#made w ai

[luckyarchivist]

Literally this idea came to me at 4 AM a couple of nights ago and I finally have the time to write out some thoughts about it!!! Started as "ooh, it'd be interesting if Vere and Kuras switched personalities or general roles" and landed on

✨ TOUCHSTARVED Roleswap!AU 🔄️

Just roleswapping the main five for now, since we don't have enough info on Sen and Elyon! (When will we have enough info on Sen and Elyon....?)

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Kuras → Vere = The Chained Angel

Kuras bears his exquisite golden chains with a solemn disdain—the mark of his servitude to the mysterious Senobium. His enslavement has gone on for so long that no one in town can recall a time when Kuras walked free. The Senobium clerics who parade him about yank on his leash and sic him on their enemies like an attack dog, which he seems to abhor but accepts nonetheless.

Even you can tell that Kuras is a being imbued with immense power. Who could possibly keep him imprisoned like this, or... Why is he letting them? Is there a way to rescue him from his fate, or will you also find yourself trapped in chains?

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Ais → Mhin = The Demon Outsider

Ais is a newcomer to Eridia, like you, but he's already garnered quite the reputation: although he's a Monster, he's laid-back, reliable, and more than willing to beat anyone and anything—human, Soulless, and all in between—to a lifeless pulp, for the right price. He seems to have taken a special liking to you, possibly because you both have problems you hope this city holds the solutions to.

What is troubling Ais so badly that he needed to come here to find its answer? Could it have something to do with his fits of ultraviolence? And are you willing to put your life in his bloodied hands to find a cure for your own affliction?

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Vere → Kuras = The Repentant Charlatan

Vere is a walking contradiction. He dresses for the lounges of Hightown while cleaning scalpels in his dingy Lowtown clinic. He is a Monster, one that invites suspicion and fear, that has made it his duty to serve humans. And, by his own admission, he hates the people of Eridia—the very people he spends hours tending to. Despite it all, lines regularly run out the door of Vere's office, and patients have few complaints when they leave. He must be an exceptionally good physician—though you're sure his enchanting looks and seductive voice also draw people through the door.

How, and why, would someone like Vere become a doctor in this town? What powers is he drawing on to heal people? Could Vere cure your condition once and for all, or will you suffer the hidden side effects of his more adventurous treatments?

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Leander → Ais = The Heroic Renegade

It's odd to see a person so welcoming and warm in a place as dread-inducing as the Seaspring, but that's exactly where Leander can be found. He wears a bright, personable smile—one offset by the eeriness of his glowing crimson eyes, and one that the Seaspring's victims around the city grimly mirror. Despite his apparent friendliness, the Seaspring is devoid of people—populated only by mindwiped minions, who serve as Leander's eyes and ears in Eridia, and the Soulless that Leander hopes to "rehabilitate".

Leander swears he'll find a way to cure you of your ailment, but how far will he go to make himself the hero of your story? And what cost will you pay to the Seaspring for his help? Can you resist the pull of the crimson waters long enough to see Leander's true face, or will his magnetic lure drag you into the depths?

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Mhin → Leander = The Cursed Mage

Mhin is an intrinsic facet of Lowtown: they and their dour band of Alley Cats serve the district's citizens as protectors and pillars of the community. But even while surrounded by allies and lackeys, Mhin seems unbearably lonely, preferring to sulk in corners while their members drink and dance at the Wet Wick. And despite accounts of their exceptional magical prowess, they refuse to use their powers, relying exclusively on their medical and alchemical knowledge to fight their battles and solve their problems.

Why does Mhin shun their own magic? And what is the source of their isolation? Can you convince Mhin to use their powers to help you, or will you both be overwhelmed by the weight of their secrets?

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And that's it! I had a lot of fun brainstorming and writing this one. Time for me to disappear again ✌🏾😗

[isa-ah]

does anyone want to help us grab some groceries? i put too much time into making it more liveable down here and we ran out of staples before i had a chance to pick anything else up lol..

tentative goal of $20/150 so we can shore up some, thanks!

