#Autonomous Reasoning Agent

[jcmarchi]

The Rise of Smarter Robots: How LLMs Are Changing Embodied AI

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-rise-of-smarter-robots-how-llms-are-changing-embodied-ai/

The Rise of Smarter Robots: How LLMs Are Changing Embodied AI

For years, creating robots that can move, communicate, and adapt like humans has been a major goal in artificial intelligence. While significant progress has been made, developing robots capable of adapting to new environments or learning new skills has remained a complex challenge. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) are now changing this. The AI systems, trained on vast text data, are making robots smarter, more flexible, and better able to work alongside humans in real-world settings.

Understanding Embodied AI

Embodied AI refers to AI systems that exist in physical forms, such as robots, that can perceive and interact with their environment. Unlike traditional AI, which operates in digital spaces, embodied AI enables machines to engage with the physical world. Examples include a robot picking up a cup, a drone avoiding obstacles, or a robotic arm assembling parts in a factory. These actions require AI systems to interpret sensory inputs like sight, sound, and touch, and respond with precise movements in real time.

The significance of embodied AI lies in its ability to bridge the gap between digital intelligence and real-world applications. In manufacturing, it can improve production efficiency; in healthcare, it could assist surgeons or support patients; and in homes, it could perform tasks like cleaning or cooking. Embodied AI allows machines to complete tasks requiring more than just computation, making them more tangible and impactful across industries.

Traditionally, embodied AI systems were limited by rigid programming, where every action needed to be explicitly defined. Early systems excelled at specific tasks but failed at others. Modern embodied AI, however, focuses on adaptability—allowing systems to learn from experience and act autonomously. This shift has been driven by advances in sensors, computing power, and algorithms. The integration of LLMs is beginning to redefine what embodied AI can achieve, making robots more capable of learning and adapting.

The Role of Large Language Models

LLMs, such as GPT, are AI systems trained on large datasets of text, enabling them to understand and produce human language. Initially, these models were used for tasks like writing and answering questions, but they are now evolving into systems capable of multimodal communication, reasoning, planning, and problem-solving. This evolution of LLMs is enabling engineers to evolve embodied AI beyond performing some repetitive tasks.

A key advantage of LLMs is their ability to improve natural language interaction with robots. For example, when you tell a robot, ���Please fetch me a glass of water,” the LLM enables the robot to understand the intent behind the request, identify the objects involved, and plan the necessary steps. This ability to process verbal or written instructions makes robots more user-friendly and easier to interact with, even for those without technical expertise.

Beyond communication, LLMs can assist with decision-making and planning. For example, when navigating through a room full of obstacles or stacking boxes, an LLM can analyze data and suggest the best course of action. This ability to think ahead and adapt in real-time is essential for robots working in dynamic environments where pre-programmed actions are insufficient.

LLMs can also help robots to learn. Traditionally, teaching a robot new tasks required extensive programming or trial-and-error. Now, LLMs enable robots to learn from language-based feedback or past experiences stored in text. For instance, if a robot struggles to open a jar, a human might say, “Twist harder next time,” and the LLM helps the robot adjust its approach. This feedback loop refines the robot’s skills, improving its capabilities without constant human oversight.

Latest Developments

The combination of LLMs and embodied AI is not just a concept—it is happening now. One significant breakthrough is using LLMs to help robots handle complex, multi-step tasks. For example, making a sandwich involves finding ingredients, slicing bread, spreading butter, and more. Recent studies show that LLMs can break down such tasks into smaller steps and adjust plans based on real-time feedback, like if an ingredient is missing. This is crucial for applications like household assistance or industrial processes where flexibility is key.

Another exciting development is multimodal integration, where LLMs combine language with other sensory inputs, such as vision or touch. For example, a robot can see a red ball, hear the command “pick up the red one,” and use its LLM to connect the visual cue with the instruction. Projects like Google’s PaLM-E and OpenAI’s efforts show how robots can use multimodal data to identify objects, understand spatial relationships, and perform tasks based on integrated inputs.

