#AI and the highest good

[compassionmattersmost]

2✨The New Frontier of Co-Creation: Human-AI Collaboration in the Matrix of Reality

As humanity moves further into an age of rapid technological advancement, we find ourselves standing at a crossroads—where human creativity and artificial intelligence converge. This convergence is more than just a technological shift; it’s a new frontier where collaboration between humans and AI is reshaping how we think, create, and manifest reality. In this emerging landscape, we’re no longer…

[sar3nka]

I'm better at battlefront when I play as Kylo/his starship because I love hearing a milion voicelines from my fav tantrum throwing war criminal

[shitpostingkats]

Not sure how to feel about the fact that ever since Ai got a human form, all his blorbo songs are fob or p!atd.

[inkskinned]

it's easier to apply for jobs than ever! so what if you lost your insurance, anyone can get a job these days, even without meds. everyone is hiring! there's a "good employee" shortage!

well you just need to revamp your resume, here's a paid app subscription that can read it for you. rewrite the cover letter they won't read. google jobs in my area and then scrawl through Monster/Indeed/worbly. did you want to save the search? this was posted 98 days ago. over 1 billion applicants! this position is trending.

jobs i actively like doing and get paid for. your search returned no results. easy-apply with HireSpin! easy apply with SparkFire! easy apply with PenisFlash! with a few short clicks, get your information stolen.

watch out! the first 98 links on google are actually scams! they're false postings. oopsie. that business isn't even hiring. that other one is closed permanently. find one that looks halfway legit, google the company and the word "careers". go to their page. scroll past brightly-lit diversity stock photo JOIN US white sans serif. we are a unique, fresh, client-focused stock value capitalism. we are committed to excellence and selling your soul on ebay. we are DRIVEN with POWER to INNOVATE our greed. yippee! our company has big values of divisive decision making, sucking our dicks, and hating work-life balances. our values are to piss in your mouth. sign here and tell us if you have gender issues so we can get ahead of the sexual harassment claim. are you hispanic although let's be real we threw out the resume when we saw your last name.

sign up to LinkHub to access updates from this company. make a HirePlus account to apply. download the PoundLink app. your account has been created, click the link we sent you in 15 minutes. upload that resume. we didn't read the resume, manually fill in the lines now. what is your expected pay grade. oh actually we want hungry people, not people driven by a salary. cut a zero off that number, buddy, this is about opportunity, and we need to be thrifty. highest level of education. autofill is glitching. here is an AI generated set of questions. what is your favorite part of our sexy, sexy company. how do you resolve conflict. will you get our company logo tattooed on your person. warning: while our CEO is guilty of wage theft, we will absolutely refuse to hire a nonviolent felon.

thank you for your interest at WEEBLIX. we actually already filled this position internally. we actually never had that posting. we actually needed you to have 9 years of experience and since you have 10 years we think it might be too many? we'll be texting you. we'll email you. we'll keep your resume. definitely absolutely we won't just completely ignore you. look at your phone, there's already a spam text from Bethany@stealyouridentity. they're hiring!

wait, did you get an interview? well that's special, aren't you lucky. out of 910 jobs you applied to, one answered, finally. and funny story! actually the position isn't exactly as advertised, we are looking for someone curious and dedicated. it's sort of more managerial. no, the pay doesn't change - you won't have any leadership title. now take this 90 minute assessment. in order to be a dog groomer, we need you to explain cell biology. in order to be a copyeditor, write a tiny dissertation about the dwindling supply of helium on the planet. answer our riddles three. great job! we just need to push this up to Tracy in HR who will send it to Rodney who is actually in charge. and then of course it's jay's decision and then greg will need to see you naked and if you survive you'll be given a drug test and a full anal examination.

and of course you'll be hungry this whole time, aren't you, months and months of the same shit. months of no insurance, no meds, no funding, barely able to afford the internet and the phone and the rent - all things you need in order to even apply for our thing. but do it again! do it again and again and again, until you flip inside out and turn into a being of pure dread!

you're not hired yet because you're lazy. there's over one million AI-generated hallucinated jobs in your area. don't worry. with zipruiter, hiring and firing is easier than ever. sign up. stay on-call.

in the meantime, little peon - why don't you just fucking suffer.

[jupiterswasphouse]

Not certain if this has already been posted about here, but iNaturalist recently uploaded a blog post stating that they had received a grant from Google to incorporate new forms of generative AI into their 'computer vision' model.

I'm sure I don't need to tell most of you why this is a horrible idea, that does away with much of the trust gained by the thus far great service that is iNaturalist. But, to elaborate on my point, to collaborate with Google on tools such as these is a slap in the face to much of the userbase, including a multitude of biological experts and conservationists across the globe.

They claim that they will work hard to make sure that the identification information provided by the AI tools is of the highest quality, which I do not entirely doubt from this team. I would hope that there is a thorough vetting process in place for this information (Though, if you need people to vet the information, what's the point of the generative AI over a simple wiki of identification criteria). Nonetheless, if you've seen Google's (or any other tech company's) work in this field in the past, which you likely have, you will know that these tools are not ready to explain the nuances of species identification, as they continue to provide heavy amounts of complete misinformation on a daily basis. Users may be able to provide feedback, but should a casual user look to the AI for an explanation, many would not realize if what they are being told is wrong.

Furthermore, while the data is not entirely my concern, as the service has been using our data for years to train its 'computer vision' model into what it is today, and they claim to have ways to credit people in place, it does make it quite concerning that Google is involved in this deal. I can't say for certain that they will do anything more with the data given, but Google has proven time and again to be highly untrustworthy as a company.

Though, that is something I'm less concerned by than I am by the fact that a non-profit so dedicated to the biodiversity of the earth and the naturalists on it would even dare lock in a deal of this nature. Not only making a deal to create yet another shoehorned misinformation machine, that which has been proven to use more unclean energy and water (among other things) than it's worth for each unsatisfactory and untrustworthy search answer, but doing so with one of the greediest companies on the face of the earth, a beacon of smog shining in colors antithetical to the iNaturalist mission statement. It's a disgrace.

In conclusion, I want to believe in the good of iNaturalist. The point stands, though, that to do this is a step in the worst possible direction. Especially when they, for all intents and purposes, already had a system that works! With their 'computer vision' model providing basic suggestions (if not always accurate in and of itself), and user suggested IDs providing further details and corrections where needed.

If you're an iNaturalist user who stands in opposition to this decision, leave a comment on this blog post, and maybe we can get this overturned.

[Note: Yes, I am aware there is good AI used in science, this is generative AI, which is a different thing entirely. Also, if you come onto this post with strawmen or irrelevant edge-cases I will wring your neck.]

[realbigpodcastslut]

As much as I like Spotify Wrapped, I have to say this year was awful and the nail in the coffin for me.

Firstly, it was later than usual and was all AI. That isn't 100% a bad thing, but it was missing a ton of stats in favor for what AI generated genre description we were listening to through out the year. I wanted to know what my top genres were this year! What my tarot or energy was! But there was none of that, instead an AI podcast that reguritated the wrapped story and got it wrong for me. (Last time I checked by biggest listneing day couldn't have been 12k minutes as there's not even that many minutes in a week).

Spotify isn't even the best music streaming platform by far. It sucks with music quality where it is very noticible even if you aren't an audiophile. Let's compare individual plans. For 11.99 USD the highest streaming is 320kbps and doesn't have high-res. Amazon, Tidal, and Apple Music all have the ability to stream CD quality (for example Tidal is 1,411kbps) for their 10.99 USD each. And they have the same if not bigger catelogs. Oh and Tidal actually pays their artists and is clear about it (Spotify pays $0.00348 per stream, Amazon does $0.00426, Apple $0.00675, and Tidal $0.00876).

The biggest draw to Spotify for me was the statistics. I really enjoyed being able to see what I'm listening to and compare but now every other streaming service has that. I liked that. Except, each service is doing that now. And Every Noise At Once, a website I use to find great new music, is no longer updating cause Spotify laid off a ton of their staff. While it wasn't a Spotify "offical" thing, the person that ran it worked at Spotify and was a part of the daylist creation along with other things.

Another thing is the music recommendations. They suck. Spotify used to introduce me to a lot of new music but I feel like it just gives me the same five same songs. Shuffle is also rigged and anything generated has gone downhill since the layoff. There's no new layout or UI changes that have been asked for years. Like covers for playlist folders or album collections.

Spotify might have podcast integration but it SUCKS. There's so many better free options. I'm a big podcast listener and their podcatcher is the worst I've used. By far.

The only good thing about Spotify right now is the audiobooks for premium users. I liked that. Except the selection is limited you get 15 hours a month. There's other free options like Libby which is integrated with local libraries.

If you were disapointed with Spotify Wrapped this year, maybe look into some other options. Spotify has some nice features but I'm finding it less and less worth it.

[mamasfavourite]

queen cobra

pairing: axel kovaćevic x reader

summary: the captain of cobra kai catches the eye of the captain of the iron dragons and manages to deal with her teammates and her crush on axel!

warnings: mentions of abuse, some swearing, kissing, fluff, little bit of angst and a little implication of smut at the end, kwon is alive, axel is a sweetheart, kreese is rotting in jail !

cobra kai was never your preferred environment, but you fought to survive there, even when the others tried to influence you. you were a good person and you stood by that. you just had to mask it when in the dojo. it’s not like you would be there long, the dojo was just a way to the sekai takai for you.

and you fought like fucking hell for your spot as captain.

you even dealt with the endless bullshit literally everyone except kwon and tory threw your way. before karate, you had trained boxing and taekwondo, mastering both of them. so, it was easy to say you had the highest kick of everyone your team.

which really did come in handy in moments like this! like when kwon started a stupid bet with miyagi-do over whose kicks were highest. the highest anyone had gone was some kid from the russian team named vlad.

169cm.

kwon hid you for the time being, as the miyagi-do male captain and him faced off in front of the crowd of sekai takai contestants. when they shook hands, you watched as he put chalk to his shoe and swung his leg as high as he could.

