even going to know because consciousness isn’t a measurable quantity. so just always be nice to your robots kids and maybe they will just tell you nicely and then you can be friends :]

dude this is like.. SO incredibly interesting to me i’m going to re-read it all the time robot/AI sentience is like... apart from space my number 1 interest. I think what will help is looking into the term sapience - it’s what we are technically due to our ability to question things etc etc (can’t remember exact explanation) whereas most animals would be considered sentient

ANYWAY look as a Data from Star Trek fan ur absolutely correct on the emotions thing (the emotion chip thing was such a cop out my guy has always been feeling emotions just processed differently to everyone else) and I’ve thought about it so much before

this development kind of terrifies me!!! we are not anywhere close to living in a world where artificial intelligence/sapience/consciousness would be handled well!!! hal9000 from the Space Odyssey series is a brilliant look into the dangers of AI morality and emotion if not considered fully conscious beings

anyway considering so many ppl think siri or some shit is like going to start the robot uprising i don’t think we’re ready for a world where AI exists - especially not considering ur absolutely right companies will exploit them (some data episodes also go into this a bit - measure of a man specifically I think?)

anyway I’ve gotten carried away with this ask u just happened to infodump about the same thing I would lmaoo o(-(

[sage-nebula]

Game Review — Neo: The World Ends With You

In 2008 I played a JRPG unlike any other I had played before, or have played since. It was a self-contained story and for the most part I was okay for it to stay that way, though I was always curious what more could be done in the world, and hated how Square-Enix kept teasing us with the promise of a sequel that it seemed would never come. But now, 13 years later, that sequel has finally arrived.

Overall Score: 9/10

My personal feelings on the story and characters aside, overall Neo: The World Ends With You lives up to its predecessor in terms of gameplay, writing, music, and presentation. Unlike other sequels which fall woefully short of their predecessors, Neo does a fantastic job of staying true to the spirit of the original so that older fans can enjoy it just as much as new fans do. For more detailed thoughts, head under the cut (and onto my blog for formatting purposes).

The Pros: 

The writing, for the most part, is excellent. Again, I have more personal takes on the story and character beats that I’ll delve into on a different post, but in terms of how the dialogue and flavor text are written throughout the game, Neo has shown that the writing staff hasn’t forgotten what makes The World Ends With You spectacular despite it being 13 years. The humor is on point, the character of the fictionalized version of Shibuya that was created is on point. Even just playing the demo I could tell that the charm was still there despite this being written over a decade later and I couldn’t be happier with that fact.

The music is, of course, phenomenal. There are remixes of tracks from the original game that are great, because I’ll never say no to a version of “Transformation” or “The One Star” or “Someday”. But there are also original tracks that are just absolutely beyond fantastic, such as “Kill the Itch” or “Last Call” or “Bird in the Hand”. One of the things that sets The World Ends With You apart from other JRPGs is its music, and how it’s composed to be music comparable with what you could hear on a radio versus being very identifiable as video game music, and Neo delivered on that front yet again with both the remixes and the original tracks.

The gameplay is another area in which Neo shines. It would be impossible to replicate the battle system of the original game, something Square-Enix showed time and time again with their numerous ports and remasters of it. The original game was meant to be played on the Nintendo DS, and specifically the Nintendo DS, in that it was created with the dual screens in mind. As a result, the two partner system just didn’t work on the numerous ports and re-releases, and it wouldn’t be able to work in Neo either due to the fact that none of the platforms it’s releasing on have dual screens. As a result, Neo’s battle system is very different, but also very, very good. The battles are still real time, and you still control all of the characters at once (I don’t think there’s a way to let the AI take over like with the partner in the original game, but I could be wrong on that), but this time they’re all in the same plane of existence and you juggle up to six of them at a time. Instead of passing a light puck to power up a sync fusion, you’re instead bouncing combos in order to work up a Groove, which in turn lets you Beat Drop in what is essentially a version of the sync fusions, albeit not nearly as specific to the characters as the sync fusions were. There were times while playing that having to balance so many characters at once got a bit much, especially when trying out new pins with different reboot times, but overall the battle experience is incredibly smooth and is a perfect rendition of what TWEWY battling should be like on a single screen. Battles aside, there are numerous other areas in which the gameplay shined as well. Starting in Week 2 you gain the ability to move around the map more quickly in a way which integrates the BGM as well (which is important given how much thematic importance is given to music in these games), and in Week 3 you get an even faster method of travel via telewarping around the map. Pins are back, and with a story explanation given for why the characters can use any pins they please, you get different pins to use and elemental affinities to consider when picking out your decks. A new Social Network feature not only gives you additional information on various characters, but also grants you new abilities and can help you keep track of who is who, as well as who has a relation to whom. Little features like this definitely add to the experience of the game and make playing it feel fun, which is always of paramount importance when it comes to video games.

There is a ton of content, which again, is pretty important when you consider that this is a $60 game. Like the original game, there are three weeks of seven days apiece for the main story. In a way, this can make it seem like the game goes by too fast (especially if you binge play it like I did), but also like the original game, there is plenty of post-game content to do as well. For one, we once again get a light-hearted parody bonus chapter in the form of “Another Day”. For another, there are Secret Reports unlocked by completing special missions in each chapter that provide extra background information, as well as an unlockable secret ending as well. So although the main story can go by fast (especially if, again, you just can’t put it down), there is still plenty to do once the main campaign is completed and that’s always the mark of a brilliant game as well.

Speaking of, the game really is difficult to put down. Five hours passed by in a blink for me while I was playing, not only because the gameplay was fun, but because I just had to know what was going to happen next. There were times when I figured I would just start the next day and then put it down, but the next day began with something crazy happening and I had to follow up on it. For a heavily story-based game, this is yet another necessary strength and the developers pulled it off fabulously.

For the most part, the characters were all fantastic as well, newcomers and returning vets alike. The original game shined in how unique it made its characters, and Neo does this as well. The returning cast is (again for the most part) IC but with notable growth in their personalities and demeanors, and the new cast is equally as lovable (or detestable for those that are meant to be detested). Again, since this is a story-based game, having strong characters is a necessary requirement and Neo pulls that off just as splendidly as the original did, with few exceptions.

The game is also beautiful to look at, much like (at risk of sounding like a broken record) the original. The comic book art style has always been incredibly unique and charming, and they integrated the 3D graphics seamlessly with the art style to create a truly beautiful marvel to look at while playing. The character design is also worthy of a chef’s kiss, especially when wise decisions were made behind the scenes to swap the designs of certain characters (namely, Ayano and Kanon originally had each other’s appearance, before a smart decision was made to swap how they looked). All in all, this is a game you never get tired of looking at.

The Neutrals:

Despite there being a wide variety of pins to use (especially since any character can use any pin), there actually isn’t that much of a variety in terms of what the pins actually do. This is partially due to hardware restrictions; in the original game they could have sound based pins because the DS had a microphone, and the touch screen also allowed for different types of inputs as well. But current consoles don’t offer as much in terms of gameplay ingenuity, and as a result you get a lot of pins that are basically just clones of each other, which is a little bit disappointing when you compare it to the original (especially since I haven’t discovered many iconic sets yet, a la Darklit Planets or Brainy Cat etc).

While there are a ton of characters in this game, there is much, much less emphasis put on the citizens of Shibuya who aren’t involved in the Game, which in turn makes it feel like there are less memorable side characters than the last game. For the most part, the citizens of Shibuya are basically relegated to just being possessed by Noise, and that’s it. Whereas we saw their lives carry out over three weeks in the last game (such as Makoto’s evolution in both his social and professional life), here we don’t really get to see that, which is a bit disappointing as well.

The battle gameplay, while very fun and smooth, does feel a little less deep at times than it did in the original game. While in the original you had to learn to balance Neku’s pins with his partner’s psychs, here you’re basically button mashing in a rhythm in order to get the gauge up, which can get a bit tiring if you do a bunch of battles in a row. The fact that the Beat Drops aren’t unique to the characters like the Fusions were is another thing that, while not a huge detriment, still feels a little less special than the Fusions did in the original game.

