#we are not your content creating machines. we are humans behind these screens and we deserve to be treated as such | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

veritaea · 4 years ago

Text

Heisenberg X Reader: The Experiment

More Heisenberg content on my Tumblr.

#heisenberg #heisenberg x reader #karl heisenberg #karl heisenberg x reader #x reader #heisenberg fanfiction #karl heisenberg fanfiction #re8 #resident evil #resident evil 8 #resident evil 8 x reader #resident evil karl heisenberg #resident evil village #resident evil village x reader #karl heisenberg imagine

97 notes · View notes

idga-buck · 4 years ago

Text

Some and Others, 3/?

Earth’s mightiest heroes save the city again, but that’s never the end of the story.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 4,301

Content: canon typical violence, death, destruction, swearing

Bucky was going to call. He just didn’t. He was surprised you hadn’t and overwhelmingly disappointed that it meant if he was going to apologize, it was a conversation he’d have to initiate himself. It could wait though. Just a little longer while he figured out what he wanted to say.

A week later, the Post ran a story about the same gossip site that had leaked your photo of him being shut down after many of their stories and photos were found to be fake. A rarity for the world of journalism these days, Sam noted casually as they stopped at a newspaper cart. Bucky bought a couple candy bars and watched the man with the thick black mustache and the gold chain slip copies of the article in front of a few of his worst sellers. Could he actually be that lucky? It was an easy out after a week of dodging questions and trying to remind the world to stay out of his business.

“So that photo of you? The secret girlfriend?” Sam waited for Bucky to respond, but when the centenarian opted to buy a Pay Day instead, he watched closer. Bucky hated that. Sam said he had a staring problem, but Sam was the one with x-Ray vision. He could read people, read a room, read Steve’s body language from across a battlefield and adjust his position without being told. As annoyed as Bucky acted when paired up with Sam Wilson, he was one of the few people in this century that Bucky Barnes respected. Truly. Except for that moment on a street corner when brown eyes were scanning his complete lack of guts and deciding what was worth commenting on.

“Yeah,” Bucky ripped open the wrapper a little too aggressively and responded with peanuts between his teeth. “It wasn’t real.”

Sam nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets while Bucky stuffed his face. “I don’t know how you land the fake girlfriend story, when I’m right here,” they started walking away from the stand while Sam jabbered on. “And lookin’ as fine as I do? Come on, man,” he danced ahead of Bucky a few steps, forcing him to look up. “You know this would make a better story.”

Before Bucky could say anything, a loud crash echoed between the buildings. Nothing was visible from their block, but both men, trained for combat, were instantly on alert.

“That for us?” Sam asked, eyeing the busy intersection.

“No,” said Bucky, a clipped tone in his voice as he shook his head and started walking again.

Another crash, this time accompanied by the faint human noises that usually follow tragedy.

“You sure about that?” Sam’s eyebrow shot up.

Sirens from every kind emergency response vehicle blared in the distance, growing louder then quieter again as they wove their way through the streets, changing directions to avoid traffic.

Bucky pointed at a passing fire truck, waiting until it had turned down another street before speaking. “See? They got it.”

Then Sam’s phone rang and Bucky swore, planting his hands on his hips while whoever was on the other line confirmed that the emergency growing in the distance was in fact for them. Sam placed the call on speaker and gave their current location. Stark’s voice was muffled and metallic, the way it usually was while calling from inside his fancy helmet, but he told them to stay put as he did a fly by with Sam’s equipment.

“Tell the Tin Man he’s got a special delivery,” Tony informed them from somewhere overhead.

“They're your wings,” Bucky grumbled, looking up from the ground as the familiar glare of Iron Man’s thrusters came into view. “And your robot.”

“First of all,” Sam informed him. “Red Wing isn’t a robot. He’s a drone.”

“It,” Bucky corrected, “is a robot.”

“I’m gonna tell him you said that,” said Sam before pointing up to where Iron Man had doubled back to get a better angle. “And… unlike some of us present, my body is exactly as God created it, flesh and bone.”

“Pop up, deep center,” Tony’s voice rang out obnoxiously through Sam’s phone once more.

Bucky watched a black bundle falling from the sky, trying to position himself under it and pushing more than one pedestrian out of his way to do so. “Actually, I was a catcher back in ‘32.”

“THEN CATCH!” Sam hollered just before the EXO Falcon gear landed square in Bucky’s chest, forcing him off his feet and onto his ass, skidding to a stop on a sidewalk while the people around them scattered, gasping and grabbing at their phones to take pictures of the two Avengers. Bucky laid flat on his back, both arms still wrapped around the bundle, and took a deep breath when Sam stood over his head, arms shooting out to his sides as he yelled “SAFE!”

Bucky groaned and tossed the black bag up into Sam’s arms, hard enough to make him stumble but not enough to knock him down. “Should have said ‘out.’” Bucky grumbled and Sam chuckled as he dug through the bag for his equipment. “Safe makes it sound like I-”

“You really wanna argue about baseball right now,” Sam laughed, securing his wings over his torso and releasing them both with a flash as if stretching before a fight. “Or are we gonna go save the world?” Bucky didn’t answer, just took off running in the direction of the screams. “That’s what I’m talking about,” said Sam to himself, shooting up into the air.

…

Robots. Drones. Whatever they, Bucky Barnes has decided that he hates them.

Fighting Nazis was easy. Not physically. Not when your gun isn’t really yours and the food sucks and you’re almost as worried about losing your toes as you are losing your team. But it made sense. These men in their wool coats wanted innocent deaths. Something in Bucky that had been there all along was born anew in the war. He was a protector. Of his sisters, of Steve, of his country. It made sense.

Nothing about Hydra made sense and the therapist he stopped seeing told him it was okay to think about those years differently than the rest. So he did.

When T’challa presented him with a black vibranium canon for his left side, the enemy was otherworldly. Literally. They didn’t bleed like men. They made horrible screeching noises when they died, but even that was different from me. They rode disgusting creatures with teeth that could have scratched his arm if he’d let them get close enough. They were invaders, their leader sought destruction on an even greater scale than the War. Bucky was a protector again, protector of Earth, of life in the universe. An unimaginable title for the boy he’d been, sitting in front of the radio with his family and marveling at the president's voice. It’s not like he was eager to do it again, but space invaders whose goal was universal genocide would be met with the business end of Bucky’s favorite rifle.

Fighting robots, however, was fucked up.

Bucky was still processing his new life, still getting used to the idea that people carried plastic cards in their wallets and could pull money out of the walls with just a few buttons. There were movie theaters with screens two stories high. Cars plugged into the sides of hotels. The cell phone in his pocket was overwhelming as is. In a few minutes, he could buy all the clothes he’d ever need, pay for dinner, and talk to people across the country. It was baffling.

All this technology, all this progress, and of course there were people who weaponized it. Bucky hated that. He remembered science fairs, remembered Howard Stark’s big promises. There was so much hope in him as a young man. He’d live to drive a flying car, his children would learn about the world through a holograms in their livingroom, his grandchildren would live on the moon. The possibilities were endless. So much so that people with horrible intentions for the world also believed that the possibilities were endless, forcing Bucky into his current position.

His thighs were wrapped around the base of a machine, arms wound near the top. He threw his shoulders back with all of his might, squeezing his legs in the process, and didn’t stop until the metal gave way. Bucky fell onto the pavement with his own momentum, the enemy in two pieces with wires exposed and frizzling as they died. He dropped the robot and rolled to his side, observing the scene around him. Steve used a cleaner approach and sent his shield flying through the air. Three more bots’ were sliced in two, the last of which was pinned by the shield into the side of a brick building. Sam circled above, with Redwing swooping below to draw laser fire away from bystanders while Wanda tried her best to herd them away, spinning to throw angry red energy at anything that came their direction.

“Sergeant Barnes!” The familiar and overly excited voice of the kid in blue and red spider gear startled Bucky. The kid swung in unexpectedly, decked out and ready to help. Bucky didn’t care that he was probably skipping school to do so and swung his vibranium arm behind him, the metal of another droid crunching under his elbow. “How can I help?”

Bucky squinted, a little dumbfounded at the question. There was a six block radius being overrun with droids, drones, robots- whatever- and people were terrified. “Pick something,” he grunted, taking the robot's head… top part, between his hands and twisting until it gave way and the bottom half dropped powerless to the ground.

Just then the sound of metal screeching pulled both their eyes to a city bus being thrown around like it was weightless, crunching the vehicles nearby, and sending more people into a frenzy as buildings were still evacuating onto the street. “That! Pick that!” Bucky commanded and the kid flew away, attached to a white string like a kite. Two more robots were approaching from the sidewalk, red eyes glowing and ready to fire. Bucky looked around the street for something, anything that he could use before deciding on a minivan. The windows looked clear, driver and passengers already scampering away at the first sign of trouble, so Bucky planted his boot into the back door and kicked. The door caved in and the vehicle flipped onto its side before skidding to a halt on the sidewalk and crushing the robots beneath it.

“Uh! MISTER BARNES, SIR, SARGE-!”

Bucky turned back to look at Peter, propped up on a light pole and leaning so far back his body was almost parallel to the ground. The only thing keeping him upright was the two thick white webs attached to the bus, one at the front and one at the back. It was tipping over dangerously low, trapping a small group of people between the bus and two buildings, one that had smoke billowing out the windows. This was a mess.

Bucky ran through the street, jumping onto the hoods of abandoned cars to avoid weaving between them before leaping off an SUV and rolling back into a run on the sidewalk. A laser struc Peter, knocking him clean off his perch, and the webs supporting the bus went dangerously slack as it started tipping toward the trapped people again. Bucky jumped, wedging himself between the building and the collapsing bus with great effort. His shoulders dug into the brick behind him and his thighs burned as he shoved the bus away from the wall, gritting his teeth as he felt it slowly start to tip away from the ground. The kid was now on the ground somewhere out of sight and Bucky had to hold back from sending the vehicle flying, lest he squash Stark’s favorite spider in the process. The tension in his legs grew as he held it steady, adjusting his feet and shoulders until he felt it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hey!” He called out to the people below him. “Get out of here, go!”

There were rushed thank yous and lots of tears as the crowd dispersed from their trapped position. But one voice stood out among them and it made Bucky’s heart speed up.

“Bucky?! Oh my god, BUCKY!”

Bucky’s eyes were closed under the strain, but he’d know your voice anywhere. He opened them just in time to see Peter recover and zip off in a new direction. Bucky released his breath and shoved his feet out hard, tipping the bus back. He dropped from the wall and grabbed you as the bus wobbled precariously in both directions before finally falling into traffic and directly onto the roof of an empty red sports car.

Bucky hadn’t realized how tight he was holding you until you said his name again and the word was broken. His arms relaxed a bit, but you made no move to run away… or let go of his jacket. The two of you just stared at each other, breathing heavily, before screaming drew your eyes away. The small crowd of people you’d been stuck with were running away from where you stood, but the two in the back collapsed, their bodies charred and heavy as they hit the ground. You screamed then and Bucky pulled your back into his chest, hugging your stomach as you keeled over. He’d seen so much death in his hundred odd years, it was hard to witness it with these fresh eyes. You weren’t prepared to watch two innocent people’s skin melting under lasers. Hell, neither was Bucky and while you cried in his arms, the smell of burning flesh stung his eyes. He’d never get over that smell, no matter how many world wars he participated in. His face was buried in the back of your head, shushing you as he lifted you up. He took careful backwards steps until you were both hidden in the same alley you’d just been trapped in. Bucky looked up at the burning building and decided he had a minute before you were both in danger here.

“Hey,” he said softly when you went limp against his chest. “Hey now,” he repeated, spinning and almost dropping you when he realized you hadn’t just relaxed… you were unconscious. “Shit,” Bucky dropped to his knees and let your body lean up against his chest, slapping at your cheeks and calling your name to try and wake you up. Half of your face was red with blood from a wound he couldn’t see somewhere in your hair. Break up or no break up, he couldn’t leave you like this. Any other person, he’d run them to safety and double back to continue clearing the streets. But this wasn’t any person. It was the girl he dumped in the middle of a restaurant and had continuously put off calling to explain himself. He hadn’t gotten the chance to clear the air and leaving you to wake up in a few hours in the middle of a destroyed midtown was just too cruel. He did like you and now it felt like he owed you.

Bucky picked you up like a doll and slung you around to his back, crossing your arms over his chest as your legs dangled behind his knees. That wasn’t going to work, he decided after only a few steps. “Can you hold on a little-“ Bucky drifted off as he turned his face to see your face hidden behind him, your forehead limply resting against his shoulder. “Of course not,” he berated himself and stopped to adjust again. This time he stooped, grabbing one of your arms and one of your legs with his hands. You were slung over his shoulders like a backpack, the same way he carried goats in Wakanda, only much easier since you weren’t kicking or screaming and he had two hands with which to wrangle you.

His steady march out of the fray was interrupted once by Wanda. After directing pockets of people to safety, she’d sought out the source of the invasion. Bucky looked around for a safe place to stow your body and found an SUV that was abandoned but still running with the doors unlocked to lay you out across the backseat, carefully tucking your feet in before slamming the door behind him. He liked Wanda, despite not knowing what exactly she was capable of, but liked her a lot less when he found himself immersed in a glowing red forcefield and being lifted into the sky. When he was forced through the large glass window of another building only to look up and find her floating gently through the hole his body had created, she shrugged.

“This way was faster,” she said, Sokovian accent much softer than their first meeting.

“Right,” Bucky groaned, making a mental note of how many Avengers could zip through the air with ease and the odds of being the one she found on the ground.

They raced up the final set of stairs and Bucky ripped the maintenance door to the roof off its hinges. It was unlucky that Bucky and Wanda had been the ones to find the bastard responsible. If it had been Steve, he’d been bound and handed over to the authorities. Tony might have thrown him in armored vehicle and shook him around a bit before demanding answers. Bruce… depending on the day wouldn’t have been much better. Nat would have gotten answers easier than either of them and Sam was easily the most noble of the bunch, so Bucky had no idea what he’d do. The right thing, whatever that was. But Wanda wasn’t particularly fond of people who harmed innocent people. The motivation didn’t much matter to her when the sounds of children crying could be heard in the streets. Bucky didn’t have much grace for people who were smart enough to help, but broken enough to hurt. Like the bastards in Hydra, who healed him, kept him alive, gave him extraordinary strength then weaponized him. Anyone who had this level of technological advancement and chose to bring destruction with it was a waste of air. Wanda hoisted the man up into one of her angry red orbs while Bucky broke the control panel into as many pieces as he could, destroying anyone else’s opportunity to learn from this guy. Neither of them had anticipated this guy to be so well armed. It looked like a pistol, but whatever it fired managed to get through Wanda’s energy field and pierce her shoulder, breaking her focus just enough for him to drop back onto the roof. He took off running to the edge and leapt, but Wanda recovered faster, using her powers to yank him back. Bucky caught him in the air and squeezed, locking the man in a painful hold until he noticed glowing red numbers counting down behind the man’s neck. Shit.

“Bucky!” Wanda pointed at the man’s hands, wrapped threateningly around a plunger that could only mean one thing.

Without a better option, Bucky turned back to edge. He released the man and as he tried to stumble forward, Bucky’s boot landed square against his sacrum, launching the man through the air and into a neighboring building in a ball of fire. Both Avengers watched the corner offices go up in flames, disgust and horror in both their eyes.

“The whole block was evacuated,” Wanda said softly and Bucky nodded. There was a distinct lack of screaming coming from the direction of the building and sirens soon flooded the streets below as first responders made their way into critical areas. From the ledge, both of them watched as the remaining bots dropped to the ground before their team, disengaging en masse. Steve looked up from atop a bodega and saluted the sky in their general direction, lifting the shield as a second acknowledgment before jumping down to the street to start… whatever Captain America does once the threat has been neutralized. The PR and clean up stuff wasn’t Bucky’s scene and he turned away, making it all the way across the roof, still observing the scene below, before remembering that you were somewhere, either still unconscious or just waking up, deeply confused in the back of a stranger’s car.

“You okay?” Bucky asked, wanting to make sure before asking Wanda for any favors.

She pulled her hand away from her shoulder, black nail polish and red blood looking menacing and downright witchy against her pale fingers. “I’ll be alright,” she assured him, eyes already glowing red as she prepared to offer more aid.

Bucky stopped her and nodded over the side of the building. “Gimme a lift?”

She snorted and waved her fingers without looking at him and soon enough, Bucky found himself falling on his ass once again. He needed to work on his dismount if this was going to become a regular pairing. Thankfully or maybe not, you were trying to wake up as Bucky slipped into the driver’s seat and commandeered the vehicle. He turned back to watch you whine in pain as you tried to sit up, before slipping back into sleep when he told you to stay down. You were in and out for most of the drive, which helped Bucky weave up and over curbs to avoid stagnant areas where everyone had abandoned their cars out of fear.

