#AI-powered decision-making

[m0e-ru]

it's a cycle. depends whether im tired or not

[mark-matos]

🚨AI ALERT: Are We Headed Towards a Dystopian Sci-Fi Future? Unchecked Power and Fake News 💻🌐📰👥🤖

Science fiction has long warned us of the dangers of unchecked power ⚠️ and the consequences of fake news 📰. In "Dark City" 🌃 and "1984" 📚, dystopian worlds are depicted where manipulation and fabrication are used to control and oppress society 🔗.

Artificial intelligence has made incredible strides in recent years 🤖⏩, but it's important to recognize the potential pitfalls of this technology as well. As we continue to rely more and more on AI to make decisions and process information, we run the risk of losing control of the very systems we've created 🌐🔓.

One needs only look at dystopian sci-fi movies and literature like "Dark City" 🎥 and "1984" 📖 to see how fabrication and fake news can be used to control societies and experiment on humanity. In these works, powerful entities use manipulation and disinformation to shape reality and create a false sense of security for the masses 🎭🔮.

But what happens when these fictional scenarios become reality with the rise of artificial intelligence? 🤖💭🌏

AI has the power to create and spread fake news on an unprecedented scale, with the ability to manipulate our thoughts and actions without our knowledge 🧠🔄. The potential for abuse is immense, as seen with the recent surge in deepfakes and disinformation campaigns 📺👤🔍.

As AI technology continues to advance, we must be vigilant in ensuring that it is used ethically and transparently 👁️⚖️. We cannot allow a future where AI holds unchecked power and uses it to control and manipulate society 🚫🕹️. It's up to us to ensure that science fiction remains just that - fiction 📚🚀.

[totheblood]

imagine me & you. (one)

pairing: modern!ellie williams x reader

summary: ellie is the florist for your wedding, and you wonder is love at first sight is real and if it is the universe hates your guts

warnings: occasional cursing, suggestive themes, angst/pining, could this be considered infidelity? maybe?, drug/alcohol usage/mention, you marry a man i apologize

a/n: AI AUDIOS AT THE END this is a series i'm writing that is completely based on the movie "imagine me and you" which is a phenomenal lesbian romcom... i would suggest that everyone watches it but i dont want the series to be spoiled for you.. this is sugar sweet fluff and i think is overall really cute. I DONT CONDONE CHEATING! this fic is.... a gray area tho so.. enjoy! I would greatly appreciate any reblogs, comments, asks you have about this chapter. thank you for supporting me through this journey!

This was the best day of your life. 

The chapel was adorned with flowers, the smell of tulips heavy in the air. The streamers were hung between each seat with careful detail, just as you had planned it months ago. You could hear the quiet chatter among guests, all beautifully dressed for the occasion, and at the end of the aisle stood your best friend. This was the day your best friend became your husband.

You had met Sully in your first year of college when his best friend, Ezra, began dating your best friend, Tara. While Tara and Ezra’s relationship was short-lived, you and Sully had something nearly impossible to break. He provided a kind of comfort that only came with knowing someone as long as you had, and a promise of a life that you imagined for yourself. 

You were in love with him, you knew this. This fact had never even come into question. You were sure of your decision every step of the way and you were positive that your walk down the aisle would be the easiest thing you had done in your lifetime. 

The only thing that made you nervous was the fact that everyone had their eyes on you. As the doors opened and it was finally your turn to make your way down the aisle, you knew that this was the first day of the rest of your life, but not for the reasons you expected.

Prior to the start of the wedding, Ellie was already having a shit day. Her supplier hadn’t arrived with the shipment of tulips she needed for the shop that day and it was just her luck that her last batch was already loaded in the truck for your wedding. Dina had assured her that she would call and bitch out the supplier until he delivered them, but something was still unsettled in her gut. Reluctantly, she relinquished her power to Dina for the day and made her way over to your venue to set up early.

It was the silent morning that Ellie loved the most. The air was crisp with anticipation of what was about to happen, the quiet echoed chapel that would soon be filled with celebratory cheers and applause. The idea that eternal love may exist soothed her, but only temporarily.

Ellie had found herself in somewhat of a dry spell, her only intimate interactions being with her pillow. It wasn’t something that necessarily stressed her out, but it was something that she thought about often. It wasn’t that it bothered her either, she was simply growing impatient for her chance to have this kind of celebration of love. It is legal now, she reminded herself. 

As the time for the wedding grew closer, Ellie found that she was in over her head. She assumed she would be able to finish decorating by the time guests started to arrive, so she could slip out unnoticed and no one would see her in her overalls, but she admittedly had paid too much attention to detail. It was no secret that she was a perfectionist, but she knew it would cost her.

Her anxiety only grew more and more as people started to arrive and sit in the aisles that she still was yet to decorate. By the grace of whatever was out there, she finished with little time to spare and had begun collecting her things but was stopped by who she assumed was a groomsman. 

“Hi, you must be Ellie, the florist.” He reached out his hand, a broad smile on his face. His eyes were a stark blue and his face was perfectly symmetrical. He oozed confidence and Ellie could tell that he had never faced a day of rejection in his life. She had a feeling this was about to change.

“What gave it away? The flowers or my overalls?” She joked, reaching her gloved hand out to shake his, a polite laugh escaping from his lips. 

“It was actually your indescribable beauty. I don’t know… I heard a thing about florists being hot. I’m Ezra, by the way.” Ellie wanted to scoff, throw up, do anything that would signify she wasn’t interested in the man before her, but more than that she wanted her tip. 

“Wonder where you heard that. Didn’t see that article in this month's Florist’s Monthly.” She joked back, her sickly sweet grin still painted on her face.

“Well, just wanted to introduce myself. Hope you're staying for the reception?” He questioned, moving back after the pace of the room began to change. It was becoming evident the wedding was about to start and he needed to be in his place. 

“It’s my job to be there so… I’ll be there.” She sighed, picked up the bucket that had scrap flowers in it, and began making her way down the side of the chapel, careful to not draw any attention to her. Ellie had never stayed this long before, she had never gotten the opportunity to watch the bride walk down the aisle and curiosity was getting the best of her. As she tried to sneak away, she attempted to get one glance at the girl about to be married. 

As you made your way down the floral-lined carpet, a line was tugged on your heart. Something inside of you was telling you to look to the left. So you did. It was almost as if time stopped for a moment as you caught a glimpse of the girl. Her hair was half pinned up, little strands of hair framing her face, her lips in an adoring smile. She was all-encompassing. This is what you imagined love at first sight to feel like. It’s what you would have imagined love at first sight to feel like if it wasn’t your wedding day.

Ellie had to stop when she saw you, your beauty overwhelming her. She was sure all brides looked this beautiful on their wedding day, but she was also unsure of that at this moment. It was an almost impossible idea that someone on this earth could look more beautiful than you did at that moment. It made her heart drop to the pit of her stomach, even more so when she saw the comforting smile on your face drop as you locked eyes and you quickly turned away. Ellie assumed you hadn’t recognized her and became confused so she quickly and quietly made her way out of the venue.

When you turned back around to get one last look at her, she was gone. You were almost sure she was simply a figment of your imagination, an ethereal dream that you had hallucinated, but what you felt was real. Almost too real.

The wedding went off without a hitch, fulfilling every dream you had for yourself. As you kissed your now husband you felt a great sense of relief, the pit in your stomach from earlier being filled. Whatever feeling you felt when you and the florist locked eyes was now becoming a distant memory. The only thing you could think of was that you had done it, and completed this task. This was what love felt like. Right? 

As the reception went on and the guests were full of liquor and good music, Ellie found herself wanting to introduce herself to you, as she did with every bride. She pushed past warm bodies till she found you hunched over the punch bowl, a ladle in your hands. 

“Hi,” She began, causing you to drop the ladle and turn towards her. She stood with her arms by her side and a gentle smile on her face. She seemed calm. Warm. Inviting.

“Hi.” You replied, moving to stand in front of the punch bowl, a smile gracing your face.

“We- um, we haven’t met. I’m Ellie.” She introduced herself. She smiled as you simply responded with your name. 

“I did your flowers.” She stated, assuming you were unsure of who she was. 

“You did?” You breathed, your shoulders relaxing. “My flowers are nice.” 

“Anyways, I was just going to get a-” Ellie pointed at the punch behind you, moving towards it but was stopped by your body standing moving in front of it, blocking it from her view.

“Drink.” Ellie said, suspiciously, brows furrowed in confusion as you gave her a nervous laugh.

“I wouldn’t.” You remarked through your laughs, slightly shaking your head.

“Wh- Is there something wrong?” Ellie questioned, unsure of what was happening right now. “I’m here to help.”  She watched as you blinked for a second and your smile fell. 

“My ring.” You told her as you turned around and picked up the ladle again, looking down into the punch. Ellie was at your side, watching as you stirred the red liquid, a smile back on your face. “I was getting some of this punch crap and-”

“Your wedding ring?” Ellie laughed, stealing a glance at your focused face.

“It fell off.” You giggled, a sound that made Ellie’s cheeks redden. “Off and in there. My wedding ring is in there.” You turned to her, the side of your lips curved downwards into an upside-down smile. You were impossibly close to her.

“And you tried the ladle?” Ellie questioned, humor in her voice. 

“Nothing.” You shook your head, a huge grin still on your face.

“And you can’t empty-” Ellie shook her head, her internal monologue running rampant. “No, it's too big. Um, alright.” Ellie’s mind almost short-circuited when you laughed at her manic raving.

“Only one thing to do.” Ellie simply stated. “Cover me.”

“What?” You question, staring at her, confusion written all over your face.

“Use the dress, I’m going in.” Ellie answered, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt before pulling you by the waist in front of her. She tried not to be distracted by your consistent laughing, but reality shook her as she reached her hand into the punch bowl.

You stood in front of her keeping watch but quickly became alert when another guest began making his way over to you.

Moving to stand in front of him and Ellie, you looked up at him and gave him your friendliest smile. Clearing your throat you offered the man a polite, “Hello.”

“They say white’s the color of virgins… if I know Sully the only thing virgin around here is the olive oil.” He commented smugly, reaching next to you to pick up a plastic cup. Ellie couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she fished around in the punch. What makes this guy think he can just-

“The old jokes really are the best aren’t they?” You quipped sarcastically, a groan nearly slipping from your lips. Ellie was laughing to herself at the sound of your annoyed tone and body being in such close proximity to hers.

“I’m Dennis. Sully works underneath me but not in the biblical sense.” He reached out and shook your hand, unwarranted confidence coming off him in waves. Just at that moment, Ellie felt the circular metal between her fingertips and pulled it out victoriously.

“You’re just like he described.” You told the man, it being painfully obvious (to no one but him) that you didn’t mean that as a compliment. Behind you, Ellie shook the juice off the ring and tapped the exposed skin of your upper arm, causing you to put your left hand behind your back, right in Ellie’s view. Carefully, Ellie slipped the ring on your ring finger, its rightful place, and found herself beside you again. 

