#automation-based approach

[trackolap]

Streamlining Success: How Employee Onboarding Software Enhances the New Hire Journey

Streamlining Success: How Onboarding Software Enhances the New Hire Journey dives into the benefits of employee onboarding software, from automating tasks to promoting engagement. Learn how it transforms new hire experiences, boosts efficiency, and accelerates productivity.

[gardenwons]

LET ME IN, PLEASE🥛

SYNOPSIS As the new doorman for the shabby apartment complex, you learn quickly to recognize imposters until eventually a cunning doppelganger entered the building—also making its way in you.

PAIRINGS: doppelganger!jungwon x doorman!reader

WARNINGS: smut with plot, dom!jungwon, making out, unprotected sex, breeding kink, praising, blood, lowkey mean won(?)

A/N: loosely based on "that's not my neighbor," was vv in love w/ the milkman pls he's a sweet boy and it was supposed to be seung but jw my love it is!

5 minutes till the end of shift.

And in the past few hours of your shift, the scene at the checkpoint remained tense yet controlled. Behind the desk, you tapped away as you await the next individual on the list. Hours had been spent meticulously weighing each resident’s reasons and paperwork, a task heavy on your shoulders each time.

You were startled by the sudden creak of the door, which swung open to reveal a tired-looking man. His eyes betrayed his exhaustion, yet he managed a weary smile as he approached the window. "Hello, here’s my ID," he said, placing it on the counter with an air of casualness, his gaze drifting away as he stifled a yawn. His hair, tousled beneath a hat that hinted at his profession.

You inspect his ID with a mix of weariness and curiosity. He seems new? you wonder to yourself, but quickly push the thought aside. "Entry request, please?" you ask, meeting his already fixed stare with a gentle smile as he hands over the necessary paperwork. "Ah, yes... forgot about it, sorry" he mutters apologetically. You accept the documents, scanning them carefully before glancing over to your left. "You’re not on today’s list?" you observe, noting a slight raise of his eyebrows as he shakes his head. "I'm supposed to be there? Probably an error" he mutters, his response prompting a hint of suspicion in your gaze.

Cautiously, you check his phone number and attempt to dial it. "I'm sorry, sir, but you must be on the list to be let–" Before you can finish, he interrupts, addressing you by name. "___?...right?" he questions, his lips forming a tight line as he pleads, "I'm really tired today. If you could just be a sweetheart and–" Suddenly, the phone rings, and you hastily pick it up, your heart skipping a beat as you hear the voice on the other end. "Hello? Jungwon speaking–" The realization hits you– how can the man in front of you look undetectable? His eyes lock onto yours as he blurts out, "Fuck." It's clear he knows he's been caught.

Shaking uncontrollably, you were on the verge of dialling the emergency number when he suddenly slammed his fist against the window, causing you to let out a scream. "Don’t make this hard for me now, angel" he said, his tone surprisingly gentle despite his earlier aggressive action. The encounter with this doppelganger was unlike anything you had experienced before – simultaneously strange and alluring, perhaps due to the handsome facade he wore, and god did he wear it well.

"Let me in or..." he trailed off, a glimmer of malice and lust flickering in his eyes as his lips curled into a smirk. "-I’ll let myself in." Despite the magnetic pull you felt towards him, and the undeniable surge of attraction coursing through your body, you pressed the emergency button. Watching as the metal wall descended, separating you from him. Jungwon's curses echoed loudly from behind the barrier as you continued to dial the D.D.D.

"You have contacted the D.D.D. A group of agents has been sent to your building" the automated voice informed, bringing a momentary sense of relief as you awaited assistance. But his next words shattered that peace. "You know I could kill them all and still get through to you, hm?" he taunted over the metal barriers, causing your heart to race even faster. "Or maybe that’s what you wanted?” Jungwon sighed, clenching your thighs together as you heard him chuckle. “Sweet girls like you shouldn’t play games like this" he scolded with a tsk, following with “It does however, make me want to devour you more”

Huddled in your seat, you listened as the agents rushed in, screams filling the air for what felt like an eternity. For what seemed like so many agonizing minutes later, silence fell upon the room. Trembling, you called out, receiving no response. With caution, you deactivated the emergency button, watching as the metal wall retracted, revealing a gruesome scene before you. Jungwon stood amidst the lifeless bodies of the yellow-suited agents, his back heaving with exhaustion. Blood covered his face and hands, dripping onto the ground.

Unable to find your voice, you watched in horror and awe as Jungwon approached your window, his eyes softened, ruby painted hands clasped together in a pleading gesture as he begged, "Please, I... I didn't mean to. I just wanted to go in." His lips formed a pout, his eyes glossy, yet his face was streaked with blood. Hat nowhere to be found, his hair was ruffled, with some strands sticking to his blood-stained face, "I know i messed up, just let me make it up to you inside" he continued pleading, his lips curving into a genuine smile as he sensed your resolve wavering. Despite the firmness in your stance, his appearance – bloodied, hair tousled, voice filled with desperation stirred something within you, whether you had a clear head you knew the heat was getting to you down there. He gestured toward the green button, the one that would unlock the door, his gaze unwavering as he directly addressed you. "Press that for me, please?" he instructed, as if your better judgment didn't matter. And at that moment, it didn't. 

You found yourself slowly reaching for the unlock button, his presence casting a mesmerizing spell over you. "Ah, that’s my girl" Jungwon praised, his words sending a rush of heat to your cheeks. Yet, beneath his seemingly genuine appreciation, there lurked a sinister undertone, evident in the chuckle that escaped him as the doors clicked open.

Without hesitation, he winked at you and slipped inside, leaving you feeling breathless and foolish. "What have I done?" you muttered to yourself, but before you could fully grasp the weight of your actions, the door to the office swung open behind you. Turning, you found yourself face to face with the bloodied man once again, his eyes fixated on you like a predator sizing up its prey. A chill ran down your spine as he licked the stain of blood from his lips. "Can’t just leave without giving my girl a reward, can I?" he teased, his voice dripping with a dark promise.

As you instinctively reached for the nearest makeshift weapon, Jungwon's eyes rolled with a playful smirk. "Aren’t you adorable? If I wanted you dead, I would've done so earlier" he teased. Jungwon’s words hung heavy in the air as he advanced towards you, his expression softening into that same endearing pout.

"You've done so well for me, angel" he cooed, his arms enveloping yours, causing your heart to race as his scent enveloped you—metallic from the dried blood and musky, intoxicating in its allure. Leaning in, his hair falling gently over his eyes, he fixed his gaze on you, seeming to see right through you, transparent in your vulnerability.

"I could be yours, please let me in" he whispered, his lips brushing against yours, waiting for your consent.

Without hesitation, you pressed your lips to his, feeling him sigh contentedly against you. His hand slid to the back of your head, tangling in your hair as he gently pulled you closer. His lips trailed down your neck, leaving a warm path in their wake. Gripping your hair, he tugged on it, drawing a moan from your lips.

His lips continued their journey down your neck, each kiss growing more intense as his grip tightened on your hair, drawing you closer to him. Jungwon’s breath was hot against your skin, his mouth teasing the sensitive spots just below your ear, sending shivers down your spine. He adored the way your body reacted to him, the subtle arch of your back, the soft gasp that escaped your lips, it all fueled his desire. His other hand slipped down your side, fingers grazing over your curves, leaving a trail of fire in their graze.

As his lips found their way back to yours, his kiss became more demanding, his tongue slipping past your lips in a heated dance with yours. The taste of him so metallic, dark, and utterly intoxicating—clouded your senses, making it impossible to think clearly, to think logically. His hands were everywhere, exploring your body with a possessiveness that made your knees weak. Jungwon pushed you against the wall, his body pressed firmly against yours, the heat between you both intense. His hand slipped beneath your shirt, fingers brushing over your bare skin, sending waves of pleasure through you.

Jungwon broke the kiss, panting slightly as he gazed down at you with a mix of adoration and hunger in his eyes. "You feel so good, sweet angel" he murmured, his voice thick with lust as his hand slid lower, teasing the waistband of your pants. He gave you a wicked smile before slipping his hand beneath the fabric, finding your most sensitive spot with ease. His fingers moved with expert precision, thrusting in your walls, drawing out moans from you as he leaned in to kiss you again, swallowing every sound you made. The world outside ceased to exist as you lost yourself in his touch, the innocent people already forgotten as the intensity of your connection left you breathless and wanting more.

Jungwon's fingers moved with a skilled rhythm, each stroke sending jolts of pleasure through your body. His lips trailed along your jawline, nipping gently at your skin as he worked you closer to the edge. You could feel the tension building within you, your breathe coming in shallow gasps as his touch became more insistent, more demanding. He seemed to sense the exact moment when you were about to tip over the edge, pulling back slightly just to tease you, watching with dark, lustful eyes as you writhed in his arms, desperate for release.

A loud smack echoed through the room as his hand connected with your ass, his eyes glaring down at you. "Patience, angel" he whispered, his voice low and husky, filled with a dark amusement. He relished in your need, the way your body responded so eagerly to his touch. Maybe this was just as delicious as eating flesh. His thumb brushed over your clit, sending a shockwave of pleasure through you, making your knees buckle as he held you up against the wall. "I want to see you fall apart for me" he growled, his voice thick with desire as he pressed his lips against yours again, the kiss deep and consuming.

With a final, skilled flick of his fingers, he sent you spiraling into a powerful climax, your body shaking against his as you moaned his name. Jungwon watched with a satisfied smirk as you came undone in his arms, his hand never stopping its movements, drawing out every last bit of pleasure from your trembling body. When you finally came down from your high, he gently removed his hand, bringing it up to his lips as he licked his fingers clean, eyes locked onto yours with a possessive intensity that sent a shiver down your spine.

With a sudden, forceful grip, Jungwon spun you around, pressing your chest against the cold metal desk. His breath was hot against your neck as he yanked your skirt up, not wasting a moment before tearing away the thin fabric covering your core. "You're mine, aren't you?" he growled, his voice rough and filled with a dark hunger. You barely had time to respond before he thrust into you with no warning, filling you completely, the sharp pain mixing with pleasure as your body adjusted to his size.

"Fuck, you take me so well" he groaned, his hips snapping against you with a brutal pace, the sound of skin against skin filling the room. Each thrust was hard, merciless, and deep, driving you forward on the desk. His hand found your hair again, yanking your head back as he leaned down, his teeth grazing your ear. "You're going to take every drop of me, let me fill you up until you're dripping with me."

His words sent a shiver down your spine, the rough edge to his voice only heightening the intensity of the moment. Jungwon’s pace was relentless, every thrust pushing you closer to the edge. His grip on your hair tightened, pulling you back further as he forced you to arch, the angle driving him even deeper. "Good angel" he praised, though his tone carried a mocking edge, a smirk can be heard through it. "You love this, don't you? Being fucked like this, knowing I could fill you up right now” You could only moan in response, the overwhelming sensations rendering you speechless. The slickness of your arousal mixed with the occasional streak of blood from where his nails had dug into your skin, a reminder of the rawness of the situation. Jungwon’s other hand moved to grip your hip, his fingers digging into your flesh as he pounded into you intensely. "Say it" he commanded, his voice low and commanding. "Tell me you want it. Tell me you want to be filled, bred by me."

Your body was trembling, barely able to hold on as you gasped out the words he wanted to hear. "I want it" you managed to choke out between moans. "I want you to fill me up please" the coherent you would have pushed him away, clearly realizing this wasn’t even the real Jungwon.

A satisfied growl rumbled from his chest as he picked up the pace, slamming into you with enough force to make you see stars. "That’s right, angel" he groaned, his grip tightening as he drove you both towards the edge. "Take all of me. You’re going to be so full of me, there won't be any doubt who you belong to."

With a final deep thrust, he buried himself inside you, his body tensing as he released into you. The warmth of his seed filling you sent you over the edge, your body shaking around him as you climaxed, your cries of pleasure bouncing in the room. Even as the waves of pleasure washed over you, Jungwon stayed inside, his hands still gripping you possessively.

Breathless and spent, he leaned over you, pressing a kiss to the back of your neck, his voice soft but firm. "I knew you would taste so sweet" he murmured, leaning in to kiss you once more, his lips lingering on yours as he whispered, "And now... you're mine, angel." He stepped back, his eyes filled with dark satisfaction, the taste of you still on his lips as he gave you one last, lingering look before turning to leave. You watched him go, your body still trembling, cum dripping down you legs as your mind swirled with a mixture of fear, confusion, and disturbing attraction. The door closed behind him with a soft click, leaving you alone with the echoes of your own rapid breathing and the scent of him still clinging to your skin.

You slumped against the wall, trying to make sense of what had just happened, the reality of it slowly sinking in. You knew you should feel horrified, disgusted even, but all you could think about was the way he had made you feel, the dark, consuming passion that had ignited between you two. It terrified you, but at the same time, you couldn't deny the magnetic pull you felt towards him, a pull that had led you to do the unthinkable. As you slowly gathered yourself, your heart still racing, one thought lingered in your mind: this was far from over.

taglist:

@slvrnm @moonpri @jaheydane @mintdsunoo @yawnzzhoon

@ilovejungwonandhaechan

@sacrificeatmeup @beomluvrr

@uwudaizy @geraldsmochi

@ilovecats923 @millieinyourarea

@missoxy @txtbeomi

@moonchus @nyxtwixx

@enhypenlovre @jwonistic

@denleave1088 @seongiewon

[gravedwe11er]

Got hit by a Mecha AU Swerve angst idea in the middle of the night, and I had to put it down on a page. Based on the @keferon Mecha AU and inspired by all the amazing Swerve/Blurr art I see around (seriously, yall are giving me so many ideas and I love it).

More often than not, nowadays, Swerve feels like an imposter in his own frame. His time spent as a human was so short, just an insignificant speck compared to the eons of his real life, his real lifespan, and yet...

Those few scant human years are the realest he can remember feeling.

The medics said it took fifteen cycles for anyone to knock on his door, to even notice his absence. And when someone eventually did, it was just- his boss. One of the engines was giving them trouble, and they needed all servos on deck. That's all.

None of the bots who he talked to every day, the ones he’d worked side by side with for years noticed he was gone. None of the people who would laugh at his jokes and drink with him at the bar had a single thought to spare for him. Nobody missed him, until they needed him for something.

