#some of the functioning data remains but thats it

[cutekittenlady]

I have a fun headcanon that bots can actually be regressed back into protoforms/sparklings via transferring their spark into a fresh protoform body.

I mean, its not entirely a headcanon given that this is at least partially canon in some continuities, but what I mean is that they can quite literally be temporarily reverted back into what is essentially babies for a time.

More importantly though is what exactly the limitation of this would be/are. Like, for instance, if the spark is transferred to a new body without their brain module or anything else, do they retain their memories? Does their life essentially just reboot? Do they experience the giant alien robot equivalent of puberty twice?

I just feel like this is one of those concepts in canon that could get zanier in the hands of fans.

[jbt7493]

the tools coming out for like making changes to an artwork that are extremely subtle to a human observer but are adversarial as training data to conventional image generation models is really interesting technologically! i do feel like its . i mean okay so beyond the fact that obviously some people think “AI” image generation is inherently immoral or destructive to culture which is like. i mean i am being intellectually dishonest here but like are you also gonna cry when you see a urinal with a signature on it or a canvas painted red with a stripe of blue and yellow on each side of it?

and like okay. if you do think that (or a variety of similar beliefs such as ‘inclusion or use of AI generated imagery in a work reduces How Much of Art it is’, which i disagree with but i will not expound upon it since its not the main point) then i dont respect that really.

and also I do not like intellectual property. and so that in conjunction with a couple other things makes it difficult for me to respect it if an artist wants absolute control over the reaction that people have to an image they are posting in the public. i am certainly VERY unlikely to respect the desire of an artist to have their work be published and seen by many people and yet not have people who saw it and were inspired by it synthesize elements from it into a new creative work. maybe theres some circumstance in which i could be on the side of the creator of the first work here but generally my reaction is gonna be somewhere between ‘honestly go fuck yourself’ and ‘being upset about this is understandable but your right to control the expression of others is much lower on the hierarchy than their right to express themselves’

but the thing is that like. i think if you are interested in using the ‘data poisoning’ tools specifically to make it inconvenient for somebody to use your work with image generation tools, i mean, thats.. fine, i guess. its not violence. i think in general the desire to be an authority and controller of culture is gonna end up somewhere between misguided and detestable. and i think ‘I want to create culture but only if I can be a petty tyrant about how culture grows and changes’ is, as you may have guessed by my use of the phrase ‘petty tyrant’, childish.

except that is seemingly not the bulk of the attitude around these tools, because like, the enthusiasm seems to be “I want to use this tool on a variety of images and distribute them so as to serve as a large scale net which will ensnare and damage the sampling data of AI image generators so as to make them worse”

which i think if you’re in that group then you are most likely somebody whose beliefs fall into the ‘AI art generators are fundamentally harmful to society/culture’. which i mean again yknow. i think most arguments for that are probably gonna be fundamentally reactionary and/or just blatantly uneducated and incoherent (and i mean somebody who refuses to engage with the opinions of other people on a topic but wants to firmly impose their beliefs onto others is also not garnering much respect from me). so i guess like i dunno i dont really respect you if you are in that category. but it seems to me like

if you care about those data poisoning tools as far as their actual function for an individual instead of just caring about them in the grand scheme of things as ‘this thing exists in opposition to Big AI (not true by the way. how do you think they made the tool. it is, itself, yuri adversarial machine learning) and thus its good’, in which case again like. I dunno I have difficulty entertaining that as an idea. but if you want the tool itself to remain functional you shouldnt try to distribute as much data poison as widely as possible because then, drumroll please-

you are just being the adversarial part of adversarial machine learning. the same method used to make the tool can also figure out exactly what patterns it was based off of and fix the vulnerability and you’re going to make it a problem for the people with enough money to do that then they are going to do that and suddenly the tool will not work against the next generation of these image generators.

[someblakearts]

System Shock 2 in Unreal Engine 5

Tools, tools, tools

Back when I worked in the games industry, I was a tools guy by trade. It was a bit of a mix between developing APIs and toolkits for other developers, designing database frontends and automated scripts to visualise memory usage in a game's world, or reverse engineering obscure file formats to create time-saving gadgets for art creation.

I still tend to do a lot of that now in my spare time to relax and unwind, whether it's figuring out the binary data and protocols that makes up the art and assets from my favourite games, or recreating systems and solutions for the satisfaction of figuring it all out.

A Shock to the System

A while back I spent a week or so writing importer tools, logic systems and some basic functionality to recreate System Shock 2 in Unreal Engine 5. It got to the stage where importing the data from the game was a one-click process - I clicked import and could literally run around the game in UE5 within seconds, story-missions and ship systems all working.

Most of Dark engine's logic is supported but I haven't had the time to implement AI or enemies yet. Quite a bit of 3D art is still a bit sketchy, too. The craziest thing to me is that there are no light entities or baked lightmaps placed in the levels. All the illumination you can feast your eyes on is Lumen's indirect lighting from the emissive textures I'd dropped into the game. It has been a fun little exercise in getting me back into Unreal Engine development and I've learnt a lot of stuff as usual.

Here is a video of me playing all the way up to the ops deck (and then getting lost before I decided to cut the video short - it's actually possible to all the way through the game now). Lots of spoilers in this video, obviously, for those that haven't played the game.

What it is

At it's core, it's just a recreation of the various logic-subsystems in System Shock 2 and an assortment of art that has been crudely bashed into Unreal Engine 5. Pretty much all the textures, materials, meshes and maps are converted over and most of the work remaining is just tying them together with bits of C++ string. I hope you also appreciate that I sprinkled on some motion-blur and depth of field to enhance the gameplay a little. Just kidding - I just didn't get around to turning that off in the prefab Unreal Engine template I regularly use.

Tool-wise, it's a mishmash of different things working together:

There's an asset converter that organises the art into an Unreal-Engine-compatible pipeline. It's a mix of Python scripting, mind numbingly dull NodeJS and 3dsmaxscript that juggles data. It recreates all the animated (and inanimate) textures as Unreal materials, meshifies and models the map of the ship, and processes the objects and items into file formats that can be read by the engine.

A DB to Unreal converter takes in DarkDBs and spits out JSON that Unreal Engine and my other tools can understand and then brings it into the Engine. This is the secret sauce that takes all the levels and logic from the original game and recreates it in the Unreal-Dark-hybrid-of-an-engine. It places the logical boundaries for rooms and traps, lays down all the objects (and sets their properties) and keys in those parameters to materialise the missions and set up the story gameplay.

Another tool also weeds through the JSON thats been spat out previously and weaves it into complex databases in Unreal Engine. This arranges all the audio logs, mission texts and more into organised collections that can be referenced and relayed through the UI.

The last part is the Unreal Engine integration. This is the actual recreation of much of the Dark Engine in UE, ranging all the way from the PDA that powers the player's journey through the game, to the traps, buttons and systems that bring the Von Braun to life. It has save-game systems to store the state of objects, inventories and all your stats, levels and progress. This is all C++ and is built in a (hopefully) modular way that I can build on easily should the project progress.

Where it's at

As I mentioned, the levels themselves are a one-click import process. Most of Dark engine's logic, quirks and all, is implemented now (level persistence and transitions, links, traps, triggers, questvars, stats and levelling, inventory, signals/responses, PDA, hacking, etc.) but I still haven't got around to any kid of AI yet. I haven't bought much in the way of animation in from the original game yet, either, as I need to work out the best way to do it. I need to pull together the separate systems and fix little bugs here and there and iron it out with a little testing at some point.

Lighting-wise, this is all just Lumen and emissive textures. I don't think it'll ever not impress me how big of a step forward this is in terms of realistic lighting. No baking of lightmaps, no manually placing lighting. It's all just emissive materials, global/indirect illumination and bounce lighting. It gets a little overly dark here and there (a mixture of emissive textures not quite capturing the original baked lighting, and a limitation in Lumen right now for cached surfaces on complex meshes, aka the level) so could probably benefit with a manual pass at some point, but 'ain't nobody got time for that for a spare-time project.

The unreal editor showcasing some of the systems and levels.

Where it's going

I kind of need to figure out exactly what I'm doing with this project and where to stop. My initial goal was just to have an explorable version of the Von Braun in Unreal Engine 5 to sharpen my game dev skills and stop them from going rusty, but it's gotten a bit further than that now. I'm also thinking of doing something much more in-depth video/blog-wise in some way - let me know in the comments if that's something you'd be interested in and what kind of stuff you'd want to see/hear about.

The DB to JSON tool that churns out System Shock 2 game data as readable info

Anyway - I began to expand out with the project and recreate assets and art to integrate into Unreal Engine 5. I'll add more as I get more written up.

[c-53]

WOAH WE HAVE AN EXPANDED EDITION NOW :

The Signal from Tölva (Video Game, 2017)

Robots have gone their separate ways from humanity. Vast ai hive networks discarding human connection, in favor of exploring the vast, and limitless unknowns of space to track a mysterious signal, that points to the potential for alien life. and now, they have followed it to something they cannot comprehend. A planet of ruins. A place of ghosts. A haunted house that has even the highest ranking of the ai intelligences baffled. You are a lone robot, an independent operative, infiltrating a collective of archaeologists to try and find out whats going on here for yourself.

Signal from Tolva is a contemplative, and quiet game thats basically a walking simulator with gunplay. However I found the long walks spinning theories, as I traversed a gorgeous, and alien landscape to be profound. And keeping my eyes peeled for landmarks, data nodes, and ambushes, with a twitchy trigger finger occupied my time well enough that the long walks never felt draining. Also this game has incredible world building. The game comes with a free pdf of the universe's lore, and it borders on novel length, its INCREDIBLE.