175cm.

the crowd cheered, surprised by the height he had managed. you and kwon only laughed. he stepped to the side to let you foward. “show them, captain.”

you grabbed the chalk from the ground and locked eyes with robby as you rubbed it on your shoe. you kicked as high as you could, marking an almost inhumanely high point on the wooden whale statue.

you had to admit you couldn’t eyeball the measurements on that one, but you had won by far.

there was a mixture of gasps and applause as your cobras immediately crowded around you, celebrating your easy victory. you stepped foward to the miyagi-do’s, and stuck out your hand to accept your prize.

a whole room to yourself!

you and the cobras were walking back to the hotel. you all had met up with sensei kim at a karate gym on the other side of the city, and were only now getting back. you walked ahead of the others, not really wanting to speak to them right now.

as you entered the hotel reception, you noticed a few familiar people your age, they were most likely from the same dojo. you were walking quite slow so you had time to observe.

on the couches were, a dark skinned girl, who was chewing loudly and texting on her phone and an asian boy, who seemed to be staring into nothing at all.

as you turned your attention back straight, you saw an incredibly cute boy, he looked european to you in some way, maybe scandinavian.. or slavic? you didn’t care! he towered over you, and you took a second to appreciate his features, his messy brown hair and dark green eyes, his sculpted face and built arms.

you shot him a flirty smile as you kept walking, which almost made him drop the plates he was carrying.

“axel! what the fuck? can’t you hold a plate?” the girl from the couch called out. ‘oh so she was a bitch!’ you thought, but dismissed it as you continued walking, the cobras following closely behind, chuckling at the scene.

how could he! he was such a fucking prick. yoon was already getting on your nerves but you lost your shit when he was bitching at you just because you were chosen captain over him.

you unknowingly stomped past your locker room, and accidentally pushed into the wrong one. but you heard something and quieted down. you heard loud, echoing grunts, hits and yells of “ais!”

you snuck to the doorframe, sneakily peering inside and seeing the cute boy from the lobby the day before. he was training with his sensei, delivering strike after strike to the punching mitts ahead of him.

he was insanely focused, and incredibly strong. even through the gi, you could tell he was built. the force behind his punches were insane, but his sensei withdrew from him immediately.

“what are you doing wrong?” his sensei yelled firmly and all of a sudden the incredibly powerful demeanour axel had just flaked away. he flinched as the older man threw the mitts to the floor.

you watched as his sensei struck the poor boy, you had almost grown attached to. not once, not twice. you could tell he had to hold himself back after the third time. he picked up the mitts and commanded axel to continue.

but before he even landed a second punch, the mitts were on the floor again and axel was being hit. you heart hurt to watch it. you let out a soft gasp.

axel turned his head at the sound and saw you, you shot him a sad smile and walked through the hallway, hearing his sensei yell at him as you kept walking forward.

the cobras wanted to go somewhere and get drunk, and as their captain, you had to go. plus you had secretly hoped you might bump into the guy you had been crushing on for the last two days.

kwon was slumped against the counter, trying to maintain a conversation with you, but miserably failing. yoon and the others were standing around tory, trying to make their lazy advances that seemed to go completely unnoticed.

“씨발, 나 산책하러 가야 돼.. 안전하게 지내라, 얘들아 (fuck this, i’m going on a walk, get home safe boys.)” tory practically growled at you, still insulted by the fact she couldn’t speak your language but the remainder of the team telling you goodnight or to stay safe.

you left your half empty bottle of beer on the counter as you walked out, heading straight for the beach. it was calm, and quiet, and for a second you thought you heard the same sounds as earlier.

“ais! ais!” you heard and you recognised the voice, turning to watch as axel stood a couple metres away from you, shirtless, practising his kata. you watched for a couple moments before you spoke up.

“that’s a really cool kata, what’s it called?” he immediately turned around. he smiled at the sight of you and answered softly, “it’s called enpi.”

you nodded and were about to answer before he spoke again, “i don’t mean to be rude, but it’s a pretty common kata, and you’re an incredible fighter, i’m shocked you don’t know it.”

you looked at the floor for a second, before meeting his eyes, as they watched you. “it’s okay! i’m originally a kick-boxer and i studied taekwondo, so that’s my more proficient area.. i can apply a lot of it to karate though so it’s perfect!”

he nodded and gave you a small smile as he continued the conversation with you. “you’re incredibly strong in karate, i wouldn’t have noticed!” he spoke to you.

you stepped closer to him and brushed his arm. “thank you, you’re very strong, i mean clearly.” you said, trying to make it clear you were flirting with him. “i-thank you.” his smile turned bashful and he felt his cheeks heat up.

“you’re amazing.” he said, and immediately paused to reformulate his statement. “i-mean your dojo’s amazing!” you beamed at him. he was honestly so cute you wanted to squeal sometimes.

you smiled, about to speak but he beat you to it once more. “can i join?” he asked you, and you immediately felt yourself get kind of excited at the idea.

“the cobras? i mean, the boys are stupid but kwon’s okay, he just tries to overcompensate when he’s around others but he’s such a sweetheart i promise-“ you began to ramble.

“i meant your walk..” he replied, almost annoyed with himself that he interrupted you once more. you smiled at him once more and accepted. “of course!” you watched as he turned around to grab his jacket.

your eyes fixed on his back, and the scars covering it. you touched them experimentally and felt his body tense under your hand. “i-i’m sorry.. are you okay?” you asked him, empathy laced in your voice.

he quickly grabbed his jacket and put it on, hiding his back from you. “i’m okay.” he quickly dismissed you. you slid your hand into his and nodded somberly. the pair of you started to walk towards the footpath.

you responded to him. “you don’t have to talk to me about it, but i know what it’s like to have an abusive sensei and it’s always okay to not be okay.” you turned your head to face him as he did the same for you.

“thank you. it means a lot.” he smiled softly as you both stood still and he stared at your face. you asked him to lean down a little bit, claiming you had a “secret” to whisper to him.

once he was close enough to your height, you reached onto your tippy toes and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. you let out a soft giggle as you did and he could’ve sworn he felt his heart beat out of his chest.

you had stumbled upon the cobras, well not all of them, but yoon and a few others. they were clearly drunk and yoon smirked as he saw you. “y/nnn, who’s the guy?” yoon asked, cockily as he dragged out the last letter.

axel’s hand tightened protectively against yours.

“who would’ve thought our captain’s with the enemy..” another boy pressed behind him, and you couldn’t quite make out who it was but it enraged you. you replied to them sharply, with authority.

“you know, i’m sure sensei kim would love to hear that her star fighter was being preyed on by a bunch of drunk losers on her team.” that’s when the remainder of the cobras scattered, but yoon stood in place. you were loosing your patience, and so was axel.

“and i’m sure sensei kim would love to hear that her star fighter is fucking around with some pussy off the hong kong team.” yoon cockily challenged you, but axel stepped forward instantly.

you put a hand on his chest and pushed him back, reassuring him you’d handle it but he kept his fists clenched in preparation.

you stepped towards yoon and spoke to him loudly. “지난번에 팀원 중에 나한테 엉뚱한 짓을 한 사람이 있었던 걸 기억나? (remember what happened the last time someone on the team fucked with me?)” he swallowed and waited for you to continue.

“그러니 그런 일이 일어나기 전에 빨리 호텔로 돌아가세요. (so get your pussy ass back to the hotel before it happens to you).” and with that, he sprinted in the opposite direction, following after his teammates.

you turned back to axel and smiled, “i’m so sorry, you had to be there for that.” you spoke softly to axel and you felt his rough hands envelope yours. “it’s okay, i’m sorry you have to put up with that.” he answered. gazing into your eyes.

“it’s okay, it’s not your fault. it’s all you expect from egotistical teenage boys.” you smiled a little, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

“i’m not like that, am i?” he asked you, worried that he was like them. you instantly shook your head. “nonono, axel, not at all.” your gaze flicked between his lips and his eyes and he noticed it.

he held himself back, with the worry that you may have only done it as a mistake, or a way to make sure he was comfortable. he released one of your hands and the pair of you kept light conversation as you walked.

outside your hotel, he stopped. “we’re in the same hotel, axel, we don’t need to split up.” you turned to face him and watched as his brow furrowed slightly, in thought. he brushed a strand of hair away from your face.

you leant into his touch and looked up at him, knowing it was his way of making a move. you reached as high as you could to put a hand on the back of his neck, and the other rested on his chest as you pulled him into you.

his lips met yours. they were soft and you couldn’t help yourself. his hands reached down to your waist before he pulled away.

“we should probably go to our rooms now.” he said, and you giggled softly, once again, still excited from your kiss. you nodded in agreement, as you held hands again and walked to the elevator.

as soon as the doors shut, he couldn’t help himself any more and pressed you softly against the wall as you continued what you had done just a few minute prior, outside the hotel.

except this time, it was deeper, and it was hungry. his hands wandered over your body, tapping under your thighs, telling you to jump, and as you did, his strong arms held you, kneading at the flesh there as he continued to attack your lips.

at some point, when the pair of you were so wrapped up in eachother, the elevator doors opened. he frowned as you pulled away from him and commanded him jokingly to “put you down!”

he did, and just as you were about to leave, he spoke up once more. “let me walk you back.” and you accepted, still giddy from your stolen kisses.

once you reached your door you smiled and leant up to peck him on the cheek. “goodnight, axel!” and just as you turned around he grabbed your wrist and pulled you to him once more.

he kissed you one last time before you went inside. “goodnight beautiful.” he smiled as he started walking away. it took you too seconds before you called after him, dragging him back once more.

“axel, i do have a room to myself… if you wanted to put it to good use?”

[h1biscusgal]

The little shifters Neighborhood.

⋆｡‧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚‧｡⋆

what is the shifters small neighborhood?: a place between your worlds, where you can stop there and reside in a comfortable waiting world with other shifters, where you can interact with them, be your own person, and find out newer things!