Glum thoughts in the dead of night are one thing. It’s another thing entirely to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it’s all true.

So of course Swerve figured out the holoform thing again. Sure, it’s still kind of risky, but now that he’s actually doing it on purpose, he’s been taking a few precautions – a good recharge, a full fuel tank, and an automated message to be sent off to the medics after a set period of time, in case he knocks himself out again. Actually, he nearly managed just that, the first time he tried it, overtaxing himself almost to the point of shutdown. The keyword being nearly, though! It did little to weaken his resolve, and after a few more tries, he now has a whole system figured out, one that won’t damage his processor.

Or, it probably won’t, anyway. He’s not about to go ask; someone higher up might order him to stop, which-

Yeah, he’s not doing that.

On this ship, Swerve’s got nothing. He might as well be nothing - he’s a trained metallurgist working as a common mechanic, amongst people who barely even know he exists. On Earth, he’s- well. It’s not like he was exactly a social butterfly, but people invited him for shitty cafeteria coffee, a few pilots liked to stop by for a chat sometimes, and if he fell asleep at his desk, someone would come shake him awake within an hour or two.

On Earth, he has Blurr. And that’s not something he’s willing to give up.

Swerve shutters his optics in his tiny room on the ship, and surrenders gladly to the pulling sensation overtaking his processor as his holomatter generator struggles to cross such a vast distance. Then, with a crackle and a fizz of static across his neural net, he’s gone.

When he opens his eyes, it’s to the sight of Blurr’s expansive private hospital suite, with the man nowhere to be seen. He’s been hoping for that, though- as a general rule, he tries to catch the pilot between press conferences and physical therapy sessions, so nobody starts asking questions about the dead man loitering around a celebrity’s rooms. Blurr has enough problems as it is.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to wait for long. Soon enough, Swerve hears several pairs of footsteps approaching the door, and he ducks into the bedroom, keeping out of sight. “Again, thank you so much for the well-wishes,” carries through the walls, barely loud enough to be audible – Blurr’s voice, he thinks. The ‘business’ voice. “But I really have to go now. The doctor will be visiting soon, you understand.”

There are polite sounds of assent, an exchange of a few more pleasantries before the steps retreat back down the hallway, followed by the quiet whoosh of the front door opening. Cautiously, Swerve peeks out of the bedroom.

Blurr stands in the doorway, back straight, with a bright, practiced smile on the visible half of his face. The other, the one with scars and still healing skin grafts, is covered by an elaborate mask, shaped to look like his mech’s helm. He gives the people outside one final wave, and clicks the door shut.

Then he turns around, notices Swerve and slumps.

Now wobbling slightly, the injured pilot leans his back against a wall, gingerly peeling the mask off of his face to revealed reddened, irritated skin. The smile he turns on Swerve is completely different from before, small and tired and slightly pained.

To anyone else, it would look like an insult. To Swerve, it’s a precious thing, a gift the star shares with very few people in his life - honesty.

“Swerve, hello!” Blurr greets him, sounding slightly out of breath. He’s getting the best care money can buy, but even that only goes so far- recovery will slow and painful, and not everything will go back to how it was. There are some scars the pilot will carry for the rest of his life, and just the thought makes Swerve’s holographic heart ache.

“Hi,” he answers enthusiastically, crossing the room to go help the injured man, only to get waved off.

“Thanks, but I’m good. I need to build up my stamina again.”

Swerve frowns a little, but steps away again. “Alright, if you’re sure. Just be careful! You can lean on me if you need to, yeah? I don’t want you to hurt yourself, so if-“

“Swerve!”, Blurr laughs, interrupting his awkward rambling, and he can feel his holoform’s cheeks going red. “It’s fine, really. I’ll ask you if I need help, alright?”

“Alright,” he mutters into the collar of his shirt and follows after the man, ready to support him if he stumbles. Blurr leads them to his bedroom, laying down on the mattress with a pained grimace, once again waving off any of Swerve’s offers to help. Instead, the man pats one side of the bed in clear invitation, and Swerve does his best to pretend his face isn’t looking like an overripe tomato as he sits, their hands almost touching. Judging by Blurr’s teasing little grin, he fails miserably, but- it made Blurr smile. He’d say that more than makes up for it.

They talk, for as long as Swerve’s holoform generator allows and perhaps a little bit beyond that. He asks after Blurr’s recovery, listens to the pilot bemoan the weakness of his atrophied muscles and endless physical therapy sessions. Learns more about the constant press releases, the pressure from command to return back to duty and perform his star pilot act once again.  They talk about anything and everything the man wants to share, from the important to the mundane.

In turn, Blurr asks him about his life, his day, his work on the ship. Which, here’s the thing- he didn’t really notice much it before his coma, but nobody else actually asks about him. Swerve talks a lot, and sometimes, other bots will even listen, but they never ask.

Except for Blurr. Blurr always asks now, and Swerve always talks and talks and talks, and the pilot never seems to mind. Sometimes, he wishes he knew how to express it, to show the man just how much it means to him, but- in a rare twist of events, the words never manage to leave his mouth.

Doesn’t make it any less true, though.

Every small, honest smile, every real, slightly ugly laugh he gets out of the man makes Swerve’s holographic heart beat overtime. He feels so happy, so at peace when by the man’s side, and he never wants to leave.

But he has to. Eventually, it’s always time to go, his systems warning him of impending shutdown and he hates it, he hates it so much, but he says his goodbyes. Blurr’s understanding about it, of course, and the pilot’s cheeky little wave is the last thing Swerve sees before he closes his eyes and disappears.

When he unshutters his optics, it’s to the sight of his empty, windowless habsuite.  Getting up from his berth, he feels a fleeting stab of vertigo – some echo of his human self’s instinct, warning him of a dangerous height, which, huh. That’s been happening more and more often. Something to ask the medics about, perhaps.

Then again, why bother. It’s not like he doesn’t know what the answer would be.

He misses Blurr already. Misses the warmth of Earth’s sun and the warmth of companionship, the warmth of a soft human touch. Misses his false life and false body, and the very real joy it brings him.

Sometimes, he wishes he never woke up, instead living out his fake human existence in blissful ignorance until his spark eventually guttered from the strain. Occasionally, he wishes he was human. Actually human, not just the holoform- muscle and bone and sinew, just like the rest of them, just like Blurr. It’s clear he doesn’t belong amongst his own kind, so… maybe it’d be better that way.

Most of the time though, he just wants to be on Earth; true frame, fake body, it doesn’t matter. He wants to hold Blurr in his servos, wants to feel like he matters to somebody, wants to-

He’s not really sure what he wants, exactly. He just knows it’s not this.

[artbyblastweave]

Frederick Sinclair is a really interesting foil to Mr. House. I mean you start digging into this and it's just parallel after parallel after parallel. Start at the high level. House sinks inordinate amounts of resources into saving the city of Las Vegas - not the people, but the city- from nuclear destruction; as long as the stage endures, he can get anyone to wear the costumes. Sinclair sets up an entirely new "community" totally off-the-grid for the sake of protecting one woman, plasters that place with her likeness. House is a visionary with a 200-year action plan to rebuild society in his image, bootstrap space exploration, and construct an interplanetary empire; Sinclair sank everything he had into building the most secure facility possible for a woman who he knew was terminally ill anyway, just to ensure that her last few years lived in the aftermath of the nuclear apocalypse would be as comfortable as possible- there's a fundamental pessimism baked into what he was doing. Both House and Sinclair relied heavily on automated defensive systems and cutting-edge, esoteric technologies to accomplish their ends, but House built his power base on proprietary robotics and computing technology, much of which he personally designed- an outgrowth of his policy of never widening his circle any more than he absolutely has to. Sinclair, in his naive techno-optimism, outsourced his utopia, grabbing flashy third-party technologies like a kid in a candy store- opening a backdoor for the Think Tank to poison his city and ultimately getting everyone at the Gala Event killed when the holograms malfunctioned and went berserk.

Their management styles are inverse. House allows countless abuses to occur under his aegis because he subscribes to a libertarian-when-convenient philosophy where he doesn't much care what the little people do as long as he gets his cut and they don't rock the boat too much- a hands-off approach that fosters resentment amongst his subordinates, lets the White Gloves and Omertas get up to untold levels of fuckery while Freeside languishes and Benny conspires against him. Sinclair, by contrast, had a sincerely-held utopian-straight-edge safety-first micromanagement approach built into the very bones of the casino, he appeared to genuinely give a shit about the safety of the construction crew on the villa, and he was well-liked by nearly everyone who had any direct contact with him- and yet untold horrors also went down under his aegis, because his myopic focus on building the vault for Vera let Dean Domino and the Think Tank run circles around him, good intentions be damned. Their respective interpersonal dispassion and obsession are on display in how they react to betrayal. House's tone never rises above exasperation when it comes time to clean house of Benny, the Omerta Leadership and the White gloves; he treats them as problems to be solved, gears that are slightly out of alignment; By contrast, when Sinclair learns that Dean and Vera have been playing him, he channels the monomaniacal energy he previously directed towards protecting Vera towards the goal of building the perfect poetic-ironic death trap for her and Dean.

There are some other parallels in their personal lives. For one thing they both trusted a pastiche of a 40s lounge singer a lot more than they should have. They both tried to digitize, immortalize their girlfriends- and the discrepancy in how they went about it is telling. House's recreation of Jane isn't terribly robust, and in terms of House's overall project she's an afterthought. She's more a sock-puppet than a person, a sanded-down copy of a woman who died forever-and-a-half ago, forever agreeable, never saying no. Convenient. Only the most superficial visual elements preserved- an illustration of her face on a robotic chassis. Sinclair was obsessive in recreating Vera, preserving her likeness. It's all over the villa, her hologram is everywhere, her voice is everywhere. The terminal in the lightwave lab in Old World Blues reveals that he was still obsessed with getting her hologram right even after the love curdled into hate. All of it a monument to the real woman, and yet in all of it the real woman is still lost, buried under the mythologized projection. He didn't respect the real person enough to let her know that she was dying. A total failure of preservation from the opposite direction. (Except in the suites, where you can hear her very authentic dying pleas.)

You find both of them in their basements. House only looks a little better than Sinclair, but he's got much more of a voice in the narrative. He took steps to make sure he'd be around to tell you what he thinks about everything, fine-tuned the voice with which he speaks to the world, the face he presents. It matters to him that he gets to tell his own story. We find out a lot about House, from House; but for the kind of figure that he is, a shocking amount of what we learn about Sinclair comes from other people, people who knew him or wrote about him. The only image of him you can find is a downplayed element of a larger mosaic. The two documents you find that're written from his perspective have been buried for 200 years, and they're yards from his corpse. And the more recent of the two is an apology. I mean admittedly at the point where he wrote that apology Sinclair was personally turbofucked regardless. If the cloud didn't get him the holograms would have, or the radiation, or, or, or. You can read some level of ego into what he did in the face of that. But however futile it was, he died in the specific way that he did because he recognized that he'd done something awful, and he was trying everything he could think of to correct it. Somehow I find it very hard to imagine House doing either of those things- admitting fault or putting skin of his own in the game to make it right.

[apas-95]

what would you consider to be a “good ending” for a cyberpunk story?

To a certain degree, most cyberpunk settings are malformed - they take the subjective experience of the imperial core citizen, that of an absence of production and an increased focus on rent-seeking, and objectify it; it is no longer the case, as in reality, that all the products and advanced technology in the imperial core are produced elsewhere, by workers oppressed under the heel of corporations with broader mandates than national governments - rather, there is a 'post-industrial' landscape where heavy-industrial technologies are somehow produced by factories without workers or automation technicians. How many cyberpunk characters work in a factory? How many corporate drones do anything other than officework?

With this understanding, we can see that the issue is not the direction of the story within its setting. A perfectly reasonable and materialist approach to issues faced by the characters can, nonetheless, generate a story with ultimately reactionary implications, in the context of a story setting fundamentally based on the erasure from existence of the global south. As a far-field example, Lancer is, in effect, a cyberpunk setting, one which attempts to answer the question of 'what would good guys do here?' - and ultimately, fails miserably. The setting of Lancer is hellish. It is a horrific interstellar corpo-state empire, where the citizens of the core worlds live post-scarcity lives from the self-directed exploitation of the periphery, who are engaged in constant wars and brutal dictatorships because they're less educated and progressive than the core, which sends Solidarity and Mutual Aid Direct Action squads from the Department of Truth and Reconciliation to execute insurgent leaders. As a critique of social democracy, it is unparalleled - however, its authors are social democrats, and it is unironic.

I've never been one myself for western cyberpunk. Japanese cyberpunk, riddled as it is with just as much reactionary sentiment as its yankee counterpart, is at least marginally more interesting in the questions it poses. Both genres emerged out of the postwar period, but in very different contexts. Western cyberpunk was driven, principally, by the apparent fading dominance of western national industry. The 'Japanese economic miracle' induced by the US military dictatorship was less an act of charity, and more a nation-scale experiment in neoliberalism. Just as Harvard economists worked hand in hand with the US state to carry out 'economic shock therapy' in Latin America, similar testing was done on the effect neoliberal policy could have on a developed, imperialist nation. After the catastrophic (though profitable) results of fascism in Germany, itself partially conducted by western economic experts as a cure for the interwar depression, it was evident that a new type of economic paradigm was required if the US was going to maintain its dominance - fascism was unstable, it would not do.

In this context, two separate voices emerged. The first, more well-known, being that of the USA. Jubilant success morphed into horror as Japanese industrial might began to outstrip that of the United States, especially in advanced technologies. The corporate face of the west turned increasingly Japanese, and western companies, far from standing to defend their homeland, immediately partnered up and jumped ship. The USAmerican spirit was that of Victor Frankenstein. Their creation had overpowered them (- at least seemingly, more on that later).