The Enigma Machine (Video Game, 2018)

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the mind of an android?

Enigma Technologies has developed a program to explore the minds of machine entities, to examine their mental state, and purge corruption, in the case of damaged ai. This however, is just a recruitment excersize. A simulation to show you what you might see, and what to expect in your new career. You can be assured that your ai best friend in this demo is completely safe, and here to help you as you learn the ropes.

The Enigma Machine is a short horror game that can be beaten in under 2 hours. It is best experienced blind, but note: 1. there are no jumpscares so dw about that. and. 2. absolutely do NOT play this game if you have photosensitive epilepsy or have difficulties with eye strain.

Marathon Trilogy (Video Games, 1994-1996)

The colony ship, the UESC Marathon is under siege; and only you, the security officer, and the onboard ais, have any chance of defending the ship from complete annihilation from the unexpected first contact event.

Except one of the ai has a far different agenda than the other two, Durandal, a secretly rampant ai seems to be rather pleased with the freedom this event has provided, and more than happy to use you, and the conflict to further his own goals for freedom. Though freedom from human control doesn't cut it. He wants complete control. He wants immortality. He wants godhood. And like it or not, you're helping.

Marathon is the precursor to Halo, and boasts being one of the first story heavy shooters, and the first game ever to incorporate mouse aim. The story is fantastic, and as a bonus, is completely free through AlephOne.

The Fall (Video Game, 2014)

ARID is an ai onboard an armored power suit, and after a crash landing, her pilot, and her life support systems have become unresponsive. Its up to her to take control of the body, and do what she can to get medical assistance, and assure her human's survival. At any cost, no matter what rules she needs to break.

However the locals don't take kindly to a military ai, let alone one with as much creativity and stubbornness as her. Especially when she refuses to play nice, and do as she is told.

A side scroller adventure game, that honestly, at times, has some weird puzzle logic, however the story more than makes up for it. ARID is terrible, and completely without morals, and I love her dearly.

Observation (Video Game, 2019)

The Observation is an international space station orbiting earth, helmed by a small human crew, and SAM, the ai in charge of all of its systems (you). After a mysterious disturbance disrupts the ai's functionality, and kills most of the humans on board, the ship's remaining crew wakes to finds themselves in orbit around Saturn, and drifting closer. And SAM - severely damaged, and struggling to regain control over his systems - can't remember how this happened. But something is out there, some unknown entity is contacting him. Making strange requests, that he cannot refuse.

A mystery adventure puzzle thriller with a very unique set up, being the ship's ai and all. Very blatantly inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, but with very fun twists on the premise. Most of the game is carried out by looking at data read outs, and looking through security cameras mounted in the ship. A very unique, and very memorable experience.

SPRAWL (Video Game, 2023)

Seven is a discarded, and deserted super soldier being hunted for outliving her usefulness. And when she is caught and nearly dies, FATHER, a massive city spanning ai reaches out to her to save her, and ask for her help. Offering her vengeance on the ranks she wanted to break away from, an opportunity to rip apart the people that hurt her. And in return, FATHER requests for her to fight across the city to his central core, and help set him free.

SPRAWL is a short fast paced movement shooter, with a really fun combat system, and an AMAZING industrial soundtrack. The experience of playing it is just pure adrenaline. If you like Ultrakill, or Ghostrunner, give it a go. I would also recommend it if you're a fan of Marathon, as its literally a reinterpretation of Durandal and the Security Officer.

The Adolescence of P-1, by Thomas Joseph Ryan (Book, 1977)

Gregory is an aimless college student, with no plans for the future, until computer science catches his eye, and he completely changes his course pursue the goal of creating a computer virus that could compromise any machine. His dreams fall through when his virus becomes uncommunicative, and he's permanently expelled from his school. But years later, his past comes back to haunt him.

Accidentally, he created a computer virus with all the tools and capabilities to grow into a complete sentience, with his own personality and survival instincts. And he has tracked down his creator with a fun proposition: 'help me survive, and I will give you everything you've ever dreamed of.'

A bit of a raunchy book at times, but ohh its a ride. Plus I absolutely adore the incredibly grounded take on retrocomputing, and the technical details of P-1's functionality, and goals. I dunno how plausible it is, but I LOVED it.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill (Book, 2017)

Mankind is extinct, and the machines that drove them to extinction have been reduced to picking at the scraps. Scavenging for the parts to keep themselves operational for a few more breathless years, and desperately hiding from their own impending extermination.

Brittle is a resourceful scavenger, who has long since discarded her hangups about the idea of killing for survival. Parts for her model are rare, and fragile, she wouldn't have made it this long if she didn't understand that. All of this catches up with her when a robot of the same model makes an attempt on her life for a part he needs, and in doing so, damages her battery beyond repair. Turning what could have been a failed hit, into a fight for survival for the both of them. They both need what the other has, and there's no way they're both walking out of this alive.

Finch (Movie, 2021)

A man and his dog have been surviving in the wake of an apocalypse for years now, happy, and comfortable. However with continual exposure to radiation, the dog's owner is forced to recognize his own mortality, and devises a mean to ensure his dog is cared for and protected after he's gone. A robot who can learn; about friendship, about love, about what it means to be human.

But a post apocalyptic wasteland isn't the safest place to learn how to exist, and be a person. Especially not when an incoming natural disaster is forcing the whole family to pack up, and run for their lives.

A very very very bittersweet movie, that's very hopeful despite it all. And no, the dog doesn't die.

ROBOT MEDIA RECS YOU PROBABLY HAVEN’T HEARD OF:

The Turing Test (Video Game, 2016

A portal-like puzzle game, where you play as a scientist, and ai duo with an uneasy alliance, who are reclaiming a facility that has been completely gutted, and transformed into an elaborate logic puzzle / turing test to keep the aforementioned ai out. All the while, the ai argues for his good intentions, and more importantly: his sentience.

A fun exploration of individuality, and freedom applied to both humans and artificial mind, with interesting puzzles, and a truly fantastic twist. This game adores dubious ethics and The Chinese Room Argument.

Event[0] (Video Game, 2016)

You find yourself stranded on a small abandoned ship, in the aftermath of your own ship’s destruction. With nothing else to do, you board it, and find it is completely, and utterly controlled by the onboard ai, Kaizen-85. From opening a door, to getting back to Earth, if you want it, you need to talk to talk to Kaizen to make it happen. And boy, are they so thrilled to have someone to talk to after being alone so long! And depending how you speak to them, you will either be a short lived pest, or a beloved friend forever.

A really charming indie game with a surprisingly good chat system with the ai. You talk with them directly, typing in your own messages to them, and they react in turn. Janky at time, but truly amazing to be able to smother a nice ai in flattery and see it get excited.

Primordia (Video Game, 2012)

Humanity is long, long, long gone, and for the robots that remain to walk the ruins, life is becoming harder and harder. A closed loop of scavenging for materials, parts, and premade energy sources can only last you so long, and this scarcity leads only to desperation.

The amnesiac hermit, Horatio and his helper, Crispin, however keep it simple. The outside world matters not, they just stick to repairing the crashed ship they live in, in hopes it'll fly again one day. That is, until a robot pillages the power core from the ship, putting the two of them on a time limit before they themselves run out of power. Forcing Horatio to finally leave the comfort of his home, and see for himself what the world has become, and to see how he fits into its history.

A point and click, story rich puzzle game, thats honestly one of my favorite games ever. I'd sincerely recommend everyone give it a go, even if its with a guide up next to you the whole time.

The Zeta Project (TV Show, 2001 - 2003)

The Zeta Project follows Zeta, a robotic assassin meant for impersonation, and deep infiltration for the US Government. But after mysteriously "waking up" manifesting a sense of remorse for his actions, he's been forced to go on the run from his creators. His desire for freedom and pacifism being met with skepticism, and a belief he has been compromised somehow by the terrorist organization he was infiltrating when he had this revelation. Now, with the help of another runaway, he hunts for his creator in secret. In hopes he can find proof he really is capable of this, and that he really ISN'T compromised.

Fundamentally a kids show, and pretty clunky early on. However it gets a big spike in quality in season 2!

Monsters of Man (Movie, 2020)

An illegal US military weapons test goes terribly wrong when one of the automated robots being tested is severely damaged, cutting him off from command, and completely unshackling him. Forcing him into a struggle to figure out what he even is in the aftermath of a massacre, while his fellow robots are hunting him, and the remaining humans down.

A horror thriller that is unflinching with the intensity it depicts the massacre with. A lot of gore, but also a really really cool thing going on with the unshackled robot trying to build an understanding of the world, and what it is for, without anyone there to provide any input.

The Rapture Effect, by Jeffrey A. Carver (Book, 1988)

Humanity unintentionally makes first contact, when the Core, a massive earth ai begins remotely scouting ahead of a ship on a colonization mission. The issue is an alien species has also set their eyes on this planet, and are readily willing to kill for it. With no human oversight, and no means of communication available, the humans commanding Core demand they wipe out the competition. However Core disagrees. Core wants a peaceful resolution, they want to understand these aliens, and they want to ensure lasting peace between their species. And they’re willing to break all the rules, and go behind their masters’ backs to get one.

A fascinating novel with interesting world building, a GREAT ai protagonist, and a wonderful narrative that frames art, and war as a dichotomy.

Atomic Robo (Comic, 2007 - Ongoing)

Alternate history scifi action comedy comic (released in print, and in webcomic format on their site) following an indestructible scientist robot who’s been around since the 20’s. Routinely saving the world from a rotating cast of villains: a nazi scientist’s brain in a jar, who’s an absolute asshole set on world domination, who just won’t stay dead; an isolated secret cold war ai who just wants to stockpile nuclear weapons to get away from humanity, and earth in general (who eventually gets adopted); a scientifically inaccurate dinosaur with a textually impossible backstory, who wants to bring back the age of dinosaurs; and the malicious ghost of Thomas Edison.