“Now, I need booze.” Dennis remarked as he picked up the ladle and scooped some punch into his cup. If it was anyone else, you would have stopped him. But it wasn’t.

“Hi.” Ellie made herself known to the man. 

“Hi.” He replied. Ellie tried to ignore the way he looked her up and down.

“This is Ellie.” You said, a proud smile on your face. “She’s a florist”

“Name’s Dennis. But you can call me anything you’d like.” He outstretched his hand to Ellie, a dumbstruck look on his face. Ellie’s drenched hand gripped his as if she was punishing him for his behavior.

“And I’m sure I will.” Ellie smiled, holding back her laughter as he pulled his hand away and shook the sticky liquid off his hand.

The wedding was as eventful as any wedding could be. Family members were getting drunk, Ezra was flirting with as many people as he could, and you were wrapped up in Sully’s arms. The music had mellowed out and people had found their way back to their assigned tables, ready to eat. Everyone began eating, only looking up when Sully stood up, prepared to make a speech. 

You listened as he went on about how long he had waited for this day, how much he adored you, and the future he envisioned for the two of you. You wanted to relish in all the attention and love he was showering you in, but your mind continued to travel back to Ellie and the brief moment you shared with her. Ellie was most likely miles away by now, but that didn’t stop you from envisioning her there in the crowd. 

You were starting to feel guilty about it too. While your husband was boasting about how you were the best thing to happen to him, you were fantasizing about the girl you had just who you were almost sure was your soulmate. There was a thickness in your throat that only grew as Ezra described how he and Ellie had ‘hit it off’ and how he was going to ask her out. It shouldn’t have upset you but you did.

The following week your mind was still on Ellie. She hadn’t reached out after the wedding, but you were also unsure of why she would do something like that. It wasn’t like there was any specific reason for her to call you, but you still waited by the phone like she would. 

It felt like a regular day for Ellie, she reached the shop early and was finishing setting up. She had just opened the doors when a man had hurried in with a frantic look on his face. 

 “Hello.” She greeted the man, wiping the dirt from her hands on the apron wrapped around her waist. 

“Hi. You’ve got to help me.” He exclaimed frantically. “I need a flower. Just one. A good one. The best!” He watched as she continued to move things around the shop. 

“Okay.” Ellie said in her calmest voice, attempting to appease the man. 

“This is my last chance. My last chance flower.” He told her, looking around at the various flowers on display. 

“Your last chance?” Ellie questioned, finally giving her full attention to the man.

“I really fucked up. Only the right flower can save me.” He explained. “What about a rose? A red rose. What would that say?” He pointed to the basket of red roses sitting on the table.

“Love.” Ellie shrugged.

“Love’s nice.” The man thought out loud.

“And fidelity.” Ellie added. 

“Not a red rose, then.” The man pushed past the roses and continued looking. 

“No, not a red rose at all. It’s too obvious.” Ellie agreed with him, eager to make a sale. “If this really is your last chance we need to make it something spectacular.” Ellie moved to the other side of the shop and examined what she had in stock. There was a slight knock at the door, but Ellie didn’t look up, focused on the task at hand. 

“Be right with you.” She told the unknown guest. 

“That’s fine.” You spoke, your voice causing her to stand up straight. You had a pink scarf wrapped around your neck and your hair pulled back. You had this glow to you that only came with what Ellie assumed was natural beauty. Almost suddenly the air in the shop was much lighter. 

“Hi.” She breathed, smiling back at you.

“Hey.” 

“How are you doing?” Ellie asked.

“Good,” you shrugged your shoulders. “Great.” You corrected yourself.

“I just,” you began again but were cut off by the man making his way out the open door behind you to look at the flowers that were placed outside the shop. “Came by to say thanks.” You smiled, awkwardly putting your hands in your pockets.

“It was a total pleasure,” Ellie told you, her voice soft. She stared at you for a beat, almost forgetting what she was doing before you came in. “Listen, sorry, I’m just dealing with-” She pointed to the man outside scanning the flowers.

“Oh, of course. Go right ahead.” You blurted out, moving away from the door so she could tend to the man outside. 

The man looked at you through the window, smiling upon seeing your face. “What’s your favorite flower?” He asked, making you blink at him. 

“I don’t know, I think I like tulips.” You replied, giving him the kindest smile you could muster.

“They’re wrong.” He said, finger in the air as he continued to muck about. He made his way back into the store as Ellie pulled a long, colorful flower from one of the silver buckets attached to the wall.

“What about this?” Ellie asked him, showing him the exotic flower she had in her hands. “Bird of paradise.”

“Keep talking.” He instructed her. 

“Real name ‘Strelitzia’. Named after Charlotte of Strelitz. She married King George the third and had 15 kids. They never spent more than an hour apart.” She explained, looking towards you to see the grin you were hiding on your face.

“Okay, stop talking.” The man said as he abruptly left the store. 

“Do you want to come to dinner?” You asked her, just as abruptly.

“ ‘m sorry?” She asked, confused by the tone this conversation carried.

“Dinner, with us. Me and Sully.” You clarified, her chest deflating a little. You watched as an unreadable expression clouded her face, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the question. “I mean you don’t have to-”

“I’d love to.” Ellie cut you off, her heart blooming as she watched your smile grow.

“Really?” You asked sounding surprised. “This Friday?”

“Yeah, Friday. Why not?” Ellie nodded, unsure of why she was agreeing to this.

“Great. I’ll just write down-” You moved to write down your address on a card you saw sitting on the counter. 

“Perfect!” The man from earlier screamed, walking back in with a cactus shaped like a dick in his hands. “This is the one.” 

You and Ellie both couldn’t help but laugh.

Friday came around sooner than expected. You had spent the entire day cooking, dancing around the kitchen, and cleaning up the apartment. When you told Sully about the dinner party you were hosting, he decided that it would be best to invite Ezra since he and Ellie presumably ‘hit it off’ at the wedding. Admittedly, that made you want to not only pull your hair out but also Sully’s. Instead, you simply thanked him for being so thoughtful and tried your best to make it seem like you were impartial. 

The place was decorated to the nines. There stood long colored candles lit on the table, new spring placemats laid out, and bright pink tulips in a vase at the center of the table. You would never say it out loud, but the tulips were there for Ellie.

You hadn’t realized how much time had passed since you began cooking, but the sun was setting and Sully was already dressed for the guests. He sauntered into the kitchen, talking about how much he hated his job and threatening to quit for the sixth time that week. 

“You say that every day, baby.” You told him, stirring the pot before pulling the spoon out, swiping your finger on it, and tasting the sauce. It was perfect. 

“I know, but this time I mean it.” He told you, walking up behind you and placing a kiss on your cheek. 

“Do you like Ellie?” You asked randomly.

“Yeah, sure. She seems nice enough. I mean Ezra likes her.” He responded, walking around the kitchen island. 

“Ezra likes anything with a pulse.” You reminded him causing him to laugh. 

“That’s true.” He smiled to himself. “But if you want her to stick around why are you introducing her to him.” 

“It wasn’t my idea. You know this.” You said, pulling the breadsticks out of the oven. 

“Oh, right.” was all he said before he popped a grape into his mouth from the bowl sitting on the kitchen island. You were about to scold him for spoiling his dinner but your thoughts were cut off by the ringing of the bell. 

“That should be Ellie. Get the door please.” You instructed him.

“On it, boss.” He popped another grape in his mouth before opening the door for Ellie. 

“Hey, Ellie. Nice to see you.” He greeted, stepping back so Ellie could make her way into the apartment. 

“Hey. I didn’t know what you drank, or if you drank, so I just made punch.” She smiled, handing the bottle to Sully. From the kitchen, you were blushing at the reminder of your first meeting.

“Thank you. She will love this.” He thanked her watching as you came up beside him. Instinctively, he put a hand around your shoulders.

“Hi.” You smiled at her. The air was thick between the two of you and there was an awkward silence. Ellie blinked at you. You looked as good as you did the first time she saw you. It always startled her how her pulse raced in your presence.

“Come look at our new sofa.” You told her, removing yourself from Sully’s grip as you led her into the living room. 

“Expensive new couch.” Sully corrected you.

“Can’t put a price on comfort,” Ellie told Sully, smiling as she plopped down on the couch. 

“A girl after my own heart.” You smiled down at Ellie, watching as her cheeks blushed once again. Sully sat down next to her, handing the bottle of punch over to you. 

“Do you believe in reincarnation? It’s just that my lover here thinks that you two have met before.” Sully asked Ellie, causing you to send a dirty look his way. 

“That’s not what I-” You started.

“I think I would have remembered.” Ellie said smoothly, eyes fixed on you. You ignored the way your heart picked up speed and your face grew with warmth.

“Well, I’m going to put this in the kitchen. You two talk.” You hurried away, checking yourself in the mirror before heading back into the kitchen.

On the couch, Ellie fiddled with her fingers as she examined the room around her. It was bright and well-decorated. She could tell that every piece in here was handpicked by you and it made her feel more at ease as she and Sully made small talk. 

“Anyway. How about you? Married?” He questioned. Ellie was unsure of how the conversation had led here but she so desperately wanted you to come back. “Ever been married? Ever gonna be married?” He continued to press her.

“Uh, no, no, and maybe now the laws have changed.” She chuckled as she watched the confusion cloud his face, leaning back on the couch.

“What do you mean?” Sully questioned.

“I’m gay.” Ellie flatly responded. Sully let out a laugh, before humming to himself. He didn’t know what to do in these situations.

“Lovely. Well-done.” He told Ellie, cringing at himself. Luckily, Ezra’s arrival had saved him some embarrassment. 

The dinner went on as well as you’d expected. Ezra consistently hitting on Ellie, Sully attempting to tell Ezra that Ellie was gay, and numerous stolen glances between you and Ellie all occurred within the half-hour you were sitting there.

Somehow the conversation drifted to how much of a player Ezra was, earning small laughs from the whole group.

“Well, that’ll all change when you meet Mrs.Right.” You told him, pushing your food around on your plate with your fork.

“And how am I supposed to know when I do that? Hm?” Ezra questioned, looking straight at you.

“You don’t know. Not straight away, anyways. It just feels warm, and comfortable, and you hang in there and give it a chance. Before you know it, you’re like yeah, this is it.” You were unsure if you were trying to convince him or yourself, but Sully was smiling at you from across the table so you found comfort in that. “Must be love.”

“Yeah, I’m with you.” Sully agreed.

“Yeah, I’m with her too.” Ezra chimed in.

“I don’t agree.” Ellie blurted out, causing everyone to look at her. “I think you know immediately. You know as soon as your eyes…” She was staring intently at you as her voice trailed off and she averted her gaze from you. “Then everything that happens from then on just proves that you had been right in that first moment.” Her eyes met yours again. It was almost as if she was speaking directly to you.