[wackywatchdotcom]

what intrigues me abt caines dynamic w the rest of the cast is the way that none of them seem to understand why he is the way he is. like not in the comedic sense but how they dont seem to have a clear concept of his motivations or anything of that sort

we havent seen toooo much of it. but we have seen how pomni, zooble, jax, ragatha, and gangle view him and its so fascinating

pomni is like. she doesnt understand what hes doing but seems to view his actions as malicious in some way. i dont think she sees him as a 'mean' person but with how she says she thinks he wants her to suffer its very illuminating of how she sees him as someone who wants all of them to hurt. i dont think she knows why he would, but its the only conclusion shes got. it also speaks to her distrusting nature that upon being hurt by him her first thought is that its an intentional decision to harm her, and unfortunately for caine she hasnt actually been given much of a reason to think he feels otherwise. i dont know how she thinks caine feels about them but its clear to me how she views his goals and hobbies for lack of a better term

zooble doesnt trust him. they find him to be annoying but more significant is that they KNOW he likes them all. it adds an interesting tone to how they see him, that they specifically say that whats 'holding caine back' is that he 'likes [them]', which on one hand is them interpretting caines actions as being done from a place of liking the players, and that his actions are coming from a place of NOT hurting them, because he likes them (its interesting to note that they have participated in less adventures, so its unclear how much they know abt caines adventures firsthand). but on the other hand is implying that they think caines holding himself back at all. that there IS a desire or a capability to be cruel that theyre wary of. theyve also seen caine at his most vulnerable (in the show itself at least) and their comment, 'whose therapy session is this again?' implies theyre at least aware that this is caine having his own problems, though i dont think theyre comfortable safety-wise with how these problems affect them and the others. them asking caine 'why did you think i would like that?' speaks to the idea that they do think hes genuinely trying to appeal to the players, but they seem to find his lack of understanding of the players frustrating and unsafe for all of them

jax i think is pretty vague since most of his lines to caine are brief, and the most telling line he has abt caine is the only one we have. but he seems neutral on caine as a whole. caine is just a guy who makes things for them. he tries to entertain them and thats all jax really seems to be concerned with- whether his 'its not in his nature' line is reflective of him genuinely Believing that is smth i see debated often but i think no matter what, it conveys that jax Generally sees caine as someone who isnt malicious. hes not trying to hurt them, and whether or not he thinks caine is capable of hurting them is whats more vague. either way, jax doesnt seem to like or dislike caine

ragatha has very mimimal interactions with caine and not many lines about him, but i think her line in the pilot, 'thats just one of caines little adventures. theyre just something fun to do to, yknow, prevent us from going insane,' is extremely telling of how she sees caine. of all of them, she seems to have the most positive view of caine, since she interprets his actions as an active attempt to stave off abstraction in the players. whether or not she thinks caine is acting from a place of wanting to stop disruptions or if he wants to ensure the players arent doing as unwell as they could IS up for debate though. the way she talks about him in the pilot in general reads like she has some level of trust in him, but it seems like a surface level trust in him at the worst- she knows hes not malicious and knows he wants to help. she knows he can help her when shes jumbled. but its not clear if she Likes him. she seems to enjoy the adventures though (which, ill keep it brief so i dont derail this, but it honestly reads like a deliberate parallel writing-wise that the two of them both seem fond of distractions as an acceptable solution to a bad situation- if her assessment of Why he makes the adventures is anything to go by)

gangle is harder to read on this front, as she has way less lines about him, though she does have multiple notable interactions with him in ep 4, in the way of her seeming genuinely enthusiastic about his adventure (it doesnt seem completely directed at him, but she seems genuinely a bit happy about his praise of her leadership skills). when she calls him it doesnt convey TOO much i dont think but the way she talks to him and requests he make a punishment could imply she doesnt think hed normally make one, but also that hes not opposed to it, which is confusing in what it means about how she sees him but it feels important. her interaction with him at the end of the episode also doesnt convey much in this way (i feel like caine is not the main focus of most of that scene- which works for the scene and is good writing wise bc the scenes important for gangles writing of her own problems, but in terms of breaking down this idea it means im not sure this scene conveys much about how she sees him)

