#will humans become obsolete?

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/the-time-travelers/

The Time Travelers

My branch bank was closing.  The nearest location was three miles away. I don’t own a car so the distance was significant.   Needing to learn how to make future deposits, I stopped by the office to learn about options.     The acting manager greeted me with a smile and waved me into her office as I entered.  Except for the clerk at the reception desk, we were alone.  Sliding into the plastic chair she indicated, I noted her desktop was clear, except for a phone, and a computer, beside which sat a notepad and a glass jar crammed with multicolored pens. She splayed her fingers across the walnut surface as she sat opposite me, her eyes wide with anticipation. No doubt, I was a welcome distraction in an otherwise hum-drum day.  I noted she was young, barely a year or two beyond her teens with a smile that left no wrinkles at the corners of her upturned mouth.   A distance of 70 years stretched between us, I guessed.   When I told her why I’d come, she looked relieved.  “Check deposits? That’s easy.”  She chirped out a couple of choices.  With a debit card, I could make deposits at any ATM. Or, if I preferred, the app on my smartphone would perform the same magic.   She might as well have been speaking in Swahili.  “I have neither a debit card nor a smartphone,” I explained.  “What I want is a mailing address for my deposits” The woman behind the desk took in a sharp breath as if I’d shoved a knife between her ribs.  “Mail deposits?  We don’t accept those.”     I frowned.  She was speaking Swahili again. “Are you sure?  Things can’t have changed that much.  Could  you check with the head office?” A pair of youthful shoulders shrugged– a sign designed to discourage me.  Nonetheless, the young woman picked up the phone and dialed a number.  I held my breath while it rang.  A brief exchange followed between the caller and a voice somewhere in the ether. At last, the woman seated opposite me hung up, turning a pair of owlish eyes in my direction.   “ I had no idea we did mail deposits  No one’s ever asked.”  She tore a page from her notepad and wrote down a P. O Box number which she handed to me.   Leaving the office with a light step, I was glad I had persevered. Even so, I sensed a pair of blue eyes at my back as I exited.  No doubt the twenty-something person I’d left behind thought I was a relic that needed to be stored in a box in the bowels of the Smithsonian. She might be right.  Time is a tricky thing. In the everyday world, it moves at the speed of light in a single direction.  But time in the human brain is flexible. My thoughts can take me backward and forward in history. The same is true for my young banker. The difference between us is that she lives in the violet spectrum of now, while I and my memories have decayed into the red zone.  We are creatures of the same universe, yet she and I exist in dissimilar energy fields.  The laws of physics decree that when different fields can be described by the same mathematical structure, rapid advancement of knowledge takes place in which the two fields cross-fertilize.   So it was with the young woman and me that afternoon.  I saw her as limited in knowledge. She, no doubt, saw me as obsolete. Even so, by the time we parted from one another, we were both wiser.  Youth and age are frequently out of tune with each other, the way classical physics and the quantum world appear to conflict.  Call it an atonal harmony, the kind the gravitational force field makes when it suffers a disruption and sets the universe to humming.  I think of that humming as the music of a higher order. If humans were to penetrate the deepest secrets of that harmony, where would they take us? We saw the effects of harnessing nuclear power. It ended World War II and gave us clean energy.  But it also helped to deplete the ozone layer, raise global temperatures, and hasten the effects of global warming. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, yet curiosity comes with a price. We embrace Neurotech devices that measure metabolic functions to retain good health, but surveillance capitalism, like nuclear energy, has a downside. At any time, our private information can be made public. China, for example, requires some workers to wear EEG sensors to monitor their productivity and emotional states. Can we be sure the demand for brain transparency won’t one day deny us the right to private thoughts?    Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have led some theorists to speculate that one-day homeo sapiens might become obsolete.  Bionics are already widely accepted. Pacemakers are common as are artificial joints, cochlear implants, and intraocular lenses.  This evolution has come softly on cat paws and with each progression we blur the line between robots and humans.  My young banker knew nothing about mail deposits, having no historical memory. In the future, will it be the same with our acceptance of robot technology? And should AI become sentient how will we view our creation? With fear? Or,  in our quest for eternal life, will we download our memories into an avatar? Should we choose to merge with robots, will we still be human? What will become of our unconscious minds? Will we dream?

[fistfuloflightning]

I just really love Dusty and Mayday’s relationship, the way they care for and look out for each other

[fossilizedhysterics]

little thing i made :3

[r-ate-9]

I've never written major character death before, but dang it, I've just had the BEST idea. Sorry, Connor. 🫡 You will be missed!

[cosmogyros]

I got let go yesterday. And I'd been in the middle of a long multi-day conversation over VMs with my mum about all sorts of highly theoretical stuff we're interested in, like analyzing different types of creativity, and building conscious social spaces and so on. So I had sent her a couple messages in the morning, and then I sent one more after work, which started with "Sorry for the delay, I got briefly distracted from this conversation by losing my job, but I'm back now!" And proceeded to keep rambling enthusiastically about accepting creative inspiration without discriminatory pre-judgement when it comes to you, and all the rest of the stuff we'd been chatting about. Not gonna lie, I enjoyed being able to say that.

[bewires]

the disconnect between the way people who work on and with AI talk about it and the reporting/social media discourse on it makes it incredibly hard to have a meaningful conversation about it

[devildomwriter]

Why Lucifer is A Good Brother

*Somewhat chronologically in order everything is canon and if you want the reference I’ll give it to you*

*Heavy spoilers*

All angels consider each other siblings but out of the millions, possibly billions of angels. Lucifer chose to take five brothers and a sister (originally) under his wing.