Neo is a lot more plot-focused than the original, which was more character-driven. Don’t get me wrong, the original definitely had a plot as well, and Neo does care about its characters. But while the deeper aspects of the plot were discovered post-game through the Secret Reports in the original, here the plot intricacies are front and center. And while the first game spent way more time developing its characters and focusing on their inner struggles, here the character issues are mostly pushed to late game in order to focus on the plot. It’s not bad, but it is noticeably different.

You still don’t get to actually see the characters in the clothes you dress them in. While this makes sense (it would be way too much to program in), it’s still a bit of a letdown.

The fashion brands don’t really feature into the plot or world at all, with the exception of Gatto Nero because of who created it. Again, it’s not a huge deal, but I enjoyed how you could see which brands were most popular in different areas of Shibuya in the original, and how you sometimes had to boost the popularity of the brands via doing battle with those pins or clothes equipped in the original in order to clear missions. It made the brands you were wearing actually matter, versus just being fun flavor text.

The Cons:

The time travel mechanic, Replay, is probably the biggest con this game has to offer. While it does have consequences that I won’t spoil here in the very final act of the game, for the most part it completely negated the stakes for the vast majority of the game, because you knew that even if something terrible happened, Rindo would be able to go back in time and fix it. I was never worried about what the characters would encounter as a result of this, except for in a few instances where something bad happened after Rindo had already used his power for the day. This is a noticeable downgrade from the original game, where there were no Do Overs and Neku and the others had to live with whatever consequences the Game had in store for them, which made everything feel that much more dire. In addition to lowering the stakes, though, Replay also loses points for the fact that having to do the same events with slight changes over and over felt like padding. In particular, in the endgame there is a segment you have to go through about six different times, and it felt maddening. While I do feel like Replay was a homage to the Zero Escape games in that it works remarkably similar to Sigma and Phi’s SHIFTing ability (and Fret even calls the Game “the escape room from hell” which again calls to Zero Escape), for some reason it felt far more like a chore here than it did there, possibly because you couldn’t Jump at will here like you can in Virtue’s Last Reward.

I’m personally not wild about the adult/teen romances that were implied in the game, even though thankfully neither of them seemed reciprocated. Namely, Kanon viewed Fret as a kid given that she’s an adult and he’s a teenager, and Shoka never really thought about her relationship with Ayano that deeply even though Ayano seemed pretty in love with Shoka. But even though these relationships weren’t reciprocated, the fact that they were present at all is still something that I’m really just not wild about, and made me feel a bit uncomfortable while playing. (And yes, I know that Ayano and Shoka are said to be sisters in “Another Day”, but the subtext surrounding Ayano’s feelings in specific in the main story is so blatant it’s essentially overt text. I don’t want to get into it here since that delves more into spoiler territory, but I really just was not wild about it at all, especially since that’s the most blatant lesbian rep this series has given us thus far, which is disappointing to me, a lesbian.)

I don’t want to dive too much into this here because of spoilers, but: Neku. From his English voice acting to his writing, he was disrespected up and down in this game. Truly a massive disappointment in every sense of the word, and so he deserves a Con point all to himself.

There is a noticeable lack of minigames in Neo, as well as a lack of variety in the wall missions. We only had one instance of Reaper Review (that I encountered at least). There was no Reaper Creeper, nor was there Tin Pin Slammer, though both were mentioned. As someone who loved Tin Pin Slammer, I was so sad to see it not present at all in this game, and there wasn’t even a suitable replacement for it that we could play on the side, either. As mentioned above, the battles can get a bit boring after a while, so the fact that there weren’t minigames to help break them up truly feels like a detriment to what is otherwise a very fun game to play.

Fret’s Remind ability was a chore every time I had to use it. You had to hold the joysticks at certain positions and if you couldn’t solve it fast enough, you had to reposition them all over again. Maybe it’s just the Switch version that was having the issue, I don’t know, but I found it incredibly finicky and hard to control, which made me dislike every time I had to do it despite loving the little drawings that Fret conjured up when he used his ability.

In cases where Noise could interrupt your entire party at once, I found that I was unable to use pins a second or two before the interruption came. This was most notable with the elephant noise (fuck those elephants, me and all my homies hate those elephants, there were TOO MANY ELEPHANTS in this game) and the final final boss. Again, this could be a bug exclusive to the Switch version, I’m not sure, but it was annoying as heck regardless.

All in all, whatever complaints I may have, this game is extraordinarily fun and a wonderful sequel to an even more wonderful game. I’m incredibly happy with it and I’m glad that it lived up to expectations, particularly considering how long it took to arrive. Now we just need to wait 13 years for a third game. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready.

[isolaradiale]

The dark hues of the evening blended to lighter, softer blues of dawn. With every minute, the creatures of the museum began to slow until they stopped altogether, all at once. Whatever they were doing, they dropped it, and began to move their way to the places they had been before the museum took a turn for the lethal.

The artwork climbed back into their frames, stepped onto their pedestals, and walked back into their display cases. A light rain outside washed all the street paint away, color emptying into the drains in the city. Landscapes let their prisoners out, shutting the windows to their world.

Those unlucky enough to earn a spot on the Wall of Shame reappeared in the lobby, their wounds appearing as colorful splashes of paint, and nothing more.

As the oranges and golds of the sun trickled in through the ornate windows of the museum, a blaring voice interrupted the stillness as the intercom museum sparked to life.

"Goooood moooorning, my lovely little visitors! The door to the museum will be opening shortly. Please make your way back to the lobby in an orderly fashion, and be sure to grab all your belongings!"

As Capella promised, the large wooden doors opened once again, releasing all the prisoners of the museum.

"Thanks for visiting the Tempus Museum! Janus, did you want to say any parting words?" "I'm mortified enough as it is, thank you." Came a muffled voice from behind, sounding much less enthused.

"Aww, somebody's cranky... Well, suit yourself!"

As if to add *Extra Enthusiasm*, as everyone exit the doors, they passed by Capella's invulnerable form as she personally waved everyone goodbye, stickers glittering in the morning sunrise. Janus was still sitting at the reception booth, head in his hands and rubbing his temples.

"Bye bye! Goodbye now! Goodbye! Buh-bye! Bye now!" was the chorus that trailed off as she spoke, bidding farewell to the museum's visitors...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Thank you, everyone, for participating in our recent event: Canvas! As a reminder, you will receive event participation IF:

You've written a starter, thread, mini, or interacted with someone else using the event setting for parts 1, 2, or both.

You've written a 500 word drabble using the setting of the event for parts 1, 2, or both.

You did not have to participate in both parts to receive event credit (so if you only wanted to participate in part 1, it still counts!)

Remember that for participating in the event, you can give yourself 100 stars to use in the marketplace!

A few things have changed as a result of this event, also:

The Tempus Museum has decided to make its home in the Archimedes ward, for now, not far from the Theater of Calliope. Its structure and function is largely the same, but the Optimized Tools won't be there. The artwork won't come to life and attack you, either... during the daytime, that is. You can check out its full description on Archimedes' page!

Janus still takes his place as the museum's curator, and does his best to accommodate guests of the museum. It's not uncommon to see him taking and teaching courses and workshops in the museum, either! He's still polite and eager to help with anything involving the museum and its activities, but if asked questions about the Stars or Spirale, he'll politely explain that he doesn't want to get anyone into trouble. As in the event, on the odd chance that someone is hostile and violent toward him, they'll instantly be killed, and will respawn back in their room.

Thanks again for participating in Canvas! We hope you had a great time!

Frequently Asked Questions:

"Do the things we made turn back to normal?"

Yup! If you didn't destroy it in Part 2 of the event, whatever you made will turn back to normal.

"Will our artwork try to kill us at night?"

Nope! If you took it with you, it's of no danger to you. If you kept it on display at the museum, it's also no danger to you (or anyone else for that matter.) Only the original stock monsters of the museum come to life at night. But unless your muse breaks into the museum, you have nothing to worry about.

The monsters still have their damage invulnerabilities, so unless your muse has a death wish, maybe don't break into the museum without some serious planning. Shady art theft rings will buy your stolen artwork for a hefty price, though, so whether it's worth the risk or not is up to you.