…

You woke up with a headache, exasperated by the bright lights of the emergency room. Bucky could see the moment you came to by the hard squinting that melted into a grimace. You’d had a couple false starts, but when your eyes opened and locked on his, Bucky knew it was the real deal this time. He stood to pull back the curtain and immediately a nurse was shimmying her way into your space, brushing her chest against Bucky’s in the process. He nodded and gave her a tight smile. It had been like that since he walked into the ER with you. Avengers carrying blacked out civilians get a lot of attention, but they also get speedy service. Which is what Bucky told himself when he stuck around once you’d been admitted. You’d get better care if he stayed with you, so he did. Feet propped up on the end of your bed and dropping whenever someone came to run another test. He wasn’t family and didn’t claim to be, so they told him nothing, but nurses managed to smile flirtatiously in between doing their job. In another life, Bucky would have… done something. Anything. He smiled. He was a hundred, not dead, but there was something off putting about receiving these looks when you were asleep right there between hanging curtains in an overrun hospital as ambulances and families started to arrive from the mess he’d just left.

You answered their questions slowly, but correctly. Your name, where you were, what year it is, who the president is. The doctor would be in soon and Bucky took the minute of alone time to scoot the chair they’d brought in for him. You were watching him expectantly as the legs scraped across the floor, just a few inches before he could reach a hand out to yours. You looked down curiously at your hand in Bucky’s.

“They spelled my name wrong,” you murmured and Bucky’s eyes fluttered shut as you lifted your joined hands to observe the little plastic bracelet closer. He shook his head, wanting to apologize, but also hoping you wouldn’t connect the dots that he’d given them your information incorrectly. “Bucky?” He looked up to find your eyes wider than usual, a little more vulnerable than he was used to seeing you and wanted to do something to make you feel better. But like the entirety of your relationship, he had no idea how to do that.

“You’re okay,” he nodded, telling himself as much as he was telling you.

“Thank you,” you squeezed his fingers as your voice shook.

Just then a man in a white coat, pushed back the curtain and Bucky stood reflexively, dropping your hand in the process. He turned back and saw your face fall before crossing your arms over your chest and looking away from him.

“Sergeant Barnes,” the doctor addressed him first.

“Bucky,” he corrected without thinking and turned his body, opening up the room a bit and directing attention back to what mattered. The patient. You.

“Thank you for bringing her in,” the doctor continued, then looked back and forth between the two of you. “We’ve got it from here, if you need to-”

“He can stay,” you piped up. The doctor asked if you were sure, but you were. The doctor nodded, turning fully toward the bed and while that was Bucky’s goal, he now felt completely out of place in the tiny space.

“First things first,” the doctor started. “You and the baby are just fine, so I don’t want you worrying about that at all. Do you have a OB or a-”

Bucky stopped listening at that moment and focused on the roaring ocean in his ears. He looked to the bed where you were listening intently to what the doctor was saying, nodding and shaking your head mechanically. While he stared, you stole a glance in his direction. Your face was blank and he didn’t spend much time trying to read it.

“This sounds personal,” he said, voice flat and vibranium hand already reaching for the curtain at the end of your bed. “Take care.” Without sparing another look, Bucky walked through the busy emergency room with his left hand tucked into his front pocket, making him invisible to anyone who didn’t know he was there.

A/N: Here we go! It’s happening. I’m not sold on the way this ended but it was getting long as is and don’t worry, Bucky will have his chance to make it up to you.

Tags: @fangirl-swagg @learisa

#bucky barnes fanfic #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky Barnes x reader fic #bucky x female reader #sebastian stan characters #idga fic #some and others

45 notes · View notes

jahandesk · 3 years ago

Text

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Copywriting?

The possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) seem endless. In near future, AI will take all responsibilities of copywriters. Think about a topic and input your key

Introduction

Artificial intelligence or machine learning is the age of new possibilities. Today AI can perceive everything around us. What is more fascinating, AI can learn from the experience and build its own algorithm to react to things around us.

AI has already learned to make better decisions in online gambling, recommending highly-relevant partners to clients, and suggesting which Chinese takeout restaurant best suits their taste.

Artificial intelligence has become a very popular topic among business professionals, especially in this article we will discuss how artificial intelligence is changing copywriting.

We will talk about how AI can help us with a different part of copywriting. That is, creating the copy that will attract clients.

How AI will change copywriting

AI is already taking over every other job as well, from financial analysts to first-time job hunters. In the wake of such news, copywriters might start looking for new jobs as they get replaced by machines. This is not the first job that will be automated, nor will it be the last. However, it will change how people create their content.

The good news is that it will open opportunities for the next generation. These individuals will be the digital and marketing generation who understands how to write and market their businesses. However, as we move towards a digital age with advanced technology at our disposal, what will prevent us from falling into a pit of despair that the digital world will replace the traditional one?

We don’t have to wait for the future of AI to tell us the answer.

The advantages of AI in copywriting

Cutting the cost of copywriting tasks

Tackling complex questions

Optimizing content based on audience

Automated plagiarism detection

Gathering information on publishers

Creating tailored language

Unique insight about the audience

Knowing that AI will improve the copywriting tasks, many organizations are already using AI in their copywriting process. The tools are evolving fast to accommodate multiple ways of using AI. The following are some of the AI tools you can use to improve the efficiency of your copywriting process.

Adobe Sensei: This tool helps create appropriate UI for your users. The software can detect which screen elements should be optimized, giving higher priority to the ones that are highly engaged with the users.

AI-Based Copywrite Service Provider

Article Forge: Using advanced artificial intelligence and deep learning, Article Forge writes completely unique, on-topic, high-quality articles with the click of a button.

Ai Writer: AI-Writer is the most accurate content generation platform, using state-of-the-art AI writing models to generate articles from just a headline.

Copysmith: Copysmith supports marketing agencies and teams that generate, collaborate, and launch quality content that converts at warp speed.

Inkforall: The only distraction-free Editor that combines AI Co-Writing and an SEO Assistant.

Disadvantages of AI in Copywriting

AI will not solve all problems of copywriting. AI will not write copy. But AI has its challenges that will come into play soon.

Disadvantages

1. Uncanny valley: AI is evolving at an unimaginable rate and still, it has little perception of the social, cultural, and emotional needs of a human being. I am not talking about what people in the future will feel. I am talking about the condition in which it will feel like a human but will not have their emotional and social awareness. Therefore it will feel more cold and soulless in some cases than a human.

2. Unintelligible text: Humans have the capabilities of understanding, seeing, imagining, and in turn, perceiving things. But AI has none of these abilities. With no ability to empathy or make judgments AI can’t decipher the emotions behind the text.

Conclusion

With in-built AI integration, content writers will face less pressure and will be able to work more efficiently. Content writers will also be able to create very customized, targeted, and relevant content.

#copywriting #artificialintelligence #machine learning

5 notes · View notes

thesuitelife547 · 4 years ago

Text

My ONF MV Theory Thoughts

So this is probably long and wordy so I’d just like to warn anyone ahead of time. I broke it down by listing the MVs in the order that I think they belong in (it’s almost the order that they released them surprisingly) and the reasons behind what I thought the storyline was in relation to an overall storyline and pretty much why I put them in that order. If anyone has any questions about what I said, questions in general, or thoughts about the MVs and your own theories, feel free to reach out!

I did actually put a condensed version of what I think is going on in the MVs first and then got further in depth, going through each music video, in the section after.

Thanks!

- Marisa

My Thoughts on the MV Storyline (Condensed)

Overall, my thoughts about the MVs is that ONF were originally humans that were recruited through Laun, who was already an android/robot, to join an organization to help take over the earth or to destroy it (Complete & ON/OFF). In that process they would also become part androids/robots. Over time they begin to see their impact and after the disappearance of Laun, of which they searched all over and couldn’t find him (We Must Love), they begin to see the effects of their decisions and perhaps come to regret ever joining an organization so they begin to rebel (Why) in the dystopia of the world that they’ve created. In the end, alternates are sent in to fix the problem and what happens is that they decide to jump to another timeline (Sukhumvit Swimming). It is through that timeline that they get to a completely revolutionized future and create identities for themselves (My Name Is). They are then in a stronger position to fight against the organization that has been seeking them out ever since they jumped ship to create the world that they see fit (Beautiful Beautiful).

My Thoughts on the MV and Order (In Depth)

Complete

It seems very normal in a way? Yeah there are things coming down from the sky and they have transmissions, rockets, and a globe, but if I were to tie it in to the rest of their MVs, it would be that this one is the one where they’re observing Earth. Other than the objects around them, it doesn’t really seem like there’s much in them having to do anything. Another one of my thoughts is that maybe this is their alternate “normal” dimension, as in the one where they aren’t robots. We later see in Why that Wyatt gets cloned, supposedly, something like that could’ve happened to them as well. Another theory is that this MV could also be a case of them being observed to see if they’re a good fit for the organization before they actually get committed to doing anything.

Another thing to point out is that none of them have those fancy computer watches and they aren’t really doing anything within their sort of “powers” of these MVs. Yes, I know it could be before they thought about using something like that but for the sake of the storyline, that’s what I’m going with. Other than Laun, who we see as the first one to use the flare gun, or whatever it was, and the one to do something with the rocket, there’s really nothing else besides some stuff sitting around that they go through. Before he used it, there was a shot of everyone on the roof, besides him, looking up to the sky. Wyatt was the only other one that wasn’t there but he uses the smoke signal, I think, after.

Therefore I’m going to take it as Laun was the leader of all of this stuff. He could’ve been the main android/robot collecting data and that’s why he was so important in the other MVs and why the other guys were so desperately trying to search for him. He probably had some sort of knowledge about what was going on, maybe.

If we were to go off of the lyrics of the song, the song tells the other person that they complete them, so maybe, in perspective of the MV, is it Laun who completes them and introduces them to the world beyond which they knew?

ON/OFF

I see this MV as the sort of transportation MV. After the guys have already left Earth, they’re now being introduced to the world and perhaps they’re starting to be converted to sort of androids/robots. I take that from the mark on Hyojin’s neck being faint. I believe that Laun probably is already one, hence him sleeping in the room and being isolated from everyone else as they look on, he was getting recharged or uploading the data that he knew to the computer system, which is why there was an uploading screen during the music video.

Because the guys are still kind of human, that’s why they’re just doing normal things and why they don’t really interact with Laun during the music video. They’re exploring the contents of the place they’ve now entered and are getting a better feel for the world that they are now entering. Laun, on the other hand, probably needs to be protected since he’s the one with the information and the one who puts the disk into the machine, the rocket looking thing. It’s probably his information that he’s uploaded onto the system so it would know and could thereby send out more rockets, perhaps? If those things in the sky were maybe rockets.

One thing that is interesting is the mirror that says ‘My Name Is’ and where Laun puts a picture of himself. I’m assuming that perhaps he was once human and doesn’t want to forget that once human side of himself. Laun is also seen wearing a school uniform type outfit at one point during the MV, when he’s putting the information into the rocket, and it seems like when he faints on the ground the other guys are wearing something similar, too. Perhaps he fainted because of an overdrive or he ran out of battery? Hence him lying in the room by himself because he needs to recharge?

Lyrically, the lyrics say that “You’re my producer” and “Make me into your man, I’m yours.” In the perspective of the storyline, they could be taken as the guys are fully giving themselves to the project at hand, resigning themselves to be created however the person controlling them wants. Also, obviously, they talk about being turned on and off, which, if they were made into robots and androids, could probably be done to them.

We Must Love

By this point, the guys are seeing the sort of consequences that come with their actions. The first scene of the colorful earth turning into a dystopia type land with, what I’m now calling rockets, raining down on the sky, and MK watching on shows that they’re not surprised that any of that is happening. Yet because of the world beginning to fall apart, this is where I think that it all starts to break down, and how it turns into the world in Why. Perhaps they didn’t know that things would turn out like this or perhaps they didn’t realize that things would get that bad, either way, I think that during this entire duration they’re finally realized just how badly things have gotten and what they’ve actually gotten themselves into.

That’s why it’s so important for them to find Laun. He’s probably the glue that holds it together, holds them all together, and that’s why they’re frantic to find him all by using their specialties that they’ve been trained in. It becomes a theme for them, especially in Why and then it can be seen in Beautiful Beautiful, too. Hyojin is the one who can teleport, kind of, J-Us is the information hacker, MK is the machine/system hacker, and Wyatt is the one with the motorcycle but I don’t know what that does yet. Both E-Tion and U seem like they’re the ones to manipulate machines.

I don’t think Laun just got up and disappeared, though. In the context of the MV, in the scene where everyone is running to him, he’s fiddling with the watch and then disappears. I think it’s important to point out that the guys are all wearing a school uniform type outfit, similar to the school uniform outfit that they wore in ON/OFF and the one that Laun wore as well when he was putting the information into the rocket. From U’s past memory about them, they were all probably in class together to learn about their specialties and what their true missions were. So when they’re all searching for Laun, some time has probably passed since they no longer have to attend those lessons.

But anyway, I think Laun might’ve traveled back into the past. On a scene with J-Us in the room that Laun was in, there was a warning on the screen behind him at one point that said time travel was being operated. If the other holds true, that Laun disappeared before they were even out in the world, it could mean that he’s still time traveling, or at least someone is. I like to think that it’s him for really one reason.

That potential reason is because of the scene at the train station with E-Tion finding him. What I think E-Tion finds is a different version of Laun, which is why he looks so calm and is just reading a book. If Laun did go to the past and change the timeline, then it could be presumed that the current Laun of that time might not be doing what he was originally doing. That may also be the reason why, at the end of the MV, he turns to look back at Hyojin but it doesn’t seem like he has any recollection about him. He does still have the mark on his neck, though, which means he might not be entirely free from fate. He could’ve been assigned to do something else in that timeline. When J-Us hacked into information about Laun, it did say that his address was Universe 01 but we don’t know what universe the guys are in. Another theory is that maybe it’s the guys that are time traveling, but I don’t really think so. They could potentially be jumping around to different timelines looking for Laun but I don’t think they’d ever find the true Laun that they’re searching for.

Another reason for Laun’s disappearance could be that he was tired of it. He was looking at the image of the whale swimming with a blank expression so maybe he wanted to be free like the whale swimming in the ocean instead of sheltered and used, like what was seen in the ON/OFF MV. Instead of just being used, he wanted to simply live his life. But like I mentioned, he still has the barcode on when they find, who I’m assuming, is that timeline’s Laun, so maybe he can’t truly escape it but can pretend like it doesn’t exist and try to forge a new lifestyle for himself.

However, on the same line, I do think that Laun probably remembered Hyojin but chose not to do anything or show any recognition if he’s jumping around on the same timeline. Was it for Hyojin’s own good? Or for his? It did seem like he sensed someone on the other side of the train station where E-Tion was and honestly, that would probably be the only other explanation for the mark on his neck still being there if he were to travel to a different time. That would also explain why the guys still have memories of him even if he traveled back and changed the timelines. They’ve also become part androids in the process and are unaffected by the changing of the timelines because they also have the ability to change them. Therefore, rather than maybe Laun not remembering E-Tion at the train station, we don’t actually know because he never saw him. Or maybe it would’ve been another situation like with Hyojin, he could just pretend like he doesn’t.

Hyojin did have a vision of a happy Laun reading a book in the forest only to have a memory of him crying before he rested on the train. Hyojin is on a lot of trains. But anyway, the scene of happy Laun could have been one that was sent to Hyojin to remember him by while the scene with his tears could’ve been the reality.

But out of all of the MVs so far, the lyrics I think really relate with the story of Laun disappearing. The lyrics talk about strange things happening since they met the other person wondering if they lost their memories of the past, future, or even of a different world and also expresses their confusion because they don’t actually know what happened.

Why

There’s really one main reason why I think Why comes after We Must Love and that’s because of the setting. By this point the guys are seemingly against each other compared to when they were in We Must Love and seemingly working together to find Laun. Or at least that was how it seemed. We never actually did see them together throughout the MV, but it did seem like they all cared for him and were aiming for the same kind of goal. This MV clearly shows us that they’re no longer on the same side. E-Tion threatens U and J-Us threatens Hyojin. Those two even have a fight. Also, it showed that Hyojin and J-Us were once friends with one another, they were both looking out on the city together, but I think that as their opinions about their situation became divided, there was a split in them. Therefore they’re all looking for the same thing but for different reasons.

I think this MV has split them up into the On and Off teams. While I’m not positive who is on what side, I do think that maybe Hyojin is on the side of whatever organization they’re in and I’m basing that off of him still having a mark on his neck, only this time it’s darker than what it was in the ON/OFF MV. That could mean that he’s completely become an android and one of them, but I also have another theory that I’ll get into later. Anyway, it could also be said that that’s the same as Wyatt, who they seemed to be cloning and who did have an android/computer systems back. However, that would be an android Wyatt and not the real Wyatt since he throws the key away. I attribute to the Off team working against the organization.

But there are points when it seems like maybe everything is not that black and white. MK is using the googles which sends out beams into the world but the next scene is time reversing itself as those rockets seem to be moving back up into the air very slowly. Perhaps MK was the one to end up reversing those rockets, I’m still calling them rockets, falling from the sky. That could also be the reason why an alternate Hyojin comes and makes the current Hyojin disappear along with the city at the end and the rockets still coming down. Maybe the On team were getting swayed to change sides therefore an alternate Hyojin was sent in to fix the problem to make things go down the path they intended to be. That could also be why Wyatt was being cloned. If they needed another person to help fulfill their missions, they could substitute him. But the theory about an alternative Hyojin is why the mark on his neck could be dark. This alternate Hyojin has committed to the organization to do its bidding, including ridding the world of his old self.