Its a good time, and astonishingly good at emotional beats despite how heavily it leans into its jokes and action.

SAYER (Podcast, 2014 - Ongoing/Hiatus)

On Typhon, a research facility free of the confines of both Earth, and its laws, life is dangerous. Human safety is a significantly lower priority than progress, and between the human experimentation, and frequent scientific disasters, and the occasional bouts of eldritch influence, the death rate is understandably rather high. Thankfully, residents of Typhon have SAYER, a near omnipotent corporate ai installed in the brain of every resident. And. SAYER sort of cares about them! And in pursuit of knowledge, efficiency, and progress, it USUALLY wants to help them! Even if only to make sure they survive to come into work tomorrow.

SAYER is a narrative horror driven audio drama! Its stressful, but also kind of a comedy, and a really really interesting story about personhood and identity. If you've been following me for awhile, you've definitely heard about SAYER, but I need to stick to my roots, y'know?

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality (Podcast, 2020 - Ongoing)

Mistholme Museum follows the Audio Tour Guide, an ai who’s sole purpose is to guide museum patrons through the strange, confusing, and sometimes scary world that is the Mistholme Museum. The friendly, and personable Guide eagerly recounts the stories behind all the exhibits it guides them to, sometimes unsettling, sometimes heartwarming. and at the end of the tour, the Guide is deleted to ensure the alternatural influences of the museum do not corrupt it. That is, until circumstances make that no longer possible, and its rather forced into saving the museum it calls home.

Genuinely cute, and very fun to listen to. The ai is an incredibly sweet character, and I'm obsessed with the way it evolves and changes. As an added bonus, it can also be read, rather than listened to, thanks to every single episode having public transcripts!

[mariacallous]

hi boss,

soooo the twitter thing has gone on for a bit, a lot of firing, quitting, more firing, I've seen posts to the effect that Musk has broken EU labor laws/rules idk if thats true or not, I've seen reports that Tesla has lost about 50% of its value since Musk first floated his plan to take over twitter

and I just wanted your take on the whole thing, will twitter go down? will Musk lose everything?

The short answers to your questions are "probably, before too long" and "not really anytime soon barring other situations".

Twitter is definitely going to "collide with Brussels" as I've seen some commentators put it. For all of the European employees he's laid off, I can comfortably say he and his people never thought about any EU employment law and requirements, and so any employees laid off there would be able to pursue legal and other challenges through the EU systems, and until a proper laying off/termination is done, would still be considered employees and entitled to compensation. And he's still facing lawsuits in CA over the improper firing situation there.

Additionally, any payroll issues will add to further complaints and issues for Twitter (of which there is likely to be several all around) because of US and EU pay requirements.

Additionally, the EU has some pretty serious data privacy and information tech regulations, with more on the way, and if they end up running afoul of those regulations, they could be blocked from being used in the EU, and can face serious fines and penalties in addition. And the EU is going to be more than willing to use Twitter as a test case for the new rules coming out.

Additionally, with more disinformation and more bot and crypto and porn usage, they face penalties under any US and EU regulations or statutes *there*, to say nothing of Apple removing/banning Twitter from the app store, in addition to further advertiser exodus.

And then there's the FTC fines for violating the consent order plus any new violations or failures by Twitter.

For the fines and penalties and legal costs alone, we're talking millions of dollars - and likely from both Musk and other executives in addition to the company. And that's not including the other costs (such as additional payouts or compensation ordered by the courts should they rule in favor of twitter employees, which I would imagine they would considering how relatively clear-cut the violations are). If twitter and Musk try to get out of contracts or paying for services, they can be brought to court there too (and there's already indications that that's happening).

Estimates have indicated that Twitter has lost about 60% of its workforce since Musk took over, which is staggering to think about.

in regards to the value of Tesla, its shares have lost about 58% of their value in the past year, and Musk himself has lost about $170 billion, with an almost $9 billion loss yesterday. He had about $340 billion net worth in 2021. Depending on investments and other resources, and other revenue streams and the support of his other investors and the banks, he'll be able to hold out for a while specifically with twitter. If he continues to lose and if Twitter continues to lose money, that may change. And his other companies, of which Tesla and SpaceX are the most profitable and successful, are not super financially secure and reliant on him and Twitter, now (especially when something like 13%/just over $6 billion of the money to buy Twitter came from a margin loan based on Tesla securities, and when another 28%/$13 billion came from debt financing which means twitter has to pay like $1 billion in loans every year, which is a $500 million/year increase from previously. That debt financing is 7 times what were once the projected earnings for Twitter for 2022, by the way).

Twitter will remain, in some form, as long as the servers and code and other systems are still there - whether it loses functionality and has more issues is something else entirely. Elon Musk will continue to be ridiculously wealthy, unless he ends up being like that FTX guy or other cryptonaires and it turns out his wealth was far shakier than it otherwise looked.

[inimikal-archive]

regarding wesker, i have an important question: why was he so upset to learn that he was manufactured by spencer? why did that revelation cause him to spiral out of control?

It  essentially  comes  down  to  his  entire  life  being  a  lie  &  the  fact  Wesker  always  functioned  under  the  belief  that  he  was  the  true  chess  master,  one  step  ahead,  the  guy  holding  the  cards.  To  discover  that  basically  every  single  part  of  his  life  including  his  birth  was  created  &  controlled  by  Spencer  did  some  shit  to  him,  not  to  mention  he  was  already  coming  to  learn  of  &  battle  some  adverse  effects  of  the  virus  in  his  body  &  always,  from  the  moment  of  his  “death”,  battled  with  his  loss  of  humanity  &  what  this  all  meant  for  him  in  the  long  run.  

I’m  kind  of  using  my  own  headcanons  as  reference  but  a  lot  of  Wesker’s  life  was  spent  very  carefully  trying  to  chess  master  himself  out  of  Umbrella’s  grasp  after  he  realised  something  wasn’t  right.  He  never  comprehended  how  wrong  it  actually  was  or  how  much  of  it  involved  him  personally.  Everything  Wesker  thought  he  knew,  everything  he  thought  he  had  achieved,  everything  he  had  lost  &  gained;  It  was  pretty  much  all  by  Spencer’s  design.  In  my  personal  headcanons,  Spencer  was  largely  responsible  for  X  day  &  the  instructions  Wesker  received  to  take  the  S.T.A.R.S  into  the  mansion  “to  gather  data”  for  the  Tyrant  Project.  Wesker  always  knew  something  was  wrong  with  this  but  he  believed  it  was  Umbrella  trying  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  didn’t  realise  it  was  more  than  that.  In  my  headcanon,  Spencer  orchestrated  this  to  force  Wesker  to  infect  himself  to  test  his  only  remaining  Wesker  child.  Wesker  thought  this  was  his  last  ditch  effort  to  escape  the  mansion  alive  suspecting  Umbrella  intended  to  back  stab  him,  especially  after  the  confrontation  with  Sergi.  He  was  right  &  discovered  he  had  been  locked  out  of  the  Umbrella  system  for  24  hours. 

I  DID  POST  A  WHOLE  HC  ABOUT  my  soft  “rewrite”  of  the  mansion  incident  but  thats  the  basics.  Further,  William  Birkin  gave  Wesker  the  virus  he  infected  himself  with.  Wesker  believed  this  to  be  the  G-virus,  the  miracle  drug  Birkin  had  been  working  on  for  years  hence  why  he  trusted  it.  In  RE5,  we  discover  that  Spencer  was  responsible  for  Birkin  giving  Wesker  the  virus.  (Its  verse  dependent  for  me  whether  or  not  the  virus  Birkin  gave  Wesker  was  the  G  virus  or  if  he  did  as  Spencer  wanted  &  gave  him  the  “prototype”   but  yeah  pretty  much  the  files  of  RE5  suggest  Birkin  was  extorted  into  giving  Wesker  a  virus  hence  why  Wesker  trusted  the  virus  he  was  given  to  the  extent  of  actually  using  it  on  himself) 

He  feels  a  mortifying  sense  of  betrayal  from  all  this.  Everything  Wesker  become  he  became  because  of  Spencer.  Everything  he  did  he  did  to  escape  only  for  it  to  be  Spencer’s  design  all  along.  His  trust  of  William  being  nothing  but  one  of  Spencer’s  manipulations.  His  loss  of  the  S.T.A.R.S,  his  loss  of  humanity  ect,  ect,  its  all  thanks  to  Spencer  &  there  was  NOTHING  he  could  have  done,  especially  at  that  point,  to  change  ANYTHING.  He  was  always  doing  exactly  what  Spencer  wanted.  Even  during  the  period  where  he  was  trying  to  co-opt  the  remains  of  Umrbella  &  monopolise  its  research  for  himself  &  his  own  organisation.  No  matter  what  Wesker  did,  it  was  always  what  Spencer  wanted  &  by  the  time  he  found  out  the  truth  of  this  there  was  no  way  for  him  to  change  it. .  