The more often your muse breaks into the museum, the more the monsters will recognize their patterns. Breaking into the museum more than two times is almost impossible, and should be reserved only for the most cunning of thieves.

"What if we made weapons or jewelry? Can we take those back home too?"

Sure! Just know that the weapons will go back to being fragile, and will shatter if used in combat. Any jewelry will look very convincing, but if you try to sell them to anyone, they'll identify it as a fake. Not that they won't buy what you have anyway, but it certainly won't be worth the price of actual precious stones and minerals.

"Can we go back to the museum?"

Yes! It's open to the public from sunrise to sundown, unless there's a nighttime gathering at the museum (which you're free to come up with on your own if you'd like to use it in a setting for a thread.) You could also theoretically break in or sneak in, or hide until the place closes, but you run the risk of running into the guard patrols... or worse.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ (Epilogue)

As the visitors left the building, Capella skipped over to the front desk. Caelum emerged from the darkened corner of the lobby to join her, with the rubber stopper on his cane making soft thumps on the elaborate stone tile.

"Well, that was fun! Thanks for letting us use your museum, Janus." "You're... welcome, I suppose." "Good good! I'll come back here when I make more pieces to show off to the lovely people of our Spirale."

Punctuating this, her hands went up to playfully pat his cheeks.

"Ooookay! Well, until next time! And as for you, Dr. Caelum, I'll see you at this afternoon's meeting or whatever, right?" "Aha, yes I'll be there."

Saluting the both of them, her form vanished into a series of pixels, leaving the other two at the desk. Now that she was gone, the AI turned to give a pointed look at his father.

"...Mmm. Still angry, eh?" Came a chuckle, but the other didn't look so amused.

"You know, at one point, I would have congratulated you for feeling slighted. And I would have celebrated you experiencing such a thing. But you've been around for so long that these things come naturally to you now, don't they? Feelings like being angry... Now I just feel bad when you're upset like any other human."

Another more cheery laugh, and he walked himself over to the doors, motioning the other to follow. With the crowd gone, he could finally step outside and stand on the steps.

"...I am sorry for causing you trouble." "I know." "Good, I'm glad that came across." "I'm still irritated, don't get me wrong." "Yes, yes. I don't doubt it." "And I'm not sure if anyone will come back after such a thing. I wouldn't blame them. I just wanted a place to contribute to this whole thing, and now it's all..."

Sighing, he sat on the first step, watching the rest of the street illuminate in the warm glow of the sunrise. He only realized the old man beside him was trying to sit down when he gave a little huff of effort, and immediately helped his father down beside him.

"Ahh. Much better, thank you." "I could have gotten you a chair..." "Haha, that's alright. If you can sit on the steps, so can I."

For a while, the two sat in silence, watching the streets of Archimedes begin to wake up. Cars stirring, cafes opening, people walking their dogs.

"...Are you doing alright over there?" Janus asked, not turning his head.

"About as well as I can, mmhm." "You still have your migraine medicines down there, right?" "Mmhm. Dr. Lyra has been taking good care of my health, don't worry." "She's the nice one, isn't she? That's a welcome change from the other facility..."

A hand went to the Ai's shoulder, patting it reassuringly.

"Instead of worrying about my health, you should direct that concern inward, Mortimer. You have a place where you can walk around, do all sorts of things humans do. Talk to people, make friends. Play games, read books, paint your lovely canvases. You're not confined to the life we lived three years ago."

Silence followed for a little until the young man leaned against the older one. He must be pushing 70 at this point, right?

"...Are you in a place where you can refer to me by my name? And not that Star code that they made?" "Well, no. Not really. But I don't think anyone's listening. So I don't care~" "Ha! Rebellion got you into this mess, didn't it?" The AI replied with a laugh, earning another from his father.

"Well. Messes that they were, I can still sit with you without you being stuck behind a screen. So even after all the hells we've been through, I'd call that a success. Wouldn't you?"

A smile cracked on his face. They have gone through a lot.

"A success... it's nice to finally call something a success again, father. It's very nice."

[silentprincess17]

Ok, girl, you can't pump out all these titles and expect me not to be curious about all of them. 😂

I have a vague idea for the first, but the rest?!

Sometimes not everything is as it seems

The Adventures of G1007

The Bad Trope with Epilogue

HAHA this sort of tag game just exposes how many WIPS I secretly create and store away lmao. I love your enthusiasm and thanks for asking about three of them @zeldaelmo!

So: Sometimes not everything is as it seems is a completed and edited 20k fic that is the backstory of Alleyn, Link's father, in my For You series. Alleyn is not a good father, and he emotionally (and financially too although that one he doesn't explicitly realise) abuses Link. And this fic details, essentially, how that came to be. It's quite angsty, and it's also the first thing I've written in first person because it's a diary.

It's difficult to find a snippet that makes sense without all the other entries, but here's one from when he finds out Eliana (Link's mother) is pregnant:

Goddesses, I don’t think I’ve experienced so many emotions in one day, which is saying something really. I vacillated between excitement and an ugly mixture of anxiety, fear, and worry.

The day started off as it normally did, with Eliana snuggled in my arms. This is normally the most relaxing part of the day, a chance to just savour the feel of her close and warm and be grateful that she saw something redeemable in me. But today, she absentmindedly mentioned that she had suspicions that she might, in fact, be pregnant. She had already booked an appointment with the midwife in a few hours, apparently, and she would shortly find out.

I was initially shocked. To begin with there was the obvious family history she had with regards to childbirth, and that scared me. I couldn’t lose Eliana. I don’t think I would ever recover from such a loss. Secondly, fatherhood is not… well, it’s not something I was wholly against, but it is, rather stupidly, not something I had ever really considered.

I don’t know if I am ready. Or if I ever will be.

Because this ask turned out to be quite long- the next two are under the cut!

The Adventures of G1007, meanwhile, is a lighter fic that takes place as a side story in my For You world again. (I clearly have... too many ideas in this AU). It essentially details the efforts of Zelda, Robbie, Granté and Link to develop the first functioning Guardian Scout. They have no AI systems, so the whole thing is being piloted in this one poor guardian: G1007.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with software/AI/how this is supposed to work, so it's going to take a lot of research. I do have friends in that field however, and the document they sent me back with feedback overwhelmed me and I need time to sit and process it haha. So currently, this work is more of a fantasy that vaguely exists in my WIP Folder.

A snippet (which is as accurate as I could get it thus far aha):

A ^SilentPrincess^ identified in screen view

A ^GeniusEccentric^ identified in screen view

A ^CourageousHero^ identified in screen view

_New Command: *Move*

Function for *Move*

_First: -Activate limb-

In horizontal axis

_Activate primary motor in Limb All

_Activate secondary motor in Limb A

_Activate tertiary motor in Limb A

Processing First Command: Activating primary motors in All Limbs In Horizontal Axis

#Success#

Link had to stop himself from screaming as the G10-something parachuted into the air. Whatever the hell that thing was, he had absolutely no trust in it. 

At all. 

Goddesses knew why he needed to be trained with those things. All he knew was that Robbie was screaming and he reacted, grabbing Zelda to move her behind him, shield out in front of them both.

(If anyone is actually interested in why the guardian reacted this way let me know and I’ll try my best to explain lol)

And finally haha, The Bad Trope with Epilogue is actually my Yiga Clan series: Sometimes It Takes Losing It All, To Gain Everything You Deserve. The Bad Trope, in particular, refers to Sometimes Things Have To Get Worse Before They Get Better, because I came up with this fic using a bingo bad prompt exchange with my friend. I ended up liking the concept of it so much, that it turned into it's own series. The epilogue part refers to the other works spawned off, one of which I've again separated for ease of access: Pre-calamity Yiga Clan fluff, and the other epilogue is set during BOTW as Link recovers his memories... 

As I've already shared snippets of the pre-calamity fluff in this Zelink Kisses thread (made by you @zeldaelmo haha) here’s a snippet of the during botw fic:

“You can sit by the fire if you want.”

Did he?

He didn’t actually know.

He thought about it for a second. Maybe he’d actually regain some sense of consciousness if he did stare into the flames.

He sort of wanted to explore the land a little, but… maybe before he did that it was worth a shot exploring himself.

He decided it was worth it, just to take stock.