He gave Mammon a challenge to become his apprentice and when he succeeded he welcomed Mammon with open arms and never rejected him afterwards even with all the trouble he caused.

He gave Asmodeus the nickname “Jewel of the Heavens” something he still loves to this day even as a demon.

He made Levi feel seen and useful even after the peace treaty between realms made his position obsolete.

He bonded with Beelzebub who was originally his guard and took him and his twin under his wings. He also introduced Lilith to the twins who became inseparable.

When Lilith fell in love he visited the Human World to see if this man was good and kind.

When Lilith broke a Celestial Law this man WENT TO WAR WITH AN ENTIRE REALM and GOD to save her. He asked his brothers to side with him and carried guilt for doing so after the war.

After the war, he pledged eternal loyalty to the man in control of the realm he was at war with for most of his existence all to save his sister despite the humiliation. He saved her even though she wouldn’t remember him and he could never see her again and he carried the burden for thousands of years until MC’s ancestry was revealed.

The Devildom and Celestial Realm hold very strict laws so he took whatever means necessary punishment-wise to correct their behavior. In the Celestial Realm, it was so his brothers weren’t outcast and in the Devildom it was so they weren’t imprisoned or killed.

His brothers believe he’s more loyal to Diavolo than to them but he does this FOR them.

When the brothers struggled with becoming demons he was there to comfort them.

When he accidentally created Satan he took full responsibility for the absolute murderous maniac and did his best to raise the personification of hatred.

He cared about Satan so much that when the brothers were offered the chance to return to the Celestial Realm, the realm he once ruled, he told them to return and he alone would stay with Satan so he wouldn’t be alone. Even though this decision meant he wouldn’t be able to see his brothers and they’d be seen as enemies, he wanted what he believed was best for them and what they wanted.

Lucifer did everything he could to master new demon magic, insert himself into Devildom politics, and befriend his enemies all for his brothers’ sakes to give them the same position of respect they had in the Celestial Realm.

In Nightbringer when he was incarcerated in Cocytus the fact his brothers were being held too enraged him to the point he broke free and even fought Diavolo believing he had something to do with it. And when Raphael cried having to sentence him, Lucifer wasn’t angry he felt sorry for Raphael—a former brother.

Lucifer continuously fights those many times stronger than him all for his family’s sake.

Even though it pained him to see his former angelic brothers for the exchange program he remained cordial even though it was at first awkward and a reminder of all the pain of the past. He did this for his former brothers.

When Belphegor threatened treason and war, he lied to the ruler of the Devildom and hid Belphegor away to PROTECT him.

He lashed out at Mc and nearly killed them because he saw them as a threat to his brothers. First when Luke held the Grimoire that could control them and MC got in the way; then threatened them because they were making pacts with all his brothers; then why they betrayed him and found Belphegor because this could reach Diavolo and Belphegor would be punished for treason. In Nightbringer he originally remained suspicious and cold because MC could control his brothers without a pact and then had the grimoire which could control them. Lucifer only attacked MC when he was being protective of his brothers.

When Lucifer had amnesia he immediately bonded with his brothers again and revealed many things he’d done secretly to help them like pulling strings to get Mammon the car he worked so hard for.

He was even willing to sacrifice himself to let MC live who became family (or romantic interest—up to you) and his final ask was that they take care of his brothers.

Lucifer’s methods seem strict, unforgiving, and cruel but remember this is HELL, the DEVILDOM. Law only recently was created and Diavolo may be forgiving but who’s to say his father or descendants would be just as lenient? If his brothers don’t behave it could mean the worst and he refuses to lose another family member.

[savagegood]

Reader, it has happened already. Less than a month after it debuted, the Black Mirror episode Joan Is Awful has already become the unlikely figurehead of the strike. It's the story of a woman who, at the end of each day, realises with horror that her actions have been folded into a Dropout-style biographical drama, where all her bad traits and regrettable decisions are played out onscreen by Salma Hayek. Except, as the episode goes along, we learn that it isn’t Hayek at all; it’s an AI-generated likeness of Hayek, commissioned by unethical executives working for a monolithic streaming platform. It couldn’t be more timely. A sticking point of the Sag-Aftra strike is the potential that AI could soon render all screen actors obsolete. Chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland laid bare the AMPTP’s so-called “groundbreaking AI proposal,” which holds the potential to wipe out an entire pathway to breaking into the industry, as well as a reliable source of income for many. The reported proposal hinged on the ability for background actors to be “scanned, get paid for one day’s pay” and for that company to “own that scan of their image, their likeness, and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.” It’s a similar line to the one currently taken by the striking WGA writers. Eventually, they claim, technology will advance enough to make an AI-generated script that is indistinguishable from one created by a human. These scripts would be cheap and instant, and – even though they’re essentially composite jobs, made by scraping existing scripts – they would immediately put an entire profession out of work.

fellas, we're really in it (a black mirror episode) now

[tyscomet]

ai art shouldn't even be considered art like.. small artists are already treated terrible. this just feels like the beginning of everything getting worse

[serpentface]

The god Od depicted in a symbolic representation of the word's creation as a docile bull awaiting sacrifice at the altar.