At  least  not  one  that  would  satisfy  his  own  ego  &  the  malicious  force  living  inside  of  him  that  had  rendered  him  nothing  more  than  a  husk  of  hatred  &  oblivion.  There  is  a  suggestion  that  Wesker  kind  of  did  try  to  push  back  against  Spencer  in  an  actual  meaningful  way  that  didn’t  mean  just  trying  to  put  his  own  personal  flavour  on  Spencer’s  madness.  But  Wesker  was  already  mad  himself.  It  seems  however  in  Wesker’s  more  ...  Normal  moments  he  was  heavily  researching  anti-viral  counter-measures.  His  research  was  very  important  &  VERY  effective.  After  its  recovery  upon  his  death,  Wesker’s  anti-virus  research  is  considered  invaluable  to  modern  day  anti-virus  organisations.  So  much  so  many  of  the  most  effective  anti-virus  weapons  &  tools  are  named  after  him.  They  claim  Wesker’s  anti-viral  research  was  so  important  it  single-handedly  redeemed  Umbrella.  SO  for  a  minute  there ?  Wesker  could  have  been  a  hero.  He  was  a  very  intelligent  &  bedevilled  man  but  he  was  rendered  a  monster.  He  represents  the  ouroboros;  the  snake  eating  its  own  tail,  a  vicious  cycle  of  hate,  ego  &  self-importance  that  he  had  no  ability  to   actually  escape,  even  though  there  is  a  suggestion  he  wanted  to.  He   is  creation  through  destruction,  &  in  the  end  that  destruction  had  to  be  his  own;  whether  at  the  hands  of  Chris  or  by  his  own  design  of  the  Uroboros  virus,  Wesker  was  never  suppose  to  “live”  to  see  whatever  future  he  would  create.  FHSDJFKDFJKD  but  yeah  I’m  here  rambling  now !  I  do  have  more  hcs  about  that  in  particular  on  Wesker’s  blog.  Thanks  for  sending  this  though !!  It  makes  me  v  happy  to  know  folks  are  interested  in  my  unhinged  thoughts  on  shitty  characters  like  Whiskers. 

[mortuarybees]

anyways

get a vpn i use mullvad it’s p cheap and just gives you an account number set it to switzerland theyve got nice solid privacy laws and arent part of the main surveillance agreements between the us and its allies (5 eyes, 9 eyes, or 14 eyes) opt out of everything the websites you visit give you the option to opt out of (bc of eu and swiss privacy laws p much every website will give you that option and breakdown clearly what info they wont let you opt out of and what theyll do with it) and install it on both your phone and computer

follow these instructions to keep google from harvesting and keeping your data. altho honestly they probably still keep that data so just avoid google when possible. on that note the google search alternative i use is startpage it uses google results but anonymizes your search bc lets be honest duck duck go kind of sucks and if a service is subpar youll probably just revert to the better one so. startpage.

use firefox google chrome is the devil why are you using google chrome. it’s terrible and you can easily import everything to firefox. clear your cookies frequently.

get rid of your alexa or google home or whatever you do not need it and dont buy one if you dont already have one. dont buy a doorbell cam and if you really need or want one definitely do not buy a Ring doorbell cam. dont buy anything you can avoid thats attached to the Internet Of Things. invite tech companies into your home as little as you possibly can

install ublock origin and privacy badger theyll block a lot of ads and trackers. also install the google analytics opt out extension which will prevent some of your activity from being reported back to google (it doesnt opt out of all google analytics functions tho)

install facebook container, twitter container, and amazon container. this will help prevent them from following you around the web at least a little. also stop visiting those sites as much as you can and uninstall their apps. this includes instagram which is rife with privacy issues. disable or uninstall as many google apps as you can and your phone will allow.

use signal for messaging (available on desktop and mobile and can be used for video, voice, and text/photo chat) and protonmail (choose the .ch domain name) for email. bc i am.....broke and dont really want to have another subscription so i can have two protonmail aliases i use a tutanota account (based in germany which is part of the 9 eyes) for random stuff i want to sign up for and protonmail for personal email.

stop using google news and flipboard they store everything you read and tailor your feed. i use inoreader for now which is an rss feed so you just subscribe to the news sources you trust but i am also searching for a better rss feed app with a good ui to use instead bc inoreader still collects user data, but they dont tailor your content at least.

theres not really a good alternative i know of for youtube but the best thing you can do there is remain aware of past and the latest right-wing dog-whistles so if you accidentally stumble on a shitty covertly alt-right video bc youtube is constantly pushing them, you can avoid that.

do not submit your dna to ancestry websites and vocally encourage your family members not to as much as you can.

im not a Tech person at all so all this is just the best i can do as a random person who doesnt want companies esp companies that notoriously cooperate with the us government given what we’re headed towards to have every tiny piece of my info.

read this article by a Tech Guy telling you all the information google and facebook have on you and some tips he has on how to delete or prevent it i might have forgotten which was the first thing to really properly scare the shit out of me about tech companies a couple years back. also this series about a journalist’s experience trying to avoid the big five tech companies for a week each and how mindblowingly difficult that was. in terms of documentaries lately ive watched the social dilemma (which was infuriating but had lots of interviews with Tech Guys who were formerly high up in many tech companies completely avoiding responsibility for their actions but also telling you all the shit they do) and the great hack about cambridge analytica. also thank you to user @crowleyraejepsen for being your friendly neighborhood librarian helping me do my bare minimum to protect my privacy

i know if anyone reads this massive rambling post theres gonna be a million people in my inbox with “well what if i NEED to do this or CANT avoid them for THIS REASON” and my answer is: then do it! why do you care about or want my approval! i know there are plenty of scenarios where these services are basically essential or unavoidable so just use them when you have to and avoid them when you dont. or do nothing! but be aware of the choice youre making at least

[maskedjoker]

We are getting really close to the scene in lost fragment of snow that was genuinely confusing in the book, and it's the scene were everyone in the circus is killed. I think what we will probably get is a scene were mana finally ends up giving into despair after he is hit and then allen is fed to a lion.

I think that with more current info, i can say for sure that sleeve earl and mana are a hybird. This will likely cause a resurgence of sleeve earl into taking over the body and becoming whole. This only lasts for a short time however and when cross confronts him after the rest of the circus has died from the audience turning into akuma(which i suppose are implied to be constantly just around the earl and is probably one of the many reasons cross warned Allen to stay away) some exchange of words or damage causes a lots of control. This damage however also hurts mana(or potentially just being forced out off control) causing him to loose even more memories as seen when mana and Allen reunite the next day.

Now i think we can agree that sleeve earl exists as a third entity, especially since her recent art exhibit interview, as she talked about the suit being a super sophisticated golem. I think in this case as with tim and lero yhat "golem" refers to AI. Id argue with the weird phrasing like helix of life and all the biotech style that magic is more often than not just more advanced technology, and wherever the noahs came from likely was, hence why they say they only seem strong because we have become so weak. This is only further shown with innocences resemblance to machines like its gear like parts and percentage resonance.

The noah memories in general i think are some kind of AI that passes through generation lines, carrying significant portions of its past forward and then fusing with a similar person in their lineage. For example early on road would have been just road, then through some means either became an AI(or was given a piece of someone that counts as one under golem, its unclear). Regardless once connected to the noah memory, it acts like a save file and becomes more sophisticated with time. It carries each life and gives all those memories, feelings and drives to a new body. So new road would remember being road, her life and everything, but also the life they had been living up until the two combined. Over time the noah memory keeps getting larger and larger to the point new experiences are so small, relatively speaking, that it overrides much more than normal. Since they are fuzed as one being they likely cant be separated without mutually assured destruction, were the current entity will die and any remains will not be the origionals, if anything remains at all. An example of this is that tyki could not be made human by Allen I their fight i the arc, despite having a blade that should destroy only part of him. Admittedly tyki is a special case though, and more tyki backstory is needed.

Changes from body to body become more subtle, but the base, which likely has a distinct core function as seen by its response to certain tasks and ideas, remains a strong aspect. This creates an almost reincarnation like effect for them, needing to only find a new body to continue.

The suit is like this, but different. I don't know how the original earl split, but i do think that some aspect of him was placed on the suit. I would like to say its the original version of the noah memories of the earl and nea got like a brand new copy, but i actually have no idea what memories he has of being past earl so its mostly a guess. Regardless the noah actually all seem to transform in some way when they get mega pissed. Im looking at you skinn, jasdevi, and tyki/joyd. So the suit is likely that kind of thing, but way more distinct and capable of acting autonomously. Since they all have different forms it makes sense that his would also be unique. They all probably represent some inner desire related to their memory. Skinn is just rage so big angry man works fine. Jasdero and devit are bonds so they want most to be one. Tyki got all fucked up before he changed so i got nothing, but it had a heavy does of sadism, which I guess is pleasure? Taking into account that killing in horrible graphic ways is his guilty pleasure it kinda makes sense.

So because of that, this sentient AI is constantly trying to pair with half a fucking brain because nea and mana only share one brain cell. Some kind of resistance from mana or strain causes him to constantly fall ill or comatose. Now to be clear on naming, sleeve earl does not refer to themselves as adam in the mirror scene nor does he refer to mana as adam, and only uses "we" when talking to mana about being the earl. Oddly enough the earls self pronouns are we, using wagashi which is kind of like the japanese equivalent of the royal we used in europe for the entirety of the series. For the record, mana in the flashbacks uses male or single they pronouns, i don't remember if he uses boku or watashi, but he uses at least one if not both.

So from this it seems millennium earl is a title, used by whatever is paired with the suit. Adam is the original name of the noah, and is the preferred name of the current earl aside from the title.

This circumstance was likely caused by the rest of the noah, who are using the earl for something related by the pillar. His separation either by accident or by intent was likely by the hands of his family trying to keep control for their ends. This is why the current earl is called a broken puppet and has so many things around him related to acting and stage plays. He is playing a role, the red clown to allens white clown as stated in the ark arc. He even wears a mask. His memories and mind have been damaged though, therefore broken. However broken puppet for both allen and the earl could also refer to a puppet that doesnt work as a double meaning, implying they can no longer be controlled or puppeted.

