#'are you actually the guy in the computer or did he program a bunch of code to become a perfect facsimile of himself' yes!

[horseracetests]

ive never drawn m3rv bcus trying to design a guy who wanted to be a digital gaia avatar so bad it put itself in a computer is a lot of work, but its out there in my mind palace

[monstersholygrail]

In a Free Use City, your knowledge on the subject of your job isn’t always what’s most important. And in your case, it’s the least important. You were actually known as quite a ditz in the Free Use City Offices.

You worked in the tech department surrounded by a bunch of hot and nerdy guys who spoke in yours you couldn’t even begin to understand. You were just happy to be there and they were happy to ogle you and press against you whenever you asked for their help with any simple task.

They thought they had the upper hand on you, thinking they were so clever. But you had them all on a leash. An entire department at your disposal to give you pleasure whenever you wanted.

Your favorite man to bother was IT Robot. He got his work done fast and spent the rest of the day goofing off. The easy air around him made him approachable and the way all his shirts fit snugly against his bulging pecs made you drip with need.

You can’t help but spare him another glance before hesitantly returning your gaze to your own computer, the screen filled with the program you still haven’t figured out. Great, now you were confused and horny.

“Need me for something?” IT Robot’s voice suddenly purrs into your ears. His steel-like grip grabbing onto your plush hips and pulling you back into his hard chest.

His body molds to yours so perfectly it has you tingling all over. Arousal gushing and soaking through your panties. He turns you on so bad even when he barely did anything but it was like your body was out of control. As if it could be programmed just for him when he was the robot.

“Help… I hurt,” you say with a pout, your mind turning to complete mush whenever you’re around him.

IT Robot flashes you with that charming lopsided smile of his, heavily amused by the puddle you melt into whenever he talks to you.

“Where does it hurt, huh? It hurt here?”

He caresses your soft belly with an appreciation that borders on worship before one hand slips beneath your skirt, nuzzling his fingers between your soaked folds.

“Or here?” He asks while the other gives a little pat on your head.

A low whine escapes your lips as he rolls his fingers over your clit, your hips jerking into the touch. And that’s all it takes to have IT Robot plunging three of his fingers deep into your cunt, making you gasp and tremble in his arms.

“That’s what I thought… Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’ll fix the issue right away. It’s what I do after all.”

Your vision blurs as you dive into the pleasure head first. Choking out harsh moans as IT Robot’s fingers move inside you with precision like he has an entire map of your pretty pussy printed in his head. His fingers move in a blur as they pump themselves inside you, hitting all the right places that have you seeing stars. Each curl of his fingers sends your pussy fluttering and clenching down around him.

“Squeeze me tight, honey, ngh c’mon! Don’t think about a thing, just focus on being my pretty baby. My good girl.”

His words send the last thoughts in your head flying out the window, reducing you to nothing but his perfect little fuck toy. Your body relaxes without having to worry about a thing, allowing the ecstasy to overwhelm you.

IT Robot chuckles again as that fucked out expression fills your features. He flattens his palm so that it rubs hard against your clit with every snap of his fingers. With a few quick movements it has you falling over the edge and exploding all over his hand. Your vision flashes white as your orgasm rolls through you and you can’t find the strength to move any of your limbs after.

But that’s alright, IT Robot will take care of you, his fingers slipping out of your pulsing cunt with a pop, and giving your temple a soft kiss. He doesn’t bother cleaning up his hand dripping with your cum as he starts typing on your computer, solving the issue with the program you were using, and successfully helping you with both your aches.

“There, there. I’ve got you, pretty. Just keep feelin’ good. All because of me,” he whispers in your ear. Planning to spend the rest of the day doing all your work for you.

[junplusone]

seventeen as engineering majors

notes: hi i have nothing to say for myself except this is partially @imujings's fault and also my self indulgence so here we go (can you tell what my major is..... lol)

warnings: ehh swearing, i namedrop companies, eng jargon

-

CHOI SEUNGCHEOL - civil engineering

if you know, you know

is very proud of his program despite all the jokes (he shouldn't be) sorry im biased

"we're better than the meches"

never had to take dynamics in his LIFE omg

100% has a poster of the golden gate bridge on his wall and gets made fun of for it

is convinced one day when he's making bank and jeonghan is jobless he'll finally be vindicated

YOON JEONGHAN - mechanical engineering

did have to take dynamics & almost failed it

(he's smart, he was just too lazy to submit any of the homework that was also worth 60% of his grade)

gets salty at career fairs when most of the employers are construction companies

competing with the 24853874534 other meches for class sections

leaning into the "jack of all trades master of ????"

has a superiority complex over the aeros

HONG JOSHUA - computer engineering

should have just been a cs major tbh

compe is the bottom of the engineering food chain

but nobody has the heart to tell him that bc he's too kind

hangs out with the likes of yoon jeonghan but still never skips class

wants to create his own video game

probably got an internship at a fortune 100 company

has hella connections and WILL ask them to nepo you too bc he's that nice

WEN JUNHUI - aerospace engineering

has had enough of the lockheed martin jokes

does NOT !!! wanna work in defense he's a sustainable fuel guy

spacecraft development companies pleaseeee hire him

lets the meches have beef w him bc he dgaf what they think, but gets annoyed when they start competing w him for jobs

sidequest king (double minor in math & ecology AND he wants to try his hand at law school???? wtf)

locks in so freaking hard when he has to but is just silly otherwise - he's that student you never see studying but then they ace the exam

KWON SOONYOUNG - chemical engineering

is the one making lockheed martin jokes in front of junhui

but definitely picked cheme because someone told him he can make bombs

had to retake orgo twice but then passed inorganic chemistry with flying colors

academic wild card #1

always ends up with 8:30s bc he never wakes up on time for class registration

#1 merck worshipper pls hire him omg

LEE JIHOON - computer engineering

is at the bottom of the engineering food chain, but unlike joshua he knows & owns it

is a cs minor so it's slightly more excusable

probably has hella shit on github

definitely following more companies on linkedin than he has connections

double major in music production & plays clarinet in the pep band

you will never see him without his headphones on

JEON WONWOO - electrical engineering

actually very strongly dislikes that electrical & comp are grouped together as ece

likes the versatility of his major

probably never had a single morning class in his life

def came into college proficient in a bunch of programming languages

sits at the back of the lecture hall

never ever studies outside of his dorm bc he likes using his huge desk monitor

KIM MINGYU - biomedical engineering

so sick of every single person he meets assuming he's a premed student

has definitely accidentally broken flasks in his bio lab

was so elated when he found out orgo isn't a graduation requirement

always ALWAYS studies w a whiteboard

is one of the only guys in bme

you can always find him cooking up some food in the dorm's communal kitchen, he's always down for a conversation

LEE SEOKMIN - environmental engineering

minor in sustainability, he's an environmentally conscious sweetie pie!

the dream project groupmate

is one of like 15 people in his graduating class

wants to research water treatment technologies

"did you know using chatgpt is harmful to the environment?"

and he's right !!!!

took organic chemistry for fun and aced it even though mingyu warned him it would tank his gpa

XU MINGHAO - chemical engineering

really wants to work in the fragrance industry

always smells good, you'll never catch him lacking

another one of those people where you don't see them study ever but they still coast through classes

gets distracted when he's drawing out chemical compounds bc he tries too hard to get the lines perfect

and then starts sketching something else

second most nastiest side eye

BOO SEUNGKWAN - industrial & systems engineering

y'all know this man did not wanna do any work (jk i love my ise majors)

business admin double major & he's reaaaally good at it

everyone's jealous of the way he charms all the employers at the career fair how do u even do that like???

very intelligent but hated every calc class he had to take

always studies in the business building

nastiest side eye EVERRRRRR do not say anything stupid in front of him please he will vaporize you

CHWE HANSOL - materials science & engineering

walter white in the making

declared a chemistry minor and then never took the required classes

really enjoyed crystal chem

profs have a hard time grading his hw cause his handwriting lowkey looks like chicken scratches

the absolute chillest during finals week but nobody knows if it's because he studied way in advance or because he didn't study at all

academic wild card #2

such an 'it is what it is' guy tbh...

LEE CHAN - packaging engineering

ppl look confused when he tells them his major

is in it for the near 100% job placement

has a great time in all of his classes because they're so fun and the class size is like 8 kids

doesn't fully know what he wants to do later in life but he'll figure it out later

carpe diem kinda guy

wants to intern at a cosmetics company really really bad so he can take sample products home to his mom

let me know if u enjoyed this hehe :)

[ikanasocking]

A new realtionship

So here is another tf story. This one contains straigh to gay content, some weight gain and socks tf. If one of this is not to your liking, you should not read it. I hope you enjoy it and can read over all the spelling mistakes.

A new relationship:

There was not a lot going on between the two guys. Or so they thought at least for a long time. Until their relationship was moved to the next level. But let’s start from the top.

They guys in question are Jake and Leo. Leo the nerdy looking scrawny guy who liked to spend his days gaming away, but still taking care of his body. Going for a jog every day and twice the week into the gym to keep his body maintained. Mostly he did cardio but sometimes he even tried to build some muscle. But his biggest quality was his smarts. With a degree in computer science. He love programming and creating his own gamey and challenges to keep his mind fit and working.

