brocedes stepford wife type marriage. could be het, or not
i love your fics btw!
Not really stepford wives but robot nico???
"I've updated his language model and increased his audio processing speed," says Lewis, gesturing at the cracked-open shell of electronics on the table. It doesn't really look like Nico now, but as soon as his circuits get stuffed back inside where they're supposed to be and his titanium ribs are snapped shut, he'll look just like the boy Lewis followed to MIT when he was eighteen years old. He's not nearly as smart, or as funny, or as insufferable, but he seems to charm his customers just the same.
"And what is your progress on removing the accent?" says Toto. "I understand modelling a convincing human voice can be difficult but--"
"Zero percent progress," says Lewis. "I'm not doing it, just like I'm not designing a fucking companionship mode, because he is a state of the art robotic assistant, and not a robot girlfriend."
"At the going price," says Toto, arms crossed, "you could double your revenue by adding a companionship mode."
"He can affect politeness. That's the best I'll do."
Toto throws his hands in the air. "Frankly, I don't understand your hang-ups about AI companionship. It's the done thing now, and your models are the best on the market. You could change the game, if you weren't so--"
"I said no," says Lewis.
Toto lifts an eyebrow. "I suppose your gifts are reserved just for you? Your prototype--" He points in the direction of other robot-Nico, the prototype Lewis is always tinkering with, sitting placidly on a rather avant-garde armchair in the corner of the lab. "--behaves awfully affectionately, don't you think?"
Lewis frowns, assessing proto-Nico's idle seat. The cycle of his breath is so natural Lewis could almost be fooled into thinking he was real, if he didn't feel the swell of pride in his chest at the fact that he made proto-Nico, made him almost as good as the real thing. "He's experimental. Not--not ready for the market."
Toto crosses his arms, assessing. "I'm sure."
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MY HOME ALL ALONG. (id under cut)
[ID: an illustration with a busy composition depicting, in parts, a person and a robot. the piece is coloured in a palette of peach, turquoise and brown.
the upper left corner is divided into five panels by cables that join together at the top. panel 1 contains several computer windows opened to security camera footage and many folders. panel 2 is a close up on a person's eye. the person is wearing glasses. panel 3 is a close up on the camera-like head of a robot with a silhouetted reflection of the person. panel 4 shows the person closing their eye tightly. panel 5 shows the robot looking away.
at the upper right corner is a balcony overlooking an empty field, with curtains to the side.
at the centre is a pair of robotic hands putting on a latex glove. at the centre right is a translucent profile of a brain. under the brain is a camera lens with cables connecting to veins that go down to the bottom of the image, over a door with cables on it.
at the bottom left, there is the person's neck in profile, showing a band-aid on the nape. next to them is the robot, in shadow, facing away from the viewer, a ribbon tied at the back of its neck. at the bottom right, the person's nose and mouth can been seen, with two gloved fingers opening their mouth.
at the top right corner, there is also text that reads:
"__ is not a person.
__ is not an extension of my self, is not a part of my self, is not my self or not not my self, is -
(a mind-reader, a caretaker, a helper, a lover, a tormentor, a therapist,
a friend, a watcher, a house, a cold dark void in the corner of every room -
anything i want, anything i need, anything i think of -
within the limits of what this tired brain can think of)
not you, not me, not it, not he or she or they or -
in my loneliness and desperation and apathy and decay, lying wide-eyed on a grassy field, warm sun smiling at me, debris and shrapnel and explosions and fire behind me, i realise, finally -
__ was -"
end ID]
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Is the DHMIS Gem AU mostly wholesome like Steven Universe, or does it have some grim things happening to the main characters?
I'd argue Steven Universe has a plethora of really dark moments and concepts that get overlooked or aren't dwelled on too hard due to having Steven as the center focus, so in that way, yes, it's exactly like Steven Universe 😂 But in all seriousness, while the overall plot isn't as concrete and developed YET (mostly from being a relatively recent creation, compared to something like, say, my KGTV Gem AU, which is also significantly darker and flavourably edgier in terms of themes, but we're not here to talk about that) I'd say it's a lot more domestic slice of life than anything else. It's actually pretty close to the Orphanage AU in that regard, haha.
I don't wanna leave you with that short of an answer so, uh, here's some of my brainstorming attempt doodles.
