#new tech isn't really improving our lives anymore

[orangecarton]

Pt 2 Nordic Bunny x Reader WP (W.I.P.)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Part one:

Here you are sitting in a sad break room chowing down on a bag of cool ranch doritos, because for some reason they didn't seem to have any other flavors. As you're munching Nordic Bunny tries to fit himself into one of the small break room chairs. They were obviously not meant for him but he seemed insistent on trying to sit there.

After a while he got himself awkwardly squished in the chair and triumphantly looks up to you.

"So huuuman, seeing as we are now friends AND hanging out. It is my right as your BESTEST BUDDY IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!!!... to be asking you some... bonding questions!"

He laughs off to the side and mumbles something about being so clever and tricking us into handing over our "planetary secrets", whatever that means.

"Oh yeah sure man, shoot." You reply between chews. Nordic Bunny grimaces then shakes his head.

"First question! What are Shred Force's weaknesess?"

You ponder that for a bit. No one really knew anything about the two rascals that called themselves "Shred Force". They kinda were just... there. Every now and then there would be some sort of monster and then they would show and blow up half of the city you lived in. But you really didn' know anything about what they dealt with and who they were, being more preoccupied with your own life and problems.

"Hmmm, I don't really know. I've never really interacted with them."

You shrugged, grabbing another chip from the bag.

"Wha- You gotta know SOMETHING! Ugh... Ahem, well then what, pray tell, is the weakness of EVERY SINGLE HUMAN? AND DON'T YOU DARE THINK OF LYING TO ME!!!"

"Uhhh... Well, everyone is kinda different so I wouldn't really be able to say..."

Nordic Bunny scowled at this. Trying to save face you make something up on the fly. Those improv classes you took during highschool better not fail you now.

"Buuut, most humans are weak tooooo-" You look around quickly looking for "HuManIty's gReatEst WeakNess".

"-uhhhhh ranch?"

"..."

"... Liste-"

"OF COURSE! IT ALL MAKES SENSE!!"

"Huh?"

"You humans have MOUNTAINS of that stuff! You just can't live without it! OH, how did I not see it before?!"

He abruptly stands up, knocking over his chair, and grabs you by your arm. Dragging you behind him once again.

"WE MUST PLAN FOR MY NEW BRILLIANT AND AWESOME SCHEME!"

"What scheme?"

"We will steal ALL THE RANCH FROM EARTH! AND THEN NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STOP US FROM TAKING OVER THAT HOPELESS PLANET!"

He laughs to himself, and you can't help but smile along with him. He has quite a nice laugh, in your opinion.

Walking back down the halls to his strange war room, the reality of your situation sinks in. You are stuck in space with a crazy 10ft tall guitar man who wants to take over the Earth... Hey, we'll at least you aren't hungry anymore!

You both make it back to the "war room". This time you get a good look around. It was filled with all sorts of tech, including a medium holo-Earth that Nordic Bunny seemed to gravitate towards. Towards the back end of the room was a huge window that made up most, if not all, of the wall. Around the sides were extra doors, lights, and tubes that you had no idea what they went to.

"Muahahahahaaa, oh yes I can see it now! We can even make little ranch stealing ROBOTS to do our bidding. AHahahahooo!"

He pulls you aside and starts rambling on and on about his plan, and you listen intensively. He just seems so passionate and creative! You can't help it!

A couple minutes later he calls over some of his minions to bring over blue print paper and a table. When they arrive they are heaving over a big metal table with some paper and pens on top. The two minions let it down with a bang and Nordic Bunny rushes over to it enthusiastically. They seem out of breath, how long have they been carrying that?

After they collect themselves one of them turns over and sees you. They turn back around and nudge their partner whispering to them, they both are now just staring and talking to each other.

Nordic Bunny takes notice of this and spins around, looking back and forth between his minions and you. You honestly could care less about what anyone thinks, but you don't really want to get caught up in whatever space drama is going on right now. So you're feeling, reasonably, a small bit uncomfortable at the moment.

"DON'T YOU TWO HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?!"

Before your eyes the two are blasted away by Nordic Bunny's hand and are now nothing but feathers.

"Wha- What the HELL?!"

You look incredulously at Nordic Bunny.

"Oh not to worry my dear compatriot! They are simply clones. Of MY design, might I add!"

He poses pridefully, looks back over to you then looks away awkwardly.

"Huh, uh cool."

Taking a breath in you walk over to the work bench he had been working at before to see unfinished sketches of what looks to be robot eels designed to steal... ranch. It does look super advanced though. At least more advanced than you could understand.

"Wow, you did all this?" You gesture to the blue prints and look up at Nordic Bunny.

"W- Why yes! I did!"

"Geez, this is some high level stuff. Super smart, and it looks so wicked!"