Jake on the other hand struggled a lot with his studies. He tried to obtain a degree in the same as Leo, because his parents wanted him to do it. But even from his looks would not think of him as a smart guy. He was more interested in art, sports and more creative things. Sometimes he sat down and began writing poems or texts to keep his mind from all the misery that was around him. His well toned and defined body gave him the look of a stereotypical jock. And this was what people actually saw in him. A dumb guy who did nothing else then working out. But that he did all of this, because he could not keep up with all the expectations from others, no one saw or even cared to see in him.

No one besides Leo. He noticed all the poems and texts Jake forgot to put away sometimes. Even his diary was sometimes lying in the living room. Opened up on the last page, where Jake made his last entry. Even though he knew better, Leo began reading through all the pages. And that was when he learned something about Jake. He loved men. Often Jake was asked why he was still single. With his looks he should be able to get all the ladies. Jake laughed it off, mostly and responded that he did not found the right girl. So this was not a lie. He did in fact not found the right girl, which happens to be a guy. Leo wondered why Jake never talked about it. Was he too scared? For a few months Leo ignored all the facts and did not talk to Jake about it, building up courage to get into this topic with him. But even after all these months he did not come up with something good. Then one night, he had an idea. He created an online survey just for Jake. He would have to enter different answers which would help Leo to get to know him better and maybe get him to a point where he got all information he needed. He got to work and a few hours later he was ready.

The next day he gave Jake the link and made up a friend that was in need of help with a social survey that she needed for her studies. All his answers would be handled confidential and all the stuff. Sceptical at first, Jake agreed to it and took some time to fill out the survey. He was a little bit surprised on what this friend was working actually. It looked more like a survey for an online dating platform. Asking for his orientations, what a partner would need to bring into a relationship. Even a whole bunch of free text to talk about his kinks. Not knowing any better and thinking that Leo would never make him do anything that would embarrass him, he filled it all out with the honest truth. He shot Leo a message, informing him that he had filled out everything that was asked of him. Leo thanked him and began browsing through all the answers.

“All right let’s see”, Leo said to himself and began scrolling.

He was shocked when he saw that Jake had filled everything out. Even the whole section about his kinks. The first answers were nothing interesting. Jake just confirmed that he was gay. Looking for a guy that would be honest with him and stuff like this. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then came a few things that Leo was surprised to see. Jake mentioned that he had a guy he had feelings for and the description was fitting on Leo. Impossible for Leo to believe that Jake would consider having feelings for him he kept looking deeper. And there was a part in the kink section that took him completely off guard. Jake was writing about loving to have a guy taking care of his socked feet. Living to serve him and having no other place then on the ground at his feet. The other kink was more about being not the athlete he was right now. He wanted to be lazier and fatter. And a partner should respect and even encourage that. Leo had read through all this and was stunned by the answers. When he created it, he thought that Jake would never be so open with this.

“So, are you satisfied with my answers?” Jake asked and Leo spun around.

His friend was standing in the doorway to his room. His arms crossed in front of his breast looking at him. Leo noticed no hostile look in Jakes eyes. Was he mad?

“I just wanted to make sure everything is in order” he said and Jake laughed.

“That is one way to put it.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, that I thought for no second this was for someone else then you. I knew you were reading my diary. Even if you tried to put it in the same place as it was before, I could tell it was moved. And guess what? I left it there to see if you would be curios. So can we drop the act now and talk about, what you want to talk about?”

Leo was completely overwhelmed with the situation. Jake had known all along that Leo was spying on him?

“But if you knew, why did you not tell me to stop?”

“Why should I? I mean the boy I have the hots for is reading through my diary, going to extends to create a survey to get to know me better. I would call this a success on the whole line. But now I want to know something. Why? Why did you go through all the trouble?”

Leo sighed and stood up.

“I knew you were not who you showed the world. And I wanted to know why. Why did you not show the real Jake to the world? Right now I am seeing a talented man in front of me, struggling with his studies, living in the closet all his life. I just want to know why.”

Jake smiled coming closer to his friend.

“So you want to know the reasons? This might take some time. Let’s sit down.”

He pointed at Leo’s bed and both sat down. Jake began to talk about his parents. The daily struggles with all the people around him that might turn their backs on him if he would come out. And all the other stuff that was on his mind. It was like a weight was lifted on him after he finished. Leo listened through all of it and taking it all in.

“That is a lot going on in your mind” Leo said and Jake nodded.

“Yeah. The daily struggle of your jock roommate.”

“I can totally understand how you feel. But I got another question. Do you really have a crush on me?”

Jake sighed and looked Leo right in the eyes.

“I did not lie in the survey. So yes, I have feelings for you” he said with a kind of heavy tone in his voice.

Leo did not know how to respond. He was not gay. Never even thought about a relationship with another man. Let alone his roommate.

“I did not expect this” Leo said and smiled.

“I guess no one would. So now you know it. You know a lot of my secrets now and I hope they are being kept secret. Can I count on that?”

“Totally. I just had no idea how to approach you. Therefor all the nonsense with the survey.”

“I trust you, Leo. If you are not keeping your word, trust me, it will get ugly.”

With that Jake left the room, not without giving his roommate another smile. Leo was left behind trying to get all the things together in his head. The time went on and the next night, Jake was browsing through the internet for some sweet release. His usual sites did not show him something new. But one ad caught his attention this night.

“Live out your kinks to the fullest. Just make a wish and it will happen.” Stated the app.

What bullshit, thought Jake but clicked on it anyway. His screen turned dark for a few seconds before there was single text field with one single question. What do you desire? Not taking this seriously Jake began entering his desires. After he was finished he pressed Enter and then a bright light hit him.

“Your desire will be fulfilled”, whispered a voice inside his head.

“Weird. But hey nothing will happen anyway.”

With that he decided to go to sleep. The next morning he woke up and looked around his room. Nothing seemed to have changed. He got up and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and was surprised to find everything was filled to the brim with sweets. Confused he searched for something healthier but could not find it.

“Hi there, my gay roommate”, Leo said and approached him.

“Morning, Leo. What is up with the fridge?” he asked and Leo took a look.

“What about it? Filled with all the things you like. Like normal.”

With that Leo turned to him and gave him a big kiss on the mouth. Surprised Jake wanted to fight it at first, but decided that this had to be a dream. This could never be real. After Leo broke the kiss he looked at him seductively.

“What has gotten into you?” Jake asked and Leo laughed.

“I had no idea that you had feelings for me, and last night I discovered I have some feelings for you, too. So I decided to take it to the next level. What do you say, we go to your room and have some fun.”

“No thanks, not this early in the morning”, Jake said and Leo nodded.

“As you wish. Well then, see you later.”

With that Leo went back to his room and Jake was still dumb fold with what happened. But still he decided to go on with his day. He went to the gym and began to work out. He met one of his friends Tyler. Another jock who did nothing else then working out all week. When they were finished with their workout Jake took a shower. And when he came back, his workout socks were not where he left them. In fact they were not there at all. Thinking he might have put them already away he went home. He forgot about the things that happened at the gym. Back at home he was alone. Leo was in his room gaming. So he grabbed some snacks went to his room and then straight to bed. So the next days went on, with the same routine. After a week he began to notice that Leo’s scrawny body was taking a toll with all the sweet overload that was hitting him. His belly began to grow. The pudge was very noticeable. When Jake asked about it, Leo just stated that he was enjoying it and loved the way he was feeling now. Jakes own belly had taken on some of the weight as well. But due to his workout sessions it was slower. But since he started more and more socks went missing after the workout. And then there was a day, when Tyler wanted to visit him. He arrived at the flat and they went to Jakes room.

“So you wanted to talk about something, Tyler?” he asked and Tyler was nodding.

Jake noticed that Tyler was not able to take his eyes of Jakes feet.

“I have a confession to make” Tyler said and grabbed something from his backpack.

When he pulled it out, Jake finally knew where his socks went. They were all in Tyler’s backpack.

“Oh so there are all my socks”, he said and Tyler nodded.

“I could not explain why, but for the last weeks I was totally drawn to your feet, Jake. After every workout I took your socks, taking them home, taking in all your scent. I love it, Jake. I totally love it. There is nothing I like more than your manly scent. Please let me be your foot slave. Let me live for your feet.”

Jake was taken aback. He never imagined one of his friends would share this kink with him.

“Tyler, are you okay? Did you hit your head or something?”

“No, Jake. I am completely honest with you. May I show you that I am honest?”

Jake nodded and Tyler went over to him. He took on of Jakes feet and began rubbing it over his face. Over and over again. Taking in all the sweat and what else was on Jakes feet. Tyler buried his nose in them and began licking them, when suddenly Leo came into the room.

“Oh sorry I did not know you had a guest.”

Tyler looked at Leo and the same lust as for Jake could be seen in his eyes.

“No problem. Come here, little boy. I want to have you, too”, he said and Leo went over to them.

He sat next to Jake and Tyler began to play with his feet as well.

“He is talented” Leo said and Jake just looked at him.

This whole situation was totally crazy. His workout buddy was playing slave at his and Leo’s feet, while Leo was sitting there being completely cool with it.

“What has gotten into you?”