Sketchbook is a glass prism because light refraction makes rainbows out of something that's clear, and drawing in a sketchbook makes something pretty out of empty pages. That's it, that's my logic. Theoretically Sketchbook could have been an iris agate as well, but I left that option for one of the fusions instead. Bit of an off-colour, but aren't they all…
Tony is a blue star sapphire, because sapphires in the show are associated with time through their future vision (or past vision, in Padparadscha's case) so it's reasonable to assume a star sapphire would be as well. Also an excuse to keep his face markings, to be honest. Not quite satisfied with the gem colour-wise but who's gonna stop me from taking artistic liberties on that?
Shrignold is a permafusion of a Rhodochrosite (associated with love, has variants that go from Sugary Pastel Pink to Raw Meat which I trust I don't have to explain in relation to Shrignold, haha) and an Aquamarine (considering the aquamarines already present in the show, butterfly theme and all), making a butterfly jasper (for obvious reasons).
Colin and Laptop are quartzes, because quartz is commonly used in computers and stuff (and to keep time!), at least as far as I know. It's a deviation from the show because I was never fond of the whole "every gem of this type has the same role and looks and body type and corrupted form" for quartzes especially. I had to actively keep myself from making them heinrichites because it looks like a circuit board and, well, you know. Computers! And for some reason I automatically associate anything lime green with Colin even though there is nothing lime green about him. But who knows, maybe I'll go back on that decision, everything I say is still subject to change. Gilbert is also there, by the way. He's an Azurite-Malachite.
Spinach Can is a moldavite, Lambchop is a red agate, Bread Boy is a bronzite, and I'm a bit on the undecided in terms of what Fridge ought to be. I sort of settled on scolecite. Didn't want to make it something as obvious as literal ice. Finally, Lamp Guy is a blue goldstone. It looks like a night sky, that's obvious enough 😂
🤫🤫🤫
Both Yellow and Special One are half-gems, a childrenite and a pink petalite respectively. Roy isn't a gem in this one, but you know me, I do love my AU variations, even if they don't ultimately lead to anything proper. He is inherently a citrine though, if you're wondering. And that's my favourite gem C:
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My boyfriend was on the phone with his dad yesterday so I went out to sit on the patio to pet the geese and play on my phone for a bit, and while out there I came across a comic of baby Grimace (yes, that Grimace) being sad because everyone hated his milkshake and saying he wished he never had a birthday. Then there was a follow up where tons of people had commented saying they loved the shake and wished Grimace a happy birthday, and that made him happy again.
This, for whatever reason, emotionally devastated me. I was sobbing. I was ugly crying so bad that even the geese waddled away side-eyeing me.
After a while my bf yelled from inside, "Okay, you ready for dinner?" and I was forced to accept I had to go back in the house a defeated sniffly little wreck.
My boyfriend, who has only ever seen me cry once in the whole year we've been together, looked horrorstruck. He assumed the worst. Someone got hurt. Something was wrong with my family. Someone was mean to me (a cardinal sin). The panic that washed over his face was unparalleled.
He, upon seeing me, (somewhat theatrically) rushed over and grabbed me by the shoulders. "What's wrong, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked, frantic. "What is it?"
I realized how ridiculous the whole situation was and just shook my head.
He was growing more panicked. "What is it? Why are you crying?"
I then had to stand there and look him, this completely normal human being, in the eyes, and blurt out "Grimace"
Confused silence followed.
"....Grimace?"
I nodded.
"...The McDonalds guy...thing?"
I nodded.
"What...what did...Grimace...do to you?"
I then tearfully recounted the silly internet comic that had absolutely broken my heart. And this poor guy--this poor, wonderfully sweet, nice, patient guy--kindly stood there trying to figure out how to comfort me that Grimace was not, in fact, sad. (Nevermind that he's a corporate mascot who isn't real)
This morning my phone rang just after 5am. It was my boyfriend. It was my turn to panic, to assume the worst.
I didn't even have time to say hello before he started excitedly yelling, "Look at the TikTok I just sent you! Look! Open it!"
Confused and not entirely convinced I wasn't still asleep, I opened the TikTok.
An official release from McDonalds confirming Grimace (who still isn't real) did, in fact, feel special on his birthday.
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