and then. i didnt mention kinger at the beginning specifically bc i dont think we have... almost any indicators of how he sees caine. he tells caine abt kaufmo in ep 1, suggests caine could find pomni in ep 2, doesnt address the thing pomni says abt caine in ep 3, and even his suggestion in ep 4 to sit out the adventure doesnt convey almost anything. the only throughline is that kinger sees caine as someone who can help them if they ask, but it doesnt convey any thoughts on what he thinks caines motivations are or his thoughts on caines actions. which frankly reads like a deliberate choice when kinger should be the one with the most history with caine

this post is long but i just am bery intrigued by this. i thinka ll the character dynamics are so deeply fascinating but with caine being the closest the show has to an antagonist (which of course is a loaded statement but i mean it in the writing sense and not in the 'antagonist is evil' way) it means that the way the characters see him holds a lot of weight. it conveys a lot abt them all with how they interpret the person that has (at least on the surface) the most control over the situation

[beheamothscreamoth]

Quick question for the Touchstarved fandom!! As much as we love Ais calling us 'Sparrow,' I have to ask - if you had to decide, what other bird nickname do you think he would call you/your MC? :O

For example, Ais would my Unnamed MC Daniella 'bluebird,' while he'd call my Alchemist MC Edgar 'crow' (and another OC I'm planning, Shinju, 'woodpecker!')

[samble-movedd]

interesting that, of all the AI topics you could get mad at (deepfakes and revengeporn, people intentionally going out of their way to ignore wishes of artists who ask people not to use their art in it, whatever), tumblr users choose to instead become enraged over AI-generated cats and meme art.

straycatj is not personally ruining the lives of every artist alive by posting an AI made image (that she made for fun) one (1) time. it is not stealing from artists if you generate gay sex cats memes instead of paying someone irl to make it for you. AI discourse went from reasonable concerns to "if you ever generate an AI image, it is akin to letting artists starve in the street, and you are evil" really quick, and ignores, like, every previous "acceptable" AI trend on tumblr (since people now looooove to pretend that "early" AI generation wasn't popular, i fuckin guess).

[pleasedontcareaboutme]

[applestorms]

could mean nothing.

[yuseirra]

a family bigger than 4! side story 3-1 (ref to ch 132,133,136)

I felt this would be a very Ai thing to do if she healed and grew more confident with a lot of emotional support over the years!

I went and reread viewpoint B and 45510 to study the source material and Ai is an immensely sweet person...I could tell. Just a bit awkward but she's so lovely

So I don't understand why the writer would make the choice to neglect all her wishes like that. No matter how I see it, the ending of this story is so far from what she would have wanted and I feel so sorry for her

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / side story 1 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9 / side story 2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 / 2-4 / part 10 / part 11 / part 12 / part 13 / part 14 / part 15 / part 16 / part 17 / part 18 / part 19 / part 20 / part 21 / part 22 / part 23 / part 24 / part 25 / part 26 / part 27 / part 28 / part 29 / part 30 / part 31 / part 32 / part 33 / part 34 / part 35(+side story 3 prologue)

[ascendingconures]

MSPaint Michael dump

[aq2003]

did i just listen to dt (successfully..?!) subtly convincing one of his friends to stop using chatgpt over the course of this podcast episode

[urhoneycombwitch]

Not even gonna hold your hand when I say this. Eddie would fucking despise and abhor and HATE AI.

[irraddiated]

do you think he ever got that playstation plus

[wackywatchdotcom]

sometimes i think about the idea that the digital circus is JUST caine. its all what hes made. i mean he named himself, whose to say the circus isnt his own creation, an extension of himself

[hammill-goes-fogwalking]

I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI. I HATE AI.

[assumedcryptid]

[ryvki]

happy aini-versary to our dual protags 💙🧡 and some weird guy