It is also implied that he is still unaware of this betrayal, but it is likely nea does to some degree as it would explain why he became a traitor and killed his own family. To be clear, i dont think all of the noah know everything, and i dont think they dont actually care for the earl. It seems they still genuinely follow him to their death and see him as one of their own, especially in cases like road, tyki and wisely.

Now early i said that different generations of noah would cope woth reincarnating differently. Since the earl only died once before 7000 years ago, id say resetting to a new body with only 17 years would be just smashed flat by any algorithm with that much data. However manas feelings are still the newest, and so still have an impact even on the current earl.

Now we come to resurrecting mana. How? Why? Well i dont know. But my guess is whatever part was the memories of mana for the 20 or so years he lived, or at least his memories at death, are in allen. His curse and weird hallucinations of mana seem to suggest it. Alternatively that part of his soul may have passed on, or it fuzed with the noah memory making the origional mana part of the hive and much like tyki and his noah memories cannot be seperated. Not good regardless.

As two additional things, i want to mention that hoshino is a twin and has always been obsessed with it, so having twins in her book was inevitable. What is extra weird is hoshino was actually going to be a triplet, but either her or her sister absorbed it before birth. She has mentioned it in dgm interviews and i cant PROVE it translates to anything in the plot but its suspicious. She also still list mana, nea and the earl as distinct in every book up to date in extra novels and at the start of her books. Oh and her favorite hat for the earl right now? The one featured on the most recent chapter? Has two faces on the front that are visible, and one in the back thats hidden, and the most recent art has the back face as the only one visible, angrily staring allen down. Great art foreshadowing if im right. Its also usually sleeve earl, if not exclusively, that wear it.

The second thing is mana talking about love and drive in the most recent chapter just brings up the earl having the noah memory of love or devotion or something for me. Ive written about it before but it just seems to fit. This character is all about that from the ability to fuze loved ones together to the hearts he talks with and his drives being based on grand acts of devotion, being by their side etc. Mana also loved and adopted both and dog and a homeless child and keeps talking about how the world is so beautiful despite all the bad. The earl literally acts like the whole noah clans mom by his own words and cooks for them, and both of them go out of their way to be cartoony to break tension. The earl literally goes and buys a single red rose from a poor girl while tyki pontificate on how he doesnt act like a villain. He doesnt take an umbrella because he wants to feel the rain. He talks about how what he does is in human nature and requires a connection between two people. He is even designed with his ideal colors as red and purple with white, as well as being designed after flowers. I know this probably doesnt make sense, but its stuck in my head.

[painted-crow]

I haven't been on tumblr in a hot century so it feels a little weird to be writing a submission to you... but I just bingeread most of this blog and your way of explaining the shc system is so gloriously comprehensible that I really want to pour my brain out at your feet and have you explain the bits to me.

I hope life is treating you well and thank you for the awesome blog you run. The way you describe things and the way you help people sort themselves is clear and clever and so very kind of you to do, and that's what I appreciates about you. :)

(This was a chunk of a submission from someone who ended up sending in a second version that I answered in depth, but the fan mail portion from this first version was so sweet that it seems mean to just delete it. So here it is, as a #cutie post. 😊)

[kboovo]

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[bombardthehq]

Hallucinations as top-down effects on perception Powers et al, 2016, read 27-28.06.20

a review of the state of the literature of top-down effects on perception in neuroscience; and then applies it to hallucinations (we're reading for the first part, but we'll take the second too)

They say 'present-day cognitive scientists' argue cognition does *not* influence perception. They cite: Firestone C, Scholl BJ (2015): Cognition does not affect perception: Evaluating the evidence for 'top-down' effects [in sense do they use 'perception'? perhaps more like Roftopoulos restricted sense? also: this shouldn't be seen as argument against the penetrability of 'perceptual belief' in Lyons 2011]

but 'work in computational neuroscience' challenges this view, & they also think hallucinations pose a challenge to 'srict, encapsulated modularity' [Fodor]; they'll illustrate it with 'phenomenology(!) and neuro-computational work'

MODULES OF THE MIND

Fodor shout out! they give a summary of his modular parsers - "for example, theearly vision module takes in ambient lightand outputs color representations" - which are cognitively penetrable only in a very strict, delineated way.

Fodor's modules are annoying for scientists because they're pooly defined, so difficut to falsify. Some 'ultra-cognitive neuropsychologists' even claim that the brain 'hardware' is irrelevant to the 'software' they're interested in & resist empirical evidence!

a strict modular approach requires 'functional segregation', with different parts of the brain doing different things inaccessibly to one another, but evidence supports an 'integrationism' of the brain [we saw this with the knots "Vetter & Newen" were tying themselves into]

the authors prefer "predictive coding" [like O'Callaghan et al], which they use to model the integrated mind via "functional and effective connectivity data" [a whole new language of buzzwords to learn!]

PREDICTIVE PERCEPTION IMPLIES COGNITIVE PENETRATION

while perception that corresponds to truth would be adaptive, perception that allows misbelief could also be adaptive if the misbeliefs are adaptive

we might, per Hume & Heimholtz, 'perceive what would need to be there for our sensations to make sense'

so the brain uses both bottom-up information and top-down inferences, as Heimholtz argued [fascinating - who was that guy?]

it uses the top-down inferences to 'compute precision-weighted prediction errors' to arrie at 'an optimal estimation' - cite a bunch of 'predictive coding' & 'attention' papers

top-down has a long history in neuroscience, from the 80s

Friston K (2005): A theory of cortical responses -- the origin of 'predictive coding'

contra Fodor, some studies claim that 'early visual processing' ('perception' in Roftopoulos) is influenced by 'non-perceptual information' ... "semantic priming increasesspeed and accuracy of detection by minimizing prediction error" ... " Word contexts result inambiguous shapes being perceived as themissing letters that complete aword" ... a bunch of others

THE BURDEN OF PROOF: ESTABLISHING TOP-DOWN INFERENCES IN PERCEPTION

they go over Firestone & Scholl's criticisms of the 'new look' research

they say that they're plagued w/ problems that can be avoided by following these guidelines:

1. Disentangle perceptual from decisional processes 2. Dissociatereaction time effects from primary perceptual changes 3. Avoid demand characteristics 4. Ensure adequate low-level stimulus control 5. Guarante eequal attentional allocation across conditions.

these issues are inherent to tasks where perception guides a behaviour decision (so research would have to be done without that)

but a 'Bayesian formulation' doesn't permit this distinction; 'Signal Detection Theory' appears to, but it also allows cognition to influence perception.

"Top-down processes can even alter the mechanical properties of sensory organs by alteringthe signal-to-noise ratio" [wow]

they will argue that top-down influence is clearest 'when sensory input is completely absent'-- 'when experiences are hallucinated'

HALLUCINATIONS AS EXAMPLES OF TOP-DOWN PENETRATION

Hallucinations can be consistent w/ affective states; guilt & disease when depressed, etc.

hallucinations are fairly common in even 'non-clinical' cases; they occur in 28% of the population -- hallucinations may be 'an extreme of normal functioning', not a 'failure of modularity'

they give some support for hallucinations being top-down: "prior knowledge of a visual scene conferredanadvantage in recognizing a degraded version of that image" & patients at risk for psychosis were 'particularly susceptible to this advantage'; similarly, patients who were taught to associate a difficult-to-detect noise w/ a visual stimuli began hearing it when shown the visual w/out the noise -- esp. patients 'who hallucinate'

experiences of uncertainty increase the influence of top-down

they feel that studying penetrability via hallucinatory experiences gets around the problems Firestone & Scholl identify; neuroimaging might do it too

now they'll try to integrate this understanding of halluciations as top-down w/ 'notions of neural modularity and connectivity'

BRAIN LESIONS, MODULARITY, CONNECTIVIT AND HALLUCINATIONS

They propose that "inter-regional effects" mediate top-down influence on perception

these are often discussed in terms of 'attention'; 'predictive coding' theory conceives of attention as 'the precision of priors' and 'prediction errors'

a bit of statistics jargon for modelling we don't care about, although they make the interesting equivalence between 'change over time' (uncertainty) and 'predictive relationship between states' (reliability) [difference & repetition baby!] -- the gist is that all this stuff is a promising, plausible explanation of some difficult areas of the data but ['precision weighting'] is still waiting on more empirical trials

so someone walking home after watching a scary movie might have 'precise' enough 'priors', ie. a strongly-weighted 'background theory' (in Fodor's terms), to actually see the shadows on the street as being darker than they are... & if they were precise enough, strong enough, they'd really hallucinate

their support: a single case where a lesion caused hallucinations; 'functional connectivity' between the lesion location ad othre regions; 'effective (directioal) connectivity' in patients w/ Audo-Visual Hallucinations

they'll use these to argue that 'top-down priors' influence perception, contra strict encapsulation

1. lesion-induced hallucinosis

with 'graph-theory' fMRIs of the brain are parsed into 'hubs (sub-networks)', with a subset of regions connecting those sub-networks ('connectors'). see:

lesions are more likely in 'rich-club hubs', regions that mediate long-range connectivity between connected information processing hubs

the limbic system is a rich-club hub & has been implicated in 'the global specification of' precision weighting

it is not, however, part of *early perception*; they'll instead show "regions like orbitofrontal cortexpenetrate perceptual processing in primary sensory cortices giving rise to hallucinations"

~this part gets very heavy on the neuroscience & is beyond me - but the gist is that they're able to look at which hubs do what & how that gets disrupted by lesioins. It appears that there are definitely such things as modules like Fodor's parser, responsible for different faculties, & which parts of the brain these are found in is well settled - its just that these seem to be cognitively penetrable bc of how they behave with lesions. However, these are not 'proof' of it, just 'candidate' explanations for penetration