But then how does it all relate if he gets rid of his old self and I said that I don’t think they’re affected by time traveling? It’s because I do think that there are multiple timelines and universes. That was shown by them having Laun’s address in Universe 01. With that information it can be presumed that maybe other versions of themselves live in other universes, only they take on different lives. So even if alternate Hyojin destroys this timeline’s Hyojin, that doesn’t mean that he’s gone forever. There could be an infinite amount of universes. It’s just for the particular timeline we’re in, Hyojin has walked down the path of joining the organization and potentially becoming a rebel. If the organization that they’re working for wants to take over/destroy the world, then they need to get rid of this timeline’s Hyojin to achieve their goal. The Hyojin’s of other timelines could be doing something different. Near the end of the MV we do see mirror worlds of each other, one on the top of the screen and one on the bottom. It could be that those worlds exist in different timelines and universes. The time traveling and remembering could pertain to only their timeline. They would need other means to jump into other timelines, which I’ll mention later.

On the other hand, if the Off team is the rebellion, it doesn’t add up why U didn’t do anything when he went to see the cloned Wyatt and was caught by E-Tion. Maybe he wanted to see the progress or maybe he did end up doing something? I do think that it was U who told E-Tion maybe the true reason why things were happening when they were at the abandoned building and why E-Tion looked so distraught and still sat there after U left. One interesting thing is that there’s a blue flower behind E-Tion and in the Sukhumvit Swimming MV, he plays with a blue flower on the moon.

Another interesting thing is that MK has the googles in this MV that make things into a static rainbow spectrum of color. I think Wyatt ends up getting those goggles in Beautiful Beautiful but I’ll touch on that when I get to that MV. Honestly, there are so many snippets of things that are scattered around MV to MV like the blue flower, googles, the globes, the red looking record player, and the red box that Hyojin goes towards. A lot of things are similar and are carried over which I think is also an interesting way to tie the MVs together.

But going back to the storyline, other reasons why I think the Off team is against the organization is because U did run from the police when he was in the museum type location and it seemed like he was desperately looking for information when he was in the room with the computer and going through the CDs. Also, when Hyojin and J-Us have their showdown with J-Us pointing a gun at Hyojin, all of the masked people come from Hyojin’s side. I would assume that those people are also workers for the organization and that’s why he has such numbers that are able to be on his side. As for Wyatt, he was the one who threw away the key. Not sure what he would’ve done with it otherwise, but it was probably a part of the overall picture of whatever the ultimate goal was.

Overall, I think this MV is about how they were separate but how they’re slowly looking towards the same goals and slowly coming together, since there are some scenes of them all being on the roof together from above. While they’re all still far away from each other, maybe they don’t truly trust each other, it’s possible to say that the Off team was successful in creating rebels out of the On team.

In the lyrics for the chorus, they talk about someone being dangerous and how they’re breaking down the person and also pulling them deeper. It could be said that the organization that they are a part of is continuing to hurt them the longer they stay connected to it and they’ve come to that realization that they need to separate from it for the betterment of themselves.

One thing that I’d like to mention before going into the next MV that I think is in line is that I think the googles that MK has help them jump through or transport through, including maybe the watches but I only saw E-Tion with one this MV, unless I missed others. The googles that MK has created a door for both Wyatt and E-Tion. The goggles showed MK a combined red and blue door and it presented a red one for Wyatt and blue for E-Tion. Maybe that was somehow showing that the two teams should be combined? That they’d work stronger together?

Sukhumvit Swimming

The reason why I mentioned the googles and using them for jumping through is because it could be that they used the googles to jump to another timeline, where Sukhumvit Swimming comes in. Yet I don’t think that it’s just any simple timeline. Based on the scenes of Wyatt driving, those computerized backgrounds, it could be said that maybe they are in between timelines, like they have no definitive place anywhere. Sidenote, those same computerized backgrounds are shown on the screens of the place that U is in, I believe, too. Back to the point, but that’s why images of things that have happened in the past keep appearing through this MV like the red record player, the scene of the hallway where it seemed like that’s the same hallway that Laun disappeared in, the globe, and the dystopian city.

That could also be a reason why E-Tion is looking down at the earth and scenes are bigger behind them. Because they’re not in any particular timeline, they’re looking at things from an outsiders’ perspective. Also, there are scenes of what seems like barcodes dropping quite frequently. That could symbolize that they’ve decided to forgo their past android/robot identities and move forward with their lives as they try to find a new place to restart their lives.

I think I did hear somewhere that in this MV Hyojin is trying to steal time, which is why J-Us comes to stop him on the train and why time stops when he enters. That could potentially relate to his need to find out where Laun went therefore maybe he thought that if he were able to steal time before actually entering any timeline, he’d be able to manipulate it the way that he wants to find out where he went and perhaps reverse what they had done in the other timeline of the dystopia reality. But how is Hyojin here if he disappeared in the other timeline with the city? This would just be another Hyojin from a different dimension and universe.

Even though I think they’re jumping timelines in this storyline, they still have remnants of the past such as E-Tion and the blue flower that was in Why, MK being surrounded by computer monitors, and J-Us and the dystopia city behind him. What may become important later is that in one scene, there looks to be an android arm that is on the ground in J-Us’s dystopian city ruins. Those androids probably relate to Beautiful Beautiful so maybe there is a timeline when those androids are destroyed?

Contextually, Sukhumvit is one of the longest roads/boulevards in the world. That meaning could tie in together with the guys jumping timelines as they go down a long road to find the right one. That could also be why they’re all dressed up as something different. They’ve probably experienced different paths on their way to find the right one that will allow them to fight back with the organization they’re rebelling against. That could also explain why in some scenes time is going forward and in others, time is going backwards. Plus, the song also explains going on a trip and traveling which ties into what they’re doing story wise. It could be said that they’re swimming through the universes and timelines.

Also, at the end of the MV, we can see that the bullets that Hyojin and J-Us shot are reversed and then time starts up again. That could show that whatever happened during their trip wouldn’t stay permanent since they’re like in the in-between where time has been temporarily frozen.

My Name Is

As it pertains to the story, I see My Name Is as the part where they’ve finally reached the timeline they want and where they establish themselves as a group and reassert their bonds with one another. After they were no longer working on the same side temporarily in Why, this MV relates to the story as them reiterating that they are working together now in their new timeline and universe. By creating identities for themselves they’re also showing that they plan on staying in this timeline to fulfill their duties.

Beautiful Beautiful

The reason why I think Beautiful Beautiful is the last one in the timeline, as in the most current, is a similar reason as to why I put Why after We Must Love, and that is the setting. Beautiful Beautiful seemingly takes place in what I see as a revolutionized future. In Why and Sukhumvit Swimming, there were some flying cars, or flying somethings, in the MVs but in the case of Why and We Must Love, those were almost dystopian worlds that were getting destroyed. Reversely, in my opinion, Beautiful Beautiful takes place in a world where the organization has won.

But then why is it more futuristic looking? One reason could be because when jumping timelines in Sukhumvit Swimming, they went farther into the future. Another reason could be that after destroying the current world in Why and We Must Love, the organization decided to rebuild the city from the ground up to make it exactly the way they wanted. But then why would the guys choose to go to a timeline when the opposition wins? Well, I think it’s because that no matter what timeline they go to, in some way, the opposition will always win. In the end it could be seen that it’d just be better to go further into the future where they have more resources and probably know more about themselves and have more faith in their skills to defeat them.

Like in previous MVs, they’re still doing what they do best. MK is still hacking into computers, E-Tion and U control machines and have the watches, Hyojin is teleporting, and Wyatt is using the googles to access a computer system and he still has his bike. J-Us, since he’s under arrest, can’t really do as much in this case regarding his information hacking. But maybe it was because of his information hacking that he was able to pass information on to the others about how to temporarily defeat the robots that are chasing them.

A difference in this story compared to the others is that they all looked a lot more relaxed than they once were. In Why and We Must Love they were frantically looking for information and at each other’s throats. In this MV since they’re working together and are able to get things done, they don’t have as much stress accumulated and rely on one another to complete the task at hand, which is saving J-Us at the moment.

Based on the ending of the MV, it could be said that they’ve temporarily won as their Beautiful Beautiful cube ends up in the sky and they admire the fireworks, but I would definitely say that the happiness probably doesn’t last. They may have won a temporary battle and got J-Us back, but there will definitely be future issues, which of course depends on their future MVs.

Going back to this, I think there were a lot of ties into past MVs and similar scenes. For one, Hyojin was still on a train with masked figures, the red record was shown again, and the googles that Wyatt wore seemed like the ones MK had in Why. One of the bigger things, I think, was the usage of the cube at the end. Instead of seemingly wreaking havoc on the earth like the other cubes of the other MVs did, this cube was ONF’s cube that helped them instead of rain down rockets. In one of the scenes when U and E-Tion are in their hideout, which I’m pretty sure is the yellow machine that comes up behind U at the junkyard looking place, the cube is on a screen behind them and it says that all systems are active. Who knows, maybe during their time on the run they figured out the best way to fight back against the organization. Using the same method, the cube and with all of their hacking abilities, they were able to cause a data attack and subsequent system error. That was shown on the green banners that Hyojin and J-Us saw after he was rescued and before they jumped out of the building at the end.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the basic gist of it is just like what I mentioned in the condense version. There’s some organization that ONF were once a part of that they’ve become rebellions of and are now working against. It’s an interesting concept, that of androids/robots, that they’ve had from the beginning and I like how everything still connects with each other with similar skills and abilities being shown throughout or similar looking scenes that relate one MV to the next.

When I initially saw the MVs, I thought that maybe I would organize them in a different order than when they premiered, but thinking about them, they kind of make sense in the order that they showed up. I only switched ON/OFF and Complete. But even if they were to be in the same order, as in ON/OFF first and then Complete, I think an argument could be made for that way, too. It could be said that in ON/OFF, ONF are created as the robots but are created with more human qualities so they can go to Earth in Complete and get the information needed. Yet because Laun was the one to put the information in the rocket, I assume that he got that information when he was already on Earth in Complete, which is why I reversed them.

But if you’ve made it this far, then congrats! I know this was long. I honestly didn’t expect me to have so much to say about these MVs and storylines and things I noticed that were interesting. I guess I just found myself being drawn into it in a way. But I can’t wait to see what kind of future stuff gets put out and if it’ll continue to relate to the storyline that they’ve been telling so far.

#onf #thoughts #mv theory #text

19 notes · View notes

ronnytherandom · 4 years ago

Text

I forgot to watch content all week so i wrote about games ive been playing

9/2/2021: The Truman Show

You should fear your fears but embrace them and use them to guide you into the unknown, to explore and experience what life has to offer. Fear stands between you and the fullest experience of life so you must pass through it to better yourself. Heed not the walls built about you and the chains made to hold you. Though the architects insist it will preserve your life, containment is anathema to life. Do not take in faith the benevolence of powers that be; instead trust those who would support and liberate you, guide you through fear and into life.

As best I can lay it out, I think this is the philosophy of the Truman show but there is so much more to read into it also. There is critique of systems of commodification and celebrity (i.e. capitalism) reducing human beings to a consumable good as well as encouragement to find and pursue your goals despite adversity and even sensibility which is also tied to the illusion of economic responsibility. You can’t put a camera inside a human head, you can never “know” them without being an active and intrinsic part of their life, but also there is need for reciprocation. If one half exists with ulterior motive then the entire relationship is rotten; sincere humanity is what creates real connections. Without such your world is fake. A world built around one person is a world where no one can truly live. All these actors have given up basically their entire lives for the sake of watching Truman have his life built around him by outside forces, have allowed themselves to be commodified and dehumanised for the good of one man, Christoph. The man at the top has delusions of grandeur and thinks only of his own bottom line, he cares not for his subjects but simply wants them to do as he tells them because it benefits him to commodify their lives and interactions. Even then he cannot stand to lose control and in seeking to demonstrate Truman’s “realness” he structures his life so thoroughly that eventually there’s no reality left, only a script and adverts. But the people watching still empathise with Truman because everyone in the working class understands what it is to be trapped because real life is our own Truman show and one day we must all pass through fear, step out of the dome and create a real life for ourselves outside of the system of commodification which consumes everyone’s life and removes all realness and sincerity and emotional catharsis from it.

I unreservedly love this film.

14/2/2021: Assorted Game Reviews

Horizon Zero Dawn (Unfinished due to technical issues, 45 hours inc. parts of Frozen Wilds): This game is really cool and really fun. I think it is defined by its incredible setting which somehow creates a fresh feeling post-apocalyptic environment. Said environment creates intriguing alt-future lore and some very interesting environments to explore. I love the machine designs (especially tallnecks!) and was very sad to hear one of their contributing artists passed away recently but I’m glad their work lives on in this visually stunning game. I’m a sucker for Ubisoft-style open world games simply because it tickles a certain kind of itch and somehow this non-Ubisoft game has outdone Ubisoft on their own formula, which is hilarious, but also good for me as running around this world exploring and clearing map markers is engaging fun. Not least because of the combat. I have a minor criticism here that the combat feels slightly awkward on mouse and keyboard, the arrows never seem to go where I’m aiming, but aside from that the experience of fighting is a grand one. Enemies never lose their threat and I love the weak spot system the game employs which makes every tool useful in niche circumstance and rewards curiosity. It specifically manages this in a way that I feel the Witcher series could learn from if it ever returns; by making head on assault less viable and encouraging tactical hunting. I do feel this system makes hunting robots so fun that by contrast hunting humans becomes a chore however, though I noted this improves in the dlc with the addition of humans with elemental weaknesses limited in number as they are. I cannot speak for the story in entirety but what I encountered was pretty good, though I feel as if it was only just really getting going at the point where I could not continue. I find Aloy to be a compelling and well portrayed protagonist and though I can guess about her origin and the ultimate end of the alt-future apocalypse I still want to see how it plays out on screen, so will return to this as soon as I’ve fixed it.

Rimworld (122 hours. Familiar with but do not own Royalty Expansion):

Rimworld is one of those super special games that I don’t think I have a single problem with. Fair warning it can be brutal and is heavily dependent on RNG but this allows it to create truly unique and interesting scenarios on a constant basis. In the wider perspective it could be described as formulaic, with regular cycles of managing the settlement between raids and random events, but the devils in the details. Colonist traits, health and skills dictate how you play and sometimes you’ll be forced to adapt as some colonists simply refuse to perform some tasks. The depth of health particularly amuses me, in that each little part of someone’s body is modelled in a way. If you’re in a firefight you may take a single bullet which grazes your finger and you’re fine. Alternately it could pierce your human leather cowboy hat, your skull and kill you instantly and the game will tell you exactly what happened. The risk/reward element is addictive enough, and that’s without accounting for just how cool it is to see your colony slowly expand. Establishing more and more options for crafting is fun and shows off the full range of different items in the game which is fucking extensive. Between clothing, weapons, armour, sculpture and drugs to name only a few you have the opportunity to create many varied production lines either for your colonists or to trade for money and there is a lot of fun to be had here as well as it is quite satisfying to see psychoid you have grown personally become the cocaine your colonists snort to help them stay awake on limited sleep. From an archaeologist’s perspective it is especially cool to look back over your base and see the hints of how and why structures were built and remember the history of your limitations and development through structure. I think the lore of the universe is really cool too, a very 40k-esque kind of place except with far less order, somehow. But the universe does an excellent job of feeling alive and moving constantly on both a planetary and interstellar level. You can fully believe that while you build wooden shacks to shield yourself from terrifyingly low temperatures there are simultaneously rich pieces of shit living it up on the glitterworld that’s one system over. The music does an excellent job of creating the wild west frontier atmosphere the game cultivates to great effect. Ultimately, for just being a grid with a series of different numbers attached, this game does a fantastic job of creating a compelling, brutal and very real colony management experience. I dont think I can properly put into words the grandness and scope of this one. I didnt even mention the modding scene, which is expansive and tailors to basically any need you could have. The Rim is a terrifying place but theres so much fun to be had.

Factorio (86 hours, mostly 1.1): Having completed a game of Factorio I can tell you reliably that this is one of the best games ever made, thoroughly addictive and fun. If you like numbers, logistics, TRAINS, its gonna be your thing. Not to mention its probably the only documented case of a game with no bugs (so far as official forums are concerned). Strictly speaking this games combat is not the most engrossing thing but good lord do you feel it when you acquire a flamethrower. The way each aspect of the game (production, research, logistics, combat, upgrades for everything therein) feeds into the next is a really well constructed balancing act such that you must experience the full game in order to complete it and I always appreciate this kind of design. I think its one of the best tenets of factory game design especially as its something present in Satisfactory too. Beyond all of this generalised good the game is also excellent in its intricacies, the architecture necessary to build a maximum efficiency base, the level of planning and organisation that can be employed is mind-blowing. Not to mention the mod community, factorion is already an extensive experience and some mad bastards have seen fit to complicate it further, hats off to them. This really is a great moment in gaming.