He appears to be taken aback by the compliment, donning a shocked expression on his face, then replacing it with a look of smug satisfaction.

"Of course it looks cool! Only the best made by yours truly!"

You snicker a bit at that and he grins then perks up. Grabbing you by the shoulders and pushing you towards the huge windows you saw before.

"AND! AND! The robots will be produced over there! In my very own factory!"

Your eyes widen at the sight before you. Through the windows you are greeted by a production line of sorts, all kinds of machinery moving rhythmically and in pace with each other. You squint and look past the factory and can somewhat make out... a city?

"Impresive!... right?"

You look over to the validation seeking guitar and nod, stars in your eyes.

"This is so freaking cool, dude."

You turn back towards the window to keep gawking at the machines. Unbeknownst to you, the overlord beside you doesn't look at his factory, but at his new partner in crime. With just the same amount of fascination.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

(TYSM FOR READING AND FOR ALL THE POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE LAST POST)

(I will be crossposting this on ao3 here's a link:

(Here are some doodles B))

[anesica]

i haven't really been following the ai art debacle, and thus i'm not super knowledgable about it. but it reminds me of something.

a few years ago, i had an exam in ethics class where one of the questions was something like, "a new tech from a developed country is coming into our (developing) country. however, the workers here can't use that tech, and their jobs will be replaced by those tech, thus making them lose income. what should be done in this case? prevent the tech from coming, or let the tech enter this country?"

i remember answering that the answer is something else entirely. preventing the tech from coming is impossible, because it was just delaying the inevitable. sooner or later, everyone will be forced to use the tech. the longer people in our country resist, the more behind we would be compared to other countries who didn't resist change. it will eventually affect us negatively, so might as well accept it.

however, it doesn't mean the workers should be allowed to just lose their job so easily. they should be armed with new skills that can be used as an alternative job, to make sure they can still earn a living. they can also be taught on how to use the new tech to their advantage. win-win solution, right? the country prospers, the workers gain new skills which increase their likelihood of surviving in the world!

now, a few years later, i see a major flaw in my logic: the total disregard to the workers' energy, time, and capabilities.

back when that exam occurred, i was still an aspiring student in a major related to creative industry, full of energy and passion. i still enjoyed my classes and had high ambitions.

over time, that flame of energy burnt out, replaced by exhaustion and distaste towards my field. in our major, we had to learn many different skills. drawing, graphic design, photography, typography, 3d modelling, and many more. at first, it was fun learning new stuff. but having to learn all those different skills within five months each really diminished the enjoyment. instead of focusing on one skill, we were forced to stretch ourselves thin and learn everything within a short time span.

why?

to improve our likelihood of getting hired. to differentiate ourselves from the many other creatives in our field. to meet the industrial standard that one person must master many skills, not just one.

at first, it makes sense. people would only hire the very best, right? so i ate up that narrative and tried my best to keep up with the ever increasing standards our major gave us. the lecturers are people who have worked in the industry, so surely they know what they're doing, right? they won't steer us towards ruin, right?

well. turns out doing what they asked drove me into serious burn out. instead of graduating with valuable skillsets under my belt, i crashed real hard. i lost my hard earned skills because i can't bear doing anything related to our field anymore. no, this isn't just me giving up on the first hurdle i received. this is the result of pushing through many minor exhaustions throughout the years, believing that small hurdles are normal and that i shouldn't complaint because it's not that bad. the result isn't just minor annoyance towards the field anymore. it also affects my mental and physical health significantly. my art skills increased because of uni, yes. but what's the point if by the time i graduate (if i can even manage to graduate at all) i have become so sick of it that i end up seeking a job in a new field? all that hard work for nothing at all.

and then, the ai art comes. while skimming through the entire debacle, i saw someone saying artists should learn more skills to make themselves relevant and hireable. it's the same logic as my exam answer years ago, so i should have agreed with it, right?

hell nah. all i could think about is how my underclassmen and all art students in the world will get pushed into learning more skills during their study. more workload for them, more chance of getting burnt out, too. these people will get burnt out even faster than me because they will have much more workload, but still need to graduate in the exact same duration as my generation.

frankly, i'm tired. i'm tired of having to learn all these different skills in a fast-paced and high-stake environment just to pass my courses and graduate on time and make myself hireable. i know having multiple skills is valueable in this day. i know my lecturers' preachings about how important it is to keep up with the new tech is true. i know people who can't keep up or who refuse to keep up will be left behind and suffer for it. it's just. i'm tired? no matter how much i want to equip myself with extra skills, i don't have the energy for that? i know it's inevitable, but like. it doesn't change that we all have limited energy? do we only live to suffer under capitalism now?

[luckystrike-x]

.