As he sat down, he realised that at the minute, he knew a grand total of one fact about himself: his name was Link. Even that, he hadn’t actually known- The Voice had spoken (um, actually, did it count as speaking if he heard it in his head?) and told him so. It was a pretty voice. Felt comforting for some reason. Oh, and he’d been asleep (?) for a while. A “long” slumber was what The Voice had called it. He decided the minute he heard The Voice he would trust it, implicitly. Whoever The Voice belonged too had clearly taken pity on him, given him his name, and a- well. A “slate”. Perhaps it did more than just have glowing circles on it but right now that wasn’t an immediate priority.

Why had he decided to trust The Voice? Was it just because The Voice knew him? Or because he was clutching at straws and if he didn’t trust The Voice then who else would he trust? This strange Old Man?

Okay that was harsh. He had let him have the baked apple after all.

Link- he was Link. He sighed. Who was Link? Who did Link know? Who was involved in the life of Link? Did Link have a family? Clearly The Voice knew Link. Who was The Voice to Link?

He frustratingly glared into the black abyss that was his memory, all of it gone. Empty. He felt a wave of sadness crush into him, for a family who might be waiting for him, but he didn’t know, and had no idea how to get back to.

And that is it! Thank you very much for the ask @zeldaelmo, and for all of you who have read up to here haha. It was really fun, opening up these WIPs that I have not looked at in a while! 

[theradioghost]

Do you have any podcast recs that are super easy for those of us with audio processing problems? For me specifically that means one voice (or maybe two if they’re very distinct) and minimal complexity in the soundscaping, though if you have recs that don’t fit those that you think might apply to other people w/ different audio processing issues you can talk about those too! :)

I can certainly try! I feel as though I should put it out there that I often have a difficult time gauging where a podcast sits re: audio processing/HOH listeners; the literal entirety of my day job is being good at telling what people are saying in audio, and my own audio processing problems mostly just result in my near-inability to keep up with actual plays, so if any of these are misjudgements on those terms I apologize in advance.

* means that I know there are also transcripts available for the podcast in question!

SAYER: scifi dark comedy/horror. In a morally questionable tech corporation’s moonbase facilities, advanced artificial intelligence SAYER directs employees about their daily routines; this then turns over time into possibly the best story about AI I’ve ever heard. Especially in the first three seasons, virtually all speaking is done by one voice. (Caveat that a few other characters come in later, and they’re actually all voiced by one guy with different filters, but the filters are pretty distinct and characters tend to identify themselves by default at the beginning of every conversation.)

*The Cryptonaturalist: comforting supernatural folksiness. The titular expert on all things strange and wonderful reads poetry, admires nature, and talks about wonderful creatures like foxes that live within library shelves, stick insects that camouflage themselves as whole trees, salamanders that swim in parking lot asphalt, and Owls.

*The Hidden Almanac: comforting supernatural weirdness. Hagiographer, avid gardener, and Mysterious Dude In Plague Doctor Getup known as Reverend Mord gives tidbits of the history of his strange and fantastical world, along with gardening advice. Sometimes his tequila-swigging accidental necromancer best friend coworker Pastor Drom shows up. Written by fantasy author Ursula Vernon and mostly voiced by her husband Kevin. Extremely relaxing to listen to; the show ended last year but they put out five-minute episodes three times a week for eight years so there’s plenty of it. The first year or so actually doesn’t appear on most podcatchers so maybe check out the website.

Everything Is Alive: poignant, heartfelt interviews with inanimate objects. While there’s a different object featured each episode, it’s mostly just them and the interviewer, plus occasional phone calls with an expert on some subject brought up during the interview. Hits so much harder than you could possibly imagine given the summary. You WILL be upset about a can of off-brand cola.

*Quid Pro Euro: bizarre comedy mockumentary. A satire of the European Union in the style of a set of instructional tapes for EU employees made in the ‘90s, predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. Their predictions are somewhat off. Only one voice and delightfully it is Felix Trench. I don’t know anything about the EU but I still think it’s hilarious.

*Glasgow Ghost Stories: spooky supernatural. A resident of Glasgow is unexpectedly able to see the many ghosts that reside in the city -- but the ghosts have started to notice her too, and not all of them are friendly. A beautiful and atmospheric single-voice show; plus the feed also contains the very good miniseries Tracks.

*Palimpsest: poetic and haunting. An anthology series about young women experiencing supernatural happenings, each 10-episode season tells a different story in monologue (I think there are literally two episodes with other voices in them). Poignant, gorgeous, and sometimes heartbreakingly sad in the best way. In season one Anneliese wonders about the strange neighbors at her new apartment. In season two, Ellen takes a new job as companion to a supposed fairy princess imprisoned in a strange showroom in turn of the century America. In season three, former codebreaker Josie begins to see the spirits of the dead on the streets of London during the Blitz.

*Within the Wires: alternate history scifi found footage. From a world where a calamitous global war resulted in the installation of a new Society where nations and family ties are banned, an anthology of voices telling their stories. Each season is a single voice. Season one, a set of relaxation tapes deliver unexpected instructions to a government prisoner in a strange medical facility. In sSeason two, a series of museum exhibit guides spin out the mystery of two artists and their work. In season three, a government employee dictates notes to his secretary and begins to suspect a plot. In season four, the traveling leader of a secretive cultlike commune leaves sermons for her followers, and instructions for her daughter.

*Alice Isn’t Dead: lesbian americana roadtrip weird horror. Keisha’s wife Alice was missing, presumed dead. Now Keisha is a trucker, traveling the vast American emptiness to seek her out; but she’s about to become embroiled in the same vast secret war that may have drawn away her wife, and she’s not alone on the roads. Starts with one voice, adds a new one each season for a total of three. Also is finished.

*Station Blue: psychological horror. Matthew takes a job as the lone caretaker of an Antarctic research station for several months. This goes about as well as you’d predict. Very much a slow burn, strange, brooding horror of isolation. Heavy themes of mental illness based on the creator’s experiences of bipolar disorder. 

*Mabel: dark, poetic faerietale horror. Live-in caretaker Anna attempts to contact the absent granddaughter of her elderly employer, the lone resident of a strange and ancient house in Ireland. A love story, a haunted house story, a fairy tale with teeth. This one might be hit or miss; it sometimes tends to the abstract a bit, and there’s more soundscaping and some other occasional voices besides the main two protagonists. Definitely worth trying out, though, this is absolutely an underappreciated gem.

*Janus Descending: tragic scifi horror. Two researchers, Peter and Chell, travel alone to a distant planet to survey the ruins of its extinct civilization. Unfortunately, they discover exactly how that civilization died out. Excellent if you like movies like Alien, and also being extremely sad. Only two voices. Really unique story structure: it’s told via the two protagonists’ logs of the events, but you hear Chell’s logs in order, and Peter’s logs in reverse, with their perspectives alternating. The result is a tragedy where technically you know the ending from the start, but it’s told so cleverly that just what happened and how remains a tantalizing, tense, heartbreaking mystery right until the end.

*I Am In Eskew: poetic, surreal horror. Only two voices and few sound effects. David is a man trapped in the twisting, malevolent city of Eskew, where the rain always falls, streets seem to lead the same way twice, and nothing can be trusted. Riyo is an investigator, making her way through rumors and questions in search of a man long missing and a place that seems not to exist. Maybe my favorite horror media ever? Deeply disturbing and yet even the most awful things are somehow beautiful. Like if Lynch, Escher and Mieville had a terrible, wonderful baby.

*Tides: contemplative hard scifi. When biologist Dr. Eurus is wrecked alone on a distant alien world shaped by deadly tidal forces, her struggle to survive also becomes a meditative exploration of the ecosystem around her, and a recognition that here, she is the alien. Mostly it’s Dr. Eurus; sometimes you hear from her coworkers. It’s got Julia Schifini, what’s not to love?

*Midnight Radio: ghost story/romance. A 1950s radio host who broadcasts a late-night show to her small hometown begins to receive letters from a listener and respond to them on air. I wrote this! It has a total of three voice actors and virtually no soundscaping. I promise it’s good.

