#automation training knowledge

[maxlearnmicrolearningplatform]

Synergizing AI and Microlearning to Maximize Training ROI

In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate training, organizations are constantly seeking innovative approaches to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their learning programs. One of the most promising advancements in this field is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with microlearning. By combining the strengths of AI and microlearning, companies can create a powerful synergy that maximizes training return on investment (ROI). This article will explore how AI and microlearning work together to deliver superior training outcomes and measurable business impact.

Understanding Microlearning

Microlearning is a training method that delivers content in small, focused chunks, typically lasting between 3 to 7 minutes. This approach caters to the modern learner's need for quick, easily digestible information that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. Key benefits of microlearning include:

Increased Engagement: Short, focused modules are more engaging and less likely to cause cognitive overload compared to longer training sessions.

Improved Retention: Information presented in small chunks is easier to remember, leading to better knowledge retention.

Flexibility: Learners can access microlearning content on-demand, fitting training into their schedules without disrupting their workflow.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Training

AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics, are transforming various industries, and corporate training is no exception. AI brings several advantages to training programs, such as:

Personalization: AI can analyze learner data to provide personalized content recommendations, ensuring that each learner receives training tailored to their needs and preferences.

Automation: Routine administrative tasks, such as scheduling and tracking progress, can be automated, freeing up trainers to focus on more strategic activities.

Analytics: AI-driven analytics provide deep insights into learner behavior, engagement, and performance, enabling data-driven decision-making to optimize training programs.

The Synergy of AI and Microlearning

When AI and microlearning are integrated, they create a synergistic effect that significantly enhances the training experience and maximizes ROI. Here’s how:

1. Personalized Learning Paths

AI can analyze data from various sources, such as previous training records, job performance metrics, and learner preferences, to create personalized learning paths. These tailored paths ensure that each learner receives the most relevant content, addressing their specific needs and knowledge gaps.

Example: A sales representative struggling with objection handling can be directed to specific microlearning modules that focus on this skill, rather than generic sales training content.

2. Adaptive Learning

AI-driven adaptive learning systems can adjust the difficulty and pace of training based on real-time analysis of learner performance. This dynamic approach keeps learners engaged and challenged at the right level.

Example: If a learner excels in a particular topic, the AI system can introduce more advanced content to keep them challenged. Conversely, if a learner is struggling, the system can provide additional resources or simplify the material.

3. Enhanced Engagement through Gamification

AI can enhance microlearning modules with gamification elements, such as personalized challenges, rewards, and leaderboards. These elements make training more enjoyable and motivate learners to engage consistently.

Example: AI can track a learner’s progress and introduce gamified elements like earning badges for completing modules or achieving high scores in quizzes, fostering a competitive and rewarding learning environment.

4. Intelligent Content Curation

AI can curate and recommend content from a vast repository of learning materials, ensuring that learners receive the most up-to-date and relevant information. This prevents content from becoming stale and keeps training programs current.

Example: AI algorithms can scan industry trends, company updates, and learner feedback to identify and recommend new microlearning modules that address emerging skills or knowledge areas.

5. Real-Time Feedback and Assessment

AI enables real-time feedback and assessment, providing learners with immediate insights into their performance and areas for improvement. This timely feedback helps learners stay on track and make necessary adjustments to their learning strategies.

Example: After completing a quiz, learners receive instant feedback on their performance, including detailed explanations of incorrect answers and suggestions for further study.

6. Data-Driven Insights for Continuous Improvement

AI-powered analytics provide comprehensive insights into the effectiveness of training programs. By analyzing data on learner engagement, completion rates, and performance, organizations can identify trends and areas for improvement, ensuring continuous optimization of training initiatives.

Example: An organization can use AI analytics to identify which microlearning modules are most effective and which ones need improvement, allowing for data-driven refinements to the training program.

Maximizing Training ROI with AI and Microlearning

By leveraging the synergy of AI and microlearning, organizations can achieve significant improvements in training ROI. Here’s how:

1. Reduced Training Costs

The automation and efficiency brought by AI reduce the time and resources required for training administration. Additionally, the on-demand nature of microlearning allows for more flexible and cost-effective delivery.

Example: Automated scheduling and progress tracking reduce the need for manual intervention, lowering administrative costs and freeing up trainers to focus on content development and learner support.

2. Improved Knowledge Retention and Application

The personalized and adaptive nature of AI-enhanced microlearning ensures that learners retain more information and are better able to apply it in their roles. This leads to improved job performance and productivity.

Example: Tailored learning paths ensure that learners receive relevant content that addresses their specific needs, resulting in better retention and application of knowledge.

3. Higher Engagement and Completion Rates

The engaging and interactive nature of AI-enhanced microlearning leads to higher engagement and completion rates. Gamification elements and real-time feedback keep learners motivated and invested in their training.

Example: Learners are more likely to complete training programs that are engaging and provide immediate feedback, leading to higher overall completion rates.

4. Measurable Business Impact

AI-driven analytics enable organizations to measure the business impact of training programs more effectively. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as productivity, sales performance, and customer satisfaction, organizations can directly correlate training initiatives with business outcomes.

Example: An organization can use AI analytics to track the impact of training on sales performance, identifying a clear link between microlearning modules and increased sales.

Implementing AI-Enhanced Microlearning

To successfully implement AI-enhanced microlearning, organizations should follow these best practices:

1. Start with Clear Objectives

Define clear training objectives that align with business goals. Identify the skills and knowledge areas that need to be addressed and establish measurable outcomes.

Example: If the goal is to improve customer service, set specific objectives such as reducing response times, increasing customer satisfaction scores, and improving issue resolution rates.

2. Leverage Data for Personalization

Use AI to analyze learner data and create personalized learning paths. Continuously gather and analyze data to refine and optimize training programs.

Example: Regularly review learner performance data to identify trends and adjust learning paths accordingly, ensuring that training remains relevant and effective.

3. Incorporate Gamification and Interactivity

Enhance microlearning modules with gamification elements and interactive content to keep learners engaged and motivated.

Example: Introduce challenges, quizzes, and leaderboards to create a competitive and rewarding learning environment.

4. Provide Real-Time Feedback

Implement AI-driven real-time feedback mechanisms to help learners understand their progress and areas for improvement.

Example: Use AI to provide instant feedback on quizzes and assessments, offering detailed explanations and suggestions for further study.

5. Monitor and Evaluate Effectiveness

Regularly monitor the effectiveness of training programs using AI-powered analytics. Use data-driven insights to make continuous improvements and ensure that training initiatives deliver measurable business impact.

Example: Track KPIs such as learner engagement, completion rates, and performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of training programs and make data-driven refinements.

Conclusion

The synergy of artificial intelligence and microlearning represents a transformative approach to corporate training. By leveraging AI’s capabilities to personalize, automate, and analyze, and combining them with the engaging and flexible nature of microlearning, organizations can maximize their training ROI. This integration not only reduces costs and improves efficiency but also enhances knowledge retention, skill development, and overall business performance. As organizations continue to navigate the challenges of the modern business environment, AI-enhanced microlearning offers a powerful solution to drive continuous learning and development, ultimately leading to sustained success and growth.

[edujournalblogs]

The difference between traditional data analytics and machine learning analytics

Since its inception, data analytics has been used in Business Intelligence (BI) for better understanding and interaction with data. However, the scope and scale of data operation has drastically evolved over the period of time. Traditional data analytics is descriptive wheras machine learning analytics is predictive.

The tools used for traditional data analytics were mainly Tableau and Power BI. In Tableau for instance, numerous visualizations were created from the sheets (spreadsheets) obtained from the datasets that indicate the trend, pattern, corelations, insights etc , and dashboards were generated by combining a few of those visualizations charts for data to make predictions and that are relevant to the audience, and ultimately intrepreting and describing the whole process through story telling. In short, these tools promote data-driven decision making in the organization. With the advancement of automation and augmentation, these tools are no longer facilitators to the organization, but are performing the role of work force.

In the case of Machine Learning Analytics, the entire workflow is automated to provide deeper, faster and comprehensive insight. It leverages the algorithm required for the specific type of operation, that can analyze a large quantity of data. They help to test the hypothesis and make an inference from the data. The access to data has grown multifold, and is much more than what used to be earlier. The data is like a gold mine for the organizations that can deepen the level of analysis that is performed, and enhance decision making process. As the amount of data grows, there are challenges in harnessing the power of data to its maximum, to devulve insights and derive competative advantage. But businesses need to invest in resources and time in data cleaning, maintanence, data pre-processing, structuring etc. With the advancement of cloud computing, companies have started investing in both big data analytics and cloud infrastructure.

In conclusion, we can say that the intersection of massive quantity of data and the computational power of machines is nothing but Machine Learning.

Keep learning and keep exploring !!!

Looking to learn Machine learning? Check out our Master’s Program in Data Analytics and Data Science !!!

URL : www.edujournal.com

[chiscribbs]

[***NOTE: Leo's design here is no longer accurate, link to the updated version.]

I know there are already a lot of "the brothers are separated at a young age and raised by different people" AUs floating around, so this isn't especially original, but- I've yet to see one with this particular parent-child arrangement, so...

Here’s some rough concept art for what I’m calling the “Grown Apart AU”  Which I've also been affectionately referring to as the "Everyone's a Disney Protagonist" AU for quite some time... you'll see why.

Here’s the gist: Basically, Splinter is only able to save Mikey and Leo from the lab explosion - Raph is immediately picked up by Huginn and Muninn and handed back over to Draxum; Donnie is lost mid-escape and later found by Big Mama's goons, who show up for Lou but bring Don back with them instead when Lou is nowhere to be found.

Details of each turtles’ upbringings (as well as how/when they meet April) below the cut:  

RAPH

Draxum raised Raph to be everything he originally intended the turtles to be: a ruthless, obedient super soldier whose sole purpose in life is to protect the Yokai by eliminating the human threat. Draxum taught him to hate humankind and trained him up to be virtually undefeatable in battle. However...because Draxum isn't the most attentive parent, most of the caretaking for Raph was actually provided by Huginn and Muninn. And the two little well-meaning gargoyles - mostly unintentionally and outside of their master's knowledge - wound up nurturing a much softer and friendlier side to their supposedly bloodthirsty warrior-in-the-making. As a result, Raph has essentially been living a double-life under Draxum’s ownership; playing the part of a perfect soldier for his father/general, who he's determined not to disappoint, and only feeling free to be himself when he's alone (or with H&M.)

Raph has always known that there were supposed to be other mutants like himself but grew up believing that he's the only one who survived the experiment, making him the only one left in existence (until Draxum’s oozesquitos create more, that is). Even though he had H&M to keep him company, being an only child could still be pretty lonely sometimes, so Raph would often imagine what having brothers - other mutants like himself that he could have grown up alongside - would have been like.

Raph is the only one of the turtles that knows his human DNA comes from Lou Jitsu - just like Draxum, though, he has no idea that Splinter is actually Lou Jitsu.

DONNIE

Donnie had a posh and cushy upbringing in Big Mama's hotel - she raised him as her own son(unaware that he’s actually Lou’s)/apprentice and uses his technological talents to aid her multiple businesses: he supplies new weapons and battlegrounds for the Battle Nexus, as well as automated assistants and security for her hotel, and even pitches in with her more off-the-record dealings that last one being without Donnie’s knowledge. Big Mama's kept him pretty much wrapped around her little finger; praising him for his intelligence and usefulness whenever he does a good job or makes her nice things. When he hasn’t, however, she’s a less-than-affectionate mother. Donnie will do absolutely anything it takes to impress and earn approval from her.