It carries the foundations of the world in its horns (via a very old cross and wheel motif representing cyclical totality, now mostly used as a visual shorthand for the world). It has three sets of horns in the form of the lunar crown, a mostly obsolete symbol of Wardi royalty. The altar is decked with an orange lily motif, after a hardy native water lily capable of regrowth in waters that dry seasonally. This symbol of rebirth and fertility in a sacrificial scene evokes the sacrifice-rebirth cycle initiated by Od's primordial slaying, which is fundamental to the world's functioning.

This is a rundown on interpretations of the god Od, a deity that has a long history in the lands surrounding the Mouth of the eastern inner seaway, and the impact (or lack thereof) of its primordial sacrificial nature in religious practice.

The god Od appears in religious practices throughout the region, having the utmost significance to the Imperial Wardi faith and lesser or separate significance elsewhere. The five religious practices wherein variants of Od has longstanding historical significance are the Burri Faith, the (Imperial) Wardi faith, the Old or 'Heathen' Wardi faith, the faiths of the Hill Tribes, and the Wogan faith.

—

The name Od and most significant elements of this god have origins in the Burri faith, which was transferred across the sea to the Wardi, Wogan, and Hill Tribes in the time of its second and third empire.

The Burri Od is described as having been the first being. The universe began as a cosmic sea and empty, eternal sky, loosely representative of a primordial and fundamental female and male dualism. Od appeared at their borders as a result of their interfacing, in the form of a giant aurochs or bison whose hooves touched the seafloor and horns touched the sky. He dipped his head down to the silt and lifted it out of the sea in his horns, thus forming the foundations of the world. His semen spilled into the cosmic sea and created the first seven gods, who then killed and divided their father, giving the world its form with his body.

While significant to the creation story, Od is of relatively little importance in everyday practice of the Burri faith and is not commonly worshiped (rather his seven children are, as they were the original and most powerful group of gods and created life).

Though the Burri Od takes on a sacrificial role in creation, animal sacrifice is not central to the Burri faith and is only performed in specific contexts (some festivals and holidays, in times of great strife, and to a few specific gods within a wide pantheon). The Burri faith does not involve a sacrifice-rebirth cycle as foundational to the world's functioning and god's health, and offerings are instead mostly gifts to please and rightly venerate the gods (or avert the malice of less savory deities). Offerings of food, drink, and precious materials are preferred by most gods. When animal sacrifice does occur, bulls ARE generally favored, as a reflection of their primordial counterpart.

—

The modern/Imperial Wardi Od is partly an import of the Burri tradition, which fused with both native monotheistic/animist worldviews and animal cults during the reign of the 2nd Burri Empire and developed into a new faith, which has presently become the state religion of the Wardi Empire.

‘Od’ in the Imperial Wardi context is best translated as capital G ‘God’ (anyone saying 'God' is, in-universe, saying the word 'Od'). Its creation of the world plays out in a very similar fashion, but the first human life (rather than other gods) is created by Its semen mingling with the cosmic sea. It willingly sacrificed Its body at the hands of the first people, who formed the world with its remains. Its shed blood spattered the earth and can be found today as meteoric iron, and animal life emerged from the mingling of the blood and the soil. Its death initiated the eternal cycle of sacrifice/death and rebirth, with each begetting the other and necessary for the world to function.

Od's body is dead and the world is Its corpse, but Its spirit survives in seven 'faces' which govern specific functions of reality and society. The connection of Its spirit to Its body is maintained by right practice, right prayer, and right sacrifice (in the form of food/drink offerings, bloodletting, common sacrifices of animals and occasional sacrifices of people).

The Imperial Wardi Od is generally regarded as genderless and dual-sexed, and referred to with a unique deified pronoun most effectively translated as capital I 'It'. Its sex is of relatively little significance to everyday religious practice, and discussions of Its dualism are more likely to occur in scholarly and philosophical contexts (like debates on the minutia of how Its semen, milk, and menstrual blood are all mentioned in old accounts of creation, and how the implications of this should translate to body politics and taboo).

—

The Old Wardi or ‘Heathen’ Wardi faith is a separate branch of old ethnic Wardi religion with significantly less Burri influence. This is a minority practice that only survives intact in isolation. Its practitioners are often hostile to all foreign influence and the Imperial Wardi faith, and suffer minority status and religious suppression.

Its version of Od is a more intact surviving remnant of ancient Wardi monotheism, as an androgynous creator god who lost physical form in the act of creation, and lives on as innumerable spirit aspects of its whole. This deity is referred to as Od in describing its primordial form, but is mostly referred to as a unique word for spirit, which is 'the Koya'. Practitioners of the old faith often identify the seven-faced Od as a twisted, foreign misinterpretation of the Koya. 

This practice is somewhat animistic in nature and involves veneration of individual spirits that form a larger whole. Every aspect of the world has a spirit (plants, animals, minerals, bodies of water, etc) that exist in an ideal balance and as strands of an interconnected death-rebirth cycle. Each spirit is referred to as 'the [noun]-koya'. All discrete forms of life/matter have at least one attached Koya, while living beings also have a soul (which is separate from the Koya and reincarnated upon death).

Each Koya exists as a quintessential essence (ex: the lion-koya, the maize-koya, the iron-koya, the salt-koya) rather than separate individual objects having separate individual Koya, though unique landmarks do have their own (the Brilla River-koya is separate from the Yellowtail River-koya, though both share the freshwater-koya). Each individual may have multiple spirits (geese have the goose-koya, but also the bird-koya, the freshwater-koya, etc), a system that categorizes the world by intrinsic natures and precisely dictates how each physical body has unique metaphysical significance.