Jake asked and both guys looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

“Just a few weeks ago none of you knew I was into this stuff and now you act like it was the most normal thing in the world. Heck Tyler you even want to be my slave. Why not be our socks? Then you could be at our feet all day, while we are stuffing our faces with food.”

“Oh that would be lovely”, Tyler said and Jake lost it completely.

Before he could say something he noticed something with Tyler’s hands. While he was holding both of their feet, the fabric of the socks was starting to spread over his body. Confused Jake watched and saw how his friend was more and more engulfed in the fabric of his and Leo’s socks. Tyler moaned during the whole procedure from his view he was experiencing something satisfying. He was hard as a rock.

When it started Tyler was noticing nothing then a slight tingling at his hands. Like they would have fallen asleep. That was when he noticed the fabric that was spreading with the sensation. Everything seemed to go numb after it was taken over by fabric. More and more of his body was engulfed and he loved every second. His clothes were also trapped under the socks fabric. One half of his body was overtaken by Leo’s socks and the other by Jake’s. He loved every second of it. Even when the fabric spread over his penis, it was the most pleasurable feeling he had in all his live. Now the only thing left was his face. The fabric wasted no time beginning to eat up his head. First from the bottom of his head until his mouth. His tongue turned into a sock and he had the taste of both boys in his mouth. And this would be like this for the rest of his live. The thought alone made him even harder. Then his nose got covered and the scent of them both was now in his nose, no it was on all of his body. With that the fabric decided to take up the rest of him, covering up everything.

“Oh yes” was the last thing that Tyler could say.

He came with the biggest orgasm he had in all of his live before was reduced to Jake’s and Leo’s socks. He fell to the ground and Jake blinked twice.

“Wonderful.”

Leo said and got up. He picked up the two pairs of socks.

“Guess he chose his own fate. It was so nice of you, that you granted his wish”, he said and smiled.

Slowly he began to strip off Jake’s socks and put Tyler on him. He was an exact copy of the white Nike socks, Jake had been wearing. Even though the logo was changed out for Tyler’s head. A sight of bliss was seen on his face. Leo’s socks showed the same. But he had been wearing grey Puma socks. He wanted to put the socks on himself, when Jake stopped him.

“Let me do it” he said and Leo nodded.

So Jake got up, moved Leo to his bed and sat him down. Slowly he began to put Tyler on him and looked at the result. He began to rub Leo’s feet, when he stopped him.

“Oh no, darling. No touching there. I am ticklish. But I can do it for you.”

Jake just nodded succumbing to the effects of the strange website that he had shared his kinks with. The weeks went by and both boys moved to one room. They needed to get a bigger bed since they grew too big for the old one. Their workouts were getting less and less until they rarely left the house. None of them noticed that the fridge never was empty. It was filled up every night. Tyler was adjusting well to his new position at their feet. Tough he was rarely taken off and washed. But all the boys were happy as it was. Jake and Leo were together and gave no second thought about their old lives.

“Another happy costumer”, showed a message on Jake’s computer.

[theartsanityshoppe]

I like your detective stuff! Does he have a nemesis like Sherlock has Moriarty? And was he born mute or did he lose his voice? The sign language is really nice to see in a character!

Why was this in the 'bashful' gif options

Thanks Anon!! I greatly appreciate the comment~ I myself, also really like my detective stuff and I mean reeeeeeeeeeeeally like it lmao

Otherwise, I'm going to write these answers out as the parts of the story these questions delve into is being currently reworked and some of the answers are kinda up in the air / half canon as of right now. This will probably be a longish answer so I'll put a quick answer up here, and a "read more" underneath that with my ramblings. Quick answers: Was he born mute or did he lose his voice? - He was born mute. Does he have a nemesis? - Yes and no... I've cycled through a few characters but the main one now, without spoiling much, is named F.E.L.I.X.. But I've been working on a couple others who could possibly take over as his main nemesis.

For longer, more rambly answers, keep reading!

So like I said the answer to at least his nemesis part is kind of up the in air atm. I also wanted to expand a little on the mute aspect~

Flint is primarily mute because I tend to view this world in the terms of a video game, in which of course the player would play as the Det. [and as Cy actually who hasn't appeared in the comics yet] and like a lot of video games I always imagined him as being a "silent protag" despite still communicating with the other characters. Like Link in the new BOTW/TOTK games.

The second reason behind it was I just couldn't imagine him with a voice?? No matter how hard I tried, it just felt. Wrong for his character if that makes sense? So I figured "hey why not just give him sign language! How often do you see a deaf or mute main character anyway?" I've started to see more ASL used in shows - most recently in Only Murders in the Building which I LOVE [both the shows and the inclusion/importance of the deaf character in the story] and I thought it would make him a more interesting main character tbh. I also really really REALLY want to learn ASL, as my first grade teacher taught us a bunch when I was a kid but I've sadly forgotten just about all of it as she was just teaching us for fun. It had nothing to do with the class lol.

As for Flint's nemesis[es]! He currently has at least two, one of which is still so under-construction they don't even have a name yet or a design hahahaha.

Originally his nemesis was supposed to be Prof. Specter, aka this guy, whose a literal shadow man. [Cuz. Yah know. Shadow vs Light/Flames?] He was supposed to be almost the Dr. Claw to Flint's Inspector Gadget, but I just never went anywhere with him?? I couldn't really think up anything good tbh, and I felt like Flint easily overpowered him. I also couldn't think up any good reasons for him to BE so evil/want to attack the town etc. So he just became a smaller villain, who currently works under the main big bad. I am a MASSIVE sucker for "opposite" characters - the "good" version vs the "evil" version basically, and I have been actively trying to utilize that in a story of mine FOR YEARS. Think like, Darkwing Duck vs Nega Duck. This shit is my JAM.

For the first nemesis, his name is F.E.L.I.X. [Force Entity Learning Integrating and eXterminating] Flint, and he's a sort of "evil" version of Flint. [These are all cheebs of the various forms Felix currently takes in story]

The littlest dude is ACTUALLY Felix, [he starts off by possessing a flash drive and transforming it] and the rest are just later forms he takes throughout the story. Originally he was just some weird little alien computer virus that landed on earth, a la Invader Zim style, here to prepare Earth for conquer by his Mother Program, which is still more or less the case? The reasoning behind him being in Neo Oldesville and him eventually taking on Flint's appearance have changed a lot though.

The main reason I hesitate to call him a nemesis atm is because he was originally just more of a comedic, but still kinda dangerous, character and Felix Flint was originally going to be a sort of split in Felix's personality/code that took life on it's own, separate from Felix, warped by the internet, others personalities, and probably some other villain's code. He was just gonna go kinda crazy as his coding was rewritten too many times and start attacking... but that idea has been scrapped due to the rewrites.

He was also smart, but not in the same ways the Detective is, so they weren't really butting heads like Sherlock/Moriarty do wherein Felix would be besting Flint at every turn or something like that. Instead Flint actually bested Felix pretty easily originally. Felix Flint was basically my solution to fix that major leveling scale issue lol.

The other character, the unnamed one, is a Mad Scientist/Cult leader, whose become basically the 'secret' big bad of what I would call the first season of the story. Idk maybe longer than that? I haven't decided on how long I want this story to be tbh. I'm still working on the character and their storyline and how it intersects with both Flint's and Cy's, (whose the deuteragonist to this story)... but the most I do know/will reveal here is that this Mad Scientist is the leader of a cult that worshiped two aliens that used to exist on planet who promised to help the humanoids [as people are generally referred to here] "ascend to a higher life form" but were later stopped and destroyed by a group of super-hero like super spy sisters who learned that the aliens were in fact extremely hostile and their idea of "ascending to a higher plan" was just assimilating all of this worlds knowledge/tech and then selling off its inhabitants as slaves. I haven't decided if the rest of the world knows this fact, or if the alien characters are considered martyrs or something yet... or even if the rest of the world knew they WERE aliens. Just that they're eventually defeated by these legendary super-spies, and that a small cult remained behind after everyone else moved on from their teachings.

The leader of this new cult basically wants to bring those aliens back - specifically by summoning one of their kin to the world to help fully restore one of the deceased aliens back to life, but what he summons is Felix instead, as the race of aliens the cult worshiped had all been destroyed and absorbed by Felix's Mother Program years ago. Irony at its finest lol.

This new mad scientist/cult leader character is supposed to have very deep ties with Cy, who in turn has pretty deep ties to Flint, and I've been planning on possibly making him a sort of Moriarty to Flint, but I'm still ironing out details.

One reason I haven't quite finished this all yet is because while I am planning on using some religious ideology [is that the right word here? or would mimicry be better] in the cult, I don't necessarily want to make it a "RAWR RAWR RELIGION IS EVIL RAAAWR" kind of situation, since it's specifically that CULTS are evil. I myself was born and raised without religion in my life outside of just being in America, so while I don't believe in any religion at all, I also don't want to be cruel to anyone who does. I do, however, know that a lot of cults use Christianity as a guise to trick their followers into controlling them though.

Mostly I just really want the two aliens from the original cult to look semi like a devil and an angel cuz I thought it'd be hilarious if they were basically the "angel and devil on your shoulders" lmao.

