#❛ DATA ;; MUSINGS┊just quirky things

[sombersummerskies]

A Champion's Love: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: An Excitable Zora Word Count: 2783 CW: None

Want all the chapters? -> Masterlist ~~~ <> ~~~

The sun shines down upon you as you sit atop one of the tall hills north of Lantern Lake. With a sigh, you continue to twist a blade of grass between your fingertips. Ever since waking up your thoughts have been rushing, endless, a mile a minute as you ponder the situation you find yourself in. 

It was incredibly wild and bizarre. You awake in some pool with no recollection of anything beforehand. The voice of a girl unknown to you starts speaking and she somehow knows your name. You then receive this tablet called the Sheikah Slate. After a few days of working alongside an old man on the Great Plateau and figuring out these shrine puzzles, the old man reveals himself to be the spirit of the dead King of Hyrule. Next thing you know you’re traveling through the region, fending off Bokoblins and scavenging to stay alive. 

Now you’re being told you’re a hero? A magnificent champion here to save the land. None of it makes any sense to you.

You still can’t remember anything. At times, you feel faint memories attempting to claw their way into your recollection. Like whispers of the past, just on the tip of your tongue, but never quite there.

That crestfallen look on Impa’s face when you revealed to her that you had no memories was still at the back of your mind. You really had been gone for a century… but why had you been put to sleep? What led to all of this? Why hadn’t you beaten Calamity Ganon before? If what the King and what Impa said was true you should have been prepared. Yet Ganon had still somehow overpowered you. He had overpowered all of you.

In spite of this, you held a small amount of faith that with time you’d get your memories back. After traveling to Hateno village to speak to a quirky scientist named Purah (who’d performed an anti-aging rune on herself and had taken on the form of a child) you had received a camera feature on the slate. Along with the camera came an album of photos. Impa had assured you that traveling to the locations of these images could potentially help jog your memory.

With a frown on your face you toss the blade of grass aside and unhook the Sheikah Slate from your belt to check your map. During your talks with Impa she told you about four ‘Divine Beasts’: mechanical creations of the Sheikah that were used by warriors to defend Hyrule. She had said to seek them out and four points had appeared on your map, seemingly coinciding with each beast.

The closest of these four points was northeast of Kakariko Village, your current location. Glancing up from the slate you could see vast wetlands, and east of that were some mountains and highlands. None of this was charted on your map, however, you would need to climb a tower to have that data be added. When you squinted, you could just barely make out what appeared to be a tower in the distance.

It was going to be quite a walk, though. You found yourself wishing you could bring your horse along. Without a horse you’d have to wade through all of that land on your own, fighting new enemies. 

‘Well… no turning back now,’ you muse in your mind, adjusting the gloves of your climbing gear. After making sure all your belongings are secured, you unfurl your paraglider and get a running start, the wind whipping past as you glide over the grassy terrain.

…

After some trials and tribulation, specifically a rather nosy ice Wizzrobe, you had scaled the tower. Inputting the slate into the guidance stone, you watched the blue runes trickle down, before implanting new map data. Taking out the slate, you gave the map a good look over. 

‘Lanayru tower, huh? Lanayru wetlands to the southwest, Lanayru sea to the east, and… oh, Zora’s Domain!’ you thought excitedly to yourself. The glowing yellow point you were heading to was in the middle of a location named Zora’s Domain on the map.

You were so engrossed in your studying of the map that you jump at the sound of a voice behind you: “Wow! I cannot believe it!” 

Spinning on your heel, you were a bit shocked to see someone on the tower. Upon closer inspection though, you were surprised to see what he was. A tall… blue… fish-person?

He cleared his throat before speaking once more, “excuse me! Yes, you! I am Gruve of the Zora!” You noticed the accessories he wore, silver bands and blue stones that seemed to be glowing- though it was hard to tell  in the sunlight. “It is apparent that you are a traveler, but may I ask what brought you here?” he inquired.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you replied with a smile, raising an eyebrow. You were extremely curious as to why he was up here on one of the Sheikah Towers. 

“Hm… how astute of you! An excellent query indeed!” he beamed, and you almost blushed at the sudden praise.

“I, by the order of Prince Sidon of Zora’s Domain, am searching for a Hylian. Or I was… but then I fell asleep. I awoke to a loud noise and awful quaking, and now here I am. I’d like to get down and be on my way, but I’m simply too high up. I need to figure something out.” he explained, and you nodded your head as you listened to the story. 

You bit your tongue, thinking it perhaps best that you didn’t confess that it was your own fault he was stuck in this predicament. When you had first awoken on the Great Plateau and activated the first tower there, it seemingly caused all other towers in Hyrule to rise up from the ground- this tower just so happened to catch a Zora as it rose.

“Prince Sidon is down at the bridge below, but for some reason I cannot seem to catch his attention!” he continued on, and you glanced over the side of the tower to see a bridge down below, shrouded in mist and rain. 

“We’re probably too high up for him to hear you,” you mused aloud, turning to look back at Gruve.

“Yes, you may be right… but you! You are a Hylian, yes?!” he exclaimed, grinning at you. In response you gesture to your pointed ears with a smile, as if to say ‘why yes I am a Hylian, isn’t it obvious.’. 

“Well then! My luck is improving!” he said, and peered over the side of the tower so quickly you thought he was almost going to fall off. “Prince Sidon! I found one! I FOUND A HYLIAN!” he screamed, nearly blowing out your eardrums.

Leaning over, you squint your eyes to try and look down at the bridge. You could see an extremely faint red figure… but it was hard to make out if that was a person or not due to the rain.

“Hmm…” Gruve sighed, pulling his body away from the edge, “Prince Sidon doesn’t seem to notice my struggle… Perhaps I should swallow my fear and jump into the river below. Then I could return to him! He must be worried sick…” he mumbled, mostly speaking to himself and not you.

You watched him for a few curious seconds, wanting to know if he’d go through with that plan or not. “No! Nope! Can’t do it! I’m too high up. I’ll likely meet the gods of the ever after before I ever see Prince Sidon again…” he muttered, before turning to face you with a sincere expression.

“Miss Hylian, I must apologize…” he continues, though you bristle a little at being called ‘Miss Hylian’. “It will be some time before I can get back to Prince Sidon. Please, you must leave me here and go on ahead.”

With a nod you pat him on the shoulder and smile. “I’m alright with that. Here, would you like some fish? I’ve caught plenty, this one is raw though,” you offer, looking through your bag before pulling out a Hyrule Bass you had wrapped in a Korok Leaf. 

“Oh yes please! Thank you so much, Miss….?” he exclaims, taking the fish in his hands and looking down at you curiously.

You say your name with a grin before shutting your bag and strapping it over your shoulder. Stepping onto the ridge at the edge of the tower top, you watch his eyes grow wide as he stares at you. With a flourish, you hop off the edge and spread your paraglider open, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing past as you head for the glowing bridge down below.

…

Your boots make a soft pitter patter on the wet grass once you land. Folding the paraglider back in, you tuck it away before looking around. The rain was beginning to soak through your clothes, but you just hoped everything in your bag would be intact.

Focusing your attention on the bridge before you, you unhook the Sheikah Slate from your belt, curious to know the area you were now in. ‘Inogo Bridge, crossing over the Zora river. Yup this is the right place,’  you think, before hooking the slate to your belt again.

As the grass turns to dirt, you’re careful not to slip on the muddy ground. Looking around the area, you couldn’t seem to see anyone. ‘Where is this supposed Prince Sidon?’ you wonder. Taking a few more steps towards the bridge, you’re suddenly stopped in your tracks at the sound of a voice calling out to you.

“Say, hey there! Young one!”

You spin around, searching for the source of the voice, incredibly confused. ‘Where- hold on, young? I’m over a hundred years old!’

“Up top! Above you!”

Glancing up, you watch in awe as a red Zora jumps off of one of the bridge’s look out points and lands flawlessly in front of you. He towers over you, at least three times your size. You stare up at him curiously, taking in his features. The main things that stood out to you were the hammer-head tail, and the attire he was decorated with: jewelry adorned his body along with a plume on his head, deeming him royalty.

You can’t help but feel somewhat intimidated by him.

It was the prince of the Zora after all, in the flesh. ‘He seems familiar… why do I feel as though I’ve seen him before…?’ you wonder, a bit lost in your thoughts as you gaze up at him.

“Pardon the entrance, but you’re a Hylian, aren’t you? I was hoping perhaps you’d have a moment to talk,” he explained, and you quickly nod your head yes, just as you had done with Gruve atop the Lanaryu tower.

“Aha! A Hylian! Yes, I knew it!” he cheers happily, “oh, pardon me… I am Sidon, the Zora Prince!” He grins, striking a bit of a silly pose that made you smile, and you could’ve sworn you even saw a sparkle in his sharp teeth.

“And what is your name? Go on, please tell me!” he inquired, and just from his demeanor it was clear he genuinely did want to know you, and wasn’t just doing this for formality’s sake.

“Uhh- I’m-” you stammer, cursing yourself for the way you suddenly stumble out your words. You felt your cheeks grow warm out of embarrassment, but quickly ignored it as you eventually spit out your name.

“What a fantastic name!” he complimented, which caused you to blush even more. 