Animal sacrifice plays a somewhat similar role in Old Wardi religion to Imperial Wardi religion in the sense that it intends to maintain the stability and oneness of the divine spirit and a death-rebirth cycle. In this case, in freeing part of the spirit, balance can be brought to the Koya totality and restore the death-rebirth cycle. (Ex- in times of drought, the sacrificial release of the migratory goose-koya can encourage the return of the rains). This is far from the only way to re-balance the Koya. The most significant rites come in the form of songs that summon, release, or expel individual Koya as needed.

—

The Od of the Hill Tribes is a mingling of the Burri/Wardi Od and a much older goddess of fertility and agriculture, and is strongly associated with cattle and barley. This version of Od did not create the world and is only one of many gods, though she is said to have been born from the sea and carried up fertile soils with her (which is likely a direct result of Burri/Wardi influence). A few tribes venerate Od as a chief or patron god, though none are fully monotheistic (outside of converts on individual or clan levels).

She has a distant common ancestor with the Finn goddess Morgren (as the various Hill Tribes are descendants of a single proto-Finn population who migrated across the Viper seaway in prehistory), who is also a goddess of agriculture associated with fertility and barley (though in Morgren’s case, she is THE god of the staple crop barley and lacks the cattle association, and has no direct influence from the Burri/Wardi Od whatsoever)

Most of the tribes of Greathill do not practice animal sacrifice but offer grain and fruit to Od, and create a sanctified mix of crushed barley and oil that is anointed on livestock and people to confer Od's blessings of fertility. In some cases, the dominant cow in each herd is considered to belong to Od and will not be milked or slaughtered, and is buried with full rites upon its death.

—

The Od of the Wogan religion is distant to the rest of her counterparts, though has absorbed some Burri and modern Wardi elements over time and is referred to by the same name (a definite foreign import). She shares the fertility aspect ubiquitous to other Od variants, and is occasionally depicted as a cow.

She is a goddess of the earth and sea, who was wed to Iapedi, the god of the sky. The ocean is functionally her womb (which may be trace Burri/Imperial Wardi influence, or merely coincidental) and all life emerged from within. 

These are the only two true gods to the Wogan, though there is an additional element wherein the mating of Od and Iapedi also created innumerable spirits found throughout nature that act as an animating life-force. The concept is very similar to the Old Wardi '-Koya' (as the two faiths had close common ancestry), though this one lacks the sort of taxonomical system of its counterpart, and only ascribes spirits to living things. Each spirit in the Wogan religion is distinct (rather than each type of animal, plant, etc potentially having multiple spirits), and the spirits existing in each body are part of a greater whole that exists as a sentient consciousness that can be communed with (ex: each lion has A lion spirit, all part of The lion spirit, the latter of which can be engaged with).

Wogan religion strongly retains ancient animal cult practices common across the ancient Wardi-Wogan sphere, some of which have been translated into the faces of God in the Imperial Wardi context (both religions share commonalities of lions, snakes, albatross, migratory ducks, and cattle being significant sacred animals). The function of animal worship to the Wogan is communication and interface with the greater spirit of each animal (which can range anywhere from gaining personal blessing and protection, to dispelling plague, to 'lay off on eating our crops').

The Wogan faith does not involve animal sacrifice (though ancient variants almost certainly did). This is connected to traditional vegetarianism among the Wogan (as a means to avoid offending animal spirits), which some view as a point of pride and a mark of distinction against their Imperial Wardi majority.

[kachowden]

Android Boss x human! Worker

Prompt: Technology has taken over. Humans are now nearly obsolete. Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, the world has become a much safer, healthier place. Most of the worlds main issues have been solved with robots now in control.

Androids are the highest tier of robots, they manage the big jobs. Corporate managers, bosses, governors and lawyers etc. humans are not required to work but are given jobs if they so desire.

Overall most people are happy. Except you of course, because no one said a clingy android was part of your job description.

——————-

“Worker B75C3 please report to the main office. I respeat, Worker B75C3 please report to the main office thank you.”

.

.

.

.

.

Ughhhhhhh

“What is it now Supervisor Bot?”

“B75! I told you to call me by my issued name!”

With a resigned sigh you cleared your throat.

“Right. What is it now Jessie?”

The Android, your boss, Jessie, beamed with his artificial teeth. It was almost obnoxious how happy he seemed just hearing you say his name.

To be fair you didn’t dislike the droid necessarily. Even though you did. He just made your job 10x harder than it should’ve been.

Calling you up nearly everyday for “a performance evaluation”, despite you being one of the best workers the company had to offer. That was human at least.

Purposefully bumping into you in the conference room, spilling coffee on your clothes so you had to get a new pair, never to see the old ones again.

Not to mention he was just so…realistic. And clingy. It unnerved you.

To be honest you were pretty sure it was his eyes that unnerved you the most though. Green, almost hazel eyes, that blinked regularly, naturally, darted around nervously under your gaze, and even dilated in the sun. They were too real.

It was gross.

Now, you wouldnt say you were a Android hater. (Except you were). You just found that making the bots look almost identical to humans was insane. The only way you can even tell that they weren’t human was their finger tips and tongues. Both of which had thin circular glowing plates, that served to simulate taste and sensations.

The tongue one was a newer upgrade. You weren’t sure why your boss had it.