[samueldays]

Skinsuit mindset, or how Buddhism gets pwned too

1. Identify a respected institution. 2. kill it. 3. gut it. 4. wear its carcass as a skin suit, while demanding respect.

-@iowahawkblog

(The full tweet in question adds #lefties, but I’ve increasingly come to feel that the left wasn’t the monster itself, just the most prominent suit worn by the Skinsuit Monster at the time.)

Today’s case of skinsuiting comes to us courtesy of the MIT Technology Review, which posted this dumb tweet:

Originally I was just going to share it with my friends on ephemeral media and have a small chuckle about how this was omnicide-bait and MIT Technology Review really should have thought out their phrasing better. No man, no problem, as Rybakov put it. (often attributed to Stalin)

Then I read the full article, “What Buddhism can do for AI ethics”, and had a feeling of [screaming internally] before falling into cynicism. It’s not just the twit who tweeted omnicide-bait. The full article repeatedly tees up the case for omnicide and hardly seems to notice.

Buddhism proposes a way of thinking about ethics based on the assumption that all sentient beings want to avoid pain. Thus, the Buddha teaches that an action is good if it leads to freedom from suffering.

The Buddha also taught a way of thinking about how best for everyone to die and stay dead (not reincarnate), because all life on Earth would inevitably involve suffering. A substantial chunk of Buddhist meditation is oriented to becoming a zombie of sorts: walking dead, not feeling suffering because you’re not feeling life. If you gave an archetypal Buddhist a lasting killswitch for Earth, he’d press it. I contend this would be an important subject to cover in an article on AI ethics -- if you gave a fuck about Buddhist teachings rather than being a monster wearing Buddhism as a skinsuit, doubly so when you’re halfway to making the case for the killswitch yourself.

A Buddhist-inspired AI ethics would also understand that living by these principles requires self-cultivation. This means that those who are involved with AI should continuously train themselves to get closer to the goal of totally eliminating suffering.

A Buddhist-inspired AI ethics would also understand that the best way of totally eliminating suffering is, again, omnicide. This is a controversial implication that Soraj Hongladarom should wrestle with!

But it’s not merely the unfortunate implications of the writer which leads me to cry “Skinsuit”. It’s the way the author so blithely skims over these implications as though he never thought of them. Whether this was by knowing more about Buddhism and what it advocates, or knowing more about Yudkowskyism and what it warns about, or knowing more about pop culture and the constant Robot Rebellions in fiction looking to end human suffering by ending humanity, or knowing something about moral philosophy... I’m sure there are other ways of noticing the problem here, I’m an internet commenter and I thought of four on the spot.

I don’t demand that he should have reached any particular conclusion. But if you’re a professor of philosophy, as Hongladarom supposedly is, and you’re going to write a longform article about the potential influence of Buddhism on AI ethics, I feel it’s grossly negligent not to even mention the possibility that this might imply or lead the AI towards a conclusion of omnicide.

But the Skinsuit Monster doesn’t know or care. The Skinsuit Monster is content to just gut Buddhism and gut the MIT Technology Review for new skin to wear as it continues monstering. (Demonstrating, we might say. The etymology of monster is an attention-grabbing spectacle, just like the modern mass-protest.) And the bloody claw of the Skinsuit Monster sticks out here:

Using technology to discriminate against people, or to surveil and repress them, would clearly be unethical.

“Discriminate” is a bait and switch word. Means-testing is discrimination. Progressive taxation is discrimination. Age limits are discrimination. Take your pick; some discrimination is clearly ethical - and the switch is something like “discriminate unethically”, which it is uselessly tautological to call unethical.

And here:

For any of this to be possible, companies and government agencies that develop or use AI must be accountable to the public. Accountability is also a Buddhist teaching, and in the context of AI ethics it requires effective legal and political mechanisms as well as judicial independence.

When the Skinsuit Monster says that such-and-such must be accountable, what it means is something like obedient. And when the Skinsuit Monster claims that some millennia-old philosophy happens to require public accountability and antidiscrimination and judicial independence too, you can see the whole suit tearing. This has fuck-all to do with Buddhism. This is someone using Buddhism as a meatpuppet to get a second vote for what he wants.

If you don’t like the skinsuit analogy, try the framing from @raggedjackscarlet​:

there’s more intellectual integrity in “I met Cthulhu and he told me the world should be ruled by zombie flamingos from Neptune” than in “I met Cthulhu and he told me to vote for Hillary”

Buddhism isn’t exactly Cthulhu, but Buddhism is far weirder than MIT Technology Review gives it credit for. Which is extra ironic when Soraj Hongladarom, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, is playing the part of the put-upon foreigner trying to ensure his native traditions get a say in the face of the overwhelming West-

Many groups have discussed and proposed ethical guidelines for how AI should be developed or deployed: IEEE, a global professional organization for engineers, has issued a 280-page document on the subject (to which I contributed), and the European Union has published its own framework. The AI Ethics Guidelines Global Inventory has compiled more than 160 such guidelines from around the world.Unfortunately, most of these guidelines are developed by groups or organizations concentrated in North America and Europe: a survey published by social scientist Anna Jobin and her colleagues found 21 in the US, 19 in the EU, 13 in the UK, four in Japan, and one each from the United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, and South Korea.Guidelines reflect the values of the people who issue them. That most AI ethics guidelines are being written in Western countries means that the field is dominated by Western values such as respect for autonomy and the rights of individuals, especially since the few guidelines issued in other countries mostly reflect those in the West.

-only to turn right around and endorse another flavor of Westernism, now in Thai skinsuit. Where’s your flamingo, Hongladarom? I don’t see you advocating a single uniquely Buddhist goal. Barely anything novel or interesting, let alone controversial. Your article might as well have been titled “How Buddhism Can Be A Loyal Handmaid To Western Progressivism.”

AI ethics guidelines should draw on the rich diversity of thought from the world’s many cultures to reflect a wider variety of traditions and ideas about how to approach ethical problems.

Gandhi is said to have answered “What do you think of Western civilization?” with the barb “I think that would be a good idea”. True or not, that exchange nicely sums up how I feel about Hongladarom here. Some diversity of thought would be a good idea, and I’m not seeing any.

Finally, lemme back up to a phrase I skimmed past earlier:

Accountability is also a Buddhist teaching

This is false.

There is indeed a Buddhist teaching which is often translated to English as “responsibility” or “accountability” in the headline summary. But the content of that teaching is along the lines of: ‘I own my actions, I bring consequences upon myself, I do things and I am responsible for what results...’

This is a far cry from Hongladarom’s call for accountability to the ‘public’, with the public of course being interpreted through appropriate political mechanisms.

Further reading: Moldbug’s How Dawkins got pwned series, if you have a few days.

[singledarkshade]

Days Like This

Summary: Gideon's new circumstances are sinking in, but the doctor coming to see her may help. Sequel to Can I Return This Gift Author’s Notes: Second part of my Chuck AU – more will be written but doubtfully in any order.                                ********************************************* Gideon Ryder lay on her bed listening to her brothers in the other room making breakfast and talking over the news, trying to force herself to get up and face the day because two days ago, everything in her world had changed.

Her former best friend, Miranda Coburn, turned out to have been a rogue Argus agent who sent Gideon an email filled with secrets that were downloaded into her brain when she looked at the computer screen.

Now Gideon not only had the information appearing at random times, she had two Argus agents watching over her at all times. One of which had been very fixated on killing Gideon not that long ago.

“You know you start work in less than an hour,” Gilbert called through the door, “Hurry up or you’ll be late.”

Sighing Gideon fell out of bed and headed for a shower before sliding on her uniform, it was time to face the day.

Stepping into Palmer Tech, Gideon winced to hear Ray call to her. He was the nicest manager anyone could ever have but he also left the team to their own devices a lot so he could work on his projects. But if he talked to you then he usually wanted something.

“Good morning, Ray,” she turned to him with a smile, hoping he wasn’t upset she was late.

“Hi, Gideon,” he nodded, “We have a new member of staff and although they’re not for the crew, I know you’re the best person to train her.”

Turning Gideon froze to see Sara Lance, Argus Special Ops, standing there, dressed in the black trousers and red t-shirt that the Palmer Tech sales team wore.