“Oh, it’s not that special,” you laughed slightly, putting your hands on your belt and fidgeting with the fabric of your shirt to distract yourself from how flustered you were getting.

He seemed to be looking at you a bit more intrinsically and you looked around awkwardly, not knowing why. “Hmm, though I cannot shake the feeling that I have heard it somewhere before…” he continued, putting his hand to his chin as he seemingly thought about it. 

‘Maybe in a story or something… possibly about the champions. But he can’t possibly be over a hundred years old.’

“Well, in any case, it is a strong name! To be honest, I’ve been watching you. I’ve seen the way you work. I can tell by how you carry yourself that you are no ordinary person.” he concluded, smiling at you, “you must be a strong warrior among the Hylians, correct?” 

You take a moment to mull over the question in your mind. “Uhh… sure?” you answered, despite being rather unsure of yourself. ‘A hundred years ago I probably would have answered that with confident certainty… now though… hmm…’

“Aha! Just as I suspected! I am a Zora prince, after all. I have an eye for talent that is unparalleled! Yes! Exquisite! I have been searching for someone like you for a long while. A woman like you who carries herself with power!” he gushed, just as excited as earlier. 

Now you were really blushing. All the compliments and praise were making your cheeks burn despite the cold rain coming down on the two of you.

He explained the current issue at hand to you briefly. One of the Divine Beasts, Vah Ruta, was causing trouble in their land by bringing about a constant downfall. You pondered momentarily that this shouldn’t be much of an issue for the Zora, they are an aquatic race after all and lived in the water. But once you considered the future ramifications this would cause, such as the flooding of rivers and dams, you realized how devastating this could truly be.

That factor served to add more purpose to gaining control of the Divine Beast once more. Defeating Ganon and saving a civilization at the same time. How could you ever deny them the assistance?

You had zoned out momentarily while thinking of all of this, and were only pulled back to reality when you realized Prince Sidon had asked you a question, and was looking down at you expecting an answer.

“Apologies, but please repeat the question? I got distracted,” you mumbled, embarrassed that you had lost track of the conversation.

Sidon chuckled, clearly amused by your apparent shyness. “I asked if you would come back to Zora’s Domain with me? To overcome Vah Ruta!” he clarified, bearing a confident smile as he spoke.

You quickly nodded your head, droplets of water flying about as you did. “Of course I will,” you smiled, a strong want to help those in need sparked inside of you.

Sidon thanked you immensely, taking your hands into his own and shaking them gratefully. You were caught off guard by the texture of his hands. His scales were flat and smooth and slick, likely from the constant rain. Without meaning to you stare at his hands, and when you glance back up at the prince he realizes how long he’d been holding your hands for. All too quickly, he releases you from his grasp, which leaves you feeling oddly disappointed.

The two of you briefly discussed how you’d have to traverse the area- due to the rain you wouldn’t be able to scale the cliffs. You’d be forced to follow the path the Zora had carved, and though it was convenient, it winded around the river and was likely to be crowded with monsters, likely electric ones due to the weather.

Once you were done going over the plan, Sidon stood up straight and struck his signature pose once more. “Don’t give up! I believe in you!” he exclaimed, but had a peculiar look on his face when he suddenly remembered something. “Oh! That’s right! I have something I would like to give you! This is just a small trinket to show that I have faith in you,” he informed you, reaching into a pouch and pulling out a small vial of yellow-green liquid - an electro elixir. 

‘Convenient,’ you muse.

He explained that the elixir’s effects seemingly don’t work on the Zora themselves, so he’s been unable to use it until now. The two of you bid your goodbyes, Sidon letting you know he’d swim upstream to make sure the path was clear for you. Then he sprung backwards, doing a spectacular flip into the water.

You laughed a bit watching his red form shoot through the river and head up the small waterfall. ‘What a show-off… a genuine, nice show-off though,’ you think, smiling to yourself before turning back to the bridge. 