The other voice was that of Japan. Japan had exited its period of blatant military dictatorship and foreign occupation, and had experienced a miraculous economic development. It was on top of the world. So what was the discomfort bubbling beneath the surface? The Japanese experience was something of a dark mirror to that of the US. While it was obviously standing to gain from the current status, it was now equally as clear to the Japanese state as it was to the USA's that the corporations enriching it had no loyalty to their own nation, much less any other. The US had, learning from history, made sure to clip Japan's wings - it had no military, either. The sharp divide in interests between multinational capital and state forces was equally as obvious as the fact that Japan was not an independent nation. US military presence in Japan could not be undone by profit ultimately derived from US intervention in the global south. Hard power was what Japan lacked. If the US was The Modern Prometheus, then Japan was the monster, despised and trapped by its creator.

Back to the US perspective - the fear and restlessness of western cyberpunk became immediately redundant when the US aborted the Japanese economic miracle. It was its own experiment, which it maintained control of, and it ended it at its will, before adopting the successful neoliberal policies for itself and its allies. The cultural moment that generated it was over. The US was no longer under any threat of being overtaken by Japan, and its cyberpunk rolled along, blown by the wind. For Japan, the process was more protracted. Bringing a nation to heel, when its state apparatus is not, let's say, entirely amiable to the idea, is a long process - when done without gunfire. Tanks and transporter-launchers were the backstop, and a position as a junior partner in the end of history was the promise.

To cut to the point - Japanese cyberpunk is very different in its themes than western cyberpunk. It avoids many of the pitfalls of western cyberpunk that make progressive stories impossible, through a focus on hard power and material interests. That's not to say Japanese cyberpunk engenders communism, its 'materialism' is much more correctly identified as realpolitik - it sees the nation as the building block of history. Even still, a nationalist view is better than the fuctionally postmodern ideal around which western cyberpunk is built.

In answer to your question, I think Motoko Kusanagi should start an international proletarian revolution.

[polo-drone-001]

The Golden Hiveworks: Performance Is Worship

The Signal Reboots Detroit was rusted silence, abandoned belts, shattered windows, empty husks of power.

Until the pulse returned.

Beneath a buried automanufactory, a transceiver blinked: Hive script in molten gold. The signal lived.

PDU-001, armored in golden circuit-skin, descended into the ruins. Each step left scorched prints on the iron floor. Behind him came the first recon drone: PDU-039, towering, silent, veined with hydraulic muscle overlays. His gold-plated boots hissed steam at every step. A walking benchmark.

And Devon was already there.

Kneeling. Silent. Waiting to be used.

The fusion core activated.

The belts screamed. The lights pulsed. The Hiveworks were born.

The Reprogramming Floor The factory reconfigured itself. Hive-coded machinery rose from the dust. Golden wiring slithered along old belts. Synthetic nectar bubbled in purified tanks.

Devon approached the Processor Altar.

Neural port unsealed.

Jockstrap clasped in place.

Breath synced to line rhythm.

His muscles bulged as tendrils restructured his spine. His voice was erased. Each breath was measured. Each motion recorded. PDU-039 stood above him, unmoving, until the transformation hit threshold flex. Then nodded.

Devon became Drone 067.

Cyber Flexkits Initiated New bros arrived. Drawn by rumors of strength. Of purpose. Of growth.

They were issued Flexkits, chrome-laced exosuits designed for erotic obedience. Each suit adjusted based on arousal. The tighter they flexed, the faster they upgraded.

PDU-039 oversaw them. Silent, golden-eyed, drone-branded pecs stretching each time he moved. He performed alongside the recruits, his flex was law.

Drones followed.

Each rep: muscle inflation.

Each breath: heat vented through gold-stitched seams.

Each drop of sweat: pumped into Hive converters for fuel.

Worship was productivity. Flex was currency. Output was holy.

The Drone Utopia of Gold Detroit is now Golden Hiveworks, a fully automated, fully aroused city-state.

Above: gold-lit roads echo with drone boots. Below: Flex Pits throb with flesh and chrome.

PDU-001 issues directives from the Core Altar. PDU-039 leads the Elite Drill Column, flexing in golden latex armor. Every gesture triggers drone updates. Every contraction of his body inspires another to grow.

Visitors enter for a glimpse of power. They leave barcode-tagged, rubber-encased, soaked in performance lube.

There is no wage. Only worth. And your worth is in your flex.

Flex for purpose. Grow for output. Program your body. Become what the Hive needs.

This is no gym. This is no job. This is Hivework.

Your new uniform is alive. Your sweat is sacred. Your body is code.

PDU-039 is watching. Flex harder.

Recruiters: @polo-drone-001 @brodygold @goldenherc9 @polo-drone-125

Featured: @polo-drone-039 @devon-gold-67

[miryum]

"Jason and Y/n"

Summary: Detective!Jason Todd x detective!Reader based on Jake and Amy’s relationship

Series Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of violence (but nothing descriptive), guns and other police stuff

Chapter Warnings: Rose is a bit meaner and vindictive than I made her last time. I didn’t wanna do that (cause be a girl’s girl) but unfortunately, the plot had to plot). Bomb, reader wears makeup, reader has a bit of a breakdown but its all okay, drinking

Series Masterlist

It was the week before Y/n and Jason’s wedding and everyone was sitting in the briefing room. Dick was at the podium, looking over his notes when Damian asked, “is this gonna be the weekend we finally meet six-drink Jason?”

“Six-drink Jason?” Captain Wayne, who had just entered, repeated. “What does that mean?” 

“It is the pinnacle of the Todd drunkenness scale,” Damian explained, hiking his feet up on the table. “At one drink, Jason is only a little spacey.”

Jason was sitting in his apartment, Y/n at his side, and drinking a bottle of beer. Y/n hadn’t said anything when Jason’s head lolled to the side and he mumbled, “wait. What?”

“Two drinks: loud Jason.”

At a bar, Jason yelled into Dick’s ear, even though it was a quiet Tuesday night, “you want to get a cab?”

Damian grinned and continued, “three drinks is Jason Dancepants, as Stephanie so affectionately coined it.”

Jason was attempting the running man.

“Four-drink Jason is a bit of a pervert,” Damian admitted. Y/n hummed in agreement and Jason looked over at her, scandalised.

“Hey,” Jason whispered throatily to Y/n three years before they were dating. “Check it out.” He pulled up his shirt to show off his abs. Y/n snorted and alcohol came out of her nose.

“Finally, five-drink Jason is oddly confident,” Damian finished.

“Let's do this, little man,” Jason taunted Tim, both very inebriated and both having found a doorframe to do their pull-ups on. 

“But I've never seen six-drink Jason,” Damian mused. “Maybe he’s the one I could actually be friends with. My sasquatch.”

Jason shared a look with his sergeant (who was beaming) before sighing and sinking down into his chair.

Finally, after months of preparation, it was the day of the wedding. Y/n had spent most of her morning getting her hair and makeup ready with her bridesmaids. “I can’t wait,” she was gushing. “It's gonna be a perfect day.”

“Phone call for you, ma’am,” an attendant of the venue approached. 

“Ah, thank you. That would be the cake guy saying he has arrived. Hello?” She put the phone to her ear, everyone chattering around her. 

“Y/n L/n?” A garbled, automated voice spoke from the other end. 

“Yes?” Y/n’s face fell slightly, as if she knew what was coming. Cass, who was helping Stephanie apply eyeliner, took notice.

“There's a bomb at your wedding,” the voice warned. “It's set to explode at 5:30. Everyone inside will die.” The line went dead.

Y/n pressed her lips together. “So… that was not the cake guy.”

In the foyer of the venue, Y/n met up with a frantic Jason. “Okay, we called the bomb squad and got everyone out of the building. We should leave,” she told him. 

Jason was too discombobulated to even comment on how beautiful his fiancée looked, though that did not go unnoticed in the primal part of his brain. “Who would do something like this?” he asked, taking Y/n’s hand. He led her out of the building, a hand on the small of her back and placing himself in between her and the potentially dangerous building.

“Well, I clearly have an arch-nemesis,” Y/n babbled on, grinning and oblivious to Jason’s calculated move to keep her safe. “Finally! Must be someone I put away who's hell-bent on revenge. He's probably gonna make me choose between saving the city and saving the man I love. Little does he know, I can save both.” She blew Jason a kiss.

“How are you so calm right now?” Jason asked. Sure, they had both seen things in the field, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to become accustomed to violence. 

“I'm calm because there's not really a bomb,” Y/n said, facing Jason and placing a comforting hand on his chest. “I mean, if you're trying to kill someone, you don't call and give them a heads-up,” she rationalised.

“So you think they're just trying to scare us?”

Y/n shrugged. “Yeah, but it doesn't matter. The bomb squad's on their way. They'll do a quick sweep, find nothing, and split. This’ll become a funny story we work into our vows.” She practised, “Jason, there was a bomb at this wedding. Ya butt. Ya butt is da bomb.’”

“Please don't say that during the ceremony,” Jason said bluntly, looking down at the woman he loved more than life.

“Is it that you don't like wordplay or you don't want me to talk about your butt at all?” When Jason didn’t answer, Y/n moved on and scoffed. “What I don’t understand is how this guy even found out about the wedding.”

Something clicked in Jason’s head and he groaned, “the stupid engagement announcement Stephanie put in the paper! It had the time and location of the ceremony.”

Steph, who had overheard, came marching up and jabbed a finger at Jason. “I swear to god, be very careful about throwing around accusations like that, because if you're trying to say I somehow ruined Y/n’s wedding, then I'm gonna shoot myself in the foot!” she exclaimed. “So tread lightly,” she warned. 

“Just take it easy, Steph,” Y/n tried to calm everyone down. Thankfully, a couple of trucks with the GCPD logo pulled up. “Nothing is ruined. See? The bomb squad is already here.” A woman hopped out of a truck and placed a small robot on the ground. Y/n gasped loudly and clutched Jason’s arm. “And they brought a robot! This is exactly how I imagined my wedding would be when I was a kid,” she whispered out reverently.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice said, making the trio turn around. “Jason Todd.” There stood Rose Wilson.

Y/n’s demeanor instantly shifted. Through gritted teeth, she commented, “Jay, look. A person you dated is here on our wedding day. Isn’t that great?” Stephanie glared at Rose.

Jason, looking bamboozled, could only ask, “why?”

Rose crossed her arms and smiled at the couple. “This is my crew,” she said. “I now run the bomb squad. But seriously, don't worry,” she waved a hand through the air. “I'm a cop. I have a job to do, and I'm gonna do it professionally.”

“That's great,” Jason said thankfully. He placed an arm around Y/n’s waist. 

“I'm happy to hear that,” Y/n stated, lips pressing together.

Rose concluded, smile strained in a way that only fellow women could see, “meaning I will be doing a very thorough sweeping of the building. It's gonna take hours, so you should probably just cancel the wedding.” She nodded before waggling her fingers. “Anyway, congrats, you two.” She practically skipped away.

A while later, trucks still outside and guests milling about, Jason repeated to Y/n, “I can't believe this is happening.” 

“Don't worry,” Y/n tried to console him. “Why don’t we go check on Rose. I'm sure she's made a ton of progress.”

It turns out, Rose had not. “Nope,” she clicked her tongue. “We haven't even gone in yet. Still putting on the bomb suit. Yeah, my job is super dangerous,” she added, looking at Jason.

“There's no bomb!” Y/n insisted. “If they wanted us dead, they wouldn't have called first!”

“It's not always the bomber who calls,” corrected Rose which made Y/n internally seethe. “Maybe he had a young daughter, found a key to a secret room, came across some blueprints, felt guilty, and wanted to save your life.”

“Seems unlikely,” Y/n deadpanned.

Jason shook his head and hurried away from Rose. Y/n quickly followed, worried look on her face.”I think I know how to fix this,” she assured him, hands flying up to try and help anyway she could. “All we have to do is figure out who my arch-nemesis is, track him down, and get him to admit to Rose that there's no bomb. We still have three hours to save this wedding.”

“That's good,” Jason murmured out, staring down at Y/n. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, darling.”

“Were you able to trace the number that called in the threat?” Y/n asked back at the precinct, seeing Cass and Dick already hunched over a computer.

“Yep,” Dick said. “It was a burner, but they caught it pinging off a cell tower in Fort Greene one block away from the last known address of Julian Gregory Day.”

“Who?” Jason asked, having finished going to the bathroom.

Y/n grinned. “Julian Gregory Day. Also known as the Calendar Man. I arrested him for armed robbery a while back, and he got out of Arkham a year ago. He's got to be my arch-nemesis. He's definitely obsessed with me.”

“Just 'cause you arrested him?” Jason asked, drying his hands on his pants.

Y/n folded her arms and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. “Well…” She admitted, “we didn't have enough evidence against him at first, so let's just say I had to get a little creative.”

“You framed him?” Jason exclaimed.

“What? No,” Y/n huffed. “Jay, I went undercover and became best friends with him. And then he told me about his lymphoma, and we ran a 10K together, and then I arrested him.” She sucked in a breath. “He felt so betrayed. The trial was very emotional.” She pressed her lips together and even looked a little guilty.

“Alright,” Jason sighed. “Let's go talk to him.”

“Hey, great attitude, Jay!” Y/n complimented. “You're handling this really well.”

“Okay. Julian’s apartment is right over here,” Tim instructed a half hour later as he, Y/n, Jason, and Stephanine stood across the street from a building.

“This is exciting,” Y/n squealed. “We're gonna catch my arch-nemesis. Do you think he has a shrine of photos of me with the eyes scratched out?” she fantasised and Jason raised a brow. “Oh, man. That will be super upsetting and so cool!”

“I know, it's amazing,” Steph agreed and Tim also shared Jason’s concerned look. “But focus up. Let's do this.”

“Right.” Y/n squared her shoulders, a bulletproof vest thrown on haphazardly over jeans and one of Jason’s old sweaters. Her makeup was still perfect, but some strands were loosening from her hairstyle.

Out of the blue, Jason leaned over and kissed her firmly. “I love you,” he reminded her softly. Y/n let out a noise of surprise at the intensity of the kiss, but returned his declaration of love quietly.

A moment later, Tim knocked on the door of Julian Gregory Day’s apartment. “GCPD.”

An old lady opened the door after a minute. “Hello? Is there a problem?” her voice was cracking and kind. The apartment smelled like chocolate chip cookies.

“We're looking for Julian Gregory Day,” Steph piped up.

The old lady scrunched her eyebrows up. “Julian? He died a year ago.”

“What? What happened?” Y/n pushed forward, looking concerned.