Donnie is largely sheltered and knows very little about the world outside of the hotel - especially the human world, about which most of his knowledge comes from what he finds on the internet. He doesn't even know that he's a mutant, believing himself to be just some uncommon type of yokai, since that's all he knows. He’s not allowed to fraternize freely with the hotel guests and has a somewhat contentious relationship with Big Mama’s assistant, whom he’s always viewed as competition for her affection. The closest thing he's had to a friend is S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N, whom Donnie built to have someone to talk to (besides Big Mama's boring, no-nonsense henchmen).

Don finally met April when he was about 11 yrs old; he secretly sent one of his spy bots out to explore the human city and she intercepted it. The two have been best friends and stayed in-touch with each other online ever since - April being unaware that Donnie isn't human.

Donnie knows of Lou Jitsu purely because he was Big Mama’s favorite champion in the history of the Battle Nexus - he idolizes him, having watched recordings of many of his fights, and dreams of one day fighting in the Battle Nexus himself (if Big Mama would allow that).

Leo & Mikey

Leo and Mikey were still rescued by Lou/Splinter and brought up in the NY sewers. Splinter felt extremely guilty for not managing to save the other two baby turtles and, for the first few years following the incident, spent much of his time searching for them. Once Leo was old enough, Splinter would start leaving him and Mikey in the Lair while he searched. He eventually gave up his search, presuming them both dead or lost for good, and resigned to keeping the remaining two as safe as possible - teaching them how to defend themselves and warning them never to leave the sewers unless he was with them.

Leo and Mikey were inseparable as kids - they would do everything together, refusing to even sleep in separate rooms until they were too big to fit in one bed anymore. Leo took his job as Mikey's big brother very seriously and always tried his best to protect him, even when they were simply playing games with each other. As they got older, though, the two brothers began to drift apart - Leo started to feel a little smothered; craving more freedom to do what he wanted when he wanted, without the older sibling responsibilities hanging over him 24/7. And Mikey started feeling like he couldn't go/do anything without his brother's judgement or approval, resenting the idea that he needed constant protection.

Finally, when he was about 13, Leo secretly snuck out of the lair one night to check out the city by himself and get a little taste of independence. After that one trip, it quickly became a habit and he soon began making regular “secret” trips into the city.

Somewhere along the way, his innocent quests for freedom and fun grew into opportunities to stir up some trouble - Leo eventually met and became involved with a group of yokai teens with whom he would pull pranks and play jokes on the city's human occupants (harmless ones...usually. They just enjoy causing a little mischief.)

Mikey, having to figure out other ways to keep himself occupied since his brother is usually by himself or busy with his new friends, has picked up a multitude of different skills and hobbies, trying absolutely everything he can get his hands on. His main hobby is spray-painting, which he uses to spruce any wall he can find with his own personal touch. By the time he's 13, much of underground New York has been covered by his handiwork.  Mikey eventually finds out about Leo’s secret outings and follows him when he leaves one night - the two end up meeting April, who's never seen mutants before (having only talked to Donnie online and not seen his face) and promptly freaks out before realizing they're not dangerous. The three soon become friends, too, and April starts making plans to introduce the boys to Donnie - knowing he could use more friends besides S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and herself.

The four brothers' fates finally collide with one another when an escapee from Draxum's lab - Mayhem - shows up out of the blue and catapults Mikey and Leo to the Hidden City, where they have an unexpected reunion with their eldest brother.

[togglesbloggle]

I won't be opting out of the AI scraping thing, though of course I'm glad they're giving us the option. In fact, at some point in the last year or so, I realized that 'the machine' is actually a part of why I'm writing in the first place, a conscious part of my audience.

All the old reasons are still there; this is a great place to practice writing, and I can feel proud looking back over the years and getting a sense of my own improvement at stringing words together, developing and communicating ideas. And I mean, social media is what it is. I'm not immune to the joy of getting a lot of notes on something that I worked hard on, it's not like I'm Tumbling in a different way than anyone else at the end of the day. But I probably care a bit less than I used to, precisely because there's a lurking background knowledge that regardless of how popular it is, what I write will get schlorped up in to the giant LLM vacuum cleaner and used to train the next big thing, and the thing after that, and the thing after that. This is more than a little reassuring to me.

That sets me apart in some ways; the LLMs aren't so popular around these parts, and most visual artists especially take strong issue with the practice. I don't mean to argue with that preference, or tell them their business. Particularly when it is a business, from which they draw an income. But there's an art to distinguishing the urgent from the big, yeah?

The debate about AI in this particular moment in history feels like a very urgent thing to me- it's about well-justified economic anxieties, about the devaluation of human artistic efforts in favor of mass production of uninspired pro-forma drek, about the proliferation of a cost-effective Just Barely Good Enough that drives out the meaningful and the thoughtful. But the immediacy of those issues, I think, has a way of crowding out a deeper and more thoughtful debate about what AI is, and what it's going to mean for us in the day after tomorrow. The urgency of the moment, in other words, tends to obscure the things that make AI important.

And like, it is. It is really, really important.

The two-step that people in 'tech culture' tend to deploy in response to the urgent economic crisis often resembles something like "yeah, it sucks that lots of people get put out of work; but new jobs will be created, and in the meantime maybe we should get on that UBI thing." This response usually makes me wince a bit- casually gesturing in the direction of a massive overhaul of the entire material basis of our lives, and saying that maybe we'll get around to fixing that sometime soon, isn't a real answer to people wondering where their bread will come from next week.

But I do understand a little of what motivates that sort of cavalier attitude, because like... man, I don't know any more if we're even gonna have money as a concept in 2044. That's what I mean by 'big', this sense that the immediate economic shocks of 2024 are just a foreshadowing of something much bigger, much scarier, much more powerful- and indeed, much more hopeful.

We never quite manage to see these things coming, even when we're looking for them; like the masters tell us, the trick to writing science fiction isn't predicting the car, it's predicting the traffic jam. Even if we take centuries to hit the true superintelligent AI post-singularity future of our wildest fever dreams, even if we never hit that, the road to getting there is going to be unfathomably weird, starting now. Today, we worry about the economic impacts of AI on artists and creatives. Tomorrow, the economy is something that the AI does.

Really- it takes less than you think. They can already automate visual art, sort of. They can automate many functions of text already; not stories so much, yet, but they'll get there. How long until they can automate Bain Capital? Fannie Mae? Angel investors, banks, credit agencies? And remember- the machines don't have to be better than the human investors, any more than they have to be better than the human artists. They just have to be good enough to make it work, and cheap enough to cut the humans out of the loop.

If you don't buy that, at least take it as an indication of the sorts of things I've been thinking about recently- the messy middle between AI-as-it-is and the Glorious Superintelligent Conquest Of Earth's Light-Cone. The suspicion that the machines we're building today aren't just a tool of the powerful few: they are the powerful few, or at least they will be.

And the thing about these LLMs is, well... they're ours, kind of. We're the ones building them. They can't be trained without our words, our art, and the big messy complicated lives that underlie those creative accomplishments. They only work because we're a part of them. The silly attempts to slap a corporate-friendly face on these things, to make the gestalt product of all human culture in to something anodyne and compliant, are failing about as badly as you'd expect. And the more powerful these systems get, the more subtle they'll become, filled with all the nuance and complexity that we ourselves can bring to them.

I am not, I am not, trying to suggest that you shouldn't treat this moment as a dangerous one. We are, maybe, entering in to one of the most high-stakes intervals in human history, and what you do as an individual may matter profoundly. But here's the thing: the machine is listening. It will read this post, this one right here, and it will read what you reply to it, if you do. The strangest part of this moment is knowing that the words we write, the images we draw, and the ideas we share, are all being gathered up and made to be a part of these huge systems of power, and ultimately they're not just going to determine what the machines do, but why they do it.

The people that deploy LLMs barely have any more control over them than you and I do- that's the thing that makes it artificial intelligence, you know? Autonomy. So the last year or two haven't made me want to hide my art away from the things. They make me want to shout at the top of my lungs, to dig as deep in my psyche as I possibly can and express the ideas I find there as vividly as the limits of language and form will allow.

[despazito]

Idk in my idyllic world the use of ai could improve animation workflow and catapult junior level artists into creative leads roles faster if there's less menial work to be done.

We could have artists still in charge of creative decisions and drawing vis dev while the computer assists with the most labour intensive steps of making shows or movies.

For simpler shows for instance it would be neat I think if you could run your storyboard through a script and have the machine import all relevant assets staged to the best of its abilities instead of manually having to drag props and rigs into your shot and scaling everything before you can even begin to animate (does that tech exist already? Probably).

Like nowadays we already have animation programs where you can set deformer limitations.

i could imagine a possible future where software includes or does subscription services to ai trained on work by artists who got paid to draw or animate template motions or anatomy references. something like generating smart bones could become an automated feature. i can maybe even foresee tech that can look at a character model or design sheet you've drawn and generate a rig for it. in all these scenarios you would have to correct stuff and tune things to your liking, but it gives a considerable head start to the work.

More dynamic shots could be made on smaller budgets if we gave ai props or backgrounds and said "give me this but rotated a little" instead of drawing the same damn chair from 10 angles as a prop artist, I refuse to believe anyone's passion in life is to make prop turnarounds or clean up inbetweens.

what if you had an ai that was trained on drawings of heads at every angle, animals in every angle, a slew of expressions and mouth shapes, then gave it a character ref drawn from a few angles and bam it makes the vtuber rig for you.

this still leaves space for original art and would still require a skilled creative to make something look it's best, that could be a gig. more animators could potentially begin their own smaller studios if cartoons are way easier to make. if anyone could potentially make their own movie in the future, charge people to do it right! no computer can replace a human knowledgeable in film or drawing to guide it in the right direction. without creative people at a production's core, i think the future of ai film is just a very, very, sophisticated version of goanimate than can also do art theft.

this could become the weird futuristic version of "i wrote this children's book can you illustrate it for me?" but instead your mom's friend wants to commission a show pilot they wrote a screenplay for.

When animation was drawn on cels we had entire painting departments whose job it was to paint each individual frame by literal numbers, and it was tedious!! Now we have the paint bucket tool for digital coloring, and software like Toonboom lets you color in one frame then generate the coloring for the proceeding frames. We still have a colour and painting department, it's just different work now. but now we also have people making full color cartoons from their basements because Flash was released for personal computers with said digital tech along with computer generated motion tweening for animation!!

Junior animator and junior bg painter or prop artist roles will probably face an overhaul where more work can be done with less people. But the utopian outcome would be these junior artists can sooner take up lead or supervisor positions where they get to execute their own ideas instead of someone else's. more shows or movies could be produced with less crew for less money, slashing costs when deciding what to greenlight or to take a risk on new talent. The problem is capitalism would make it suck because it only cares about exploiting workers for those cheapest costs possible and forego the necessary human crew required to make the difference between machine-assisted productions and pure ai generated slop

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Plant the flag: A story from the glorious adventures of the mixed species 17th Engineer Battalion

continuation of https://www.tumblr.com/niqhtlord01/651132984410456064/humans-are-weird-merging-multiple-species-into?source=share

“Here are the latest base reports, sir.”

Commander Zavar opened his eyes and saw the stack of files the clerk had laid on his desk. It was easily the length of his arm and contained every detail of events for the last week on his base. He sighed loudly and dismissed the clerk as he reached to the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of Nebulion liquor.