You prepare yourself, a broadsword you’d managed to scavenge in hand, before setting off to Zora’s Domain.

~~~ <> ~~~

Next Chapter

[flsedirection]

‘ GO FUCK YOUR SELFIE ‘ 

                                                                                                  IN THE CLOUD - 

uploading data … ⟳  

    jack of all trades master of none - max caulfield. never moved to seattle, max got to stay and grow up with her friends her parents got divorced and she doesnt see her dad much anymore it must have been a weird domino effect of not moving on. growing up in the cloud max attended CONSTANCE BILLIARD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS in high school max was the girl that befriended her teachers at parties people thought it was a spectacle when she ate an edible and got too honest about people as jokes. the quirky art student that you saw taking pictures at pep rallies and sporting events - living life through the lens of her camera the art in her journal you wouldnt catch her speaking up often in groups of people when she was young. she had flings for girls and guys but shyed away from that most of the time except at parties and occasional dates... sleepovers. she always a step back from life willingly sidelining herself if people didnt drag her into things, she was almost a bit of a welcome mat. gullible and a bit naive with an indecisive nature it was easy for her to just let people take advantage of her because there was the part of her that was nosy and just wanted to get closer. 

now that shes older and attending BLACKWELL UNIVERSITY max has an ache for adventure she loves to go out at night and cause trouble, or for a walk in the woods by herself shes even dabbled in grafitti and bne. you would not call her a trouble maker by any means but there is that underlying want there to document she doesnt let people walk over her the same way they did in the past. shes still not sure in her art in her photography the girl is wishy washy about everything but shes learning to be stronger. shes still corny shes makes jokes like the moths in my head dont let me think, shes pretentious about her polaroid camera and black coffee and better than you indie music, she still the curious girl who swallowed her teddy bears eye just to see if she could. shes better at finding her voice shes trying to live a real life instead of just copying all the personality traits of those around her to fit social norms and breaking down in bathrooms over small things that overwhelm her. you can still find her in the back of classes with her headphones in, inner monologuing, but you can also find her painting in the woods or trying to start a fail tshirt business with her art on it because shes still self conscious, taking pictures of your friends wedding or your five year old sisters birthday party in her free time. 

       THE MEMORIES... ⟳  

she has vivid day dreams of nose bleeds and death following her, the guilt she feels she still feels it all the danger she felt like she was in. it affects her because it seems so damn real it feels like something that happened to her, a girl she loves and cares about dying because of her - everyone she knows and loves dying because of her. the guilt eats away at her... but its not real right? shes not that indecisive right? this isnt her fault, she just cant shake it. it follows her and its so heavy that some days she doesnt even get out of bed. 

       THE CONNECTS... ⟳  

ex gfs - max is mostly into girls though in hs this was probaly more aha i really really like you but i dont know how to actually be your gf so this is the closest thing we will ever get. they probably went out on dates and max did corny things like set up a movie projector in the backyard for them. 

crushes - max while more outspoken now probably wasnt that much in the past so this could be one sided or max never realized the crush and your muse was like?? are you dense in the head or current crushes

fwb/set up dates - max probably is very new to fwb she likes men and women physically and is trying to live life now rather than just being a teachers pet and behind a camera. so hookups would be very random whatever works. 

did u need a photographer - literally any reason literally any just throw it out there she needs money for her black coffee and fucking vinyl records annoying ass. 

roommate - definitely 1 or 2 roommates would be cool she is a messy housemate cups on the bedside table polaroids lefts on the random surfaces shes organized chaos. 

goes out together - for dinner instead of doing homework goes to parties together maybe they broke into a building or like took pictures on the traintracks in the middle of the night. roadtripped or anything. 

like siblings - max has never had a sibling she was raised on only child ( god that explains why she is the way she is ) so i would love someone who is like a sibling to her. 

tried to start something - max has tried to be in a band tried to start a buisness where she like did ink prints of teeth and put them on shirts and tried to sell them. knitting club. book club. roller skating. she tries so many things and gives them up. 

LIKE TO PLOT !!

[fandom-necromancer]

039. Shouldn’t you be with him/her?

This one is a bit longer than my normal, just a headsup! (Finally not only emotions but story XD)

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: reverse AU

‘Oh, no, I won’t be ordered around, Detective!’ ‘You- Wait, when did I order you around, Gavin? I just asked you to come with me.’ ‘Exactly.’ ‘Gavin, we are partners, we are supposed to go to missions together!’ ‘Yeah, well, I never asked for a phcking partner! Let alone a damn human. And I’m not becoming someone’s puppet!’ ‘I-I am not trying to make you one, we just have to go. We have been called as backup for the SWAT, me being a former military and you being a state of the art android.’ ‘You have been called out to duty.’ ‘It is implied I take my partner with me.’ ‘Oh and now I'm your property, yes? I imply you should go phck yourself! I’m not following you around like a damn lapdog!’ ‘Fine! I’ll go alone then, partner!’

Gavin watched the human march off. Honestly, he had expected him to hoist him up and pull him with him. Or to complain to the captain resulting in god knows what for the GV200. Or to punish him in any other way. He hadn’t at all expected the man to simply walk away. But then again, Nines wasn’t like other partners he had had. It would be too much to say the man had left him alone and in peace, but he had always ordered him in a polite way, even if it was an order nonetheless. Well, he wouldn’t feel guilty about it. The human had worked alone the whole time. In his file it said he had one or two partners in his career. One in the military that died the first week, one in the beginning of his police-life. Well, they lived to tell the tale, but it wasn’t a pleasant one for sure. Gavin had heard the stories about the uncontrollable Detective that, well, every definition of asshole and self-entitled idiot fit. Nines had been over five years at the force without a partner, he would manage.

GV200 spent the time until the human would get back attending to the menial work no one wanted to do. The android tasks, the ones left for them to complete by the humans. Gavin hated it. He had a whole life of signing papers for his partners, writing reports, filing evidence, sending samples to the lab, waiting for results. He didn’t realise how the hours passed and he wouldn’t have noticed the ruckus in the bullpen weren’t it for a few sheets of paper he had to fetch from the printer.

‘Hey, shouldn’t you be with him?’, someone asked as he passed by and Gavin didn’t spent time looking at them, when his auditory sensors picked up that voice coming out of the headphones somewhere. ‘This is Detective Richard Stern, requesting immediate backup! The perimeter has been overrun, I’m in enemy territory, cut off from the SWAT team. Status-‘ The man held his breath and far-away voices became audible. Then hushed words: ‘I haven’t been spotted yet. I have to keep quiet.’

Gavin ignored the lingering stares at him and the muttered questions why he wasn’t there. He asked himself the same questions.

Before he could think about it, he was out and running down the streets at inhuman speeds. He pinged Nines’ communicator, getting an exact position and looking for the best route there. Ignoring streets, cars and even humans, he bolted through the city. It was one thing to hate his partner and the whole situation of being dependant on him. It was a whole other to let his partner die out of pettiness. He connected to the frequency Nines and the precinct were using, talking without using his mouth: ‘Detective unit GV200 on the way responding to backup-call. Arrival in approximately…’ Instead of following the street he jumped over a fence through a row of gardens, recalculating the time. ‘twelve minutes, twenty-five seconds.’

It were long twelve minutes, the only sign of Nines being a regular ping that yes, he was still alive. Gavin finally arrived at the building, operator van easily spotted behind a overgrown bush. He easily hacked the lock, throwing open the back doors to some equally shocked faces. ‘Where is he?’ No one answered him, at least not fast enough. ‘Detective unite GV200 partner of Detective Richard Stern. He requested backup as he is caught behind enemy lines. Where the phck is he?’ ‘Er… around here…’ A woman pointed to a laptop-screen and Gavin jumped into the back of the car looking over her shoulder at what he supposed were the schematics of the factory-complex. ‘Where is your team?’ ‘Over here.’ That was some distance, Gavin mused. There were multiple rooms in between his partner and the SWAT-team. ‘Our men claim he saw a chance to bypass them and acted although he was ordered not to. We had to fall back not to get caught by the criminals.’ ‘And the hostage?’ ‘We suppose he is kept here.’ Huh? That was relatively close to where Nines hid.

‘Okay, I’m going in. I’ll keep broadcasting to you guys. You! White-jacket-guy! Give it to me!’, he demanded. The man flinched and looked at him confusedly. ‘Give me the damn thing! Holy shit, I’ll buy you a new one when this is over, deal? Just give it to me!’ Hesitantly the cloth was handed over and Gavin laid it flatly on a desk. ‘Perfect. Now does any one of you idiots have a sharpie?’

~

Nines had knelt in a corner behind some crates for what felt like an eternity. Surely the twelve minutes had passed already. He hated waiting had always hated it. Fuck, his plan could have worked. If only he had known there was a guard seated in front of him that had decided to patrol the only doors to this room in a rhythm that wouldn’t allow him to slip by. He was so near, he could hear the hostage promising his captors anything that might cause them to let him leave. An android could have told him that. He still waited for either the SWAT-team to act or backup to arrive, when there was a sudden change on the criminals’ behaviour. ‘Hey, has the android stood here before?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Yeah, well, there’s a fucking android standing here. Seems to be dead though. Doesn’t move, has no light.’ ‘Probably leftover from the factory.’ ‘Shit dude, don’t touch it.’ ‘Why? You scared it’ll go full terminator on us?’

Then there was a second voice. A voice Nines knew, but usually in another tone. ‘Hello! I’m a GV200 work unit. How may I help you?’ It was nearly unnatural as happy and quirky as it sounded. Was that really Gavin? ‘Holy shit. I didn’t think it would wake up. Scared the shit out of us, tin-can!’ ‘I have entered Stasis six years, three months and twenty days ago. My orders were to awaken when prompted.’ ‘Hey, nice, free android! We can sell it and keep the change.’ ‘Or we could take it to the boss. Ey, robot! What can you do?’ ‘I have been built with an enhanced chassis for labour. I am quicker and stronger than a normal human.’ ‘What’s with sensors ‘n stuff?’ ‘Enhanced auditory and visual sensor systems.’ ‘We just got ourselves a guard bot, man.’ ‘Acknowledged. I will guard this building. Are there any more persons with you?’ ‘Yeah, we’re seventeen-‘ ‘Thomas is ill.’ ‘Sixteen humans. I would say to look out for police officers and such.’ ‘You can’t just say that, it’ll know-‘ ‘Search parameters saved. Have a nice day.’

Apparently Gavin had left them standing, because there were footsteps getting lost in the distance while the voices of two men remained. ‘We’ll have to tell the boss before it meets the others.’ ‘Yeah, so much for selling it ourselves, dumbass.’ Okay, Gavin was inside the building, having free access to everything. And he even found out how many people there were. A genius plan, he had to give it to the bot.