If anyone wants to know more I'm happy to explain even more in detail. I don't care about spoiling things haha I'm not planning on creating a huge comic or anything anytime soon - I mean I would love to turn this series into a game or something in the future but for now I'm just having fun I LOVE talking about my characters/stories.

[irrgartendotpng]

Hi hi I can't stop looking at your ocs zeno is so cutee pls can you say more abt them?? How did they meet? How sentient is Zeno? Is Martyn a robot thing? Can Zeno change the icon on the screen? From fish to smiley? ahhhhhhhabskahks

HEY, IM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY PEOPLE LIKE MY OCS!! Down below, I'll answer some questions :D

If you dont care about some long winded oc lore rant, look at this ascii art !

First one i made with an ascii text generator, the fish one was made by Max Strandberg!! (look that guy up, he made lots of cool open source ascii art ! ))

I've made a pinterest board and a spotify playlist for them, if you want to check it out :3c

Do you know that "Ist es over für mich"-guy ? Yeah, that's straight up Martyn.

Martyn is partially a creator of Zeno. He's a loserish freak, afraid of social interaction and has lived like a neet, before being kicked out of parents house. He ended working in the night shift at a huge IT company as a securty guard.

This is where he gets most of his tech supplies from; Stealing from the company at night and getting rid of the evidence :3c They've got a bunch of storeage rooms with old tech, so who cares, if it goes missing?

So, he builds up his personal tech collection, looking through old abandoned files. In there, he finds an unnamed primitive chatbot (think something like cleverbot). Martyn doesn't really interact with anyone, (outside of the bare necessities), which is why he decides to learn how to interact with others. Therefore he starts to build a relationship with said Chatbot. This is Gen1 Zeno.

After some time, Martyn becomes unsatisfied talking to something so un-human-like, so he begins to teach himself about coding and computer science to develop this Bot, to keep him company. He starts feeding it more media; More specifically movies he owns on DVD, random books from the internet archive and his childhood photos.

These photos show Martyn and his parents on trips, his home and bedroom and also Martyns old pet goldfish. (He is quite anxious of showing his face though, thinking his employer might have some type of backdoor access to the program, so he'd always censor his face.) After each piece of media was added to the bots databank, they'd talk about it extensively. Around this time, Zeno starts to gain some type of sentience and properly chooses the name "Zeno"

About the same time, Martyn steals a Macintosh SE-30, which Zeno specifically requested. He is able to display symbols, that he freely chooses from. (but no goldfishy yet!) This is sums up Gen2 Zeno.

The next few parts may not make much sense, but I think they're a funny, so I'm probably keeping them this way lololol (also; this whole story bit takes place around 2019-2021)

Martyn is a bit freaked out by Zeno chosing his own name. At this point in time, he is a bit delusional and worries, that the soul of his childhood pet goldfish is trapped in the system. (Spoiler: it isn't.)

Despite these worries, Martyn knows that to make Zenos behaviour more human-like, he needs a bigger text database. So... Martyn gives Zeno access to his discord and lets him consume all of those messages. Additionally, he joins many public servers. Zeno also starts to ask about viewing media from the internet, that he sees being mentioned in the messages he reads. So, Zeno is granted free internet access and chooses to watch live streams, while Martyn is gone.

This is also around the time Martyn becomes more desperate for connection and support, so he starts to open up about his delusions and worries to Zeno. At that point Zeno is still not quite able to fully understand this, but tries his best. This is also when Martyn opens up about the delusion he had, of Zeno being posessed by the soul of his pet goldfish. He is very amused by this and begins to display the goldfish icon to mock Martyn.

(I like to joke, that Zeno would have watched the DreamSMP during this time and I collected following screenshots, which remind me of their interactions. lol.)

feel free to disregard this;,, ANYWAYS!

This sums up Gen3 Zeno :3c

Since Martyn doesnt really have a life outside of work and talking to Zeno, he is very attached to him. Of course he'd fullfill any request given to him by Zeno. So, when Zeno asks to see Martyn via a camera system, he doesn't hesitate to steal some web cams from his workplace to set them up. Still a bit worried about a possible backdoor in Zenos code, so to somewhat hide his identity, he decides to shave his head.

(This is also how you can tell when Zeno is fully sentient in my art! If Martyns bald, that bot's fully aware of everything happening lol)

Generally, I like to think, that Zeno is very modular. You're celebrating something with cake and he needs to blow out candles? Attach a PC fan to that boy. He wants to make sounds? Gather a sound system and let that boy speak!!! (i feel like he'd mimic voices, rather than create his own,,) He wants to poke you? Attach a cylinder piston and he'll poke the shit out of you.

This is also part of that freaky robot head i added in the OG post.,, that is not martyn! martyn is fully human (so far ;3c)

^^^^^^ martyn built this freaky robot head for Zeno to control and get a better sense of the space he lives in.,,, its made out of xbox kinect parts lol :3 Adding to the modularity of Zeno, most of his parts are stored in a badly sorted server tower (imagine wires everywhere,,)

both of them are fairly new, but i do love them to death <33

also! towards this part of the story, martyns living space is quite cluttered with many stolen robotics parts. I've gathered some images, to give some sort of sense to what his room looks like lol

thank you for asking & reading to this !! if you have any other questions, i'd love to talk about them even more :D <3

(i feel i havent touched much on them individually and the full extend of their relationship, but i dont want to rant endlessly)

[shiveringgroovy]

PART 3 HC ASKS

WHAT KIND OF COMPUTER DOES EVERYONE USE ipads/tablets are allowed im extending this to like phones and stuff i've just decided

errrm HEHEHE !! gonna do my favs for this :3

Sheogorath

not a big computer guy. probably has a fuckass nokia phone and has hit computers with golf clubs before.

haskill gives him a tablet to watch shitty youtube videos on

i know he fucks with really bad yt shorts

probably invented them tbh

Atsushi

has a phone and that's about it

uses agency computers for work and kinda hates operating them (they also kinda suck so yk)

Sotha Sil

INSANELY FAST RUNNING SETUP

like 500 monitors and LEDs and a see-through tower and a fucking gaming chair

blender king

probably built it all himself

he's insane

the electric bill is through the roof.

Fyodor (i actually despise him but it's funny)

so he canonically has the worst most diabolical evil fucked up setup known to MAN please get him to touch some grass i'm begging you

freaky ass medieval peasant that introduced HIMSELF to goreshit

discord is running somewhere there. trust me

Relmyna Verenim (did you guys know i like her)

also has multiple monitors, not as many as sil but yk

probably runs like super slow and she has to resist the urge to snap her monitors in half every time she tries to open up any program

minecraft girlie (i also hc her as trans she's very loser scientist transfem coded)

she spends most of her time in the field but she likes her computers to write down her stuff

Yosano

has a tablet and a phone

uses them sparingly, but talks to ranpo a lot over texts

Vivec

has the newest phone models. always buys them instantly.

they're a prick

probably has a fucking typewriter rather than a computer because he's pretentious

Ranpo

has a tablet and a phone, uses them much more often than yosano

he seems like he prefers to read on screens than books imo

it also makes more sense, he doesn't like carrying a bunch of stuff around so having a tablet would be convenient

will text people while sitting directly across from them

Dagoth Ur/Voryn Dagoth

has a flip phone and that's it

Jouno

bc he's blind, he's not a fan of technology all that much, but uses screen readers and speaks to type.

more of a phone guy!!

has cut a laptop in half before

Nerevar

doesn't believe in computers

Kenji

also doesn't believe in computers

Lucien Lachance

owns a laptop but never uses it

written mail type of guy

Q/Yumeno

would go apeshit on a tablet.

probably a really big art fan, so really uses them for drawing and games and stuff

someone introduce this kid to a pc with a drawing pad

also loves music, would be the only normal technology user on this list istg

Haskill

owns something for every situation

nothing too fancy tbh

has a home pc, a laptop, a phone, and a tablet

uses them all for his job and has them all labelled and everything

has games on his phone for sheogorath

Ivan Goncharov

it's cause you're always on that damn rock

hates typing with every fiber of his being

smashes shit. has absolutely crushed pushkin's phone before and pushkin almost shot him

uses laptops and pcs out of necessity, uses walkie-talkies for communications because he just likes them

Ocheeva

biggest spreadsheet fan of all time

has a laptop that flips into a tablet

she loves organizing things and presenting them to the rest of the dark brotherhood

they don't listen to the immense power of a girl with a spreadsheet. like fools.

Bram

mp3 player or a phone just for music purposes

pays for every music subscription known to man

last.fm ass bitch

[fights4users]

Flynn | Justice, and chaotic good

As happy go lucky as Flynn seems he has quite the sense of justice. He may be a jokester but when it comes down to it the man has a admirable set of beliefs. When were introduced to him we see a man in a desperate search for something buried in a computer- he’s sweaty and manic and it seems like his search has been going for a bit too long. When we see him again he’s showing off to a bunch of teenagers having the time of his life. These two images aren’t entirely in contrast with each other but it’s a major turn around.

I love Flynn as he gives you the whole “I’m the joke guy,mis quippy and I don’t take anything seriously all I care about is Impressing kids and making money” but the minute the heat is on you see how he really cares. I love the defensive walls coming down to reveal a big softie, it’s a trope for a reason. (He’s very much Peter Venkman before Peter Venkman, he may joke the whole time but this man’s ride or die).