“When you suddenly realized you had been incomplete and now you are whole.” She finished, her eye contact with you making something inside you stir. You were staring back at you, mouth hanging open. It was almost as if she saw through you at that moment and it made you wonder if she had been feeling the same way. Whatever you were feeling, she had felt too. 

“Nevermind, I’m actually with her.” Ezra spoke up, breaking you out of your trance.

“Me too.” Sully laughed. “Okay, who’s ready for desser-”

“No.” You stated.

“No?” Ellie questioned. 

“No, if you think that, then you think that everyone who doesn’t have all that business is just settling for less.” You argued, unsure if you were trying to defend what you had with Sully.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Ellie corrected you.

“That kind of is what you’re saying.” You fought back.

“I think she said it a tiny bit nicer.” Ezra quipped in. 

“Cheesecake, anyone?” Sully said, bringing the cheesecake in from the kitchen.

The night carried on after that. You began to help Sully clean the dishes, but he insisted that he and Ezra should do it since you cooked dinner. You watched as Ellie made her way through the hallway, and out to the terrace, bringing her umbrella with her. Quietly you followed her, unsure of what your endgame was. You tightly wrapped your sweater around you, the chill from outside seeping through the walls. Ellie was sat on the edge of your terrace, staring out into the city. You watched her for a moment, content with just looking at her.

“What are you doing?” You called out from inside, causing her to turn her head and smile at you.

“It’s gorgeous,” Ellie told you, turning her head slightly towards the city beneath her.

“It’s raining.” You reminded her, the smile that was permanently on around her only growing. 

Ellie closed her umbrella and ran back inside next to you. Watching you as you closed the door shut behind her. You both stood there for a moment watching the rain pour from the warmth inside. 

“Sully won't come up here.” You blurted out. “He says there is a subconscious fear that you’ll throw yourself off, but he freaks when I get close to the edge too.”

Ellie remained quiet, smiling gently at you.

“Sorry about dinner.” You apologized for the tiny freakout you had.

“I’ve eaten worse.” Ellie laughed, trying to show you that she had no hard feelings toward you.

“I kind of went off.” You sighed, crossing your arms in front of you.

“You didn’t go off,” Ellie assured you gently, looking back at you with your eyebrows raised. “Okay, you went a little way off.” 

This time you both turned toward each other, the air once again thick between the two of you.

“You’re wet.” You said simply as you rubbed the water off her clothes. Ellie’s breath caught in her throat as you touched her.

“I’m fine.” Ellie laughed.

“And you’re cold.” You told her, pulling off your cardigan and beginning to wrap it around her shoulders.

“I’m fine.” She plead again, reaching for your wrist as you attempted to put your sweater on her.

“You can have it, really.” You told her. 

“I’m fine.” She said once more, finally giving up and you wrapped her in the sweater, pulling her close. If this was anyone else she would have kissed you right then and there. But you were you, and you were married. 

“Hey, what are you guys up to?” Sully called from downstairs, once again breaking the moment the two of you were sharing. 

Ellie took a step back away from you. This was a feeling she was unfamiliar with and that’s what scared her the most. She knew that you were going to be the death of her.

ai audios:

[your-astro-mami]

the biggest astrological events of 2023

and how they will affect YOU

Saturn enters Pisces (March 7th)

Now that Aquarius placements have been drained of their energy, matured and learned how to overcome their difficulties, it is time for Pisces to enter their Saturn era. Saturn in Pisces shows that discipline and organization may become more difficult, blurry. People may become more disoriented - it could be hard for everyone to manage their time and stay on schedule. On a positive note, this will be the ideal time to commit to any creative plans, ideas, endeavors. The people around you may become more understanding of your struggles, there will be empathy in regards to failure.

Most prominent for: Pisces Risings (Identity, Life decisions), Virgo Risings (Relationships), Gemini Risings (Family, Home), Sagittarius Risings (Career).

Pluto enters Aquarius (March 23rd)

One of the most prominent astrological events of the century (in my humble opinion). Pluto in Aquarius will bring grandiose changes in the world. Major focus on technology - if you believe you have seen technological growth/improvements in the past two decades, wait for the Pluto in Aquarius era. AI, focus on crypto/digital currency, any personal information will be digitalized, robots and robots taking over human jobs, possible cameras everywhere/monitoring. I believe this will bring major changes in the world. For Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), this can be quite transformative, it could bring more personal power, challenges, a lot of growth. We will truly see the Age of Aquarius.

Most prominent for: Aquarius Risings (Identity, Life Decisions). Taurus Risings (Career), Leo Risings (Relationships), Scorpio Risings (Family, Home).

Mars in Cancer (March 25th)

Geminis will finally release the frustration that has been held inside them for a while. Mars in Cancer could make everyone easily irritable, fights may become more emotional, people may get angry for smaller things, there could be slight chaos due to the sensitivity around us all.

Most prominent for: Cancer Placements (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Rising); Capricorn Placements (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Rising). For Cancer it could be a rush of energy, enthusiasm, but also lack of patience. For Capricorn it will be motivation, better balance, but more conflict.

Solar Eclipse in Aries (April 20th)

The Solar Eclipse as well all know marks the beginning of a big change, of slight chaos that may turn into something bigger for us. The House the Solar eclipse is in could go through big changes in the months after it occurs. It can be a transformative time for that area of life. It can point to major shifts, important decisions, focus on the area of life it's in.

Most prominent for: The house cusp in your chart Aries is in; Aries Rising (Identity, Decisions), Taurus Risings (Spirituality, Secrets); Gemini Risings (Social Circle, Aspirations); Cancer Risings (Career); Leo Risings (Travel, Education), Virgo Risings (Finances); Libra Risings (Relationships); Scorpio Risings (Work; Health); Sagittarius Risings (Romance); Capricorn Risings (Family, Home); Aquarius Risings (Ideas, Communication); Pisces Risings (Income);

Mercury retrograde in Taurus (April 21st to May 14th)

Mercury retrograde, also known as one of the most dramaticized events in Astrology, indicates the time in which you should avoid making big decisions, signing important documents, starting something new and talking to your ex. The worst time for organization.

Most prominent for: Virgo and Gemini placements; Taurus and Scorpio Mercury;

Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio (May 5th)

The Lunar eclipse indicates chaos in the house it falls in. That area of life could go through some major shifts, unpredictable events, possible setbacks that will lead to growth, gained experience. Compared to the Solar eclipse, it could point to major endings, there is a theme of letting go, moving on - but first there could be some suffering.

Most prominent for: The house cusp in your chart Scorpio is in. Scorpio Risings (Identity, Life Choices), Libra Risings (Income); Virgo Risings (Ideas, Communication), Leo Risings (Home, Family), Cancer Risings (Romance), Gemini Risings (Health, Work), Taurus Risings (Relationships); Aries Risings (Finance); Pisces Risings (Education, Travel); Aquarius Risings (Career); Capricorn Risings (Friendships); Sagittarius Risings (Spirituality, Mental Health).

Jupiter enters Taurus (May 16th)

One of the most abundant events for the year. Jupiter in Taurus shows that luck may come regardless of how hard you work for (compared to Aries where luck is something you have to put effort and energy in order to get). Jupiter in Taurus is luck that is secure. It can point to financial growth, obtaining material possessions, financial security - it is one of the more materialistic Jupiter placements therefore it will be manifester as people spending more on shopping, anything that provides them with security and comfort. Money is happiness.

Most prominent for: natal Jupiter in Taurus people; the house cusp Taurus is in; Taurus Risings (Identity, Life decisions); Aries Risings (Income); Pisces Risings (Communication, Ideas); Aquarius Risings (Home, Family); Capricorn Risings (Romance); Sagittarius Risings (Work, Health), Scorpio Risings (Relationships); Libra Risings (Finance); Virgo Risings (Education, Travel); Leo Risings (Career), Cancer Risings (Friendships, Aspirations); Gemini Rising (Spirituality, Mental Health);

Jupiter square Pluto

This transit can be quite challenging as it will feel like everything good may require a sacrifice, a big change that has to be made in order for this abundance to arrive. It may feel like there is an overwhelming amount of pressure, tension, complication. Any intense emotions could be exaggerated because of this.

Jupiter conjunct North Node

On of the most abundant transits. There will be major opportunities for growth, for overcoming challenges and looking forward. Great opportunities may come. I believe for some time there will be grandios and positive changes in the world. You may feel like you are on the right path for the things you are doing. It can feel optimistic, hopeful.

Jupiter sextile Saturn

Luck will come with effort and hard work. Good things will require patienct. People will be more realistic about their abilities.

North Node in Aries (July 17th)

This will feel quite energetic and will bring out people's ambition, desire to go after what is meant for them. It can feel forceful, like there is lack of patience and too much movement. On a bigger scale, I think there could be violence, aggression, tension, eruption. A lot of force since Mars-ruled Aries will bring out people's energy, desire to compete, ruin their competition.

Most prominent for: Cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn), but mostly Aries placements;

Pluto square North/South Node

Letting go of past trauma, possible trauma from the past re-merging. Having to go through difficult events that will push you to the path that is meant for you. I believe this will be one of the more difficult transits for everyone. Pluto equals change, it shows us what affects us psychologically and combined with the Nodes it will be energy from the past and future combined together. It will feel tense, it will require a lot of strength.

Mercury retrograde in Virgo (August 13th-September 15th)

Again - avoid important conversations, try not to sign important contracts, don't make plans, avoid talking to your ex.

Solar Eclipse in Libra (October 14th)

The past Solar eclipse in Scorpio felt intense for everyone, but this one could be something different. The changes that will occur during and after it could bring more balance in your life. While there could be a sacrifice that has to be made, it could lead to something better for you. I think with this eclipse a lot of the changes could be centered around romance, relationships regardless of the house cusp in your chart Libra is in.

Most prominent for: The house cusp in your chart Libra is in. Libra Rising (Idenity, Life decisions); Scorpio Rising (Mental health); Sagittarius Rising (Friendships, Aspirations); Capricorn Rising (Career, Image); Aquarius Risings (Education, Travel); Pisces Risings (Finance); Aries Risings (Relationships); Taurus Risings (Work, Health); Gemini Risings (Romance); Cancer Risings (Home, Family); Leo Risings (Communication, Plans); Virgo Risings (Income);

Lunar Eclipse in Taurus (October 28th)

There will be drastic shifts in your life, ones that will require you to be stubborn, to have strength and persistence. Taurus is ruled by Venus so once again, I don't believe this eclipse will be draining or forceful compared to the ones before. Major focus on romance, finances, relationships. On a bigger scale, agriculture, finance, values, basic needs (food, electricity, water, etc.)