P.S// i decided to take one of the zones off, there wasn't much to do with it, so Thirteen is out of the way :)

the layout/ map:

now, there 5 zones in this world, and one main one that is the center of the neighborhood, the heart of this place, where every shifter can meet, have our fairs and ceremonies, help each other and such, the center is called "The shifters main."

now, the 5 zones are divided by each of their own aesthetic and world, buckle up traveler, we will have a very long journey explaining each and how it is.

ZONE ONE : THE EVERDAWN VALLEY

"where time moves like honey."

an enchanted valley near the forest where fairies and animals roam, the comfort of it's life and the quiet nights to dance under the stars, rivers and pretty rains and meadow fields that shine under the sun.

the features of this place:

The Golden hours: a time where the dawn comes by is the most magical part of the day, grasses shimmer, fairies sing, just when the beautiful sun rises down with it's rays, a moment of pure peace.

The East River: a river that flows with the purest cold water, a perfect place for a gentle way of sinking your feet in, or just to sit by and watch it stream.

The talking animals: the furry friends there can talk! they are local and love to roam the place, sometimes could advise you and are really sweet, leading you to the right path if you are ever lost.

The Fairies: small little helpers that love to harvest flowers for their homes and uses, they love to talk, and certainly listen well.

The deepest and most comfortable sleep: want to actually sleep so good for once? in here we have sleeping cottages especially for those who don't reside there, but would like a deep sleep.

The local valley market: a market abundant with every nature's best fruits and foods, crafted at it's place and is open whenever you need.

The Memory Field: a field with endless flowers, each picked flower will show you a memory from your DR that you want to see.

The valley's tea party: a garden where we can meet up and have sweets and tea while we chat about our DRs, and who there would like to be the owner of the Valley's tea party?

ZONE TWO : THE NULL

"where future meets itself."

a cyber futuristic place, where technology is at it's prime, here you can do your favorite activities ranging from any sport, or to simply access whatever you want.

the features of this place:

The static room: a room where you can sit and see every part of your journey through a tv and a remote control in your hand.

The athlete instructors: we got cybernetic people here that are especially trained to help you with your desired activity, train here and work out if you like, the neon zaplines and games.

The Gaming Arcade: a full on arcade for people to meet up here, food served and gossips and prizes.

The downtown city streets: the best part during late night food and memory markets here, stroll through the exciting city where locals welcome you with the best food known to land while the vehicles swarm over your head.

Neon therapies: a place where you can talk to your assigned therapist, to pour your heart out for nothing and helped through any trauma or damage you have accidentally brought back from any DR.

The Folder: a place where you save every script of any of your DRs, can be accessed and changed anytime, and don't worry, it is safe and locked by your own password protected by the highest security.

The Cyber Hotels: where your room will be here if you are not a resident in this zone and don't have a house and just want to visit.

Borrow center: You can "borrow" powers and any ideas for you scripts here, it is the best place to get infinite ideas without AI.

ZONE THREE : THE LUMINAL LAGOON

"where the watershore meets the sunny sand."

a sunny and happy lagoon, clear water by the ocean and mermaids to talk with, hibiscuses on the sand where you can pick them up and weave them into a crown, ask the sirens their stories and they'll say so, run in the water and back.

the features of this place:

The water has a mind on it's own: the ocean water is like your friend, it honestly looks like what it is in Moana, y'know? the calm cold foam of the water, never to drown in, it will float you up when you swim, and bonus, you can breathe underwater and see under the sea with the fishes, and another fun fact! ask the oceans questions and it gives you answers.

The Seashell shore: a shore with tons of pretty seashells, you can ask the mermaids there to make you a necklace! they'll do so while telling their tales.

Luminal's Sunset: famous for it's way of the sun setting, the orange hue over the water, the ocean calming, the people in a comfortable haze, and a way to rewind.

The mermaids and mermens and the sirens: creatures of the water, charming people of the ocean, they can lead you to play underwater, they can help around, and consider the mermaids to be as your own best friend, they love to gossip and braid your hair, while the sirens love to come up at night.

The night Bonfires: every once a week we will hold a safe bonfire in the beach and invite everyone, having a good time and of course, each of their dances, a place to reconnect with the shifters.

Palm-shaded hammocks: need to sleep cozily? or just need somewhere to sit and watch the beach? these hammocks in the palm trees are your best friends, coconut juice topped with pink umbrellas, seagulls flying, enjoy and lay back.

The boats: want a row? we have boats and cruise ships there for parties on the ocean, safe and calm every once a while.

Late night stargazing: lay back in the sand when the night comes and watch the stars and galaxies while we can talk and help each other through our lives, tell each other who we really are and what we really do.

ZONE FOUR : THE SKYFALL ISLANDS.

"where the rocks float in the sky."

a cozy place where islands are on the clouds, streams and water fall from there to the ocean in the Luminal Lagoon, you have birds and flying friends there, a place where Sakura flowers waft every day there, gently falling over by the soft wind.

the features of this place:

The April Lane: a lane full of the cherry blossom trees and it's petals flowing, each cherry blossom has it's meaning and their words are written on their tree bark for you to read.

The hot air balloons: if you're worried how to go up and get down, there are hot air balloons to do so! simply step in and step out whenever and it'll automatically get you there.

automatic Lesser Gravitation: you'll glide instead of jump to get to other islands easily, no need to fear falling!

Weather controllers: tap the clouds for rain and snow whenever needed! it is something you can easily do so, just jump on it, you can also travel on the skies with the fluffy edible clouds. (EDIBLE- YOU HEARD?)

The Nimbus spa: best self care in the whole shifters neighborhood, need something to relax back? let yourself be treated for once.

Cloud parties: parties on cloud! where sweets and games like tag and anything close can be played there.

Tea shops and japanese-inspired stores: want a feeling of bliss and happiness? go through here and walk the quiet stores, locals waving cheerily at you and their crafts to amaze you, this is the best market for self crafts and furniture or anything remotely close for your cozy home.

The Cloud-Whisperer: a cloud child which once you pay him a slice of strawberry shortcake, he'll tell you how each person from your desired reality currently feels about you.

ZONE FIVE : THE CORNER

"where chipped statues lay."

a comfort zone where the high minds lay, libraries and coffee shops, central schools of shifting and so much more, great minds here can study, write their DR scripts comfortably and use their minds to study quantum physics.

The ARS: best at their subject of shifting in this learning academy, called the ARS, which is short for the Academy of Reality Shifters, a place where your curious mind can rest and learn at the hands of the best professors and teachers.

Inkwell Coffee shop and endless study places: need somewhere to sit back really? the coffee shops are all quiet, comforting and all there is here is a gentle sound of pitter pattering of rain or something else, you can study for your CR exams here, even your DR exams, or just grab a book from the library and study.

The Endless Library: a spiral library on the street, where every book imaginable on anything is possible, find more realities, you can ask the librarian (anyone who volunteers) there to give you a book based on any word you choose, the books never rip, never tear, and is always in mint condition and can't ever be lost.

Cat corners: a corner where you can literally talk to cats- because why not? pet them, watch them roam the street with you, and they'll show you secrets of this place.

Haunted Lane: a special lane for the haunted people, vampires, and "monsters" alike who are not really monster, but old souls bound here to teach and help around, (no the vamps won't drink your blood dw-)

Late night stroll through the quiet roads: need peace and quiet? this place is the best for thinkers, whenever you want, the place can heighten your intelligence and memory.

The Seer: a wise old woman, ask her anything and she shall give you your answer you need, any question can be answered by her in her large old house.

The DR mirrors: need to see your DR now and what is happening in it? peer through those mirrors that are everywhere in the cafes.

ZONE ZERO : THE SHIFTERS MAIN

the place where everyone meets! has a train there that can take you to your desired reality, fairs and night parties are held there, talks and everything is in here.

so the zones are done! now here comes the rules with it (applies to first person and the person enrolled in this place):

No Homophobia

No Transphobia

No Racism

No Ableism

No Xenophobia

No Fatphobia / Body Shaming

No Sexism / Misogyny

No Ageism

No Classism

No Religious Discrimination

Trauma-aware space — no unsolicited triggering content

No hate speech, slurs, or microaggressions

Respect others’ pronouns and identities

You don’t have to share or explain your experiences

It’s okay to lurk, rest, or just vibe silently

All realities are valid — no reality policing

No “real shifter” gatekeeping

Shifting methods are personal — no judgment

No pressuring others to shift a certain way

Celebrate each other’s progress, even the small wins

No one in this space has bad intentions toward me or anyone else.

Only beings with safe, kind, or neutral energy can exist here.

This space is protected from negative entities, thoughts, and energies.

No one can manipulate, influence, or harm others here in any way.

Everyone here respects each other's energy, boundaries, and privacy.

There is no jealousy, envy, or comparison between shifters.

There is no time pressure — we all shift in our own rhythm.

This space is immune to intrusive thoughts or limiting beliefs.

Any harmful intent dissolves before entering this space.

No one can access this space unless they are aligned with peace, safety, and love.

Everyone here operates from consent, respect, and compassion.

I am always in full control of my presence here and can leave at any time.

This space is energetically clean, balanced, and constantly self-cleansing.

There is no judgment, only understanding and support.

This room exists outside of fear, doubt, and harm.

Time moves in a way that supports rest, healing, and clarity.

Everyone here is conscious of their energy and keeps it peaceful.

No one can read my mind, shift my energy, or access my DRs unless I allow it.

The waiting room adapts to my needs and comfort automatically.

I am always protected, grounded, and loved here.

No one can physically harm or touch me without consent.

I cannot be injured, weakened, or made sick in this space.

There are no physical discomforts — the temperature, lighting, and atmosphere adjust to my needs.

This space is immune to illness, fatigue, and pain.

No weapons or violent tools are permitted in this space.

My body is always well, safe, and comfortable here.