“Meet Sara Lance,” Ray introduced them, not noticing the look of astonishment on Gideon’s face, “Sara, Gideon knows the store better than anyone so I will leave you in her capable hands.”

With that said he disappeared into the manager’s office.

“Well,” Gideon started, trailing off as Sara frowned at her.

Sara motioned her to walk and Gideon reluctantly followed the other woman towards the empty AI Crew desk.

“Here’s the deal,” Sara got straight to the point, “Rip and I are here to protect you until we work out a way to get all our secrets out of that head of yours.”

Gideon nodded, “Okay.”

“So, I am stuck here in this…” she grimaced in disgust, “Pathetic sales job while Rip will be playing your boyfriend.”

Feeling her eyebrows raise into her hair, Gideon squeaked, “Boyfriend?”

“Well, your friend already saw you two go on a date,” Sara rolled her eyes, “So it won’t be such a stretch. This means you do as we say, when we say it and any time you have a flash, you tell one of us.” When Gideon said nothing, Sara demanded, “Understand?”

Gideon nodded.

“Good,” Sara replied, “Who do I get around here to do my work for me?”

Shrugging Gideon noted, “Probably Nate.”

Sara nodded, “Great. Oh, and one more thing,” she gave Gideon a dark look, “Make sure you follow the rules, don’t make me regret being nice.”

With that said, Sara disappeared to join the other red shirts leaving Gideon watching her back.

 Lunch finally came and Gideon headed out to the café across from the shop to get something to eat. Grabbing a chicken salad, Gideon headed out surprised to see Rip standing waiting for her. He was wearing dark jeans and a grey t-shirt under a brown leather jacket with sunglasses perched on his nose.

“Hi,” Gideon smiled despite herself, “What are you doing here?”

“I thought we could have lunch together while we go over our story,” Rip explained.

Gideon nodded, “Okay.”

Resting his arm around her shoulders, Rip drew her to the picnic tables on the edge of the park just behind the shop. Taking a seat Gideon smiled when he placed a soda next to her, her favourite kind. He placed one for him before he pulled out a sandwich for himself.

“I’m assuming Sara has already spoken to you,” Rip noted, “And I understand that it might be a little uncomfortable for you, but I promise there will be nothing untoward.”

“Rip, you have to understand I have not been in a relationship for a long time,” Gideon told him, “My brothers will be all over me to find out about you, they’ll demand to meet you and will try to intimidate you.”

“I’m not easily intimidated,” he gave a small amused smile.

Gideon chuckled.

“We have a doctor coming tonight to do some tests in the hope of removing the secrets from your brain, then you can get rid of us for good,” Rip told her, “So I will pick you up for date at eight tonight.”

                                 *********************************************

 Zari smirked as she leafed through Gideon’s closet, “Second date with your new guy. Are we going for sweet and innocent or sexy and seductive? Or did some things happen on your first all night date you won’t talk about?”

“I am going for comfortable,” Gideon replied, pulling out her favourite green top, “And nothing happened.”

Taking the top out of Gideon’s hand, Zari replaced it with a black one with lace sleeves, “This is a date top,” Zari told her, “That thing is for clearing out the cupboard with your brothers. This guy is hot and likes you, so maybe make an effort.”

Gideon watched Zari turn back to the closet before she shook her head sadly, she hated how excited Zari was that she’d met someone. The annoying thing was Gideon had liked Rip, and she thought they had really clicked except they hadn’t.

“Are you going out?” Gilbert asked appearing through the door, Gary following behind.

Gideon nodded, “I have a date.”

“Is this the same guy you were out with all night at the weekend?” Gary demanded.

Taking a long sigh Gideon nodded, “Yes, and before either of you try to be the overprotective big brother, don’t.”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy,” Zari spoke up, instantly getting a dark frown from Gideon when the two men turned to her sharply.

Pushing them out of the room, Gideon stated, “No.”

“We should get to meet this guy,” Gary tried to protest as they were shoved out the door, “Just to make sure…”

“I will break every one of your computers if you even think about finishing that sentence,” Gideon threatened, “Now, go away. I am getting changed then going out.”

Shoving them through the door, she slammed it before either could say anything else.

“Don’t say another word,” Gideon stopped Zari speaking, before she snatched the top out of her friend’s hand.

 Gideon felt her mouth go dry as Rip drew up in front of the building in a gorgeous black convertible giving her a smile when he stopped.

“Are you ready?” he jumped out and opened the passenger door for her.

Nodding, she slid in and watched him close the door before returning to the driver’s seat and drove them away. Gideon wished briefly that this really was a date, that instead of going to see some kind of doctor they were heading out for dinner or the cinema or anything fun, but they weren’t.

As handsome, interesting and sweet as Rip had been, it had been an act, so Gideon had to accept that - despite the appearances he’d made in a few of her dreams.

She frowned as Rip drew up at the store she worked in, “You really know how to show a girl a good time.”

He chuckled, “We’re using the Home Cinema room for the tests, we didn’t want to expose you to an Argus facility.”

Relieved by that thought, Gideon didn’t notice Rip get out the car until he opened her door and offered his hand to help her out. Taking his hand Gideon felt Rip squeeze it briefly.

“Okay,” he said as he led her to the curtained off section of the store, “You have no need to worry about this. It’s just a few non-invasive tests, Sara and I will be here the entire time.”

Taking a seat on the couch, Gideon put the headphones on as Rip directed and turned to look at the screen. Rip disappeared leaving her alone and Gideon wished he was still there.

“We’re going to start now,” Sara’s voice came suddenly, “Alright, there are going to be some images on the screen. All you have to do is say what you see.”

Shrugging, Gideon leaned back and started to talk.

 On the other side of the store Rip stood with Sara and Dr Wells, all listening to Gideon recite the secrets she had in her head as pictures were shown to her, her voice altered so he couldn’t identify her in any way. The man they’d brought in listened a look of amazement on his face, while Sara made sure he didn’t try to meet his patient.

“Well, Doctor?” Rip asked as the test ended.

Wells shook his head, “Incredible. We theorised that someone could hold that type of information in their head but all the tests we did showed it would be one in a million. The fact Patient X is not only storing but able to access these so well is astonishing.”

“But can you remove them?” Sara demanded.

Sighing Wells shook his head, “No,” he quickly held up his hand to stop them snapping, “At least not just now. The Intersect project was a specialist team and none of us worked on removing the information until we knew how to put it in.”

Rip frowned, disappointed for Gideon. But even though he knew Sara hated being here, Rip actually didn’t mind it. Central City was one of the more peaceful places he’d been sent to and, so far, this protection detail was one of the easiest.

Wells pulled together his things, “I will speak with Director Waller and perhaps next time, I’ll get to meet my patient.”

“I’ll see you out, Doctor,” Sara said, nodding to Rip before leading the other man out.

Rip headed back to where Gideon was waiting for him. The moment he opened the curtains, she looked round and her grey eyes looked at him hopefully. Taking a seat at her side, Rip took Gideon’s hand.

“I’m guessing the answer is no,” she said, looking down at his hand for a moment.

Rip sighed, “It’s not no, just not yet.”

“So, until then…”

“Until then,” he said when she trailed off, “You work with us and we will keep you safe.”

Sadly she nodded.

Against his better judgement, Rip wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, “It’s going to be okay.”

                                 *********************************************

 Rip connected his comm to the TV screen in his new apartment and waited as it activated. A few seconds later Amanda Waller, Director of Argus appeared.

“Ma’am,” Rip nodded.

“Agent Hunter,” she stated, “Dr Wells has given me his report and it looks like you will be remaining in Central City indefinitely. Agent Lance will be joining us soon, but I wanted to speak to you first.”

Rip winced inwardly knowing exactly what this was about.

“Due to your personal history and connection with Agent Coburn,” Waller continued, “I want to know if you can do this job.”

Taking a slow breath Rip replied, “I can do whatever I need to. You sent me to protect the Intersect and I will do that to the best of my ability. Miranda betrayed not only the agency I took an oath to but everything I believed in.”

“Very well, Agent Hunter,” Waller nodded, “Your priority above and beyond everything else is Gideon Ryder. Her safety and her well-being, including her mental health is your main concern. The Intersect must be protected.”

