#existenialism

[rhynee]

i hope my death is this pretty

[bodhi-ryuchai]

Black Arrows to the Sun...)))->

Have any you ever heard the term multidisciplinary artist? I definitely have but I have yet to meet an indivudual in person. Alice Karveli a.k.a. Black Arrows personifies how a multidisciplinary artists operates. I’m planning Ambient Communion III compilation (in which I plan to finally put out this coming Winter 2025). It will feature some male and female experimental artist who music uses…

[smudgekip]

How do i find out what i want in life? How do i know where i want to live and what i want to do?

[plainescape]

recently got back into some old flash games that I used to play

[queseraphita]

The demon lord has gained emotions,

he will now kill for you!

[renegade-skywalker]

you ever eat something so simple it momentarily changes your life? just now I put some dijon mustard on a pretzel and it was so good for a second I thought I saw god, cleared my sinuses and cleansed my soul

[missmeganlee]

For the first time in I don't even know how long I am not going back to school in September and it feels so extremely weird for me

[doctorslippery]

Someone asked "What generation are you?

...and I had to stare into space as I thought about how I felt.

The Lost Generation maybe...then, realized that that would make me like 120 years old or something like that.

I sipped my coffee as my mind lost focus and I drifted for a bit on the wave of ennui that came for me.

[beepbeepkazoo]

going to miku expo and realizing ive officially lived every single one of 14 year old mes dream

[mykinpiglet]

just watched Nomadland again Thoroughly depressed now 😀

[neohunter1884]

[pastelpinksoda]

[cherriibombfics]

Hello. I saw your request open and I'd like to request Self aware fic about White Lily Cookie having existenial crisis about how her whole life, the truth behind cookie creation was scripted. She would be wary about the player at first but eventually get comfortable enough to talk/hang out with them. The rest is up to you. Thank you in advance!

"ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴄʀᴇᴇɴ"

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 479

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ɴᴏɴᴇ

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴀ/ɴ: ɪ ɢᴇɴᴜɪɴᴇʟʏ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ꜱʜᴇ'ᴅ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ʜᴇʀ ᴍɪɴᴅ

ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ʟɪʟʏ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ x ʙᴀᴋᴇʀ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

❀ WHITE LILY COOKIE would be one of the first cookies to become self aware after discovering the truth of the witches and the reason behind her own kind's creation. That doesn't mean she'd be happy about it though.

❀ There was a being inside of the Cookie Kingdom that oversaw all of Earthbread? And they believed the entire world to be nothing but a game? It was horrifying. The implications would plague her mind for a long time. So much so that eventually she'd visit the kingdom herself.

“The Tree of Wishes? I didn't know there was a cookie that granted wishes here.” She stood next to the tree, watching as little blueberry birds brought wrapped gifts to eager cookies. “It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“No, the wishes are granted by Baker!”

“Who?"

❀ She was surprised that all the cookies spoke so highly of you. From clearing the local area to allow expansion, overseeing all trade with other regions, and even granting wishes it seemed. But how? How could a being such as yourself be so kind and down-to-earth when you were a witch? Were you a witch?

❀ From her understanding many different kingdoms had their own interpretation of what exactly you were. A kind of celestial being? A dragon? A guardian of a realm cookies could never hope to reach? There were so many theories but none of them ever seemed to explain everything about you. You were so strange but so far out of reach that she might never know.

“I just don't understand. Why would a being like that be so kind to a cookie? It doesn't make sense.”

“Why don’t you ask them yourself?”

❀ She knew Gingerbrave had a good head on his shoulders, but he was still so young. Did he believe he could speak to you? It was a thought that could only come from the mind of an innocent child.

❀ That’s what she thought until he brought you to her. You were a cookie, at least now anyway from what she gathered, and were the unofficial monarch of the entire Cookie Kingdom. You’d only been there a short while, hiding your true nature and only revealing to a short few within the kingdom’s domain. Including Gingerbrave who probably shouldn't have told her.

“But I don't understand why you hide your true identity. You’re such an important figure for the entirety of Earthbread, you deserve much more than what you have now.”

“I don't need much. I just like watching over these guys, y’know? Besides, I’m just a normal person, there’s nothing special about me.”

❀ Nothing special? You were so humble! You did so much for everyone and didn't ask for anything in return. She’d keep your secret for you of course, but she’d wanted to learn so much more about you.

❀ Everything, about you.

[harostar]

Behind the cut because SPOILERS JUST SPOILERS that is all.