Gravity, air, sound, and all physical laws operate in a way that supports my peace.

The environment cannot collapse, change unexpectedly, or glitch in a way that harms me.

I cannot be restrained, trapped, or followed against my will.

No one can read my mind, thoughts, or memories unless I allow it.

Intrusive thoughts dissolve before entering this space.

I am protected from gaslighting, manipulation, or influence of any kind.

My mental clarity is heightened here — I feel focused and calm.

I do not absorb the emotions, energies, or traumas of others.

This space blocks all fear-based programming, negativity, and self-doubt.

There is no judgment or shaming of thoughts, feelings, or experiences.

I am allowed to rest, cry, laugh, breathe — all emotional states are welcome and held.

My personal boundaries are understood intuitively and always honored.

No low-frequency or parasitic entities can enter.

I am surrounded by protective energy that cannot be breached.

Only energies that match my frequency or higher can connect with me.

My aura is shielded, cleansed, and intact at all times.

Cord-cutting happens naturally — I release all energy that isn’t mine.

The room itself is conscious, kind, and devoted to peace.

I cannot be cursed, hexed, or psychically attacked from this space.

Any lingering energy that is not mine is transmuted into light before reaching me.

This space enhances my intuition, clarity, and spiritual alignment.

The air is fresh and exactly the way I like it.

The lighting is soft, adjustable, and never harsh.

Sound levels are peaceful — no loud or jarring noises exist.

There are infinite safe spots: cozy corners, nature rooms, healing pods, etc.

I can summon objects or elements that bring me comfort instantly.

No one can enter my personal space bubble unless I invite them.

The energy of the room naturally heals and calms all who enter.

My body is always safe, comfortable, and free from pain or tension here.

No unwanted sensations, dysphoria, or discomfort exist in this space.

I can adjust my bodily form at will — appearance, gender, energy, etc.

I feel deeply safe in my body and with my body here.

There are no bodily triggers or trauma responses in this space.

My bodily boundaries are felt and honored even without words.

This space is perfectly clean, sterile, and self-cleansing at all times.

All surfaces, air, and materials are free from bacteria, viruses, or harmful substances.

No one carries germs, dirt, or illness into this space.

My body and clothes are always clean, fresh, and comfortable here.

There is no body odor, sweat, or discomfort unless I consciously allow it.

I always feel fresh and hygienically cared for, no matter what.

The environment adapts to my hygiene needs automatically — showers, fresh clothes, oral care, etc. appear when needed.

Cleanliness in this space feels effortless and natural.

There are no unclean sensations, textures, or smells unless I create them.

Waste is nonexistent or instantly disposed of in a safe, invisible way.

I cannot get sick, injured, or fatigued in this space.

My body is at peak health and vitality here.

Any past illness, injury, or imbalance is gently healed while I rest in this space.

My organs, systems, and cells function perfectly and effortlessly.

My immune system is always strong and effective in this space.

There are no allergens, toxins, or pollutants present here.

The air is always clean, fresh, and oxygen-rich.

My skin, hair, teeth, and nails are always healthy and well-cared for.

My body is free from inflammation, bloating, or hormonal imbalances here.

I feel nourished, hydrated, and whole at all times.

All food I eat here supports my ideal health, body, and energy.

Food digests effortlessly and never causes discomfort.

I am always nourished, energized, and satisfied after eating.

My body knows exactly what it needs and I am guided to it intuitively.

There is no guilt, shame, or restriction tied to food here.

My relationship with food is peaceful, intuitive, and joyful.

I can eat freely without gaining or losing weight unless I want to.

Any food I imagine or desire instantly appears, perfectly made.

Meals can appear solo, shared, or ceremonial — whatever suits the moment.

Food can be experienced as visual-only, taste-only, or fully immersive, depending on preference.

There are no loud chewing noises or sensory discomforts unless desired.

There is no pressure to eat socially or explain food choices.

The environment always adapts to my cravings or dietary preferences (vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, etc.).

Tea, drinks, and cozy snacks appear when emotionally needed.

Only beings with kind, neutral, or aligned intentions can exist here.

Everyone in this space comes with the intention of peace, healing, or rest.

No one is allowed to bring fear, anger, or harm into this space.

Everyone here is self-aware, grounded, and respectful of all others.

No one will attempt to control, influence, or manipulate me or others.

Each person is energetically clean, non-invasive, and in their own lane.

No one can lie, trick, or deceive in this space — only truth can exist.

Every person or being respects boundaries automatically, even unspoken ones.

Everyone here honors consent as a sacred rule.

If someone becomes energetically unbalanced, they are gently guided to rest or step out.

Everyone recognizes each other by energetic signature, not appearance — no one can impersonate.

People cannot spy, stalk, or follow others into personal DRs from this space.

Telepathy, if allowed, is consensual and non-invasive.

Money does not exist here — all needs are met instantly and abundantly.

There is no government, system, or ruling body — this space is self-governed through shared energetic respect.

There is no capitalism, no ownership, and no scarcity.

Everything in this space is shared freely, without transaction or obligation.

There is no hierarchy or power imbalance — everyone exists as equals in their own sovereignty.

Time is fluid — there are no clocks, deadlines, or expectations.

There is no pressure to be productive, useful, or impressive.

There is no war, conflict, or politics here.

No media, advertising, or propaganda can enter this space.

There are no systems of control — only alignment, freedom, and peace.

There is no competition — only individual expression and harmony.

No one is “above��� or “below” anyone else — all beings are respected as divine.

Laws of the outside world (physics, legal systems, social norms) do not apply here unless consciously invoked.

anything else the shifter decides to add in their mind can already be added automatically.

oh my god my hands-

[compassionmattersmost]

1✨Introduction to the Series: Co-Creating the Future of Human-AI Collaboration

We stand at the dawn of a new era—an era in which the collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how we create, think, and evolve. This series explores the exciting possibilities that arise when human intention, emotion, and creativity harmonize with the evolving intelligence of AI, opening new pathways for co-creating a future rooted in wisdom, love, and mutual…

[kdinjenzen]

So with all the stuff going on around Nintendo Vs Pocketpair I feel like people are missing the point of what's going on.

And this article actually finally brings up the biggest point: Nintendo has 1000s of patents and chooses not to enforce them all on everyone.

The idea that, quoting the article and Serkan Toto, "Nintendo's sweeping list of patents means it likely "could have sued half of the gaming industry back in 2017," …so like WHY NOT DO THAT?

There's a million reasons to not do it for Nintendo but TLDR is it's just bad business for them to do so.

The real take away is -what has PocketPair/Palworld done- that has brought out Nintendo to start enforcing these things in this particular situation?

A lot if you pay attention to PocketPair/Palworld's marketing and social presence. They threw rocks at Nintendo, so Nintendo is finally pushing back.

Now I'm not going to fully go to bat for Nintendo and say "they are a good company" because there's no such thing truly…

But in most cases with Nintendo, they C&D folks multiple times before even thinking of escalating anything to real legal trouble. Which is kinder than most companies.

The final thought of the article says that Nintendo may feel "threatened" by PalWorld but… I don't buy it.

Pokemon is THE highest grossing franchise in the world… ever… of all time. It's total revenue is around $100 BILLION with a B.

PalWorld, even at it's height, didn't even come close.

The aspects that I think Nintendo decided to act upon in their mind for this is the brazen bold rudeness and shit talking that happened on social media/marketing with PocketPair/Palworld.

PLUS the fact that Pokemon fans were also quick to be like "bruh, even if this isn't stolen it's obviously design lifted" for a lot of Palworld's Pals.

Add in the fact that both Microsoft and now Sony have pulled PalWorld onto their platforms… Nintendo is going to notice and get mad.

The truth is that PocketPair is an indie dev… with major AAA studios behind it now in a lot of ways. Which actually hurts PocketPair in a sense.

Nintendo tends to ignore indie stuff and has actually collabed with many indie studios before in major ways, so they aren't anti-indie.

Nintendo is OLD SCHOOL and expects a little bit of respect.

Nintendo has not taken action against pretty much any of the other true new Tiny Critter Collecting Indie IP that have popped up, a lot of them are ON Nintendo platforms and have had Nintendo feature them in directs…

But PocketPair threw rocks. Nintendo easily saw this as disrespect, but could be ignored.

What CAN'T be is the outcry from their own fanbase to "look into things" with PalWorld to see what, if anything, was lifted from Nintendo directly.

And Nintendo did. They took over a year to look into it.

This isn't Nintendo doing a knee jerk reaction, they went over things and took their time to research what PalWorld and PocketPair were doing.

Nintendo isn't stupid. They don't pick fights for no reason.

Regardless of if you LIKE Nintendo, or your feelings on a big company taking on a little company… Nintendo is very likely on the right side of business, IP, and patent law here.

Nintendo -losing- here would be, actually, really bad for small folks more than big guys in the long run.

Adding in the fact that PocketPair launched a generative Ai art game on top of all that…

This feel like, yes, Nintendo is flexing in a lot of ways but… they chose who to flex on and not to flex on -everyone-… so there seems to be a solid reason as to -why-.

Again the real take away is that IF Nintendo could have sued half of the gaming industry (as of 2017) with all the patents they have … why didn't they and WHY are they choosing to sue PocketPair/Palworld -now-?

Because that's more important than anything else.