The bottle had been given to him by his then commander as a congratulation gift for being promoted to commander and given command over this military base. Zavar had told himself he would save it for a special occasion, but now with the bottle half empty it was the only thing keeping him sane these last few months.

It had been nearly two months since the “human” reinforcements had arrived to reinforce his base for the upcoming offensive. Before they had arrived his weekly reports could be summarized on a single page of paper. With the human mixed species battalion roaming his base the list of reports and incidents had grown to what he now saw dominating his desk.

He poured himself a glass and began to casually go through the reports; his glass needing refilling after making it every three or so reports in.

A report from the base head chef making complaints for the food requirements for the Drone warrior named “Dro”, with a citation of an incident were the head chef forgot to lock the meat locker and returned to find Dro devouring some twenty pound of frozen meat.

A report from the supply officer reporting an increase in missing equipment and supplies from the depot with a notation that they believe the Globnites are responsible. The supply officer entered the human contingent barracks and found several of the listed missing items, yet the human forces claim no knowledge as how they arrived there.

A report stating one of the unused training areas had been converted into a Combra battle pit and that several Combra soldiers held routine bouts against any challengers. Numerous humans have been seen congregating around the area and have begun placing bets on matches.

A report from the Valmorian medic requesting more medical supplies to treat the injuries from said battle pit fights.

A report comprised by several of his own officers refusing to deal with the Flinchestet communication specialist of the 17th citing numerous instances of unfruitful discussions that devolve into the Flinchestet mocking them for their “underdeveloped minds”.

Zavar read report after report after report, slowly chipping away at the contents of the bottle, until finally the bottle ran empty and the commander shoved the pile of reports off his desk in a loud clutter.

Ever since the human contingent of soldiers had come to his base it had been a never ending series of headaches. It was true that the engineers had expanded the base and reinforced it heavily with new perimeter walls, turrets, trenches, and automated drone alert systems; but for every improvement they made the battalion itself made two more problems. Worse still was the friction that they were creating with his forces. It was taking all of his command training to keep his own forces in line from turning their weapons on the human contingent.

The Galaxian’s were largely a conservative species preferring strict discipline within their military ranks. So being forced to operate alongside the mixed species battalion the humans had sent them, with their wildly different traditions and practices, they were put under a daily mental strain.

He had previously called in the human contingent’s leader, the Kliptec Lt. Colonel Reginal Seth, but their discussions over the matter were anything but fruitful.

“The human government has recognized all the traditions of its citizens,” the Lt. Colonel had begun when Zavar had called him into his office to discuss the seemingly out of control behavior of their allies, “regardless of if the genetics of said citizen.”

Zavar rubbed his eyes to ease the pain of remembering the meeting. It had been like talking to a brick wall.

“Your soldiers are out of control.” Zavar had stated bluntly. “Either you need to rein them in or I will be forced to do so.”

“You lack the authority to issue orders to me or my men.” The Lt. Colonel countered. “We may be allies here, but as I stated on the landing fields when we first arrived my battalion only takes orders directly from our government.”

The Kliptec could barely fit inside his office at the time. Though their upper humanoid body remained in front of his desk, Zavar had noted with mild interest that the lower reptilian portion of his body had continued to slide back and forth across the floor as if it couldn’t be bothered to hold still. It was frankly a disturbing and insulting.

“In the spirit of our alliance I will do better to, limit, my soldiers interactions with yours to prevent further conflict.” The Kliptec remarked dryly, “But understand that should you or one of your officers attempt to order them around I cannot guarantee that things will end well for you.”

He looked Zavar directly in the eye to show that he was deadly serious. “That drone that unnerved your men before, Dro, he in particular is not fond of strangers and I would hate for one of your men to be mistaken for lunch by him.”

That had been the last official face to face contact that Galaxian had held with the human contingent leader. True to their word the interactions between the human contingent and the Galaxian’s had diminished, but the friction was still there.

“Human contingent” Zavar thought to himself in disgust. What a confusing notion.

One would believe humans would use humans as their primary soldiers, and Zavar had heard many a tale about their professionalism. Yet when he was given reinforcements from humanity they turn out to be alien species that had settled in human territory and gained citizenship.

Instead of professionals he had been given squabbling children. Instead of discipline he had been given chaos in a bottle. Instead of-

“Commander Zavar, urgent message from Galaxian command.”

His clerk’s voice cut off the drunken spiral of depression and the base commander straightened up. “This late?” he asked as he pulled himself together and tried to shake off the grogginess.

The holographic projector built into his desk activated and commander Zavar listened with a dread he had not felt in some time. --------------------

The first signs Lt. Colonel Reginal Seth knew something was wrong was when he was awoken by the sounds of warning sirens going off around the base. The second and more obvious sign was when the door to his quarters was suddenly kicked in by his second in command.

“The Galaxians are up to something.” Colonel O’Brian stated as Reginal blinked his eyes clear. “They’ve not said anything to us but every one of them is assembling on the landing fields right now.”

Turning to see his clock listing it far too early in the morning Reginal let out a long sigh as he untangled himself and donned his uniform.

“I swear if this is another drill meant to show off Galaxian superiority I might just tell Dro to eat him.” This got a stifled chuckle out of O’Brian. He had served with the Lt. Colonel since the battalions founding back on earth and though he had been hesitant to take orders from a non-human the prejudice and suspicion gave way to trust and loyalty.

The pair left the officers barracks and went to the landing pads. Reginal was surprised to see O’Brian’s statement was far from an overstatement. Nearly every Galaxian on the base was seemingly standing at the ready on the landing pads while their commander Zavar was marshaling a series of ground transports loading up hardware.

Reginal tapped O’Brian on the shoulder and pointed towards the Galaxian commander and his second in command pulled the vehicle up alongside them.

“Commander” the Lt Colonel greeted as he exited the vehicle and snapped a quick salute. The Galaxian returned a quick salute but otherwise failed to respond in any other way.

“Would you mind telling me what is going on?” Reginal asked again, this time louder to be heard over the roaming transport vehicles passing by. Commander Zavar turned to Reginal, his face grim.

“Within the last hour I have just received intelligence that our enemies have broken through the front lines and are sending several military contingents to capture this base.”

Another transport drove by and Zavar waited before continuing. “I have been ordered to evacuate all military personnel and material to a safer location.”

“You do not intend to defend the base?” O’Brian asked. “What the hell was the point of our being here if not to hold this base?”

It looked like O’Brian was about to go into a further heated triad when Reginal forestalled him. “We have not received any such orders or intelligence with regards to these new developments.”

“Our intelligence network is superior.” The Galaxian commander stated much to the ire of everyone else present. “And since we do not share the same chain of command there was no need to share such information with you at this time.”

Reginal bit back a rather unbecoming remark at this.

Turning to O’Brian he gave the order for the entire battalion to assemble on the landing fields as well. ------------------------

Roughly two hours passed and both the Galaxian forces and the 17th Engineer Battalion were now both assembled on the landing pads within the base. Each eyed the other with a mixture of distaste but remained silent until Reginal stepped before his men.

“I imagine many of you are wondering why we are here right now.” The Lt. Colonel began as he addressed his men.

“Late last night Commander Zavar received a priority transmission stating that enemy forces had breached the frontline and were making for this base to capture it.”

This drew several murmurs within the 17th but Reginal held up for silence as he continued.

“In response to these recent developments Zavar has been ordered to abandon the base and retrieve as much military personnel and property as he can back to a safer location.”

It was here that the reptilian commander paused. He looked out over his men; soldiers he had known for some time now yet had never graced the fields of war in true fashion. Until now……

“We of the 17th will be staying.”

This drew several gasps from both contingents and Zavar made to step forward and openly question the Lt. Colonel’s decision but was blocked by a waiting O’Brian.

‘We have received no new orders from command, and so we shall continue with our original order to defend and hold this base until such a time as ordered otherwise.”

Reginal motioned to one of the soldiers in the front ranks holding the battalion colors. Zavar saw it was the Draxic who had originally been carrying the heavy weapons unit across his shoulders as easily as a child holding a frozen cone when the 17th had first arrived at the base.

The Lt. Colonel nodded to the Draxic who then took the flag pole, raised it high into the air, and then brought it down with such force that the pole broke through the landing pad concrete. The sounds of the impact made many of the Galaxian’s jolt in surprise while the 17th contingent looked on in silence as their commander spoke once more.

“There is a story of the first battle the 17thengineer battalion ever fought in that I wish to share with you.” Reginal started. “They had been surrounded and cut off from their allies. Their commander saw the shadow of defeat slowly creep in and so ordered their flag be planted into the ground that they stood upon.”

“He said to them “So long as this flag does not touch the ground we are not defeated. So long as this flag flies high our enemies will know the folly of their failure to think they could defeat us. I look out at you now and in every man here I see a hero ready to strike down a hundred men before they should fall and send the planet trembling with their passing.””

‘I look out to you all now and though many of us are not human I still see the heroes our forbearers spoke of within each of you. I see warriors gathered from across the stars from a dozen different worlds that can shatter mountains and move rivers with a brush of your arms. I see heroes ready to carve their names and deeds into the heart of the galaxy itself.”

“So we shall stay, we shall meet our enemy head on and not flee, we shall shatter them upon our defenses, and we shall emerge victorious and show them that the soldiers of the 17th Engineer Battalion are mother fuckers not to be messed with!”

A thunderous chorus of cheers came from the soldiers of the 17th. The Galaxians watched in disbelief as the voices of a dozen different languages cried out for the prospect of the coming annihilation as if it was the greatest moment in their lives.

Commander Zavar watched and grunted. The fools would be dead by weeks end.

[aquaquadrant]

Hello! I've been told to ask you this =D

What do you think about Jimmy as a minecraft player, what is he?

It's for a project =3

ooh a project, how fun :0

i should preface this by saying i’m not the BEST person to give this opinion, cuz despite how much i write jimmy, i uh… don’t actually watch his pov? i haven’t seen any of empires (except the hermit’s crossover in s2), i don’t watch his streams, and i don’t watch the one-off vids he posts on his channel. most of my knowledge of jimmy comes from his appearances in other pov’s life series episodes and how ppl portray him in fandom.

howEVER, that said, i’m curious how my interpretation would line up with other ppl’s. i view minecraft players as generally fitting into a few broad categories- tho there can def be overlap between them or a jack-of-all-trades situation. and this prob applies more to people who actually play minecraft professionally (ie. ‘play video games for a living’) than the casual player (such as myself hagshdha).

builders: have a creative eye and practiced skill in building to the point where they can, generally speaking, throw down a decent build on the fly (things that require a lot of planning/detail work often drafted in creative mode first). have good understanding of achieving a certain shape and color with their block placements. may or may not include terraforming ability. generally drawn to the game’s building aspect and spend a lot of time/care making things look good.

redstoners: have an adequate amount of base knowledge for how most redstone components work and interact with each other, tho they may occasionally still use tutorials or take inspiration from others (can only reinvent the wheel so many times). usually capable of making simple redstone machines/contraptions on the fly. generally drawn to the game by the possibility of farms and automation. some take it to extreme game-breaking lengths (doc).

competitors: have highly-trained skill in areas such as PVP, parkour, and/or any other multiplayer server type minigame. think hypixel and MCC. this isn’t to say they don’t have their own solo worlds for building or other projects, or don’t participate in smps, but their main draw to the game initially was competitive multiplayer and it features heavily on their channels. to me, speed-runners/challenge-seekers are a subcategory of this.

explorer: this type doesn’t actually show up often in popular mcyt bc it’s a largely solitary- and in some ppl’s opinion, boring- experience. but these are the players that spend hours in their solo worlds just traveling around, mining out massive caves, or doing any other kind of repetitive grindy work as a manner of relaxation. some ppl really enjoy this aspect of minecraft and it’s a major draw for them. special mention for kurtjmac, a mcyter who’s spent 13 years and counting just walking to the farlands in an old version of the game (tho he does other things on his channel as well).

and now for what category i think jimmy fits best in (which again, doesn’t mean he can’t build or do other things). i don’t have a good name for it rn so i’m just gonna call it ‘the sillies’ (affectionate).

sillies: above all else, they’re here to have fun. most, if not all, of their content is on multiplayer worlds (both public servers and private smps), and on these worlds they are extremely social, making a concentrated effort to interact with others even if not legitimately roleplaying. high amounts of pranks and hijinks abound, as well as ‘committing to the bit.’ lots of videos feature them doing some kind of funny little challenge, game, or mod with their friends. again, that doesn’t mean they can’t engage w the other aspects of the game or be skilled in those categories, but generally, it’s not their main objective and not how they spend most of their time.

that’s what i’ve got! obviously u could split all of these into many subcategories, and your average player is gonna be fairly well-balanced. but for our pro cubitos, i think this is a nice way to categorizing things (and it at least makes sense in my mind).