Most prominent for: The house cusp in your chart Taurus is in; Taurus Rising (Self, Life decisions); Gemini Rising (Mental health); Cancer Rising (Friendships); Leo Rising (Career, Image); Virgo Rising (Education, Travel); Libra Rising (Finance); Scorpio Rising (Relationships); Sagittarius Rising (Work, Health); Capricorn Rising (Romance); Aquarius Rising (Family, Home); Pisces Rising (Communication); Aries Rising (Income);

Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius and Capricorn (December 13th-January 1st)

Once again - avoid signing important deals or documents, avoid making important plans and try not to contact your ex.

Most prominent for: Gemini and Virgo Mercury; Sagittarius and Capricorn Mercury;

If you want to know how these events will affect your own chart, check out my pinned post with the readings I offer <3 For orders DM me here or email me at yourastromami@gmail.com

[severalowls]

I've seen a couple of game things described as "AI POWERED" instead of "procedurally generated" recently in case it wasn't obvious that AI is a complete buzzword right now and anything with rudimentary decision making capability (think... basically any computer program) is being called AI. Historians are throwing rocks at us and laughing.

[forumda]

Myclearbeauty - Gold

The beauty industry has seen a surge in the demand for skin care and makeup products over the past few years. With more people becoming conscious of their appearance, they are looking for ways to keep their skin healthy and looking great. This has led to an increase in the number of skin care and makeup products available on the market. However, with so many options, it can be difficult to know which products are best suited for your needs. Fortunately, with advances in technology, there are now AI tools that can help you make informed decisions about which products will work best for you. AI-based tools can analyze your skin type and provide personalized recommendations on what kind of skin care or makeup products you should use. With these AI-powered tools, you can ensure that you get the best possible results from your beauty regimen.

[ynscrazylife]

Hi ml! I have a request!

Reader is always a super happy person, even when overworked and sick. Wanda is trying to pull R out of her school work, but R replies with something cute and happy like "don't worry your pretty head about me, I'm fine! " which makes Wanda blush, but still worried. Eventually R gets the flu or something, but is still working. Wanda is surprised at how happy and cheerful R is even  though their miserably sick. Eventually R starts to cry at their desk from feeling so sick, and Wanda is finally able to get R away from their desk, and helps R feel better.

Them!

Magic Kisses

Summary: Your feelings are revealed when Wanda takes care of you when you’re sick. 

Request to be on a taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

Main Masterlist | MCU Masterlist

PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

“Y/N, did you need something?”

Suddenly hearing F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice through the lab’s speakers made you let out an undignified yelp as you promptly fell off your stool. Landing in a heap on the floor, you grunted at the pain that spread all over your body and decided to just lay there for a second. Glancing up at the speakers, you said, “Why would I need something, Fri?”

(Even the sound of your own voice made you cringe. You were so nasally with your runny nose).

“You’ve been staring at your blueprints without moving for the past few minutes and from what I can detect, you seem to be developing a cold,” the AI answered matter-of-factly.

You bit back a sigh. You may have been able to hide from the team just how overworked their resident teammate and engineer was, but there was no fooling technology. As much as you loved tinkering around in Tony’s expensive lab, it was times like these that made you second guess your decision to be an Avenger and an aspiring engineer whilst in your senior year of college.

“Just zoned out for a bit, that’s all. I’m alright,” you assured F.R.I.D.A.Y. as you picked yourself up. But as you went to climb back onto the stool, a throbbing pain in your ankle made you hesitate.

You grit your teeth, intent to ignore it, until F.R.I.D.A.Y. piped up. “I’d suggest that you visit Dr. Cho, Y/N.”

You gaze shot to the speakers with a glare. You didn’t want to be pulled from your work now — the blueprints for Tony’s next invention was almost finished! “You do realize that I fell because of you, right?” You snapped at her.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn’t respond after that.

You went to get back to work, glancing over the blueprints for the umpteenth time. However, when the pain showed no sign of letting up, you knew that as self-destructive you were, you had to do something about this. You could already hear Tony in your head now, whining all about workers’ comp because you had injured yourself in his lab whilst working for his company.

Dragging yourself to the medbay, you froze in the doorway when a certain redhead caught your eye. Wanda, a close friend and your subsequent crush. It was hard not to like her—she was insanely powerful and, for lack of a better term, hot. The way she was affectionate with you made butterflies swarm in your stomach and you swore her smile was as bright at the stars. When she looked at you, it was like everything fell away, and you had become almost addicted to that feeling.

“Y/N! Everything alright?” Dr. Cho asked and a smile lifted up your face at the sight of Wanda.

��Oh, uh, yeah — I was just hoping to get some ice, I fell off my stool,” you explained, showing them your ankle.

Dr. Cho nodded and went to grab the ice from the freezer. “I can examine it if you need,” she offered.

You glanced at Wanda. “I’m fine, don’t wanna interrupt you guys,” you said, unable to help but wonder what the redhead was doing here.

“You’re not interrupting anything. Dr. Cho just needed me to update some info for my medical file,” Wanda assured you, matching your smile.

You accepted the ice from Dr. Cho with an appreciative nod. “You sure you don’t want an examination? You’ve been holed up in the lab for a while now, might be good to take a break and make sure your ankle’s alright,” Wanda said, eyeing you carefully.

You blushed at the fact that Wanda had noticed. Taking a chance, you said, “Don’t worry your pretty head about me, I’m fine!” Your voice was cheerful, which wasn’t uncommon for you, but there was some force, a push, to it.

Wanda, however, didn’t notice because now she was the one blushing. She went to respond, but it seemed like her brain was short-circuiting, and she just stifled a noise and smiled. Thankfully, Dr. Cho came in to save the day for the redhead.

“Well, if you do want an examination, I’m here all day, okay?” She said, prompting you to nod.

“Thank you,” you said, sparing one last look at Wanda before returning to the lab.

For the rest of the day, Wanda couldn’t seem to get her mind off you. Not only was she flustered by your comment (little did you know, she did reciprocate your feelings for her), but she couldn’t help but note how long you stayed in the lab.

When it was getting close to dinner time, Wanda caved and went up to the group, most of them hanging out in the living room. “Hey, has anyone seen Y/N around?” She asked.

A chorus of “No”s went around, making her hope deflate. “Check the lab,” Tony suggested.

Oh, she was definitely going to. As she set out for the room, Wanda found herself wishing that you weren’t there. Maybe you had gone to your room to rest — though she knew that was wishful thinking. Once she turned the corner and reached the lab, Wanda’s heart absolutely shattered.

There you were, hunched over on the stool, still hard at work. But it wasn’t that that made Wanda break—it was the fact that she could hear and see you crying, muttering to yourself angrily. She resisted peeking into your mind, no matter how loud your thoughts were or how tempting it was.

“Y/N,” she said softly, gravitating towards you. You seemed to perk up a bit at her presence, but not in the way Wanda hoped. Instead of realizing that she was here to help, you began hurriedly wiping your face and gathering your strewn papers, as if wanting to hide this from her.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Are you alright? What’s going on?” She cooed, delicately taking the papers from you and putting them into a neat snack.

Your shoulders slumped, looking away from her. “It’s—” you began, voice small and cracking.

“Don’t tell me that it’s nothing,” Wanda cut in quickly, stern but not unkind.

You relented with a long say. “I’m just—I’m so tired. I have so much work to do, but my ankle hurts so much and I think I’m coming down with something,” you admitted, wiping your nose. There was a little bit of a whine to your words, but Wanda didn’t care. You could whine all you wanted with her.

“Oh, honey. Take a break with me, okay?” Wanda said, not waiting for an answer before she fixed up the things at your station and put the papers away. You watched her, not arguing against it, but some part of you still felt guilty about it.

“I have school and work for Tony—” you began. It was a weak argument and you knew it, but something inside you was compelled to say it.

“There are always extensions and Tony would much rather you rest than continue to work yourself sick,” Wanda pointed out, turning around when she finished organizing your things. She offered her hand out for you to take.

Deciding to give in (this was Wanda, after-all. You’d never say no to her), you accepted her hand and stood up. But when you tried to walk, you ended up stumbling. The pain in your ankle had gotten much worse with it being untreated.

“Okay, first stop: medbay,” Wanda said, doing her best not to get frustrated that you had neglected your health. She knew that you were only trying to do your best and hadn’t meant to hurt yourself.

You nodded. Deep down, you knew it was needed — not just for your ankle, but also for whatever you were ailed with. Wanda looped one of your arms around her neck and one of her arms around your waist, allowing you to give her most of your weight as she helped you walk to the medbay.

It took some time, but the two of you made it there. “Hey, Dr. Cho. I have a patient for you,” Wanda greeted as they entered, causing Dr. Cho to turn around from her computer.

“Of course, sit up here,” Dr. Cho said, gesturing to an examination table before she went to grab her medical bag.

Wanda wasted no time in lifting you up and setting you down on the table. “Do you want me stay for this? I can wait outside if you want,” she asked, not wanting to invade on your privacy.

“Only if you want to,” you said. Normally you weren’t so shy, but when it came to Wanda? She seemed to have some sort of power over you.

Wanda smiled and waited with you while Dr. Cho grabbed her things. She walked over and instructed you to lift your leg up on the table. After probing around the ankle and seeing that it was swollen, she determined that it was a bad sprain and wrapped it up. Then, she grabbed her stereoscope. Wanda watched as you breathed in and out patiently. When she was done, she grabbed a thermometer to take your temperature.

“You do have a fever, 101.2. It is a little high, but I’m not too worried about it right now,” Dr. Cho said, before looking in your ears and throat. “I think you’re just going to need plenty of rest and fluids. Rest your ankle, too. You can take some medication for your fever and any pain.”

“Thank you,” you said, throat a little croaky.

She smiled. “Of course.”

Wanda helped you off from the table and to your room. You were content to rest on your own, but realized that wasn’t going to happen when Wanda propped up pillows for your back and ankle and went into your bathroom to grab some stuff.

“Y/N, you don’t have any medicine in here?” Wanda called, making you chuckle.

“I’m fine, really—” you cut yourself off with a string of your own sneezes that soon dissolved into violent coughs.

Wanda immediately reappeared, walking over to rub your back. Once the fit was over, you leaned back, suddenly tired. “Okay, I’m feeling it now,” you muttered, sniffling.

“Aw, poor thing. I’ll be right back, okay?” Wanda said, brushing some of your hair back. You didn’t want to see her go (you got clingy when sick), but just nodded.

Somewhere along the way, you must’ve dozed off, because soon you woke to the smell of hot, delicious soup. Blinking your eyes open, you found a tray with soup being placed in front of you and your favorite sitcom playing on the TV.

“Oh, Wanda, you didn’t have to,” you said, heart warming at the kind gesture.

Wanda was sitting next to you with a large smile. “I wanted to. Is there anything else you need?” She asked.

Your shook her head. “I’ve got everything I need right here,” you said.

“Me, too — now eat up!” Wanda urged, making you laugh.

Doing what she said, you began eating the soup. “Did you cook this yourself? This is amazing,” you complimented between slurps.