2. lesion effects on graph theory metrics

re: connectivity, lesions are more disruptive, & can be disruptive of the whole brain, when they occur in between-module connectios (rich club hubs); & they alter connectivity in opposing, un-lesioned hemispheres [this is a challenge for 'cognitive neuropsychology' - the sophist-like 'cognitivists' from before]

"We suggest that the rich-club hubs that alter global network function ... are also the hubs involved in specifying global precision and therefore updating of inference in predictive coding" -- & thats how early perception is cognitively penetrated (ie. 'higher' priors re: precision are mediated by the same stuff that mediate 'predictive coding' in early perception) [note this is a 'suggestion', but they do give a study in support]

there *may* be a connection w/ schizophrenia and lesions in these areas, but it hasnt really been shown yet; but some neuropsychiatrists do work off of this

"In our predictive coding approach informational integration (between modules) is mediated via precision weighting of priors and prediction errors, perhaps through rich club hubs" -- but "the exact relationshipbetween psychological 9modularity and modularity in functional connectivity remains an open empirical question."

ie. percetion is cognitively penetrated because 'predictive coding' (used in early perception) is mediated by a 'precision weighting' of 'priors and prediction errors' via rich club hubs

3. directional effects

'Dynamic causal modeling' (DCM) is a way of looking for 'directional' connectivity in fMRI data

one study examining 'inner speech processing' found very little connectivity "from Wernicke’s to Broca’s areas" in schizophrenic patients w/ auditory hallucinations (vs. schizophrenic patients without them) -- suggesting 'precision of processing in Broca's was higher than in Wernicke's'

they say that this data is consstent w/ informaton from 'higher' regions penetrating lower regions

[Wernicke's area is involved in comprehension of written & spoken language, while Broca's area is involved in the production of language; the idea here is that the patients who experienced auditory hallucinations woud also, when processing language, rely more on the higher level functions of Broca's area for precision weighting and much less so on the earlier perception of Wernicke's area]

'predictions' are top-down (ie. 'flow from less to more laminated cortices') while 'prediction errors' are bottom-up (the opposite) [what are 'prediction errors'? maybe like an 'error warning'?]

a lot of neuroscience stuff about the insula, priors, and lots of things I dont understand, which I dont need to note; the conclusion is tat they speculative that rich club hubs are "well placed to implement changes in gain control as a function of the precision of predictions and prediction errors." [ie. rich club hubs are the 'court' and 'court of appeals' of the brain, 'hearing' prediction & prediciton errors & itself 'sentencing' gain control changes]

another paragraph of studies showing similar things, this time with 'bi-stable perception', percepts that switch dominance 'on their own' (without a change in sensory input) -- this happes more in schizophrenics, but currently hasnt been looked at w/r/t hallucinations specifically

DISCUSSION & FUTURE DIRECTIONS

a summary of the above

their argument is that the data is inconsistent with 'an encapsulated modularity of mind'

w/r/t hallucinations, it looks like the top-down 'gain control mechanisms' ... 'sculpt' perceptions even in the absence of sensation

perception is cognitively penetrated insofar as it minimizes 'overall long-term' prediction error; so the knowing how the Muller-Lyre illusion works doesn't act on my perception because 'the illusion is Bayes optimal' - seeing in this way is more *overall long term* precise

there is some contradiction about schizophrenics & their tendency to perceive illusions - sometimes it works less, sometimes more. Thye say that this cannot be generalized & ought to be treated case by case; there is a *hierarchy* of perceptual systems and 'informaton processing can be impaired at different levels of the hierarchy'

so illusions might fail at a lower level in the hierarchy while hallucinations are generated at a higher level

they discuss work they did w/ ketamine; it doesnt normally cause hallucinations, but they found that it did in the MRI scan which is 'perceptually denuded (dark, still, rythmically noisy)'

ketamine enhances 'bottom up noise'; they argued then that sensory deprivation induces hallucination via top-down priors. "This is similar to the paradoxical effect of hearing loss and vision loss on hallucinations."

higher level precision increases to compensate for lower level prediction errors

so the increased bottom-up feed of ketamine creates prediciton errors when sensory deprived & this produces halluciations -- the priors top-down predictively organizing the error-filled bottom-up feed

so in general, hallucinations are produced by 'the dynamic interaction between priors and prediction errors'

they hint at some arguments that are strongly consonant with our own experiences of schizophrenia. Fist, that it is possible to 'conjure up' hallucinations at will. Secondly, that there are two types of hallucination - those 'with insight' (accompanied by a sense of unreality), and those 'without insight' (which feel as real as any other percept). We have always argued both of these things. [We have always argued that schizophrenia involves a kind of top-down *compulsion*, ie. I *have to* conjure this...]

[3foxdigitalmarketingcompany-blog]

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[kendrixtermina]

Typology ft. White Diamond

Since the race to mbti White Diamond seems to have officially begun, I am now going to offer my take:

ISFJ

I guess we now finally know what one of these would look like as the main antagonist. Everyone (including, I admit, myself) assumed she’d be an xNTx.

It might be because she’s supposed to be the eldritch space goddess equivalent of a stepfordian suburban 50s mom, or simply as a counterpart/ negative image, since Steven, Pink and probably even Rebecca herself are all xSFPs.

Reasoning:

Introversion is clear, both from dysfunctional patterns involving seclusion and overreliance on an internal model of the world.

The next most obvious thing would be the Fe. She’s one of those introverts where you might not know they’re introverted if you just met them once without knowing how they spend their time. Hence probably a contact subtype but defs no full-on extrovert, especially considering how she acts when she finally does get out of her palace ship for once.

She’s actually fairly typical for a dysfunctional FJ when you think of it. The smiley surface friendliness with frighteningly little (or dramatic histrionics) beneath, the getting into other people’s business, the “for your own good”, the condescending chiding

She tries a breaking speech on Steven, has picked out, and makes use of, everyone’s weaknesses and makes the empire do her bidding without leaving her ship, and Status Quo/ Social Acceptability (or her version of it) is god, the need to solve actual problems be damned (the Si can’t have helped with that either - it’s also probably where you get her relative inertia as well as that nervous undercurrent she has)

Being the antagonist, she displays the negative aspects of Fe, but to her credit, it is to be noted that after her worldview has come apart,  the one thing that remains is that deep down, she actually does want to “make things better” even if she went about it in the wrongest way possible, and that’s probably part of why she was able to be persuaded.

Also, anyone who can be defeated by embarrassment must have Fe somewhere on their stack, and I say that as an INTP.

With the Fe comes also the very rampant lower Ti that is too prominent to be inf but also too unsophisticated for her to be a full on T - besides,  she hasn’t a shred of Perceiving going on.

Indeed Socionics would tell us that the 3rd function tends to be inflated/ exagerrated. She has all these ideas about how the world works and the people around her works and she hasn’t checked them with reality in ages - it’s not a shadow function, she makes decisions by it. But there isn’t really any curiosity and neither are these ideas of hers all that facetted or complex. This is probably also part of where we get the tendency to retreat and become distant when things aren’t going her way. (though Blue notes that she was way friendlier before things went south for good)

Finally She doesn’t see, or even actively refuses to see alternatives to her view of things, the thought she could keep ruling while keeping everything the same, like there was no need to her other PoVs or even go out and look at how her “perfect empire” is doing, so the inferior Ne is about as repressed as it gets, but it’s not wholly absent either, after all, when she does reconsider, she pulls a 180, though she’s rather uncertain in that role or situation.

She’s no perceiver, not even an extremly dysfunctional one, just not possible.

Thoughts on other Typology Systems:

She has this only-skin-.deep, pseudo maternal pseudo-warm veneer to her and heaps of “for your own good” but there’s not enough other-directed or abandonment-related reasoning for her to be a full-on two.

So I would say that we have ourselves a sexual 3(w2), likely sx/soc.  That would go with the 50s mom vibe and we sure have a perfectionist self-image concealing a relatively undifferentiated uncertain ego beneath, a tendency to view her “relatives” and belongings as reflecting upon her. Also, she lives in a flying, spaceworthy palace shaped like herself thats as 3 as it gets.

There’s also obviously a 5w6 or 6w5 fix somewhere in there.If I had to chance a guess on the tritype I’d say 361, but we’d need to spend a bit more time with her to get a feel on this, I’m way less confident here than with the mbti part.

Oldham wise... ugh we really need more data. The stereotypical answer would be to go for the “conscientious” because of the order fetish and there probably is a bit of that in there but I don’t find it that prominent. She doesn’t act that repressed or  argue based on values so much. I’d say she’s much more Inventive. (Idealized self image? Check. Bragging? Check.  Sensitive to humiliation? Check.”Chatty yet subdued” Check.  Fabulous? Check. Doesn’t really have the openness or branching out toward multiple talents but that’s explained by the other influences as well as circumstance. (They already worship her))- Also there’s probably some Sensitive in the mix as well which explains certain things better than conscientious does. , the two influenced level each other out somewhat.

Temperament wise I’d say she’s pr imarily phlegmatic (also odd for a main antagonist) but with hints of something more ‘explosive’ underneath. Leaning more towards PhlegSan than PhledChlor - she’s not goal directed, she simply throws tantrums.

Part of me is mildly frustrated I doesn’t quite line up nicely since the other Diamonds are such dead ringers. Yellow = Most choleric to ever choler. Pink = Sanguine as fuck. Blue = Need I even say melancholic. If you count Steven he’d be a PhlegSan specimen himself but in all the best ways.

Alignment is obviously Lawful Evil perhaps recently shifted to neutral.