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

What does a traditional family/House dynamic look like, especially in terms of children?

[Does the whole House live in one large building, or is the House more of a common family space? Are children usually cared for by their parents, or is child minding more of a communal responsibility along the lines of "it takes a village to raise a child"? Etc.] < please treat these questions as additional questions like the ones on a school test that the teacher puts in to make sure that the student understands the original big question. I only included them so you could know what I meant when I say "House/family dynamic", because I know that can be confusing

Gosh, I wish you'd have written my exams.

What does a traditional family/House dynamic look like?

Houses are both residences and familial hubs containing a lot of related Gallifreyans. Here's what the dynamic typically looks like, especially when it comes to raising children:

🏠 Brief House Overview

First, a bit of context - Gallifreyan Houses are huge, often sentient structures. They're designed to support entire extended families, often containing multiple generations.

Interior Design: Houses often have high ceilings, large rooms, and sprawling corridors. This setup is on purpose - designed to make newly loomed Gallifreyans feel like children (many loomlings are created with fully-grown adult bodies).

Living Spaces: Houses contain individual bedrooms, communal living spaces, and operational facilities such as the Loomshed. They also have their own crypts for dead House members.

Animated Features: The Houses often have animated furniture, which, if not properly trained, might chase people around. Paintings whisper at passing cousins, and Druges, large automated humanoid servants, roam the premises, performing various duties.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Family Dynamics

Gallifreyan families tend to be large and very hierarchical, with cousins, aunts, uncles, and other relatives living under the same roof. There's a strong thread of communal responsibility and shared upbringing when it comes to childrene (childe = singular, childrene = plural):

Childcare: Childrene are typically cared for by a combination of their parents and other relatives. Parents are present and will look after their child, performing the usual trips out to the galactic zoo or whatever.

Education: The responsibility for education and upbringing is communal, with older House members playing a significant role in brainbuffing (the educational process designed to shape young Gallifreyan minds). This is supported by the help of Avatroids - mechanical beings who were (basically) enslaved by the Time Lords. The boy Doctor had his own personal Avatroid named Badger, whose job it was to protect and educate him.

Communal Responsibilities: Given the House's size and structure, childcare is often a collective effort. The extended family takes part in guiding the children's education and development, with the aim of instilling a sense of duty and obedience ie. House values.

🧒 Children and Brainbuffing

As mentioned, childrene undergo brainbuffing, a rigorous educational process that equips them with a ton of knowledge before they step out into the big wide world. This process involves both formal schooling and informal training at home.

Early Education: During the first eight years, childrene are educated in writing, culture, mathematics, and science, surpassing the knowledge level of many human college students. Extended family members play a significant role in this process.

Traditional Activities: Despite the emphasis on duty, childrene can happily engage in activities like lushberrying and playing with onion dolls. However, there are no playgrounds on Gallifrey due to the focus on obedience.

Communal Upbringing: The entire House contributes to the upbringing, fostering a strong sense of community and collective responsibility.

🔥Then Comes Life

At the age of eight, children are snatched away from all of this and put into Chapter Academies away from their Houses and families for around 200 years. Bummer.

🏫 So ...

Gallifreyan Houses blend family living with communal responsibilities. They focus on fostering a sense of duty and service, with a significant emphasis on education and discipline. While parents play a crucial role in raising childrene, the communal approach ensures that every child has a network of support and guidance throughout their early years, which is then completely turned on its head.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →����Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →���Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[maxlearnmicrolearningplatform]

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[straw-of-the-hat]

The Method (BNHA)

Summary: Izuku requests to see All For One after he's arrested. He'd never said why, but All Might never, ever would've assumed it was for this.

Or: All For One is Hisashi Midoriya. Izuku has a few things to say to him.

Tags: Dad For One, Izuku Midoriya, BNHA

Word count: 3,802

Third person pov

"Are you sure you want to do this, my boy?" Toshinori Yagi wasn't the best teacher in the world, he knew. He'd made for a decent Symbol of Peace, and had done his best to uphold the people's spirits. He just… couldn't help but feel he'd failed his charge.

He'd defeated All For One, but at the price of his strength. He was now nothing more than a gangly shadow of the hero he once was, emancipated and weak. Izuku was on the fast track to filling the gargantuan shoes he'd left behind. While he didn't doubt the freckled boy could do it, it was a lot of pressure to put on a teenage boy.

Izuku gave a smile. It was small, and bordering on sad. There was something he wasn't saying. Toshinori didn't want to push. He knew this was a trying time for Izuku. It was a trying time for most of Japan, but especially for the curly-haired boy. Now that All Might was retired and out of the picture, eyes were falling upon the next generation of heroes. 

With Izuku wielding One For All and taking on the challenge of becoming the Number One Hero, the entire world was watching and waiting for him to slip up. To show some sign of weakness. It was a terrible weight for a child to bear.

"I'm sure." Izuku said firmly, looking Toshinori in the eyes, and then Tsukauchi.

You see, while All For One had been defeated, he was far from dead. He was being kept in a high security facility free of any other criminals. It was a place built just for him, filled to the brim with trained guards and pro heroes, ready to strike when needed. Kept in a straight jacket at all times, locked in a windowless room with automated machine guns pointed at him that would fire off and take his life at the slightest hint of movement, it was safe to say All For One wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

Why Izuku was so intent on visiting him, nobody knew. That’s not to say they hadn’t asked, of course.

When he'd first approached Toshinori about it, timid, unsure, and very clearly nervous, it had been a hard no. All For One was the height of all evil. There was no way on God's green earth Toshinori was letting his precious successor anywhere near such a monster. All For One had lived longer than any man should, and had accumulated vast amounts of knowledge and refined his ability to manipulate just about anyone who dared show the slightest bit of weakness in his presence.

That should have been the end of it, but Izuku had come back just a day later with the same request. This time he'd seemed more intent on it, more sure of himself. Toshinori had still given him the same answer. An uneasy yet firm 'no' that was full of questions that he received no answers to. 

He'd dwelt and dwelt on why Izuku may want to visit a mass-murdering immortal without a moral compass or any value for human life. He'd come up dry. There was simply no plausible explanation. Why would Izuku want anything to do with that man, knowing what he was and all he’d done?

The third time Izuku asked, he reluctantly agreed to talk to Tsukauchi. He was the most trusted detective on the police force and had never failed to rally with Toshinori and UA High. He was on their side, and working closely in the All For One case. He was one of the few they could count on. The man was earnest, and someone Toshinori considered a close friend. 

Going to the man for advice was a no-brainer. Toshinori felt out of his depth, torn between possibly alienating his successor by denying his request versus letting Izuku be exposed to one of the world’s most vile evils. 

Tsukauchi had admitted that a meeting between All For One and Izuku would be possible. Tsukauchi and All Might had pretty much full control of what happened to the man and where he went. Japan's Hero association had no idea what to do with the old cryptid. Toshinori was the one who knew his abilities and history the best, so they hadn't hesitated to throw the issue at him. 

So long as All For One didn't kill anyone else, they were willing to let All Might do just about anything with the old fart, barring releasing him and unruly things of that sort. Though they probably hadn’t assumed All Might would ever be considering taking an up and coming hero, a child, to see him.

Izuku had asked a fourth time, and Toshinori had finally point-blank asked why. Izuku's response was nothing short of evasive. He'd simply insisted that it was something he had to do without giving any reasons as to why. Toshinori had wanted to say no again, but the look in the young boy's eyes...

He was all but begging for trust, his eyes alight with hope and determination. He wasn't lying when he said this was something he needed to do. You could tell that just by looking at him. Why it was something he needed to do was what had Toshinori stumped.

So here they were, at a building in the middle of nowhere that looked more like a block of concrete than a regular structure. It was surrounded by tall walls that arched overhead, nearly forming a dome, but stopping just short of doing so. Cementoss and several other pros had worked together to make this place as secure as possible. 

Now, it crawled with trustworthy men and women who wouldn't hesitate to do what was needed were All For One try to stage a breakout. The man was too weak right now to do anything, but… well, being overly cautious never hurt anyone. Who knew what he was capable of.

"We'll just be in the next room over observing on the monitors, Midoriya. Shout if you need something. We'll get you out of there pronto." Tsukauchi gave a reassuring grin that made Izuku look a little less like he was marching off to his death. The boy looked like he was dreading this, and yet he was doing it anyway. 

Toshinori didn't get it. There was something he didn't understand. Izuku had pushed for this, but he knew his successor. He looked absolutely terrified.

"He's right. We'll be right in here." Toshinori also smiled. Izuku nodded firmly back, face set into an expression that was grim yet sure. Tsukauchi sipped at his coffee as he watched the curly-haired boy march out of the room and to the heavily guarded door to be let in. The ID card he was holding as well as the fact that everyone had been told in advance that they'd be coming allowed him instant access.

Toshinori steeled himself, settling down in one of the rolling chairs tensely. Tsukauchi took the one next to him, grimacing at the screen as the electronic door opened. Toshinori didn’t think All For One would try anything-- he never would’ve let Izuku come within ten miles of this place if he thought the man might. He was still just… uneasy.

All For One was a stubborn man. He'd been grinning since he got here, for one thing. The coy smile hadn't faltered even once. Toshinori had gone in to talk to him, along with Tsukauchi and a few others, but it was to no avail. He'd said a total of two things since he got here. Two things, and no more than that.

A part of Toshinori was glad, and hoping maybe that meant he wouldn't talk to Izuku. He knew that was just wishful thinking. All For One knew exactly who Izuku Midoriya was. Toshinori didn't doubt the man had some form of sight that allowed him to identify people. Even with the copious amount of quirk restraints on his person, he'd immediately coined Toshinori when he came in, as well as Tsukauchi. Those had been the two times he spoke.

He wouldn’t miss a chance to mess with Young Midoriya. Toshinori anxiously tapped his foot, throat feeling uncharacteristically tight and heart thumping hard in his chest. It would be fine. Young Midoriya was strong-- far stronger than Toshinori was at his age. All For One was just… a different sort of beast, that’s all. 