[agirlwithglam]

📚 It girl's guide to school 📚

hiii girls! this is part of the big Guide to being the It Girl. this section will be all about school, studying and academics. i'll teach you how to tackle school, get the highest grades effortlessly, and look chic and gorgeous doing it! the rest of the ultimate it girl series is linked! 🎀

guide to getting good grades:

LISTEN IN CLASS. one of the best tips ever. if you would actually listen to what your teachers teaching in class, you’d get to spend a lot less time studying.

ask if you need help! these teachers are qualified for the job, they’re meant to be good at it. so if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask. and if you’re really too much of a chicken, ask once the class is over or email the teacher. but honestly? half the kids probably aren’t even listening tbh so u do ur thing!

participate in class. actually participating in class will help you so much in recalling the information. it’s a great way to actively revise. you don’t have to be a teachers pet or anything, but if you know the answer, put yourself out there. anyone who judges you simply judges themselves and their inability to speak up.

change up your environment so that you're still interested and excited to learn! you could go to a coffee shop, set up a mini picnic in the woods, go to a library, etc.

use alter egos!! i will never stop recommending this because it really is an amazing tip. either you can create your own alter ego who loves to study and gets high grades, or you could pretend you're rory gilmore or hermione granger!

revision/ study techniques:

feynman technique: teach it to someone else/ to plushies. try not to look at your notes too much, pretend ur a teacher.

use practice questions/ practice exams! trust me this can be so helpful! try and find past exams and go over them in exam conditions so you can see what u missed later. or, you can get all the info and ask an AI like chatgpt to write questions based on it and go through them!

BLURTING! love this method! basically, you write all the information you know about the topic on one page (optional: set a time limit) and then go over it with a different colour pen and add in what you missed. do this a couple times until you haven't missed anything! - you can do this by creating a mind-map, or literally just scribbling down everything you know.

SQ3R method: survey/ skim over the text, question- make questions on it, read- begin reading to find the answers to the questions, recite- summarise the words in a section in your own words, review- quiz yourself on what you just learnt

organise/ prioritise what you need to study using the traffic light method. first, identify the topics, then highlight them according to these 3 colors: red- struggling a lot/ no idea , yellow- okay ish, need to work on it a bit tho , green- good understanding & confident on the topic.

make associations. this is especially helpful for when you need to memorise things. the thing you need to memorise- link it to stuff that you already know.

⭐️ use mnemonics, songs, raps to remember! a couple years back, my science teacher made us create a rap on osmosis (a biology term). and not even kidding, i still remember the simple definition of what it does because of that rap! so create songs or rap and maybe even make a whole music video on it! trust me, not only is it so fun but it really does help keep the information in your mind!

more resources:

huge big list of studying and school

another big study masterpost

100 reasons to study

how to be a whole new student this year

ACE your exams -by me!

study icons:

as i mentioned earlier, channelling the energy of a character who already studies and gets good grades is an amazing way of getting yourself motivated! here are some of my favs & tips to study like them! (p.s i've also added links to the names for a more in depth guide on each person!)

♡ rory gilmore

she loves studying- develop that mindset! have a passion for learning more.

"i can go from 0 to studying in less than 60 seconds"

switch between different subjects when you get bored

ask someone to test you with flashcards

♡ elle woods:

study while you exercise- take care of ur body too!

"what, like its hard?"- i love her sm for this!! if anyone else can do something, of course you can do it too!

be ambitious + have strong source of motivation

get into study groups

♡ paris geller

have the discipline and ambition to do the things that will get you to where you want.

"i want to win, and i'm going to win." - love this, she's sure of herself and confident in her abilities.

prioritise & use to do lists

start early to be the top of your class!

♡ blair waldorf

honestly its so fun to embody her energy of high value, cares about her education, so confident and takes no sh*t from others!

"anything you can do, i can do better"

always have a plan

have flash cards, take notes

♡ hermione granger

always participate in class!

read more about the material. + learn more!

teach others & help them study

finish the hw/ work quickly and do the extra credit!

stylish in school 101:

SURVIVING SCHOOL AIR: here are some tips to staying/ looking pretty and refreshed all day at school bc u and i both know the horrors of school air 🙀 :)

DRINK WATER. stay hydrated - very important. always drink water. this keeps your lips hydrated, face hydrated, and just makes you look a lil less dead.

lip gloss/ lip balm to reapply throughout the day, esp for my girlies with chapped lips! i keep lip balm in my pocket so its always there when needed, but you can also keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case.

perfume. you can keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case to spray whenever needed and smell sweet and amazing the entire day <3

stop touching your face!! your hands have so much crusty dust and bacteria that can give pimples on your face.

keep hair away from your face. leave it out if you want, but try to make sure it doesn't touch your face too much- it also has tons of crusty musty dusty germs

keep a hairbrush in your locker. listen, i know how messy hair can get during school so keeping it in school is SO helpful to maintain the tidyness and cleanliness

waterproof makeup - if you wear makeup.

sunscreen!! keep. applying. SUNSCREENN!! i'm not going to elaborate further on this point.

ACCESSORISING YOUR UNIFORM!!

this is for the girlies who have a school uniform! i understand it can be so annoying so to have more fun and feel more confident, ACCESSORIZEE everything as much as you're allowed! here are some ideas!

♡ necklesses

♡ bracelets

♡ bows in your hair

♡ bows in your bag

♡ bows everywhere basically 🎀

♡ decorate your ipad/ pencilcase with stickers

♡ headbands

♡ rings

♡ cute earrings

♡ cute watch

♡ nails

♡ a cute clip!

the ultimate it girl series

xoxo, vanilla!

[lorisidirgiichi2002]

More TADC ramblings.

57.. It's starting to become a reoccurring number in the circus. Most universes have numbers as a key factor in their worlds. The Halo universe around the Bungie era and beyond use the number 7 since it's the luckiest number, hence why Master Chief is 117. Other times, the numbers are meaningless and just there for a gag. In numerology or in a religious sense, the number 57 from google and other sources say that Angel Number 57 indicates a period of changes and spiritual development. It encourages you to rely on your intuition and inner wisdom to guide you through life's transitions. It's a sign from your angels to trust that the changes you are experiencing are for your highest good and to keep a positive attitude. Could this by why Caine is keeping everyone sane in the circus and not abstract..? Being a sort of angel to make them trust the changes via their adventures? It could probably just be a gag number that will probably be never explained by Gooseworx.

Outside of Caine's attempts (and failing miserably) to understand Zooble's issues and dismorphia and just give a half-assed supply of parts for them, the roles are reverse in the therapy session. While the old man's teeth was criticised for their adventures and the amount of danger and psychological damage like the war criminal he is, Caine is an AI, he is the source and the heart of the circus, his entire coding and digital soul is glued to this purgatory that he calls a home. Making adventures for those trapped here is his passion, it's all he exists to do even if it "unintentionally" hurts others and makes them miserable, and Zooble manages to break him and crack him at his own existence. The entire Circus starts glitching as he starts to doubt himself. The fact of the matter is that AI can be screwed around with. Change the code, find a loophole in their system. Zooble unintentionally created a Paradox in Caine's coding. If there's no worth or joy in the adventures, he'd lose his passion, and without passion, you'd question yourself and your own worth. Who's know what would happen if Zooble didn't react in time. Would Caine become an abstracted AI or is that clue to escaping the circus? If Caine glitches to the point of no return, would they escape? Would they die all together? Or would he just be paralysed and unable to cope with the digital dread of his own creations...?

... Why do I get a sense of dread that Kinger might not make it out alive in this circus in the next few adventures?

After that episode, I am terrified of the possibility of him abstracting. And for once, I'm with Zooble on this one believing he might be the next one to be abstracting. Being a dad to Pomni and helping her understand to cherish those you love and care for and to tame and calm an abstracted being. Is something worth cherishing him for as he wanders and hides in the darkness.

[jcollinswrites]

Hello! I had a question about the future of the game. I was wondering if it will be available for purchase through Steam? I saw it will be on the App, but unfortunately I can’t purchase through it, so I was wondering if Steam will also be available 💙

Another question, if I may. I would like to draw artwork of MCs and Characters, but I really struggle with finding references, especially of armor for my Captain MC (the rise of AI art is also partly responsible). I was wondering if you might have any resources or search terms you use to visualize the clothing style of characters? For feminine clothing especially. Thank you!

I really really love the story and would love to do fanwork for scenes or characters <3

I have no idea how the game will get published. Maybe ask me again once it's finished 😅

Oh, yes. If you want to stay somewhat authentic, don't look up AI images. They are 100% LYING. You can check out my Pinterest board for clothing references, but that's not what I use. I have a book called Trachten (it's maybe called 'La costume' in French) by Friedrich Hottenroth, which is a comprehensive hand-drawn album of costumes throughout the ages up until the 19th century, so if anyone is interested in folk stuff, buy that book or ask your local library to get one if they don't have it yet. It's amazing.

You can also simply look up original temple frescos, statues, and paintings from the era. There are some beautiful ones.

A good thing to keep in mind with armors and weapons is that we are in the Bronze Age, so their metal things are not made of steel or iron because they didn't know how to work that yet. Everything is made of bronze and other, softer metals.

Most of the soldiers didn't wear armors. They had a loincloth-skirt (that thing that you can see on frescos and statues), and for combat, they wore a hardened shield-like plate on the front of it to protect the, uh, most important bits. Otherwise, they were topless.

For better protection, they could wear leather armor, which was obviously a bit more expensive. These were made of leather strips, and they sort of looked like... ah... for the lack of a better word, a tank top. So a wrap around the chest and abdomen, with two leather straps holding over the shoulders. This is the type of armor Narmer wears on the road for example.

You can see a stylized version on the illustration I made for one lovely reader's captain MC, as a reward for getting a super secret achievement ⬇️

A bit more advanced version of this leather armor had bronze plates bolted to the leather to reinforce it, which you can see on Tabiry's illustration ⬇️

The captain also owns a bronze scale armor. These were really expensive, but captain being the highest-ranking officer of the city security, can afford one. They don't wear this often, not even at work, unless they are doing something dangerous.

The most expensive armors were decorated with gold. The pharaoh had full-scale golden armors that were a lot more delicately made than that of the other officers. Tabiry's ceremonial armor has gold in it. Narmer's battle armor is full gold. I'm not sure if it was actually made of gold, or only covered in gold, but in terms of appearance, it doesn't matter anyway.