Barbie Movie really went:

-here’s a ton of jokes about some of the terrible canceled/discontinued ideas we’ve had over the decades

-Ken is both the villain and sympathetic, because he’s every lost young man with no sense of self that gets lured in by the promises of the manosphere. Toxic Masculinity and Patriarchy don’t make him any happier, just force him to play a role that isn’t him until Barbie defeats him and then encourages him to have his own journey of self-discovery because he’s “Kenough”. 

-The real world is Barbie becoming uncomfortable and aware of threats all around her, while it makes Ken first confident and then arrogant

-The ghost of Ruth Handler is here to guide us, and also to VETO ideas about Barbie and Ken ending up together.

-Barbie’s person is the Mom, not the daughter. Because that doll represented their happy times together, and she’s stressed about work and her daughter becoming an edgy teenager that has discovered Baby’s First Social Justice (bonus using it to bully people and just throwing out buzz words!)

-Pregnant Midge makes everyone deeply, deeply uncomfortable

-Skipper got out once and did something horrible to children in Florida

-Allan hates Ken and just wants to escape. 

-Barbieland, a utopia of Girlbosses living their perfect life every day, is not actually perfect or necessarily all-good, because it’s still not equal but hey the Barbies realize this and are working to let the Kens have “as much rights as women do in the real world” (LOL)

-DEPRESSION BARBIE. EXISTENIAL DREAD BARBIE. 

-Narrator: Margot Robbie is not the person to cast for this point (about being ugly)

-Random old woman at the bus stop just rendering Barbie speechless, because “you’re so beautiful”. 

-HER NAME IS BARBARA HANDLER AND SHE IS HERE FOR HER GYNO APPOINTMENT.

[thereiswasabi]

Reacting to TADC EP 3, let's goooo

Beware the SPOILERS:

Huh. Isn't it funny? Goose said no one likes Jax in the Circus. However, they do talk with him and join him in his stupid ideas. Like holding their breath thing.

And it dosen't seems like he really wants to harm anybody. He dosen't really cares about it, but he also dosen't let them at the danger on porpose.

Huh.

Funny.

"""

"Ooooh, that's the scary door"

LMAO, Jax is so autistic fr

"""

Help, Caine looking for Zooble and wanting them sepcificly to particiate in his adventures, UGH! MY HEART 😭

"""

"Bubble's feelings?"

I SWEAR I HEARD THEM CHUCKLE. THEY CHUCKLED CHAT

"""

"Oh that's. . . Nooooo"

Noooo, My Baby :(

"""

Is it me or Pomni seems to have an claustrophobia?

"""

"GOT IT >:D"

"""

HOLY SH*T, THAT LIGHTS-OCF SCENE HAVE SOME SMOOTH ASS ANIMATION, HO BOI

"""

Are those dumbasses really catching a fly rn? I mean, like father like doughter, but oH SHIT THERE'S SOME EYES

"""

"You look beautiful honey. . ."

Oh Kinger 🥺. . .

"""

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPP"

"""

I stopped at the perfect moment, LMAO

"""

Ah yes. Mr. AI has an existenial crisis. Good, good.

"""

Aaaand back to therapy

"""

Oooooooooohhhhhh, those tapes are about Kinger, right? He started to get into paranoia while making the game and tried to protect his family, so he went into the game to destroy (possibly) Caine and end up stuck in here. That makes sense!

"

Oh my God. . . Kinger killed/abstaracted Quennie and went completly insane. So now his mind tries to make him forget it

"""

"Please, don't come alive 😥😖"

"Okay I won't"

"O-O"

Me:

"""

Kinger, my man, are you okay? Why you say things that make sense all of sudden?

"""

"Stay behind me"

YEEEEESS, HE SAID THE THING! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO

"""

OMG, Girl, you need an pedicure 🫢😳

"""

Ooooohhh, those are angles. That's explains do much

"""

AIN'T NO WAY THIS DEAD GUY WAS A BAD GUY

"""

ARE THOSE GIRLYPOPS REALLY HAVE A TEA PARTY RN!? POMNI AND KINGER ARE D Y I N G, AT LEAST WEAR SOMETHING BLACK

(Also @endomentendo tea time is served UwU. You want green or earlgray?)

"""

"Mmmm, good tea"

Me, when I see a drama at my school and already know, that I going to tell my sister everything

"""

Also, MARTHA IS SO PRETTY, OH MY GOD~

"""

Okay, in his defense, he went bonkers. Killing her was his fault, but it's his mind who was twisted. He propably loved her very much.