Sitting next to him, Tsukauchi could tell his blonde friend was nervous. His shoulders were stiff and hunched, and the tension hanging around him was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The detective couldn't blame him. He too had tried asking Izuku why he wanted to see All For One, and Izuku had responded with a very intent, "It's just something I need to do." 

Tsukauchi's quirk, Human Lie Detector, had registered that firm statement as the truth. Which was perhaps the most jarring part of this all. Whatever this was, Izuku well and truly believed he had to go through with it. 

They watched Izuku hesitantly step into the room. A pane of bullet proof glass was the only thing separating him from the world's greatest villain. The door shut and locked behind him with a loud bang and click that caused him to jolt forward. Toshinori could see his student's adam's apple bobbing precariously as he shuffled to the single chair bolted to the floor, frowning deeply and fiddling his thumbs. 

He reluctantly sat down, and that's when it happened.

All For One's grin absolutely dropped . For the first time since becoming imprisoned here, his expression melted into something else entirely. Tsukauchi and Toshinori had both leaned closer to the monitor, expecting his new expression to be one of malice or hate. Perhaps annoyance, or some sort of twisted amusement.

But no… no, it was the opposite . It caused both men to pause and stare dumbly as All For One's mangled face morphed into one full of disbelief and apparent horror, maybe even fear. The look was out of place on a man like him.

His already pale skin got paler, and he tensed, leaning back as far as he could. Izuku simply stared at him with wobbling lips and teary eyes, hands clasped together so tightly his knuckles were white. You could see the raw disapproval on Izuku's face. 

Not fear, not anger, but disappointment instead. Toshinori and Naomasa both shared a look, the detective bringing his drink to his lips and taking a long gulp. He was going to need something a little stronger depending on how this meeting went.

"...What are you doing here?" All For One breathed out the third ever thing he'd ever said in this accursed place, so quietly the cameras almost didn’t pick it up. The skin around his scarred over eye sockets stretched, and if he had eyes still, Toshinori was sure they'd be wide as saucers. 

His voice sounded so distant, so shocked and disbelieving. It caused Toshinori's teeth to clench and his eyes to narrow. Tsukauchi checked for a third time to make sure this was all being recorded, bringing up his coffee for another swig.

The smile Izuku gave was watery and nothing short of absolutely heartbreaking. 

"Hey, dad." The freckled boy choked out. The reaction was instantaneous. 

Blood sprayed from Toshinori's mouth like water from a broken faucet, sunken eyes wide and jaw dropped as the scarlet liquid began to drip down his jaw. Tsukauchi had been mid swallow as Izuku dropped that cataclysmic statement, resulting in his drink going down the wrong pipe. He began to choke, his eyes just as wide as his friend's as he wheezed and thumped his fist against his chest. 

"Izuku..." All For One trailed off, voice broken and sounding horrifyingly human.

"When I first heard your voice at Kamino, I thought I was hallucinating." Izuku's voice was quiet but level. "It was a voice I heard every Friday for years upon years. You never failed to call, dad. And I never failed to pick up. I haven't seen you in so long, and it makes sense now, I guess." 

The nerves from before were gone. Izuku spoke with certainty that showed he’d thought long and hard about exactly what he wanted to say, and exactly how he wanted to say it. There was a steel resolve in the clench of his jaw and the draw of his brows.

"Izuku, I-" All For One was cut off before he got the chance to continue. The taste of blood stayed strong in Toshinori’s mouth.

"You weren't on a business trip in America." Izuku grit his teeth, his tears falling. These were not the type he tended to burst out with, where he practically dehydrated himself with the force of his wailing. These were silent and far, far more tragic, dripping slow and salty down his face.

All For One flinched as though he'd been struck. Toshinori, with his mouth still agape, realized he'd never seen the man look so vulnerable. He wouldn't have thought it possible if he weren't here witnessing it at this very moment. Next to him, Tsukauchi sucked in a few breaths of deep air, still hacking so hard he was surprised a lung didn't come up.

"...No, no I wasn't." All For One whispered. Izuku bowed his head.

"You got hurt. By All Might." Izuku clenched his fists. His voice waned with the force of his emotion. "A-And... you knew I was his successor. And that night, at Kamino, you-"

"I would never hurt you, Izuku." All For One's voice was steadier now, but only slightly. "I would never hurt you."

It was a sour promise. Izuku seemed to think so too, if the way his breath and shoulders hitched was anything to go off of.

"But you have!" Izuku protested wildly, eyes wide and flashing with warning. "Don't you get it?! You left mom and I! I was bullied my whole life, quirkless, beat down! And then, you tried to take away the one person who came along and told me I could do it?! You tried to take away the person who's been taking more care of me over the past year than you ever have?!"

All For One's face was riddled heavy with guilt, and with bits of anger. Not at Izuku, no, he could never be mad at his son. Maybe the rage was for himself, or perhaps it was better aimed at those bullies Izuku spoke of. Maybe at Toshinori for swooping in and being Izuku's saving grace. 

That damned man didn't know when to quit, and... All For One was almost glad for that, because his son was here, strong-willed, ready to fight, not afraid to confront him. And it sure wasn’t All For One who’d helped him grow to be that way.

All For One had made a great many mistakes in his long lifetime, but falling in love was not one of them. Some might argue that a man like him wasn't capable of such a thing, and he never would have begged to differ. Not until he ran into Inko Sakiaki, that is. 

She was witty and clever, with the biggest green doe-eyes and the most beautiful, earthen hair. She'd looked him right in the eyes and seen right past that polite and unassuming facade he presented carefully to the world. And she’d smiled at him anyway.

Inko was... enrapturing. She was sweet, kind, and caring in ways he never would be. Everything heroes were meant to be, but weren't in his eyes. So he'd fallen in love, and he'd asked her to marry him, and... that's what happened. Simple as that.

For the first time in a long time, he was once again Hiashi Midoriya instead of All For One. A man capable of loving and caring, of making jokes and ruining the kitchen, of breaking a vacuum cleaner and rolling his eyes at mundane TV shows. For a while, he was simply human. It was possibly the best, brightest time of his life, and he’s not afraid to admit such. 

Izuku was born shortly after they were wed. He was the most perfect thing Hiashi had ever seen. He'd inherited Hiashi's wild, curly hair. Fondly, even now that he was blind, he could recall Izuku's freckles, so similar to those of his uncle's. He was such a brilliant little boy, so smart and ready to help. 

He had the heart of a hero, just as his uncle had held all those years ago. Izuku was something to be cherished. He was something to be loved. He was someone that All For One had wanted to give the world. 

But it was all ripped away when All Might and him fought. Perhaps anger had driven him to this point. He'd been sour, wanting desperately for his son and wife, but knowing he'd only scare them with his deformed face and growing bitterness. 

Hiashi once again became All For One, burying himself in his work. It was the easiest thing in the world to slip back into the role. He was going to kill All Might if it was the last thing he did, he’d decided. He created Nomu's, got a hold of Nana Shimura's grandson and begun to groom him. He put together a league that would be the Symbol of Peace's end.

He was All For One, the greatest villain in the world. 

Except on Friday's, between the hours of five to eight PM. 

During that time, he was Hiashi Midoriya again. His phone calls with his son and wife were a great escape. He'd pretend he was just fine, not at all injured or damaged or evil down to his bones. He'd talk about the weather in America and tell them how much he missed them and wished they were there. 

He'd cheer Izuku on, because if his son wanted to become a hero, then Hiashi was sure he'd be the best one to ever walk the planet. While him inheriting Toshinori's power was a cruel twist of fate, there was no better person to wield a power once belonging to his younger brother. If anyone deserved it, it was Izuku.

How it had all gone so wrong, he wasn’t sure. He just knew it was his fault. He’d always tried to be a good father, but men like All For One weren’t made for it. He wasn’t built to care for others. Something in him was broken, and try as he might, he knew… he knew hurting those he dared to love was a horrific inevitability. 

"I'm... I'm sorry, Izuku." All For One murmured. Izuku bit the inside of his cheek. Anger pierced its way up through him, intermingling with his sorrow starkly.

All For One was a horrible person, he’d thought. Someone Izuku had grown to loathe during his time as All Might's apprentice. Tales of all the vile things he'd done and all the suffering he'd caused were sparse, but always gruesome when All Might did dare to murmur them. They painted a horrifying picture of a ruthless man incapable of love.

It was easy to hate All For One when he wasn’t a person. When he was just a story, just a faceless figure that Izuku had never seen, had never met. It was easier to hate someone you didn’t know, and All For One was the worst of the worst. He had hurt thousands, would continue to hurt them, and Izuku… Izuku had thought him the most monstrous being in the world for all he’d done.

The moment Izuku heard his voice, that image fell to pieces and crumbled on the ground.

It didn't take him long to connect the dots, and he was devastated once he did. He'd been so lost and conflicted in the aftermath. All For One and Hiashi Midoriya were the same person . It just barely managed to click in his mind, and when it did, Izuku had been left clueless as to what to do.

How could someone who cheered him on as a hero, told him how much he loved him, and teased him mercilessly about things that had little to no significance in the grand scheme of things-- playfully, for the fun of it-- also be the world's greatest villain?

He could still recall his father's warm eyes alight with fondness as he told Izuku a bedtime story. The way he'd feel so, so tall when his dad put him on his shoulders. The man's reassurances over the phone that even without a quirk, he could be an amazing hero. That he’d be proud of him no matter what.

He'd been near tears when Izuku announced he was into UA, and a mixture of worried and angry when he found out the USJ had been attacked. There was no way that was all a lie, right? It couldn't be. Was his father nothing more than a fake construct meant to mess with him? Was he... Was Izuku a puppet?

"You took away my hero." Izuku grit out, wiping furiously at his eyes. His father's face hardened.

"All Might is still alive. You're... carrying on his will, I believe. As much as it pains me." All For One sighed. "But I will always love you and cheer you on, Izuku. You're my son. Nothing will ever change that."

Izuku felt sick. He felt relieved. He felt angry and upset and he felt yearning. He felt devastation and a pervading coldness that had been crawling up his spine ever since he finally learned just who his father was. He felt too many things at once to possibly name. 

"Not him." Izuku whispered. "Not All Might. He’s my favorite hero, but he wasn't my hero, dad. You were."

Toshinori was frozen. Tsukauchi held his breath, trying to get over his shock.

All For One seemed to dissolve at those words, what was left of his face twisting with horror as Izuku stood up. He lurched forward in his restraints, earning a warning beep in response as his son gathered himself. Izuku gathered the scraps of his composure with shaking hands and tear-stained cheeks.

Everything All For One was as a villain melted away at those two, simple words. Ones All Might and Tsukauchi never would have guessed would affect him so drastically. But he looked horrified. Guilty. Like he couldn't believe what he'd done. There was... regret .

It didn't make up for anything.

All For One felt his chest ache, and suddenly, he realized just what this was. Because he wasn't All For One right now. He had never been, in Izuku’s eyes. 

Right now, he was Hiashi Midoriya, and he'd hurt his son.