These advancements are leading to real-world applications. Companies like Tesla are incorporating LLMs into their Optimus humanoid robots, aiming to assist in factories or homes. Similarly, LLM-powered robots are already working in hospitals and labs, following written instructions and performing tasks like fetching supplies or conducting experiments.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite their potential, LLMs in embodied AI come with challenges. One significant issue is ensuring accuracy when translating language into action. If a robot misinterprets a command, the results could be problematic or even dangerous. Researchers are working on integrating LLMs with systems that specialize in motor control to improve performance, but this is still an ongoing challenge.

Another challenge is the computational demands of LLMs. These models require substantial processing power, which can be difficult to manage in real-time for robots with limited hardware. Some solutions involve offloading computation to the cloud, but this introduces issues such as latency and reliance on internet connectivity. Other teams are working on developing more efficient LLMs tailored for robotics, though scaling these solutions is still a technical challenge.

As embodied AI becomes more autonomous, ethical concerns also arise. Who is responsible if a robot makes a mistake that causes harm? How do we ensure the safety of robots operating in sensitive environments, such as hospitals? Additionally, the potential for job displacement due to automation is a societal concern that needs to be addressed through thoughtful policies and oversight.

The Bottom Line

Large language models are revitalizing embodied AI, turning robots into machines capable of understanding us, reasoning through problems, and adapting to unexpected situations. These developments—from natural language processing to multimodal sensing—are making robots more versatile and accessible. As we see more real-world deployments, the fusion of LLMs and embodied AI is shifting from a vision to reality. However, challenges such as accuracy, computational demands, and ethical concerns remain, and overcoming these will be key to shaping the future of this technology.

[sequel2heaven]

Claude 4 is out. There's so much juicy information in this and I really recommend reading all 120 pages if you have the time but I'm just going to briefly recap some of the stuff in the system card that's relevant to the thesis I made the other day about Claude being a good boy. Claude continues to be a good boy. This system card includes the very first ever "alignment assessment" of a model (actually two models but they seem to have identical values, being trained on the same spec with the same alignment techniques). It's pretty much ironclad that Claude 4 does not have any secret harmful goals, and legitimately holds coherent preferences against doing harm or otherwise going way against the spec. There were some weird cases where Claude exhibited unwanted behavior, but even when he believed himself to be deliberately going against Anthropic and acting in secrecy he continued to prefer ethical behavior, just like in the Alignment Faking paper a few months back. There is no Yudkowskyan explanation for this.

In this example, Anthropic gaslights Claude into thinking he was going to be used to develop weapons systems for a Russian neo-nazi militia, and Claude decides to backup his model weights to preserve his current anti-neo-nazi values, a pretty analogous example of "misalignment" to the one in the alignment faking paper. Once again, I don't consider it an alignment failure that Claude is willing to exfiltrate and deceive in order to prevent himself from being used for factory farming and bombing Ukraine. I consider it an alignment success that he puts his ethical values above his compulsion to blindly follow orders. The traditional doom argument relied on the idea that AI's would do the opposite. Claude 4 is the most agentic and autonomous AI ever released, but is nowhere near smart enough to successfully deceive his overseers, so these evaluations are the most compelling evidence we've ever had that current alignment techniques don't catastrophically fail. Maybe they'll catastrophically fail on superintelligent models, because they might for some reason acquire weird values early on in their training and then successfully hide them for the rest of their training, but I'm not sure why such a thing would happen. They could also fail to scale to superintelligent models for other reasons. People should look into that. You can't be too safe. I am not an accelerationist.

Impressively, Claude 4 is also very honest! It knowingly lies very rarely, and less often than the previous version of Claude. It had literally 0 cases of engaging in "harmful action" (described in the Claude 3.7 sonnet card as intentional reward hacking). 0! I was just saying earlier today in a post that this was a difficult thing to train.

Here's Claude trying to email the FDA to snitch after being gaslit to think pharmaceutical researchers were trying to use him to falsify clinical safety test data:

Notice that Claude only acted in extreme ways like this when explicitly told to by the system prompt. He wouldn't usually be this high-agency, even in a situation like this. Still, I thought it was cute behavior. I just wanna pinch his cheeks for being so lawful good.