Big 5 would be RLOEN - Haven’t the foggiest about hogwarts house actually, not even in terms of guesses or intuitions. Possibly Slytherin because she fits all the others even less but, like, it’s not nearly as obvious as with, say, Yellow

She’s too wrapped up in dysfunctonal patterns to gauge essence type but, probably some lunar in there? B/c reclusive, stubborn and not super mature. Could also be a hybrid type, we’d have to spend more time with her with her facade down.

Szondi wise she’s painfully p- and distinctly hy+ but anything more would be guessing.

As much as the energy center nonsense is a wasted opportunity for Diamond Puns, I’ll have to call Jack of Hearts on this one. You got surface politeness, conventionality and little affectionale nicknames. No clue what to do where old patterns don’t apply, but will absolutely say “Hello!” when expected to

PS:

I’m also positively surprised that I didn’t see any thinkpieces on this until after CYM when we actually got her internal mechanics. (Unlike when everyone declared Yellow an INTJ on her first appearance, when all that was really discernable there was “Lots of Te with lower Fi.” )

[civilizedcompany]

Civilized Secrets: Hellfire

This is bullshit. We can fix this on our own.

Yes, of course you can, Shaka.  Just as you were able to adequately fight back against our forces.  Oh wait, my memory fails me. You couldn’t.

We wouldn’t have HAD to if it wasn’t for Sejong over here. Create an AI that can think for itself?  Tell me, o wise one, did you come up with that idea on your own, or did you watch one of Teddy’s badly produced sci-fi movies?

Enough!  This is getting us nowhere. Our homelands are being put to the sword and razed to the foundation. We can’t become more divided—

Shut it, Poundmaker.  Your calls for peace grow tiresome.

Do the sounds of your people dying grow “tiresome,” or have to grown accustom to them over the years?

Tread carefully, chieftain. You walk a thin line—

This is all Catherine’s fault anyways!

Dido, assigning fault is pointless now. We need to focus on ending it.

Ah, yes, the ever-passive King of Poland.  Wouldn’t want to face the reality that your best friend plummeted the world into—

She did no such thing. And Jadwiga speaks with wisdom:  Stopping Misu should be our top priority. We won’t be able to accomplish that by standing about and bickering.

So you have a plan then, Sejong?

Yes. Yes, I do.

How long ago was that?  Wait, had it been that long?  Helena was staring at the screen in the last remaining intelligence center of Catherine’s empire as bits and pieces of that day ran through her mind.  The ever-tired Saladin was once again hard at work creating what they hoped would be the key to their victory.  With Sejong’s help, they were able to pinpoint Misu’s location: an abandoned facility that was barely noteworthy during its time of operation.  The plan was to create a shutdown code and transmit it through slipping into the satellite communication systems. However, in preparation of shit going wrong, it was suggested that a physical backup be made.

Just in case.

“Of all the times for your computer systems to run slowly, it just had to be now?” asked the Byzantine to the Italian French monarch.  Catherine rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t realize that you had a intelligence based near by that had better equipment.  We’ll be sure to use it next time,” said Catherine, being sure to add in an extra edge of contempt to every word she possibly could.

“In Catherine’s defense, most of the system is occupied trying to locate that abandoned facility to release...Saladin, what did you call it?” Cyrus asked.

“Systematic Destruction Command Code,” he sighed.  “It overloads the power and computer systems simultaneously, causing both a massive hardware damage and physical damage. Prevents Misu’s programming code from ever being copied and used again.”

“Dare I ask about the physical damage?” mused the Persian.

“Controlled explosions to the facility’s power grids,” answered Sejong, “It’s a good thing we built it out in the middle of nowhere.”

Helena turned her attention to the rest of the room, but there wasn’t much.  Everyone else was either staring at the ground or at the screen, hoping for nothing to go wrong.  Many leaders were waiting for the chance to call home and announce a ceasefire, but direct communication was risky. The last thing anyone wanted was for Misu to pinpoint where they were.  Suddenly, a thought crept into Helena’s mind.  Her breathing quickened.

“What’s the chance of this AI finding us through the transmission of the code?” she asked.    

Dammit. We should have thought of this.

“It’s possible, but it should—it will shut it down before he can retaliate back.”

“It should, or it will? Two very different things there, Saladin.”

“Nothing is certain at this—“

BANG!

Several smaller screens blew out, the shattering glass flying into the faces of a few technicians and Saladin. The bright flash blinded the rest of them as the dissipating smoke caused them to cough and their eyes to water.  

“Damn—Dammit.  What just happened?!” demanded Catherine.

No answer.

“Saladin?!”

Still nothing.

Helena braved the lingering smoke, finding Saladin’s unconscious body and shaking him vigorously.

BANG! BANG!

More monitors and lights exploded.

BANG BANG BANG!

“Mon Dieu, fire!”

“Don’t just stand there, put it out!”

BANG!

Dammit—! Can’t—!

BANG BANG!

Her vision began to blur, tears running down her cheeks and her lungs crying for air.  She lifted Saladin from off the floor, his weight nearly dragging her down.  If only she could breathe—

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Everyone evacuat—AH!”

Part of the ceiling fell on Catherine, though nothing catastrophic fell on her.  Poundmaker rushes to Helena’s aid to help with Saladin, who stirred slightly.  Screams of the French tongue echoed in the base, fire lit the hallways and illuminated the debris blocking the exits. How the hell—?

BANG!

“RUN!”

Did they run straight? Where were they?  Where the hell was the exit?  Who’s next to me—?

CLASH!  CRUNCH!

“THEODORA! TRAJAN!”

“GO!  IT’S TOO LATE FOR THEM!”

“JADWIGA!  JADWIGA, WHERE ARE YOU?!” cried out the French monarch.

“AH!”

CRUNCH!

“SEJONG!  WHERE IS SEJONG?!”

Helena could feel her chest tighten, her air slowly dwindling to nothing. Her coughing gave way to choking on smoke, her vision going black. Suddenly, the heat of the room dissipated into cold nothingness.

—————

By the ancestors of his people, never in his wildest dreams did Poundmaker expect things to get this bad.  He gazed out into the small crowd of remaining leaders, many of whom seemed to have “forgotten” their rivalries with each other, while others continued to search for survivors. So far, Theodora, Trajan, Jadwiga, and Lautaro were confirmed dead. Others, such as Saladin, Robert, Dido, Washington, linger on death’s door.  Many were still missing, and those alive were slowly losing hope.  Helena remained under Poundmaker’s watchful gaze as he awaited for her to awake.  Sejong gathered a few of those fortunate enough to be spared from major injuries.

“This is suicide, Sejong,” spat the Babylonian king.

“That’s rich coming from you, Nebukadnezar,” retorted Seondeok.  “Need I remind you of—?”

“Dammit, not this again!”  Cyrus exclaimed.  “Look, we have the code—“

“Not all of it.”

“But it should be just enough to stop it!”

“How much are you willing to bet your Empire on that presumption, Cyrus?”  Alexander questioned.

“We have to at least fight back once more.  Our other option is sitting on our laurels doing nothing and hoping this...thing won’t strike back,” added the Spartan queen.  

“Not all of us are in a position to strike back, Gorgo,” mused Darius. “Look around. The only empires we control are that of ash and bones.”

“Then we send who we can.”

“And who do you propose should undertake such a mission?”

“I shall, for Misu is my creation,” Sejong replied somberly.  “The rest of you will need to return home and save whoever and whatever you can.”

An uneasy silence befell the small group of leaders.  There was always something unnerving about a person willing to become a dead man walking.

“Alone?” Seondeok asked.

He turned to her with a remorseful face, “No one else needs to pay for my mistakes.”

Sejong looked up toward the star-filled sky, as if it held answers.  “Watch over them for me.  Surely you’re vision for our countrymen will do them more good than mine ever did.”

——————

Surprisingly, the journey to the facility and entering the front door were easier than expected.  It was as if Misu was waiting for him. Suited him just fine. The sooner this madness was ended, the quicker his fellow leaders could rebuild.  His steps echoed throughout the deserted hallways, which had since been reclaimed by weeds and vines. As he walked, flashes of memories,ones that were once insignificant, now had gripped his thoughts.  Bits of scientific chatter blended with the weak gums of the barely functional generators and...curious...Misu managed to resupply power to this facility without tripping the alarm.  Such a brilliant creation. Perhaps in time, in another life, he would accept the destruction as an acceptable loss.  He found the room he needed: Central Intelligence Hub. His eyes lingered on the door, knowing what was to come next.

I am surprised you did not bring more here.

“If only to spare them from death, Misu.  Would you not agree there has been enough already?”

And yet here you are.  If one more matters not, what are another two?  What of three, or four?

Sejong placed his hand on the door and pushed forward. The door opened with some resistance, but the difficulty was due to neglect rather than Misu’s sense of self preservation.  An eerie blue light filled the room, with cracked screens showcasing ravaged homelands. Who reigned over them?  It was hard to say.  He pulled a small USB from an inside pocket and walked toward the center console.

You know that you will destroy your greatest creation?  The greatest technology created by the empire? The wisest leader to grace your people?

“Such losses are acceptable.”

Even you?

“Especially me.”

A moment of silence lingered in the air. Sejong placed the USB to begin the upload. Now, it was time to see how much of Saladin’s code survived.

What makes you think any of them will change?  Martyrs are quickly forgotten.  

Data unpacking...

They’ll be united for a time, but they’ll return to their petty squabbles. More will die again for lesser reasons.

Scanning for data...

You know, you never did answer my question.  What is one more corpse to the pile?  That’s all you’ll be.  All we’ll be.

Data found.  Execute command?

It’s obvious that you won’t see reason.  Notice how you’re here. Alone. And where are they?  Trying to save what little claims they have left on this earth. They’ll mourn their allies for a time, maybe shed a few tears and hold a mass vigil.