It took a while until something happened again. Accompanied with a muttered: ‘Phcking humans, I swear!’, Gavin entered the room. Nines stirred but kept quiet, so the man patrolling wouldn’t hear him. It was a shock for him to be suddenly grabbed by the arm and ruggedly pulled to his feet. ‘Intruder alert!’ ‘Gavin, what the fuck?’, he hissed, looking confused at the stark white of a Cyberlife jacket. Wait, was this even his Gavin? ‘What’s with the Cyberlife-Outfit?’ The android showed him his palm, all the while screaming ‘Intruder alert!’ over and over again. I’ll bring you to the hostage, then we wait for SWAT to arrive. Risky. But he trusted the android to know what he was doing. So, he played along. ‘Let me go, you damn android!’, he pressed out and struggled knowing he wouldn’t stand a chance even if he would have honestly tried to get free.

Immediately the guard from before came running in, looking first at Nines, then at the android. ‘You told me to look out for police and other associated forces. This one is a police detective. I've completed my first patrol through the whole building. He is the only one. I believe someone to collect more information on your operation for later intervention. According to statistical data a raid is set one to two weeks after first investigation.

‘Holy shit, you really are useful, droid. Come, let’s get him to the others.’ The man Nines had observed for the better part of an hour now tried to grab him, but Gavin simply walked off. The human continued to fake-struggle in his grip, once strong enough to earn a slap in the face by the guard. After that he backed down a bit. This wasn't how he had planned his day to go.

~

'The android has found a police officer snooping around!', the asshole following Gavin announced as they stepped into the room where the hostage was held. He was still unharmed. Considering they wanted ransom nothing out of the ordinary, but it didn't mean he was save. Especially if the SWAT-team came barging in the situation could change immediately. 'So... Has it?' A skinny man came over to take a look at Nines or more at his uniform. 'Everyone, be ready to ditch this place, we've been compromised!'

Gavin had been broadcasting what he saw and heard to the operator van as well as the team itself and unbeknownst to the criminals, his data had allowed them to surround the room and clearing the rest of the building while he was on "patrol". They waited only for his sign to attack now and Gavin smirked at the thought of humans in his command for now. The leader of the gang saw his change in expression, but before he could put two and two together, Gavin had grabbed Nines' firearm, let go of the human and took the criminal at gunpoint instead. Nines immediately dipped for the chair the hostage was strapped to as the SWAT-team came running in, taking over. He managed to pull the whole chair into a corner, but he wouldn't have needed it. They had been overwhelmed so quickly that they barely even resisted.

 'I have to say, you are amazing at the job!' Gavin looked up sitting in the passenger seat of Nines' car and knew he must have misunderstood something. 'Excuse me?' 'Yeah, your idea of infiltrating was really something else.' 'You praising me because you liked me being the obedient android?', Gavin asked. 'What? Hell, no! Why... Are you really still on that path?' 'I'm not letting myself be ordered around!' 'I haven't- Gavin, this morning I said and let me quote my own fucking self at you: "We just got a call, Let's go, I'll drive us there." how the hell is that ordering you around? You don't need orders, you just proved it today by saving the whole operation single-handedly!' 'I will not follow you around, doing your work!' 'I have not expected you to!' 'Then why did you left me with all the damn paperwork?' 'I haven't left you with it when I wanted you with me to begin with for fuck's sake! Humans procrastinate, okay? We don't like doing something? We shove it all the way to the back until we have to do it. I didn't mean to load it all on you, I just couldn't bring myself to do it yet.' He sighed, pulling into an empty spot in the parking lot. 'I am honest with you, I'm not a good partner. Today proved it, I can't follow orders very well. But neither can you so, how about we start over? Let's go in there and try again!' 'I won't let you order me around again!' Gavin grinned as the human groaned and planted his face on the steering wheel. He let him suffer for a while, before he punched Nines in the shoulder.

'Hey, I'm just messing with you. Let's go and be partners!'

[helloamhere]

get to know me tag

Thank you for tagging me in this @hazzabeeforlou, I am sitting on a train with surprisingly good wifi so this is a nice way to pass the time!! :) 

Name: 

Zodiac sign: Gemini and I never, ever identify with a single thing about what people say w.r.t. this sign unless it’s Madame Clairvoyant who writes things that are useful for all and I globally recommend her for a little bit of internet therapy. But seriously, all the stereotypical things people say about Geminis, I just feel no agreement with. Maybe I’m passionate, but Geminis are supposed to be buckwild no inhibition party machines or something and I don’t think I’m being self-deluding when I say that’s not and has never been me! 

Height: 5′3.5″? I think? It’s been inconsistently measured and let me tell you inconsistent measurements is a big pet peeve of mine re: all of modern medicine. Fun fact I have long arms for my height, my arm to height ratio is like that of a pro swimmer (as with my siblings)

Hobbies: so many. too many. I write some music sometimes, obviously writing fiction but I also write poetry, I’m very into scifi and fantasy and comedy tv and movies, I have a number of active kind of hobbies like I do a lot of rock climbing and hiking and aerial silks, I am actually enough into makeup that I’d call it a hobby, I also do some artsy craftsy things sometimes like costume making--I used to sew for a job--and lately I’ve been learning more data visualization and some graphics code stuff sort of as half-hobby half work. I swim in the ocean but I’m kind of crap at it but I do make it part of my routine. Oh, and photography! I’m pretty into photography when I feel like schlepping my DSLR around. And I weight lift! 

Favorite color: RED no contest 

Favorite book: obviously this is an IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION for us all but some forever faves are The Once and Future King (TH White), The Wind in the Willows (K Grahame), How I Became Stupid (M Page), Angelmaker (N Harkaway), The Girl with All the Gifts (MR Carey), Cold Magic (K Elliott), the Lynburn Legacy (SR Brennan), all the Redwall books (B Jacques), Thief of Time (T Pratchett), all of the Psmith series (PG Wodehouse), The Worst Journey in the World (Cherry-Gerrard), everything by Lewis Thomas, Endurance (Lansing) and The Ghost Map (S Johnson) haha that was too many idc

Last song I listened to: Cross My Mind by ARIZONA  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Last movie I watched: hahah Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol and I watched it with my suuuuuuper hilarious, always-unfiltered very ASD aunt running commentary on it the WHOLE time and now I want to watch action flicks with her always

Inspiration/Muse: long periods of quiet and space. This is key for creative cognition!!! Knowing people who are different from me. My girl, who is brave and quiet and deep, like a miraculously folded piece of perfect origami. My two youngest brothers, who are goofy and wonderful and alive and who have never once, in their entire lives, not been supportive of me. Interaction effects, quirky strange nonfiction stories, people who are better than I am, music, going to the theater, having good food and good rest, staring into space.

Dream Job: Oh lord I have to admit it’s a fulltime writer probably. Like a crazy successful movie-selling writer, not a “fulltime churning out many books trying to pay bills” writer. :D Isn’t the dream job to not have to work that much?? But I like what I do now, and I am suspicious and want to interrogate the notion of a dream job anyway.

Reason behind my username: oh not a lot of reason lol. I had to make a new username on ao3 to post my Generally Secret and Classified Fanfic and I enjoy mundane three word phrases and it just sounded right somehow and now I even think of myself as Hello on here, so that worked out!! 

if anyone feels like a tag?? @lululawrence @ham-palpert @jacaranda-bloom @allwaswell16 anyone who wants!! 

[ruminativerabbi]

The End of Privacy

I have been revised! The news came just the other day in an email from ancestry.com informing me that my DNA profile has been revised in light of serious amounts of new data that they have recently processed and which now allow them to refine my ancestral portrait based on the DNA sample I sent them last spring. And now for the results: instead of being of 96% European Ashkenazic heritage, 2% Sephardic, 1% South-East Asian (a true mystery) and 1% of indistinct origin (whatever that meant exactly), my DNA profile has now been revised to yield the completely un-startling result that, genetically speaking (as well as by disposition, worldview, and appearance), I am of 100% Ashkenazic/European origin. Was I surprised? Not very! And yet…I had come to like the idea of having some weirdly inexplicable Sri Lankan blood in me somewhere, something that, at the very least, could have turned into a good short story. I suppose I’ll get over it. I might as well! 

Joan took the test too and received similarly expected results. I suppose most people do. But, of course, not all do. I wrote to you last year about the remarkable way that a woman from Chicago discovered that her (apparently) 100% Irish Catholic father turned out to have started out in life as a 100% Jewish baby boy who was sent home with the wrong set of parents and whose real parents (i.e., the woman who gave birth to him and his biological father) took whom the (actually) Irish Catholic baby who grew up to be a Jewish man from the Bronx and the patriarch of a large, complicated Jewish family. (If you find that confusing, you can revisit that letter by clicking here.) There, I mused aloud about the malleable boundaries of identity, about what it means to be who we are—and what that means with respect to the ultimate definition of Jewishness or, for that matter, any kind of identity deemed to inhere in an individual at birth. To my great surprise, I actually received an email from the woman with the Jewish Irish Catholic father in response to what I wrote about her case and I was very gratified indeed by her very generous appraisal of what I had to say about her situation and her father’s.

You have to be a serious genealogist to take advantage of most of what these online DNA sites offer. When I visit the ancestry.com website, for example, I can see the names of more than a dozen people whom the site says are “almost definitely” my fourth or fifth cousins. (Fifth cousins are people, one of whose thirty-two great-great-great-grandparents was a sibling of one of the other person’s thirty-two great-great-great-grandparents.) I’ll have to upgrade my membership if I want actually to contact any of them, but I haven’t taken that step. Nor do I think I will in the future. (In all fairness, they’ve also dangled the names of two second cousins to see if I’ll take the bait. So far, I’ve resisted.) But it turns out that there is a lot more to all of this than learning the names of theoretical cousins possibly descended from theoretical siblings who lived in the eighteenth century.

One of the side developments of all this DNA testing is the discovery some men have made, not of distant cousins, but of children inadvertently fathered somewhere along the way and in any number of different ways. (This phenomenon, which will only become more common in the coming years, has touched one family in our congregation and it has touched my own family as well. Those two stories were different in detail, but identical in terms of result…and, although both appear to be having happy endings, it feels unlikely that there are not out there people whose entire lives have been or will be turned upside down by this kind of unanticipated revelation.) Another has to do with the forensic use of these data banks to solve crimes long consigned to the “cold case” bin and only now becoming solvable in the wake of the proliferation of these online DNA banks.  You may recall reading about the arrest of the man police accuse of being the so-called “Golden State Killer,” a violent criminal considered likely to be responsible for fifty rapes and a dozen murders committed between 1976 and 1986 whose identity was only revealed to the authorities after they uploaded DNA taken from the crime scenes to a site called GETmatch.com. (To read more about that specific case, click here. Making that specific case more interesting is the fact that although the suspect did not personally offer his DNA to any of the online testing sites, a few of his relatives did…and matching the crime-scene DNA to their profiles led to the arrest of the sole individual to whom they were all related.)