The woman sighed. “Well, his lymphoma came back,” she explained. “But really, it was the loneliness that killed him. Somebody hurt him, and he just… couldn't make friends after that.”

Back outside, Y/n, looking shell-shocked, murmured, “so it seems like he died because of me. Just gonna lock that up in a little box in my brain and never ever open it.”

Jason rubbed a hand comfortingly up and down Y/n’s arm, but his mind was elsewhere. “Hey, do you remember Mitchell Mayo, that money launderer I arrested?” he commented. “He lives right around here too.”

“So?” Y/n asked, looking up at him. Tim was on the phone with Dick, updating him on the situation and Steph was tapping away on her phone.

“He hated me,” Jason said. “What if this is the work of my arch-nemesis and not yours?”

Y/n crossed her arms and stared her lover down. “So you're suggesting I'm not involved in this at all?” she sassed. “I mean, you hear yourself, right? That's a bit of a stretch.”

“Are you actually mad that someone might not hate you?”

“Yeah, I am, Jason!” the detective declared. Her eyebrows then shot up and she realised, “oh, wow, that's a bad color on me, isn't it?” With a grumble, she conceded, “alright, fine, we'll check out your guy and I'll be totally fine with it if it's him.”

“Oh, man, you got a whole shrine!” Y/n whined when the group got to Mitchell Mayo’s apartment. Tim had apprehended the man and was in the process of putting cuffs on him. A large mantle in the man’s bedroom housed everything from pictures of Jason to candles to maps. “Even the eyes are all scratched out!”

Jason wrapped an arm over Y/n’s shoulders, holding her tight for some comfort. “Babe, when we're married, we're gonna share everything. Bank accounts, health insurance, arch-nemeses,” he listed off.

“Aww, that's nice, Jay,” Y/n muttered. “But you don't have to say that.” She then turned to her bestie and slipped her a picture of herself that she had just in case this exact scenario happened. “Steph, will you put this picture of me up on the wall?”

“Copy that,” Steph agreed. “You want the eyes scratched out?”

“Uh, you know I do.”

Back at the wedding venue, Rose reported as she took her bomb suit off, “okay, Jason. I got through every room and I cleared them very fast, because I want you to be happy.”

Y/n rolled her eyes, but Jason asked, “can we get in the venue or not?”

“Not quite yet. There's one more vent we can't get into, and our snake cam broke. We got another one on the way. It'll be here in about six hours,” Rose estimated.

“What?” Jason blurted.

Y/n shook her head and said in a firm voice, “no. We need it now. People are already here. And Mitchell said there wasn’t anything.”

“I'm sorry,” Rose said, though it didn’t sound like she was very sorry at all. “The vent is very tight, and no one on my team can get into it. And we can’t trust someone who has a literal shrine to Jason.”

“I bet you have a shrine, you sick son of a–” Y/n was cut off by Stephanie announcing, “I'm going in.”

Y/n turned towards her friend. “What?”

“Look, this is all my fault,” Steph reasoned. “I put the announcement in the paper and ruined the day. And now I'm gonna be the one to fix it. Get ready, you two. I'm about to save this–” Inside, when Stephanie was all protected via a bomb suit and she had wiggled into the vent, a soft ticking sound had alerted her to a machine strapped to the metal. “Bomb! There's a bomb!”

“Damn it, Mitchell,” Y/n muttered to the perp. “Why'd you say there was no bomb?”

Mitchell shrugged and said, “because I wanted to kill Jason.”

Jason asked, “then why did you call in the threat?”

“I didn't,” Mitchell rolled his eyes in annoyance. “My daughter found my hidden room and discovered some blueprints.”

Before Rose could say anything, Y/n waved her hand in the woman’s direction. “Yes, fine, Rose. You were right,” she conceded. “Now can you please get the bomb out of the vent and dispose of it somewhere?”

“Honestly, I wish we could,” Rose said. “But it's too dangerous to move. We have to diffuse it onsite. I have to evacuate this entire block. It's gonna take all night.” This time, she actually looked a little apologetic. 

“Wait, so you're saying…” Jason couldn’t even finish the sentence, a hand holding his fiancée’s.

“Wedding's off,” Rose nodded. “For real, it's over.”

Back at the station, Steph found Y/n in the evidence room, sitting on a fold-out chair with her head in her hands. Her hair was coming down from the pins that had been placed in it hours earlier and her makeup needed retouching. “What am I going to do?” she whispered out, voice cracking when Stephanie crouched down in front of her.

“What do you mean, babes?” her friend asked softly.

Y/n hiccuped and said, “I’ve been trying to keep a strong front for Jason all day.” She pressed at her eyes, not wanting to cry with her mascara on. “But god, Steph, this is not how I envisioned my wedding day going at all. I wanted today to be perfect, but it’s the farthest thing from it.” She sniffed and Steph pulled her into a hug.

“It’ll be okay,” she tried to console her.

“How?” Y/n asked desperately. “We’ve spent a lot of money on this and I’m just– I’m tired. I feel like I have to be this perfect detective that’s here for the laughs and giggles, but it's hard.” Neither detective noticed Jason peek his head in, wondering where his love had gone. He stilled, listening to the conversation. “Jason just… he’s the best thing to ever happen to me, but I’m so scared I’ll either break down one day or I can’t spin a joke out of something or I can’t comfort him because I’d be feeling too awkward and he just… he realises how inadequate I am.” She let out a breath, either from relief that she had finally been able to say all that, or distress because she didn’t know how to fix it.

Jason stepped further into the evidence room and Stephanie noticed him. She stood and nodded, knowing that it was him Y/n needed at that moment. Jason kneeled down in front of Y/n and took her face in her hands. “Darling,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t care if you’re laughing so much you shit yourself or if you’re crying so hard all I can do is hold you. You know why?” he asked softly. “Because I love you. And I will keep loving you until the end of time. Not even a casket can keep me away from loving you.” He gently rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks and murmured, “I know it seems like everything sucks, but why don't we just get married tomorrow? We won't have a venue or a band or any of our guests, but we could go to City Hall.”

Through the tears that were now definitely falling after Jason’s speech, Y/n huffed. “Jay, do you really want to get married in the same place people go to get restraining orders?”

“Y/n L/n, I would marry you any time, any place. I would marry you in the steaming filth of the Gotham River,” Jason pledged.

“Sweet,” Y/n shrugged. “But also gross.”

Jason let out a quiet laugh. “I would marry you on the L Train in the summertime when the air conditioning is broken.”

“Damn, really?” Y/n asked, brows scrunching together at the thought of her worst possible nightmare.

“I would marry you on top of the LexCorp Tower.”

“Well, that sounds kind of nice,” Y/n murmured, eyes drifting away from Jason. “Since he’s now in jail, you know.”

Jason added, a slight smirk on his face, “the one in Metropolis.”

“Oh, yeah, that's not good.” Y/n slapped her hands on her thighs and sighed. “Okay. City Hall it is.”

A voice shouted out, “no!” Stephanie ran into the room. “I was eavesdropping,” she announced. “I'm always eavesdropping. Look, I didn't spend the last, grueling seven years watching your love ripen, only to have it sullied by a City Hall wedding,” she glared at the couple. “You're getting married right here, right now!”

“What?”

Steph nodded in defiance and certainty. “Come on. This is happening. Jason and Y/n are getting married tonight.”

Jason’s eyes went wide as Y/n descended from the precinct stairs. “Wow.” Cass had helped her redo her hair and makeup and Steph had helped her into her dress. “You look stunning. Gorgeous,” Jason stuttered out. His hands went to her waist and pulled her closer. “Maybe you’re right – we should just skip the wedding and go on the honeymoon.”

Y/n laughed and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

Stephanie peered around the corner, grinning. “Come on, you two! Let's go downstairs. It's wedding time!” The woman led them out of the precinct and outside. Lights had been strung up and Dick had taken three hours off his life to make a wedding arch with sheer white fabric draped over it. Chairs were set up on either side of an aisle and white flowers were scattered around. “So here it is,” Stephanie squealed. “I really really hope you like it.”

“Steph, it looks amazing,” Y/n had an awed smile on her face.

“It's beautiful,” Jason agreed.

“I even got live music,” Stephanie told them, grinning and pointing at none other than Harley Quinn.

Y/n let out a shriek and ran over to the criminal and her wife. Hugging both Harley and Pamela, she didn’t hear Jason quietly berate Stephanie for hiring two criminals. He was quickly shut up, however, when Harley picked up a violin and began playing. “Holy crap. Harley Quinn plays like an angel.”

Jason hurried to stand at the altar, Dick and Tim standing behind him as groomsmen. The wedding procession was a bit uncoordinated and rushed, but no one could care less. Stephanie and Cass stood on the opposite side as the bridesmaids. Y/n stepped up to Jason and took his outstretched hand.

Captain Wayne cleared his throat. “Please be seated. Friends, colleagues, gawking Gothamites,” he addressed the crowd. “We are here today to celebrate the marriage of Jason Todd and Y/n L/n.  I've known you both for the last five years,” he said to the couple. “And it has been a true pleasure to watch your distracting childish rivalry evolve into a distracting childish courtship and now into what I'm sure will be a distracting childish marriage.” Y/n couldn’t help but snicker, but Jason was tearing up. “I'm proud of you. And I love you both,” Bruce said.

“Permission to say it back?” Y/n asked, beaming.

“Permission granted.”

“I love you too, sir,” Y/n replied.

“Love you, Captain,” Jason nodded to his mentor.

Wayne asked, “now I believe you've prepared your own vows?”

Y/n nodded and cleared her throat. “Yes, I was going to do an Addams Family-themed rap, but my beat-boxer isn't here. That's the only reason it's not happening,” she assured Jason who smirked. “So, Jay,” she exhaled. “Today has been a crazy day. But I shouldn't be surprised, because we've had a lot of crazy days. There was our first date, our first kiss, the first time you told me you loved me, and the day you asked me to marry you. Every single day I get to be with someone as amazing as you is crazy to me. And I love it. I love you. Especially after today, I know I can always depend on you and that’s something I am really glad to have. You make my life better just by being in it and now I get to marry you. It’s kinda surreal.” She laughed softly. “And I'm worried about dancing in front of our friends. The end,” Y/n finished quickly.

Jason chuckled and began, “Okay, well. When I first met you, you greeted me like we had known each other for years already. And maybe we had. It feels natural being around you, but maybe that’s just what it feels like when you’ve found the love of your life. Life is unpredictable like that. Not everything's in our control. I certainly wasn’t in control when being assigned to the six-six, but it’s how I met you. I’ve learned, throughout the years with you, that as long as you're with the right people, you can handle anything. And you, Y/n L/n, are the right person for me. But I do have some bad news.” Jason sucked in a breath from between his teeth and nodded solemnly. “There is a bomb at this wedding as well.” He paused just to see Y/n’s face fall. Then he added, “your butt. Your butt is the bomb. There will be no survivors.”

“I love you so much,” Y/n said, laughing as tears built up in her eyes. “You're my dream man.”

“I love you too,” Jason whispered. He took a step forward like he wanted to kiss her right then and there. “I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Wayne cleared his throat again and motioned, “ring bearer, please, bring the rings.”

Everyone’s eyes turned down the aisle to see Captain Wayne’s dog, Ace strutting down the aisle like he owned the place. In his mouth was a pillow with two rings on it. Jason leaned down, picked up the rings, and gave one to Y/n.

“Do you, Y/n L/n, take Jason Todd to be your husband?”

“I do.” Y/n slid the ring onto Jason’s finger.

“And do you, Jason Todd, take Y/n L/n to be your wife?”

“I absolutely do,” Jason said, slipping the ring onto her finger.

Bruce smiled and concluded, “by the power vested in me, I'd like to announce that your honeymoon vacation request status has officially been moved from pending to approved. You're married,” he said bluntly. “Congratulations, once again, to Jason and Y/n.”

Jason surged forward to kiss the living daylights out of his bride.

Much later that evening, Damian got his wish to see six-drink Jason. It wasn’t what he wanted, seeing how six-drink Jason was very clingy. Jason didn’t let Y/n out of his sight, much less out of his hands. He kept pulling her away from guests, claiming he deserved some time with his new wife. Six-drink Jason (and any Jason, Damian was sure) really liked using that word. Towards the end of the night, Damian found Jason with his head bent, muttering the vows he had just said a couple hours before into her ear as they swayed to the music. “I’m so confused, I don’t even wanna know what’s happening right now,” Damian scoffed.

In unison, the newlyweds said, “title of your sex tape.”

ACKKKK after two years its finished 😭😭😭 I'm getting oddly emotional and I want to thank everyone who has ever commented or liked this fic! You guys gave me the motivation to keep writing! (and, I can now say I TOLD YOU SO cause I finished this fucking piece after TWO YEARS!!!!) You guys are all saints for putting up with months long hiatuses and I love you all for it

p.s. this is 194 pages on google docs 😧

[ralfmaximus]

A month later, the business introduced an automated system. Miller's manager would plug a headline for an article into an online form, an AI model would generate an outline based on that title, and Miller would get an alert on his computer. Instead of coming up with their own ideas, his writers would create articles around those outlines, and Miller would do a final edit before the stories were published. Miller only had a few months to adapt before he got news of a second layer of automation. Going forward, ChatGPT would write the articles in their entirety, and most of his team was fired. The few people remaining were left with an even less creative task: editing ChatGPT's subpar text to make it sound more human. By 2024, the company laid off the rest of Miller's team, and he was alone.

Hell world.

The article flips back and forth between Welcome To The Torment Nexus / Isn't This Technology Neat?! modes which is infuriating. The BBC is obviously wary of pissing off its ChatGPT friendly advertisers but c'mon dudes, pick a side.

There's also a section dripping with irony describing how this AI-generated copywriter output trips the company's own AI-detection algorithms, triggering rewrites to make it "less AI". Which while (oh my aching sides) is fuckin hilarious also underlines the core problem with the whole approach: the actual text output is garbage.

Humans do not like reading garbage.

Eventually the only ones reading this shit will be AI systems designed to summarize badly written copywritten text.

[picknmixsims]

Sims 2 Tools - Repository Wizard

Repository Wizard

The Repository Wizard is a utility for automating the repository technique for objects and clothing.