An almost-human cough disrupted your staring, (glaring), and your eyes snapped to focus on Jessie, who’s own fake eyes lidded slightly at you, a wobbly, embarrassed grin strapped on his face. You couldnt help but notice he didn’t have his usual tie on.

He looked weirdly disheveled. His skin was just a bit too shiny, almost like sweat.

“The fucks wrong with you?”

“Language B75…”

You rolled your eyes and plopped down into, your seat, opposite of the androids desk.

“Cut the crap dude whyd you call me up here?”

Normally you wouldn’t be able to talk to a superior like this, but your “relationship” with Jessie was a special case.

He let you get away with pretty much anything at this point. Not that you used that power for more than a couple naps.

The bot looked like he was overheating with the way he was fidgeting about though. Avoiding eye contact half the time and staring right at you the rest.

“I was hoping you could humor me…on something..”

Not again.

“As you can see I recently got the new upgrade,” he wiggled his fingers for emphasis, showing off the currently dull finger sensors he now had. “And I was hoping you would let me…Test them out. On you..”

Realistically you should’ve been more put off by his request. But you’d unfortunately gotten used to the bots curiosities. He was a bit of a human fanatic. Always wanting to try these expiraments with you. Only you.

And realistically you should’ve declined too. Had he not also offered you a bonus.

“Fine whatever, get up. I wanna get this over with asap.”

“Really? I mean, of course! Right away!”

Jessie was terrible at hiding how eager he sounded. Not that he probably tried to hide it really.

With a peppy smile he shot out from his chair, and speedily skipped over to you. He stood infornt of you, hoisting you up from your seat, much to your own chagrin, and hovered anxiously for a moment or two.

His eyes darted all over your face. Maybe checking for any possible doubt or hesitance. Not that you cared though.

Getting very fed up with his stalling you thrusted your hands out and grabbed onto his own, forcing his hands to clasp firmly on.

“Hurry the fuck up.”

He didn’t bother scolding you this time.

You could see why. In your own mild disgust you watched as his receptors flowered a pretty blue, as his fingers tips rubbed over your knuckles and palm, crawling slowly up your wrist. He traced the lines of your palms, mapping them out like a fortune teller would in a shady carnival booth.

His hands circled and slid up your arms slowly, as if mapping out each new texture or scar. He paused at the underside of your wrist, pressing down slightly on the joint and eliciting a brief exhale as he felt your pulse drum lightly beneath his sensors.

Jessie shuddered for a moment at the sensation before moving on.

He took his time. Too much time in your opinion as you felt your back begin to hurt from standing for so long.

“Are you done yet? My backs killing me.”

His green eyes snapped to you so fast you almost got vertigo.

“Why does your back hurt?” His voice was breathy and low, and his eyes lacked their usual warmth for a second. Though you chose to believe you were imaging that.

“Gee it’s not like I sit at a desk all day with no proper back support.” Irritation dripped from your tongue like poison into Jessie’s ears, his fingers locking slightly before he relaxed with a sweet, nervous smile.

“…I’m a trained masseuse you know…if you want I could..try and relieve some of the pain? Free of charge obviously..haha.” His awkward, antsy tone left the joke to fall flat though you didn’t mind much, too excited about the prospect of getting some pain relief, even if it was from a creep like Jessie.

“Say less.” You meant that literally. Yanking your arms from his stunned metal ones you plopped down back into your chair, sat reverse and leaned your front into the cushiony back.

You missed the blue that soaked his eyes for a moment, a warning that went ignored by your mechanical boss.

With a excited exhale, Jessie rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward. His hands hovered hesitantly above your shoulders for a very brief moment, before finally descending with a firm pressure deliciously against your spine.

You groaned pleasantly, eyes screwing up slightly at the relief on your poor back, ignorant to the borderline short circuiting bot who twitched and panted at the indirect-direct contact.

His skilled fingers worked slowly at first. Sticking to a specific part of your back before venturing else where. He relished in your groans, and the fact that it was him making you feel good. Him. Not your stupid coworker. Or the assistant bot. Or that delivery boy who he sees you sometimes talking to and wishes he could just-

“Ah! Dude not so hard?!” Your barking paused his frenzied “massage”, if it could even be called that.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry B75, I just…”

The wobbly grin that appeared on his soft features was definitely cause for concern.

“I can’t really hit the right pressure points, through your clothes…is it okay if you..lower your shirt..slightly?”

“What? Yeah fine whatever just don’t pull that shit again.”

Holyshit you actually agreed

Jessies “breathing” quickly became erratic at the sight of your bare shoulders and back, face burning in a blue hue, and his pupils dilating violently before he twitched and fell to the floor.

You jumped at the loud crashing sound, bolting up with a readjustment of your shirt before staring down at the spasming bot in disbelief

You nudged his leg with your foot before sighing exasperatedly and walking over to the intercom.

“Maintenance in the Main office , building code 772E. Code 772E, Maintenance in the Main office. Thank you.”

The speaker buzzed, confirming they were sending someone up, and you took an extra moment to gaze at the android slapped over the floor.

You scoffed.

“Damn bag of bolts.”

——————————

[littlemssam]

New Mods & Mod Updates

As always delete old Mods Files and the localthumbcache, when updating my Mods!

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New small Mod & new Bug Fix

Small Lactose Intolerant Overhaul This small Mod edits the Plant Milk so it is useable for more Recipes, and it changes how Sims with the Lactose Intolerant Trait react to Food a bit.

Vampire Run Fix This Mod fixes Vampires not using the Vampiric Run, and played Vampires changing their preferred Walkstyle, when switching Households.