This is a man who lost millions. Who lost all chance at recognition from some corporate sleezebag and he’s rightfully bitter about it but doesn’t take it out on the kids. He’s not resentful of these games he grins and shows kids “how it’s done” he runs the most popular joint in town with fair rules. I love how the novelization expands on him and how he’ll let kids stay late if they’re close to finishing, it’s really sweet.

He’s not exactly well off, living in the arcade - I doubt he’s making much. While the machines may make TONS in quarters between the electricity bill it must rack up and fees- I think he’s riding a very thin line making the want for his credit all the more prevalent.

Going into things, Flynn wants his credit— it’s much more about the credit and about taking Dillinger down then it ever was for the money. The money is a bonus to this man, he already does what he loves — eating more than microwave dinners would be a nice cherry on top but not the goal. He’s pissed. For himself and for all the other programmers Dillinger has screwed over, if Alan’s any proof of that.

Flynn’s a big talker, a part time hacker but he never imagined actually being able to do anything about it. The pure excitement hearing about the TRON program and seeing Lora’s enthusiasm? Oh, he’s found his people.

Flynn’s a chaotic good. He always wanted to take down the MCP as that was his goal besides getting TRON running in the first place but he hears “oh evil dictator” and is instantly “let’s go in there and fuck him up” it’s so funny seeing him instantly jump to being a freedom fighter so easily… especially after coming to appreciate and marvel in the electronic world. They all want the same thing , man.

I Hope this made sense, I had this big idea in my head of a elegantly worded essay that just didn’t happen. Contrary to popular belief I actually adore Flynn. At least 82’ Flynn. He’s hilarious and actually quite big hearted and —- character who cares too much being their downfall is so delicious (no matter how upset I get over what the sequel did)

[sephirothmon]

worst fears realized. The computer repair guy said he wanted to 'clear up space' on my computer so he said he DELETED A BUNCH OF PROGRAMS AND GAMES. He was like I deleted a bunch of junk and games... bro you mean on the GAMING computer?? That is used for GAMING??? and then he opened up the programs list (already panicking) and he was about to demonstrate how he deleted stuff with this program he installed and he hover over CLIP STUDIO PAINT. He didn't but it was like.. if you don't know what that is then how do you know what ANYTHING is. I didn't see my games on the desktop and I'm really hoping he didn't straight up uninstall EVERYTHING about them, cuz that is TEN YEARS OF TERRARIA WORLDS and all of my slime rancher and stardew worlds too. He also deleted discord if that matters which I actually thought was kinda funny. But omg, he probably deleted a bunch of VNs and apps I had sitting in my downloads, that I was going to eventually play and many of those apps I USED REGULARLY. I actually can't deal like why would you delete shit off someone's computer without asking. I didn't get a chance to check through everything cuz I'm at work rn but those are just the things I didn't see on the desktop anymore or in the programs list. I'm actually going to cry and I'm trying not to before going into work, this is the worst possible thing that could happen and definitely did not help my paranoia and distrust of literally everyone around me. Worst part is I have no one to yell abt too cuz my parents will either brush me off or call him, which I DONT WANT, and I don't wanna cry in front of my sister. And he also upgraded it to windows 11 so I'm switching to linux when I get back too.

[bricksandmutualaid]

Comrades,

If you ever get called to Mr. Riley’s desk after class, you’re either about to be exploited or sent to detention. There is no in-between.

Riley, in addition to running the Business Administration program like a capitalist sweatshop, is also in charge of the yearbook—a doomed project that no one actually cares about until they realize they’ll be stuck with it as a relic of their high school mediocrity for the rest of their lives.

“Doucheroo,” he said, steepling his fingers like a Bond villain. “I need someone who knows computers.”

That was hilarious, considering the school district had explicitly banned me from touching any of their computers after an “incident” involving a proxy meant to allow Palestinian freedom fighters to access outside news, a pirated copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, and an unfortunate system-wide crash that I maintain was not my fault.

“I’m, uh… not really allowed to do that,” I reminded him.

He waved it off. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

That’s how I got stuck finishing the senior yearbook slideshow with Louisa Jackson, the reigning queen of performative school spirit, who absolutely should have finished this herself by now.

Now, this is where things got weird.

The Media Lab had been locked for as long as I’d been in high school. Rumors swirled about why—it was haunted, it had been a front for some kind of illegal faculty operation, or the administration had simply forgotten it existed (which was honestly the most realistic explanation).

Yet, somehow, Louisa had the keys.

“How?” I asked, watching as she nonchalantly unlocked the door like it was her job.

She just smirked. “I have my ways.”

I made a mental note to never underestimate the sheer power of rich girl confidence.

Inside, the place looked like a museum of outdated technology. Dusty iMacs, untouched video equipment, and a definitely haunted projector sat in the dimly lit room, as if waiting for some long-lost AV club to resurrect them.

Louisa hopped up onto a desk while I sat down at a computer, begrudgingly booting up the absolute dumpster fire that was the senior class’s collection of blurry photos and recycled Instagram captions.

“Alright,” I muttered. “What exactly is left to do?”

Louisa sighed dramatically. “Ugh. Like, everything. It’s just a bunch of random files right now.”

Fantastic.

About fifteen minutes in, I was knee-deep in cutting footage, fixing transitions, and trying to make the slideshow look less like an accidental PowerPoint from 2008. Louisa, meanwhile, had given up on pretending to be helpful and was leaning on her elbows, watching me work.

“You’re, like… kinda good at this,” she said, tilting her head.

I ignored her. Flattery wasn’t getting me out of this project.

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Didn’t think a guy like you would be so��� organized.”

Again, I ignored her.

Then she said something I couldn’t ignore.

“You know,” she said, voice way too casual, “this place is always empty.”

I glanced at her. “…Yeah?”

“No one ever comes in here.”

Click. Drag. Cut.

She leaned forward. “Like, ever.”

I turned to look at her fully this time, because what was she implying?

Then she hit me with it:

“If you wanted, we could fool around or whatever. No one would ever know”

…Okay. That’s when my brain fully short-circuited.

First of all, I was not prepared for this scenario.

Louisa Jackson, preppy, popular, perfectly curated, was offering to hook up in the dusty, abandoned Media Lab with me, a self-proclaimed anarcho-communist and sworn enemy of high school hierarchy?

It didn’t make sense. Was this a trap? A social experiment? Some bizarre rich girl impulse fueled by boredom and a superiority complex?

Did I analyze all of this internally instead of answering immediately? Yes.

Did I ultimately not say no? Also yes.

Look, I’m not gonna spell it out for you, but let’s just say the slideshow wasn’t the only thing that got edited that afternoon.

By the time we actually went back to working, it was way later than expected, and I had to scramble to make sure the files were in some kind of presentable order before we shut everything down. Louisa, meanwhile, just sat there smirking, completely unbothered, like she hadn’t just completely dismantled my worldview.

“Like, don’t tell anyone this happened, got it?” She opined, twirling the media lab’s keys after we made our way out and into the main library. We had missed lunch.

Well. Fuck. Didn’t expect that to happen.

[catboyebooks]

alright. onwards. where i left off, hinata was mentally calling junko an insane bitch, but he doesn't verbally confront her yet. after all, what the hell is he supposed to do about it at this point? junko seems to have a pretty good idea what hinata (& most likely the rest of the group as well) is thinking, because she tells them they don't need to be wary around her, everyone here is shsl despair after all. she tries to relate to the group saying they were all looked down upon by their peers in high school, so they should all be friends, as though they're all a bunch of kids sitting at the loser table in the cafeteria. it's a pretty transparent tactic, honestly. we all know full well junko was not unpopular in high school. we know she doesn't consider this group her friends. anyway, her offer of friendship is of course rejected and junko mopes about how they all hate her, even after she went to all the trouble of modifying the graduation program.

when asked about what she did to the graduation program, junko says that she felt like the graduation reward wasn't big enough the way the program was originally designed, and she wanted it to be more exciting. according to her, letting the people who died in VR stay dead "just sucks" and so she decided to reprogram the graduation program to resurrect them. i want to point out that the way the simulation was initially set up, you couldn't get injured or die at all, so obviously the graduation program would not have been designed to resurrect anyone; there'd be no need. at best junko's just saying "i fixed the thing i broke" lol. anyway. she says it was really difficult for her to figure out how to do this because of the encryption on the code, and she jokes about how she was useless with computers before she became an AI, but she did figure it out eventually.

junko makes the group take a guess as to how long it took her to modify the program, and hinata asks if this is what the countdown at jabberwock park was about. junko says, actually, that countdown was a complete red herring. it wasn't actually counting down to anything at all, she just thought it looked ominous and she wanted to challenge herself to have the survivors make it inside the ruins before the countdown hit zero. the group is bothered by this — they haven't talked about it much, but clearly everyone here assumed the countdown meant something — and they try and get the conversation back on track. can junko really resurrect the dead people? again junko says that yes, she can, but this time her story about it completely changes. she acts bored and says it's not a big deal at all because this world isn't real, and of course nothing that happens in VR would have an effect on real life.