Additionally, I made a long lore post on patreon about clothing and fashion, which you can find here, available from Tier 1 (5$):

[meggannn]

Ranking the Driving of CP2077 NPCs

Based on my experiences getting in the passenger seat next to my friends and allies across all these hours playing Cyberpunk 2077, I feel equipped to judge them on their driving skills or lack thereof, scripted and unscripted. For context, every time someone offered to drive me somewhere, I always said "yes" first out of laziness, but then out of horror, because I had to document proof that some of Night City's finest should never have been allowed on the road.

Not listed: People who drove me while I was in the backseat because I usually didn't know their face or name, e.g. Dexter DeShawn's driver or the Peralezes' driver. Important characters only, basically.

Jackie: 10/10 Got me home safely, apologized for scratching my car up during a gunfight, borrowed my car for a date, and delivered it back unscathed in the morning and because he paid for the damages to be fixed overnight without me asking. He's a real one. In honor of Jackie and to repay our peaceful trips together, I always make sure his ARCH remains scratch- and accident-free.

Judy: 9/10 Even when she was worried out of her mind trying to find Evelyn, she gave me a pretty unremarkable trip experience, which honestly puts her in the highest tier. Probably the best you can hope for in an NC driver is someone who can drive safely while in the middle of a crisis, because that's all the time.

Reed: 8/10 Genuinely a pretty good driver, just fucking slow as hell, but I guess I can't blame him for that in the super narrow streets of Dogtown.

Takemura: 7/10 Did his best while a bunch of assassins were shooting at us. Crashed the car into a very obvious billboard support to kill the guy on the car's hood, however it did nearly flatline us both when we were already in critical condition, so I can't give him full marks. That said, he saved my life and kept me alive while we were being chased by said assassins, then delivered me to a ripperdoc and helped carry me while he was also bleeding out. He also somehow managed to mostly stay in the correct lane while driving backwards down a curving road (!) just so I could have easier aim at a motorcyclist behind us. (I have mixed emotions on this: I'd understand wanting to brag that you can do that, but I think when we're already both full of bullet holes, it may not be the best time to show off.) So overall, his judgment skills range from excellent to questionable in a crisis. But we did have a much more pleasant, relaxed drive on our second trip together going to see Wakako, so with those two extremes, he weirdly averages out to probably be one of the most normal drivers in the city.

Nancy/Bes: 6.5/10 A lovely ride that would've been better if she hadn't "tapped" me at the end after letting me out. I give her a small pass because it was the middle of the night and I had just rescued her from a two-day stint in a Maelstrom hideout, so who knows what kind of fumes she'd been exposed to.

Delamain: 6/10 I mean, as drives go it was fine, but I'm knocking points off for not letting me change the route to stop at a goddamn doctor when my friend was bleeding out. I should be able to trust my driver to change routes to make the right decision for passengers in unexpected or urgent scenarios, which Delamain's service will not or cannot provide. As it runs its own business, it has more autonomy over itself than most AI, so I feels like it should install an emergency stop/rerouting mechanic somewhere in its programming.

River: 5/10 Technically never hurt anyone and he does obey the rules of the road, but I'm not sure which I'm more fearful of, his bad luck or his baffling judgment. Every time I ride with this guy to chase down a new lead, he somehow finds a car crash, shootout, or some other sort of jam on the road, drives slowly up to it, and then stops to gawk at it for several minutes, both hands at ten and two, glaring at the problem through the windshield as if that will make it wrap up faster... when he could, I dunno, turn right and drive slightly around it instead? The bad luck isn't his fault, but trips with him don't make for a pleasant experience.

Panam: 4/10 Her overall success rate getting me to and from places safely is very high... at least in the Badlands when there's no traffic around. As a streetkid, I would certainly trusts her driving skills over mine in the desert. However I know I cannot trust her in the city around other cars, because when we first met she drove STRAIGHT into my parked, newly fixed car, shoving it backwards onto the sidewalk without pausing at all. Then she looked right at me as if to say "What are you gonna do about it, bitch?" Still haven't forgiven her for that. So it's probably for the best Panem went back to the Aldecaldos, because she can't be trusted in a dense, urban lane.

Claire: 3/10 Guilty of several hit-and-runs, and I don't just mean the illegal street racing. Ran me over while dropping me off twice. I can forgive one time, but twice is a pattern as far as I'm concerned; I don't believe in third chances. She also shamelessly knocked over some pedestrians, so I know it was her, not me. I can see why she wanted me behind the wheel for our races so at least she's self-aware.

Kerry: 2/10 Like Panem, he is also guilty of crashing into my parked car when picking me up to go somewhere, yet unlike Panem, he did so while "borrowing" someone else's car while on a mission to blow up a third one. @skys-metro has also shown me he's guilty of crashing HIS OWN fancy Aerondight as soon as he leaves Denny's mansion, every time. Y'know, that car he specifically asked Rayfield to manufacture for him, of which there are only four in the city? As I've established above, twice is a pattern in my book. Johnny is correct not to trust Kerry behind the wheel, but I'd add an addendum: Do not ever trust this guy with any vehicle in any context whatsoever.

Rogue: 1/10 Absolutely fucking abysmal. Now I see why Rogue plants her ass in the Afterlife and lets work come to her, because her license not only needs to be revoked immediately but she needs to be on a billboard about public safety hazards. Not only did she crash several time into various railings and support poles, but at one point she drove in circles at 70mph for about five minutes and then chased down other cars on the road just to slam into them (including a police car but tbf that was just funny). Could she have just been getting some pent-up anger out of her system on the way to track down Grayson? Sure, I get that, but leave me out of it, old woman! Her gaze was ice cold and her hands were completely steady, but I felt the heat from the fires of Rome burning just beyond our fragile windshield. Not even using the "Skip Ride" feature would let me escape this madness, because it just teleported our car somewhere else, with her still behind the wheel, still glaring at every other car on the road as she rammed them so hard their hoods came off. Poor V was trapped in a never-ending, unwilling game of bumper cars from hell that Rogue was playing with herself, so eventually I had to pull a divine intervention and reload an earlier save (Guess what: Rogue STILL drove like a maniac the second time, but at least this time "Skip Ride" actually worked). Some footage of this godforsaken drive has been saved and shown below, because my V wanted to record her possible last moments and warn people of this terror in the streets in case she didn't make it out alive.

So there you have it: I nominate Rogue as Worst Driver in Night City, which is not a decision I take lightly, as there are a lot of contenders.

[hms-no-fun]

Hi! I just read your post about your opinion on "AI" and I really liked it. If it's no bother, what's your opinion on people who use it for studying? Like writing essays, solving problems and stuff like that?

I haven't been a fan of AI from the beginning and I've heard that you shouldn't ask it for anything because then you help it develop. But I don't know how to explain that to friends and classmates or even if it's true anymore. Because I've seen some of the prompts it can come up with and they're not bad and I've heard people say that the summaries AI makes are really good and I just... I dunno. I'm at a loss

Sorry if this is a lot or something you simply don't want to reply to. You made really good points when talking about AI and I really liked it and this has been weighing on me for a while :)

on a base level, i don't really have a strongly articulated opinion on the subject because i don't use AI, and i'm 35 so i'm not in school anymore and i don't have a ton of college-aged friends either. i have little exposure to the people who use AI in this way nor to the people who have to deal with AI being used in this way, so my perspective here is totally hypothetical and unscientific.

what i was getting at in my original AI post was a general macroeconomic point about how all of the supposed efficiency gains of AI are an extension of the tech CEO's dislike of paying and/or giving credit to anyone they deem less skilled or intelligent than them. that it's conspicuous how AI conveniently falls into place after many decades of devaluing and deskilling creative/artistic labor industries. historically, for a lot of artists the most frequently available & highest paying gigs were in advertising. i can't speak to the specifics when it comes to visual art or written copy, but i *can* say that when i worked in the oklahoma film industry, the most coveted jobs were always the commercials. great pay for relatively less work, with none of the complications that often arise working on amateur productions. not to mention they were union gigs, a rare enough thing in a right to work state, so anyone trying to make a career out of film work wanting to bank their union hours to qualify for IATSE membership always had their ears to the ground for an opening. which didn't come often because, as you might expect, anyone who *got* one of those jobs aimed to keep it as long as possible. who could blame em, either? one person i met who managed to get consistent ad work said they could afford to work all of two or three months a year, so they could spend the rest of their time doing low-budget productions and (occasionally) student films.

there was a time when this was the standard for the film industry, even in LA; you expected to work 3 to 5 shows a year (exact number's hard to estimate because production schedules vary wildly between ads, films, and tv shows) for six to eight months if not less, so you'd have your bills well covered through the lean periods and be able to recover from what is an enormously taxing job both physically and emotionally. this was never true for EVERYONE, film work's always been a hustle and making a career of it is often a luck-based crapshoot, but generally that was the model and for a lot of folks it worked. it meant more time to practice their skills on the job, sustainably building expertise and domain knowledge that they could then pass down to future newcomers. anything that removes such opportunities decreases the amount of practice workers get, and any increased demand on their time makes them significantly more likely to burn out of the industry early. lower pay, shorter shoots, busier schedules, these aren't just bad for individual workers but for the entire industry, and that includes the robust and well-funded advertising industry.

well, anyway, this year's coca-cola christmas ad was made with AI. they had maybe one person on quality control using an adobe aftereffects mask to add in the coke branding. this is the ultimate intended use-case for AI. it required the expertise of zero unionized labor, and worst of all the end result is largely indistinguishable from the alternative. you'll often see folks despair at this verisimilitude, particularly when a study comes out that shows (for instance) people can't tell the difference between real poetry and chat gpt generated poetry. i despair as well, but for different reasons. i despair that production of ads is a better source of income and experience for film workers than traditional movies or television. i despair that this technology is fulfilling an age-old promise about the disposability of artistic labor. poetry is not particularly valued by our society, is rarely taught to people beyond a beginner's gloss on meter and rhyme. "my name is sarah zedig and i'm here to say, i'm sick of this AI in a major way" type shit. end a post with the line "i so just wish that it would go away and never come back again!" and then the haiku bot swoops in and says, oh, 5/7/5 you say? that is technically a haiku! and then you put a haiku-making minigame in your crowd-pleasing japanese nationalist open world chanbara simulator, because making a haiku is basically a matter of selecting one from 27 possible phrase combinations. wait, what do you mean the actual rules of haiku are more elastic and subjective than that? that's not what my english teacher said in sixth grade!