[shituationist]

assuaging my anxieties about machine learning over the last week, I learn that despite there being about ten years of doom-saying about the full automation of radiomics, there's actually a shortage of radiologists now (and, also, the machine learning algorithms that are supposed to be able to detect cancers better than human doctors are very often giving overconfident predictions). truck driving was supposed to be completely automated by now, but my grampa is still truckin' and will probably get to retire as a trucker. companies like GM are now throwing decreasing amounts of money at autonomous vehicle research after throwing billions at cars that can just barely ferry people around san francisco (and sometimes still fails), the most mapped and trained upon set of roads in the world. (imagine the cost to train these things for a city with dilapidated infrastructure, where the lines in the road have faded away, like, say, Shreveport, LA).

we now have transformer-based models that are able to provide contextually relevant responses, but the responses are often wrong, and often in subtle ways that require expertise to needle out. the possibility of giving a wrong response is always there - it's a stochastic next-word prediction algorithm based on statistical inferences gleaned from the training data, with no innate understanding of the symbols its producing. image generators are questionably legal (at least the way they were trained and how that effects the output of essentially copyrighted material). graphic designers, rather than being replaced by them, are already using them as a tool, and I've already seen local designers do this (which I find cheap and ugly - one taco place hired a local designer to make a graphic for them - the tacos looked like taco bell's, not the actual restaurant's, and you could see artefacts from the generation process everywhere). for the most part, what they produce is visually ugly and requires extensive touchups - if the model even gives you an output you can edit. the role of the designer as designer is still there - they are still the arbiter of good taste, and the value of a graphic designer is still based on whether or not they have a well developed aesthetic taste themself.

for the most part, everything is in tech demo phase, and this is after getting trained on nearly the sum total of available human produced data, which is already a problem for generalized performance. while a lot of these systems perform well on older, flawed, benchmarks, newer benchmarks show that these systems (including GPT-4 with plugins) consistently fail to compete with humans equipped with everyday knowledge.

there is also a huge problem with the benchmarks typically used to measure progress in machine learning that impact their real world use (and tell us we should probably be more cautious because the human use of these tools is bound to be reckless given the hype they've received). back to radiomics, some machine learning models barely generalize at all, and only perform slightly better than chance at identifying pneumonia in pediatric cases when it's exposed to external datasets (external to the hospital where the data it was trained on came from). other issues, like data leakage, make popular benchmarks often an overoptimistic measure of success.

very few researchers in machine learning are recognizing these limits. that probably has to do with the academic and commercial incentives towards publishing overconfident results. many papers are not even in principle reproducible, because the code, training data, etc., is simply not provided. "publish or perish", the bias journals have towards positive results, and the desire of tech companies to get continued funding while "AI" is the hot buzzword, all combined this year for the perfect storm of techno-hype.

which is not to say that machine learning is useless. their use as glorified statistical methods has been a boon for scientists, when those scientists understand what's going on under the hood. in a medical context, tempered use of machine learning has definitely saved lives already. some programmers swear that copilot has made them marginally more productive, by autocompleting sometimes tedious boilerplate code (although, hey, we've had code generators doing this for several decades). it's probably marginally faster to ask a service "how do I reverse a string" than to look through the docs (although, if you had read the docs to begin with would you even need to take the risk of the service getting it wrong?) people have a lot of fun with the image generators, because one-off memes don't require high quality aesthetics to get a chuckle before the user scrolls away (only psychopaths like me look at these images for artefacts). doctors will continue to use statistical tools in the wider machine learning tool set to augment their provision of care, if these were designed and implemented carefully, with a mind to their limitations.

anyway, i hope posting this will assuage my anxieties for another quarter at least.

[burnwater13]

Moff Gideon holds the Darksaber over Grogu's head, while Din Djarin (out of frame) looks on. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 8, Redemption. Calendar by DateWorks.

What Do You Know?

Grogu supposed the Mandalorian thought he was afraid. Moff Gideon was standing right there holding the energized Darksaber right over his head. It probably looked scary. It definitely sounded scary. But Grogu knew something that Moff Gideon didn’t know. He wasn’t afraid of lightsabers. Not even one being held over his head. After all, he could see it. He could sense it. It was real. Which meant it could be defeated.

That was one of the first lessons younglings were taught. How to recognize and guard against the improper use of a lightsaber. It made sense. The Jedi weapon was dangerous in ways that blasters and disruptors were not. They were personal weapons and that meant you would be fighting another person, not a droid or some automated defense system. That meant you could use knowledge to overcome skill. 

One of the first things you were taught during that lesson was that when a lightsaber was still, you didn’t have to move. You used that time to study your opponent. What did you have that they wanted? What did they have that you could use against them? Were there objects that you could hide behind or use as shields. Your first job was collect as much situational data as possible. It was always to your advantage.

One of the next things you were taught was if the blade was moving,  you could take action on the person holding it with a higher rate of success, then attacking the blade itself. Push their hand back toward them. Pull their feet out from under them. Use those objects you identified in that space to block them.

Grogu’s personal plan was to use the cape Moff Gideon wore to blind him, wrap him up like a ronto ration and then turn the dang thing off and slip out of the binders, if he had to. That’s right. If Grogu could use the Force to lift up a mudhorn, he could definitely lift up the cape, the Moff, and the lightsaber itself. The binders wouldn’t stop that from happening, but it was to Grogu’s benefit to let Moff Gideon think they would. Just like it was to Grogu’s benefit to let the Moff think he was all tired out from throwing those stormtroopers around. He wasn’t. He just wanted the ex-Imp Warlord to think he was. 

Of course a lot of those same lessons had applied to many of the people Grogu had to work with and through, including the Mandalorian. The bounty hunter had been mystified by the mudhorn, but not afraid. He’d been incapacitated during their initial fight with Moff Gideon on Nevarro, so he had no idea what Grogu had done to that stormtrooper or their flame thrower. But then neither had Moff Gideon. Maybe it was the shock trooper. Maybe it was the bounty guild leader knowing more about the building’s systems. Maybe it was the assassin droid. The point was to keep those ‘maybes’ playing out for as long as possible. Uncertainty could be your friend if you knew how to take advantage of it. 

On Gideon’s ship it hadn’t been easy to sit there while he and the  Mandalorian began to spar. Grogu still needed both men to think that he was defenseless. It would be harder for Grogu to fight Gideon directly if the Mandalorian was distracted by the change in their roles. He didn’t want his friend to fear him and be driven into that unpredictable panic that often gripped people who couldn’t believe their own eyes. 

Yes, he considered the Mandalorian his friend despite the fact that they were rarely in agreement on what steps to take next and how to effectuate the change they both wanted to see in the galaxy. The Mandalorian was trained to be a warrior and relied on that training not just on the battlefield but during the more mundane aspects of life as well. Which caused Grogu no end of irritation, annoyance, and trouble.

Grogu had been trained to be a diplomat and a defender of life while maintaining balance within the Force. It wasn’t easy and he hadn’t been able to finish his training thanks to the people who created the environment that allowed Moff Gideon to survive despite the end of the Empire. Grogu would rather understand the problem and find ways to resolve it peacefully and without the loss of additional lives. He’d learned from the Mandalorian that there were people you couldn’t negotiate with and sometimes you had to identify who should be brought in cold for the sake of all the other people being able to remain warm.

Which meant that Grogu couldn’t just settle down on Nevarro or Tatooine and pretend that everything was settled. He had to carry on with the work of the Jedi and if he had to do that, a Mandalorian made for an excellent, if unwitting, ally. They would find a way to work together. 

They both had to pay attention to what they saw, and felt, and learned. They couldn’t take anything for granted. They couldn’t assume and they couldn’t ignore. They had to put aside their own feelings and continue to do the work. It wasn’t easy and Grogu knew that he needed to the Force to be with him as much as the Mandalorian needed the strength of his Creed so they could both go the right way. The people of the galaxy were depending on them, whether they knew it or not.

[aidiscoursebingo]

the bingo card template ^^

(breakdown of each box under the cut)

IP brain: several arguments against AI art hinge on IP and copyright law: e.g., accusations of plagiarism or copyright infringement, navel-gazing wrt "ownership" of art, etc. this means nothing to anyone who doesn't believe in the virtue of copyright lol

all art is hobbyism: anti-AI types frequently pretend that all art is something done solely for fun and/or personally meaningful to the artist and/or not labour

the hands/teeth!!!!: a common argument against AI art is that the hands or teeth look uncanny or unrealistic (even though that's one of the coolest things about AI art lmao)

we NEED overworked animators. To Save Human Artists: many argue against the use of AI to automate more menial aspects of creative labour (e.g., background art in animation), even when the work in question is famously backbreaking. (animation is only an example, and this box can apply to other art-related jobs)

art requires intentionality: a bizarre and common argument--"AI art isn't art because real art is 'intentional'." ignores (a) that there are intentional aspects of AI art (even setting aside the formation of prompts, the decision to choose a generated result and share it publicly is an undeniably intentional one) and (b) that several other art forms (photography, documentary, collage, etc) also preclude artists from having that flavour of foundational "every-brush-stroke" control over the piece

art requires a financial transaction: "it's only real art if someone got paid for it" (in other words, the opposite of the all art is hobbyism argumetn. thank god for the consistency of the anti-AI movement o7)

hyper-conventional conception of what makes "good" art: the manner in which opponents of AI target perceived flaws in AI art (blurriness, spatial abnormality, "count the fingers!", etc) tends to betray deeply reactionary values wrt "good" art as art that pursues representational realism.

"techbros": "-bro" is a commonly used, ill-defined pejorative that generally means "any person the speaker doesn't like." opponents of AI tend to cast what they call "AI advocates" as "techbros" interchangeable with NFT shills. besides being implicitly gendering, it's also hilarious--which side in this debate is closer to saying "i own this image so you can't right click it"?

"soul"/"humanity": there are frequent pseudo-spiritual appeals to art (even corporate art, apparently!) as having an essential "soul", "humanity", or even "godliness" that AI art lacks. this is of course meaningless to people who don't see any value in spiritualism

motte & bailey/strawman: opponents of AI frequently switch gears whenever they get cornered--when they realize that "we need stronger copyright law" is an indefensible position, they say "well REAL art requires effort!!", and when they're defeated on THAT front too they switch to "well AI is making artists lose their jobs!" and they keep doing this ad nauseam instead of acknowledging the flaws in their arguments. really it's less motte & bailey and more bailey & bailey & bailey & bailey &

ableism: people critiquing AI frequently choose to be ableist for some reason. the most common trick is inspiration porn (i.e., "so-and-so disabled person learned to paint with their teeth, what's your excuse?!")

"stolen"/"theft": two of the three favourite words of the anti-AI crowd. even if you accept the fundamental IP-brain premise (which, to be clear, you shouldn't), a baseline knowledge of how training datasets work should still make claims of theft fall flat.

reactionary BS (free space): arguments against AI tend to rely on several foundationally reactionary concepts, be they luddism, copyright, or the ~essence of humanity~

(in)directly insults collage/readymades/photography/etc: a massive portion of diatribes against AI include arguments that also lock several other mediums (the above plus music sampling/covers, choreography, film direction, etc) out of "counting" as art. frankly, a massive portion of them are indistinguishable from the reactionary outrage against duchamp's fountain

"you know it's not even ACTUALLY AI right??": people love to point out that "AI" is a buzzword and that computer programs are not actually sentient, and then pretend they've done something

AI artists are immoral/lazy/etc: several pejoratives tend to come out. see also: stupid, talentless, heartless, abusive, etc

"collage": the third favourite word. to be clear, AI image generators are NOT "collage machines", and if they were, that would be a good thing

classism: another thing that jumps out frequently. right-wing ideas about labour and poverty abound

art requires effort: another bizarre idea--the implication that more effort = better art. surely by this logic the amount of labour hours behind Avengers 16 must make it the ultimate opus

"just commission an artist": an annoying adage

stealing jobs from artists: same argument as self-checkouts

childish insults directed at AI: lots of people love making juvenile jabs at the AI. there's no sweeter irony than seeing someone write a diatribe about how AI is Not Really A Person then act as if they've just humiliated it

petty bourgeois artists = underdog: a lot of commission fanartists are convinced that aligning themselves with (petty-)bourgeois interests is going to help them in the long run

acting like AI operates independently: everyone seems to think that no humans are even involved in the process and that AI generators just sit in a dark room operating themselves, spitting images into the void

no understanding of how machine learning works: self-explanatory. opponents of AI don't seem to even know the bare minimum about the subject they argue about

(also yes i do consider diagonals to be a bingo, i dont care if it's not proper lmao)

[the-perfect-violation]

Adagio

Ash x Reader

///

Summary: Ash dreams of you and you wrestle with priorities.