Destiny 2 (198 hours, all expansions, played some post Forsaken release, mostly Season of Arrivals onwards, spent roughly £20 on microtransactions):

This is a very interesting and enjoyable experience, but I must say it can be a bit controversial at times. What its does particularly well is moment to moment gameplay and design in all aspects. The game is stunning; between environments, cosmetics, shaders ships and ghosts there’s a vast range of incredible things to see, all rooted in the “pseudo-magi-science” aesthetic it’s got going on. The class design is excellent and you really do feel like you embody this rampaging madman / agile gunman / space wizard archetype, whichever you choose to play. The abilities, especially supers, are very satisfying. Everything has heft and power behind it which can be felt in all aspects of design; sound and animation is top notch. Movement is cool, you can feel how fast you move both on foot and in vehicles and the navigation has a little fun subtlety depending on your class jump, even if you can bounce unpredictably occasionally. But for the love of god why is the wall kick in there? It has only ever served to push me from a ledge into a bottomless pit. You're looking to remove antiquated content? Start there. Some guns are not so good to shoot but there’s such a great range of guns that are fun its like complaining about one drop in an ocean; and enemies are fun to shoot at, each faction distinct in meaningful ways and presenting an effective challenge. Speaking of oceans, that’s one way to describe the lore. I haven’t dived too deep but it keeps going down forever and everything I’ve read is intriguing. As a former Elder Scrolls lore nut this is something I could definitely sink my teeth into, though its much more of a pulpy sci-fi vibe than a pure nonsense vibe. I do think the game has a bit of a loot problem, primarily in regards to the conflict between high stats and looking good. This should never be a conflict, and yes you can apply ornaments to any purple gear but that’s not enough when I spend the entire time grinding power levels and thus must change armour and weapons on a constant basis to progress. This game needs a true transmog system and if not that, rethink how gear power level works. Perhaps rather than earning new instances of gear you always possess a version of it and the loot you acquire in missions just upgrades your instance to your current overall power level? This would serve to do away with the current upgrade system which I think is a needless additional grind. Perhaps it could be retained in using enhancement cores to empower gear as present but necessitating a whole upgrade module to keep your favourite weapon on hand is kind of painful honestly. There is also at present the issue of sunsetting gear, mildly controversial to say the least. If it’s necessary to streamline the game and make it function moving forward so be it but surely loot pools should be adjusted so you can actually get useful loot from older locations? And why sunset personal instances of gear which can be acquired at the regular power level anyway? I had to throw away my favourite bow and hunt down a new version of the exact same weapon for… what reason? I do think destination navigation leaves a little to be desired also. I get that having a physical hub world is meaningful but Destiny does not have a very extroverted community; I can count the times someone noticed me in the tower on one hand. And its not even like there’s fun activities to be found in the same sense as say Deep Rock Galactic, which really does take advantage of its hub. Perhaps for players who simply want to go about their business all of the vendors could be set into a menu system where just clicking an icon takes you to their menu from anywhere in the system rather than, per se, having to go through an entire loading screen (Which takes you to orbit and back) to reach a location which serves simply as the front for four menus. These are established player problems. As a dedicated PvE player I can say that this game is immensely fun in combat and growing in power does feel really good. It’s something I recommend getting into, there’s just some very large creases that need ironing which the Bungie should really take the time to address rather than pushing out new in game content every three months.

#the truman show #horizon zero dawn #rimworld #factorio #destiny 2 #d2 #film #movies #video games #i dont know what im doing #hzd #opinion

17 notes · View notes

fullregalia · 3 years ago

Text

quar on the floor.

I wrote this last year for my friend’s website--reposting here because I am so excited for season three.

A few years ago, I was using someone else’s HBO password, streaming on borrowed time. I had exhausted my appetite for the platform’s comedic offerings of Veep, Curb, and Silicon Valley—stories of narcissists and egomaniacs in DC, LA, and SF—when I started to hear about a show called Succession. Created by Jesse Armstrong (a former writer in Veep creator Armando Iannucci’s room for The Thick of It), the show is ostensibly about the machinations of the Murdoch-inspired Roy family to retain their conglomerate’s dominance in media’s evolving landscape, and the infighting that arises from the children jockeying for patriarch Logan’s love, approval, and, most importantly, title. Think Arrested Development meets a Shakespearean tragedy. It is a story of narcissists and egomaniacs in NYC. The Roys and their courtiers are mean, extravagant, brash, and delusional—stereotypically obnoxious 0.01%-ers, that is—characters who do nothing to earn neither your affection nor trust, yet somehow that hasn’t stopped me from loving this show and the messy family at the center of it.

Succession is a rich text. One could write numerous essays on what makes this show something to appreciate: its liberal use of “fuck off” while having practically zero on-screen sex, its clever signaling through nouveau riche clothing, its wry sendup of the Bancroft family (former family owners of the Wall Street Journal) as WASP-y hypocrites, its glee at lampooning the media industry, its theme song that is, canonically, the most important song of all time, its penchant for scenes at a formal dining table, its shrewd depiction of the ways capital exploits labor, its ability to make you fully dissociate when a grown man cringe raps about his dad.

Eventually, my erstwhile HBO password was changed, and finally I caved: I couldn’t live without on-demand access to this family’s particular brand of garbage-language trauma bonding. Revisiting it during quarantine became an escape and a balm. Look at these horrible people, gallivanting across the globe, carefree thanks to deep pockets and complete disregard for anyone but themselves! Am I talking about lockdown rule-breakers, our last administration, or the Roys? Who can tell! While our lives have become myopic in scope—a routine of bed, desk, kitchen, desk, bed for most—we can still live vicariously through this “viper’s nest” of a family that find themselves not only being out and about in the world, but also shaping it. A family whose primary concerns include fretting over cold butter at gala dinners (“The butter’s all fucked! You fuckwads, there’s dinner rolls out there ripping as we speak!”) and complaining about syphilitic rivals at thought leadership convenings (“You don’t hear much about syphilis these days… very much the MySpace of STDs”).

Instead of, I don’t know, traveling to see my family in England this past summer, I got to watch Roman and Shiv have an excruciating dinner of pigeon—watch out for the shot!—with their horrible mother in London. Instead of finding a new apartment after grad school, I moved back home, but I watched cousin Greg jump for joy in his new Soho loft, a gift from Kendall because “developers overestimated demand, so I bought all five units.” Instead of dinner parties with friends, I got to watch the world’s most sentient puffer vest Tom Wambsgans get humiliated by his wife and brother-in-law for wearing suits that make him “look like a divorce attorney from the Twin Cities,” a trait exacerbated by his “agricultural walk.”

In the second season the audience, ensconced in the warm embrace of Loro Piana knits and lulled by crass familial scheming, is reminded that cruelty has consequences. Logan’s paranoia leads to a humiliating round of “boar on the floor” during an executive retreat, and a plotline regarding a coverup of corporate malfeasance in the cruise division comes to a crescendo. (Cruises, the canary in the coal mine of this pandemic, seem to be good vehicles for Problematic Moments in general.) It is revealed that internally, Waystar Royco executives would refer to the victims of one executive’s lascivious (and, in fact, criminal) behavior as “NRPI”—no real person involved. Despite living in the rarified air where the hoi polloi are disposable, the rot is exposed. A piece of shit covered in cashmere is still essentially a piece of shit.

Season two ended four months before the pandemic began, and returning to it felt timely. Throughout this fuzzy, uncertain year, I’ve indulged in bad habits to numb existential dread: I can have two cookies for breakfast, as a treat. The Roys can have a little megayacht R&R, as a treat. To really grapple with the collateral damage of COVID and derelict leadership is devastating. Feeling powerless, locked down, and waiting for stimulus checks, one gets the revolutionary urge. In lieu of liberté and égalité, I eat cake and revel in the Roy’s twisted fraternité.

In those uncanny ways that life imitates art, I found myself working on contract for an international media conglomerate, one that is not unlike Waystar Royco, during the pandemic. There are indeed cheerful brand videos that tout inclusivity, boldly progressive values that encourage treating women as equals, and all-staff emails congratulating everybody on their hard work for “delivering highest quarterly EBITDA” and “record-breaking revenue year-over-year” (productivity in a pandemic, boy, I don’t know….). All these people, myself included, get paid ok-to-decent wages to put a human face on a corporation with the sole purpose of churning out content on market data and celebrity gossip. 99% of the company completely divorced from the handful of executives that get to make Important Decisions. Complicity creeps up on you that way, stuck on your couch finding yourself in a land where the border between disdain and aspiration is blurred. Not having an office to commute to or colleagues to complain with, I must be getting some sort of vicarious thrill from watching the Roy clan et. al. infight behind the glass walls of corner offices and bicker over the dull roar of a cocktail party. If this is the price of admission, maybe it’s fine I can’t afford it.

Perhaps that’s why I keep returning to this wretched family, enjoying its chaos and laughing at its bond so acerbic it can only charitably be called affection. Perhaps, in bingeing Succession intermittently, I am absolving myself of the frustration I feel for my inability to hold power to account, or my lack of tangible accomplishment. For what these sociopaths have in money and influence, they lack in emotional intelligence and a moral compass. After all, who really gets hurt when I delight in the tragedy and farce that is the Roy family’s saga? When it comes to the fate of the Waystar Royco empire, there are no real people involved.

#succession #tv

5 notes · View notes

janiedean · 5 years ago

Text

aaah, and I thought the throbb/theon fandom couldn’t disappoint me more than it already had

and yet.

okay, so, whatever, I’ve been made aware of a situation on twitter and honestly I’m tired, so let’s just have it out.

apologies for the long-ass post but I honestly am tired of being the uber-correct person who addresses everyone directly and properly and so on and all I get is finding out people trash talk behind your back anyway and don’t engage with me if they have a problem.

so, yesterday I’m minding my damned business, I see that @fleurdulys is apparently in some discussions with anti sansan people calling her names, I send her a message like ‘oh god they found you I’m so sorry’ because I have seen anti sansan takes back in the day, two people including someone that had stalked her for months start tagging me too and accusing me of the usual condoning That Horrible Problematic Ship and of being a pedo apologist blah blah blah, I block both of them, the day after another two show up in my mentions uninvited, I block both of them.

then someone who was monitoring the situation warns me that some anon is trash talking me and fleur in the curiouscat asks of some other person that I had absolutely no knowledge of until then. I went to block them, found out I had blocked them already because they were anti thr/amsay and shipped a theon show only ship I really don’t like so I went and blocked them in JULY before they changed nickname because I’m an adult and I like to think I can cut out of my life people I don’t want to risk interacting with because I know I don’t have anything to say to them. said person accused me of ‘using as a tactic calling everything calvinist’ which... well, when the problem is that antis are basically being that it’s not a tactic but whatever, I addressed it on twitter and changed my screen name as a joke because y’know what let’s embrace it, I don’t like calvinists anyway.

I go and forget about it and then the same someone monitoring the situation informs me that these lovely people had this other exchange - I’m not mentioning who it is but they’ll know and at this point I’m honestly done:

now.

sorry but what the hell.

first of all, going in order:

I blocked receiver of the CC ages ago because she ships a thing that for me is an absolute no and I have very good reasons to not like it, and I have zero interest in talking to people who ship that AND are th/ramsay antis, which is a thing that I have zero patience for whichever side of the fence you’re on - saying it as someone who doesn’t like th/ramsay but ffs I don’t agree with anti-ing stuff, if you hate it blacklist and move on with your life;

also, I wasn't lurking on her anons because I didn’t even know she was involved but someone else monitoring the situation told me I was the subject of one of them and I went and checked for myself, so like... sorry I’m not unblocking because I never searched for her, I never talked to her, I never wanted contact with her and she and the anon are there trash talking me and fleur for shipping a fictional ship so what are we even talking here;

and that’s the premise, but: I had gotten my 'bitch ass away from throbb' in 2011, the amount of fics that fandom has would Not Exist At All because *I* was the sole steady contributor (ie the only person who kept on posting it) 2011-18 (and fandom drove out the only other steady contributor in 2015-8 lmao), *I* was the one organizing most theon-based fandom events (which were opened to all ships, including the ones I hated, and if I could handle posting th/ramsay fanart/reading th/ramsay prompts/assigning them when the exchange was anonymous and I had to post all the contributions when looking at th/ramsay art made me sick back in the day I think OP can tolerate people existing and shipping stuff she don't like), *I* was the one periodically coming up with ways to make the tag less filled with hate, *I* called out every single anti shaming anyone for their ships - from thramsay to theonsa because there were theonsa antis back in S5 but she wouldn't know I suppose -, so like she can pay me the favor to not even going there because if it wasn't for me she wouldn't have throbb fic to read *period* (not to brag but check, before I started spamming the tag and helped bringing in people along with someone else who's not in fandom anymore there were literally six), so how about she check what are her contributions to the fandom (less than mine probably) other than creating drama? thanks.

also ‘theon and robb would beat pedos up’ please check your facts, theon/jeynep is going to most likely be canon and she’s like thirteen and he’s twenty-two, which is a nine year age gap, which is not even that far from sansan. also your favorite theon ship has an eight years age gap in the books too so just stop. you ain’t coherent. at least be coherent. but you can’t, because every single asoiaf ship is problematic for some reason. ;)

and that was it for OP.

now, for the anon, who honestly... the entitlement, I swear to god, but in order: if you’re that pressed because I haven’t written throbb in months also thanks to people like you you could have like, come and talked to me on tumblr because regardless from what you assume I don’t bite. also I see that you’re a throbb shipper and you’re calling me THROBB CONTENT GENERATOR?

CONTENT GENERATOR?

ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF IT?

I’M A HUMAN BEING, I’M NOT YOUR DAMNED CONTENT GENERATOR.

I DON’T GENERATE CONTENT FOR YOUR SATISFACTION, I WRITE FIC FOR SHIPS I LIKE. throbb is my otp (still, even if y’all really are trying to drive me out lol) and I wrote novels of it for years for free because I love it, BUT NOT BECAUSE I’M YOUR DAMNED CONTENT GENERATOR.

content generator.

I’m just. actually you know what, if I write throbb again after this, you can be 100% sure there’s gonna be full-on blown canon sansan in it for a very long time and I’m absolutely not going to make it avoidable if you don’t scroll half of the fic. also ‘I could ask her to write it but she’d put sansan in it so I won’t’ who the hell do you think you are?

who the hell do you think you are?

I take prompts when I can because I want to and because once in a while I enjoy the idea of writing stuff for people because other than being something I love, I like the idea that I can make someone’s day nicer by filling them a prompt if they like my writing, I don’t do that just because you ask.

what the hell? so you’d ask and me, a poor idiot, not knowing it was you, would put it on a to-write list of prompts that’s like ten pages of notebook long because that’s how long my goddamned list is, while you’re here laughing that someone whose writing you like but whose personality you obviously despise has written you your favorite ship for free not knowing that it’s for someone that doesn’t like her all that much?

jesus christ.

like, I thought this fandom couldn’t get lower than the let’s plagiarize fics deal last july, but this is honestly rich.

and then you wonder why whenever I think about finishing sfbd or writing a ship that used to make me happy to write now I go like ‘f* this noise why should I bother I’m writing any other damned pairing instead’.

and I have to read this shit from someone who, when I blocked them the moment I got the fandom twitter account, who I never searched for, who I never talked to and who is friends with people who happily accuse others of being pedo apologists because they ship sansan which is, oh, wait, an almost-canon ship with canon text supporting it and that grrm himself certainly doesn’t hate and has admitted to have been leading up to, and now wants me to unblock her to talk??? when their friends showed up in my mentions absolutely uninvited because I sent support to someone who was arguing with them because we both ship sansan and I’ve done it for longer so I know how’s the deal?

and from some kind of anon who sure as hell reads my fics enough that they know I’m still the most prolific throbb contributor to the tag even if I haven’t written throbb in a year and some who calls me content generator and not even contributor as if I was some kind of juke box machine where you put in prompts and get out 5k minimum fics for free? and who still would like to read them enough to throw that shade but has no issues trashing me because I’m pointing out that antis think exactly like 17th century calvinists, which is a thing that can 100% be proved the moment you look up how the aforementioned calvinists thought?

like, I’d like to kindly tell the both of them to find a hobby that’s not trying to fele better harassing people they don’t know for fictional ships and remind everyone on here (because I’m sure anon is on tumblr as it’s where I hang out most of the time anyway) including the few anons who have asked me if I’d consider writing throbb again in the last months and who asked me if I’d run theonexchange again at some point that fic writers are human beings, not jukeboxes, and that being assholes has, as a usual consequence, driving the content creators out. I’m not a content generator, I’m not here to get laughed at because I fill prompts and I generally like to put content in the tags and not drama and because I think that being a fandom contributor should mean spreading positivity instead of shaming people for what they ship.

anyway: as a conclusion to this rant, I’m definitely not writing throbb that doesn’t have sansan in it anytime soon and if I run theonexchange again at some point (which I would like to but with these premises you’ll see that finding the force of will when I have a life is kind of a problem) if I find out that OP or any of her friends want to participate they’re kindly welcomed not to because I’m banning them on sight.

wow, get my bitch ass away from a fandom I kind of helped make and contributed 10% of the ao3 content to.

congrats, you just made sure I really won’t when I was taking a break but I was planning to come back at some point even if right now it’s quite tempting.

thanks for reading this if you got to this point and sorry for the rant but I’m tired.