Rip nodded just before Sara appeared on the other side of the screen.

“Agent Lance,” Waller nodded to her, “How are you settling into your new apartment?”

Sara’s distaste was obvious, “Just fine, Ma’am. I have the surveillance of the asset installed fully both in the apartment complex as well as the store.”

“Excellent,” Waller told her, “I know you usually both work for different departments, but you have been chosen for this assignment due to your unique skillsets. I expect you to work together to ensure the asset is protected.”

They nodded in agreement and the screen went blank. Alone once more Rip dropped to sit on the couch and pulled out his phone, flicking through the photographs of him and Miranda. They’d met the first day of training and were instantly paired together, when they finished training and were sent out into the world, they made sure to stay in touch. Meeting up whenever they were close to each other, and Rip loved her.

Finding out she had betrayed them to steal the Intersect had cut so deeply, and it was one of the reasons he was going to protect Gideon Ryder.

Because he wouldn’t let Miranda’s betrayal destroy anyone else.

[sagemoderocklee]

Hello! For the meta asks, would you do 1, 5, 8, and 17?

you did not come to play, lilac! thanks for all these questions! <3

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  –   what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

oh lord. that’s a... question. i have. so many current projects, i don’t even know where to start. this is gonna be long so please bear with me lol i’ll probably give more detail for some fics over others, and i’ll only go over fics I’ve got documents for because otherwise we’d be here forever.

The Art of Love: so this one is obvious because it’s been in progress for the last 2ish years? no i think it’s three now. I won’t go into detail with this because the fic is roughly halfway through, so there’s plenty of content for that up! I’d say the progress with that fic is actually going really well, though. Unlike Alliance, which took 8 years--five years of writing, three of editing--TAoL has been up for way less time, and is already about to hit the halfway mark! I really need to get back to it, tbh because it’s been way too long since my last update.

Honor Bound (sequel to Alliance): so this is.... kind of on pause. I’ve got the first three chapters written, but my focus has been more on TAoL when it comes to my more complicated, long running stories, so HB has taken a backseat. I think I won’t get back to working on the Allied Nations Saga until after TAoL is done, in all honesty.

Find Me: this is my HS AU, which has been on the back burner forever and I feel terrible because I think it may honestly be my most popular fic. Unfortunately, AUs/slice of life stuff is difficult for me because I’m more interested in politics, so I lost momentum on this fic. It is about halfway done. I have a good chunk of chapter six written, but not enough that I could say I’m close to finishing it.

It Eats Your Heart: obviously I just started this one, and it’s a horror fic. I’ve really gotta sit down and do some major plotting on it because I only have some very vague ideas currently.

Pearl-Filled Lungs: this is one of like three ningyo AUs I have--the other are pirate/ningyo AUs (and ones actually a selkie not a ningyo). I started it last year for the GaaLee fest, and it’s been sitting unfinished for far too long. I finally sat down recently and plotted the whole thing out, so I’m hoping to get back to working on it soon! It’s only 5 chapters in total, so I don’t think it’ll take me super long to get through once I sit down and do it.

Who Dares to Love Forever: This is a working title, and I may change it. This is a fic idea I’ve had for a couple years, inspired by the song Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen. This particular fic is a vehicle for my sage mode!rock lee headcanon, and explores just how effective Chiyo giving Gaara her life would have been given she was an old biddy. So the idea for this fic is that Gaara’s running out of time because Chiyo only had so much to offer.

Absolution: this is another fic that I’ve had on the back burner for years. it was initially inspired by art by @brianadoesotherjunk but quickly spiraled into something much bigger because of course it did. This particular fic is one I’m extremely excited about. I need to go back over the first part, because I feel like it’s not quite right, but I do technically have the first part done. This fic follows Gaara struggling with bouts of narcolepsy that trigger nightmares induced by trauma and guilt from his childhood. These nightmares are incredibly dangerous for obvious reasons, but even more so because Temari’s baby is on the way. Temari and Shikamaru are married, living in the Kazekage estate, and with their baby coming and both needing/wanting to get back to work, they also need a nanny. Unbeknownst to Gaara, the year prior to the events of the fic, Maito Gai died, succumbing to the 8th Gate finally, and Lee has since been spiraling. His depression has become so self-destructive that he’s been taken off active duty. Shikamaru, along with the rest of the Konoha 12 (minus Neji and Sasuke), get together and discuss what to do. Tenten believes that Lee being a nanny would be the perfect thing. And so Rock Lee is sent to Suna, hired by Shikamaru and Temari as their live-in nanny...

We Need Not Be Yellow Tulips in a Garden of Gardenia’s, Yet We Go the Way of the Red Camellia: true to form, I decided that a hanahaki fic was something I had to do, and I was not going to pass up the chance at being as Extra As Possible with the flowery language, ergo the ridiculous title. I’ve gotten part way through the first chapter of this fic, but the whole thing is roughly plotted out and each chapter title is just as extra as the whole fic’s title.

Thirteen Strokes: so this is a fic I have--once again--had on my mind for ages, and--once again, because I am nothing if not a caricature of myself--inspired by a Florence+the Machine song, All This and Heaven Too. I started writing this the other night, as I wanna use it for GaaLee bingo. It’ll be 13 chapters, as per the 13 strokes that it takes to make the character for love, ai, in Japanese. The fic is from Gaara’s PoV, and follows his journey with and his relationship to love, with lots of worldbuilding and politics because it wouldn’t be an Eeri Original without those things.

Scarification: this is another idea for bingo based around the prompt shinshoubyou, which is a fictional disease where your emotions cause physical marks on you

Fill in the [  ]: another bingo idea, based around the prompt bouaishoukoigun, the fictional disease where you forget the person you love if it’s unrequited.

The Eagle’s Augury: an idea that allows me to play around with more worldbuilding and focus on Karura. In this fic, the curse (mentioned briefly on the Naruto wikia) that has led to every single Kazekage being assassinated, is coming for Gaara, and Karura is trying to warn him from beyond the grave. At the same time, Temari and Shikamaru’s marriage is approaching, and their ceremony is being held in Suna, with all the fan fair a marriage for someone from the Kazekage line should see. Again, another fic inspired by Miss Florence+the Machine, the song is Mother

Pomegranate Sun: this is a fic that I am... so excited about. Another fic that was originally inspired by a Queen song, Under Pressure, and has of course taken on a life of its own. This fic, I am actually going to be writing with @ghoste-catte! It’s an arranged marriage trope, and I’m super pumped for it! We’ve only got a little bit started, and it has obviously not taken priority for either of us since we both have a lot of fics on our plates.

The Ballad of the Dragon and the Phoenix: this is a fic I’m really excited but is going to take a LOT of research to get off the ground. I had this idea sometime last year, I wanna say? This fic is another self-indulgent headcanon about Lee’s origins, his family, etc. This fic starts when Gaara shows up on Lee’s doorstep, asking him to accompany him to another country for reasons Lee cannot understand. Gaara has been in talks with Phoenix Kingdom, hoping to forge a new relationship only to find that the Emperor wants to use shinobi for militaristic purposes. Lee doesn’t understand what help he could possibly offer the Kazekage, but he can’t very well turn him down.

okay, i’m gonna stop there. these are the ones I have titles and documents for, and honestly that’s probably way more than you wanted to know about lol

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with? 

Despite the fact that most of my fics end up from Gaara’s PoV, I actually identify with Lee the most!

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Yes! Which is hard to find, tbh, because I am a sucker for political dramas with slow burn romances, but I don’t see a lot of that in the GaaLee fandom. I’m not as into like slice of life or short stories where the characters get together quick, I’m really not into established relationship fics unless it’s a sequel, so I tend to avoid those. I like AUs but it really depends on the AU, because I ultimately prefer the canon and I love seeing the way people write the shinobi world and all its rules and cultures and things. I’m just a big fan of worldbuilding, politics, and slow slow burns. Not this 25k SLOW BURN! crap because that is NOT a slow burn. I wanna see a fic that’s 200k words in and they still haven’t even figured out they’re in love! I like stories I can really sink my teeth into, ya know?