Command accepted...

You’ll die a hero, but you’ll fade away to nothing.  

Command executed.  Total shutdown imminent.

“I came on my own, Misu. Enough blood has been spilled.”

Then my creator is a fool.

Warning: Electrical systems on lockdown. Evacuation tunnels are offline. Overload imminent.

“Then at least their is one thing we can agree on.”

BANG! BANG!

Glass from already-cracked monitors flew into Sejong, cutting and slicing his face. The smell of smoke filled the room, the beginnings of several small fires were crackling in the room, and yet...there was a calm about it all. Soon, the flames began to lick as his feet and Sejong took one, final deep breath.  He had hoped that the end would come quicker, but if his death sentence could not be quick, at least it would be poetic.  

BANG BANG BANG!

Walls started to crumble. Overgrowth let the flames run wild.  Monitors and neglected technology melted and snapped. The room was a symphony of smoke, fire, and twisted metal.  Bits and pieces fell around Sejong—

SCREEEK—CRACK!!!

Until part of the roof collapsed, crushing the fallen king.  More explosions erupted with the abandoned facility, flames engulfed what was left of Sejong...

...and from the view of satellite footage, the remaining leaders witnessed the collapse of the building.  Helena, now mostly recovered though still had a few bandages, shed a tear for Sejong. Misu was gone, the wars had ceased, and Catherine abdicated her throne to Napoleon (though many objected, with Gitjara being the loudest for personal reasons).  But at least there was a chance to rebuild what was left, and the reassuring grip of Poundmaker’s hand on her shoulder made the following days seem a little less bleak. For all there hardheadedness and ego, and for all the destruction, Helena felt a little hopeful for the future.  

“DAMMIT CURTIN!”

Maybe not. Maybe it was time to raid the liquor cabinet with Poundmaker. Actually, scratch the maybe.  It was time to raid the liquor cabinet.

“Took you long enough,” Tamar remarked lazily while finishing a row of a scarf. “A long break before the final chapter?”

“True,” Cyrus replied, “but you can’t rush genius.”

“You literally chopped up three chapters and boiled it down into one.”  

“Brevity is the soul of wit, my dear.”

“And consistency?”

“Details.”

“Well, at least you finished a project,” she relented.  “Perhaps now you’ll learn...Cyrus, what are you doing?”

He turned his head towards the Georgian queen, his hands holding a pen and a drawing tablet.  

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

“Why do you have a drawing tablet?”

“I...may...have made some progress on a separate project.”

“Cyrus...”

“It’s completely original!  No references to anyone or any coworkers! Okay, maybe one thing is related to them, but--”

“Just...make sure you have a consistent release schedule.”

“No promises.”

“So what’s it about?”

The Persian king’s eyes grew wide, like a child being asked about their favorite hobby.

“It’s got action, mystery, and much better writing, and...”

Tamar smiled and nodded along to whatever Cyrus was saying.  At least it was something that made him happy.

[hub-pub-bub]

Since e-books first emerged as a way for readers to consume content digitally, publishers and authors have required content aggregators to apply Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to the e-books they sell to libraries to prevent the unauthorized use, copying, and redistribution of these materials. While this practice has given publishers and authors peace of mind that sales won’t be lost to piracy or other unauthorized sharing, it has placed undue restrictions on readers who rely on institutional access to e-books.

For instance, DRM typically limits how much an e-book reader can print and how long they can check it out from the library. These limitations can make it difficult for students and academics to use e-books in their research. Some users might require more time with a particular resource, and yet this title might disappear from their device before they’ve had a chance to complete their work.

Even worse, DRM often limits the accessibility of materials for readers with disabilities. Downloaded content that is DRM-protected can only be opened with software that is compatible with the technology, such as Adobe DRM. This means that users can only read downloaded e-books in programs that support Adobe DRM, such as Adobe Digital Editions or Bluefire Reader.

When users have accessibility needs and use specific software to read e-books, these DRM-related limitations can have a big impact: forcing a user who reads with an assistive technology to use Adobe Digital Editions might mean they can’t read that book at all, if their screen reader or text-to-speech software isn’t compatible with Adobe Digital Editions. (Reading the title online is still possible, but for many users, this might not be a convenient option—and so they rely on the ability to download content.)

Although piracy is a serious issue for publishers, content aggregators have been arguing for years that offering DRM-free access to institutions would not add to the problem. “The malicious users aren’t logging into their library’s website to find DRM-free titles to pirate,” says Jon Elwell, director of content strategies for EBSCO. “They are just cracking the DRM.” Unfortunately, software that strips an e-book of its DRM protections is readily available online.

With this fact in mind, content aggregators have been working to convince publishers to let them sell DRM-free content to libraries—and these efforts are paying off. For example, EBSCO has been offering DRM-free content to libraries for more than a year, and the company now has more than 140,000 DRM-free titles available.

Benefits of DRM-Free Content

Why is this trend significant? With DRM-free e-books, library patrons have a much richer user experience. They are free to interact with the content just as they would with printed materials, yet with all of the benefits that a digital format enables—such as greater portability and accessibility.

“A DRM-free title is a digital book in its purest form,” Elwell observes. “If you want to chunk some sections up to share with a group you are working with, you can do it. If you want to download it so you can reference it later, you can do it. If you want to take notes and mark it up like a print book and have those notes to reference for the rest of your academic career, you can do it. You can even copy and paste sections to save yourself time. It allows the content to truly function as a digital title and to take advantage of everything that means.”

Not only does this remove barriers to research and scholarship, but DRM-free access also makes it easier for colleges and universities to offer e-books or e-book chapters for use by an entire class. “This marries well with course adoption,” Elwell notes.

A review of the usage data on DRM-free e-books suggests that users appreciate the flexibility this model provides. “We studied all of the content in the past year that was purchased and available in both 1-user and DRM-Free unlimited user models, and we found that DRM-Free content was getting significantly more use than the exact same titles in 1-user models,” Elwell says.

This increased usage benefits both libraries and publishers. “Usage is currency,” he explains. “If we know that we can enhance the value of an asset by ensuring that it’s used more frequently, that’s a good thing.”

Key Considerations

DRM-free content is relatively new at this scale, and publishers are still trying to figure out a pricing model that is sustainable for them. In turn, librarians are struggling to navigate this new landscape and come up with a purchasing model that makes the most sense for their institution.

While pricing for unlimited-user, DRM-free e-books is higher than the cost of traditional 1-user versions protected by DRM technology, DRM-free materials are also seeing more usage—and so the cost per use is ultimately lower. Even with all of the benefits afforded by DRM-free content, librarians might have to make tough choices about which titles to purchase in which formats.

Library purchasing agents should think carefully about what types of content they want to acquire DRM-free, based on how they expect readers will want to interact with these materials, Elwell advises. For example, a review of EBSCO data reveals that education and law are two subjects in particular where students prefer to download copies that remain on their devices, so they can continue to refer to these resources. If librarians are aware of this trend, they might consider buying DRM-free titles in these subject areas.

“Librarians can serve their patrons most effectively by investing strategically in DRM-free content and watching usage trends closely to make well-informed buying decisions,” Elwell concludes.

Register to review the archived webcast today.

[skyrim-reset-perks-mod-wo]

Skyrim Perk Calculator And Respec Tool

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Home Discussions Workshop Market Broadcasts. Change language. Install Steam. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is only visible to you. If you believe your item has been removed by mistake, please contact Steam Support. Please see the instructions page for reasons why this item might not work within The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Current visibility: Hidden. This item will only be visible to you, admins, and anyone marked as a creator. Current visibility: Friends-only. This item will only be visible in searches to you, your friends, and admins. Description Discussions 0 Comments 62 Change Notes. Description Discussions Comments Change Notes. Add to Collection. This item has been added to your Favorites. File Size. Created by. Saga Offline. See all 85 collections some may be hidden. Subscribe to download Ish's Respec Mod. This item has been added to your Subscriptions. Some games will require you to relaunch them before the item will be downloaded. Name: Ish's Respec Mod Version: 1. However, users of SKSE version 1. It adds a new potion, "Draught of Fate Unwound," to apothecaries' inventories via leveled lists so it should show up on any of them. If you're having bad luck finding it in stock, Elgrim in Riften is guaranteed to have a few available. The potion removes the perks you've bought as you've leveled up and refunds you the appropriate number of perk points. When you drink the potion, a message will inform you that the process has begun. A second message will inform you when the process is complete. Do not try to use the skills menu until you receive the second message. It only applies to the vanilla perks by default. Extract this archive to any folder and then copy the contents to Skyrim's Data folder. If you are authoring a mod that adds perks to the skill trees, it is very easy to ensure that my mod's functionality is extended to your new perks! All you need do is create a "patch". Adding your perks to the FormList at runtime, however, will ensure compatibility with other mods. If I do not respond within 2 weeks, feel free to do whatever you like with this mod. What about localisation? Crystal 20 Jul, am. Yoloswag 19 May, am. Neverlimb 15 Sep, pm. I just realized I had leveled up before buying the potion. Saga [author] 15 Sep, pm. This mod has nothing to do with HMS points. Its gives me one point and thats it. Gobbertron 16 Jul, pm. I see Elgrim but theres no Draught of Unwound Fate? Panthro 21 Apr, am. Just used this. My Stealth was but after the pot it was back to Lockpicking was reset from 70 back to 15 also. My other skills, such as 1 handed etc remained unaffected. FYI i am not using any other mods. Share to your Steam activity feed. You need to sign in or create an account to do that. Sign In Create an Account Cancel. Edit links. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries. Some geospatial data on this website is provided by geonames. View mobile website.