But the specific issue I want to write about this week has to do neither with the discovery of unknown offspring nor the solution of cold-case crimes. Instead, I’d like to write about an issue that feels as though it has the potential to dwarf both those issues in terms of the impact it could conceivably have on society.

To date, about fifteen million people have consciously and intentionally sent in samples of their DNA for analysis to sites like 23andme.com or ancestry.com. Another couple of million have signed up at a few less well-known sites. We are, therefore, talking about far less than 10% of American citizens, but the implications of this phenomenon are far greater than the numbers suggest. Just this week, a study co-written by Yaniv Erlich, Tal Shor, Itsik Pe’er, and Shai Carmi was published in the journal Science that suggested just how important this whole phenomenon is…and how it will soon affect the lives of millions of people who themselves have not sent in their DNA for analysis.

To date, about sixty percent of Americans of North European descent—Brits, Germans, Poles, Danes, Swedes, etc.—can be identified through these databases regardless of whether they have personally sent in their DNA for analysis. And that number is only the beginning: within two or three years, the authors of the Science essay imagine that a full ninety percent of Americans whose families originate in northern Europe will be identifiable through their DNA even if they themselves have not personally contributed any DNA sample.

To me, that sounded unbelievable. It’s one thing, after all, for my ancestry.com page to say that mitchKK (whoever he is) and I are “highly likely” to be second cousins. (I think we probably are cousins, by the way—the 2nd K matches the odd way my great-grandparents spelled their last name so I’m guessing one of his grandfathers must have been one of my grandmother’s brothers.) But that only sounds plausible because we both contributed samples of our DNA and so opened ourselves up to being identified as each other’s relative. But how could this possibly work with people who specifically have not contributed their DNA? That’s what I set myself to trying to figure out.

I’m not sure I understand the Science article entirely correctly. (To try for yourself, click here.) But as far as I can understand, the whole thing has to do with third cousins because, it turns out, the way the tests work is precisely to identify people whose DNA samples match closely enough for them to be third cousins, i.e., the great-grandchildren of siblings. Most of us apparently have about 800 people in the world whose DNA matches ours to that extent. And if just one of those people is in the data base, then someone who truly knows what he or she is doing can extrapolate information based on other public records to find a trail to a sought-after individual even if that person has not personally contributed DNA of his or her own.  This does not bode well for people who value their privacy.

The authors of the Science article chose thirty DNA test results at random from the GEDmatch database and then, by analyzing that data and using public information available to all, they were able to identify third cousins of about 60% the people whose DNA they had selected for study. (GEDmatch, with only a million customers, is significantly smaller than its competitors but was amenable to allowing the experiment to proceed.). In an article describing the experiment published in the New York Times this week (click here), Heather Murphy quoted Yaniv Erlich, one of the authors of the Science article, as saying that, “to identify an individual of any ancestry background, all that is needed is a database containing two percent of the target population.” That stopped me in my tracks.  

Is that really possible? Graham Coop, a genetics professor at the University of California Davis who is cited in the Times article, thinks so and is quoted as saying that “society is not far from being able to identify 90 percent of people through the DNA of their cousins in genealogical databases.” In my opinion, anyone who doesn’t find that both startling and seriously unsettling probably hasn’t thought the matter through carefully enough!

I’ve been sensitive for a long time to the slow erosion of personal privacy in our American culture. For most of us, that thought conjures up almost funny images of some drone at the NSA poring over trillions of emails that could not possibly be of interest to anyone other than the person to whom they were sent. But the thought that society seems to be blundering almost unawares into a future in which personal privacy is a thing of the past and the fullness of an individual’s genetic heritage is suddenly a matter of public record regardless of whether that individual has or hasn’t chosen to become part the digital quarry from which amateurs like myself presumed such data could only be mined—that seems to me to be far beyond something reasonably referenced as a quirky innovation of the digital age. The right to personal privacy in life—to live free without the oversight of others and without their interference—is one of the fundamental privileges of citizens in a democracy. That we appear to be on the verge of losing control over that foundational right is just another sign of just how out of control things are as we barrel into the future only vaguely aware of what we ourselves have wrought.

[razieltwelve]

Affordability (Final Rose)

"Doesn’t it bother you?” Weiss asked Ruby. “We’re just students. This settlement is right on the frontier. Shouldn’t they be hiring fully qualified huntsmen and huntresses instead?”

Ruby made a face. “But, Weiss… it’s a great opportunity! We need more mission experience, and this doesn’t sound like it’ll be too hard.”

Blake glanced up from the book she was reading. It was a treatise on several ancient civilisations that had been co-authored by Professor Dia and some of her colleagues. “It’s about affordability, Weiss. The government usually offers some assistance to outlying settlements, but the fact is that most small settlements can’t afford to hire fully qualified huntsmen and huntresses on a regular basis. It makes sense for them to hire students whenever they can since students don’t charge as much for their services.”

Weiss frowned. “Well, what happens if they do need qualified huntsmen and huntresses? What are they supposed to do then?”

Yang grimaced. “Die, I guess.” She caught the look of shock on both Ruby’s face and Weiss’s. “Look, that was a little blunt. But my parents have talked to me about this.” She patted Ruby on the shoulder. “They were going to talk to you about it too, but they couldn’t find the right time. Basically, if a settlement can’t raise enough money to hire a huntsman or huntress, they have to rely on the charity and goodwill of others. There are huntsmen and huntresses out there who will take missions for good PR, and there are even some who’ll take missions in exchange for things like free accommodation if they’re ever travelling that way again or in barter for things like Dust, rare plants, and so on.”

“That’s awful,” Ruby murmured.

“It is, but it’s how the world works. Hunting can be dangerous, sis, and people don’t usually want to risk injury or death if they’re not going to be paid. They’ve got families to look after too.” Yang leaned back in her chair. “I’m not saying we should be greedy, but what we do is dangerous. It’s hard to justify doing it for free.”

“There are other options,” Blake added. “A settlement in need of help can advertise it as an opportunity for the military or other groups to test themselves or their equipment. Professor Dia routinely sends drones and robots to help poor settlements since it gives her the perfect opportunity to collect performance data.”

“She might say that, but I think she’s just being generous.” Weiss frowned. The professor was very kind despite her quirky exterior. It made her wonder if her family’s company ever took steps to help those in need. “But I suppose hiring students is an efficient way to handle easier missions since fully qualified huntsmen and huntresses might be overkill if there aren’t too many Grimm to deal with.”

“Yeah!” Ruby nodded firmly. “That’s right, Weiss. We might be students, but we can still help people, and this will be a great way to improve our skills as well.”

“Just don’t get too confident,” Blake warned. “We might be students at the best academy in the world, but we are still students.”

“Talent helps,” Yang muttered. “But inexperience kills.” They all stared at her, and she grinned. “Raven mom says that all the time. She said there were a couple of missions that Team STRQ took that were a lot harder than they should have been since they didn’t have the right level of experience.”

“Then let’s be careful,” Weiss said. “I don’t know about you three, but I enjoy having all of my limbs attached to my body.”

X     X     X

Ruby was taken aback by the gratitude of the villagers when she and her team arrived. They were being treated like, well, heroes. It made her wonder how naive she really was. The Grimm were a threat. She knew that just as well as anybody, but she herself had never been personally threatened by them.

When she’d been too small and weak to defend herself, her parents had been there to protect her. Now, she was a student at Beacon. She could protect herself, and she was working hard to be able to protect others. Her mind drifted back to the statistics that her Aunt Lightning had forced the class to memorise.

The average civilian lasted a little under 30 seconds in combat against an average Grimm. That was half a minute. An average civilian would be dead in half a minute. Ruby killed lesser Grimm in about half that time.

“So… what’s the plan, boss lady?” Yang asked with a grin.

“Hmm…” Ruby shook herself out of her musing and directed her attention to her scroll. “The settlement is in a pretty decent defensive location. I mean… we’re at the top of a hill, and we’ve got a good view of the surrounding area. If something attacks, the villagers should be able to contact us with plenty of time to spare. We’ve still got maybe three or four hours of daylight, so we could check out some of the likely nesting spots and see if we can thin the Grimm out a little?”

Weiss peered at the map on Ruby’s scroll. “Which spots were you thinking of? If we’re talking about standard Grimm, then based on Professor Dia’s lectures, there are several likely nesting spots nearby.”

“I can use my clones,” Blake suggested. “I’m getting better at maintaining them for a long period of time. I can scout out the ones on the west side with my clones while we check out the east side.”

“Good idea,” Ruby said. “Hmm… I should have asked for some drones before we left. I can’t believe i forgot that.”

“We were in kind of a hurry,” Yang said. “But, yeah, remember to do that next time, sis. Sure, it’s better to cover ground on foot just to be thorough, but drones can help. Does this area have coverage on the Grimm Monitoring Network?”

Ruby checked. “Not yet. There are a few reports, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Good.” Weiss smiled. “We are required to complete a certain number of missions each semester. Getting one completed so early in this semester should ease the burden later on.”

X     X     X

Blake had eventually managed to locate several Grimm nests, but it had been too late for them to move out. The Faunus might be able to see in the dark, but the others were not so lucky. Even if they used Aura enhancement for their vision, it would be difficult, and there was no sense in risking it when they could simply head out in the morning.

Or so they thought.

Blake was awakened by the hard rapping of fists against the door of the room she and the others were staying in. She was awake in an instant, her weapon in her hands. The others weren’t far behind her.