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

Oh gosh. I generally don’t think too much about it except like hoping people don’t think I’m like a stuck up asshole because of how I talk about my writing, writing in general, my hcs, etc. I mean, obviously I don’t expect everyone in this fandom to like me--and there are ppl I’ve gone out of my way to be vocally against because they do nasty shit--but largely I feel like I come across as too intense, so even the general population of GaaLee fans that I do want to interact with I’m always a lil nervous that people secretly don’t like me and basically are like “oh god this bitch again” when they see me in the tags. But I just get really excited and invested in my ideas, and honestly for the longest time this fandom was SO small and there weren’t a lot of people putting out content regularly so it was like a handful of us so I think it made me more emphatic about GaaLee lol I think I always like assume people aren’t as excited about my writing as I am or that people are like “too much politic, i need more romance”.

I’m always surprised when people really love my AUs, like Kado or Find Me have had such fantastic reception, and it’s like people just eat that shit up so much. And then I look at like Alliance or Art of Love and get kind of confused because I think by comparison those are more interesting and more developed than my AUs. I put a shit ton of work into everything I write, especially anything that requires research, so it’s not to say that I do less work per say, just that I feel like TAoL and things like it are more interesting and more developed, and the relationship feels.... somehow more to me there than in an AU.

a lot of my motivation really just comes from the lack of content this fandom had for so many years, and the fact that Naruto could have been a much more interesting series and I love worldbuilding so much. I think my motivation for each fic is different though. Like Alliance was started because I wanted to write something different from what was mainly in the fandom at the time because mind you I started that in 2010. But my motivation for TAoL is more wanting to tell a beautiful story with a complex narrative that looks at the failings of the shinobi world. Whereas like any slice of life fic is really just meant to be a fun break. And sometimes I write something literally just because I wanted to fulfill that trope for the GaaLee fandom--again, a lot of my ideas have been sitting for years and years and years (TAoL was an idea I had literally right after starting Alliance, but I didn’t get to it until 2017), so a lot of ideas that are old are because at the time that trope hadn’t been fulfilled yet in the fandom though that’s changing a lot with the recent GaaLee Renaissance of the last couple years.

[platypik]

“My whole life, people have been hiding the truth from me”

“You must know where I came from”

On that wonderful implication that Light Hope is “hiding the truth” from Adora (courtesy of the new trailer), I’d like to share a small (pretty big) theory I’ve been sitting on for some time:

Light Hope is not to be trusted, the role of She Ra is not what it seems, and (most importantly) the First Ones are Evil, actually. 

So why are they such bad news?

For starters: the First Ones were not natives, they “settled” (Light Hope’s words) Etheria. They’re imperialists. Not a good start already. And yet First One’s technology controls every aspect of Etheria’s functionality (from weather to the elements), going so far as to make up the very core of the planet.

The First Ones came to Etheria, gutted it to fill with their own tech, obstructed the natural order with their technology, and forced the elemental and magical force of the planet to bend to their will (harnessing it through Rune Stones).

They were literally hollowing out the planet and then building alien technology into and onto it that was more than likely harming or even destroying the planet and its inhabitants.

*Cough*

[More below the cut - main points are bolded]

Season 1 & 2 Spoilers Ahead!

Going along with the idea that the First One’s were cool with messing up or flat out destroying the place (at the least junking it up), means that the First One’s likely gave zero fucks about how their work was going to affect or harm the natives.

This likely wouldn’t be their attitude towards the planet were Etheria the first and only planet they’d conquered. This implies that the First One’s had already “settled” a number of planets in addition to this one. That they even have a system in place for settling new planets.

Light Hope introduces herself as a “facilitator” and from what it sounds, she controlled the First One’s major infrastructure on Etheria. Her central importance is backed up by the fact that her hologram appears in every ruin we’ve seen thus far. Seems such an important job should go to a First One (maybe with the HELP of an AI, but still).

Etheria is not special. 

Quick aside: here’s further proof that the First Ones were definitely doing something to the planet when they hollowed it out:

“Facilitator” doesn’t sound like it’d be very important work, at least not from the title. Not enough to warrant direct supervision under a First One apparently, or even garner a title outranking “facilitator.”

it certainly doesn’t sound like the title given to someone doing something as important as running a planet. Unless of course, running planets is old news and really not that important at all.

Now MAYBE they got the natives’ permission for all this. PROBABLY not.

And I’m sure not every Etherian was ready to roll over and accept the alien invaders and what they were doing to their planet. No, I think they put up a fight for Etheria and its integrity. The proof of struggle is in the ruins the First One’s left behind.

Any time the main cast has gone near a First One’s anything, without prompting, it’s tried to kill them -- except a handful of times when Adora identifies herself as an administrator.

Even that doesn’t prove to be enough every time. Even after Adora clears herself in the beacon in S1, the First One bugs still attack Catra (even after she insists Catra’s no threat).

An implied fear of non-First One trespassers of any kind strongly suggests there was opposition to the First One’s.

Otherwise, why build so many safeguards and security features?

First One’s tech is designed to attack, kill, and protect. It was potent and durable enough to withstand centuries later, so these are no light security measures. What purpose could it serve having all that security if all is peaceful on Etheria?

Thus:

She Ra was a peacekeeper, and her “purpose” was to force cooperation and control amongst the natives

Light Hope says She Ra was “appointed by the First Ones to protect and unite [the] planet”: to keep the peace.

So then what the hell was She-ra supposed to be ‘uniting’ and ‘keeping the peace’ for before the Horde existed?

You can interpret She Ra’s role as existing to put down totalitarian regimes such as Hordak’s or to enforce one such regime (by putting down “unpeaceful” protesting and “uniting” everything under the First One’s control.)

This sounds A LOT like what the Horde is doing now. And if the parallel holds true: there was likely a rebellion group of natives fighting against the alien invaders messing with their world and literally tearing out its core.

I realize this seems farfetched still, but it makes more sense after the next point:

Mara didn’t “lose it”. She rebelled against the corrupt First Ones alongside Etheria’s natives

History’s written by the victor’s, and the ONLY person who we’ve heard shit talk Mara is Light Hope. Madame Razz speaks kindly of Mara, and the ancient legends celebrate She-ra as an epic hero: not as a derailed young woman who massacred a bunch of innocents in a crazed rampage.

Surely, if Mara had directed her aggression on the Etherians, that would have shown up in their legends, and they would likely not be so kind to She Ra. Again, the only one who seems to have a problem with her is the First One facilitator.

No -- Mara very purposefully rebelled against the First Ones.

What proves Mara’s attacks weren’t random or deranged but were specifically targeted against the First One’s?

Her attacks were not random. For one, there are no “old Etherian ruins from the great Mara massacre." (Rebuilding and time-lapse aside).

Her attacks were premediated: Mara seemed to zero in specifically on communication devices used to contact First Ones off-world (the Beacon, the Communication Hub, and the Broadcast Tower in the orchard).

The narrative makes a point to specifically say that Mara was the one to scourge these places. More than likely, she did it as a way to keep the First Ones from phoning home for help.

She went after them meticulously, hitting them where it hurt most. None of this lends to the mental image of her being off her rocker.

More than that: we’ve seen what the First Ones are capable of, even centuries after they’re gone. Adora has had a hard time dealing with First One threats, and yet we’re supposed to believe Mara casually took down the whole lot of them while lacking any form of sanity or the ability to strategize and think rationally? Or without help?

Light Hope says Mara “was compromised. She gave in to fear and faulty reasoning.”

According to Light hope, Adora’s conviction to stay attached and to have friends was also “faulty reasoning” -- specifically the same faulty reasoning that led Mara down the ““wrong”” path.

The desire to stick by your friends, to do what’s right and not just do what you’re told, and the tendency to think for oneself and reject blind loyalty -- these are traits Light Hope rejects as “faulty”.

And what good guy, EVER, has promoted the message “yeah dump your friends, they’re just slowing you down.”

Mara realized what the First Ones she served were doing to Etheria (gutting and assimilating the planet to the point of its destruction), thus she turned against the corrupted First Ones, joining her companions in the rebellion against the invaders. She chose friendship over blind loyalty.

Because of this she was colored as deranged, misguided, and corrupted by the First Ones.