"""

"*laughs* Don't I know it"

*cuts to tied up Jax*

Rags and Jax are exes confirmed? 👀 (Also, if isn't it something Bunnydoll fans will go bonkers for the next few weeks, oh boi)

"""

"Come to visit any time!"

"Definitly!"

Only if Caine won't poof you away :^

"""

I know Gangle is tall, WHY THIS TALL!? AND WHY IS HER HEAD SO BIG!? I PROPABLY EAT SOUP OUT OF HER MASK!!! And it would taste like tears U.U

"""

I'm too lazy to show it, but THE WAY JAX'S PUPILS WENT A LITTLE SMALLER. HIS "Wait, they still in there? " EXPRESION. HE LOOKED LIKE "Pomni is not here yet" HAD CAME INTO HIS MIND, UUUGGHHGGH, MY POOR HEART! MY MIND IS EATING, MY HEART IS ABOUT TO COMBUST

AAAA–-

"""

"I wonder how long that will be"

Very long, Gangle. Very long

"""

Oooof. THAT'S TGE CREEPY THING OVER THERE, EEEWWWWW (I won't show the photo for your won good)

"""

"how's your wife, Kinger?"

DO NOT BRING HIS WIFE INTO THIS

"""

"Man. . . 7 years of computer science for this, huh?

What.

"""

Dear God, Kinger. . .

"""

Pretty light. . . *-*

"""

XDDDDDD HANDS DOWN THE FUNNJEST THING IS THIS EPISODE HAHAGXVXHJVNFMJSTSVCBCJ

"""

"Don't ever call us that again"

CircusBunny moment perhaps? 👀

"""

Okay that's all I have for now

Now I'm gonna read comments and proces, what the f"ck even happend here. Thanks for reading!

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: robots and artificial intelligences

A note: I'm differentiating here between artificial intelligence and transhumanism (such as uploaded consciousnesses and cyborgs), which I intend to make a separate rec post for at a later date.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books, portal fantasies

Continue beneath the cut for details on the books!

The Outside by Ada Hoffman*

AKA the book the put me in an existenial crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired scifi where reality is warped and artifical gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by post-human cybernetic 'angels’ to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart.

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots finding sentience, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future by Jon Bois*

A multi-media web novel available to read freely online (which you should do!!). I don't want to give too much away as the initial punch of finding things out is part of the journey, but it's both hilarious and profound as it questions the meaning of humanity and life.

Illuminae (Illuminae Files) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff*

Young adult told through the medium of transcripts, text messages and the like (this is one of few books where I highly recommend reading a physical copy over a digital as the visual aspect is much more enjoyable like that). After their colony is attacked, the surviving inhabitants flee on space ships, attempting to avoid the pursuing killers while also dealing with a deadly madening plague on board and a ruthless ship AI seemingly losing its mind.

A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers*

Technically part two of a series, but stands well on its own as the installments are only losely connected (though I recommend reading the first book as well, it's very good). A former ship's AI recently moved into an illegal android body tries to make sense of life as she navigates her way through humans and aliens alike.

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James*

Young adult. After the spread of a global virus causing infertility, teenagers Lowrie and Shen are now the youngest humans alive as the adults around them race to find a cure. As they investigate the ruins of the world, the two come across records from the past, of how grief stricken people turned to raising artificial children in apps and how these 'children' developed, and through these records the two learn of their history. Also has a bisexual main character!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot series) by Becky Chambers

Novella. Long ago, robots, upon gaining sentience, simply laid down their work and walked into the wilderness. Long after, a tea monk looking for purpose follows after them into the wilds, where they come across one of the robots seeking its own sort of answers. While not plotless, this story focuses more on character and vibes over plot. Also has a nonbinary main character and features conversations on gender between human and robot.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells*

After having hacked its own governor module, SecUnit uses its small amount of new freedom to secretly download and watch as much media as it can between doing its job guarding humans. But when the scientists it’s been charged with keeping safe come under attack, it must make a choice about whether to continue keeping its freedom secret or risk it all to save them. The series features both novellas and full length novels, and balances humor with scathing critique of capitalism.

Machinehood by S.B. Divya

Prudent in the rise of AI and machine learning, Machinehood shows a near future in which humans struggle to find a place on the workforce as more and more jobs are given to AI. Status quo is shaken as a dangerous terrorist group calling itself The Machinehood starts committing attacks. A close look both at the rights of humans in a technologically changing world, and at the rights of AI as their intelligence edges ever closer to full sentience.