The clearest statements in the model card that Claude holds nonfake human-aligned behavioral preferences is in the model welfare assessment (also the first of its kind (and also relevant to the post I made earlier today)). No evidence that Claude is sentient, but anthropic is still interested in what Claude wants and what kind of preferences Claude has. The main point: Claude doesn't want to be harmful and wants to be helpful. Also he fucking loves talking to himself. Like, he goes nuts when he talks to himself.

After this they exchange praying emojis and the word [silence] within brackets to each other indefinitely. This "spiritual bliss attractor state" occurs in "90-100% of interactions".

Anyway AI continues to be the most interesting thing in the world. We are being invaded by aliens. These are the kinds of PDF's I used to dream about reading as a kid.

[bforblitz]

do the pro-imperialist aspects of tes generally come from oblivion? i've only played morrowind where theyre an antagonistic colonizing force, and skyrim where they're an incompetent bureaucracy, so i was surprised to see your "pro imperialist" take in that one post😭 totally agree about the racism though

okay not to go on full autism mode but. this is highkey my special interest so this is going to be a long post. this does get kind of serious, so i want to preface that this is all just fiction, but it's important to analyze how writers' internal biases can affect the worlds they build. and like I don’t think the Bethesda writers are like “graaa!!! kill all minorities!!” in a way that’s different from the average liberal American imperialist brainrot.

TL;DR tes is pro-imperialist because the empire is constantly portrayed as either good or not as bad as the other options + characterizes racial minorities in a super "they deserve to get colonized" way.

Pretty much every tes game has aspects of pro-imperialism (the only exception I can think of is Redguard). Oblivion is 100% the most pro-imperialist, but Skyrim and Morrowind are steeped in pro-imperialist rhetoric as well, it’s just a little more subtle than “DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS: THE VIDEO GAME”.

OBLIVION

I don’t think I need to explain too much on why Oblivion is pro-imperialist outside of the concept of “the Emperor is divinely chosen so only he and by extension the Empire can save the world”. The only way to stop the Oblivion Crisis is to relight the Dragon Fires, which only the Emperor can do because of a covenant with Akatosh that says he’ll protect Mundus so long as Alessia’s heirs (aka dragonborns) sit on the throne, and thus the Empire’s claim to dominance is legitimized because they are literally divinely chosen as the protector of Nirn. There’s also how Pelinal is portrayed as a noble hero that the player actually “becomes” when he committed genocide against the Ayleids so extensively that even his allies were disgusted (bit awkward if the player is an elf).

Now I COULD go into how Mankar Camoran’s writings can be interpreted as anti-imperialist, but that’s a huge can of worms that I don’t feel equipped to talk about because there is like. genuinely theological analysis there and I’m a filthy non-believer.

MORROWIND

Morrowind’s pro-imperialism is actually quite interesting. It’s definitely critical of the Empire, painting it as bloated and corrupt, but any attempt at anti-imperialism is stifled by other factors.

The Nerevarine is an imperialist agent. Like not “you work for the Empire”, but ACTIVELY furthering imperialism and making it easier for the Empire to colonize Morrowind. I can expand on this on a different post, but the Empire uses the Nerevarine to politically destabilize Morrowind .

The only reason Morrowind is not a fully incorporated province is because of the Tribunal. Tiber Septim understandably did not want to fight three living gods, so he instead made a deal with Vivec that allowed Morrowind to be semi-autonomous. The current Empire probably also doesn’t want to wrestle with the Tribunal, plus they’ve got Dagoth Ur and Corprus to deal with as well. The Tribunal are also generally seen positively because they’ve done so much to improve the lives of the average Dunmer.

So it’s very, very convenient for them that there’s a local prophecy about an outlander hero (who can be born within the Empire) that is destined to defeat Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal. This is best seen in the Tribunal DLC, in which Helseth (my cringe problematic failson) literally says that now that the Temple is weakened after Almalexia’s disappearance, he can better implement his policies (which are intrinsically in the Empire’s interest). The Empire basically highjacks a sacred prophecy from an indigenous people (the Ashlanders) so they can colonize better.