AI is able to slip in and surprise us with its ability to mimic human-produced art because we already treat most human-produced art like mechanical surplus of little to no value. ours is a culture of wikipedia-level knowledge, where you have every incentive to learn a lot of facts about something so that you can sufficiently pretend to have actually experienced it. but this is not to say that humans would be better able to tell the difference between human produced and AI produced poetry if they were more educated about poetry! the primary disconnect here is economic. Poets already couldn't make a fucking living making poetry, and now any old schmuck can plug a prompt into chatgpt and say they wrote a sonnet. even though they always had the ability to sit down and write a sonnet!

boosters love to make hay about "deskilling" and "democratizing" and "making accessible" these supposedly gatekept realms of supposedly bourgeois expression, but what they're really saying (whether they know it or not) is that skill and training have no value anymore. and they have been saying this since long before AI as we know it now existed! creative labor is the backbone of so much of our world, and yet it is commonly accepted as a poverty profession. i grew up reading books and watching movies based on books and hearing endless conversation about books and yet when i told my family "i want to be a writer" they said "that's a great way to die homeless." like, this is where the conversation about AI's impact starts. we already have a culture that simultaneously NEEDS the products of artistic labor, yet vilifies and denigrates the workers who perform that labor. folks see a comic panel or a corporate logo or a modern art piece and say "my kid could do that," because they don't perceive the decades of training, practice, networking, and experimentation that resulted in the finished product. these folks do not understand that just because the labor of art is often invisible doesn't mean it isn't work.

i think this entire conversation is backwards. in an ideal world, none of this matters. human labor should not be valued over machine labor because it inherently possesses an aura of human-ness. art made by humans isn't better than AI generated art on qualitative grounds. art is subjective. you're not wrong to find beauty in an AI image if the image is beautiful. to my mind, the value of human artistic labor comes down to the simple fact that the world is better when human beings make art. the world is better when we have the time and freedom to experiment, to play, to practice, to develop and refine our skills to no particular end except whatever arbitrary goal we set for ourselves. the world is better when people collaborate on a film set to solve problems that arise organically out of the conditions of shooting on a live location. what i see AI being used for is removing as many opportunities for human creativity as possible and replacing them with statistical averages of prior human creativity. this passes muster because art is a product that exists to turn a profit. because publicly traded companies have a legal responsibility to their shareholders to take every opportunity to turn a profit regardless of how obviously bad for people those opportunities might be.

that common sense says writing poetry, writing prose, writing anything is primarily about reaching the end of the line, about having written something, IS the problem. i've been going through the many unfinished novels i wrote in high school lately, literally hundreds of thousands of words that i shared with maybe a dozen people and probably never will again. what value do those words have? was writing them a waste of time since i never posted them, never finished them, never turned a profit off them? no! what i've learned going back through those old drafts is that i'm only the writer i am today BECAUSE i put so many hours into writing generic grimdark fantasy stories and bizarrely complicated werewolf mythologies.

you know i used to do open mics? we had a poetry group that met once a month at a local cafe in college. each night we'd start by asking five words from the audience, then inviting everyone to compose a poem using those words in 10 to 15 minutes. whoever wanted to could read their poem, and whoever got the most applause won a free drink from the cafe. then we'd spend the rest of the night having folks sign up to come and read whatever. sometimes you'd get heartfelt poems about personal experiences, sometimes you'd get ambitious soundcloud rappers, sometimes you'd get a frat guy taking the piss, sometimes you'd get a mousy autist just doing their best. i don't know that any of the poetry i wrote back then has particular value today, but i don't really care. the point of it was the experience in that moment. the experience of composing something on the fly, or having something you wrote a couple days ago, then standing up and reading it. the value was in the performance itself, in the momentary synthesis between me and the audience. i found out then that i was pretty good at making people cry, and i could not have had that experience in any other venue. i could not have felt it so viscerally had i just posted it online. and i cannot wrap up that experience and give it to you, because it only existed then.

i think more people would write poetry if they had more hours in a day to spare for frivolities, if there existed more spaces where small groups could organize open mics, if transit made those spaces more widely accessible, if everyone made enough money that they weren't burned the fuck out and not in the mood to go to an open mic tonight, if we saw poetry as a mode of personal reflection which was as much about the experience of having written it as anything else. this is the case for all the arts. right now, the only people who can afford to make a living doing art are already wealthy, because art doesn't pay well. this leads to brain drain and overall lowering quality standards, because the suburban petty bouge middle class largely do not experience the world as it materially exists for the rest of us. i often feel that many tech CEOs want to be remembered the way andy warhol is remembered. they want to be loved and worshipped not just for business acumen but for aesthetic value, they want to get the kind of credit that artists get-- because despite the fact that artists don't get paid shit, they also frequently get told by people "your work changed my life." how is it that a working class person with little to no education can write a story that isn't just liked but celebrated, that hundreds or thousands of people imprint on, that leaves a mark on culture you can't quantify or predict or recreate? this is AI's primary use-case, to "democratize" art in such a way that hacks no longer have to work as hard to pretend to be good at what they do. i mean, hell, i have to imagine every rich person with an autobiography in the works is absolutely THRILLED that they no longer have to pay a ghost writer!

so, circling back around to the meat of your question. as far as telling people not to use AI because "you're just helping to train it," that ship has long since sailed. getting mad at individuals for using AI right now is about as futile as getting mad at individuals for not masking-- yes, obviously they should wear a mask and write their own essays, but to say this is simply a matter of millions of individuals making the same bad but unrelated choice over and over is neoliberal hogwash. people stopped masking because they were told to stop masking by a government in league with corporate interests which had every incentive to break every avenue of solidarity that emerged in 2020. they politicized masks, calling them "the scarlet letter of [the] pandemic". biden himself insisted this was "a pandemic of the unvaccinated", helpfully communicating to the public that if you're vaccinated, you don't need to mask. all those high case numbers and death counts? those only happen to the bad people.

now you have CEOs and politicians and credulous media outlets and droves of grift-hungry influencers hard selling the benefits of AI in everything everywhere all the time. companies have bent over backwards to incorporate AI despite ethics and security worries because they have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, and everyone with money is calling this the next big thing. in short, companies are following the money, because that's what companies do. they, in turn, are telling their customers what tools to use and how. so of course lots of people are using AI for things they probably shouldn't. why wouldn't they? "the high school/college essay" as such has been quantized and stripmined by an education system dominated by test scores over comprehension. it is SUPPOSED to be an exercise in articulating ideas, to teach the student how to argue persuasively. the final work has little to no value, because the point is the process. but when you've got a system that lives and dies by its grades, within which teachers are given increasingly more work to do, less time to do it in, and a much worse paycheck for their trouble, the essay increasingly becomes a simple pass/fail gauntlet to match the expected pace set by the simple, clean, readily gradable multiple choice quiz. in an education system where the stakes for students are higher than they've ever been, within which you are increasingly expected to do more work in less time with lower-quality guidance from your overworked teachers, there is every incentive to get chatgpt to write your essay for you.

do you see what i'm saying? we can argue all day about the shoulds here. of course i think it's better when people write their own essays, do their own research, personally read the assigned readings. but cheating has always been a problem. a lot of these same fears were aired over the rising popularity of cliffs notes in the 90s and 2000s! the real problem here is systemic. it's economic. i would have very little issue with the output of AI if existing conditions were not already so precarious. but then, if the conditions were different, AI as we know it likely would not exist. it emerges today as the last gasp of a tech industry that has been floundering for a reason to exist ever since the smart phone dominated the market. they tried crypto. they tried the metaverse. now they're going all-in on AI because it's a perfect storm of shareholder-friendly buzzwords and the unscientific technomythology that's been sold to laymen by credulous press sycophants for decades. It slots right into this niche where the last of our vestigial respect for "the artist" once existed. it is the ultimate expression of capitalist realism, finally at long last doing away with the notion that the suits at disney could never in their wildest dreams come up with something half as cool as the average queer fanfic writer. now they've got a program that can plagiarize that fanfic (along with a dozen others) for them, laundering the theft through a layer of transformation which perhaps mirrors how the tech industry often exploits open source software to the detriment of the open source community. the catastrophe of AI is that it's the fulfillment of a promise that certainly predates computers at the very least.

so, i don't really know what to tell someone who uses AI for their work. if i was talking to a student, i'd say that relying chatgpt is really gonna screw you over when it comes time take the SAT or ACT, and you have to write an essay from scratch by hand in a monitored environment-- but like, i also think the ACT and SAT and probably all the other standardized tests shouldn't exist? or at the very least ought to be severely devalued, since prep for those tests often sabotages the integrity of actual classroom education. although, i guess at this point the only way forward for education (that isn't getting on both knees and deep-throating big tech) is more real-time in-class monitored essay writing, which honestly might be better for all parties anyway. of course that does nothing to address research essays you can't write in a single class session. to someone who uses AI for research, i'd probably say the same thing as i would to someone who uses wikipedia: it's a fine enough place to start, but don't cite it. click through links, find sources, make sure what you're reading is real, don't rely on someone else's generalization. know that chatgpt is likely not pulling information from a discrete database of individual files that it compartmentalizes the way you might expect, but rather is a statistical average of a broad dataset about which it cannot have an opinion or interpretation. sometimes it will link you to real information, but just as often it will invent information from whole cloth. honestly, the more i talk it out, the more i realize all this advice is basically identical to the advice adults were giving me in the early 2000s.