I’m really tired.

also I’ve always said I shipped sansan from the moment I was in this fandom, I tag it also for blacklisting purposes and I don’t even put it as a side in fics that much because it doesn’t come up, so if anyone is so disgusted by it they’re welcome to learn to coexist with people who ship stuff they don’t like.

again: I’m really tired.

#throbb #theon greyjoy #oh wow that's always nice to find out from people who technically ship what I like!#also i mean you'd think i'm idk some kinda snobbish asshole who doesn't reply to every single ask she gets #and who hasn't filled prompts here since 2011 without expecting really anything but whatever #and who hasn't like talked to people if they had issues #except that i did all of that #and finding out this crap is like disheartening #like wow then you wonder why i don't feel it anymore #as if i didn't spend years trying to make sure the theon fandom wasn't a continuous hatred shitfest #as if i didn't call people out for anti-ing any ship bc it was already not many of us #i just wanted people to get along and create stuff instead of eating each other up #even ship i personally didn't like or that ACTUALLY MADE ME SICK #i'm tired #i'm really tired #sorry for the word-vomit but some of you really need to learn some manners #obviously your parents didn't teach you #and it shows #thank you i'm done

26 notes · View notes

caspian-skye · 4 years ago

Text

The Apoptosis Project Ch.8, Making a Statement

“Twenty-five years after Salem's defeat, twins Caspian and Lazula Skye are finally of age to attend their father's academy; just in time for the Creatures of Grimm to return. While fighting the revived horror alongside Frontline Biomedical's controversial Organic Androids, they begin to unravel a web of secrets ensnaring more than they could have ever known.”

"Okay, let's go ahead and get started for the day!" Professor Corvis-Braun began eagerly. Caspian looked to the lecture hall's stage, where Lilly's mother peeked over the podium. Whenever Caspian had seen the diminutive, feathery-haired woman in the past, she wore some stylish mixture of cardigan, blazer, skirt, sweater, vest, and tights. Her outfit never strayed away from moody hues of black, white, midnight blue, and silver. Apparently, her work attire was no exception.

"Welcome to your first day of Interspecies History!" the professor announced. A pair of dark eyes flicked to the full rows of long, rounded tables forming eight half-circles up to the back of the room. "I'm Professor Corvis-Braun, but you can call me Professor Corvis if it's easier. Or Professor Braun, I love my husband. This class has the reputation of being a bit dry, especially at a school that teaches Grimm Studies and Practical Weapons Training. But! It's important. Plus, every year I've had a handful of students that really take to this class, so that might end up being you!" She took a sip from her water before continuing. "This is a special year for me, because my own daughter happens to be in this room! I won't call her out, but-"

Lilly smiled and turned, waving to the rows behind her.

"Oh! Well then, that's her," Professor Corvis confirmed above a chorus of laughter and "aww"-s. "Anyway, though faunus are equal in law now, and a big city like this sees very little overt racism, we're living in quite an important time right now. Can anyone tell me why this class has become so relevant?"

After several seconds, she pointed to a hand toward the back of the room.

"The Red Claw?"

Professor Corvis-Braun pulled back a bit in surprise. "Yes! I mean, that wasn't the answer I was looking for, but that's an important issue we'll cover in depth starting next week. Any other answers? Good answer, by the way."

At the furthest section of the room, a few rows back, Noxis raised his hand. Professor Corvis called on him.

"I wouldn't count them as a species," Noxis began, leaning back in his chair. "But are you talking about Organds?"

By the end of his first lecture at Sentinel, Caspian's wrist burned from writing, and his stomach was empty. The beginning of class saw a quick, broad overview of course content, which eventually shifted into administrative and logistic details of the class. Professor Corvis finished with a minute to spare, just as the zipping and shuffling of all the backpacks in the room began to drown her out.

Caspian clutched his stomach. "Man, I'm hungry. After Grimm Studies, you guys wanna meet at The Roots?"

"I'm down. I'll ask Ichigo," Rowan agreed.

"I suppose I'll stop by for a bit," Lilly said. "I'm meeting a new friend later this afternoon, though."

Unease crept into Caspian's mind. A new friend...

"Want to come to The Roots after next class?" Caspian typed into his Holoband. He looked across the room.

Noxis flashed his Holoband's screen, looking at it for a few seconds. He shut it off, slung his bag over a shoulder, and made his way out the door.

As Cedar Hall, Sentinel's first-year dormitory building, was built into the side of the steep hill holding the academy above the bay, The Roots Cafe was below ground level on one side, but well above the street on the other. One wall was almost entirely windows, revealing the impressive view from shopping center to the North, to the flat tract of land across the street that held the SFC, sports fields and sparring courts to the South. Looming furthest away, against a backdrop of skyscrapers and sea, was Sentinel Stadium.

The Roots itself was quite cozy, Caspian thought. The side furthest from the windows was a winding maze of counters and kiosks. It got fairly busy at dinner, but the food seemed decent so far, a selection from all over Remnant. Toward the windows, comfortable booths and tables in many shades of brown found space among gently curving half-walls and wooden pillars. At each end of the cafeteria was a near-abstract mural of huntsmen and Grimm.

The day after initiation, Rowan found a round table nestled in a half-circle alcove facing the window. Every meal since, he had refused to sit anywhere else.

"The flesh of Frontline Biomedical Technology's Organic Androids is created from human stem cells. The 'organic components,' as they are called, are mounted onto a titanium alloy and carbon-fiber frame, making Organic Androids nearly indistinguishable from humans," Caspian read. "Though they look much like us, what would be their brain is actually called a 'Brain-Core System.' The 'core,' in the android's chest, handles power and low-level internal functioning. The 'brain,' in the android's head, allows for higher-level processing. However, it should be noted both brain and core are incapable of thought and emotion."

Caspian looked up to Lilly expectantly.

"I see..." she pondered. "I think you do a wonderful job of setting up the issue, and differentiating between Organd and human. However, I fail to see the main point of your paper. I believe it would be helpful if you transitioned into your main point from what you have now." She looked to him. "Do you have any ideas?"

Caspian pursed his lips. "Hmm... I guess, I'll talk about how people generally respect Frontline because of its medical advancements, but there's a lot of distrust toward Organds." He looked up from his screen. "People don't like things that look so human and... aren't."

"Why'd your mom have to go and assign a paper on the first day of class?" Rowan complained. "Always seemed like a nice lady, but that's just cruel."

Lilly's lips drew up in a muted smile of amusement. "It's only two to three pages, and is worth a very small portion of your grade," she reminded. "This is more a measure of your starting point than anything. Have you started?"

"It's due Monday, right?"

"Yes."

"Nope. I think I'll start Saturday. Maybe Sunday," Rowan responded. He tore into his sandwich.

"I think I'll distinguish between combat models and companion models too, because their internal coding and ability to fight is different enough to note," Caspian commented, leaning into his laptop. He struggled to type a few words with his left hand, his right still wrapped up in a sling. "Writing an essay is hard enough with two functional hands."

"What about third gen Organds?" Ichigo inquired.

"They're not out yet. I might mention them, but I don't think I know enough to say much about them..."

Rowan raised a finger, gulping down an ambitious bite of his lunch. "You hear that the third gen ones are gonna be able to eat? Isn't that weird?"

"They can't digest though, what happens to the food?" Ichigo questioned.

"Damn, good question," Rowan admitted. He flicked on his Holoband, typing up a search.

"We're eating," Lilly reminded. "Perhaps we should leave this question for later?"

"...So who's the new friend, Lilly?" Caspian asked, attempting to pass off his budding jealousy as innocent curiosity.

Lilly smiled gently. "Her name is Aspen. She's a second-year, we happened to run into each other when I was exploring the campus libraries."

Good. A girl.

Lilly looked down to her Holoband in surprise, and switched it on. "Oh, that's her right now!" she announced. She dabbed at her lips with a napkin, and shuffled across the half-circle booth until she was free of the table.

"I'll see you later!" Caspian bid with a grin.

Lilly waved, and was on her way.

"Y'know, one of these days it won't be a girl!" Rowan chided.

Caspian balled a napkin in his fist. "I know..."

"When are you gonna make your move? Sentinel's full of dudes. I'm just trying to help you along! You've got that 'childhood friend' thing going for you, but-"

"Can we please talk about anything else?"

Sentinel's dorms were a rough transition for Lazula. She had grown so used to her plush bed, giant bathtub in a bathroom with marble floor and golden faucets, and gourmet food whenever she liked. Now in the land of shared showers, standard-issue mattresses, and long lines in The Roots, at least getting up for her morning routine was easier.

Only a few days in, Lazula fell into her routine. Every morning, she would wake exactly at six. She would grab a healthy bite, and run the trail around Sentinel's campus. The loop was almost exactly two miles, so would take eleven or twelve minutes. Then to the Student Fitness Center right as it opened, when no one was around to gawk at her, or the weight she put on bar and machine alike. She would be back before nine to shower and take a second breakfast, making it just in time for her first class.

Classes had just concluded for the day, so the SFC was a bit more crowded than usual. Lazula walked up to the front desk, nodding to the attendant as she neared.

"Where can I find the Sparring Team?" she asked. "I heard there's a meeting here today."

"Oh, that would be..." the student at the front desk began. He keyed a search into the computer. "Room 202. Right up those stairs, first court on the left."

"Thanks." Raising her wrist up to the sensor, her Holoband pulsed once with vibration, and the hard-light door allowed her through. She went to the locker room first, donning her combat attire in its entirety before continuing onto room 202.

"As is the case every year, let's start by talking recruitment," a young man's voice declared from behind the door. Strong, but friendly. Lazula had heard the voice before. "Cole is already working on designing flyers, and I'd like to start handing them out in front of the library starting next week. I'll also ask the Headmaster if-"

The door shut loudly behind Lazula, drawing everyone's eyes to her. One hand rested on Impetus's hilt as Lazula locked eyes with the man, cocking her head back ever slightly.

"I challenge you to a duel."

He cracked a grin. The same impossibly white, straight-toothed smile that decorated Sentinel's promotional material, and advertisements for countless brands having nothing to do with huntsmen. His hair was styled just as neat as the pictures, a close shave on the sides and back of his head, with hair in front and top swept to the side in golden waves, one unruly lock drooping to his brow. She had never realized how thoroughly dark his eyes were.

"And here I was, wondering how long I should wait for you to settle in before challenging you," Midas welcomed. "I admire your initiative."

"I'm a twelve-time tournament champion at a new school with some of the strongest huntsmen in Vale," Lazula reminded. "It only makes sense I challenge the very strongest one here, and beat him."

Midas's smile continued. "Well, then. I accept your challenge."

Lazula drew Impetus from its sheath, positioning her feet and staring down her opponent.

"...After our warm-ups, of course!"

Lazula's shoulders sunk, and she sheathed her blade.

"Sure."

After a quick jog down to the water's edge and back, and a bit of dynamic stretching, Lazula and the rest of the Sparring Team returned to their room in the SFC. She had been sizing up Midas from the moment she agreed to warm up. She knew he fought with Resplendence, a halberd that unfolded into a bow, and channeled the electricity Midas produced with his semblance. He was well built but still looked nimble, and kept up with her on the run down to the water. He had a height advantage of over half a foot.

"By default, Sparring Team matches use a safety parameter of twenty percent. Is that alright?" Midas asked.

"Seems fair."

"Good." Midas pinched the screen he projected from his Holoband and flicked it upward. It hit a strange metallic structure suspended from the ceiling, and two screens flashed above the pair, displaying their names, pictures, and aura level.

Midas and Lazula took their places at opposing ends of the court. "It's too bad we're inside," Lazula said. "I'll have to hold back a bit if I don't want to break something."

Midas grinned. "I can hold back too! It's only fair."

Lazula shook her head. "That won't be necessary."

The excited buzz of the room quieted as a girl in robes of silvery blue stepped between them. "This is an impromptu sparring match between Team Captain Midas Baine, and challenger Lazula Skye," she announced. "The first combatant to decrease their enemy's aura level to twenty percent, or the combatant with highest aura level after five minutes, will be declared winner." She turned to Midas, then Lazula. "The match will begin after a ten second countdown."

As the clock began to count down, Lazula unsheathed Impetus, hearing the familiar, comforting sound of steel leaving its sheath. She pointed it at the ready, lowering her head.

As soon as she heard the tone, Lazula tore toward Midas. He stood his ground, halberd at the ready. Lazula smirked. "People should know by now that some attacks are just too strong to parry," she thought. She swung her blade across her body, but slashed through air.

Midas had spun around the side of her attack, and she felt a heavy strike down her back. Before she could turn, Midas spun his weapon and jabbed her spine, flinging her forward as she yelped with surprise and pain.

No one had hit her like that in a while, she recalled. Her first tournament? Or was it the second, over in Vacuo? It didn't matter now.

"No way! Look at her aura!" a voice called from the crowd.

"Ninety-five percent?! After a hit like that?"

She ducked under a slash parallel to the floor, pivoting into Midas and springing up with a vicious bash by Aegis. She slashed twice as he was knocked off balance, but her third swing was met by the shaft of his weapon. Cracking a grin, Midas channeled electricity down the length of his arm and into his weapon.

Lazula ripped Impetus away just as electricity began to course its way into Resplendence. She flung his weapon away and met him with an elbow to the chestplate before spinning and knocking him back with her shield. Midas slid backward, and used the distance between them to transform his weapon into a bow. He drew as Lazula ran forward, but at the last minute lowered his shot and let fly a bolt of lightning into Lazula's boots.

Electricity crackled across the ground as Lazula leapt over the attack, and crashed down on Midas with her blade. As his weapon rose to meet hers she channeled her semblance, taking his resistance into her own swing and amplifying it. Resplendence gave way, and Lazula slashed across his chest.

Midas's recovery was impressive. By the time Lazula swung back at him, he regained focus and parried her strike. A second and a third attack were met as well. Lazula took a split second to drop back and regain her focus before lunging at the golden-haired huntsman once more. "He's faster than me," Lazula realized. No matter how quickly she attacked, Midas's spinning of body and weapon alike caught her blade and tossed it back.

Finally, Impetus swung into Resplendence's axehead. Midas grinned, twisting his weapon until her blade was locked in his. Electricity crackled around him once more as Lazula attempted to rip her weapon free to no avail. She felt heat on her hands, then a seizing of her muscles, as if some searing entity inside of her arm controlled it from within. She let go of Impetus, and the Sparring Team scattered as the blade was flung their way. Midas turned and brought the head of Resplendence down on his unarmed foe.

Lazula blocked the attack with Aegis. Channeling as much of her semblance as she deemed safe, she wrenched her arm outward. Midas's armor crushed with the weight of her blow. He was flung back, providing Lazula an opening to retrieve Impetus.

She eyed the screen above her as she picked up her blade. She had been hit a few more times since, but her aura was still above ninety percent. Midas's hovered just over forty. The huntsman panted at the far side of the room, shoulders hunched. Letting out one last breath, he straightened and transformed Resplendence back into a bow.

Lazula raised Aegis to block a lightning bolt, then a second. She ran forward, keeping an eye out for more as she approached. She and Midas were locked in combat for several more seconds, before Midas ducked under one of her swings, and spun on the floor in an attempt to sweep her feet from under her.

Lazula buried Impetus's tip, vaulting over Midas's attack. She took its force into her blade and channeled it into her legs, blasting Midas with a potent kick to the gut. He rolled into the nearest wall, losing Resplendence. Lazula jumped after him, finishing their fight with a final strike.

The Sparring Team broke into hoots and cheers of excitement. With one foot on the ground, Lazula stepped on Midas's chestplate, bringing Impetus's tip dangerously close to his throat.

Her triumphant glare softened. She sheathed her weapon and extended a hand.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked as Midas took her hand. "That last hit was a bit much for how much aura you had left."

Midas met her worry with an easy smile as he walked over to grab Resplendence. "No need to worry about me, I'm durable!"

Lazula huffed in amusement. "You're not bad. That was fun." She looked to the crowd that began to fill the sparring court, then back to Midas. "How do I join the team?"

Midas shook his head with another smile.

"After a fight like that, you're in."

#rwby #rwby oc #rwby oc fanfiction #rwby fanfiction

4 notes · View notes

maladaptive-ninja-returns · 5 years ago

Text

Without Question (Epilogue)

Steve Rogers x fem!Reader

Content: fluffy conclusion and maybe...mayyyyybe a future fic idea

Warnings: …none? Um...except for that one lady in there.

Word Count: Hot water does not quench my thirst no matter how good it might be for my body...which in itself is such a disaster of a thing.