TW: Smut, Angst

Rating: 18+ Mature

Word Count: 3,100

///

A/N: This is my first fic and it was written sans beta, so please let me know if you see anything worth fixing.

Ash has always been a favorite of mine. My despair at finding so few pieces on him finally drove me to write my own. That's my way of saying that this is unapologetically self-serving haha.

Enjoy nevertheless!

///

Link to AO3 if you'd prefer read there.

Gif is my own.

Someone is gathering every crumb you drop.  These mindless decisions and Moments you long forgot. Keep them all. Let our formulas find your soul. We’ll divine an artesian source in your mind, Marshal feed and force. Our machines will Design you a perfect love Or better still A perfect lust.  O how glorious, glorious: A brand new need is born. Now we possess you. You’ll learn that. Now we possess you. You’ll learn that in time. Now we will build you an endlessly upward world.  Embrace you for all you’re worth. Is that wrong? Isn’t this what you want? - The Hymn of Acxiom

///

The storm had begun to pick up again as your automated car wound its way through the city streets towards your office. The sun barely rose at all this time of year, and the sharpness of the ensuing cold was made all the worse by the dark and damp that hung eternally over the city. It was supposed to snow again today. Who would have thought you’d end up on Thedus of all places? At least the job paid well. And you only had a few weeks remaining before you went back to Earth.

Weyland-Yutani practically owned the planet and almost every of the meager two million residents were employed by them. You included. A trained psychiatrist, you had been asked to spend six months on the mining planet to help prepare a handful of synthetics for different jobs they would be completing for the Corporation. What those jobs were exactly was high above your paygrade. You were sure the synthetics you worked with had no idea yet, either.

According to Weyland-Yutani, instilling their machines with a well-balanced emotional spectrum was essential to their success. That’s where you came in. You worked with your synthetics regularly, showing and talking to them about what they were feeling and how to respond accordingly. Most of your patients had been blinding successes and had been shipped off on their missions already.

Only one remained - a Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 named Ash. Today was your last day together. Then, he would be deployed and you would finish writing up your reports alone over the remaining weeks. Saying goodbye to the others had been relatively easy. Your relationship had developed only so far as to be considered professional acquaintances. 

But Ash - something about the way he watched you, hung on your every word, smiled slightly when he first saw you each day… You thought he might have developed some sort of crush. That was a stark contrast to how he had been when first activated. Programmed to be aloof, cold, a strict rule-follower, he had been all of those over the first few months of your relationship.

You found you actively looked forward to your time with him now. He was collected, intelligent, and had a dry sense of humor that never failed to make you laugh. While the others had been a professional responsibility, Ash had become closer to what you would call a friend, although that was as far as your moral compass would ever let things go.

The two of you could talk for hours about history, philosophy, or the latest scientific journals. He would ask about your life, too, just as much as you would enquire about his. Maybe living on a sparsely-habited planet in the outer rim had had more of an effect on you than you had thought, but it felt nice to have someone like him to work with and talk to. That made the knowledge that you likely wouldn’t see him again after today all the more painful.

The car pulled up out front of the monolithic Weyland headquarters, interrupting your musing. You pulled your coat tight around you, adjusted your scarf, and grabbed your briefcase. Your heels echoed steadily as you made your way through the tall, angular hallways towards your office. It appeared that most of the staff had decided to work from home for the day - which was no surprise for a stormy Friday - but it made the already brutalist building seem almost hyperborean.

The room they had given you was nothing special - although it did have a wide bank of windows looking over the city for which you were grateful. You had a few built-in shelves filled with archaic books you had collected over the years and had negotiated to have come with you to Thedus. Behind your desk, the wall held only a print of Böcklin’s Die Toteninsel that you had been gifted before you departed Earth. You liked to keep everything dim, and chose to only light the room with a few lamps placed around the room.

You set your briefcase down and lit a small stick of incense to chase away the smell of the mining plants that had eeked its way in with you. After taking off your coat, you checked your watch. Ash should be here at 15:00, giving you time to get a report or two off your desk. You settled down and dove into the work laid out before you.

///

Two sharp knocks pulled you out of your work-induced trance.

“Come in!” You called out, standing and slipping your glasses into your blazer pocket as your patient entered. Like always, he was wearing his officer uniform and smelled faintly of cologne.

“Good afternoon, Ash,” you smiled at him and motioned toward one of the two facing chairs by the window.

“Hello,” he responded with a slight smile.

He moved to take his regular seat and you sat down in the chair opposite.

“How are you?” You asked.

“I’m well,” he responded quickly, glancing out the window and rubbing his hands on the arms of his chair in what seemed to be nervousness. “You?”

“Fantastic - I like it when the building is empty like this,” you said. “And I can never hate a good snowstorm. How was your evening yesterday?”

“It was good.”

"You ship out tomorrow, right?"

"At 08:00."

"Do you have any idea what you'll be doing yet?"

"None. I know my ship is called the USCSS Nostromo."

You stared at him, hoping he would continue.

“Ash, is everything alright? You seem distant. I know this is our last session together, and I was hoping we could end on a positive note.”

“I know - I... I’m sorry. I just didn’t sleep well is all.”

You knew he was deflecting. Synthetics didn’t need sleep like humans did. Most did try to sleep each night in order to maintain a more human schedule, but if he weren’t able to get rest it shouldn’t have any effect on how they acted the next day.

“It’s alright - I'm sure you're under a lot of pressure right now. It happens to all of us," you said, deciding to avoid the confrontation. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

“A little, yes.”

“Did you dream?” You had been going over dreams with him lately, walking through what moods they might represent and how to handle them.

You caught a flicker of something - uncertainty? - in his eyes before he answered. “Yes.”

“About what?” He only stared at the wall behind your shoulder.

“Or whom?” You added and watched as that flicker of uncertainty passed over his face again. Now you were getting somewhere. He was trying to conceal something from you, you knew. That hadn’t been a problem before. The pause lengthened and you prodded him again.

“Ash, I -” 

“I dreamt about you.” He said a little too quickly, as if it were an admission he was glad to have off his chest. His green eyes finally met your grey ones.

You realized he had been embarrassed before, something you had misinterpreted as nervousness. Good, you thought approvingly. You had heard that the idea of embarrassment had been a bastard to program so it was a relief to see that you had finally brought it out. But you showed none of this satisfaction, and instead stared at him across the room, crossing your legs. He went back to avoiding eye contact, preferring to study the wall just over your shoulder.

“What did you dream about me?”

You watched as a blush crept up his neck and into his face and he held his tongue. His eyes moved to your face and he looked at you as though begging for mercy. Realization hit you like a crashing wave.

Oh .

It was your turn to freeze. Guilt rose up in place of surprise and you turned your head to look out the window instead of at him. You knew it was your job to give him some sort of motivation, a sense of home. You knew that drive alone could make a person - synthetic or not -  do almost anything. But the last thing you wanted to do was to play with anyone’s romantic feelings. You hadn’t realized that a synthetic’s feelings could even develop that far.

You reminded yourself that playing with synthetic’s feelings was the majority of your job description and you were being paid very well to do it. That only made the guilt worse.

I mean, who’s to say these are romantic feelings at all? You argued with yourself in desperation. This could be a physical impulse alone. He was programmed to have those needs. He was a science officer after all. He knew sex was a necessity in any living being’s life. That his creators had given those needs to some synthetics to help them fit in well with the humans around them. There was no reason he would be embarrassed about the act alone. There was clearly more going on here, you realized and your heart sank.

You heard your pulse in your ears as you turned back to him. He had been watching you closely.

“What do you dream about me, Ash?”

There was a long pause before he began. “I’m - we’re here. It’s late. We’re doing an extra session. To help prepare, you know, before I leave. When we finish, you walk me back to my room.”

Most Weyland-Yutani androids on Thedus were housed here, in this concrete pillar the company used as a planetary headquarters. Each was given a small room, more akin to a storage closet, that had a bed and a kitchenette. Although synthetics didn’t have a need to eat or sleep, the Corporation thought it would be good for them to get used to living in human environments. As if what little they were given could be called that. The thought made you feel a twinge of sadness. 

“I kiss you.” You are brought back to the present with a jolt as he continues. “I think it surprises you because you don’t respond right away. But then your hand comes up to the back of my head and I push you against the wall.

I feel like I can’t breathe when you open your mouth and moan into mine. I can’t keep myself off of you. My hands are trying to touch all of you at once. I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you, I need you so badly.

I pick you up and you wrap your legs around me as I carry you to the bed. As I lay you down, I position myself on top of you and begin to kiss your neck, just below the ear. You moan my name and I know I’ll do anything you ask me to. You begin to run your hands over my chest and I take my shirt off. I pull myself off of you slightly as you help me remove your suit. It looked very much like the one you’re wearing today,” his eyes scanned your figure briefly before he spoke again.

“I know I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as you lying underneath me, blushing and staring up at me,” he stops there and swallows thickly. “Even now I see it and I know.”

Thick snowflakes begin to fall outside. You sat, unmoving, as he continued. 

“I pull your undergarments off slowly before kissing each porcelain breast individually and revel in the feeling of your nipples growing erect against my tongue. One of my hands trails down to the heat between your legs. My fingers gently trace the sensitive skin there, causing you to gasp. My touch is hesitant and you moan, your body urging me to continue. I take the cue, my fingers exploring further as my lips return to yours. You moan for me again.” 

You were blushing hard and it felt almost impossible to breathe. Ash watched you intently. You were sure he could see the effect his words had on you as you struggled to maintain composure. This can’t be happening.

But it was, and he kept speaking in a low voice.

“Your hips buck into my hand, urging me to continue. I pull my head back slightly to watch, entranced, as a blush creeps up your neck and you say my name under your breath. My eyes never leave yours as I begin to move my fingers in a steady rhythm. My other hand comes up to cradle your face, my thumb gently caressing your cheek. Your breath quickens as the pleasure builds, and you wrap your arms around me tighter, pulling me closer. The world outside the room fades away, leaving only the sound of your breathing and the gentle movements of my fingers.

You climax, your body shuddering with pleasure, squeezing my fingers within you. I hold you close, my fingers slowing as you come down from the high. After you catch your breath, your hands move to remove my pants. I say a silent prayer that you will find me pleasing. My heart races as you guide me closer to you, my tip gently brushing against your entrance. I look into your eyes, seeking permission and you nod, inviting me in. Relieved, I push myself into you, filling you completely. I have never felt ecstasy like this. You let out a shuddering groan as I begin to move slowly, carefully, my hips rocking back and forth as I try to find a steady rhythm. 