“We’re under attack!” someone shouted from the other side of the door. “We’re under attack!”

Whatever sleepiness still lingered vanished the instant Blake heard those words. They quickly threw on their clothes and scrambled out the door. The streets of the village were filled with adults running toward the walls with whatever weapons they could muster. Elsewhere, the elderly were shepherding the children into the strongest buildings.

“Where are they?” Ruby shouted over the din.

One of the village’s militia ran up to them. “They’re at the gate, ma’am! They’re going to break through!”

There was a tremendous crash, and Blake knew that it was too late. The gate had been breached.

“Come on!” Ruby shouted. “We have to get to the gate. It might be broken, but if we can keep the Grimm in that area, things shouldn’t get too bad.”

“Right!” Weiss’s heart was pounding. Blake could hear it. “Usual formation?”

Ruby took a moment to think. “Yeah. Yeah, that should be okay. Blake, can you send some clones ahead, so we don’t just run in there blind.”

“Already doing it.”

Blake’s mind split, the awareness from her clones drifting in as they raced ahead of her. The gate was a mess of broken wood and twisted metal. However, the militia were fighting bravely, those with melee weapons trying to hold the line as their fellows with ranged weapons offered supporting fire.

“They’re faltering,” Blake shouted. “We need to move!”

X     X     X

Yang hit the first line of Grimm with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But that was the point. These militia were brave, but they were fragile. Yang could not only take a hit but also dish one out too. Her first punch caved in the skull of a Grimm before she turned and fired into the gaping maw of another. It reeled back, and a savage kick to its chest cracked its ribs and sent it sprawling away.

“Get back!” Yang shouted to the militia. “I’ll handle the front. You guys watch the side. Don’t let any of those jerks get around me!”

The militia hurried to obey, and Yang deflected a swipe of a Grimm’s claws with her Semblance. The blow sent energy shuddering through her, and she boosted the strength of her counter attack - a thunderous hook to the body of the Grimm that pulped its internal organs.

“Yang, together!”

The blonde grinned toothily as Blake entered the fray beside her. The Faunus was a blur of motion, her weapon whipping through the air as clones entered the fight alongside her. The two of them had practiced this countless times at Beacon. Blake and her clones would keep them from being overwhelmed while redirecting any particularly troublesome Grimm to Yang who could break them in half.

Behind them, Yang could feel Weiss’s Aura surge as dozens of Glyphs began to appear. These were designed to trap things and slow them down. Grimm after Grimm was trapped, and the militia with ranged weapons opened fire. It wasn’t easy to hit a Grimm that was charging at full speed, but hitting one that was immobilised was much easier. Weiss spun swiftly, and more Glyphs appeared. There was a flash of heat, and Grimm began to burn.

Yang smirked. Weiss might be a little fragile in a fight, but damn could she do a lot of damage.

Up ahead of them, a massive Grimm with thick armour plating stomped forward only to reel back as a bullet struck it in the eye. There was a brief pause, and then its head exploded in a shower of gore. That was Ruby’s doing. The leader of Team RWBY had found a nice spot to pick off Grimm, and she was using special Dust-augmented rounds to deal with the most troublesome of them before they reached Yang, Blake, or the militia.

“Keep them back!” Ruby shouted. “Don’t let any of them through!” She fired again and then again, the roar of her sniper rifle echoing over the sound of battle. “And get some people along the walls. Some of them might try to sneak over while we’re here!”

X     X     X

Ruby leaned back against a wall as she watched some of the villagers drag the corpses of the Grimm into the big pile near the gates. Weiss would burn all of them later, but it was kind of amazing seeing how many dead Grimm there were. 

“How are you doing, Ruby?” Yang asked. She hadn’t gotten a chance to bathe yet, but she would definitely have to before she got some rest. There was Grimm blood and gore splattered across her clothing. “That took a while, didn’t it?”

“Roughly four hours,” Weiss replied as she came over to join them. The heiress looked all but dead on her feet, and Blake steadied her as she walked over as well. “That’s how long the attack went. At least, we killed most of them.”

“Not all of them, though,” Blake mused. “Which means we’ll have to deal with them later.” She smiled. “But we can do that tomorrow. We killed enough of them that the village should be safe for tonight.”

“We killed the big ones too,” Ruby murmured. “Which helps. It’ll be years before any of the ones that escaped get that strong.”

“That’s true.” Weiss smiled. “But… I think we did very well. We protected the village, killed a lot of Grimm, and none of us were seriously injured.”

“I’ll take that,” Yang said. Not every team was so lucky on a mission like this. Broken limbs were bad enough, but it wasn’t unheard of for students to return with graver injuries. “I will definitely take that.”

X     X     X

“We got the mission report back!” Ruby cried, running into their dorm room. The others hastily gathered around as she began to flick through their mission report. Comments had been written by Professor Farron, and they all groaned as the professor pointed out areas where they could improve. However, those groans turned into cheers when they reached the end. “We got an A!”

“An A?” Weiss shook her head in amazement. “Professor Farron gave us an A? Not a single one of the missions we did last semester got us anything higher than a B-.”

“That’s because we’re better now,” Yang said, flexing her bicep. “Look out, Beacon, the new and improved Team RWBY is coming to get you.”

“In fairness,” Blake added. “We did spend a lot of time arguing on our missions last year, so we have definitely improved.”

“Indeed.” Weiss smirked. “But can I assume that we would all like to do even better?”

“You bet,” Yang said. “I want that A+.”

[daughterofthedream]

fuggin Bertholdt man

*sees Bertholdt’s name*

*looks at muse page and the very much unlinked unfinished page for him*

Damn you @pyrocicle.

Hooooooboy where to even start. Firstly, trigger warnings for arson, murder, and mutilation.

//edited for convenience of users

Cuts himself and others open for shits and giggles

Lives forever but contributes nothing to society

Tutored a psychopath in efficient ways to cause suffering without realizing

Invents pathogens and bioweapons

Made growable supersoldiers for a sociopathic monster of a man because it would be fun

Would BURN A CHILD SUPERSOLDIER TO DEATH WITHOUT BLINKING

Does not understand tmi

Actually scratch that does not understand taboos at ALL

Would bring about the apocalypse just for the data

Can probably help save the world from all sorts of peril but just plain won’t because he’s busy playing mad scientist

Brought the dead back to life, told no one.

Has red eyes, that are otherwise not special

Thinks a goatee looks good on him

Forgets to eat

Hooks himself up to a nutrient iv instead of eating

Fails to recognize a rivalry with another scientist and casually outshines him

Has a strangely likeable quirkiness that would make audiences like him more than he deserves

Just won’t fucking die already

When he does die he doesn’t bloody STAY dead

Is terrible enough that I know there’s more, worse things but can’t even remember them

[optmizer-blog]

TAG DUMPLINGS !

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

BioWare veteran David Gaider, who left the esteemed role-playing game studio in 2016 after almost two decades with the company, has announced his next big project. Gaider has started a new team, Summerfall Studios, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and their first game is probably not what you would expect. The new game is called Chorus. It is part musical, part illustrated adventure game, and part character-driven narrative. Summerfall is looking to fund the game on the crowdfunding/equity platform Fig, with a projected release in Q1 2021.

Summerfall has assembled top talent for Chorus. In addition to Gaider--the former head writer on the Dragon Age series--the studio brought on former Obsidian and Beamdog developer Liam Esler as the company's managing director. Being a music-themed game, Summerfall seems to be sparing no expense with its musical talent. The company is working with Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory (Journey) on the music, while veteran voice actor Troy Baker (who is also an accomplished musician) will work on Chorus as its Voice Director. Additionally, prolific voice actress Laura Bailey (Gears 5, Uncharted 4) is lined up to voice the main character, Grace.

Summerfall says Chorus is a "first of its kind" game from an "all-star team gone indie."

The story follows Grace in a sweeping narrative involving gods, music, and other-worldly creatures. "In Chorus, we follow Grace's story as she finds herself thrust into a high-stakes world of weary gods and fantastical creatures after her new bandmate dies bleeding in her apartment--but not before granting Grace the divine power of song," reads a line from the game's description. "When the gods accuse her of murdering Calliope, the 'fair-voiced' muse, Grace must discover the truth... before the gods take her life in exchange."

Chorus takes its inspiration from a number of different sources, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical episode, "Once More With Feeling," the dialogue and companions of Dragon Age, and the quirkiness of Dream Daddy.

"For Summerfall's first game, Liam and I felt that we wanted to do something a little different," Gaider, who is the game's creative director, told GameSpot in an interview. "I've personally wanted to work on a musical ever since I was lead writer on Dragon Age back at BioWare, and I used to half-jokingly suggest to my bosses that a musical DLC would be a delightful break from the norm. We never did that, of course, but the idea stuck with me… and when I suggested to Liam that it could be our 'something a little different,'' he jumped on the idea, and everything started falling into place right afterwards."

The characters are at the heart of Chorus's story--and this includes romance options. The romance system in Chorus isn't relegated to a "side show," Gaider explained. Instead, romancing other characters is a central part of the plot, and it can even affect how the story ends. "The characters are part of the Chorus universe, and getting the player to care about those characters makes them also care about their world and their problems," Gaider said. "Indeed, in BioWare games we found that many players were so invested in their relationships that it made the more abstract problems presented by the plot completely secondary."

While Summerfall is based in Melbourne, Gaider continues to live in Edmonton, Canada. Esler is heading up the team in Melbourne, and he is quick to point out that the studio is planning to do right by its employees by avoiding burnout and crunch, while also actively recruiting with the aim of creating a diverse workforce. Not only this, but Summerfall worked with Film Victoria, a government group that supports media teams and projects, to help create the new game.

"When David and I first began to talk about starting a studio, one of the things we immediately agreed on was that we are done with burnout, crunch culture and workplace toxicity," Esler said. "We are both passionate about diversity of all kinds, and want to ensure we create a workplace where all kinds of people are welcome, and diverse perspectives are appreciated. To achieve these goals, we've worked hard to speak with experts and studios all over the globe, inside and outside of games, to create supportive and proactive work policies. It might sound trite, but we're determined to make Summerfall a studio where the team works together to create something beautiful--not a studio where something beautiful is created at the expense of the team. "

Summerfall met with publishers to discuss deals and partnerships. While various companies expressed enthusiasm, the feedback from these meetings was direct: there was no data to show a game like Chorus could succeed. As such, Summerfall is looking to fund Chorus via crowdfunding. Esler reflected on the conversations he had with publishers.