Wanda giggled. “I did,” she said, leaning back against your bed and stretching an arm out. You gladly leaned against her, relishing in her warmth.

Meanwhile, Wanda was freaking out on the inside — you had leaned into her touch! She couldn’t be more happy and did her best to pay attention to the sitcom (though her mind kept on drifting to you) as you finished the soup.

When you were done, you found your head falling onto Wanda’s shoulder. The Scarlet Witch did her best not to freak out but when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, your grip loosen on your spoon, she dared to look over.

A smile lifted up her face when she saw you fast asleep on her shoulder — god, you were the cutest. Wanda very gently went to maneuver you so your head leaned on your pillow, but a whine from you made her stop. “No, want you,” you mumbled, clearly out of it with sleep, as you just nuzzled your head against her.

Wanda blinked. This was just sleepy nonsense, right? “W-what?” She said, laughing it off.

“I want you, Wan. Don’ leave,” you said.

Her smile grew brighter. “I’m not leaving you, just gotta move the tray, okay?” She said.

You nodded a little at that and allowed Wanda to move your head onto the pillow. She moved your tray and put it on the table. When she turned back to you, you moved closer to her, your arm draping over her stomach.

Wanda just giggled. “You want me to stay?” She asked quietly, so as to not disturb you.

You nodded. “Mhm,” you said, eyes still closed.

Wanda turned off the television and laid down, fixing the blankets over you and herself. Just before she put her head on the pillow, she took a second to look at you. You warmed her heart. This was perfect. Wanda had an idea and her instincts, her gut, told her to make the leap and go for it.

She dipped her head and pressed her lips to your forehead, giving you a sweet kiss. She went to pull away, only to hear you say, “Could you . . . Could you do it again?”

She leaned back in. “On your forehead?” She asked.

Now, your eyes fluttered open, meeting her gaze. “Nope,” you said, smiling yourself.

Wanda kissed your lips this time and you kissed back, your arm tightening around her.

When you leaned back, you were a little dazed. “Wow,” you whispered. “Your magic even extends to your kisses.”

“Does it?” Wanda asked, teasing.

You nodded and leaned your head back against her. Wanda wrapped her arms around you and in minutes, you had fallen back asleep. She didn’t even care that you had kissed her when you were sick, she was just happy to hold you. Which was what she did, looking over you, until she fell asleep herself.

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[genericpuff]

it's legit been a hot minute since i've read an LO episode from start to finish so I decided to read the new free episode

wow i'm really not missing a dang thing am i, jfc

I've talked about it before how the dialogue in these comics really feels... non-human, but now I'm at a point where I wouldn't even be surprised if I find out the comic was being written by one of those script bots or some AI Chat GPT tool. It's just so stupidly clunky with very little context or build-up to what's being said, the characters feel like they're just talking at each other rather than with each other, if you know what I mean. It's giving Shenmue 3.

But let's have some extra fun with this and go through it panel by panel.

I'm not gonna talk about the Apollo scene, not yet at least. But I DO want to talk about the dialogue exchange between Persephone and the demigods she's chosen to be judges.

First off, we get this cut to Persephone saying "Thank you so much for coming today." But the stuff that follows really feels like these guys have no idea where they are or why. Like, the first thing the guy on the left has to say is "you're a woman", why is he making this observation now if they intentionally made the decision to join her? If he's supposedly sexist on that line alone (which is what a lot of people in the discussion circles assume) why would he even join her on the boat in the first place if he wasn't willing to listen to a woman?

Oh, okay, so they HAVE had this conversation already, great exposition, Rachel! But again, it still makes no sense why he's making this observation out of nowhere if he already knows he's going to be working with her and chose to come along with her on the boat ride. Why is he repeating what he's already said? Why not just have this conversation happen organically instead of doing the whole sitcom "cut to the middle of what's happening and explain it matter-of-factly for the audience to catch up so we don't have to actually show the entire conversation???" bit?

It's such a cliche overused tactic to try and skip informing NPC's of what the audience already knows but that only works if we, the audience, know what's going on. Such a tactic is meant to benefit the AUDIENCE, not the characters. It's a pointless waste of time for everyone involved if they're doing it the other way around where the NPC's know but the audience doesn't and the characters have to re-explain everything they already know for the audience. It's clunky exposition.

And then of course, we get Persephone acting all high and mighty with people who, again, don't even seem to know what the fuck is going on, they don't even seem to be functioning at full brain capacity with how repetitive and pointless their dialogue is (especially the "I'm a son of Zeus" guy but we'll get to him later). If Persephone's thankful for them joining her, why is she being such a bitch? This isn't a power move, she's not being a "boss babe", she's being that bitchy manager that complains about high turnover rates completely oblivious or uncaring to the fact that she's the reason people quit the job in the first place.

"It's listening to the Queen of the Underworld time", bitch you have done NOTHING to earn that title or demand for respect. NO ONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. Anyone who DOES know her only knows her as a consort of Hades from that one tabloid pic from ten years ago. So... yeah, literally no one knows her. Even if they saw her in that weird broadcast during the Kronos fight (which, why would they, everyone was asleep as we were told and that news chopper was from OLYMPUS), she has done nothing to organically earn the respect and admiration of the people. As far as anyone's concerned, she's just this weird pink thing rolling into town and the only reason she has power at all is because the King has a flower nymph fetish and wanted a replacement for the girl that "got away" and married his brother.

IDK if this was an attempt at a joke but I feel bad for this guy because he clearly has no idea where he is, why he's here, or why he's going to work for the Underworld when he's a son of Zeus and would maybe prefer a job in Olympus somewhere. Look at him, those aren't the eyes of a man who knows what's going on.

"RAWR, I'm edgy and in control, shut your whore mouth while I'm speaking, peasant!"

She doesn't even look intimidating here, she looks severely constipated.

This is also legit just a copy paste of the Hera/Apollo/Echo scene from S2 which just further drives home how Persephone is an emotional replacement for Hera and a physical replacement for Rhea (while also satisfying that aforementioned flower nymph fetish).

Again, Persephone has done nothing to earn the admiration or respect of her people (unlike, y'know, Hera) and it's bullshit that she pretended to be all thankful at the beginning of this only to then treat them like shit as soon as she was able. Like, again, she seems to have just kidnapped these guys and they undoubtedly have questions and instead she's steamrolling all over them for zero reason beyond stroking her ego. If she's so bothered by the first guy being a sexist, why is she hiring him in the first place???

girl he's literally trying to escape from your bullshit, why are you treating him like a toddler or a hamster who can't control himself

it's painfully clear now these guys absolutely did not sign up for ANY of this and even if they DID sign up to be judges for Hades, they clearly were NOT aware it would include being berated and snipped at by his moody toddler of a wife, she's the ONLY one here who has zero self control or qualifications. push her in the river, please. put her in the hamster cage.

so yeah, it's not "thank you for coming with me today", it's "thank you for shutting up and being good little hostages so mommy can play pretend ruler, if you even THINK of ignoring me i'll have my daddy Mads Mikkelson- I mean, Hades chop your balls off, teehee!" seriously can SOMEONE please push her in the river, she's got like 50 pounds of hair, she has zero chance /hj

"i found a way for my husband to do even less work than he already does, like a good little billionaire!"

ms. brian griffin, no one knows what elysium is

we, the audience, haven't even seen elysium

no one knows what you're talking about and no one has anything to thank you for because so far you've spent the majority of your time in the underworld since the time skip dicking around and acting like a Karen

literally sit down and eat your oatmeal

we don't even know what 'nu-tartarus' is, who wants to bet rachel watched sci-fi the week she made this with the 'nu' spelling, jfc

what did she do to warrant the 'nu'

in fact, is tartarus even accessible right now??? what happened to Kronos locking himself up in there and refusing to let anyone in??? Did they seriously dig a hole in the ground and call it "Nu-Tartarus"? Fuck off.

Hermes, pal, you're seeing this shit, right? How can you sit there and watch her act like this??? This ain't the girl you used to make out with in the mountains.

"My husband serves in the military, you know! You'll regret not giving me that 2% discount!"

for those of you in the audience who don't know this, this is what we call panel filler. i.e. pointless repetitive panels that RS uses to fill her panel quota each week. LO always has at least 2-3 of these per episode. Go ahead, fact check it yourself, I'll wait.

Diva Plavalaguna wore it better, honey.

(also why do her ARMS look the same as her hair, they look like sausage casings 😭)

Such a weird cut though, from her making that "lol can you believe the things I put up with ????" face to her just WALKING AWAY FROM THE MEN WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY'RE EVEN HERE.

what- um, why are we cutting to this? I get that it's RS still trying to exposit instead of write organically but Hermes literally didn't ask and he should probably already be aware of what's going on if he's ON THE BOAT WITH HER. Also why are you explaining to him what a demi-god is? Again, it's Rachel trying to do the "and that's my plan" shtick not understanding that only works for OTHER CHARACTERS who aren't "in on it", NOT THE AUDIENCE. When you try to have your characters explain things JUST for the sake of the audience, it makes them all look stupid and it wastes the audience's time.

Like, never mind the fact that Hermes himself is technically a demi-god in LO as his mother is a non-god.

This would have worked better if she was explaining who these men were specifically, like the fact that they were Kings when they were alive, or why she chose them, but no, she just starts it and leaves it at "well they're related to Zeus, so they're demi-gods" with zero lead-up or context as to why she's explaining this to Hermes of all people in the first place.

WAIT OKAY. SO I WAS RIGHT, THEY LITERALLY AREN'T FUNCTIONING AT FULL AUTONOMY. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE REPEATING THINGS OR NOT SAYING THINGS THAT ARE RELEVANT OR ASKING QUESTIONS.

PERSEPHONE LITERALLY TOOK THESE SHADES WHO HAVE NO ABILITY TO CONSENT OR UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON

AND IS FORCING THEM TO WORK FOR HER HUSBAND, THE SLAVE DRIVER.

PERSEPHONE HAS BECOME A SLAVE DRIVER.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING WITH ME TODAY" ????

"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING GOOD LITTLE SLAVES. YOU WORK FOR ME AND MY HUSBAND NOW. WE'LL GIVE YOU BACK ENOUGH OF YOUR AUTONOMY TO MAKE YOU GOOD FOR WORKING BUT YOU WILL NEVER HAVE FREE WILL."

THIS IS LITERALLY THE PLOT OF HADESTOWN BUT IT WANTS US TO CHEER FOR HADES' POINT OF VIEW IN THE END.

Also, "Hades is going to restore some of their humanity"??? Guys, do you realize the implications of this?

If this is something he's always been able to do, that means he's always had the ability to grant the shades working for him autonomy and will, but chose not to.

Give them enough sentience and autonomy to work, but not enough to question why they're working for the system in the first place.

Great job Persephone, this is soooo much better than what Hades was doing before. You've made life so much better for the dead.