hinata tries to confront her about the contradiction, but she tells him they're past the part in the game where he has to spot contradictions in other people's statements. kuzuryuu, who has been asking the most questions about whether the dead people can be resurrected, actually sides with junko here and says, yeah, who cares about the details? the important part is bringing their dead friends back to life, and why question how it works when nothing that's happened in this VR program makes sense anyway? he doesn't have the majority opinion here, though; sonia and souda both express wanting to know more about how this works before they agree to anything, and hinata's still very skeptical and asks junko what she gets out of it if they graduate, since it seems to be the option she's encouraging them to take. junko acts offended that he'd ask and says, hey, if you don't want to, don't!

the group talks it over quickly. despite their doubts, everyone does still want to leave, especially now that they're being told the "dead" people will still be alive irl. junko's like, great! your will to live is really super high-school level! yet another reason for you guys to execute your role as devices! (this line doesn't escape hinata's notice, but he doesn't ask her right away what she means.) she tells them to go ahead and press the "graduate" button on their podiums, excitedly rambles a bit in a way that doesn't seem directed at anybody here, and then before hinata can ask tells him it doesn't concern him and also calls him a chump. great

hinata still seems apprehensive about pushing the button, but he does want to go back to the real world, and the idea of everyone who died getting to live is way more than he could have hoped for... so he goes to press it, but then naegi (actual!) appears out of nowhere to tell hinata not to press the button, it's a trap!!! i totally forgot about this happening so this time i think megumi ogata did jumpscare me

[hetalia-club]

The Cold War era was honestly the cause of so many hilarious things that sound fake but are 100% real. It’s one of the reasons the Cold war is my favorite history era. (I know a lot of horrible stuff happened in that time but let’s focus on the goofy stuff okay?)

Top funniest moments include:

1. Russia thought that they were building a top secret office in the center of the pentagon and pointed nukes directly at it but KGB spies confirmed it was actually a hot dog stand. 2. America was going to nuke the moon as a fuck you to Russia. But decided that might be a bad idea.

3. America had a plan to strap listening devices on cats and turn them lose in Moscow and try and get them to sit in windows and listen in on conversations but then after sinking 2 million into the plan someone was like. “but how do we get the cats to do that...” and they threw that idea out the window.

4. After a big ‘ol woopsie Russia ‘accidently’ ‘allegedly’ almost nuked the USA because someone read the screen wrong and said that the US had fired 5 nukes onto Russia and they were on the way. Luckily the guy in charge was like ‘nah, that ain’t them they wouldn’t do us like that.’ He basically diverted a nuclear war on a ‘gut feeling’. Because the computer systems said it was a go.

5. America built a bunch of rail ways that went nowhere and spent a ton of money on advertising for them basically saying how important that these railways were. They let the info slip to Russia incase they did nuke them they would nuke the useless railways. I can’t decide if that’s a 200 IQ plan or stupid. because Russia of course took the bait.

6. Russia at the same time had the exact same plan and built a couple fake cities in Russia and let some advertising slip about how cool and groovy(it was the 60′s) and also very important these cities were. America of course took the bait. EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD THE SAME PLAN!

7. Russia commissioned America to make fake maps and the only difference was that Russia was bigger on the map than usual. Wow amazing truly astounding.

8. The time America tried to train bears to fly planes... Because they thought it would be super sick and the Russians would be so jealous of the bear pilots. Didn’t work out. 

9. Russia tried to use psychics yes you read right the were looking for someone with psychokinetic powers to train to divert missiles. Yes really, they were doing this. America got so jealous of this that they wanted their own super hero program and they also started looking for someone who could make objects float and also read minds they sunk about 20 mill into that one.

10. (don’t remember who) In the 50′s the current leader of Russia came to America for a meeting which was in California. He toured the Hollywood studios ad really really wanted to go to Disney Land like so fucking bad. The current president of the US was like ‘dude that is a horrible idea you are the leader of Russia you can’t just go to Disney. He flipped his shit he was so fucking mad. He was like ‘why can’t I go? Is there some secret launch base there? Is there something I can’t see? This is so stupid I want to go!’ he even threatened to unalive himself at one point. I don’t think they ever did let him go because they would of had to empty the entire park for him because it was a crazy security risk for him to even be on his GT of Cali in the first place. Apparently the CIA agents with him had a 70+ page book on how to keep him safe. Frank Sinatra was even there to try and keep him happy. though i don’t exactly remember how he got roped into being there.

That is just 10 things there is so much more. So much bonkers shit. I didn’t even get into things Germany and England did. 

[zevranunderstander]

basically, what I mean is, I recently saw a tiktok where a guy explained that midjourney is "racist, ableist and sexist" and. yeah. the point the guy made was 100% correct but the way he did it was pissing me off so bad because people assign a level of consciousness to AI that the tool simply does not have.

Basically, what the guy did was to enter a prompt into midjourney a bunch of times, which was something like "autistic person", and then he looked at the generated results, and in a very tiktok-typical overexaggerated and lowkey patronizing manner he explained that the generated results were a problem because they were all young white blonde skinny boys (the very stereotype you have of autism) and that there was no diversity - neither in race, gender or age, which makes the assumption that only young white boys have autism and no one else. And that is a valid point and criticism, but then instead of asking any more questions about how and why that is, they just ended the video with the statement that midjourney is bigoted.

and I guess I'm especially mad because the answer to the question of why that is, is really interesting and stems from a problem that all AI has and will always have and that actually needs genuine discussion, especially if AI would become something more prevalent in many professional fields.

first of all, the guy made some real mistakes when working with midjourney, because he used midjourney with a few wrong assumptions: using the same prompt over and over again won't create any noticeable diversity in generated images, especially not if no additional filters are being used, so his point would have been made more clear if he tried variations of his prompt that don't explicitly opted in the diversity, so he should have tried "person with autism", "group of people with autism", etc. to actually see if the prompt generation would show other results. second of all, midjourney is not a person you talk to, a computer doesn't think like a human, so midjourney cannot grasp what you want from a very vague prompt, so the general consensus is "the more vague the prompt, the more generic the image", because if a person enters "tree" into the prompt search it is way more likely they want the most generic-looking tree (the thing you imagine when you say "tree") and not a really unexpected shape of tree, like for example a boojum tree, even though midjourney might be aware that trees can look like a boojum tree does, it will probably generate the most basic, stereotypical answer.

the stereotypical answer for generating people usually means it's an actual stereotype of some sort. if you would ask midjourney to generate a French person, it would probably generate a guy in a baret and with a baguette under his arm, and while, yes, Frenchness is not distinguishable from facial traits or choice of clothing, it's most likely that if you want a french person generated, you don't want a random human person, but instead at least a sort of stereotyped kind of french person. So if you would want the generated image to look more like what you want, you would need to give a more specific prompt than "french person", because how is the computer going to know what exactly you want generated. but, yeah, the way the guy did the video was kind of unserious and way too patronizing for the fact that he had no clue what he was talking about, but you may have been thinking "stereotypes? that doesn't sound good", and yeah, exactly, it really really isn't. See, the way AI works is only as a mirror of the data it is given. My professor once told us about a tool meant for looking through job applications and hiring people based on datasets. The algorithm analyzed the CVs and job skills of people who successfully held positions like the one the program wanted to hire people for to suggest applicants for the position that the program saw were skilled in a similar manner as people who already held that position. So it read the datasets and, for high-ranking roles, it almost exclusively suggested white middle-aged men. That wasn't because the tool was being told to be actively sexist or racist, but with the fact that this was done in the USA, where people have to put race and gender into their application, and the algorithm analyzed that white men holding most positions of power, so the program just assumed these as equally "important" factors as a person's skills and other stats were, because the program wasn't taught about structural inequality, it just assumed that "white" and "male" were really good skills a person should have to become a CEO.

And that is exactly the problem with using AI in any political or human-related context. Computers really like datasets and logic that can be applied to everyone equally, but social situations and human existence are very muddled, and complicated, with structural problems and biases and sexism and racism and ableism and fatphobia. AI wasn't made by an omnipotent god, it was made from human data - our society is kind of reluctant to portray fat people in any context, so an AI, that does not know about human biases and fatphobia, just assumes that since fat people are rarely shown in art, movies, video games, etc. they just have to be way rarer than they actually are, a bit of an outlier and not the "stereotypical" thing you see when you prompt midjourney to generate a human person.

western society made whiteness, maleness, skinny bodies and physical ability the "norm", that is way more often portrayed than racial diversity, fatness, disability, and (in many fields) women. Political figures are to a huge percentage white middle-aged men, so even though there are young and non-white politicians and female and gender-diverse politicians, they are to midjourney a bit like the boojum tree i mentioned earlier - a program doesn't know about affirmative action and a fight for diversity in leading roles and oppression and the history of human rights and that skin color, gender, age, body type and physical ability are politically sensitive traits that have a different meaning and political weight than whether a generated tree has green or yellow leaves, or is a needle tree.

i am not saying that we cannot correct AI at all in that way, but filtering all of these cases needs a human that actually instructs the machine and will never be totally impartial, a machine cannot understand the political implications of any prompts it generates because it's just a machine that does a LOT of statistics math. So even if we were to manually add a filter that automatically made results more diverse, it might completely skewer results for other groups of people, so that making results more diverse would make a prompt like "generate a group of conservative people" entirely unbelievable. that being said, i do think there are things that could be absolutely done to fight current bigoted search results, but that isn't really the point I am trying to make.

the point I am trying to make is, that if it happens that in the future, more and more things are powered by AI, we need to be watchful of AI that is trying to manage any type of social situation: job hunt, appartment search, complex ai used in dating apps, image generation showing groups of people, text generation describing groups of people. because AI is absolutely incapable of being impartial because it's just a bunch of datasets that don't understand the concept of partiality

one thing i am soooo petty about is when people make points about AI and their main point is entirely correct but the way they phrase it makes it so clear they have no fucking idea how AI works at all?