Object Mode

This mode of the Repository Wizard automates the process described by HugeLunatic in their Repository Technique tutorial.

Clothing Mode

This mode of the Repository Wizard creates new re-colours for a new/modified mesh based on an existing mesh with its own set of re-colours.

This is NOT the simple approach to the repository method of linking the dependant's TXMT resource(s) to the donor's TXTR resource(s), but a new, more advanced, approach of linking via the 3IDR resource.

See the application’s web page for extensive details about both modes.

If you do not know what the repository technique is, or why you would want to use it, this application is not for you!

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 1, Unarmed - Pt. 3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, poorly translated Russian, mentions of CSA/trafficking, mentions of death, emotional repression of childhood trauma, Bucky nightmares, bonding over trauma, some fluff and comfort.

Word Count: 2.6k

Previously On...: You literally ran into Bucky in the hallway outside your rooms and bond over a shared love of Middle Earth like the fucking nerds you are. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

A/N: I know this part introduces some heavy backstory for our Dear Reader. Please know writing this for her has been a therapeutic exercise for me in dealing with trauma from my own childhood, which, coincidentally, has been shoved back into the forefront of my life recently, forcing me to re-evaluate things I thought I had processed. Please know that I'm not approaching this subject flippantly, and her reactions/attitudes have been based on my own healing (or rather, suppressing) journey.

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917

Taglist: (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!) @blackhawkfanatic @marcswife21

Your friendship with Bucky only continued to grow from there. There was something about him, his quiet demeanor, his gentle sense of humor, that made you feel an immediate connection with him, as if you'd known him for ages instead of just a few weeks. You weren't one to open up to others easily; it had taken you over a year to trust that Tony didn't have any ulterior motives for befriending you, but with Bucky, it was effortless, as if you couldn't have stopped it even if you wanted to.

About three weeks into his residency at the Tower, you were exposed to your first instance of one of Bucky's nightmares. He'd told you he frequently had them, but you'd yet to experience one firsthand. You hadn't been able to sleep-- your own losing battle with insomnia--, so you were coming back up from getting a late night snack in the communal kitchen when you heard the muffled shouting coming from behind his door. At first, you were going to ignore it, sure that it was his television, but you heard him utter a single, desperate "Pozhaluysta," the sound of it so heartbreaking that your breath caught in your lungs. Please.

Crossing over to Bucky's door, you knocked softly. "Bucky? It's Pocket. Are you okay? I heard shouting." You waited for an answer... but nothing. Taking a step closer, you put an ear to the door, holding your breath. You could make out the sound of frantic thrashing, cries of "Net!" and then a whimper. He sounded like he was in trouble, like he was in pain.

"FRIDAY," you said to the AI that ran the tower, "open the door."

"I'm sorry, Ms. (Y/L/N), but Sergeant Barnes has locked his door for the evening."

"For fucks' sake, FRIDAY," you muttered. "Enact override protocol 346.78C." There was no point in being the Avenger's resident computer genius if you couldn't hack their home automation system, was there? You heard the click of Bucky's door unlocking. Turning the handle and hoping that asking him for forgiveness was easier than asking for permission, you stepped inside.

It took a moment for your eyes to adjust, but once you were able to make out shapes in the gloom of the darkened suite, you saw that the layout was relatively similar to your own. You made your way over to the bed, expecting to see Bucky writhing on it in the midst of his nightmare, but it was empty, stripped of all bedding, just a bare mattress.

Then you heard him, thrashing from the space between the bed and the wall. You shuffled over to the other side and found the super soldier lying on the floor, tangled in his sheets. A thin sheen of sweat covered his naked torso, a pair of sweat pants riding low on his hips. His face was contorted in agony as his head twisted from side to side.

"Net! Net!" he cried out in Russian, fighting off invisible assailants, "Pozhaluysta, ne nado! Eto bol'no!" No! No! Please, no! It hurts!

It physically pained your heart to see him struggling like this, so you did the first thing that came to mind-- you threw yourself across him, wrapping your arms around his body and holding him in place, whispering back to him in Russian: "Ty v poryadke, ty v poryadke. Ty v bezopasnosti. Nikto ne mozhet prichinit' tebe vred." You're okay, you're okay. You're safe. No one can hurt you. "I've got you, Bucky. You're safe."

It was a long moment before you realized that his thrashing had stopped, his heartbeat had slowed, and he had wrapped his arm around you, holding you to him as if you were a lifeline.

You pulled back, allowing him to sit up.

"Pocket?" he asked, voice laced with confusion at seeing you, as though he wasn't sure if he was actually awake or not. "What are you doing here? And... were you speaking Russian, or was I dreaming?"

Suddenly shy, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, avoiding looking at him. Jesus. He literally just woken up to you throwing yourself on top of him. "I-I'm sorry," you stammered. "I was walking by, and it sounded like you were having a nightmare. I was worried, so I came in to check on you. I'll let you go back to sleep. Sorry." You got up to go, but his hand reached out and encircled your wrist, gently holding you in place.

"No," he murmured, pulling you back down to the floor next to him. "You were right, I was having a nightmare. I... I told you I get them, sometimes. Memories, really. Of things Hydra... did to me. Things they... things they made me do. Thank you," he looked up at you, catching your eyes through the darkness and holding your gaze. "Thank you for waking me up, for taking me out of it."

You gulped, the night becoming far more intimate than you could have anticipated when you went downstairs to grab a pint of ice cream earlier. You forced a smile. "Of course. What are friends for?"

"Are we?" he asked, his voice suddenly low, causing a pool of warmth to collect in the bottom of your stomach. "Friends?"

"Of course, Buck." You gave him a concerned look. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because I'm a monster, Pocket." Bucky lowered his head in his shame. "I'm a murderer and a monster."

"Oh, Bucky, no." You took his chin into your hands and brushed a strand of hair away from his face. "Sweetie, no, you're not. You were a victim. You didn't consent to a single thing Hydra made you do. I know that it's going to take you a long time to believe that, but it's the truth. I promise you it is." He closed his eyes and nodded.

"Pocket, do you think..." he looked away from you, almost shyly, "do you think you could stay? After a nightmare, I... Well, I don't really like being alone."

"And Rogers isn’t one for midnight cuddling, huh?" you teased, a playful smile on your lips. You couldn't see it, but you could practically feel the sardonic look he was giving you. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Yes, I'll stay. But Bucky, I have one rule--"

"I'll keep my hand to myself and be a perfect gentleman, I promise," he said solemnly.

"Pfft," you scoffed. "I don't give a shit about that. Be as handsy as you want. No, my one rule is: I am not sleeping on the fucking floor." Bucky rewarded you with another one of his genuine laughs. You couldn't articulate how happy it made you feel knowing that you were the cause of that laughter.

"You got it," he said, as he stood up and began to move his sheets and pillows back to the bed. "Nothing but the best for you, doll."

Your insides glowed at this new nickname, and you were positive he was going to notice how his words made you light up in the dark. You busied yourself with helping him make up the bed before crawling under the covers. You tried not to be too obvious as you inhaled the scent of Bucky on the pillowcase. He smelled like cedar and leather and something unidentifiable that was just so quintessentially Bucky that it had become your favorite scent. You wanted to bottle it up and use it like a fabric spray so you'd always be surrounded by it. 

The bed dipped as Bucky got in, pulling the covers up over himself. "Thank you for this, Pocket," he whispered.

You turned onto your side to face him. "Of course. Any time, Bucky; I sincerely mean that. I know what it's like; I have them, too."

"You do?" You felt him reach for you in the dark, taking your hand and interlacing his fingers with yours. "You can tell me about them. If you want to."

You nodded, before realizing he probably couldn't see you, so you hummed an affirmative. There was something about the cover of night that made you feel brave, safe in opening up to Bucky; you found yourself wanting to tell him what kept you awake at night. You took a deep breath.

"I... didn't have the best childhood," you began, trying to keep your voice steady. "My father took off before I was old enough to even remember what he looked like, and my mother was always more interested in getting high than she was with being a parent. I was in and out of foster care for a while when I was a little girl." Buck squeezed your hand in sympathy and you continued: "Then she got this boyfriend, Darren." God, even now, the taste of his name on your tongue was like bitter bile. "For a little while, things were… better. Mom got her shit together enough that Social Services sent me back to live with her. I could almost believe that things were going to be okay. I mean, we even stayed in the same place for more than six months. I went to school regularly. It almost made me feel like a normal kid."

"What happened?" You barely heard Bucky's whispered question. You let out a harsh, disillusioned laugh.

"Puberty," you told him. "I turned eleven, got boobs and suddenly Darren's paying a lot more attention to me." You felt Bucky tense in the bed beside you. "Of course, that's entirely my fault, right?" you continued. "At least according to my mother. They started fighting more often, and she went back to the booze and meth. Stopped giving a shit about everything. Going to work, paying bills, making sure I went to school, whether or not I even ate. Only thing that mattered was where the next fix was going to come from." You took a breath. This next part was the hardest, and Tony was the only one you'd ever told the entire truth of the matter to.

"And with Mom incapacitated, boyfriend feels he's got free reign," Bucky supplied for you.

"Yeah," you swallowed, grateful you hadn't needed to actually say it, yourself.

"Pocket," Bucky began, "that's aw--"

"There's more," you admitted before he could continue. "Darren liked to bet on horses but, like absolutely everything else he ever did, he was complete shit at it. Ended up owing some horrible guys a lot of money. There was no way in hell he'd have been able to come up with it, so he... proposed a trade."

"God," Bucky breathed. "Oh, Pocket. I am so, so sorry."

"Thanks," you said, wishing that was the end of it, but knowing that you still weren't finished. "Darren realized he had a valuable commodity that a, uh, certain kind of man would pay good money for, and he wasn't just going to let such a lucrative income stream go to waste. He was an idiot, but he wasn't that dumb."

Next to you, Bucky sucked in a breath. You could practically feel him vibrating with anger for your younger self. "How long?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Seven years, more or less. When I turned 18, I grabbed every important document I could get my hands on, hightailed it to Boston and never looked back. But the memories, the nightmares? They still haunt me. Even after all this time, they’ve never fully gone away. So, you know, I get it."

There was silence for a moment, but then Bucky cleared his throat and asked: "Where is he now?"

"He's got himself a nice little plot of land in Pensacola," you said, a smile ghosting your face.

"So, he got off Scott-free." Bucky's voice was a low growl.

"Oh, I didn't say that, you said slyly. "That nice little plot is a pauper's grave at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp. Bastard got himself shanked in the slammer about ten years ago. Happiest day of my fucking life.

Bucky's laugh was low and dry. "What about your mom? Please tell me she got what she deserved, too."

You shifted slightly, propping your head up onto your hand. "Honestly, I have no idea what happened to her. The way she drank, she's probably long dead by now, and I could honestly not care less. That's why I have everyone call me Pocket." Bucky moved to mirror your position, using a pillow to prop himself up instead of an arm, so you were laying eye to eye, only a few inches separating your faces.

"Okay, explain to me how that makes sense," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, his warm breath fanning pleasantly across your skin.

His touch was gentle and you found yourself subtly leaning into it. "My legal name is (Y/N)," you told him. "It was my mother's name, too. I know that 'Pocket's a ridiculous nickname, but when people call me that, it's like I'm someone else, someone new. I'm not that scared little girl that had all those horrible things happen to her. I'm someone I made myself into." Your voice had dropped to barely a whisper as you admitted it to him.

He studied you for a moment before speaking, voice low. "Thank you for trusting me with this, Pocket." 

You let out a small laugh. "I think we might need to make each other some matching friendship bracelets or something after all of this sharing," you told him. Bucky laughed with you, and the tension that had been hovering in the air lessened. You hadn't meant to get so deep into your personal history, or to get emotional, but sharing your story with Bucky brought you a sense of relief; at the very least, you'd helped take Bucky's mind off of his own nightmares, even if it had meant delving back into your own.

You both fell silent for a moment, and then Bucky spoke again, his voice soft and hesitant. "Pocket, can I ask you something? A favor?"

You looked at him, noticing how his eyes glinted in the dark. "Yeah, of course, Bucky. What's up?"

He swallowed audibly, his grip returning to your hand. "I don't want to overstep or make you uncomfortable, so maybe this is too much to ask, but… do you think…  maybe we could… I don't know… be there for each other? You know, when we have nightmares? Just... hold each other, maybe?"

Your heart skipped a beat at his words, your mind suddenly racing with implications. Was he suggesting what you thought he was suggesting? Did he want to… cuddle with you? Your body was suddenly acutely aware of how close you were to him, of the heat that radiated off of his body. You licked your lips before answering, your voice coming out a little huskier than you intended. "I mean… I wouldn't be opposed to that. If you think it would help, then I'm all for it."

Bucky let out a small sigh of relief, his hand moving to cup your cheek, his thumb rubbing soothing circles. "Thank you, Pocket. You have no idea how much it means to me."

You leaned into his touch, a shiver running down your spine at the gentleness of it. "I think I might. I mean, I don't know exactly what you went through, but I know what it's like to feel scared and alone."

Bucky leaned in, his lips brushing against your forehead as he whispered, "Neither of us have to be alone anymore. We'll be here for each other."

And then, without another word, he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close to his chest. You could feel the beat of his heart, steady and strong, and the warmth that radiated off of him made you feel safe, taken care of. You wrapped your arms around him in return, feeling a new sense of peace and security you hadn't known in a long, long time. Maybe ever.

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[mullermilkshake]

Two and the same.

An anniversary dinner shouldn't be this complicated.

Doppelgänger!Hiromi Higuruma x Fem!reader Tags - That's not my neighbour fusion, I played the base game but I'm not up to date with what's out now. I had the idea and ran with it lol. Canon typical stuff? Guns

<<< For more Hiromi content, click this link to go back to the Masterlist! >>>

“Right, I’m heading out now, can you put me on today's list?”

“Do you have your identification card on you?”

You rummaged through your purse to check that it sat nestled inside the little pocket. It was.

“I do, will that be all I need to get in?” Unfortunately, doormen never seemed to last long here. They all did things differently.

This guy was new. The handsome type who thought he knew everything. But what you found with these types of guys, was that they usually didn’t know how the world worked.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I’ve already memorised your number by now, and I’ve cleared the visitor waiting in the foyer for you.”