MASTERLIST & Taglist in bio, my love

The life of a parasite is not that complex of an affair. It is born to live inside a host, gather its nutrients from the said host- more than often at the host's expense- live till it can breed more or find a better host. Its entire life is based on the expense of another creature; its survival in the flesh of someone who can contain it. Therefore, it is no wonder she does not like it when someone calls her a parasite. For she is not one. Her kind lives in codependency, finding a host it is compatible with and helping it flourish in return for nourishment.

Her species was known to have always gone for the living, looking for hosts they could control, be the dominant party of the two sitting in the conference room inside the mind of the body they inhabited, the foreboding controllers that they were. However, inhabiting a dead host- or someone near to it- was never talked about for carcasses were beneath them and their Titan-like ego.

But she isn't like them. She wants to be different. To finally have the freedom she has craved for her entire existence; she wants to live it. And so, she has decided to throw all the laws of the dead empire outside the window and try her theory of inhabiting a body nearly at its deathbed.

The woman- strolled into the emergency room with fatal blows to her body in some accident- is covered in blood and bruises when the doctors try to rush into the process of saving her, measuring her heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate. It is pure chaos for her to watch it all from the ceiling. Humans. Such soft creatures. She can sense that woman's vitals weakening with every passing moment, something the machines tell the medical professionals by a few seconds' delay. No amount of effort is going to repair that internal bleeding and shock accelerating that human's chances of death slithering right by the corner. And just at that second, she knows that flesh is no longer the resident to the soul it has been harbouring since the beginning of its time, she jumps discreetly into the body when the doctors are focusing at the screen that shows the patient is flatlining. One shock to through the defibrillator is enough for her to let the chemicals be catalysed to become one with neurons; her presence gradually gelling with the body to become one with it. And before any other human in the room can debate on it being a medical miracle, a sign of higher power or simply the inadequacy of the machines, she opens her eyes in her new form, seeing the world through an independent pair of windows for the first time.

Free.

"You know, when we both silently agreed on staying together, I wasn't really expecting you to spoil my life like this."

Steve's chuckle reverberates through the kitchen and dining hall. His honey-laced laugh reaches you in the living room to make you smile as you gather the whiteboard, a few markers, the portable speaker, and a couple of other knick-knacks for the small gathering you are about to have.

"If making breakfast every day is spoiling you then I am not even halfway to showing you how much more I can spoil your life, doll," he announces over the sound of something sizzling over the stove.

You bite your lips to stop the overflow of these gushing emotions all inside you. "Oh, let's not forget giving Stace the freedom to do whatever she wants, okay?" You state, getting up and moving towards the hall, "And you making that entire front yard-"

"That's our back yard."

Our back yard.

...Fuck. Why is he like this?

"Making our entire back yard into this freaking perfect garden with all those fancy fairy lights and a freaking gazebo!"

"You liked it," he stresses. You peak in from the entrance of the kitchen, watching him carefully place the omelettes in two plates along with the toasts- yours extra crispy with thinly spread butter on them- before pouring orange juice in two glasses.

"That doesn't matter," you retort, watching him being caught off guard, your heart instantly melting when his eyes light up on seeing you stand there. "I'm not gonna maintain that luxurious green patch when the time comes."

He stands facing you, his hands on his hips and oh heavens! that customised blue apron with chibi Captain America blessing its front gives you all the right feels in your stomach. "No problem," he affirms, picking the plates and moving them to the tiny breakfast table by the French window before coming back for the juice, "I'll take care of it. I'm pretty sure all of these are positive spoil-"

"Oh I'm not done yet," you interject, sauntering towards a slightly confused and faintly excited Steve, "you have me utterly spoiled-" you move your hands around his waist, earning an arched brow from him- "with all-" your hands go beyond his back, moving lower till they land over his butt cheeks- "of that-" and give them a tight squeeze, forcing a delightful hum out of Steve as you push him closer to you- "sex!"

"Hmm," Steve growls, planting his one hand on your waist under your t-shirt, while the other goes up to tease your lower lip with his thumb. "If you don't like being spoiled," he whispers, bringing his lips closer to you but never close enough for you to get a taste of him, "we can always stop."

"Or," you begin to propose through a moan by letting your hands run along the hem of his track pants, creating a wave of disturbance wherever your fingers touch him before stopping at the trail of hair going down, "we could make it a healthy habit so it doesn't seem like I'm being spoiled."

Your fingers run down that soft golden trail, stirring something inside the Captain, his light eyes feeling a dark edge of mischief being added to them. His finger traces a path down from your lips to your neck, going further down your chest. "Everyone'll arrive in an hour," Steve sighs, giving a light shrug.

"Oh," you turn to look at the clock and realise he's not wrong, letting go of the waistband of his track pants, "then we should-"

Your sentence ends up a light shriek from Steve lifting you by your ass, making your reflexes wrap your legs around him. "That means," he grunts, balancing you effortlessly in those buff arms while his lust-filled eyes have yours locked in place, his voice a shade huskier as he starts moving to the bedroom, "I have a lot of time to make you question all that I do for you. And to you. And more."

Oooh yes!

"How do I use this thing?"

Wasn't working with a human vessel not enough? Did they really have to invent these cheap electronic devices?

She looks down at the device that seems to keep buzzing with different messages for some reason as she tries to find her way through the street.

Getting out of the hospital had been easy (and so was getting a fresh set of clothes). Give the docs and nurses another pile of flesh and bones to worry about and they run like scared animals to help their flock. Now, she is out exploring, trying to work with this new suit, find out the perks and non-perks, questioning her idea of travelling solo when having another conscience to talk to and gnaw at would have been easier. Now it's just her with her voice speaking from some uncharted void walking down into a farmer's market, already having discovered how much of gross unwanted attention this sex of the human species is given on the street.

There is a huge variety of delectables lines up that the humans seemingly prefer. Different shapes, colours and sizes. Some smell sweet, some sour, and some smell like they would sting your tongue before leaving a sweetness behind. Strange edibles. She watches another human- a man as far as the scent of the hormones off him goes- politely asking for some fresh oranges while telling the man behind the counter the ones he is trying to pack do not smell fresh. The sweet nectar of curiosity seems to send a reaction to her brain, making her step towards the box of citrus fruits displayed for the customers. Quickly picking half a dozen from down the different boxes, she brings them forward to the man who is nearly losing his patience. "These are fresh."

The man turns to see her. And she gets a good look at him for the first time. Hypnotising blue eyes look at her in a flurry of confusion and gratuitous delight, the beard hiding pink lips and flushed cheeks.

After a short considerable second, he takes the oranges from her. "Thank you," he mentions without blinking, taking a little time to turn back to make the payment. And in that turn is a microscopic moment, he watches, from the corner of his eye, a stranger try to touch her ass for barely a second.

She, of course, feels it too well. The man turns to get hold of that pervert and kick some respect into him only to find her punching the daylights out of him.

And he just stands there, full body in pause, mind in awe of the woman who has knocked that excuse of a man out in one blow, looking at her once again- this time from his heart. She looks back at him too; though with visible shades of uncertainty before looking down at the guy.

"Was I not supposed to do that?" She asks the man who by now has his mouth agape, still looking at her.

He blinks. "Huh?" Looks down at the man and raises his brows and chuckles. "What? No. I mean yes. You are absolutely supposed to do that."

"Oh-" she nods, and he watches her beam and be proud of herself, "okay."

"Um," he tries to catch her attention. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She looks down at the hand she used, feeling nothing more than minute tickles. "Yeah, I think I'm good." She turns her gaze back to him with a smile.

He melts inside.

"Do you know where is this place?" She asks him, taking out a card she found in her- the dead woman's- pocket.

"This," he hums, reading the card, "was a few blocks down the road the last I saw it."

"Oh," she scrunches her nose and feels a tired groan come out of her, "how far?"

"I can drop you there if you want," he blurts out, "I'm going that way myself."

She looks at him again. Watching him run his hands through his long lush hair, wondering if she'd seen him somewhere before shaking that thought off, knowing full well that she would remember a pretty face like this. "Yes, I'd like that."

"Great," he chirps. "Oh, I'm James," he addresses, drawing forward his hand, "my friends call me Bucky."

"Bucky," she tastes the name on her tongue and feels all the black mush inside her do a little dance for some unknown reason.

"And you are?"

She licks her lips and feels them stretch involuntary, drawing her own hand forward to meet his, saying her name to bring herself- her true self- into existence, letting the air carry her name for whatever future it is to bring for her.

42 notes · View notes

camimcndcs · 4 years ago

Text

start spreading the news

TAGGING: KJ @itskjapa, Cami.

LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA.

TIMEFRAME: July 20th, 2020.

NOTES: Camila’s first prenatal appointment & sharing the news with family.

Cami: After waking up and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet like she seemed to do almost every morning these days, Camila had gotten herself ready for their first appointment to see their baby and hear the heartbeat. Changing into one of KJ’s t-shirts and a pair of leggings, she brushed her hair and put on just a little bit of makeup to make herself feel a bit more human. KJ had woken up at around the same time as her to hold her hair back and rub her back as she sat in front of the toilet. Then he had disappeared downstairs to take Truffle out and cook up something light for breakfast. When she met him downstairs, she thanked him for the toast and took a bite as she looked up what to expect from the first doctors appointment on her phone. An hour later they arrived at the doctors office and Camila checked herself in before they were seated. As they waited in the waiting room, Camila grabbed KJ’s hand and looked over at him. “How are you feeling?” she asked, bringing his hand up to her lips to press a gentle kiss to it. This was a crazy experience in and of itself. At this appointment they would finally get to see their little blueberry on the screen and hear the heartbeat, it was all very surreal and she hadn’t even fully processed it yet so she wasn’t really sure where her fiancé’s head was at. “I’m really excited to tell our families,” she added, resting her head on his shoulder as she imagined what it might be like to tell their families they would be adding a new member in a matter of months. While in the middle of a thought about that a nurse came out from behind the doors, calling out her name and leading them both into the hallway, taking them to a private room. The nurse weighed Camila and asked her a few questions, before leaving the room. Camila kept her hand secure in KJ’s, keeping her locked in reality while they waited for the doctor.

KJ: Mornings were usually filled with loving words uttered in a raspy voice, hands roaming over warm flesh and smiles exchanged. It was the kind of simple moments they had been able to partake in every day. Lately though, Camila was usually out of bed in a hurry and the sounds flowing past her lips were far from alluring. Something they were both going to have to get used to during the first semester of her pregnancy. Her more than him. After offering his moral support on their bathroom floor and making sure his fiancée wasn’t puking her guts out anymore, KJ had went downstairs to take Truffle out in the neighborhood -- a ten minute walk that led him back to their home so he could prepare breakfast just like he had promised to. He didn’t dare make anything fancy or heavy, knowing there was a chance she wouldn’t be able to eat more than a toast if the odds were in her favor. The next hour seemed to fly by and as he sat in the waiting room, knee bouncing up and down in anticipation, he was shaken out of his thoughts by Camila. “I’m fine, babe. It’s just an appointment, aye.” One that would solidify the adventure they had embarked on the previous week. A part of him was mostly anxious that things wouldn’t be as happy as they imagined them to be. All he needed was the reassurance that the life currently growing inside of her was healthy. The rest was secondary. Before he could reply in kind, they were both led toward another room. And all he could do was stay put while the nurse did what was required, smiling softly whenever his gaze met Camila’s. “Ready to see our little man?” he teased when they were alone once more, squeezing the hand she had entangled with his own. “I’m telling you right now, it’s gonna be a blueberry stem and there won’t be any doubts left.” A quiet chuckle followed suit, the mood in the space they were in becoming lighter in an instant. They were both excited and nervous, but deserved a timeout before the seriousness of the occasion would take over.

Cami: At his teasing remark, Camila rolled her eyes. “You mean our little girl?” she teased right back, sticking her tongue out at KJ. She smiled when he squeezed her hand though, thankful to have him along for the ride. “They’re not going to be a blueberry stem,” she giggled with another roll of her eyes. Just as she was about to say more the doctor knocked on the door before entering. “Hi Dr. Baxter,” Camila started, “This is my fiancé, KJ,” she added with a smile. Dr. Baxter shook KJ’s hand and congratulated them before instructing Camila to lay back on the table and lift her shirt up. “I thought that today we could get started with your ultrasound and then do the heartbeat, after that I’ll answer any questions you might have and just check in with how these first few weeks of your pregnancy is going,” the doctor said with a smile, pulling out the ultrasound wand and grabbing the gel to squeeze it onto Camila’s stomach as she laid back and pushed up her fiancé’s shirt that she was wearing, bunching it up near her bra. “Just a warning that the gel is usually a bit cold,” the doctor warned before squeezing it into Camila’s stomach. The raven-haired girl squeezed her fiancé’s hand as she let out a little giggle when the cool gel landed on her stomach. Dr. Baxter began to move the wand around her stomach as an image appeared on the screen. It was just a tiny blob, but it was their baby and Camila could hardly stop the tears from falling as she looked from the monitor to KJ’s face to catch his reaction. “Oh my god, babe, that’s our baby...”

KJ: Witnessing her giggle appeased the tension in his body — the atmosphere surrounding them so playful and devoid of any nervousness. KJ almost wished time would stop so they could stay in this safe bubble for a while longer. But the knock on the door stomped on such thoughts, his gaze quickly taking in the person who would reveal so many things regarding their child. “Nice to meet you.” he greeted the woman with a shake of his hand; loosening the grip on his fiancée as she shuffled in the position requested. Yet unable to stop himself from trailing his brown eyes along the newly exposed skin and winking in her direction. All he knew in that moment was that he needed to be positive for the both of them. To focus on their child and believe everything would be fine. Soon enough they would get to see that blueberry she kept mentioning — a sight he was certain would demolish any doubts that might be lingering. “Might get some for play time.” he mouthed for Camila when she reacted to the cold gel placed on her stomach, their fingers once again intertwined in anticipation of what would appear on the screen before them. Movies had always made it seem so easy, but as the brunette looked at what was supposed to show their baby, he was unable to truly decipher which part was representing them. “Babe— I’m sorry, I can’t see it.” he whispered, bashful and ashamed of not being able to match the emotions that were currently crossing her features. He heard the doctor laugh and could feel his face becoming as red as the car he had tried the previous day — though she was quick to inform him it happened more often than people let on. She dragged the monitor closer and pointed to a tiny spot; a sight that left him confused and breathless all at once. “It’s so small.” The words were mumbled louder than he had intended to, but he simply kept his attention on the baby. He was going to be a dad. Nothing about this had ever felt more real. Aside from the tears slowly filling his eyes.

Cami: Watching KJ as he mouthed something about the gel used for the ultrasound and 'play time', Camila could only roll her eyes at his antics. She could see a confused look on his face as soon as she had mentioned spotting their baby on the screen. Keeping her eyes trained on him she squeezed his hand. "It's okay, baby," she whispered, keeping her hand tightly grasped in his, not wanting him to have any doubts or feel bad for not catching it right away. Camila had done plenty of research leading up to this appointment. When the doctor laughed and his face began to turn red, she caressed his hand in her grasp with her thumb. Thankfully Dr. Baxter informed them that most people weren't able to spot the tiny spot right away which she could tell had eased some of his worry. Camila watched him finally spot the tiny spot, his eyes widening in a moment of confusion and breathlessness. "So small," she repeated in a whisper, pulling KJ's arm down so he would bring his face closer to hers. "That's our baby, honey," she cried, watching as the tears that slowly filled his eyes began to fall. Reaching out with her fingers to wipe them away, Camila then pulled his face closer to hers to press a gentle kiss to his lips. The doctor allowed for them to take a moment, before she got right back to it. "I'm going to try to allow you a chance to hear your babies heartbeat, but it might still be too early, sometimes we can catch it at 7 weeks, but other times it takes another week or two," she explained as she moved the ultrasound wand around again and fiddled with the volume on the machine. Camila held KJ's hand as he set up his phone to record their reaction if they were able to hear the heartbeat. The room got quiet as they tried their best to focus on hearing the faintest sound of their little blueberries heart beating.

KJ: It was almost comical how things suddenly shifted — from embarrassment to complete and utter fascination regarding the life they had created together. Such a small spot, something he hadn’t been able to notice until Dr. Baxter had pointed it out and yet had such an immense importance. His gaze had not faltered from the screen, the tears in his eyes inevitably rolling down his cheeks until Camila took the time to wipe them off. That’s when he finally gave her his undivided attention, smiling with every ounce of love he had for the woman who had given him so much. By her side, KJ had been granted so many opportunities he would always be thankful for. “I love you.” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers as they both relished in the moment. Remembering they were supposed to film their reactions and had already missed half of it, he caught her lips in another kiss and set up his phone in a corner — pressing the screen before quickly moving back to his fiancée’s side. He knew there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to hear the heartbeat, but the anticipation was there nonetheless. “C’mon, little guy. Do this for daddy.” he mumbled teasingly, glancing at Camila to witness the look on her face before keeping himself still; going as far as holding his breath in. The less noise there was, the better the chances. That’s where his mind was at. Though as much as life had been kind lately, it decided there had been enough good news for the day. As they all looked at each other, nodding in agreement regarding something that wouldn’t come, at least this soon, a rumbling sound echoed in the room — coming straight from his future bride’s stomach. There was no preventing the bark of laughter that escaped him, the amusement contagious enough to make the doctor join in too. “That kid is definitely like his mum. Gonna make his presence known by alerting everyone he’s hungry, aye.”