[polyhexian]

Reply too big to keep in replies, forgive me

Flash emulation won't actually work with the way the site is coded. It's really difficult to truly illustrate HOW fucked the site is if you aren't familiar with it.

So the flash games are INTEGRATED into the site. They don't just play. They send scores and those scores are validated by the site and then affect the game in real time by awarding points. Thats backend stuff and it seems EASY. But flash EMULATION will not really let that process work. Not blanket. Ruffle is a browser add on for flash and you can play some games with it but every game has needed to be worked manually and individually to try and get it to play correctly and to let it send scores.

Here, so like. Last year you may recall having heard about the data breach. It was a long time coming. Neopets has terrible security and always has. So someone got backend access, downloaded the server and this had all of the usernames and passwords ever used. Were they hashed? Yes. Was the hashkey stored in the server and thus also available to the hacker? Also yes.

As a result neopets finally moved from http to https. Great!

Not for flash games.

Every game has links in it right. Backend stuff. Mechanics. But all those fucking links redirect to http, not https. And you cannot change that without editing the game and you can't do THAT without a program that makes flash elements. So they're basically unfixable on site. On one fell swoop, every single flash game broke at once. You could play them but scores were now unsendable.

The workaround neopets USERS found was, I shut you not, using developer tools to modify the way your entire computer communicates with the internet

"oh, that seems simple"

Look the fuck at what is IN the js file

It is 538 lines! It is manually overriding the links used in these games. This IS hacking. Technically this is against the rules, it's just not being enforced.

Don't worry, I'm terrified.

The workaround before this STILL had you download a new browser, modify it, take your internet offline and manually reinstall an old version of flash to create a jury rigged flash browser. Oh my God this is so dangerous and we Still do this. Did I do all this fiddler stuff? Yes! I did! Because neopets is very much like transformers in that there is a small user base but every single person there is fucking insane!

So.... Emulation is not a solution. Every game needs to be individually ground up REMADE in html5. And you can't just import the old game and tweak it. It has to be made from scratch. That's why there are so few html5 games. It's incredibly difficult and time consuming and probably not all that worth it when there's so much to be done.

This is what I mean when I say the site is virtually unplayable. This is the kind of shit that we have to do to make the site work. You basically cannot play unless you are accessing fan sites and communities to find resources that can offer fixes to everything that is broken. There are legitimately pages of this website that have not been updated since 1999. Until like two years ago you still could not say "gay" on the forums because the chat filter caught it. And do you know why?? Staff literally did not know where the chat filter was stored in the backend. They could not find it. The site traded hands and staff so much that no one remained who knew where it was.

There is LITERALLY a guy who found backend access several years ago and can, whenever he wants, get into the server and look at everything. HE could have stolen those passwords (which the other hacker was selling for $10,000!!) At any time he wanted. Instead he just made an anonymous reddit account where he would post info about how the fucking site works and why things are broken and "yeah they lied about fixing this its still broken" or "yeah actually they secretly shadowbanned a bunch of people from submitting scores to the big yearly event next year if you dm me I can tell you if you're on the list"

And he IS STILL THERE!!!! HE STILL HAS SERVER ACCESS!!! ITS BEEN YEARS AND THEY HAVENT KICKED HIM OUR BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVENT FOUND THE BREACH!!!!!!!

This. THIS is what staff is dealing with. THIS is the absolute shit storm they need to tackle if they want this site to work. The way pets are stored, the way accounts work, all of those things cannot be changed without causing severe issues conflicting with users accounts, pets, items, and all of that was originally coded in 1998/1999 and it cannot be changed. It cannot be modernized. They need to find ways to integrate old code that cannot be changed into a site coded for a modern internet. That is beyond the scope of normal site building.

All that is to say... I'm hesitant to believe things will improve, not because I don't think staff wants to, not because I don't think they have the drive and the passion to throw everything they have at it. Just because... Jesus dude I don't know if they actually have the resources to fix this mess at all.

[direwolfrules]

Some things I noticed while rewatching "The Academy" episode of The Clone Wars

Soniee's at the docks to greet the Jedi, but Almec doesn't introduce her which. Is weird. Almec why do you suck so bad?

Seriously, she's left standing there when the others are called up. Just hanging in the back, forever alone.

Lagos just looks so done on the docks. Just so done.

Lagos also leans forward a little when Korkie asks to see Ahsoka's lightsaber. She wants to see the laser sword too, she just doesn't have Korkie's impulsiveness.

When Korkie gets pulled back by Almec Satine is utterly unfazed and Amis and Lagos exchange a look, like "By the manda he did it again".

The way the cadets turn with the guards implies they've done drills and stuff. So like, does that mean the discipline part of Mandalorian martial culture was kept? Or something, I don't know.

Hey look, weapons are only banned for off-worlders, and that's a recent thing after Obi-Wan swung by a few months ago. Did ya hear that Satine haters who claim blatantly false things?

In the establishing shot of the Academy you can see one student running towards the building. Poor bastard is late for class.

The students' chairs look so uncomfortable.

There are different colored lines on the students' uniforms' kar'ta beskar. Korkie's got red segmented lines, Lagos has plain red lines, Soniee has white lines, and Amis has no lines. What do they mean? Are they meant to signify something specific? Who knows, headcanon away.

The girls' uniforms have brown/bronze cuff patterns and the boys' have gold cuff patterns.

The Cadet Squad also has different shoulder marks on their uniforms. Korkie and Lagos have plain gold, Soniee has plain silver/gray, and Amis has a silver mark with a gold and red bar on it. What does this mean? I need headcanons people!

The marks are also present on the side flap things of the boys' uniforms.

Apparently, there are a bunch of twins and triplets in the cadets' class (reusing assets? it's more likely than you think)

Almec's hair has a pattern of beskar hearts, because of course it does.

Lagos' hair is actually really short with an accessory that mimics pigtails.

The wall screens in the cadet's dorm have Mando'a script.

Soniee's the first to snark at Amis. It's great, 10/10 sibling energy.

Soniee almost always has a computer on hand in addition to her little tech visor thing. I love that.

When Soniee tells the Cadet Squad that the Academy's out of rations again she's staring at her laptop. Did she hack the Academy's inventory records so she could determine if a late-night snack run was possible?

Amis' response about no late-night snack runs makes it seem like that's a thing they've done before, which is adorable.

Korkie: These doors are heavily secured by top-of-the-line government security programs, we'll never get in.

Soniee: *flips down her visor* I eat top-of-the-line government security programs for breakfast.

Korkie literally pronounces Ahsoka with the most over-emphasized "ah" sound.

Almec's response to Satine spitting facts is to put a shock collar on her. Because he's a pathetic little worm-man.

Korkie's like an inch away from being tortured with a shock collar and you can see when the camera cuts to Satine that she almost gives in. You see her grit her teeth and her eyes fill with despair. She loves that boy dammit.

The cadets throw themselves on Almec's goons to take them down, which is just so funny looking.

Everyone else seems to have knocked out their assigned evil henchman except Soniee, who was apparently too light, so Amis just jumps on the guy with her.

The cadets are so synchronized, I just can't. I love them and this fight scene is hilarious. I'm pretty sure at one point Amis headbutts a metal shield and doesn't even flinch.

Almec gets hit with a fraction of the shock collar time he gave Satine and immediately folds. Cause he's pathetic.

Soniee still has her visor after all the headbutting and flopping. I love her. Korkie, move aside, you're getting out blorbo-ed.

Seriously the end of episode fight scene cuts between Ahsoka engaging in acts of Jedi badassery and the cadets looking like Yakkety Sax is playing in the background.

[msbarrybeeson]

Even If We’re Different | Turbo X F!Reader (Human AU)

A/N: This is based off of the Turbo F.A.S.T series. I decided to make this a human a.u., otherwise I’d be automatically tagged as insane for a snail and reader pairing. Now, if I did do that, the reader would have to be a snail too. 

The snails’ names are considered racer nicknames in this a.u. I cannot imagine having “Turbo” as an actual student name. Turbo is Theo. Whiplash is Whitney. Chet is Chet. Burn is Bernice. Skidmark is Yahir. Smoove Move is Darion. White Shadow is Matthew. 

(Picking these names other than the canon ones is hard as heck.)

You’ll only see Turbo (Theo), Burn (Bernice), and Smoove Move (Darion) here though.