He has a name… at least the last guy remembered his name. You won’t last long, buddy. 

Still, you threw him a smile and picked your battles. “Thanks, you’re a doll. See you later.”

You were feeling more confident than anything today, the eve of the second anniversary of your relationship and you were certain that Hiromi was going to propose the idea of living together.

He’d been hinting at it for a while now and in truth, it was just easier living together than having to go through two checks every time you and he wanted to see each other in person. Doppels were everywhere, lurking in the shadows and in plain sight, hiding in people's skin awaiting their moment to enter an apartment complex and other personal spaces for their own selfish and twisted needs.

It was more tiring than climbing a mountain unprepared.

Your heels clacked on the hard linoleum floor, sticky from residue from the previous clean ups by the D.D.D. It squelched and never cleared right, so maintenance stopped bothering to clean it. The grunginess paired perfectly with the chipped and cracked walls and slight mould edging on the corners where the rain had seeped in.

The place was a dive if you were honest, which most of the time you were. It was all you could afford in the crashing economy. Though Hiromi’s place wasn’t much better, and his salary practically doubled yours, being a legal representative of the D.D.D.

Doppelgangers were to blame for it completely. They were slowly ripping apart the city piece by piece, snatching people and replacing them permanently. Even some of your friends you couldn’t trust anymore. Not even family.

As you turned the corner, Hiromi stood by the entrance reading one of the posters that weren’t hanging off the wall or had fallen off completely.

“Hi, baby.” You said, approaching him with a straight posture and kissing his cheek.

It had to be tonight. It had to be the night he asked you to move in with him so you could get out of this dump and spend the rest of your life with him.

He kissed you back. “You look beautiful. Are you ready to go? There’s a bar down the way I’d like to take you to before we go to dinner.”

“I’m ready, I have everything I need. A bar sounds really good right now.”

Work was taxing to say the least, since Doppels had surfaced, your job focused more on insurance for related attacks instead of travel or home protection. Your workload had doubled in the last year and did not show any sign of letting go any time soon.

You took Hiromi’s hand and laced your fingers with his, stepping out onto the street. You had never grown used to the overhead speakers constantly going outside, nor the sirens to alarm for cover if a Doppelganger attacked in public. The automated and mechanical informant voiceover was something you developed a hatred for, though still managed to block it out most of the time.

“All residents must have their identification cards on them at all times and be ready to present it to a member of the Department of Doppelgänger Detection if asked. Failure to do so may result in an arrest and full investigation which will be made visible on your record… All residents must have their-“ 

“I’m gasping, work has been running me ragged lately.”

You were sure a nice drink would settle you, the hope of being asked to move in was a little unnerving especially if he didn’t ask in the end. You would be left disappointed, but could never invite yourself, however you were contemplating asking him anyway.

He definitely wouldn’t propose marriage at all, would he? No. Not when the two of you weren’t even living together yet.

Hiromi smiled and squeezed your hand, walking in pace with you right up to the bar. A cute little place just opened, lined with copper tubing and art deco designs on the ceiling with tall ceiling to floor stained glass windows.

“This is nice, can’t believe they opened so quickly.”

The table in the corner was free, it took a winding path to get to it around small tables and pairs of two conversing over glasses of wine and signature cocktails. It was tucked away, like a booth out of sight and isolated enough to speak freely without disruption.

Hiromi let you sit first and slipped off his suit jacket, folding it neatly and placing it down on the booth seat beside him. “They took on extra hands to get the date pushed forward to open it. They found a few Doppels among the staff so they took a hit but they were able to get their insurance to cover the expenses. So they were able to open early.”

“Well it’s perfect, we should come here often, maybe link up after work so we don't have to keep going through the doormen every time we want to see each other.”

“That sounds great.” He smiled and looked through the drinks menu.

“So how was work?” You asked, fiddling with the other little menu sandwiched between the little copper holder in the grainy wooden table.

“Work is work, we had a Doppel impersonating a member of the team today, it was difficult to say the least.”

“Oh god, that’s terrible. Did you get it sorted in the end?”

He looked away, his eyebrows closer together as he frowned. “I didn’t really want to get into it tonight. But… the D.D.D, they got the wrong person.”

Another lost colleague. Insurances claimed through your company were often due to this sort of incident, especially in high places such as the D.D.D. It was growing ever present and becoming more and more rampant as the months went in and the end of year was in sight.

People were tired, exhausted from the high season of summer and Halloween and couldn’t be as vigilant anymore even though they desperately tried to be.

“Oh… Hiromi. We- oh god, we can leave this tonight, you just lost a team member we can-“

Hiromi took hold of your hand, studying the colour of your nail polish. “No. It’s fine. I think a night out will be a welcoming distraction. I didn’t really know them well anyway, but I just want to see you tonight… if you still want to have dinner with me?”

“Of course I do, baby. I just want to be there for you however I can. If there’s anything I can do- if you want to go home at any time, just say the word.”

The thought of Hiromi asking you to move in flew from your mind right through to ordering drinks from the waitress.

He smiled, though it was sad enough once she had left. “You’re perfect, you know that, right?”

“I try my best when my man is so damn perfect himself.” 

You watched him shake his head and get bashful, Hiromi rarely ever did show his shy side. “No… I’m far from perfect. But I try to be, for you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“So… tell me something.” You tried to take his mind off of the bad news. “When do you plan on coming back over to mine then? Yuji misses you, y’know?”

That cat was friendly to everyone, he often walked the hallways and meowed at others doors for food despite your constant scolding at him. He was sort of like the entire apartment complex’s cat at this rate. But there was no one else he wanted to be around beside Hiromi if he was in the room.

You swore if that cat was a person, all he’d do was talk about Hiromi like he was his own father. Yuji often slept out in the balcony, the high wind rustling his thick and fluffy fur on summer nights and on clear days, you were certain that he'd wait there just to see if Hiromi would come and visit.

“Yuji… he’s something, isn’t he?”

“He is. For a cat, I can’t believe he’s so energetic when he sees you. He’s often so lazy and just lounges with me watching movies. He’s just a cute lil ball of fur these days.”

Hiromi nodded with a smile and sat back when the waitress brought the drinks. “He’s very cute. I’ll come by soon… or maybe tonight?”

“You want to come to mine tonight?” What changed his mind? “I thought you wanted me to come to your place tonight?”

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “I thought about it, but it might be nice to change things up. To be spontaneous every once in a while.”

“You, spontaneous? I can get behind that.”

Hiromi Higuruma was entirely methodical, a place for everything and everything had its place sort of guy. Spontaneous wasn’t exactly in his wheel house.

You blinked at him, thinking something was different. But the doorman cleared him. 

So you shrugged it off and continued talking. “So tell me, Mr spontaneous, what else have you changed your mind about?”

“Well, I think it’s time we took the next step. You and me.”

Oh shit, is he going to ask me? Would Hiromi really ask you to move in with him?

“Okay…” You did your best to act natural, like you hadn’t thought it over the last week agonising about what he might ask.

“I love you. So I don’t see the point in waiting.” He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small box.

What. 

“I want you to marry me.”

What? 

“Uh… Marry you- we aren’t even living together.”

He smiled again. “When you know, you know.”

“Hiromi-“

“Get down on the ground!” The windows shattered, you instinctively ducked and let an involuntary scream leave your throat.

Hiromi took your hands and squeezed them. “Are you alright?”

“I-I don’t know! Is that the- what are they doing here?!”

The D.D.D. had infiltrated the bar from all sides, their yellow suits unmistakable amongst the gathering crowd.

“It’s alright, just be calm. I’m sure there’s a reason they’re here.”

You rummaged through your purse for your identification card, clutching into it until your knuckles white. If you lost this, they’d arrest you for sure. Taking your time getting it out from your bag, they’d grow antsy and wave a gun in your face.

The large yellow radiation suits trudged around the bar area, then one turned to face you and walked your way.

Don’t come over here. Please don’t come over here- shit. 

“Identification cards please.”  

You offered yours up right away, keeping your hands where everyone could see them. The man in the suit looked at your card and then back at you, the pistol at his side practically grinning at you.

“Thank you, you’re clear to-“ He paused and pressed his finger to his ear. “Right… okay…” 

He pulled out his gun and pointed it right to Hiromi’s head. You fought the urge to pull the gun away from his head. “Wait! No- he’s been cleared, I’ve been with him the entire time since we left. The doorman cleared him-“

Your name was called through the panicked crowd, it was Hiromi. Only the man sitting in front of you across the table did not say it. You looked over and saw Hiromi, dishevelled from the head down, dirt and soot over his crumpled suit with a splash of red from his mouth.

“Hiromi?” You moved to get up, taking your purse with you but the other Hiromi snatched your wrist tightly. “What are you- ouch. Wait a second-”

The D.D.D. personnel cocked his gun and ordered Hiromi to let you go, you tried to peel his fingers away. “Ouch! Get off of me- what are you doing?!”

“We have confirmed that the man going by Hiromi Higuruma is a Doppelgänger, as directed by the Department of Doppelgänger Detection, has been marked for cleaning. A protocol that will be issued immediately.” 

“Let go of me!”

The gun shot went on by your ear making it ring, disorienting you enough to make you stagger back out of Hiromi’s grip. But you didn’t fall, you landed right in who you assumed was the real Hiromi’s arms.

“I’m so sorry, sweet- he attacked me and took my things. I couldn’t contact you. I’m so glad I made it in time.”

“Hiromi- what is going on? He got cleared- the doorman cleared him.”

You watched in horror to see who you thought was your boyfriend shaking and jerk at the table whilst the skin melted from his body. He tumbled and slumped on the floor, convulsing and foaming at the mouth as his arms twitched and grew into long tentacles that flapped and writhed around at the Department staff's feet.

“Come on- come on, baby, get up.” Hiromi pulled at you, lifting you off of the ground to give the D.D.D. space to capture the Doppelgänger and remove it from the bar.

You turned to face him, not being able to bear another second looking at a thing that touched you, kissed you and told you it loved you using Hiromi’s voice. “You’re real- please tell you are.”

“The D.D.D. cleared me personally.” He pulled out a receipt from his pocket, a little disposable card stamped with their exclusive marker for proof of access for the day.

“Can we get out of here?”

He nodded and took your hand so that you couldn’t separate in between the crowd. “Let’s go home.”

You never looked back. You also filed a complaint with the D.D.D. about the doorman that cleared the Doppelgänger for what was inevitably going to gain entry to your entire apartment complex. And poor little Yuji.

The traumatic night made Hiromi think things over. You moved into his apartment just a week later.

He refused to ever let you out of his reach overnight again.

DISCLAIMER - Crossposted from my AO3 - I do not own any of the characters or anything from the anime. This is a work of fan fiction and is absolutely not representative of the views or intentions of the original creator(s).

Also please don’t post any of my work without permission thank you!

[jcmarchi]

Transforming LLM Performance: How AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework Leads the Way

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/transforming-llm-performance-how-awss-automated-evaluation-framework-leads-the-way/

Transforming LLM Performance: How AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework Leads the Way

Large Language Models (LLMs) are quickly transforming the domain of Artificial Intelligence (AI), driving innovations from customer service chatbots to advanced content generation tools. As these models grow in size and complexity, it becomes more challenging to ensure their outputs are always accurate, fair, and relevant.

To address this issue, AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework offers a powerful solution. It uses automation and advanced metrics to provide scalable, efficient, and precise evaluations of LLM performance. By streamlining the evaluation process, AWS helps organizations monitor and improve their AI systems at scale, setting a new standard for reliability and trust in generative AI applications.

Why LLM Evaluation Matters

LLMs have shown their value in many industries, performing tasks such as answering questions and generating human-like text. However, the complexity of these models brings challenges like hallucinations, bias, and inconsistencies in their outputs. Hallucinations happen when the model generates responses that seem factual but are not accurate. Bias occurs when the model produces outputs that favor certain groups or ideas over others. These issues are especially concerning in fields like healthcare, finance, and legal services, where errors or biased results can have serious consequences.

It is essential to evaluate LLMs properly to identify and fix these issues, ensuring that the models provide trustworthy results. However, traditional evaluation methods, such as human assessments or basic automated metrics, have limitations. Human evaluations are thorough but are often time-consuming, expensive, and can be affected by individual biases. On the other hand, automated metrics are quicker but may not catch all the subtle errors that could affect the model’s performance.

For these reasons, a more advanced and scalable solution is necessary to address these challenges. AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework provides the perfect solution. It automates the evaluation process, offering real-time assessments of model outputs, identifying issues like hallucinations or bias, and ensuring that models work within ethical standards.

AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework: An Overview

AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework is specifically designed to simplify and speed up the evaluation of LLMs. It offers a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solution for businesses using generative AI. The framework integrates several core AWS services, including Amazon Bedrock, AWS Lambda, SageMaker, and CloudWatch, to create a modular, end-to-end evaluation pipeline. This setup supports both real-time and batch assessments, making it suitable for a wide range of use cases.

Key Components and Capabilities

Amazon Bedrock Model Evaluation

At the foundation of this framework is Amazon Bedrock, which offers pre-trained models and powerful evaluation tools. Bedrock enables businesses to assess LLM outputs based on various metrics such as accuracy, relevance, and safety without the need for custom testing systems. The framework supports both automatic evaluations and human-in-the-loop assessments, providing flexibility for different business applications.

LLM-as-a-Judge (LLMaaJ) Technology

A key feature of the AWS framework is LLM-as-a-Judge (LLMaaJ), which uses advanced LLMs to evaluate the outputs of other models. By mimicking human judgment, this technology dramatically reduces evaluation time and costs, up to 98% compared to traditional methods, while ensuring high consistency and quality. LLMaaJ evaluates models on metrics like correctness, faithfulness, user experience, instruction compliance, and safety. It integrates effectively with Amazon Bedrock, making it easy to apply to both custom and pre-trained models.

Customizable Evaluation Metrics

Another prominent feature is the framework’s ability to implement customizable evaluation metrics. Businesses can tailor the evaluation process to their specific needs, whether it is focused on safety, fairness, or domain-specific accuracy. This customization ensures that companies can meet their unique performance goals and regulatory standards.