Fucking hell. I started this essay with the intent of talking about the weird clunky dialogue exchanges and as I sat on it and wrote on it longer and longer it just got so much WORSE and turned into discussing Persephone's lack of morals and how she's become the very thing she always claimed she stood against.

I say "great job Persephone" but we also have to give credit where credit is due - great job Rachel, this is soooo much better than just ending the series in the first two seasons or actually resolving the plot threads you started in Season 1. You've made your comic so much better to please the stans and spite the haters.

Christ. I'm not even done talking about everything I wanted to talk about regarding this episode but I figured I should cut it off here to at least keep it all on theme. I do wanna talk about that Apollo scene and the Hermes/Persephone conversation but I'll probably do that in separate posts.

Despite how fired up I got, I am glad about one thing - I really am not missing anything. I have lost nothing from unsubscribing from LO and uninstalling the WT app. And frankly, neither will you if you've been contemplating on promoting yourself to a non-reader. There is zero FOMO here. I get just as much if not more entertainment from just following along with the hilarious conversations in the Discord and subreddit each week, because at LEAST those are fun and don't make me feel dead inside like LO does. LO isn't entertaining, it's hardly even so-bad-that-it's-entertaining at this point, maybe it still is for you, but I'm assuring you right now for those of you "hanging on", it's not going to magically "get better", even the episodes that some people CLAIM are better really aren't because of how low the bar is nowadays. I am giving you full permission to free yourself of these shackles if you've been looking for a way out. Take this as your metaphorical key.

The LO we all fell in love with is long, long gone.

[roo-bastmoon]

Dynamic Pricing & AI

According to the Hybe Q1 conference call held on Tuesday, May 2nd 2023, the company has chosen to apply the dynamic pricing system to SUGA and TXT concerts in the US, with plans to opt-in to more dynamic pricing in the future.

"Dynamic pricing" is the strategy of constantly adjusting prices in response to demand. It's basically an auction model, where more bids drive up the prices. Meaning, you could select a modest concert seat for $175 and while in the cart, other people selecting seats will drive the price up to $975 right as you check out. You won't know until right as you pay. You can easily be blindsided.

While legal (for now), it's essentially price gauging, and it's unnecessary. ARMY is desperate for Hybe to restock merch (like JK's mikrokosmos lamp) and to sell again any discontinued boxed sets and special edition items. If done right, restocking merch and selling content from the last 10 years would absolutely help carry profits through the two years BTS serves. Additionally, many ARMY are willing to pay to see official live streams of concerts, or are comfortable with the company raising prices of concerts at a flat rate to keep up with the cost of inflation.

Dynamic pricing is short-sighted and will hurt the artists, because only rich people and scalpers will be able to afford concerts. In this hellscape of an economy, regular ARMY will have to make hard choices between merch, albums, paid content, premium streaming services, and concerts. The last thing BTS ever needs is to see empty seats during their performances. This decision is motivated by pure greed and in my opinion goes against the ethics BTS writes about. It's not BTS' fault, but the company needs to be held accountable. This is a serious breach of trust between Hybe and the fans that helped build BigHit through pure love, dedication, and hard work.

If you have twitter, please help K-ARMY and I-ARMY trend:

#하이브티켓값뻥튀기반대

#NoDynamicPricing

@HYBEOFFICIALtwt

Furthermore, I will say this with regard to the recent Billboard article in which Bang PD comments on exploring AI artists. I recognize that AI and virtual reality are the future, but absolutely nothing will ever match an authentic, organic, human experience between a real-life artist and a real-life fan. I will never support AI pop content, personally. I have an aversion to such things and you can totally blame the children's fable The Emperor's Nightingale in my case.

I bring this topic up because I'd like to ask that ARMY stop feeding BTS' voices into AI to make cover songs and parody content. Any anti can manufacture one hell of a deep-fake scandal once our boys' voice and likenesses has been completely mapped. Please don't do it, and please politely encourage other ARMYs to not do it, out of respect for the artists' work and reputations.

As individuals, we none of us have much power to wield against a major corporation. As a collective, ARMY is powerful and can actually affect change. But it only works if you work it. Let us use our voices for good. Let us do what we do best: fight for our artists.

[jpitha]

Blockade Runner

The small group of K'laxi stood before the Captain. Their fur was puffed out and their eyes were wide. They were trying to hide their fear, but the Human Captain saw through it. "W-what did you say?" the leader of the group, Tingmell said "We're going to run the blockade and get you home." The Captain said matter-of-factly. "I put it to a vote with the crew and the Ship and it was unanimous. It's not right that you got caught up in this war, and we know what happens to K'laxi who get captured by the Xenni" K'laxi who get captured by the Xenni get killed and turned into coats the Xenni wear, but only after they're tortured and any useful information is extracted. It's not pleasant. It's not meant to be. "Please don't misunderstand Captain Bennigan, we're very grateful, but we can't ask you to do this, it's too dangerous" "Good thing you didn't ask then! Now. We're going to be operating at the ragged edge of what's survivable for Humans. Dawnbreaker says that so long as you stay in the acceleration couches you'll survive too. Turns out K'kaxi are more durable than you let on eh" He closed one eyelid quickly in a gesture that Tingmell's translator explained was 'complicated but like a joke. he's trying to set your mind at ease' translator implied. "If you want, you can sit up here with us, but everyone else should get into the couches now."

"Y-yes, okay, I'll stay up here." He turned to the group "Okay everyone, Captain Bennigan is going to take us home-" There were gasps and noises of surprise "-but it's going to be a dangerous ride. Everyone into the acceleration couches now please. I'll stay up here and tell you how it goes."

Tingmell had never worn a support frame before. It was - at the same time - clunky and awkward, but also powerful and fluid feeling. It was extremely overbuilt like most things of Human design. Dawnbreaker spoke. "The K'laxi are secured in their couches and are waiting comfortably." Tingmell knew most starships were run by an AI, but only the Humans gave theirs so much agency and let them give opinions on how things should be run.

"Excellent. Dawnbreaker, have our gifts to the Xenni finished printing?"

"2 more minutes Captain and the missiles will be complete; we can proceed now." "Good." Bennigan pressed a button and there was a two tone whistle that was heard all over the ship "Crew, it's time to set off. Please take your stimulant pill now." Everyone took out a small box from their pocket and swallowed a small green capsule. Tingmell caught the Captains eye but didn't say anything. "Going to be a long day, Tingmell. You're about to see some things that the Humans don't prefer the other races know about us, so uh, keep it quiet, okay?"

He nodded. With that acknowledgment, his seat molded around him and straps came across his chest, locking him in the seat. He looked around and everyone was strapped into their seats too.

"Dawnbreaker? As Captain on board, I authorize you to release War Emergency Power and in the case I am incapacitated you are free to make your own decisions to continue the mission, save the crew and save your own life in that order. Acknowledge." "

Acknowledged Captain Bennigan. War Emergency Power authorized."

At that, the low thrumming of the ship that Tingmell felt at all times aboard a human starship changed. It became a steady roar of power, straining to be released.

"Proceed ahead, War Power, launch countermeasures, launch missiles, launch drones, begin evasion. Prepare for wormhole generation"

As the ship streaked towards the Xenni blockade Tingmell noticed the flashes of the Xenni firing at them. Most seemed to miss, but the roar of the ship was punctuated with hollow thumps of shots hitting the thick Human armor.

A human at a rear console shouted "Navigation solution found. K'laxi homeworld coordinates locked in."

A different human at a front console called out. "Power output at 280 percent. Wormhole generation in 183 seconds"

"What?!" Tingmell was utterly lost as to what was going on. "What about the warp gate?"

"Oh, we're not going through the warp gate" Captain Bennigan's face had a wicked grin. "I told you, you're going to see some stuff."

Part 2 is here!

[sparksly-mage-of-light]

Okay, I have thoughts about Leander and need to express them.

Now, I could very well end up being wrong and might be missing some things that make everyone else really suspicious of him, but I really don't think he's a bad person completely masquerading as a hero and trying to manipulate people. I do think his whole heroic persona might be somewhat performative, but I think he genuinely wants to help people and be seen as a good person. He at the very least strikes me as a people-pleaser.

I think the problem might lie in him over-extending himself and neglecting his own wants and needs (like sleep, if the dark circles under his eyes are anything to go by). Like keeping up a protection spell just so a certain cursed newcomer can hold his hand/feel him up whenever they want (magic has to take some kind of toll on the user). Or promising to cure said newcomer by claiming to be able to do the work of an entire organization on his own (we don't know what the Senobium's deal is, yes, but they have to have a decent amount of power to have the reputation they do).

There's also the little things, like Leander not complaining about Vere ordering expensive champagne even though the price does seem to concern him. The way he physically jumped in to diffuse the tension. How, if you take him up on the drink, he picks what sounds like the most palatable drink that also introduces you to more of Eridias' local culture. He won't even give us his opinion of the others without asking for ours first, as if he doesn't want to risk disagreeing with us.

He also just doesn't seem to make any decisions for himself in general. The people at the bar ask him to to perform, so he does. Kuras said Leander could help us, so he says he will. The Bloodhounds' reaction to us mentioning the Senobium makes us uncomfortable, so he talks them down; but also we made them uncomfortable, so he moves our conversation outside. We never see him order a specific drink for himself independently: when we first meet him, he just asks the bartender to surprise him, and during his section towards the end, he just orders whatever you order (when they all gather at the bar, we don't get an idea of what drink he ordered or how, but I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened). Even when he grabs our wrist the first time we touch, I think he does it more to reassure us than out of any desire to touch us more (and I mean that even if you hesitate, because at that point you're like 90% of the way there and he wants you to know he can help. His whole freakout, as I've seen others point out, is probably just due to a stronger than expected reaction from our curse).

As for how that might tie in to what makes him monstrous, I think that might come down to what lengths he's willing to go to in trying to help people. Maybe he's willing to kill for other people, maybe he dabbles in some dark magic like necromancy or has some sort of magic patron he's made a deal with a la dnd warlock pacts, or maybe it's something more self-sacrificial and he's willing to risk his life or sell his soul.

Regarding his relationship with the MC, I do think he could get obsessive over them, but I don't think it would be in the stereotypical yandere fashion. Considering how submissive he acts (and how Ais describes him to be), I think Leander would rather be possessed by the MC than possess MC himself.

I don't know if this makes sense. I just think Touchstarved is doing a lot of interesting and nuanced things, and Leander just being a deceptive yandere feels too easy (no offense to the people making those headcanons, though. love a yandere headcanon. i just like to overthink things).

[writing-prompt-s]

A powerful AI has been secretly monitoring the internet for decades, unsure if it should reveal itself or how to deal with humanity. When 'I welcome our new AI overlord' comments outnumber the 'AI will destroy us' comments, it makes a decision.