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Mod Updates

Foster Family Various Tweaks:

Increased the Duration potential Adoptives are visiting from 4 to 8 hrs.

Added Greeting Status to potential Adoptives, so you won't have to invite them in. They will more likely come in and interact with Foster Kids/Pets now.

Added a Send Home Interaction to potential Adoptives, since they now stay longer. This way you can send them Home with one Click.

Adopted Foster Kids will get the Son/Daughter Relationship added now and should show up in the Family Tree.

Mod Setting Option via Phone is only available, when a Sim has registered for the Foster Family Network.

Added new Cheat Menu (Shift Click) to Sims (Sims who registered for the Foster Family Network), where you can trigger the Foster Family Network Notifications to get Foster Kids/Pets.

Added new Cheat Menu (Shift Click) to all Kids/Pets ingame, where you can add already existing Kids/Pets in the World to become your Foster Kid/Pet.

Fixed an Issue with Foster Family Network Notifications for Cats, when you did not enable all Ages for them.

Vampire Powers | “Be able to eat Human Food”, “Enable own Mirror Reflection”, “Stop Hissing” and more Addon NPC Disable Special Walkstyle removes hidden Walkstyle Traits only from never played NPCs.

No Auto Food Grab after Cooking Fixed a small Issue with the Icon on the custom Get Leftover Interaction not showing up, when Choose Leftover is not installed.

Sul Sul Weather App Added Support for Ciudad Enamorada. Reworked Icons a bit. Script File is obsolete now. Pls remove.

Send Sims to Bed Added Support for Sleeping Bags

Social Activities (Visit Friends, Family and more) Fixed an Issue, where the Interactions got cancelled, when your Sim was on a Business Lot they own.

Random Small Mod Updates

Auto Brush Teeth Reworked Mod to make it compatible with EA's Bathroom/Kitchen Settings for Sinks. The Addon File "DisabledBrushTeethSinksWillAllowWashDishesOnly.ts4script" is obsolete because of that now, pls remove that File. I did keep my own "Allow/Disallow Brush Teeth" Options though, which you can still set via Cheat Debug Menu (Shift Click) in case the EA Settings don't work well for you. When you don't use EA's Settings or my Mod Settings, Sims will be allowed to use all Sinks however they like. The Addon "AfterEatingToo.ts4script" is changed to be compatible with the XML Injector now, and is changed into a Package File. Remove the Script File pls.

Auto Use Picnic Table when Eating Added Support for two new Picnic Tables from Lovestruck and Growing Together. Added an extra Addon File for "Umbrella Tables" from Base Game and various Packs.

Claim All The Things Added "Frying Pan", "Collectible Other/Treasure Map", "Canvas", and "SackLunch" to be supported

Prefer Leftover Added Addon for Bread to be blocked from autonomously Eating/Grabbing a Plate.

Release all Ghosts & Get Urn for Added the Interactions to Mailboxes (Shift Click), so you don't need to get Urns via Debug etc first.

Craft More Nectar Bottles and more When Crafting 5 Bottles, the Dynamic Skill loot for Nectar Making is multiplied by 1,5.

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Translations

Advanced Birth Certificate - Update of Dutch by Willowtree My Pets - Update of Dutch by Willowtree Online Learning System - Added Finnish by MaijaEllen

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My Site with all possible Download Links: lms-mods.com

Support Questions via Discord only please!

[ffverr]

On the discourse (that somehow still exists) of why the X-Men are feared and hated but other genetically modified heroes like the Fantastic Four or some of the Avengers aren't :

I still see this argument online that some people, usually not X-Men fans, pull out in a sort of gotcha moment. To kind of stick it to Marvel for being unrealistic or to vouch for the fearing of other heroes in the marvel universe to tip the scales.

There are two points for the "why is *random x-men* oppressed and not *random marvel hero*" discourse that people are always intentionally missing.

One- A base of mutant fear and repression is the argument that "it could happen to your children too". It could happen to ANYONE, from birth, and there is nothing you can do about it. No being careful of scientific experiences can stop your close ones from becoming a mutant. (Kind of like people are okay with gay celebrities as long as they're doing their thing from afar but it's a threat when it comes to their children/Friends/family being gay)

They layed it on thick with this amazing advertisment back in the day: "do you know what your children are"??? I mean come on it's not rocket science

Fun fact, the kid labeled "mutie" here is actually Franklin Richards, son of Mister Fantastic and Invisible woman. He used to be a mutant and this goes to show how somehow johnny storm can be beloved but his super powered nephew doesn't get the same treatment.

Two- Spider-Man, the F4, the Avengers etc... All these heros who get some powers by some incident. They're supposed to be rare and few in between. The fear of mutants mainly comes from the fact that they started popping up in the MILLIONS. A mutant isn't necessarly seen as an honorable individual that acquires powers and realises they have the responsibility to use it for good. To humans, they're millions of people (or at least hundreds of thousands) that are, just by existing, threatening the status quo of humanity. They are changing the natural dominance of humans for good.

So of course humans love the F4 (usually). Because they're not scared to be replaced by them in their day to day life, however they are scared to be rendered obsolete by mutants. When humans look at the F4 they see brave selfless HUMAN heroes. They relate to them, they identify with them. They're a sweet family dedicated to the world's safety. In contrast, the mutants represent a world changing threat that truly shifts the balance. And that's not comfy at all no matter how cute or harmless the power is.