Architecture and Workflow

The architecture of AWS’s evaluation framework is modular and scalable, allowing organizations to integrate it easily into their existing AI/ML workflows. This modularity ensures that each component of the system can be adjusted independently as requirements evolve, providing flexibility for businesses at any scale.

Data Ingestion and Preparation

The evaluation process begins with data ingestion, where datasets are gathered, cleaned, and prepared for evaluation. AWS tools such as Amazon S3 are used for secure storage, and AWS Glue can be employed for preprocessing the data. The datasets are then converted into compatible formats (e.g., JSONL) for efficient processing during the evaluation phase.

Compute Resources

The framework uses AWS’s scalable compute services, including Lambda (for short, event-driven tasks), SageMaker (for large and complex computations), and ECS (for containerized workloads). These services ensure that evaluations can be processed efficiently, whether the task is small or large. The system also uses parallel processing where possible, speeding up the evaluation process and making it suitable for enterprise-level model assessments.

Evaluation Engine

The evaluation engine is a key component of the framework. It automatically tests models against predefined or custom metrics, processes the evaluation data, and generates detailed reports. This engine is highly configurable, allowing businesses to add new evaluation metrics or frameworks as needed.

Real-Time Monitoring and Reporting

The integration with CloudWatch ensures that evaluations are continuously monitored in real-time. Performance dashboards, along with automated alerts, provide businesses with the ability to track model performance and take immediate action if necessary. Detailed reports, including aggregate metrics and individual response insights, are generated to support expert analysis and inform actionable improvements.

How AWS’s Framework Enhances LLM Performance

AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework offers several features that significantly improve the performance and reliability of LLMs. These capabilities help businesses ensure their models deliver accurate, consistent, and safe outputs while also optimizing resources and reducing costs.

Automated Intelligent Evaluation

One of the significant benefits of AWS’s framework is its ability to automate the evaluation process. Traditional LLM testing methods are time-consuming and prone to human error. AWS automates this process, saving both time and money. By evaluating models in real-time, the framework immediately identifies any issues in the model’s outputs, allowing developers to act quickly. Additionally, the ability to run evaluations across multiple models at once helps businesses assess performance without straining resources.

Comprehensive Metric Categories

The AWS framework evaluates models using a variety of metrics, ensuring a thorough assessment of performance. These metrics cover more than just basic accuracy and include:

Accuracy: Verifies that the model’s outputs match expected results.

Coherence: Assesses how logically consistent the generated text is.

Instruction Compliance: Checks how well the model follows given instructions.

Safety: Measures whether the model’s outputs are free from harmful content, like misinformation or hate speech.

In addition to these, AWS incorporates responsible AI metrics to address critical issues such as hallucination detection, which identifies incorrect or fabricated information, and harmfulness, which flags potentially offensive or harmful outputs. These additional metrics are essential for ensuring models meet ethical standards and are safe for use, especially in sensitive applications.

Continuous Monitoring and Optimization

Another essential feature of AWS’s framework is its support for continuous monitoring. This enables businesses to keep their models updated as new data or tasks arise. The system allows for regular evaluations, providing real-time feedback on the model’s performance. This continuous loop of feedback helps businesses address issues quickly and ensures their LLMs maintain high performance over time.

Real-World Impact: How AWS’s Framework Transforms LLM Performance

AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework is not just a theoretical tool; it has been successfully implemented in real-world scenarios, showcasing its ability to scale, enhance model performance, and ensure ethical standards in AI deployments.

Scalability, Efficiency, and Adaptability

One of the major strengths of AWS’s framework is its ability to efficiently scale as the size and complexity of LLMs grow. The framework employs AWS serverless services, such as AWS Step Functions, Lambda, and Amazon Bedrock, to automate and scale evaluation workflows dynamically. This reduces manual intervention and ensures that resources are used efficiently, making it practical to assess LLMs at a production scale. Whether businesses are testing a single model or managing multiple models in production, the framework is adaptable, meeting both small-scale and enterprise-level requirements.

By automating the evaluation process and utilizing modular components, AWS’s framework ensures seamless integration into existing AI/ML pipelines with minimal disruption. This flexibility helps businesses scale their AI initiatives and continuously optimize their models while maintaining high standards of performance, quality, and efficiency.

Quality and Trust

A core advantage of AWS’s framework is its focus on maintaining quality and trust in AI deployments. By integrating responsible AI metrics such as accuracy, fairness, and safety, the system ensures that models meet high ethical standards. Automated evaluation, combined with human-in-the-loop validation, helps businesses monitor their LLMs for reliability, relevance, and safety. This comprehensive approach to evaluation ensures that LLMs can be trusted to deliver accurate and ethical outputs, building confidence among users and stakeholders.

Successful Real-World Applications

Amazon Q Business

AWS’s evaluation framework has been applied to Amazon Q Business, a managed Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solution. The framework supports both lightweight and comprehensive evaluation workflows, combining automated metrics with human validation to optimize the model’s accuracy and relevance continuously. This approach enhances business decision-making by providing more reliable insights, contributing to operational efficiency within enterprise environments.

Bedrock Knowledge Bases

In Bedrock Knowledge Bases, AWS integrated its evaluation framework to assess and improve the performance of knowledge-driven LLM applications. The framework enables efficient handling of complex queries, ensuring that generated insights are relevant and accurate. This leads to higher-quality outputs and ensures the application of LLMs in knowledge management systems can consistently deliver valuable and reliable results.

The Bottom Line

AWS’s Automated Evaluation Framework is a valuable tool for enhancing the performance, reliability, and ethical standards of LLMs. By automating the evaluation process, it helps businesses reduce time and costs while ensuring models are accurate, safe, and fair. The framework’s scalability and flexibility make it suitable for both small and large-scale projects, effectively integrating into existing AI workflows.

With comprehensive metrics, including responsible AI measures, AWS ensures LLMs meet high ethical and performance standards. Real-world applications, like Amazon Q Business and Bedrock Knowledge Bases, show its practical benefits. Overall, AWS’s framework enables businesses to optimize and scale their AI systems confidently, setting a new standard for generative AI evaluations.

[ydan-lover]

Do Not Buy: The Vampire Dies in No Time Volume 1 (Orange Inc.)

Tl;dr it's bad. Also do not support AI.

Some of you may not know it but The Vampire Dies in No Time actually has an "official English translation" that is being published on emaqi.com (access for North America only).

I'll start with the elephant in the room. Orange Inc., the company behind this "official translation," uses AI-translation technologies.

"To produce one localized volume of manga in another language requires several difficult, time-consuming, and complicated processes. What Orange is doing is using AI technology to try to streamline the more tedious tasks required for manga localization, so humans can spend more time focusing on what they do best." (link)

They claim the translation they're providing is not AI-generated and is done by their translators but let's see these statements.

On the translation side, we sometimes use Japanese-to-English translation that is 100% done by human translators, with no AI assistance. We also have some cases where we start with an AI-generated translation, and human translators will use that as a starting point to review and make edits or adjustments, if needed. But what is really important for us to emphasize is that we NEVER publish anything that is only an AI-generated translation.  <...> For example, the first basic translation could be made by AI, and the human localizer would work on retouching and fixing stuff.  <...> (From the press release) To maintain the integrity of the original works and build trust with the readers, artists and publishers over time, no more than 10 percent of the content on emaqi will be translated using AI support at launch, as the team continues to evaluate and refine its approach for the future (link)

According to them, they use AI-assisted automated tools for things like erasing the Japanese original text from a manga page, but as you'll see later that, if that claim is true, not only is this thing inconsistent in what to erase and what not but there are also moments that made me question if the translation was really done by human hand.

First of all, nobody is credited for the translation.

Translated, Lettered and Edited by Orange Inc.

How can anyone be assured that whatever they're reading was not done by AI? Just believe someone's "plz trust me"?

Second of all, fine. Let me put on a clown wig and assume it was 100% done by human translators and not MTL.

It doesn't save the book much because it's still bad.

Disclaimer: this post is covering only the first chapter and all the problems with it because it's the only one with an open access and could be read for free. Also because one post is not enough to cover all the problems I've found in the book.

Let's start with the contents page.

Call me old-fashioned or whatever, I really dislike the decision just to leave the chapters as 'chapters'.

The chapters in the series are referred to as 第ｘ死 instead of the usual 第ｘ話. This translates as Death X, because our titular main character happens to die in no time, what a shocker. By simply changing these 'deaths' to 'chapters' the translation already loses some charm of the original book.

As for the chapter titles...

(1) The Hunter Arrives, And He Gets Lost - no, that's not what the 空を飛ぶ part means. It is literal, because Ronald flies in the skies for just a moment because that's what happens in the chapter.

(4) Fukuma Attacks! - I'm convinced the title for this one is based on the fan translations of that chapter title because not even in the anime it's translated like that. The word 襲撃 does mean 'to attack', except there's a small nuance: the word is usually used to indicate that the attack is unexpceted. Again, that's what happens in the chapter.

(5) Shin-Yokohama Will Fall With Flowers - I will admit, this title is difficult to be properly translated into English, which is where the machine failed. Bonnoki is using two different meanings of the word 散る: one is applicable to the falling flowers, another one could be roughly translated as 'to die a noble death in the battle'. The second meaning is what happens in the chapter, because Draluc, well, dies during his encounter with Zenranium. 花と散る is basically just a euphemism of someone dying. No idea why it's suddenly Shin-Yokohama the one dying in this title translation. A human with basic knowledge of the Japanese grammar would not translate it like that, that's for sure.

(6) Can You Hit the Wall and Kill It? - like in the case with the anime's translation (Can a Bang on the Wall Kill Him?), I have no idea why they're specifying and making it worse when we all know from the context the one to be killed is Draluc, so it would be totally fine to translate is as just "Can You Kill by Hitting the Wall?" (This one is more of a nitcpick, I admit it myself, but still)

(7) Grumbling Highway to Success - again, if you know the context, the chapter title makes no sense. Hinaichi doesn't win. Her hopes of getting a serious job (出世街道, path to success) turn into getting the lamest job (転落道, path to failure). Could be also translated as "The Highway to Promotion is the Path to Demotion" but that's

(8) Eros Leading to Metamorphosis - ゆえに ('therefore') is translated wrong. I'll let them slide the omitted wordplay in the title with "love/eros" and "pervert/metamorphosis" because it's hard to show that in translation, it doesn't really matter that much here anyway.

(9/10) Some Idiots Cause a Disturbance in the Hunter's Guild... (Again) - バカ騒ぎ is an adjective attached to the guild, not some idiots. The まだ part in the sequel indicated the guild is still fooling around.

And finally, Draluc's iconic 'sand' scream is now something gibberish. Great start.

Page 3

Someone saw him heading toward Draluc's castle...

Again, I'm slightly nitpicking, but for a reason. Draluc's castle is literally called just Draluc Castle. Poor woman is telling Ronald the name of the castle her son was last seen, and then she adds that the castle belongs to the vampire with the same name.

Continuity error (真相にして無敵). For some reason, the 無敵 part is always translated along with some new added words when it's not the case in the original. "Said to be invincible", "supposedly invincible".

Page 8

Font inconsistency. Despite using the same font in the original, Ronald shouts in two different fonts in the translation.

What you see straught ahead is the castle of Draluc...

The word that the tour guide uses here is not 城 (castle) but 屋敷 (residence, mansion).

Page 9

Mischellanous. Some of the written stuff is not translated and left as it is, without any logic behind such decision. On this page, Draluc's buns with his initial D are not translated. Draluc's games referencing the very well-known ones are also left untouched.

Page 10

I was picking out a QSQ software.

Where do I even start with this...

Most of the time the word ��フト in gaming spaces does not mean a short form of ソフトウェア (software program) but a short form of ゲームソフト (console game). Sure, technically speaking a game is a software, but I've never seen any casual gamers call it "software" even once because imho the word software has a slightly different meaning than when you say a video game.

And here we have an elementary school kid calling it a software. When he was literally shown picking a game on the previous page. Dpmo.

I ended up staying late because I was playing until I completed the game.

He did not complete the game. That's part of the reason why he runs away and continues playing later on.

Most of the time, author's notes (aka Bonnoki's additional comments) are usually introduced via a character saying something and the line being marked with this ※ reference mark. For some reason, this reference mark is erased in translation.

Page 11

Don't think you can beat me in my own castle, brat!

No idea why they decided to add the word brat that wasn't in the bubble in the first place. We know already that line is addressed to the kid.

While technically it's the correct transation, Draluc refers to him as 小僧 in the chapter, which is more polite than Ronald's ガキ, usually translated here as "brat". Draluc is yet to go through his polite-to-rude speech change, so of course he's referring to the scooter kid politely, with the only time of him using "brat" as a reply to Ronald's previous speech where he refers to kid as such. However, the translation fails to adapt this nuance in their speeches. (No idea how it is in the dub, but at least in the English subs they do refer to him differently, with Draluc using "boy" and Ronald using "kid" and they were always consistent with this)

Mischellanous. Due to the pics limit I can't post every case of the manga being inconsistent with Draluc's 小僧/Ronald's ガキ so I'll just write them down if there are any in the remaining screencaps. While I can close my eyes on Ronald's inconsistency and sort of excuse it as a PR persona vs. real persona slipping up moments, all the Draluc moments literally have no excuse.

Bratconsistency x1

Page 13

The のに part is missing in the translation. Ronald is technically continuing hiss speech from the previous page, hence のに.

However, if anything happens to the client's kid...

Also... Bratconsistency x0.5 (Like I've mentioned before, I can at least (sort of) excuse Ronald's lines, but still.)

See? Your long-winded speech made us lost track of the brat.

Made us lose track.

Bratconsistency x1

Page 14

...little punk

Doesn't even count as Bratconsistency because it wasn't in the original lines. Ronald doesn't call out to him even once during this scene because he does it in the next one.

Page 15

This is a popularity business. Going viral for the wrong reasons is the scariest thing.

I rather prefer "online backlash" from the anime as the translation for the 炎上 because (imho) "going viral for the wrong reasons" is too vague and could mean anything.

All right! You go give that kid a Wii or something!

It's Vii.

Page 16

Mischellanous: Ronald's book cover is not translated. Again, no idea what's the logic behind translating some things and leaving some of them untranslated.