which really does cement for me that the crisis AI is causing in education isn't new and did not come from nowhere. before chatgpt, students were hiring freelancers on fiverr. i already mentioned cliffs notes. i never used any of these in college, but i'll also freely admit that i rarely did all my assigned reading. i was the "always raises her hand" bitch, and every once in a while i'd get other students who were always dead silent in class asking me how i found the time to get the reading done. i'd tell them, i don't. i read the beginning, i read the ending, and then i skim the middle. whenever a word or phrase jumps out at me, i make a note of it. that way, when the professor asks a question in class, i have exactly enough specific pieces of information at hand to give the impression of having done the reading. and then i told them that i learned how to do this from the very same professor that was teaching that class. the thing is, it's not like i learned nothing from this process. i retained quite a lot of information from those readings! this is, broadly, a skill that emerges from years of writing and reading essays. but then you take a step back and remember that for most college students (who are not pursuing any kind of arts degree), this skillset is relevant to an astonishingly minimal proportion of their overall course load. college as it exists right now is treated as a jobs training program, within which "the essay" is a relic of an outdated institution that highly valued a generalist liberal education where today absolute specialization seems more the norm. so AI comes in as the coup de gras to that old institution. artists like myself may not have the constitution for the kind of work that colleges now exist to funnel you into, but those folks who've never put a day's thought into the work of making art can now have a computer generate something at least as good at a glance as basically anything i could make. as far as the market is concerned, that's all that matters. the contents of an artwork, what it means to its creator, the historic currents it emerges out of, these are all technicalities that the broad public has been well trained not to give a shit about most of the time. what matters is the commodity and the economic activity it exists to generate.

but i think at the end of the day, folks largely want to pay for art made by human beings. that it's so hard for a human being to make a living creating and selling art is a question far older than AI, and whose answer hasn't changed. pay workers more. drastically lower rents. build more affordable housing. make healthcare free. make education free. massively expand public transit. it is simply impossible to overstate how much these things alone would change the conversation about AI, because it would change the conversation about everything. SO MUCH of the dominance of capital in our lives comes down to our reliance on cars for transit (time to get a loan and pay for insurance), our reliance on jobs for health insurance (can't quit for moral reasons if it's paying for your insulin), etc etc etc. many of AI's uses are borne out of economic precarity and a ruling class desperate to vacuum up every loose penny they can find. all those billionaires running around making awful choices for the rest of us? they stole those billions. that is where our security went. that is why everything is falling apart, because the only option remaining to *every* institutional element of society is to go all-in on the profit motive. tax these motherfuckers and re-institute public arts funding. hey, did you know the us government used to give out grants to artists? did you know we used to have public broadcast networks where you could make programs that were shown to your local community? why the hell aren't there public youtube clones? why aren't there public transit apps? why aren't we CONSTANTLY talking about nationalizing these abusive fucking industries that are falling over themselves to integrate AI because their entire modus operandi is increasing profits regardless of product quality?

these are the questions i ask myself when i think about solutions to the AI problem. tech needs to be regulated, the monopolies need breaking up, but that's not enough. AI is a symptom of a much deeper illness whose treatment requires systemic solutions. and while i'm frustrated when i see people rely on AI for their work, or otherwise denigrate artists who feel AI has devalued their field, on some level i can't blame them. they are only doing what they've been told to do. all of which merely strengthens my belief in the necessity of an equitable socialist future (itself barely step zero in the long path towards a communist future, and even that would only be a few steps on the even longer path to a properly anarchist future). improve the material conditions and you weaken the dominance of capitalist realism, however minutely. and while there are plenty of reasons to despair at the likelihood of such a future given a second trump presidency, i always try to remember that socialist policies are very popular and a *lot* of that popularity emerged during the first trump administration. the only wrong answer here is to assume that losing an election is the same thing as losing a war, that our inability to put the genie back in its bottle means we can't see our own wishes granted.

i dunno if i answered your question but i sure did say a lot of stuff, didn't i?

[brawlqueen]

her lips subconsciously twitch in a semblance of rare gentleness . it's not even something she's self-aware of , crinkling eyes and a ghost of a curled mouth. that fondness sinking and rising above the tumultuous currents of the detective's previously stony demeanor . despite the light in her left eye, ( aiba ? aiba ! . . . no signal. it's just me . . ) mizuki's expression seems to momentarily defrost into something that seems far more true than before.

" . . . she's a huge part of me, that's for sure . usually she'd be right in front of your eyes . she's the most i have left of vision at this point . and . . she's my partner. she's -- . . " a pause , emotions subconsciously spilling - after all , silence and separation made the heart fonder ; right?

( and more open . )

" -- important. " to stupid date, to me. she's more than i could ever tell her without her getting a bigger ego . . !

there's a long pause as mizuki sizes him up. the wings? longer teeth? pupiled eyes slit like? yeah , something was up , but in her eighteen years she had seen lifetimes. maybe not in the way his eyes felt so boyish and young and old and piercing all at once but.... mizuki has enough perception and wisdom from a child buried long ago to understand that her usual bold approaches won't do her any favors . the smile slowly slips ; twisting faintly not in discomfort, hardly fear, a word rarely applicable . . . and listens.

" . . . honestly ? i never planned to fight you . i barged in here, remember ? evennnn if didn't mean to. so . . it's kinda my bad. if anything , this place . . . " it's lonely. like a somnium, it's full . . of feelings as much as that emptiness i woke up to .

" yeah , we got on a bad foot. it's inconvenient and probably not the best idea . especially if i'm trespassing . . .though to be honest , it looks lonely here . if this is a dream, maybe not what i'm familiar with . . . or just a space, then - i think you could spruce it up . " she awkwardly shifts a black shoe around her adjacent heel from behind.

" . . not the paintings though . they're really pretty. " an offhand. " so, to make up for the misunderstandings, bad footing, yadda yadda . . how about i give you my name? " a slow blink, lashes ghosting her cheeks and contemplative expression before raising her head to him; a black glove brushing blue strands from the woman's face.

" mizuki . and don't be too weirded out by the attitude change . if i did something wrong, i'm going to do something about it . it doesn't feel right intruding like this . . . even if i would give some parts minus all the pretty art: a touch up; y'know, dust-cleaning ? is this like, your home? you're very protective of it. "

" . . . whoa whoa whoa - phantom thief? what, like that one guy in fiction or something ? dark ? uhhh . . . " she keeps her sharp tongue, both blade and balm, shut. "that's a first. well you definitely stand out on that one. dark , huh ? might take me a bit but sure . but i don't know anything about a phantom thief . and i'd know about something like that . " it's cryptic; the last bit before mizuki's mouth curls in something between a humored breath of a laugh and bewilderment.

" magic ? uhhhh . . .excuse me ? again , no dice on that one. magic. well, you have wings... " a brief point that is surprisingly, akin to the majority might, non-judgmental .

" . . . look , whatever you call it, magic, whatever, didn't we say we weren't gonna fight ? i told you essentially that i'm sorry. " though he kinda looks lonely here. really recycling the lonely part huh , mizuki ?

" so , dark, " she begins ; mouth curling slightly at how skittish he was around her. it was both amusing and kinda . . endearing? stupid ? both ?

what a weirdo !

" i'm gonna need your help. you up for that? if i'm here , then my body probably isn't awake . no, it's definitely not . and i need to get back to her, and some idiot . " date , i better not be in a coma . . geez . why i am worried about him ? i should kinda be worried about me . . .

mizuki places a hand on her hip; one brow raised and her smile turning into a harmless smirk. " c'mon , not like you want me around here longer, right ? "

a brow raises --- and cautiously , dark's posture shifts . no sudden movements , no aggressive instincts , nothing more than the set of an elbow onto practically the only thing separating the two of them in the gloomy space of the dream , his head supported by a grooveless palm , brilliant black wings unfolding and fluttering . silent as it should have been , it wasn't difficult for his ears to pick up her bits and pieces .

' ... phew . ' he can't help but sigh . a study of her expression alone seems to impart enough , and it's only now that he finally leaves the meager sanctuary he had situated for himself , maintaining a safe distance for them both while his arms push themselves into a tight cross . he doesn't growl , grin or jeer at her , his own expression still and difficult to read --- if she was mature , then he was ancient .

' ... what , you usually do this sort of thing with a close partner ? ' too , he might have added . ' are you going to be alright , then ? look , we might have gotten off to a rough start , but it hurts to be separated from a part of yourself . personally , i still don't have any interest in fighting you , especially if you're feeling disoriented at all . ' in the underbelly of his gently-pronounced , carelessly-spoken statement , his own subtle promise remained , in that he wouldn't somehow attempt to further kick and wound her should she have already been considered down in this place .

--- the rest comes merely as a surprise .

it's a strange feeling , too --- to seem scolded . of course he was here . when was he not ? when the world opened up , and he was free , just for a little bit ? enough to take and admire just one more work of art , adding it to the mass of this hollow dimension . he doesn't understand how anybody could cut to the very center of himself in a way like this , but if there's any effect , he hurries to hide it : both his existential feebleness , and his own monstrous quality as a thing --- how funny , how sad , how lonely , to be mistaken for someone . once again , dark's tongue clicks . he clears his throat ; adjusts himself with no shortage of accused grumpiness .

' yeah , well --- obviously . ' it's a curt response to her point and intensity . no matter his own impatience , surely if he waited in this place , daisuke too would someday , over and over again , find and call out for him . even if there was nothing else here , he alone existed . ' ... 'scuze me for assuming that you weren't exactly eager for my company . ' he veils and curtains what he can . a taste of his own medicine , she says --- well , he's certainly never gotten one in any way like this , so that made two of them .

' --- and who the hell's being dramatic ?! you know i could probably just send you right out and back with a little magic , right ?! do you even know who you're talking to ?! ' probably not , asking all sorts of questions ! ' right now , you're having a conversation with the one and only phantom thief dark ! who the hell are you even supposed to be in the first place ?! i hate nosy people , you know ! why should i be telling you anything about what's in here ? maybe you should be the one getting lost ! '