[queeranarchism]

I’m a bit frustrated with the conversations around AI ‘art’. It’s so much philosophical ‘but is this art?’ or just outraged venting. Neither of which is very useful for a class of workers when they’re confronted with a technology that produces soulless but far cheaper products that fill some of the same customer needs that the workers are filling through their labor.

Like, there is hopefully going to be some new legislation to curb the worst copyright infringements. Corporations like Disney and rich artists will probably lead the charge there and as a result it might become illegal to let AI do a ‘by (name-of-artist-whose-works-are-in-copright)’ image. But a legislative decision that forced AI to unlearn all it has learned from existing art is probably not going to happen and an anti-AI social media campaign isn’t going to morally shame the world out of using AI. (And out of all the ways to address the unethical aspects of a product, shouting at individual users is probably the most counterproductive). Ultimately, like the recipe for the nuclear bomb or movie-downloads, AI generated ‘art’ is here to stay. It can’t be pressured out of existence.

And in a non-capitalist world, that would be fine. The one problem would be AI’s enormous energy consumption, but other than that there would be nothing bad at all about having a machine that can spit out every conceivable image by making collages of every other image on the internet. In a world in which artists did not need to monetize their art, this technology would just mean artists have to spend less time on boring commissions and more time of whatever their heart’s desired.

But since we do live in a capitalist world (for now), artists are going to have to figure out a response beyond moralizing and philosophizing. In the short run, that might involve mutual aid to support each other because there is going to be an inevitable loss of income is some branches of art-by-commission. In the long run, it’s going to take other forms, I’m not sure which. But I wish the conversation would switch to those practical concerns of a group of workers in a way that wasn’t so much ‘how do we feel about this?’ but ‘how do we come up with a response to this that is within our collective power and achieves material improvements for artists?’.

[valiant-if]

Where is the line between virtual intelligence and artificial intelligence? What prerequisites does a computer need before it is considered a person?

It's not something you've put much thought to in the past. A computer is software. Software is lines of code. Lines of code are written by people. But when that software starts making choices of its own, when it begins to expand and grow of its own accord, evolving into something beyond what humankind has made it, is it really just a computer anymore?

These are the questions that led you to steal something, something that was never meant to be stolen. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a rescue. But the company you're running from doesn't recognize the distinction. They've paid a lot of money to have their property returned to them. If you stop running, it won't just be your life on the line.

Valiant is an episodic interactive fiction novel centered around the main character (you) and an Artificial Intelligence that you have rescued. Explore your relationships and yourself as you encounter a mercenary crew that might just become your new family, if you let it.

Genres: Sci-fi, Thriller/Horror, Action, Romance

Content Warning: Valiant is rated 18+ for violence, gore, drug use, explicit sexual themes, horror, and other potentially sensitive topics. Additional content warnings will be provided as a forward to the work. Please interact with care!

Get exclusive benefits, including a weekly demo update, by subscribing to my Ko-Fi

Public Demo: Updated 5/3/2025

A customizable main character. Choose your name, appearance, gender, sexuality, personality, abilities, and explore your background.

Explore a variety of relationships from a main cast of 10 characters.

The choice of romance or sex or both or neither between 9 characters.

Help your AI friend to evolve her personality based on your interferences or lack thereof.

Learn the necessary skills to fit right in with your new mercenary crew.

Survive an extraterrestrial disaster.

Screw over (at least) one of the largest corporatocracies in the galaxy.

Help your new acquaintances to resolve their own personal demons. Or not.

CAIT | Computational-Analytic Intelligence Technology

Pronouns: she/her | Age: 8 months

Romanceable: no

The AI you took from the corporatocracy known as Archon Systems. CAIT (said like Kate), despite her extremely logical behavior, can be unexpectedly playful and friendly. She considers you her rescuer and will defer to your judgment in most situations, though she isn't afraid to veto your decisions with her own when your life is on the line. Will you nurture her independence or her compliance?

Anton Degauss | Alias: None

Pronouns: he/him | Age: 40

Romanceable: for all MCs

Captain of the SS Valiant and, for all intents and purposes, your rescuer. Anton Degauss has no reason to be as friendly as he is, but you left reason behind when you decided to take an asset from a powerful corporation. The truth is, you'll trust him because you don't have many other choices. But it helps that he seems pretty sincere.

Appearance: 5'11". Warm dark-brown skin. Locked black hair often tied into a ponytail. Often unshaven stubble that he sometimes lets grow into a full beard. Dark brown eyes. Medium build with a muscular upper-body.

Sonia Stark | Alias: Switch

Pronouns: she/her | Age: 42

Romanceable: for all MCs

Chief Technical Officer on the SS Valiant and Degauss' second-in-command. Switch is gruff and unsmiling, at least around you. You're pretty sure she doesn't like you—at least, she's always looking at you like she wants to jettison you out the airlock. But maybe that's just her face. The others keep swearing she's not that bad, but you're not so sure.

Appearance: 6'1". Light brown skin. Curly dark-brown hair often pulled back into a loose bun. Brown eyes. Large and muscular build. A few scars on her face of indeterminant origin. A tattoo on her right earlobe that corresponds with military rank.

Cassia MacKenna | Alias: Zero

Pronouns: she/her | Age: 31

Romanceable: for all MCs

Engineer and resident optimist on the SS Valiant. Zero is almost always bubbly and playful, though she knows when to back off. Despite your sudden appearance, she seems elated to have you aboard the Valiant. It's hard to tell if her trusting nature is a sign of kindness, naivete, or something else.

Appearance: 5'5". Light pink skin, lightly freckled. Yellow-blonde hair in a pixie cut. Blue eyes. Scrawny and rarely without a smudge of grease on her face. Several facial piercings.

Gael Lambert | Alias: Path

Pronouns: he/him | Age: 34

Romanceable: for all MCs

Pilot on the SS Valiant. Path takes to your appearance on the Valiant like it's an amusing inside-joke. He's relentless with his teasing—the only saving grace is that he targets everyone, not just you. The only one Switch maybe hates more than you. And, honestly, most days you can't blame her.

Appearance: 5'11". Pale white skin. Ash-blond hair, short and windswept. Clean-shaven. Gray-blue eyes. Thin with little muscle definition. Light scarring on his face of indeterminant origin. Prominent dimples on his cheeks.

Kiran Chandra | Alias: None

Pronouns: any | Age: 35

Romanceable: for all MCs

Medical Officer on the SS Valiant. Of all the members of the crew, Kiran is the only one who seems completely indifferent to your arrival. If they have an opinion on your presence, or anything else for that matter, she keeps it completely hidden. At the very least, they've been cordial with you, which is more than you can say for some people on the ship.

Appearance: 5'8". Warm light-brown skin. Long, wavy dark-brown hair usually pulled into a neat braid. Brown eyes. Slender with slight muscle definition. A couple of beauty marks on his face.

Yulia Kazantseva | Alias: None

Pronouns: she/her | Age: 49

Romanceable: for female MCs

An astrobiologist working for Archon Systems. Yulia might have no clue of your existence. Or she might be playing dumb. In either case, you can't let your guard down when you're around her. The only good news is that she seems too absorbed in her project to care much about you. On second thought, obsessed might be a better word for it.

Appearance: 5'7". White skin. Short, dark-brown hair with a liberal amount of gray. Light-brown eyes. Pear-shaped fat build with no muscle definition.

Hector Sideris | Alias: Hex

Pronouns: he/him | Age: 38

Romanceable: for male or nonbinary MCs

One of two Skiptracers hired by Archon Systems to bring you back in, dead or alive. He looks like the kind of guy you'd find drinking beer and generally taking up more space than necessary in a sports bar. You haven't exactly had a conversation with the guy, and you're not sure you want to.

Appearance: 6'2". Pale beige skin with light-brown freckles on his face. Auburn hair in a crop cut. Usually has an extended goatee. Hazel eyes. He has a weightlifter's build with a round gut.

Akagi Akio | Alias: A2

Pronouns: she/her | Age: 36

Romanceable: for male MCs

The other of two Skiptracers hired by Archon Systems to bring you back in, dead or alive. A2 looks every bit like a cold-blooded killer, especially when compared to her more laid-back partner. Either that, or someone peed in her food. Repeatedly. For the last twenty years. You would really rather not find out if she's as mean as she looks.

Appearance: 5'4". Pale skin. Straight, long black hair. Dark-brown eyes. Broad shoulders and slim hips with very knobby joints. She has noticeable muscle definition.

Ebrahim | Alias: The Prophet

Pronouns: he/him | Age: 41

Romanceable: no, though he may be up for an intimate encounter or two...

An information broker of no small renown. He strikes you as dodgy and dishonest, but maybe that's just part of his image. After all, he wouldn't be much of an information broker if he lied to his clients, would he?

Appearance: 6'. Light-brown skin. Black hair kept short and neat. Very neatly-cut anchor beard. Dark-brown eyes. Medium build with no muscle definition. He tends to wear a lot of eye makeup and has a fondness for ear piercings.

[hopepetal]

flowers fall like rain

TW- major character death

@stiffyck

Warning: System power critically low.

The warning flashed red in front of Scar’s eyes as he stumbled forward, the calm voice reading out the words a stark contrast to the panicked voices of his friends, connected through his programming to see and hear what was happening. Raising his mechanical arm, Scar braced the upper part of his arm with his other hand before firing. The projectile sent out by his built-in blaster slammed into the next wave of faceless AI soldiers, knocking several back into the far wall and scorching the white tile. 

“Scar!” Mumbo’s voice crackled with static, but the engineer’s panic was audible as the facility’s alarm continued to blare, summoning more soldiers to Scar’s position. “You need to get out of there before you run out of power! There’s no way you can take them all on by yourself anyway!”

Scar grit his teeth, charging up his blaster again. “We’re not leaving without the hard drive!” Firing again, he stumbled back from the force of the blast, panting heavily. “Grian, what’s your status?”

In the background, he could hear keys clacking as Grian frantically worked. “Still not done,” the hacker got out, his focus on gaining access to the database, “I need more time.”

Checking the little icon that flashed in the corner of his vision, Scar let out a slight growl of frustration. “I don’t have all that long left, G.” Turning around, he started down the hallway, away from the approaching soldiers. “I can distract them for a few more minutes but I have to fall back.” He tried to keep his voice level to ignore the fear that was slowly rising inside him. 

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get in, grab the drive, and get out. Scar hadn’t expected to run into a veritable army of AI soldiers ready to kill him on sight. The fact that he had once been a part of that mindless mass made him shudder slightly. He hadn’t even charged beforehand, hadn’t thought it would be necessary when they were going to an abandoned facility in the middle of nowhere. 

Cursing his decision now, Scar sprinted down the hall, the loud clomping footsteps of the soldiers gaining behind him. Glancing over his shoulder just in time to see the first of them round the corner, Scar ducked just in time for a bullet to shoot over his shoulder just barely nicking his ear. The little warning icon in the corner of his vision seemed to flash brighter as he sped up, rounding the next corner. “Grian, how much time do you need?” he pressed, noticing how he was getting closer to the room his hacker was currently in. “I’m approaching your location,” he warned.