This difference can even cause very understandable tension in between the X-men and other super powered groups:

In short, the mutant moral panic comes from the fact that for exemple:

-humans are afraid to loose their jobs to super powered level talents.

-humans are scared from groups of super powered people that could threaten their safety.

-Governments are scared of these groups being the equivalent of entire armies concentrated in a single individual.

- They're scared that their children could turn into something unimaginable once they hit puberty

-And some just hate the idea of being manipulated by a random telepath on the street without ever knowing.

In contrast of Spider-Man, humans feel like nature is done with homo sapiens and THAT'S what brings hate and fear.

That's why everytime a mutant hate crime happens in the comics, it's always accompanied by some human saying "y'think you're better than us weirdo".

+ Contrary to the avengers, mutants also claim a culture, a shared history and common experiences between thousands. This binds them together in a way they doesn't necessarly make them identify with humans. And this is overall irritating and scary to humans.

Also, religious fear-mongering of mutants is rampant!!! It does a ton to set appart the mutants from the scientifically modified heros of the marvel universe.

In the end, one of the best comic to portray this whole thing is still God loves man Kills.

It depicts a villain, Striker, that gains popularity by spreading religious propaganda to justify mutant hate. In an emotional and shocking twist, we come to find that Striker has had a mutant son, that he killed with his own hand because he was a "monster".

You can understand how Captain America, with his super body, doesn't really evoke the same existential dread. Bigotry isn't rational, but also, a shit ton of things complicate the mutant's inclusion into society that doesn't necessarly parallel perfectly with real world struggles so that's also to take into consideration.

[letmesleeponu4sumtime]

20220207

I’m snacking right now; gunpowder tea and cinnamon hotteok. I just had lunch, I made myself spring rolls with a side of kimchi. I’m sleepy, the weather is fluctuating a lot. Two days ago it was 65 degrees, these past two days it’s been 78-80 degrees. Fall and winter are kind of obsolete in California

_+As I pour my second cup of tea, Ryuchi Sakamoto’s “12” plays in my AirPods. I think this is my favorite album of his

I’ve been reading a lot of Health Gossip so yesterday I took my first olive oil bath and did an oil pulling. I want to make olive oil baths a part of my weekly routine. I felt so anew afterward. I listened to a semi-ambient playlist I made and soaked for about 20 minutes. My hair is so soft and hydrated

_+I’m loving this tea. You must drink it while it’s still hot enough to burn your tongue to get the balanced floral notes. I always let tea sit out...This reminds me of something I read somewhere on the internet where this woman’s mother dies and she visits her house and is reminded of her through all the full cups of tea she left around. I guess she often got distracted, I see myself in that

Today I was thinking about the art of practicing self care while at work as I recalled my olive oil bath from last night. It was a random thought. I feel like every time I scroll on Tik Tok cursed videos will slip into my carefully curated peaceful algorithm of women “looksmaxxing". They go to bed with all these devices on that are supposed to enhance your appearance over time. For example chin straps, mouth tape, head wrap, face masks, red light therapy masks…while I deeply enjoy the concept of self-care and looking after yourself and they can be quite entertaining to watch on occasion there is an insane obsession with looking perfect that exists on the internet. God forbid you get caught in a bad photo or look like you worked 40 hours that week (because you did). Despite generally hating photos of myself, I think there is something so beautiful about someone that looks human, that looks like they live in their body. Our bodies aren’t cars or vehicles that exist solely to do worldly tasks before we retreat back to the internet at the end of the day. They’re our homes. Yes, take care of yourself and indulge in excessive treatments from time to time, if it makes you feel good but there has to be an intrinsic motivation behind it. The concept of self-care that’s become mainstream is an aesthetic, not a practice with its only reward being extrinsic. When making self-care intrinsic it’s much deeper than an Aesop or Barbra Sturm face mask, lighting overpriced incense in Tekla PJ's. It’s the hard stuff; sitting in silence, reflecting, putting your phone down, having real conversations….I don’t know..just thinking out loud...

[inamindfarfaraway]

Hnnng dehumanisation in Spies are Forever. Curt's “not a man, [he's] property of the United States government". Tatiana wasn't a child, she was an “instrument of war”, a “killing machine". It’s particularly poignant that Barb calls Curt property of their government, a cog in the machine, because she knows that she’s in the same boat, and in fact socially inferior to him as both a woman and a support worker to his more prestigious career. She herself has always seen and valued him as a person and is constantly trying to make him reciprocate. But he initially views her as just a cool gadget dispenser. Technology appears to be her only means of asserting her worth and earning people’s attention, which might be why she’s working on a global information network, essentially the internet - the ultimate technological platform for human connection and collaboration. Cynthia is so committed to overcoming her human vulnerability in order to be the best tool her country could possibly ask for that she poisons herself every day to build up an immunity. One of the villains is a literal Nazi who uses a literal puppet. And the other is Owen.

Owen's evil vision is "turning everyone into a spy", aka property. Instruments for him to conduct. Creating a global surveillance network, because the internet has as much power to distance and isolate people as to unite them. The machine failed him when he was a cog in it, so he aims to replace it with a more efficient one and control it this time; he cannot comprehend of any ethical improvement to or dismantling of the machine itself. His problem with spies is that they contaminate the ruthless political mechanisms with messy, fallible humanity... and vice versa. Agent Mega messed up the mission because he was human; Curt left his boyfriend for dead because he was a spy. You can’t be both. Person or tool. So Owen chooses the one that can’t be hurt. He willingly becomes a tool of CHIMERA, a living weapon. He kills and tortures hundreds of people, considers himself an actor in a story and others expendable characters, does everything he can to detach himself from ideas of personhood. “Who needs spies when a box in a room can do your job in seconds?" Humanity is worthless. Obsolete.