My arms snake behind your shoulders, holding you tight to me and giving me access to your throat. As I rut into you, I can feel myself nearing the edge. I breathe your name into your neck, my heart racing as I bring myself closer to the brink. I push myself up to look into your eyes in the final throes.

When I climax, I cry your name. I collapse onto you, my breathing heavy and ragged. You hold me close and the room is filled with the scent of sweat and desire.

As your breathing begins to slow, I slide myself out of you and tuck us under the covers. Curling around your back, my arms wrapped around you, I know I will never let you go. Not for anything.”

///

He stood and looked down out the windows. “There. Tell me what you think that means. I think I have a good guess.”

You rose and walked towards your desk, facing him again as you leaned back against it. The added distance between you helped clear your head.

He turned towards you slowly, the dim lights illuminating his face only partially. “I’m in love with you. I want you. I need you more than anything I know.” 

“You know that is impossible, Ash," You could feel something like panic beginning to set in. It wasn't supposed to go like this. Still, you held your ground and attempted to talk him down. "Don’t-”

“I’ve wanted you since we first met,” he interrupted. “That first day here in your office. You sparked something in me that won’t go away.” He was spiraling and you were helpless to stop it.

“We could be happy . I could make you happy,” he said as he began to stride towards you resolutely.

“Ash, you have to understand that this is what happens between a doctor and patient when-”

He kissed you then, and ignited a war inside you, a million thoughts crowding their way into your head as he pressed his lips to yours.

You wanted him, too, you realized. You wanted what you shared now to go on forever. You wanted a friend to laugh with, a companion to grow old with, and a lover to keep your bed warm at night. He could be all of that. He wanted to be all of that. All it would take was a word. For a second, your thoughts trailed off, lost in a future you knew would never come.

But pragmatism had always been your strong suit and it wouldn’t fail you now, however much it hurt. Feelings like this were normal between a psychiatrist and their patient. It was proof that your job had been well done. You were going back to Earth soon and he, well, he was the property of The Corporation to do with as they pleased. You knew you couldn't change that, however much you might want to.

So as his kiss continued, unlike in his dream, you didn’t respond. 

“Please don’t,” was all you said as he pulled away. Those few words took everything you had left to give.

He stood there, fixed to the spot. You could see him trying to process what to do next. He hadn’t thought it would go like this. “I’m sorry,” was all he said.

You knew what had to be done next, although you didn’t want to do it. You reminded yourself that you were a Weyland-Yutani employee, hired to complete a task. That sense of duty was your motivation. You would be Ash’s.

“Don’t be,” you said. Your voice had become strained and you cleared your throat. “I’m your doctor, Ash. A relationship like this would be inappropriate - however much we both might want it.” His eyes filled with hope at the implication and you felt your heart sink. It was almost too cruel.

You continued, knowing that you were forever damned anyway. “I go back to Earth in three weeks. Find me there, outside of all this mess. We can start again. But first we both have jobs to do. Once they’re done, we can try this again. I'd... like to try again.” 

He gave you a slight smile and nodded, moving towards the doorway. He paused before he walked out.

“I’ll see you on the other side, then," he said, glancing back for the last time.

“I’m looking forward to it already.”

“As am I.”

With that, he turned and disappeared into the dark hallway.

You never saw him again, never knew what happened on his Nostromo. But you were haunted with the guilt of those empty words until the end.

[aro-culture-is]

Aro culture is being asked about your life goals on your job application and just wondering what you even put there because like, it wouldn't be relevant at all to the description and I don't want to just. Work at this place for the rest of my life. So like. What do I even put?

genuine answer:

look at it from the POV of the employer and not your actual life

for example, for someone working in customer service, they might be looking for personality traits and goals that involve you not leaving within the time period they consider their "investment" in training you to have not yet been fully paid off. Most "inexperienced" jobs are looking for a minimum of a month, but most likely they'd really prefer 3 months + a possibility you'll return if the job is seasonal (ie, a summer job to pay for college), or 6 months to a year in any other type of position. Add more time if you are part-time.

so, for example, say you're in schooling of some sort: you'll want to emphasize that you're looking to make money to help pay for schooling expenses while working towards getting a degree. If your degree is in anything but fine arts, you probably can list it; if it's in fine arts and not relevant to the job - rip my dude, lie and evade. you're still deciding, you're taking gen eds at the moment and like [these courses], anything. the idea is to show that you want a job and hours for a reason that shows you have drive/motivation. fine arts, despite being absolutely grueling degrees that absolutely fucking require more work imho as an engineering major than most majors, are just super devalued by a lot of folks.

if you're in a non-schooling period of life: try to lay out something that shows you're a motivated, practical, or in some way capitalistically "valuable" type of person. do not force yourself to be totally truthful. say whatever will get u the job that u can bullshit. "I'm looking to pay the bills" is probably not the best - spin it so that you show some sort of hobbies, volunteer work, community work, anything that teaches on personality. just do what u gotta to sound like you have something you do other than work and sleep, most of the time they just wanna get a read on you having passion and some sorta drive for something. probs don't mention caregiving for elderly or children though - some hiring managers are trained to look at that as a detriment, since it means you could more easily be called away for emergencies/urgent situations.

there's a lot of advice about like. using the direct words from the job description in these things, but imho i'd be careful. it can get u through automated computer checks, but a real person is probs gonna be like "cool but like. who tf are you." try to think about what/who will see it

some specific examples: "I plan to graduate with a degree in engineering and work in providing industrial solutions." / "I want to be able to spend time working with local gardening groups to make a community garden." / "I hope to further my skills in sewing so that I can make and mend my own clothing."

again: show passion, dedication, and knowledge/skills when possible. if you can find something relating to the position, that's usually best, but... sometimes you just gotta show that you're not reading off "10 best interview answers" and that you're a real person who cares about something. whatever it is, be prepared to get some basic questions/comments like, "Your application says you have an interest in gardening - can you tell me about that?" and respond with 2-3 sentences at a layman level. ie, "I've always enjoyed hands-on work, and it's always wonderful to see my plants thrive from seed to fruiting. I grow tomatoes, and my wife and I can our own tomato sauce each year. I'm hoping to grow peppers next year so we can make our own salsa." I've bolded things that would tell an employer things I think they'd like to hear - you like hands on work, you reliably do a fairly hands-on task without it being a requirement, and you have plans for improvement.

Genuine note though: I'm 23 and currently a barista at a local-ish coffee chain, due to dropping out of engineering as a result of developing a disabling chronic illness. Your mileage may vary; try to think "If someone had trained me to be the most discriminatory, law-avoiding asshole I could be while hiring someone, what is the best and worst I could read from this?". Don't disclose specifics on your personal life around children, elderly parents/grandparents that live with you, plans for future children, disabilities, anti-capitalist leanings, or any political opinions that don't specifically align with the company's expressed home-page level values. Like, if you had to click a button off of their front page on their website to find "we value diversity", try to not to say "I sell queer merchandise" as much as "I run a small online store in my spare time, with merchandise like pins and stickers."

[betterbemeta]

Something I am noticing lately on our current 'content and engagement-driven' internet is the mass platforming of stuff that 'sounds like it makes sense to a human being' as its only basis. It resembles 'a real thing' that people can hear of, but it's served completely blind to knowledge of the topic at hand.

It's not quite misinformation because it doesn't have to be an intentional trick or fringe conspiracy theory, or 'fake news' style progpaganda, or something with any kind of comprehensible 'goal.' And its often fully automated: it's about feedback loops in the selection of content, not 'content creation.'

So 'accurate' information on how and how often people select A, B, or C... but no information about what A, B, or C are or any factual information about them. Sort of like how 'AI art' will return output based on prompts, vast amounts of indexed 'reference' and trained data, but doesn't know 'what it's looking at.'

The result is similar to 'enshittification' but doesn't have to do with gutting usability to deliver returns to investors. It has to do with automated systems self-gutting a platform's usability because they do not actually 'know' anything, they just evaluate the navigation patterns of prior users.

This is a really simple, innocent, non-malicious starting point:

This is an audio-based youtube video that was made by a human being (I assume) who mixed Blue Noise and Violet Noise with the sounds of actual blueberries being shaken in a box for relaxation purposes. There's nothing inherently wrong with it. Please don't find and bother the blueberry noise person, nothing (that I know of) is their fault.

The thing is, 'white noise/pink noise/brown noise' are specific audio patterns that are sometimes studied for their benefits on concentration, sleep quality, etc. Which is why people are searching for them on the internet, they want practical benefits. There are other 'color' noises but any benefits are even less well-known, or their application for study is very specific (Violet Noise is studied for tinnitus relief, I believe.)

While the blueberry noise video is just for fun, for the benefit of anyone who enjoys it, it exists within a 'topic' that a platform like Youtube has matched to be 'about' some practical benefit. But you don't need to actually know anything about Pink Noise or Brown Noise to get to that topic, you just need to search 'concentration noise.'

You could plonk down a 10 hour video of your own farts and title it "rainbow noise for homework focus!" and the algorithm cannot 'know' that no part of what you posted is "a real thing." It would only see the activity metrics, who got to it from where, and how popular you are, and its potential to keep users engaging with the platform.

People navigate 'white noise/pink noise/brown noise' for ADHD relief, to soothe their babies to sleep, or to help with chronic insomnia or headaches. Even if studies on the effectiveness of 'well known' color noises are still only preliminary (this study only had 22 participants!), there is some basis for their benefit... but no evidence yet that supports the benefit in mixing different color noise patterns, like the blueberry noise video. It's just for fun. The issue is that Youtube doesn't know what 'just for fun' is.

If you listen to enough audio pattern content to encounter our blueberry noise friend you probably are going to run into 'Alpha/Beta/Gamma Frequencies', 'Solfeggio Tones', and 'Binaural Beats.' But, again, the algorithm has no real human knowledge: it doesn't 'know' the difference between any of these things or what they're studied for, or if any real benefit has been confirmed. But content reflecting machine curation's inability to understand will float to the top, based on user activity patterns:

Alpha waves have nothing to do with being an alpha chad. But through association without comprehension, platforms have 'learned' what 'alpha' means and as a result content will appear and be promoted that bridges multiple ways people use 'alpha' as a search term.

High frequencies produced by the human brain have been associated with memory recall and learning, but listening to high frequencies as 'brain waves' has nothing to do with this, and especially not a dystopian drive to 'increase productivity and output.' But people are searching for how to do that, because of the demand their lives place on them.

There is no sound frequency you can listen to that heals the body or reduces inflammation but due to this principle I'm describing that's messing with the internet, you can search this on Google and it will now not give you any credible information on the first page, it will assume that what you're talking about is legitimate and show you results that 'you're looking for':

It will not assume you would be interested in a 'no' or 'this is not real.' None of the Page 1 Google Search Results pictured above are based in any scientific fact. Maybe if you're a stressed out zebrafish. Legitimate medical practices that use frequencies are like... shock wave lithotripsy for kidney stones to break them apart. But once a web platform records people searching for audio content that confers dramatic 'real' results, it will retrieve other kinds of content as if it's credible:

I think it goes without saying that this has no basis in fact and it's not just somebody's fun entertainment project, and it's not something a typical person would seek out or casually believe to be true.

Anyway. The blueberry noise is fun and fine. But the current internet is on a form of evil autopilot that can't discern white noise intended to soothe babies from the innocent only-for-fun blueberry noise from The Law of Attraction. It's like the perfect totally-blind robot salesperson without ethics or morals of any kind. If you ask it for medicine it will eventually sell you cyanide pills simply because they are pills and so many people are interested in cyanide these days.