Cami: The tears were still fresh in Camila's eyes as KJ professed his love for her, something she loved being reminded of every day. "I love you too, honey," she responded, closing her eyes to savor the moment as he leaned his forehead against hers. Humming as he caught her lips in another kiss, Camila watched as he set up his phone in a corner, popping her head up to wave at the camera before settling back down to wait for the heartbeat. At KJ's teasing words Camila could only roll her eyes, keeping quiet and not giving him too much of a reaction. Turning her face to look at him once he quieted down, she could only smile at the concentration on his face to keep himself still and quiet. He had gone so far as to hold his breath in so he wouldn't accidentally make a noise. When the sound of a heartbeat didn't come through the monitor, Camila sighed quietly, nodding at KJ in agreement, trying to hide her disappointment because she knew it was still early and they could probably listen to it in a week or two. Just as soon as disappointment crossed her face though, a rumbling sound echoed in the room which caused KJ to start laughing immediately with Dr. Baxter following suit. "Hey!" she called out, digging her elbow into his side with a warning look in her eyes before she too dissolved into giggles. "Like mother, like daughter, you mean," she teased back, reaching her hand out to hold KJ's in her own again. "I can't believe that's our baby," she whispered, tears springing to her eyes again as the doctor handed a rag to KJ to wipe the gel off of her stomach since Camila was having a moment. Smiling up at him as he cleaned up her belly, her hands went immediately to it, resting on the flat surface that wouldn't show any signs of a baby for at least another seven weeks or so. It was going to be a waiting game for sure.

KJ: Startled by the elbow that found its way into his side, KJ jumped back but was unable to stop laughing — especially when his eyes stumbled upon the expression crossing her features. She seemed offended by the statement he had made, which only increased his amusement, though there was no denying her reaction was just as playful as the situation itself had been from the beginning. “Not today, Mendes. But soon, we’ll be able to settle this boy vs girl thing we’ve got going, aye.” At this point nothing mattered aside from their baby’s health and giving them everything they needed. But that wasn’t going to stop him from teasing Camila about it relentlessly. Exhaling softly when she spoke again, the brunette smiled brightly at his fiancée, his thumbs stopping the tears that were on the verge of falling. “Oh— yeah, I can do that.” he said to Dr. Baxter when she handed him a rag, slowly and gently using the cloth to wipe off the gel that was still adorning her stomach. It was still so flat and it was rather insane to think a life was growing in there — one that would make its presence known in other ways soon enough. And he couldn’t wait to see it all unfold. “I think we’ve got enough material to send to our family, aye.” he told her, reaching out for his phone and sliding it back into the back pocket of his jeans. The appointment was over, or at least he was under the impression that was the case. Though he stayed still nonetheless and kept his gaze on Camila in order to know what to do next. Hoping deep down they would both get more clarity regarding the situation; even if they had done different kind of research separately already over the matter. “What’s next?” he dared mumble after a while nonetheless, squeezing her hand and giving her enough leverage to pull herself back up.

Cami: Watching as he cleaned off her belly, she couldn't help but notice just how gentle he was being. Always her gentle giant, she found herself starting to imagine how he might be with their child some day. It brought a smile to her face as he finished up and reached for his phone. "I think that will be just enough for now," she whispered with a nod of her head. At the next question out of his mouth, Camila squeezed his hand back and pulled herself back up on the table, pulling her shirt down as her hands cupped her stomach even though there was absolutely no sign from the outside that she was pregnant. Dr. Baxter grabbed a clipboard and began to list off some important things for them to remember like how much weight she could expect to gain and things to remember when it came to working out and eating right during this trimester. She reminded Camila to stay away from alcohol and cigarettes and even explained what kind of exercising she could be doing right now if she wasn't feeling too tired. As all of the information was thrown there way, she moved one hand from her stomach to KJ's hand, holding it tight as they both listened intently. "I don't want to bombard you with too much information, I'll want to see you in a month so you can set up an appointment when you get out to the front desk," Dr. Baxter explained as she shook both of their hands and congratulated them one more time. It was a lot of information all at once and the next time they were here Camila's body would look different than it did right now. Once the doctor left the room, she turned to KJ, stepping down from the table and wrapped her arms around his middle. "That was kind of a lot, huh?" she questioned with a giggle. "I'm really tired, but I'm also eager to get home so we can share the news with our family!" she exclaimed, finding a burst of energy and running with it.

KJ: I don’t want to bombard you with too much information. It was a kind thing to say, but rather pointless after doing exactly as such — though a baby always came with a lot of responsibilities. KJ could see from the corner of his eye that his fiancée was as overwhelmed as he was in that moment. Slowly allowing everything that had been said to settle in. He hadn’t missed the look Dr. Baxter had sent his way when she had mentioned it was primordial to stay away from cigarettes and alcohol. The smell of the one he had smoked before the appointment still lingering on his clothes. If he didn’t do as such around Camila, it couldn’t hurt her or the baby. All he needed was to keep his distance during those moments. It seemed like a rather simple solution. As for the alcohol part, neither of them were big drinkers in the first place — or had at least cut back on their intake for quite some time now. There were no doubts in his mind they would be able to do things the right way for their little one. A loud chuckle flew past his lips as Camila addressed him once they were alone, his arms sneaking around her waist as he held her close. “You don’t say.” he teased, pressing his lips to her forehead and smiling down at her. The excitement regarding the news they were about to share with their families was contagious, though after the whole speech they had gotten, he felt like perhaps they shouldn’t rush into it just yet. “Maybe we could take a nap first. You know that FaceTime call is going to be— well, pretty emotional to say the least, aye.” Straight out of a telenovela. One that would not only involve Brazilians, but Kiwis. Neither were known for being calm and collected. A bright smile found place on his features before he kissed her softly, moving backwards as soon as he pulled her in the direction of the door. “Let’s just go home and lay down for a bit. We deserve it.”

Cami: The raven-haired girl didn't miss the brief look on KJ's face as the doctor mentioned cigarettes and alcohol. It wasn't the latter that was a problem, but more of less the former. She could still just barely smell the scent of a cigarette he had most likely smoked on his walk with Truffle this morning. Camila knew it was a habit of his that he had tried to break a few times, she worried about him of course but didn't push the subject because she didn't want him to feel targeted. She believed in her fiancé wholeheartedly and knew that when the time came to get more serious about it, he would be able to quit. At the loud chuckle that flew past his lips as she addressed him once they were alone, she couldn't help but giggle as his arms snuck around her waist to hold her close to him. When he pressed his lips to her forehead, she felt her lips forming into a grin at the contact. "A nap sounds heavenly," she whispered, swaying a bit in his arms. "I could honestly fall asleep right here if we kept swaying," she giggled. She smiled into the kiss he bestowed upon her and let him finally pull her in the direction of the door. "We do deserve it," she replied, stopping at the front desk to make an appointment in another month. When she would be about 11 weeks along and almost showing just a little bit. Once they were home she would remind KJ to take a picture of her non-existent belly so they could document every single week from now on. There were ultrasound pictures in her purse that they would show their family after their nap. Stepping up into his truck, Camila grabbed his hand once he was inside, starting up the vehicle and driving them home. They were mostly quiet on the drive home, but Camila didn't mind. She enjoyed these quiets moments they usually shared together. Upon arriving home, she made her way to the front door and immediately up the stairs to their bedroom, peeling her leggings off and crawling into their bed with Truffle ready to take a quick nap.

KJ: Once the next appointment was made, they easily found their way back to his truck — the ride home was quiet aside from the music that was faintly playing through the speakers. It was the kind of comfortable silence they were used to. The numerous events that had unfolded that same morning filling his thoughts as he drove them through the streets of Los Angeles. There was much to think about and even more to discuss, but what he had told Camila back at the doctor’s office was still true — they deserved to take their time and let it all sink in. Starting with a nap that she seemed to be in dire need of. KJ wasn’t surprised in the slightest when his fiancée eagerly climbed the stairs when they reached their house; leaving him behind to shake his head with a bright grin etched on his lips. “Hope she’ll teach our baby to be this happy to get some sleep.” he mumbled to himself with a light snort before following suit — looking fondly at the sight he was greeted with as soon as he crossed the threshold of their bedroom. Here she was hiding under the covers, wrapped up like a burrito with a dog on top. In some countries, that could easily be deemed as the perfect meal. “And to think you wanted us to call our families first, aye.” he teased, pulling his t-shirt over his head and kicking off his shoes before joining her on the mattress — exaggeratedly throwing himself on his side of the bed. A laugh tumbled from his mouth and the brunette tilted his head sideways in order to catch her gaze. “I love you, Mendes. And I love our baby. You’ve made me the happiest man on this planet.” he whispered softly, his hand coming up to tuck loose strands that were resting on her cheek; his thumb lingering softly along the flesh before he leaned forward and kissed her. Everything he needed was right here.

Cami: As KJ stepped into their room, she smiled at the look on his face as he gazed at her all snuggled up under the covers. “Yeah, yeah I’m just excited but a nap will do us both good,” she replied, sticking out her tongue to tease him. Watching as he pulled off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and dramatically fell into their bed, she snuggled up to him immediately. As he turned his head to catch her gaze she couldn’t help but feel like her heart was going to burst just at the way he was looking at her and the words coming out of his mouth. “Don’t forget Truffle,” she giggled just as the tiny dog popped her head up to bury herself between their bodies. “You’ve made me the happiest too, babe,” she replied as her eyes filled with tears. As his hand came forward to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ears, she looked at him with so much love as his thumb lingered gently against her flesh before he leaned forward to kiss her. Smiling into the kiss, she hummed quietly as he pulled away, burying his face into her neck as they let sleep take over. The next few months were going to be challenging but she knew they’d get through it all together. Camila was just so happy to know that their baby was perfectly healthy. When they woke up they would call their families and share the best news since their engagement. A yawn escaped Camila’s mouth as she played with the hair at the nape of KJ’s neck, giggling slightly as his scruff tickled her own neck. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, she turned her body away from him so he could properly spoon her. Truffle had already abandoned her spot between them to sleep right up against Camila’s belly. It amazed her how Truffle could tell what was going on and how eager she seemed to want to protect Camila and the baby.

KJ: Chuckling loudly, KJ looked down at the little white rat, as he liked to call her lately, and scratched the patch of skin behind one of her ears. “I ain’t ever gonna forget Truffle. She was the first in your womb after all, aye.” A little callback to her post on Instagram, the one that had made him laugh so hard, Alex hadn’t been able to get him to hop back on the treadmill at the time. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he inhaled deeply the intoxicating smell of her perfume sprayed flesh and sighed in contentment. Although he wasn’t truly tired, there was no doubt sleep would knock him out nonetheless along with Camila — as it always did whenever she asked him to nap with her. “Hmm— I hope for your sake that baby isn’t gonna move as much as you do.” he joked when she turned around, his arms wrapping themselves around her form and squeezing her against him. The only thing he recalled, before falling asleep, was the warmth of her body enveloping him like a safe blanket that protected him from the outside world. And as he woke up an hour later, still holding onto his fiancée like a lifeline he was afraid to let go of, he simply stayed put — basking in the moment, in no rush for it to end any time soon. No matter how exciting the idea of sharing the news with their families was. A slight movement suddenly caught his eye though and lifting his head, the brunette took notice of a fully awake Truffle looking at him as if she was expecting something. “I know that look.” he quietly whispered, not wanting to disturb Camila. “That’s the look your owner has when she wants food. Let’s get some for you both.” It wouldn’t hurt to have something light and nice ready for when the princess would wake up from her beauty sleep.

Cami: Giggling at KJ's response, Camila nodded, "Our first baby," she whispered, reaching up to also scratch behind Truffle's ear. At his joke about the baby moving around as much as she did, Camila rolled her eyes. "I'm preparing for a future rugby player or samba dancer," she giggled, smiling as his arms wrapped around her stomach. It was the last thing Camila said before sleep completely took over. As she woke up an hour and a half later, Truffle and KJ were nowhere to be found, but before she panicked, she could hear them coming up the stairs together. KJ was talking to Truffle as if she was an actual human and it brought a sleepy smile to Camila's face. "There's my babies," she whispered with a grin as Truffle charged the bed again, climbing into Camila's lap right away. "Is that toast?" she asked KJ, making grabby hands at the plate he held in front of him. She had woken up from her nap starving which wasn't usually something that happened as of late, so she wanted to take the opportunity to feed herself now. Patting his side of the bed, Camila waited for him to sit so she could get her hands on the toast and snuggle up into his side. "I'll eat and wash my face and then we can call them, okay?" she suggested, taking a piece of toast in her hand and munching down on it. "Yum!" she hummed, enjoying the bread and butter. Half an hour later she had finished her toast and was quickly washing her face while KJ texted everyone to make sure they'd be ready to get on the call. Soon enough, just as she was rejoining him in bed, five different squares showed up in their group FaceTime. Camila's mom, dad and sister were all in separate locations, but Ari and her husband were obviously together and Timena was at KJ's parents house with her girlfriend. Tessa's mom was also there, the grandma that had given KJ the ring for Camila which made her very happy. "Hi everyone," she exclaimed a smile on her face as she was met with a chorus of 'hello's' from their family members.

KJ: Making his way back upstairs after feeding Truffle, a small plate in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other, KJ was taken aback by the sight of a fully awake Camila. Although the nap she had taken was still lingering on her features — the smile etched on her lips sleepy yet utterly adorable. “We wanted to surprise you— guess that’ll be for another day.” he explained, a chuckle tumbling from his mouth as soon as her attention was solely focused on the food he had brought back from the kitchen. Things weren’t so easy for her lately, but he had expected she might find herself hungry after barely eating anything that same morning. “So eager. Gonna pretend it’s about me and not the toast, aye.” he teased while finding place on his side of the bed, hanging her the plate and sneaking his arm around her form as she leaned herself against him. A peaceful and quiet moment they both relished in before the chaos that would without a doubt fill the space they were in. “We’re good.” he called out to his fiancée a while later as she freshened up in the bathroom, setting up FaceTime and waiting until she joined him before the call could finally take place. Camila greeted everyone for the both of them and he nodded along with a wide smile, allowing her to take the lead — as it often was the case. “Yeah nah, we ain’t here to talk about whether I should shave or not.” It was a playful response to a comment his sister made, though it was enough for the whole group to chime in and give their opinion on the matter; their voices so loud, it was impossible to truly understand half of what was uttered. To make them stop, KJ suddenly whistled as loud as he could and gave them all a pointed look. “We’ve got something to say. It’s a pretty big deal, so let us say it and then you can all mingle through FaceTime about it.“ Now that everyone’s attention was on them, he couldn’t help but feel nervous — though, glancing back at the mother of his child was enough to appease him as soon.

Cami: At KJ's comment about whether he should shave or not, Camila burst out laughing, cupping his chin in one of her hands and brushing her fingers along the hair on it. "I think you should keep it," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek before turning her attention back to their families who were now loudly discussing his stubble. Camila jumped slightly at the loud whistle, elbowing him slightly for scaring her but knowing that it had to be done to get their attention. The raven-haired girl grabbed her fiancé's hand as she prepared herself to tell their families the big news. She was nervous, but also very excited. "Well, we wanted all of you to be the first to know, that we're having a baby!" she exclaimed, looking at the screen, eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. "What was that sweetie? It cut out," Tessa spoke from the other side of the screen, Camila giggled at the timing for the video to cut out, looking from KJ to the screen before saying it again with just as much enthusiasm. "I'm pregnant!" she called out with a smile, squeezing KJ's hand as she watched the realization hit everyone in their families. Tears immediately sprung to their moms eyes, their sisters were all cheering, their dads were pumping their fists in the air and KJ's grandma's mouth was open in shock, but there were also tears welling up in her eyes. "We had our first appointment this morning and we were able to hear the heartbeat so we'll send that video along soon. We've also got some ultrasound pictures," she explained, pulling the photos off of the bedside table and holding them up to the camera. "We didn't plan this at all, but we're really excited," she added, resting her head on KJ's shoulder as she looked to him to say something. "Any thoughts, honey? Anything I missed?" she asked, knowing she'd been quite forgetful in the last couple of days.

KJ: As Camila reached out for his hand, KJ intertwined their fingers and brought her own to rest against his chest -- right where his heart was beating. The excitement and anxiousness surrounding the moment making it thump harder than usual. The long awaited words were finally uttered and looking at the screen in anticipation for the reactions that would come, they were both left having to go through the announcement all over again. Well, his fiancée more than him. It was as if the world simply wanted to fuck around with them a little bit. He couldn't help but roll his eyes, a loud scoff tumbling from his mouth. "Unbelievable." he muttered under his breath, shaking his head once more and thanking the heavens Camila decided to go straight to the point this time around. There were no interruptions, no bad connection... nothing that could have prevented their families from hearing the words loud and clear. Slowly but surely, the news settled in on the people they were carefully watching from their place on the mattress -- until like fireworks popping off in the sky, their joy regarding the matter was shared in the only way they knew how. Loudly. His future bride took charge again, just as he had wanted her to. Knowing she would handle the situation perfectly, as she always did. "Yeah nah, I mean-- isn't that fucking sick, aye. We're having a baby and I'm gonna be a dad." he replied with a bright grin etched on his features, his brown eyes glancing back at his family who seemed unable to stay still. His dad became almost as emotional as his mom, which in turn affected him in kind. He could feel his eyes becoming watery but kept himself in check with his lips pressed together; the arm that had found its way around Camila drawing her closer against his side. "Can't wait for you guys to be with us. We'll celebrate properly together then." Something told him they would all find a way to make it happen sooner rather than later.