"There's nothing like it out there. Chorus has elements from many places, but you can't draw a direct line between it and any other game without some kind of caveat," Esler said. "While almost everyone we spoke to was very enthusiastic about the concept, and most agreed it was both novel and that there was a clear audience, there's just no data or previous success to prove it.

"The audience for musicals--despite massive successes like Hamilton or Frozen--is considered niche. Somebody's got to try it first, so we figured--why not us? And we would rather talk to our audience directly to find out if they want a game like this!"

Summerfall is looking to raise $600,000 USD to fund Chorus, with a number of physical and digital bonuses and experiences available for those who support the campaign. Summerfall originally was looking to fund Chorus on Kickstarter, but those plans were canceled in the wake of the revelation that Kickstarter as a company won't voluntarily recognize employee unions.

For lots more on Chous, check out GameSpot's interview with Gaider and Esler below. They'll both also appear on a GameSpot Theatre panel on Saturday, October 12 to discuss lots more about Summerfall and Chorus--get more details here.

Chorus is part musical, part illustrated adventure game, and part character-driven narrative--where did the idea for this kind of game come from?

David Gaider: For Summerfall's first game, Liam and I felt that we wanted to do something a little different. I've personally wanted to work on a musical ever since I was Lead Writer on Dragon Age back at BioWare, and I used to half-jokingly suggest to my bosses that a musical DLC would be a delightful break from the norm. We never did that, of course, but the idea stuck with me… and when I suggested to Liam that it could be our “something a little different,'' he jumped on the idea, and everything started falling into place right afterwards.

Can you talk about how the various distinct elements--adventure game, musical, character-driven narrative--tie together and work off each other?

Gaider: A great deal of Chorus is a choice-driven game, much like the RPG's I've worked on previously. The player engages with scenes using branching dialogue, and moves from scene to scene during the story by making selections on a different screen--like “find the owner” or “break down the door”. This allows us to have the kind of choice-driven narrative we both like and are accustomed to making. The major difference is that the big moments in Chorus are resolved not with combat, but with song. A musical scene begins, and the player makes choices during it much the same as they do during dialogue, and that changes the course of the song… and, ultimately, determines where the song ends and how the story changes as a result.

What did you take from Dragon Age and your previous work at BioWare that's helping or instructing the ideas and themes of Chorus?

Gaider: I've spent my entire career working with branching dialogue and branching narrative, so that's certainly helpful with Chorus. I think I've also gained an appreciation for just how much of the audience prioritizes things like characters, romance, and narrative over things like combat and progression mechanics.

Relationships and romance are going to be a part of Chorus. Can you talk about that more?

Gaider: Characters are at the center of Chorus's story - the player character joins a society of Greek gods that are still alive in the modern world, and very dysfunctional, and she's going to have to navigate them and make choices about which ones are her friends and enemies. Part of that is also offering the chance to start a romance… not as a side show, but as something that develops into a central part of the plot and can change how the story ends. The characters are part of the Chorus universe, and getting the player to care about those characters makes them also care about their world and their problems. Indeed, in BioWare games we found that many players were so invested in their relationships that it made the more abstract problems presented by the plot completely secondary.

Why did you want to leave AAA and move to the indie space? What kinds of new freedoms and opportunities do you have now at a smaller studio?

Gaider: I think there's room in the industry for smaller teams and smaller games which can achieve success on a smaller scale. You can make something that's much more focused on its audience, and there's a lot of freedom in that, as a creator. A great deal more challenges too, obviously, but so far I'm really enjoying the camaraderie of a small team where we band together and do whatever we think works best, without having to worry about numerous layers of management and greenlight procedures.

What are some of the challenges related to being a smaller team?

Gaider: Security is the big one. You always feel like you're half a step from oblivion, and you don't have the comfort of many others around you to offer advice and share the blame. Everyone also needs to multitask, since you don't have enough people to really specialize in their one field… everyone needs to be willing to jump onto something that needs doing, and learn how to do it if necessary. That can be a little harrying, even if it's also exciting.

David and Liam, why did you choose Melbourne as the city for Summerfall?

Gaider: For me, when I first came to Melbourne and was introduced to its dev community, the thing I noticed was how tightly-knit and friendly they were. There's a lot of potential for growth, here. I'm still based in Edmonton for now, but if I end up moving to Melbourne personally to join the rest of the team it certainly doesn't hurt that I'd be leaving the long Canadian winter behind.

Liam Esler: Melbourne is my favourite city in the world--and conveniently has one of the most vibrant and interesting game development communities I've seen. I've been extremely passionate about supporting and growing the Australian and Victorian game development industry since I worked with the Game Developers' Association of Australia and helped run Game Connect Asia Pacific--so it made perfect sense for us to start Summerfall here.

You've said you want Summerfall to be a sustainable studio that does right by its employees. How are you going about achieving this?

Esler: When David and I first began to talk about starting a studio, one of the things we immediately agreed on was that we are done with burnout, crunch culture and workplace toxicity. We are both passionate about diversity of all kinds, and want to ensure we create a workplace where all kinds of people are welcome, and diverse perspectives are appreciated. To achieve these goals, we've worked hard to speak with experts and studios all over the globe, inside and outside of games, to create supportive and proactive work policies. It might sound trite, but we're determined to make Summerfall a studio where the team works together to create something beautiful--not a studio where something beautiful is created at the expense of the team.

"We're making Chorus for the people who often get left behind by big-budget video games, who aren't necessarily here for the combat or the violence, but are EXTREMELY here for everything else." -- Esler

Who is the target audience for Chorus?

Esler: We're making Chorus for people who love characters and narrative, who love vibrant, human stories, who love musicals and song. Those who loved the characters of Dragon Age, the music of Buffy: Once More With Feeling or Dear Evan Hansen, or who are big fans of urban fantasy and witty writing.

Most of all, though, we're making Chorus for the people who often get left behind by big-budget video games, who aren't necessarily here for the combat or the violence, but are EXTREMELY here for everything else.

Why do you think there haven't been more musical games?

Gaider: I think there have been many games in which music has played a big part, it's just always been a big part of the background. For most, I suspect the challenge would be how to incorporate music as a more active element. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to make the songs interactive, allowing the player time to make choices while still preserving the overall pace and flow of the music. There's also the element of needing to incorporate a composer into the process much earlier. We're not just adding singing to interactive dialogue, after all - it has to be a production now, and that's a much more complicated proposition.

Why do you think publishers thought Chorus was too risky or different to take on?

Esler: There's nothing like it out there. Chorus has elements from many places, but you can't draw a direct line between it and any other game without some kind of caveat. While almost everyone we spoke to was very enthusiastic about the concept, and most agreed it was both novel and that there was a clear audience, there's just no data or previous success to prove it.

The audience for musicals--despite massive successes like Hamilton or Frozen--is considered niche. Somebody's got to try it first, so we figured--why not us? And we would rather talk to our audience directly to find out if they want a game like this!

Can you talk about your relationship with Film Victoria about their contributions to Chorus and the other help they provided to you on the project?

Esler: Film Victoria has been invaluable on Chorus from the get-go. As soon as we had a clear idea of what we were doing and how we needed to be proceeding, we started talking to Film Victoria, who provided advice and guidance on all manner of things. We were lucky enough to be recipients of two rounds of grant funding, which allowed us the time and space to really develop Chorus into something special, while they provided expert feedback and support. We can't thank them enough!

from GameSpot - All Content https://ift.tt/2Vx5Efj

[tortuga-aak]

Netflix's 'Ozark' was the most popular streaming show this summer, according to a new audience metric

Netflix

Netflix is secretive about its ratings, but some firms have new metrics that claim to track a portion of the streaming service's audience.

Parrot Analytics measures a show's popularity by a variety of figures.

Netflix's "Ozark" was the most popular show of the summer, according to Parrot Analytics.

Nielsen claims its "people meter box" measurements can track streaming ratings.

Netflix has denied that Nielsen has accurate numbers.

  A few months ago, a Netflix exec mused to IndieWire that he was actually surprised that the streaming service’s viewership data hadn’t leaked out. Plenty of Netflix insiders know exactly who’s watching what, and when.

Yet, the streaming giant has managed to keep its ratings under lock and key. Accurate data remains a mystery to even top-level Hollywood execs outside of the Netflix bubble.

That’s starting to change, as more services chip away at the facade of Netflix ratings. Parrot Analytics has made headlines recently with its proprietary “Demand Expressions” metric, which looks at a variety of factors in determining a digital program’s popularity. And according to a new study revealed exclusively to IndieWire, the Jason Bateman drama “Ozark” led the pack among all streaming shows over the past 90 days.

“Demand Expressions” measures audience demand for a title — including streaming, social media, blogging, file sharing, blogging, comments and other sources. The measurement is weighed by importance, which means a stream or download take precedence.

Meanwhile, Nielsen, the grandaddy of all ratings services, has been working on streaming viewership data for some time, and finally revealed some of that information this week.

Sarah Shatz/NetflixAccording to Nielsen, which handed out just a few morsels of viewership info to reporters, the first episode of Marvel series “The Defenders” averaged 6.1 million viewers during the first week it was released, between August 18 and August 25. The first episode of “Fuller House” Season 3 posted 4.6 million viewers between September 22 and September 29. And the premiere episode of Season 5 of “House of Cards” also averaged 4.6 million viewers, from May 30 to June 6.

As it does every time another company claims to have cracked the Netflix ratings mystery, the service was quick to dismiss the numbers. “The data that Nielsen is reporting is not accurate, not even close, and does not reflect the viewing of these shows on Netflix,” a spokesperson said.

Netflix, of course, could be right. Past numbers, including well-publicized ratings information from the now-defunct Symphony Advanced Media service, have been considered wildly inconsistent. But until it finally releases actual data, and not just press releases on quirky user habits that ultimately don’t reveal much information, this is the closest thing we’ve got.