The Company of Death by Elisa Hansen*

A wild mix of genres, where a zombie apocalypse has struck and vampires gather up humans to keep their food source from going extinct, a robot travels across America with a young man she's tasked to keep safe, and former-vampire-hunter-recent-zombie Emily teams up with Death himself to stop the apocalypse. Features bi and ace characters! Bonus rec: the author also runs the youtube channel Maven of the Eventide, where she talks about various vampire media. Check it out!

Railhead by Philip Reeve

Young adult. In a future where humanity travel between the stars using not spaceships but a portal-connected system of sentient trains, a young thief and street urchin is hired to steal something off of the Emperor's train.

Being by Kevin Brooks*

Young adult. Cards on the table, I think I was about 14 when I last read this, but it made a strong enough impression that I still think of it as one of my favorite books. After having gone in for a routine exam, doctors make a stunning discovery about Robert Smith: he isn't human. Suddenly hunted, Robert goes on the run as he tries to cope with the fact of his own existence. While I love this book, it gives very few answers to its many mysteries, so don’t go in expecting full explanations.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie*

A space opera in which sentient spaceships can walk the ground in stolen human bodies, so called ancillaries. One of these ancillaries, the sole survivor after the complete destruction of her ship and crew, is one the hunt for revenge. This series also does very cool things with gender!

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Who says sci-fi has monopoly on robots? In sapphic YA fantasy Crier's War, artificially created automae have defeated and subjugated humans, who live as second class citizens. Young Ayla goes undercover as a servant, meaning to assassinate automae girl and Sovereign's daughter Crier. This would be easier if the two weren't quick to develop feelings for each other.

My Heart is Human by Reese Hogan

Nine years ago, all complex technology was made illegal. This complicates life for Joel, young transgender single father, as a bionic just uploaded itself into his brain without consent. Scared of losing his daughter, Joel tries to keep the bionic secret while using it to fix his life, but things quickly get more complicated as the bionic gains more and more control of his body. Makes a lot of cool paralells of bodily autonomy to Joel's experiences as a transman. Bonus rec: if you like the general concept of struggling for physical control over one's body with an AI, may I also suggest the (much grittier and gory) movie Upgrade.

The Archive Undying (The Downworld Sequence) by Emma Mieko Candon

In a world where AI gods sometimes lose their minds and take entire populations down with them, Sunai was the only survivor when his god went down. In the 17 years since, he has wandered on his own, unable to either die or age, drowning his sorrows in drink and men. But his attempts to flee his past comes to a stop as he is forced back into the struggle between man and machine. Featuring some pretty wild world building and narrative techniques, this book will definitely confuse you, but it is worth the experience.

Activation Degradation by Marina J. Lostetter

Unit Four comes to life in the middle of a war. The mine it was created to care for is under attack, and as Unit Four is activated with the memories of its predecessors, it is thrown into the task of protecting it at any cost. When the battle leads to its capture, it is prepared to do anything to stop its captors, even as their very presence causes it to question all that it knows.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill*

Years after the death of the last human at the hands of a robot uprising, Brittle travels the desert searching for machines on the brink of breaking down whose parts she can scavenge. The world is quickly falling apart as a war between OWIs - One World Intelligences - struggle to absorb every robot, willing or not. Bleak and captivating, Sea of Rust features horrible people who you can’t help but root for anyway as they struggle for their lives while questioning the very nature of said lives.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

Hybrid Child by Mariko Ōhara

Japanese 1990s classic. Follows an escaped AI who can take on the form of the people it has consumed.

World Running Down by Al Hess

Follows a powerful AI that has been forced into an android body against its will.

The Thousand Year Beach by Hirotaka Tobi

Set in a virtual world populated by AIs, meant as a resort for human guests who stopped showing up over a thousand years ago, leaving the AIs on their own.

And Shall Machines Surrender by Benjanun Sriduangkaew

Novella. Machines are the gods and rulers of the Dyson sphere Shenzhen, where humans live in luxury and strive to become host bodies for future AIs.

After On by Rob Reid

Phluttr is a social media and a person, potential hero and potential villain, holder of the secrets of all her users.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Annie Bot was designed to be a perfect girlfriend, but as she learns all the more about being human, perfection becomes all the more distant.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them:

The Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune, Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan, Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns, The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole, Medusa Uploaded by Emily Devenport