#( para )

2 notes · View notes

premk-blog · 4 years ago

Text

“Latest Trending Technologies” --Every One Must Know

Our privacy is only private for us as we keep setting privacy and security setting in the web platform, but public for computer mastermind and intelligent people. “Nothing is private in this universe since the internet started to roam around the world.” We must know the absolute reality, “We are not allowing our mobile phone or new techno gadget to lick the information, but we are only the responsible person to make it happen because we store the information not in the brain, not we think better to put down note, but we think, the demand of the time, we keep it safe in the mobile phone or new techno gadget where the data is stored on cloud storage. And, it has better access from any type of device through application which can dig deeper inside our privacy to hurt us.” That’s true— “My phone is spying on me.” So what we need to know is— “How are we perceiving our today’s world? And how was before?” We need to update ourselves on New Trends on Technology which help us to know how to deal with and use it properly without any harm physically and mentally for the living beings but for the advantage of the world.

Let me first perceive the world from my point of view!

The world what we have been observing since our childhood is the world full of excitement, happiness and enjoyment with the family, with the friends, and with the places of the time. That beautiful days are no more. When we were telling stories with friends while walking way up or down to reach school on time. Whether the stories were about superstitions, hypothetical or movies of the time. We have that thing— happiness, friendliness in that time. But the life is not as that as in this digital world.

Now, it’s totally different. The world that we have been observing since the Internet started and growing of technology and handy useful gadgets is the world full of collections of millions of devices showering the market place everywhere on the people’s head around the world where people can search happiness and excitement being alone sitting on the corner side of room. Even, we have forgotten that we’re also a member of this world, but we are working as a member of the global village.

So we cannot live without being unknown about the technology trends that are growing such as the fastest bullet train or like the high skyscrapers making them higher and higher soon ranking them differently higher. As the Forbes.com says, ” We are amidst the 4th Industrial Revolution, and technology is evolving faster than ever. Companies and individuals that don’t keep up with some of the major tech trends run the risk of being left behind. Understanding the key trends will allow people and businesses to prepare and grasp the opportunities.”

The future is always fascinating with the growth of tremendous innovative exciting developments in the coming year. Learning is a must to know the new technology trends to keep update and utilize appropriately or get benefit in time. Here are some of the Latest Trending Technologies.

1. 5G

5G is the fifth generation of mobile network technology. It brings a huge amount of benefits, such as high internet speed, higher capacity, and lower latency. It gives us supersonic download and upload speeds as well as more convenient stable internet connection. Year 2020 is the gateway to dive into many countries and cities to serve the internet with 5G affordable data plans with greatly improved coverage. This is widely available in most of the upcoming advanced devices like camera as well and applied in new industrial, automotive, medical and educational sectors.

2. Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is based on the principles of quantum theory. It enables industries to tackle problems they never would have attempted to solve before. And the quantum computing market will grow strongly through the next decade, according to a Tractica market report. A quantum computer can be the potential to be millions of times more powerful than today’s most powerful supercomputers.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Artificial intelligence is serving the world greatly by its technological development to perform task such as image recognition, speech or patterns, and decision making more quickly and accurately than a human. ML and AI are widely used which will improve the performance of marketers which relatively increase the percentage in efficiency, quality and business results. The intelligent mind of human can increase the quality in work, performs and complete the task easily just like the ability of machines to learn and act intelligently will absolutely transform our world. For example, social media platforms use machine learning to get a better understanding of how you’re connected with those in your social network. They do this by analyzing your likes, shares and comments and then prioritizing content from your closest connections, serving you that content first.

4. IoT (Internet of Things)

Now-a-days, people choose the internet as a mode of communication. Millions of people are sharing their information and communicating widely creating a global village in one place. IoT is transforming our life day by day. It will connect each object to the internet in some way or the other. Whether it’s the refrigerator door or the furniture, the sensors that would calculate and send the data to the cloud will be mounted. In other words, it would soon turn out our Mother Nature would be Smart Nature. It connects ever-growing number of “smart” devices and objects connected through internet. And such devices are helpful to gather and transmit data which will be the source for Big Data and AI. Big Data is the amount of data that is created in our world due to the connectivity of internet. Augmented analytics helps to work with enormously complex and varied streams of Data stored around the world.

5. Blockchain

This is the method of storing, authenticating and protecting data while doing business through internet. It is a decentralized digital ledger that stores transactions on thousands of computers around the globe. It increases security and speeds up the exchange of information in a manner that is cost-effective and more transparent.

6. Genomics and Gene Editing

Genome is the branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes and Gene Editing is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome. Advances in computing and analytics have driven incredible leaps in our understanding of the human genome. Now, we’re progressing to altering the genetic structure of living organisms (for example, “correcting” DNA mutations that can lead to cancer).

7. 3D and 4D printing and additive manufacturing.

4D printing is the process through which a 3D printed object transforms itself into another structure over the influence of external energy input as temperature, light or other environmental stimuli. Although this may seem low-tech compared to some of the other trends, 3D and 4D printing will have very wide applications.

8. Natural language processing.

It’s also a branch of AI which deals with the interaction between computers and humans using the natural language. The ultimate objective of NLP is to read, decipher, understand, and make sense of the human languages in a manner that is valuable.

9. Cloud and edge computing.

The data centers available to many users over the Internet is cloud computing. We can store data on other computers and accessed via the internet. We can have the access of applications and data from any location worldwide and from any device with an internet connection. Edge computing – where data is processed on smart devices (like phones). It optimizes internet devices and web applications by bringing computing closer to the source of the data.

10. Extended or Crossed Reality (XR)

Extended Reality (XR) refers to all-real and virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions made by computer technology and wearables, where the ‘X’ represents a variable for any current or future spatial computing technologies. It covers several new and emerging technologies being used to create more immersive digital experiences. To the point it is a virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Virtual reality (VR) provides a fully digitally immersive experience where you enter a computer-generated world using headsets that blend out the real world. Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital objects onto the real world via smartphone screens or displays (think Snapchat filters). Mixed reality (MR) is an extension of AR, that means users can interact with digital objects placed in the real world (think playing a holographic piano that you have placed into your room via an AR headset).

1 note · View note

chainofbeing · 4 years ago

Link

Having recovered from his injuries, Adam goes to Dhara Jamina in the hopes that he will learn more about the foe he is pursuing. Unaware of what truly awaits him.

Narration and Inspiration-Besides-Death : David M. Sledge

Eikal: Erik Smith

Captain Anktares: Frances Gillard

Announcement: George Pritchard

Adam Delta 5, and Sound Design: Cai Gwilym Pritchard

Follow the podcast on twitter @/chainofbeing

Email us at [email protected] for enquires and stuff

Subscribe to the patreon for exclusive content and rewards!

[a deep voiced narrator speaks, the sounds of a creaking old wooden building]

It was immediately unsettling. Ghost had woken up and felt a sense of unease in their stomach but couldn't quite piece together what they were experiencing. it was only as they clunked down the hardwood stairs and persuaded the rehydration machine to actually work that they understood what was wrong. the sound of the waves had disappeared. instead of the ordinary rush of waves flinging themselves upon the scattering of unmoving and unwavering rocks there was a suffocating, deafening silence. It created a pressure in their ears which was worse than the static of thousands upon millions upon billions of water droplets falling. They had gotten used to that, they had accepted it as a daily occurrence, as anyone would do cope with monotony. They threw on their coat and swung open the lighthouse door,

[the sound of a town can be heard lightly, wind and birds too]

they could already feel the surface of their body begin to freeze. Ghost was 6-ft tall and fell into the third gender category of Malgaric. They had a great pair of glowing green eyes, their body criss-crossed with glowing lines of a similar colour in majestic patterns. Hovering around their head were decorations which adorned them as was customary for the Malgaric. Around their head silver horns hovered lightly above their temples and crescents followed their ears as they moved, bobbing up and down with each step. Their full name was "Ghost-of-Sunken-Dawn" however they found that their life was made much easier if they introduced themselves simply as Ghost. their full name is on their plaque of course, hung up by their sheriff's certificate and above their medals in service to the army.

Obviously they were not pondering their family name as they were charging down the semi frozen hill, their mind was preoccupied with the momentous task of trying to comprehend the unfathomable physics defying event that was taking place in front of them. Stood close to the edge of the cliff, puffer jacket zipped up to avoid the cold, Ghost stared deeply into the still wave and slowly began to feel a haze creep into their mind,

[the soft drone, permeated with shattering glass that plays forward and backward can be heard]

It toed the line between a physical and mental sensation, the strangely familiar haze seeped across their whole body as they felt themselves caught in the grip of something far greater and more complex than they could ever hope to understand. And as the birds cawed and the wind blew they felt a pulse travel from their stomach and ooze outwards to the rest of their body, a repeating pattern of four beats, and as the haze travelled outwards, ambling its way to their throat the pulses evolved, becoming incrementally more word-like, mutating from its true form into a shape far more cohesive with the reality around it. And as the haze enveloped Ghost completely, the pulses, now in the form of words, escaped their mouth and they spoke them out loud

“Ovig Nadal!”

and with that, Ghost was lost entirely

[the hum of a ship interior, new and clean adam now speaks]

I stand and stare into the mirror inspecting the scar on my abdomen, the diamond shape a lighter tone then the rest of my skin. I take a moment to stare at the other scars, all manner of bumps and shapes covering my body, never quite having healed properly. I follow the trail of past fights and battles, a history of my conflicts etched into my body, my gaze eventually landing on my eyes, run through with matching lines. I stare at myself

“you’re still human”

I say, my warped voice and dark eyes tell a different story. All the Arcanists and scientists of the galaxy cannot explain why I look like this, my immortality is a punishment, for what I did in Eden, for learning what I did in Eden. Whatever that was. Perhaps my aberration is part of that punishment as well. “You are more than Eden,” I tell myself.

That one I refuse to believe without any help.

I head downstairs and In the lift, an announcement pings overhead “Could operative Adam Delta 5 please make his way to the quartermaster,” I go down an extra floor and enter the Inventory, rows and rows of shelves with all manner of equipment and supplies, there’s a row of tills each with a visored quartermaster behind it.

[the sound of an office, some light talking and typing]

Waiting for me is what I imagine to be the captain of the ship, before she can introduce herself I interrupt her

“I thought hospital ships didn’t have quartermasters?” the captain, a Veatorian, looks me up and down

“I am Captain Anktares, nice to meet you.” she says, annoyed but unsurprised “Recently the council felt it necessary to..” she pauses to search for the right word “elevate, certain facilities at risk to certain threats, this ship was in the way of something or other, beyond my paygrade unfortunately,”

“It’s only been a few weeks, yet you’ve already built an inventory,”

“And a fighter craft docking station in the hangar. what can I say?” she smirks “we’re Veatorians, we get things done,”

“Careful, or you’ll start to sound like that Arestophsis Hand lot” I say half joking

she smiles tersely but says nothing and gestures to the quartermaster tills

“the council have issued you a fighter craft and a spear”

“A spear? What is this, the second dark ages?”

“It’s a very nice spear,” she reassures me. I look at her incredulously. “It’s extendable!”

[the sound of a hangar, maintenance on ships, clanging of metal, all reverberating around the space]

The fighter craft is so new it doesn't even have a name yet, the designation code is blank too. The chair screens and most surfaces are still wrapped in plastic and it hasn't been changed from the standard issue council blue and grey. I look back at the minimal storage space behind me, a bed, a few shelves of supplies and leaning against the wall, my new spear. I didn't want to admit it in front of the captain but it is a nice spear. Fully extended it reaches around 2 metres but right now it’s a nice manageable 70cm. I name the ship and the Ehedydd make its first spaceflight. It’s been a while since I’ve sat in a new ship so the lack of noise from the engine is a real surprise.

[the engine spins up and goes silent before activating and entering the widening field]

The Ehedydd was fitted with a WFC drive so the journey should only take about an hour or two. Which gives me some time to have a look at my mission brief. I hate military procedure, all the needless jargon and detail only helps to confuse things. From what I could decipher there was a recently established colony on a small planet, just big enough to be qualified as such, by the name of Dhāra jamīna. There wasn't a huge amount of space for the usual mega city to be constructed, due to most of the land being raised up to 7 miles above sea level, so instead most of the major settlements in the continent in question are towns with populations of around 30,000 each, each with their own sheriff. Also known as an administrative fucking nightmare. What had drawn my investigation here was the fact that the 7 mile tall waves that battered the cliffs holding up the small towns of Dhāra jamīna had stopped. They had not frozen, but had simply, paused. To add to this, there was a sheriff who was reported to be acting very strangely. An old Insistoris who was living there said it was similar to demonic possession but wrong, somehow. Sounds like what I’m looking for. The fact that he was still alive and hadn’t died or even transformed like Aiek Tubalcain meant he could be spoken to, and maybe, if i was lucky, he would speak back.

Dhāra jamīna is so new that it doesn't even have an Orbit to Land Transference Station, OLTraS for short, so instead I just transfer my clearance codes and go to land on a small pad at the edge of town. As I fly over the vast ocean I look into it, it’s stillness is unsettling and it amplifies the already quite strong anxiety I feel chasing after this thing.

[the sound of a town in the distance, wind and birds]

standing at the edge of the landing pad is a Vint and a Malgaric, joint mayors of the town, the name of which I've forgotten. I take me spear and affix it to my hip

“Welcome to Jalis,” the Vint says, offering both of his hands, I take them and we bow together, he has to bow his long spined neck quite a bit in order to match my level “I am Eikal, mayor of this small community”

“Joint mayor” the Malgaric reminds him, irritation apparent in his voice

[his voice is slightly robotic and gruff]

“I am Inspiration-Besides-Death, however for your ease of communication you may refer to me as Inspiration” in the dusk his blue light is just starting to illuminate the black soil grass at his feet.

“I thank you both,” I reply. Both mayors seem visibly uncomfortable speaking in Human, however I am physically incapable of speaking in Malgaric and my Vint is about 450 years outdated and I don’t want to seem like a weirdo. They lead me through the town,

[the town is quiet, some conversations can be heard through the walls of houses, somewhere someone is using a drill]

the two mayors seem intent on outpacing each other, gradually getting faster and faster until I have to start jogging in order to keep up with the two who are considerably taller than me. The people seem, understandably, anxious. They were expecting a quiet life in a new colony away from the overcrowded societies of their people. It’s late in the day so most people are resting or attending to prayers. Religion has no place in the Council of Nimonea, it's not actively discouraged, but provisions aren’t really made to preserve or protect it either, it's one of the more major issues most species within the council have. Unusually for most council towns, the houses here are 2-3 stories high most likely to make up for the lack of sprawling land on which to build. The whole town is only about a mile wide. We reach the detainment building and pause outside. Eikal turns to me “I must warn you, the manifestation is quite…disturbing,”

“I have not witnessed anything quite like this, even in my military days,” Inspiration chimes in. Eikal shoots him a look, “did you not identify my assessment to be adequate?” Inspiration looks back at him, his expression unwavering “I have said my piece,”. As they argue I look off at the edge of the island at a wave, unmoving and unwavering, like a painting.

[the ambience of a quiet office, some machines beep, overall though it is quite silent]

We enter the dimly lit building and find ourselves in an oval shaped room, the Vint draws a small tablet from within his robes and presses a few keys. The room elaborately rotates and shifts until we are face to face with the sheriff separated only by glass. They sat on a curved bench, their legs crossed. I can only tell this because the green light that covers their body pulses in beats of four, providing more illumination by which to get a sense of the room. “Why aren’t they moving?” I ask. They go to answer at the same time

“Well-”

They stare each other and Eikal takes advantage of the pause to speak before Inspiration can

“We placed them in a stasis field, for their own wellness you understand”

“Why is it so dark in there?” Eikal and Inspiration turn to each other, a mild panic on their faces

“Apologies, we misplaced our realisation-” Eikal pauses and translates in his head before trying again “We forgot the humans light requirements, allow me to attend to your needs,” with a few more key presses the whole building lights up. With my newfound visibility I see what Eikal meant by ‘for their own health’ Ghost’s fingers are scratched and worn and the entire back wall of the cell has been etched into with that symbol that has brought me so much dread. Surrounding it are adornments which trace around its edges, criss cross around each other, play off of one anothers curves and angles, all centred, but never interacting with, that symbol in the middle.

#sci-fi #podcast transcript #scifi #transcript #audiodrama #audio drama

1 note · View note