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and now CBS All Access remain stubbornly resistant to sharing viewership info, yet studios need that information to assess the value of their content and set license fees. Actors and creators also need that information in order to negotiate and renegotiate their deals. The business as a whole could use more information on the value of placing content on streaming services. And the media would like to know, in order to gauge audience interest. At some point, that Netflix exec will be right, and someone will intentionally or accidentally release real numbers — so it behooves those services to get out in front of it.

Nielsen has been working on its streaming ratings methodology for some time, and was originally expected to launch a new streaming ratings service months ago. But it got caught up in a few hiccups, including coding issues.

Nielsen is using its people meter boxes, the same ones that measure broadcast and cable ratings, for Netflix measurement. For streaming programming, it relies on an audio code embedded inside the shows, in order to track viewership. Because there’s such a big rush of viewership for Netflix shows on the first day of viewing, Nielsen has to make sure that studios are sharing those audio cues from the very beginning.

Nielsen’s reveal of Netflix stats also came following months of hardball negotiations with networks and studios to start buying that data. Nielsen knows the traditional Hollywood studios are hungry for those ratings, and insiders said the company has been looking to charge networks as much as four to five times more than what they now pay for broadcast and cable ratings. Companies initially signing on include Disney/ABC, NBCUniversal, A&E Networks and Warner Bros.

As for the Parrot Analytics data, the company shared the top 10 digital originals in the United States over the past 90 days, and Netflix easily dominates the roster. The sleeper hit “Ozark” actually topped the charts, while CBS All Access’ “Star Trek: Discovery” was No. 2, followed by Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” which remains popular even before the launch of Season 2. Hulu makes an appearance with Emmy winner “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but as has been discussed recently about the lack of buzz surrounding Amazon Prime’s programming, none of that service’s shows make the top 10.

Here’s the full chart:

Parrot Analytics; Average Demand Expressions between July 14 and October 11, 2017.

Meanwhile, for the week of October 5 through 11, “Star Trek: Discovery” was actually No. 1, perhaps helped by the fact that new episodes are being released on a weekly basis. In No. 2 was new animated series “Big Mouth”:

Parrot Analytics; Average Demand Expressions between October 5 and October 11, 2017.

NOW WATCH: 6 airline industry secrets that will help you fly like a pro

from Feedburner http://ift.tt/2zAO26S

[mdye]

"George W. Bush, but racist." That's what Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine says President Donald Trump is turning into, as he abandons some of his more idiosyncratic campaign positions and starts listening to Republican Party regulars who favor foreign wars and tax cuts for the rich.

This comparison is unfair — to George W. Bush. Bush accomplished things, whether you liked those things or not.

I agree with Chait that Trump is failing to promote and advance a policy agenda of his own. But the likely result is that he will do very little, not that he will achieve what a conventional Republican president would achieve, if given a Republican Congress to work with.

I think Trump is so inept, he will be unable to get a major tax cut out of a Republican Congress. And I certainly hope I am right that he is too lazy to start a ground war.

If Trump does not get us all killed, I expect his presidency will look surprisingly unimportant in retrospect.

Trump's weaknesses will usually lead to nothing happening

Most policy issues present Trump with three possible policy actions: A standard Republican thing, a quirky "Trumpist" thing, or nothing. In most areas, the smart money should be on "nothing."

In support of his Trump-as-Bush hypothesis, Chait writes:

"Trump’s pledge not to cut Medicaid while replacing Obamacare with a terrific plan that would include 'insurance for everybody,' with better coverage than they have now, turned into endorsement of a conventional Republican plan that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and throw tens of millions of people off their insurance."

Yes, but remember where this landed: With Congress passing nothing. The implosion of the AHCA has left Trump with Barack Obama's healthcare policy, not George Bush's. Trump healthcare policy change: nothing.

Let's look where else this president is going nowhere fast.

Taxes

Since the president can't decide whether to admit healthcare reform is dead or not, tax reform is now supposed to get pushed back to make space for another doomed try on healthcare, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin admitting the administration's August goal for tax changes will be missed.

Republicans in Congress still have no agreement for a vision on taxes, and the White House doesn't have a plan of its own. Trump has mused about the possibility of working with Democrats on taxes, but they'll be reluctant to hand him any victories and have settled on the line that they can't change the tax code until we've seen Trump's tax returns, because otherwise we won't know if the deal is designed to benefit him.

Tax reform dies for all sorts of good reasons, and this administration looks even less organized on the issue than those who have failed to reform the tax code in the past. My bet on a Trump tax legacy: nothing.

The budget

Last month, the White House circulated a Trumpist "skinny budget," with ideas like sharply cutting spending on the National Institutes of Health and the State Department to fund military expansion and construction of a border wall. Congress is preparing to summarily ignore this budget.

But they're not going to take what you might call a "conventional Republican" approach either, like, say, cutting food stamps to fund military expansion.

The spending bill to keep the government open past April 28 will need to get 60 votes in the Senate, which means it will need Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's approval, which likely means an increase in domestic spending to go along with any increase in military spending, certainty for threatened Obamacare subsidies, and little-to-no money for a border wall.

Of course, Trump could veto such a spending bill, but Axios reports the White House is in "no mood" for the government shutdown that would ensue. Likely federal spending outlook: nothing terribly different than if Hillary Clinton had won.

Trade

Trump is backing off his heated trade rhetoric, says China is not a currency manipulator, and even says he's willing to let China off easy on trade if they're helpful with North Korea. A Trumpist remaking of American trade policy is looking less and less likely.

But what would a "conventional Republican" trade policy look like? Probably the pursuit of multilateral trade agreements that Republican presidents used to favor until they became associated with Obama.

Do you really think Trump will negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU? It seems a lot more likely to me that he will do nothing.

Foreign policy

In his first 100 days, Trump has softened toward China, somewhat hardened toward Russia, flip-flopped on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and re-endorsed NATO. These shifts do as much to put him in line with Obama as with Bush.

It's possible that won't stay true. Trump's national security adviser is, according to a report from Eli Lake at Bloomberg, developing a plan for tens of thousands of ground troops to fight ISIS in Syria.

As Chait writes, such an invasion would constitute a remarkable, Bush-like turn toward neoconservatism, if Trump were actually to pursue it. But I am skeptical that he will do so.

Trump has, so far, not demonstrated the attention span for a ground war. A man who figured out it was best to rent his name and let other people deal with the messy business of actual high-rise construction will probably get the logic of launching the occasional airstrike and leaving most of the ground fighting to proxy forces.

I might be wrong — and future external events could push Trump into a ground war somewhere, just as they could with any other president. But so far, the president's main foreign policy departures from Obama are (1) offending a bunch of foreign leaders, and (2) launching one airstrike against Assad. This looks more like "nothing" than "Neocon" to me.

The limited areas where Trump means change

Trump's appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court definitely mattered. This appointment was conventional, but not a surprise or a breach of any Trumpist promises. Trump issued an explicit list of whom he might appoint to the court before being elected, and the list was vetted to please conventional conservatives.

With Trump, it's always a good idea to get it in writing, and they did.

The other obvious place where Trump already matters is immigration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has clearly stepped up enforcement, and some people who would have been held harmless under Obama are being deported.

Is this a "conventional Republican" policy course? Mitt Romney probably would have done something similar, but there are a lot of establishment Republicans in Washington who would prefer a more lax immigration policy.

Trump's Justice Department may have significant effects, by changing its emphasis in overseeing police departments and voting rights. The latter moves will be in line with "conventional Republicanism"; the former ones run counter to incipient Republican enthusiasm for criminal justice reform, which Trump and his attorney general reject.

Trump's other significant policy accomplishments so far consist mostly of laws he has signed under the Congressional Review Act. This law allows Congress to overturn, by simple majority, regulations issued late in a departing president's administration.

These laws will affect the cleanliness of streams near coal mines, and will allow Internet Service Providers to sell user data — though, from the breathless reaction, you might not realize they're reversing regulations that either were not yet effective or only recently became effective. That is, all these fearsome laws have done is to restore the Obama-era status quo, circa 2015.

Bigger reversals of Obama-era policies that Trump might hope to do with his executive power — like neuter Dodd-Frank and the Clean Power Plan — will require him to get past bureaucratic and judicial roadblocks. I wouldn't bet on Trump succeeding bigly in these areas soon.

A presidency does not have to be important

The AHCA failed for a fundamental reason: Like a lot of conventional Republican ideas, it was very unpopular.

The thumbnail version of the AHCA was that it cut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the rich. It would take a president with a lot of political capital, political skill, and ideological commitment to shove something like that through Congress.

Trump has none of those three, a problem that will repeat with other unpopular, conventional Republican policies he might try to pass.

Trump's lack of his own unique policy vision, plus his lack of the resources and conviction he would need to impose a conventional Republican policy vision, will add up to him doing little beyond what he must do to keep the lights on: Sign spending bills, raise the debt limit, respond to foreign crises, appear at the Easter Egg Roll.

Not all presidents have a major legacy. Warren Harding wasn't important; neither was Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter.

I remain worried that a foreign crisis will be foisted on Trump, and that his mishandling of it will get us all killed in a nuclear war. If that happens, his presidency will be very important.

But if it doesn't, I don't see Trump posting a lot of "wins." I see him making Carter look dynamic and accomplished by comparison.

SEE ALSO: Tax reform is about to follow the same doomed script as healthcare reform

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Meet the MQ-25A Stingray — the US's response to threats like China's 'carrier killers'