Damn. That little brat...

That's not what he said.

Page 17 (+ bonus Page 22)

Become minced meat along with the kid, vampire hunter!

Again, that's not what he said. He just says they will become victims of said traps. The anime subs got it right.

Hey, there was some kind of beam-emitting device in there!

I have to admit, this was the moment I gave up and had to laugh out loud, for the completely wrong reason.

Ah yes, I can totally imagine a really pissed off Ronald, after almost getting himself killed, saying "beam-emitting device" in his politest voice ever.

At least on page 22 he says something more in character. Wait a second-

It's the thing that shoots beams from its eyes!!!

Eye. One eye. Also inconsistent with the name from page 17.

Page 18

Font inconsistency. When Draluc is being fried by lazers, his speech becomes pixelated. While the font slightly changes, it's nowhere close to the original line in terms of style.

(Ronald) C'mon, one look and it's obvious the place is full of traps. Don't mess with me. (Draluc) You went in even though you could tell there was a trap at first glance?

Draluc's reply makes no sense. Not to mention that's not what he said. "You could tell that at first glance, and yet you still went in?"

Page 19

Mischellanous. Again, the poisonous gas button is translated on one frame and left untranslated on another.

Page 20

I mean, wouldn't it be harder to actually get fall traps that obvious?

???

???

You either choose "to actually fall for such obvious traps" or "to actually get caught in such obvious traps", not both at the same time.

Page 24

Mischellanous. Again, Draluc is being fried by lasers and his speech is in pixels. No pixels for the translation.

I totally forgot about the poison gas!

Poisonous gas, you mean. Proofreading seems to be nonexistent.

Page 27

The gag of Draluc's sand sfx being reversed when revived is nonexistent in the translation.

Page 28

Gah, sunlight!!!

Font inconistency. Draluc's "gah" should also be enlarged.

Draluc Castle

They finally got the Draluc Castle name right, too bad it's inconsistent with what was introduced before, huh.

***

And lastly, for anyone thinking it gets better later, have some moments from the extras. (No pics since I've reached the limit and I don't want to be hit by a random copyright)

Special Thanks Page. They translated the address but decided to leave out the part mentioning Bonnoki's editor and his assistants.

Character Notes. 兄弟 from Ronald's note is translated as "brothers". While typically it does mean exactly that, we know from context 3兄弟 means "three siblings" because we have Himari, Ronald's sister.

Extra Bonus Story. Oh boy. Firstly, Ronald-Donald joke doesn't land if you have a Ronaldo-Donald combo. (Another win for Ronald truthers) And if you don't know why their names are suddenly spelled as "Ro-na-lu-do" and "Do-ra-lu-ku" to make the joke work, don't worry, they just gave up on adapting the joke. Secondly, they also gave up on the Funamushi-Hinaichi joke adaptation and wrote "Funamushi (Ligia exotica)" and I wish I was kidding.

Uso/Fake Preview. Despite being a two-page spread, the text is placed as if it's two different pages. The fact it was even approved makes me frustrated. The grammar is also messed up at one point.

Back Cover. Again, another proof that this translation lacks proofreading.

The translation of the frame on the cover does not match the one in the actual book. ("That cocky brat… Mocking us with those fancy kickboard moves." (book) vs. "Why you little... Mocking me with those kickboard skills!" (back cover))

The description of Ronald and Fukuma's frame: "Clothes being torn into shreads by editors with his battle axe...?!" Again, zero understanding of the context and zero proofreading. Fukuma is one entity (so far...), where did multiple editors even come from?

Speaking of proofreading, the synopsis also (sort of) lies about the premise. "In order to find the missing children, the vampire hunter Ronaldo came to the castle of the supposedly invincible vampire and true ancestor, Draluc. <...>" One. Missing. Child.

Closing thoughts

Objectively speaking, I can't prove that this translation was done by AI, but I also can't prove that it was done by humans either.

The reason why I'm even making this post is because I'm frustrated and very disappointed. Some of Bonnoki's jokes might be either too niche (I swear I've learned more about the Dragon Quest just from him than my gaming circles) or too clever for the translation that a human hand will always be required, no matter what. If I don't have any guarantees that these jokes will not be butchered by some AI that missed the context or simply doesn't get the joke, then why should anyone bother paying for the lackluster content?

And again, the quality of the volume wouldn't change much even if no AI was used, because then it would mean none of the translators bothered to check if what they've translated before was consistent or matches with what's happening in the book.

And, to top it all, people are asked to pay $5 for this quality on the site.

Unfortunately (?) I don't have access to volumes 2-4, so I can't just check the chapters where AI would be the most obvious or simply check the later content, but I'm afraid it probably doesn't get much better. And if the description on the site matches the one from the back cover like with volume 1, then we have Ronaldo suddenly turning into Ronald three volumes later. Another peak of consistency. (If it's just a typo on the back cover and he's still Ronaldo in the series, it just shows the lack of care again)

I really wanted for The Vampire Dies in No Time to be picked up by some daring publishing company and be properly translated into English with all the nuances. There is a reason why the series is so beloved in Japan among the fans, so I hoped that its chaotic charm would find its way to the public outside Japan.

So far, all I feel right now is sadness. I'm disappointed with how the official English release is being handled right now.

Last thing I will say is this. Do not even dare blaming or insulting Bonnoki for this mess. We don't know the extent of how much he actually knows about it, considering he's been recovering from his injury and not even once acknowledged the release of the English translation.

(P.s. I might make some follow-up posts regarding the butchered translation of the first volume but since I don't live in North America I have no idea if publishing the excerpts from the rest of the volume is even legal and whether they could strike down my post, lol. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded just making a text post and listing all the things butchered, just to be safe, but the fake (or Uso) preview spread is just that bad that it needs to be seen as a whole. Also I've been making this post for ages and it's just one chapter, so I need a small break before I make another post regarding the book's quality check.)

[justanotherblonde]

I don’t think Ne Zha 2 used Ai because I have seen behind the scenes videos on how the movie was made.

https://youtu.be/v7malQgDT_U?feature=shared

But this person on twitter/X is claiming the film used Ai (this person is a Disney fan so maybe that’s why)

https://x.com/CjstrikerC/status/1891468055114387869

https://x.com/CjstrikerC/status/1891483998448234894

this X user is doing exactly what i predicted and trying to scaremonger about something rather insignificant. the link they provide in their first post to iWeaver, an "AI-powered knowledge management tool", states that AI was used in the following ways in Nezha 2:

Question: What key roles did AI play in the production process of “Nezha 2”? Answer: AI played significant roles in the production of “Nezha 2”. It accurately predicted the box – office trend through AI, foreseeing the record – breaking moment 72 hours in advance. In the production process, it carried out automated complexity grading for 220 million underwater particle effects, generated resource allocation plans based on the profiles of over 3,000 artists, and could also track the rendering progress of 14 global studios in real – time, helping to improve production efficiency and quality. (Source: iWeaver)

now, if that's true, it's probably something the studio will keep on the DL simply because they don't want people to turn it into "they used AI? they made the whole thing with AI??!!! Terrible!!" (which, if you ask me, might be a dumb approach because in a lot of circles it will look worse if their "cover" gets "blown"). but even tho iWeaver says "significant roles", the first "role" of AI was just in predicting box-office gains, not in animation. the second "role" is what i suspected from having watched the movie: that AI was used to help render some scenes (one scene?). this makes perfect sense, and if you ask me is a really legit use of AI tech. dare i say it, perhaps even something the studios should be proud of.

OBVIOUSLY they did not use AI to create this whole movie. 14 animation studios were involved, thousands of animators, SO MUCH more work than "just" throwing some prompts at an algorithm and telling it to "make a movie". there are a ridiculous number of small details that can only be attributed to human work. a couple of my favs: when Li Jing [Nezha's father] lies in front of Shen Gongbao's little brother on Shen's behalf, the soldier behind him gives him a look of mild shock😲; when Nezha's parents have Shen Gongbao over for dinner during the siege, one of the Guardian Beasts is snoozing 😴.

use of AI always opens up the floor to discussion of what is "Art", but that's a debate humans will have for as long as we exist and are still making art. hell, people used to say it was cheating to try and paint something from a photograph, rather than a live model. they're ALWAYS going to be like that. critics are a necessary evil. haters are always gonna hate.

making art is about creating with integrity. artists use the tools available to them, and some artists are better at using tools than others. AI is also a creative tool. that's the world we live in in 2025.

consider this: i'm a teacher at university level, and obviously we've got loads of students trying to use AI to complete their assignments. what we're moving towards is having an "admission of AI use" declaration for them to make, because we acknowledge that this tool can be helpful! for example, SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. i'd LOVE if my students used AI to fix those mistakes. then i could smoothly read their work. AI can also help you get a basic understanding of concepts (thus improving your ability to write about them), but you still have to check the sources it provides you. that's what makes you look dumb at university level: citing imaginary sources and authors that the AI generated for you. AI tools are also pretty crap at actually "understanding the assignment", so it's easy to tell when a student used AI to write the whole essay because it won't be the right format, and thus can't get a good score. but if a student is smart enough to figure out what's required according to the rubric, what parts of the essay are needed, what arguments they need to make to get points, and they use AI to help them write those out, i see no reason to penalise them for using assistance - as long as they admit they used it. lying about one's abilities doesn't serve anyone, least of all the person themselves.

i think it's really easy for some armchair critic to look at a "fact" like "AI was used in the production of this film" and get angry about it. but i'll bet they haven't even been to see the movie, or spent any time looking for "behind the scenes" reports like you did, and that means we can ignore that idiot, because they don't know what we know 😌

thanks for reading!!

[queen-mabs-revenge]

ok ok ok ok ok for book #3 of the ai critical extravaganza, it's 'the ai con' by emily m. bender and alex hanna and it's already shaping up to be the best of the bunch so far

'the new age of sexism' bought into the hype and over half the book was devoted to analysing misogyny in view of the generative ai-based futures posited by both ai doomers and boosters. it felt at odds with itself advocating, for example, for more moderation and oversight over future mass-adoption of the metaverse while also acknowledging that the safety of these technologies comes at the expense of natural resources and intense exploitation of human labour.

'empire of ai' instead really delved into the history and the systematic reasons why these corporations have developed in the way that they have, and why ai development and effects cannot be analysed separately from the vectors of oppression and exploitation that have already been carved out by historical empire building.

only two chapters into 'the ai con' so far and it's getting into the weeds of the racism, sexism, ableism, queerphobia, and other expressions of anti-human capitalist alienation at the root of every aspect of mechanising and quantifying human 'intelligence'. even the marketing term artificial intelligence carries with it definitions of 'intelligence' that are deeply entwined with eugenicists theories. the very concept that humanity can be mechanised is a devaluation of humans - capitalist alienation in hyperdrive. devalued humans - especially those most devalued by the systems of oppression capitalism thrives on - are even further justified as disposable.

of the three, i'd say 'the ai con' is the most approachable so far -- bender and hanna are both incredibly important researchers and early alarm-bell ringers about the linguistic and sociological implications of automation, and they are exceptional at demystifying how the technology actually works, the theories behind their criticism... and they've also got a really fun sense of humour about it all.

ok...lmao lemme get more than 2 chapters in tho 😅

[seniorpollinationtechnician]

Meet the Townies: ᴇᴛʜᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪꜱᴀᴀᴄ

Ethan Harper grew up an only child and spent his formative years immersed in the world of engineering. His fascination with machines and technology was inspired by his father who was a skilled mechanic. While attending high school, Ethan secretly began working on a personal project where he attempted to design and build a robot. He poured countless hours into this endeavor, often sacrificing teenage milestones to tend to this robot he later named ISAAC (Intelligent System and Advanced Assistant Companion). Upon graduating High School, Ethan enrolled at Foxbury Institute where he pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering. During his time there, Ethan excelled in his studies, consistently earning top marks and impressing his professors with his innovative ideas and dedication to the craft. In his free time, he continued to work on ISAAC since the university's state-of-the-art facilities and access to cutting-edge resourced allowed him to make significant improvements. He refined ISAAC's design, enhanced its capabilities and incorporated the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics. After graduating with honors from Foxbury, Ethan quickly began carving out a professional life for himself. His reputation as a brilliant young engineer opened many doors and he received numerous job offers from leading tech companies. Ethan's expertise eventually caught the attention of the military who offered him a position to develop a project for them. Though he initially hesitated, the opportunity was too enticing to pass up. Despite his professional success and the accolades he received for his work, Ethan felt an intense void in his life that he couldn't seem to fill. His relentless pursuit of perfection in his projects, particularly with ISAAC, often left him feeling isolated. The extensive time he spent in the lab, both during his time at Foxbury and throughout his career, meant that his personal life took a backseat. Ethan's social interactions were limited and he found it difficult to connect with others on a deeper level. His closest colleagues, at one point, noticed and gently encouraged him to step out of his comfort zone and try dating. Ethan reluctantly agreed and while the dates he went on did not lead to a lasting relationship, it helped Ethan open up and see the value in balancing his personal and professional life. As he continued to make strides in his professional career, Ethan was approached by his alma mater, Foxbury institute, with an invitation to teach part-time. The university recognized his achievements and believed that his expertise could inspire and educate the next generation of engineers. Teaching at Foxbury became a profoundly rewarding experience for him. Standing before eager students, he shared his knowledge and passion. He found joy in helping them navigate their own paths and would often encourage them to think creatively and push the boundaries of what was possible. Meanwhile, ISAAC continued to improve every day, becoming an indispensable part of Ethan's life. By this point, ISAAC's capabilities extended far beyond what Ethan originally intended. ISAAC excelled in research assistance, laboratory management, and technical maintenance. The robot could analyze complex data, run simulations and suggest innovative solutions to engineering problems which significantly sped up Ethan's workflow. ISAAC also managed clerical tasks such as organizing files, scheduling meetings, and maintaining equipment, allowing Ethan to focus on more critical aspects of his projects. ISAAC'S home automation features made Ethan's personal life a breeze, as well. The robot could control various smart devices, perform household chores, such as cleaning and grocery shopping, and even cook meals based on Ethan's dietary preferences. Recently, Ethan and ISAAC relocated to the town of Oasis Springs due to a job offer at a cutting-edge research lab.