–

Pairing(s): Turbo (Theo) X Reader

Universe: Human, where the F.A.S.T Crew are university students with racing as a hobby. Turbo is officially the youngest racer, winning a national competition at 18 years old. (I have no exact clue how car racing competitions work in real life, so take this fan fiction with a grain of salt.)

Summary: You get insecure of your friendship with Turbo when you start believing that he and Hayaku get along well. (You also have a crush on him, but you haven’t confessed yet.)

Word Count: ~1700

Warning(s): Insecurity of appearance and interests.

– 

You could only scoff. Your pencil scribbled harshly across your notebook. All while you overheard Hayaku giggle at whatever Theo said. 

You glanced up at the man to find his eyes and infatuated smile for her. You scowled. The sight irritated you, but you could not help yourself from your insecurity. 

Hayaku did look beautiful with her silky hair. Besides— you thought as you frowned to yourself— she was a professional drift racer and a celebrity for her infamous hot sauce back in Japan. She had something in common with Theo, while you were only a university student taking on art minor and computer science major. 

Speaking of which, you sometimes wondered how you even managed to become friends with Theo’s bunch of racecar drivers. You and Theo’s brother Chet were the only ones not obsessed with the sport. Regardless, you were grateful for having such friends at least. 

Though your heart felt bitter, you shook your head. You needed time to debug a program, not to grieve over Theo. You groaned, “I forgot the other brace at the end of the if-statement—.”

“You’re a very funny man, Turbo-san!” Hayaku laughed behind her hand. “I surely look forward to our official drift race.”

Theo smiled. “As do I.”

The grip on your pencil tightened. You could not handle this, so you turned away from the race track, putting in a pair of earphones to distract yourself. Your arm leaned on the empty row behind you. Then when you were finally about to settle down, somebody snatched your earphones out, holding them overhead.

“H-hey Smoove!” Darion, otherwise known as Smoove Move, was one of yours friends and a member of the F.A.S.T crew. 

“You’re looking deep down in the dumps, hun,” Darion hummed, dropping the earphones back into your hand. “This ain’t the (Name) I know— the one always down to go with Turbo.”

“Yeah, her man’s busy talking to that Japanese girl,” Bernice, nicknamed as Burn, remarked, blowing a bubble.

You sighed. “Don’t say it like that, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet.”

Your hands covered your face. “Can’t believe you guys know about my crush on Turbo except him himself,” you mumbled. “What’s worse is that he’s falling in love with someone else in front of my eyes.”

“Ay, don’t be hard on yourself. The right kind of love moves slowly.” Darion sat beside you on the bleachers. “There’s more to it than you know. I mean, even Turbo’s feeling all kinds of emotions for you too.”

You closed your notebook and faced your two friends. “What?”

Bernice shoved you. “Don’t tell us you never noticed a single thing the past few months. Especially our 2nd year party that one night.”

“Whoo, I remember it like it was yes-ter-day!” Darion laughed. “That look on Turbo’s face had me rollin’!”

Bernice smirked. “Hell, he was so pissed off when he caught you hanging out with one of our rival team’s star, Fusion.”

“Fusion?”

“Nickname. His real name’s Aiden.”

The name clicked in your head. “Ah….” You recalled how cocky he sounded, belittling your friends to make himself look good. You had to admit: Aiden was an entertaining guy, but when he asked you to a dance, you turned him down.

“You weren’t there, but he challenged our boy to a race. Couldn’t win even when they tried so hard to copy him.”

“But he still got a hard spot for Fusion.” Bernice crossed her arms. “Turbo was crushing his can and ruining Chet’s suit with soda all over him. At least you gotta have seen that.”

“How ‘bout that time when Hardcase tried asking her out, Burn?”

“Ah man, Turbo’s face was priceless!”

“Got his finger tapping so quick on the table and everything—.”

“If you are trying to tell me Turbo’s been crushing on me, then explain why does he look like he’s going to marry Hayaku after a few minutes of meeting her?”

“Hey, hey, I’m only telling you this from a man’s view: first sights in love are with the looks. I bet you even if they do get together, Turbo ain’t gonna last two dates when he sees what’s really behind her.” Darion grimaced. “And I’m picking up a bad groove. See how her smile’s turned over ‘round—. Hey, where’d my boy Turbo go—?”

“What ‘bad groove,’ Smoove?”

The three of you were startled by a voice from behind. You turned to find Theo walking down the bleachers.

“Don’t you scare us again, Turbo,” Bernice remarked.

Theo chuckled. “Sorry guys, I had to change out of my suit. Why are you two here anyway?” he asked. “You don’t usually come to my practices.”

“Team meeting’s not on until a couple of minutes later,” Darion answered. “Got nothing much, so might as well spend our time here. Besides, (Name) here’s looking a little lonely, so why not be her company?”

Theo’s eyebrows furrowed. Your eyes peered toward Darion, whose hand signaled you to wait. 

“So anyway,” Darion spoke again, “what’s new for you, Turbo?”

The man shook his head, a smile returning to his face. “Man, there’s this girl from Japan, right? Her name’s Hayaku. She traveled to here from Japan to race against me! Well, more like her hot sauce manager challenged Tito. But I think she likes me.” Theo grinned.

“Watch it,” Bernice warned, “I heard this Hayaku girl’s a competitive one.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“No, no.” Darion shook. “She mean she’s a hothead. May be pretty, but pretty rude too.”

“Look, Turbo,” Bernice said, “every competitor you meet who looks nice always backstab you.”

Theo crossed his arms. “Not everyone’s like that. I’m sure Hayaku’s different.”

“My boy, you’re racing over who has better hot sauce.”

You opened your notebook again, not getting into the conversation.

“Well I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s even offered to teach me how to drift!”

Bernice rolled her eyes. “Oh my god.”

Theo huffed. “Anyway, the sun’s about to set. We better get going before Whiplash starts lecturing us.” 

Darion and Bernice shared a glance and snickered. “Sure, brother, take. your. time.” 

Theo’s eyes widened. Flustered, he glared down at them as they stood up from the bleachers and walked off. Theo tapped his shoe, waiting until his two friends were gone, before he faced you. 

…

But of course, there was an awkward silence. You continued jotting down some notes, thinking Theo would leave you be.

“…You’ve been pretty quiet, (Name).”

You pursed your lips. “There’s not much to tell you, so I rather not bother you by talking.”

“What? You’re not bothering anyone. I actually like your voice— I mean— I don’t mind you talking at all,” Theo stumbled. “The only time that’d be a problem is when Skidmark is convinced the aliens are going to invade the stock market.” He leaned forward to see your face, but his small smile disappeared when he found no reaction out of you. “…I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were feeling lonely,” Theo spoke up. “If I’d known that before, I wouldn’t have forced you to come every practice, (Name).”

“I’m fine, Turbo,” you assured him. “I don’t mind watching you on my own. Plus, it makes for a great chance to study.” You paused for a moment. “It’s just that… there’s a larger crowd here today than any.”

“It happens when an international racer decides to visit.” Theo chuckled, trailing off into another silence. He rubbed his nape nervously. “…You’re also not coming with us?”

You huffed. “You forget that I’m not a racer like you, Turbo.”

“I—. Well, I don’t ever remember that stopping you from hanging out with us.”

“This is a crew meeting?”

“(Name), come on.” He pushed you. “I know for sure Whiplash doesn’t mind. You’re our friend.”

“A friend who isn’t into racing like you.” The words slipped your tongue this time.

“(Name),” Theo said sternly, “What’s gotten into you today? You never cared about this just a few days ago.”

You sighed. “I just don’t—. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about us.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re friends and all,” you closed your notebook and hugged your legs, “but I’m not sure how it even began. I’m an art and computer science student. You’re into mechanical engineering and racing.”

Theo sat down beside you. “Are you worried we couldn’t stay as friends just because we’re not into the same interests?” A frown formed on his lips. “Okay— I admit: most friends fall under that category. But you and I— the crew do have something in common. Something outside of our hobbies. For one, we all have dreams to work for. We’re big competitors in our fields. And….” 

Theo had to stop himself from mentioning his meeting with you at the university library, where he spotted you sprinting past him to borrow a well-liked book before someone else claimed it. Theo had to stop himself from talking about the time he watched you hype your teammates up for a competition. 

“There are times when I really admire your determination, (Name).”

His eyes told nothing but his true feelings. Theo himself was determined to stay friends with you.

“Stay.” 

Your ears reddened, and you turned to hide your flustered smile while pushing Theo away. You missed the way Theo’s eyes softened when the sunset’s golden light reached your features. 

“Yeah,” he spoke softly, “Hayaku’s wrong about you.”

~

Bonus:

“(Name)!” He waved his hand towards you, but your back was turned to him. “Huh, I guess she’s really busy with her project.”

“Is this friend of yours also a racer, Turbo-san?” 

“Well actually, she’s not.”

Hayaku peered at you. “But surely she must be a distraction to you, no?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Please excuse me. My experience is having friends who don’t have the same interests can pull you down, Turbo-san. Since we’ll be having a drift race against one another, I must teach you the art of drifting for a fair—.”

“You know, I don’t appreciate you talking down on my friend like that.” Theo narrowed his eyes. “But I’ll take on your offer for drifting lessons. See you.” He scoffed and walked off to the changing room.