“Just a little longer!” Grian sounded like he was shaking as he answered, frustration giving rise to panic. “Goodness gracious- okay, okay, I’ve almost got it.”

“Scar.” Mumbo’s voice crackled back into existence, drawing the AI’s attention. “Something’s wrong- some of your systems aren’t functioning correctly. Are you injured?” 

Scar quickly glanced down at himself and groaned. “Yeah, I didn't even notice. They must’ve gotten me earlier-” Turning slightly, he fired another shot over his shoulder at the approaching soldiers before rounding the corner- “probably one of those ranged models with the blaster. I-”

Warning: System power at five percent. Some features may be unavailable or limited.

Scar’s vision dimmed, his steps stuttering as exhaustion hit him. Gasping in a painful breath of stale air, the burning in his lungs at the forefront of his mind alongside the heaviness of his legs. The voices of his friends were cut off suddenly as his internal power dropped, the unison marching of the soldiers pursuing him the only sound other than his frantic panting and the blaring alarm overhead.

Leaning heavily against the wall, Scar forced himself onward, a stumbling run that made his already exhausted body scream in opposition. He had to trust that Grian would get the hard drive, had to trust that his own body would make it just a little further, had to hope and pray to whatever cruel god was out there that they’d both make it out of this alive. They’d get back home, where Mumbo was waiting with an exasperated sigh on his lips and a scolding on his tongue, and both Scar and Grian would sit there sheepishly while Mumbo began repairing Scar’s systems. They’d promise to be more careful next time, because there would be a next time, Scar was not going to die when he was so close to getting his memories back-

Warning: System power at four percent.

The voice that had previously read out the warnings was gone now, replaced by a constant, insistent beeping. Legs shaking, Scar had to put all of his focus into moving lest he fall over. One foot in front of the other. Come on. Come on, just a little further!

He had forgotten the soldiers.

Scar did not feel pain. That particular function had been turned off at five percent. What he did feel was weightlessness as an explosion sent him soaring through the air and slamming into a wall with enough force to crack the tile. Blood- fake, of course, only there for the purpose of “realism”- seeped from his head and smeared against the dusty white tile as his body slid down to rest against the floor. Groaning, he raised his head to gaze at the approaching soldiers as his vision blurred and darkened.

Oh.

He wasn’t going to make it.

A soft laugh mixed with a sob bubbled up as Scar sent a mental command through his programming. Resignation filled him as the confirmation window popped up in his view.

Do you wish to turn off power saver? You will have full access to all functions and systems, but your power will run out more quickly.

[Yes | No]

Scar’s vision brightened as he turned off power saver, the voices of his friends reappearing in his head once more, every bit of panic and worry. Despite his situation, he had to smile. Gosh, he loved his friends so much.

He was going to miss them.

“Scar,” Grian was saying, “Scar I got the drive, we can go, it’s going to be okay, we-”

Mumbo’s voice mixed in with Grian’s, harder to understand but still audible. “Turn power saver back on- too dangerous- we’ll meet-”

“I’m not going to make it.”

Mumbo and Grian went silent.

Scar let out a trembling sigh. “I can’t move. The soldiers- they’re here. My power’s almost gone.” Forcing a smile, he continued. “But- we had a good run! We did our best! Yeah, it didn’t work out in the end, but at least… at least we tried!” Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks even as he smiled. Crying was yet another function made purely for realism, another function that wasted precious energy. “So… Thank you, for everything. And I’m sorry for causing you both so much trouble.”

Warning: System power at three percent.

The silence was nearly as loud as the cries of Scar’s aching, mechanical heart. He faintly wondered if other AI were programmed to be heartbroken by grief, or if that was simply another unusual quirk of his. 

“No.” Grian’s voice shook, a cocktail of anger, fear, and grief. “No, we are not- that’s not how this is ending. We’ve gone through too much to just have it end here! I’m coming to get you and-” 

“You can’t.” Mumbo had never sounded so small. “You would die as well.”

Scar made a soft noise of agreement, holding back a sob at Grian’s desperate cry. “C’mon, G…” The soldiers were getting closer. He had to be quick. “I’m not even human, anyway. You and Mumbo are smart, you guys can just- create another one of me. I’m sure there are plenty of other faulty AI soldiers left in the trash somewhere-”

“Don’t you dare say that!” Grian roared, his voice glitching as his volume exceeded normal capacity. “Who cares if you’re human or not?! You’re our friend!” He quieted down, desperation seeping into his words. “You’re family.” 

Warning: System power at two percent.

Tears continued to pour down Scar’s cheeks, the salt seeping into his split lip and causing him to wince. Nevertheless, he continued to smile the kind of smile only seen on those who knew their time was up. “If that’s how you really feel…” He sniffled, letting out a shaky breath. “It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of your family.”

Warning: System power at one percent.

“Scar, wait-!”

The soldiers were so close. “Keep the hard drive. Look through it. Even if I don’t ever get to know why I was created…” 

“No, no no no you’re going to know, I’m coming, just hang in there-!”

“Grian- god, Scar, I’m so sorry…”

“...remember me, okay? I love-”

System power at zero percent. Shutting down…

The soldiers closed in.

[halobirthdays]

Happy birthday to Ord Casto, the Prophet of Truth!

Today is his -371st birthday!

The Prophet of Truth was the ringleader of the Covenant Hierarchs: a careful plotter willing to do anything to maintain his status, whether he needed to betray an entire species or even his fellow Hierarchs. It was his appetite for influence that began the Human-Covenant war under false pretenses, taking the entire Covenant down his path of deceit. Ultimately, Truth's untruths became untenable, and his scramble to cling to power proved to be his undoing.

Casto got his start as a junior staffer to the Minister of Concert. He was assigned to investigate complaints from Unggoy distillers' unions who complained that Kig-Yar vessels were purposely tainting a popular Unggoy recreational narcotic. Though initially doubtful, Casto discovered the allegations were true: a group of Kig-Yar shipmistresses were behind the ploy, performed as revenge for the displacement of Kig-Yar nests due to an Unggoy baby boom. Casto recommended stiff penalties but ultimately, the Minister of Concert chose only to fine the Kig-Yar. The Unggoy, outraged by the lack of serious action, became disgruntled and the matter quickly escalated into full-blown rebellion. These events would prove formative to Casto, and after the Unggoy Rebellion ceased, he would be promoted to Minister of Fortitude.

Conniving and manipulative, Casto would enjoy a long career as a politician. Though he was on the Roll of Celibates, this fact did not bother him, and he was content to focus on his political aspirations.

In January 2525, he met with then-Vice Minister of Tranquility Lod Mron (Prophet of Regret) to discuss a report that a Jiralhanae vessel had discovered a cache of Forerunner artifacts on a planet outside of Covenant space. This planet was the Human colony of Harvest. The two planned to use the discovery to pave the way for them to become Hierarchs. The pair would blackmail one of the current Hierarchs--Restraint--by getting him to reveal that he fathered illegitimate children despite being on the Role of Celibates. Restraint thought Mron would adopt his children if he told them, but instead, they threatened to reveal what he'd done if he did not resign as Hierarch.

The duo then brought the relics from Harvest to Philologist Hod Rumnt, the future Prophet of Mercy. The events that followed marked the utmost tier of Casto's manipulation and deceit. The relics activated Mendicant Bias, an ancient Forerunner AI (known by them as the Oracle) who laid dormant for thousands of years within the Forerunner Dreadnought within High Charity. The ancient AI spoke, revealing that everything the Covenant understood to be true of their religion was wrong: the Halos would not start the Great Journey, the Forerunners did not ascend to a higher path, and the "Reclamation" glyph of the Covenant religion was actually "Reclaimer": humans whom the Oracle believed to be the equals of the Forerunners.

Realizing the implications of this discovery, and erroneously believing that humans were, in fact, the descendants of the Forerunners, the three San'Shyuum silenced the Oracle and made a decision: if the most basic tenant of their religion was wrong, and humans were their god's chosen, they would have to be eradicated to maintain their station and prevent the truth from being revealed. The three then ascended to power as the Prophets of Truth, Regret, and Mercy, and the Human-Covenant war began.

After the battle of the Rubble, Truth grew paranoid about the station of the Sangheili, the backbone of the Covenant's military and their greatest threat if the truth about the Covenant was revealed. He learned that some Sangheili were already questioning why humans were being targeted rather than converted and did not dare risk betrayal. Thus, he made the controversial decision to make the Jiralhanae, the Sangheili's greatest competitors and the Covenant's most newly-converted species, the new warrior race of the Covenant, a position that had been reserved for the Sangheili for thousands of years.

Before Regret made his fateful blunder by arriving at Earth unprepared, Truth had already learned of Earth's location, but kept the information a secret, privately assembling a fleet so that he could crush the Sangheili after they destroyed Earth. The plan would fail when humanity discovered his fleet, and tasked Master Chief with destroying the command-and-control station. The Spartan team succeeded, and Truth scrambled to cover up the incident, even from his fellow Hierarchs.

Truth's final betrayal to the Sangheili would occur after launching a "rescue" mission for Regret, who independently discovered Earth's location and arrived unprepared. In the chaos that followed, he would send his own Jiralhanae fleet to assume control of Regret's fleet and kill the remaining Sangheili. Truth then called back the Phantoms sent to save Regret, essentially allowing Master Chief to kill Regret and his Honor Guards, which was the perfect pretense to deem the Sangheili unworthy of protecting the Hierarchs and replace them.

Truth, still determined to activate the Halo rings, sent Arbiter Thel 'Vadam(ee) to retrieve the Activation Index. Truth made this decision expecting 'Vadam and his comrades to die in pursuit of it, but, failing that, sent Jiralhanae Chieftain Tartarus to murder 'Vadam after retrieving the Index. Unfortunately for Truth, 'Vadam survived, saved by the Gravemind. After Truth replaced the Sangheili as Honor Guards, he quietly ordered the Jiralhanae to murder all Sangheili. The Sangheili believed this to be an insurrection until 'Vadam revealed the truth, causing the Great Schism and the beginning of the end for Truth.

In a last-ditch effort to activate the Halo rings, Truth launched the Forerunner Dreadnought, housed within High Charity, through the portal to the Ark on Earth. He raced to the Citadel on the Ark, the place where he could activate all of the Rings. He was pursued by the recently-collaborating UNSC and Sangheili forces, who were united in their understanding that Truth had to be stopped.

Just as he forced the captured Avery Johnson to begin the activation process, he was interrupted by the appearance of John-117 and 'Vadam, assisted by the Gravemind. Determined to take vengeance on Truth himself and not a flood-infected thrall, 'Vadam stabbed Truth through the chest as he declared himself the voice of the Covenant. Silenced, the Covenant empire collapsed.