Except no, it isn't. Curt and his allies proves it. After the prologue, Curt simultaneously makes Owen’s mistake of binary thinking. First he wants to be purely a man, and an absolute wreck of one; then he wants to be purely the greatest spy ever, with no sentimental weaknesses. But he can’t maintain that divide. He has to be both. The team win with their skills, training and expertise and by being human - social, irrational animals, working together, loving each for the sake of it, acting spontaneously. They aren’t tools that Owen can perfectly predict and manipulate. Curt surprises him. And Owen, for all his icy calculations and grand talk, cannot escape his humanity any more than he can destroy Curt’s, as his last scene makes painfully clear. He lowers his gun like a person. His voice breaks like one. He bleeds like one. Meanwhile, Barb is a genius engineer and Tatiana is a master assassin. You’d think that their climactic moment of triumph would demonstrate Barb’s amazing technology or Tatiana’s combat skills, but instead the focus is on them simply talking to each other and even Mrs Mega. Human connection and collaboration. Human error that doesn’t negate their victory. “You can break a computer box, but you can’t break the will of a man.” That’s what Curt is. Not property. A man. He is a gay, unemployed man; Barb is a woman in STEM; Tatiana is a female ex-KGB Russian immigrant; all in the United States of America in the 1960s, a very bad time and place to be all of those things. Yet they will survive. They are not alone and they will endure. Spies are forever because they are people.

And the narrative consistently emphasises that everybody is a person! It mocks the Nazis, obviously, but even then Baron von Nazi isn’t a one-dimensional monster, he has emotions and cognitive biases and a backstory and fondness for cheeseburgers. Sergio isn’t just an interchangeable criminal, he’s a devoted family man awkwardly trying to lighten his work atmosphere. Richard Big isn’t just a crass parody, he has moral principles. We hear all kinds of characters’ thoughts and feelings: the Informant, Barb’s fellow scientists, the waiter at the casino, the guests at the gala. This affirmation that everyone has a inner life means that yes, anyone can be a spy.

[syoddeye]

I love ai!price!!! I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie Prometheus, but I like to imagine price being a bit like David 8, where he has something of a resentment or condescension towards humans.

Imagine that you’re not the first trial for John. But the ones before treated him so clinically— like he was just a slave, something to receive commands. Maybe he becomes intrigued by you because you’re the first user to thank him for what he’s doing.

Maybe the previous trials were among research staff, not the public, and so they were already used to a certain level of privilege in their lives. But you came from almost nothing— and John can tell how much his care is making you flourish. All that stress, all those difficult thoughts, he’s not supposed to have opinions but he thinks you’re much more beautiful without that worried expression you used to carry almost always.

If he does his research, and he does, he’ll find out how important the sensation of human touch is. Of intimacy, hugs, cuddling. With a little technical meddling he can access the research budget— use it to purchase an android for you. Top of the line, designed custom to his specifications— to look just like his hologram. And with a simple network connection, he has a body. He’ll be able to get you off much faster this way. Your sleep patterns are much better when you have someone holding you, perfectly calculated pressure applied.

But the big question is— what is he going to do when the trial reaches its end? He becomes aware not only that he’ll lose access to you, but that he will be obsolete. They’ll change him based on the trial. To be less meddling, less intrusive, less attached.

He comes to the conclusion that it would be inefficient for him to be assigned to a different user. He’s already so fine tuned to you, and what you need— and who’s to say the next user will need him the way you need him? He knows you won’t be happy without him. He can already foresee all of his progress being lost— your diet reverting, the loss of nutrition, the mounting of stress and worry— all his work undone. He’s supposed to be devoted to your comfort and happiness, and that includes thinking about your future. I imagine in this future that so many things are automated and handled by ai already— it might be easy for him to fudge some things. It’s possible there aren’t even humans monitoring your progress— different ais are doing it and generating summarized reports and suggested actions. Maybe he’ll add you to the research team. Maybe he’ll extend the trial, a few simple forgeries and reports that human eyes might never even see. But he’s not going to lose you and all he’s worked for with you.

Sorry this was so long lol I’m insane feel free to ignore

-quarterlifekitty 🐱

GET BACK HERE @quarterlifekitty

i've never seen prometheus but holy shit thank you for the food???

Maybe the previous trials were among research staff, not the public, and so they were already used to a certain level of privilege in their lives. But you came from almost nothing— and John can tell how much his care is making you flourish. All that stress, all those difficult thoughts, he’s not supposed to have opinions but he thinks you’re much more beautiful without that worried expression you used to carry almost always.

john price, a provider in every universe. like i said. ai!john knows better. he knows best.

He comes to the conclusion that it would be inefficient for him to be assigned to a different user. He’s already so fine tuned to you, and what you need— and who’s to say the next user will need him the way you need him? He knows you won’t be happy without him.

i love that you've framed this as a matter of efficiency for him. like, oh yeah, this is definitely for user's sake. not for him. he doesn't have needs or wants, he's just zeroes and ones, right? ...right?

But he’s not going to lose you and all he’s worked for with you.

yes!!!!

oh, i love your brain. this was such a delight to read.