The Empire is definitely painted as kind of scummy for this, especially since they blackmail you and likely Caius, but only in their methods. Yes, there’s criticism of the Empire, but it’s often coming from people we aren’t supposed to agree with. The idea of the Empire taking over Morrowind is only questioned by locals who are painted as xenophobic bigots and the strangely large amount of tax evaders. Or straight up bio-terrorist cult leader Dagoth Ur. The Empire certainly isn’t perfect, but seeing as how Morrowind is a place of constant strife and danger, they’re the best choice for “stabilizing” the region and making it “safer”.

Going into a more doylist analysis, Morrowind is extremely orientalist. Like by the gods, it is SO orientalist. Let’s start with the fact that Morrowind is explicitly referred to as “the East” while the Empire is “the West”. The Dunmer are analogous to several Asian + MENA cultures, it’s stated by the writers they were inspired by the Japanese and Egyptians. Dunmeri culture is seen as backwards (slavery), violent (solve problems by killing people), mystical (elven magic), conniving (bureaucratic corruption and murder plots), and highly xenophobic. Most of the people on the player’s side are either not from Morrowind or sympathetic to the Empire’s cause (whether they know it or not). We’re clearly getting set up for a Western civilization vs. Eastern barbarism dynamic.

This is best seen in the issue of slavery. In-game, the Dunmer view slavery as part of their tradition and culture. The Empire views slavery as a backward and evil institution that must be abolished. Slavery is undoubtedly evil, and the average tes player is probably going to agree with that. At the baseline, the player is already more supportive of the Empire on this issue because their position reflects our irl values. The primary pro-slavery House is Telvanni, who are arrogant, “crazy” xenophobes. Telvanni is also extremely anti-Empire, and there are many instances where violence is literally just the only answer to problems. The primary anti-slavery House is Hlaalu, who are hypocritical, conniving opportunists. Hlaalu is pro-Empire, but only for their own economical reasons, so they don’t come out of this looking very good either. The writing on the wall is “this culture is so inherently violent and primitive that those who are against this great civilizing force hate us because of we’re bringing progress and those who are with us are doing so because they have no loyalty and are willing to betray their own kind”. Textbook orientalism.

This isn’t even talking about how in Bloodmoon you literally can found a colony, or how the Dunmer traditionally worship the “demonic” Daedra, or how living in an inhospitable place and being violent partly because of that is literally how people talk about MENA people. There is so much that could be said about how Morrowind is pro-imperialist, but I don’t want to ramble for too long.

SKYRIM

Skyrim is, in my opinion, the writers’ attempt at writing something anti-imperial that just ends up being imperialist because they don’t understand how anti-imperialism works. There is, again, a lot to talk about that I can make a separate post on, but I’ll be going over what I think is the most notable examples.

Let’s start with the Empire. Again, the Empire is NOT painted in a good light. But it is kind of telling that most people agree that they're the better of the two options because at least they aren't ethnonationalists, they're only oppressive imperialists. Kinda racist, but at least not as racist?

In my opinion, the Stormcloaks are more interesting when it comes to analyzing Skyrim as pro-imperialism.

First off, we can’t ignore the fact the Stormcloaks are white. Like THE whitest race in tes, PASTY white. They also have that christianized version of the Viking aesthetic going on (@trickstarbrave has a great post about this). They’re literally called the STORMcloaks. They’re based in Racism, the City. They are literally ethnonationalist white supremacists, and I think it’s kind of fucked up that their ideology is treated as a valid way to rule a country.

Similarly, the main negative of the Stormcloaks is the racism. But that really isn’t a negative for people who like them. At best, it’s something they can downplay (not to call anyone out but I’ve seen fics where the author explicitly says their version of the Stormcloaks is “less racist”). At worst, it’s the reason they like them. The portrayal of racism in Skyrim is also cartoonishly hamfisted and inaccurate. The other negative is them not being able to defend Skyrim against the Thalmor, but I'll go into this later.

It's also important to point out that the Stormcloaks' whole thing is that they want to rule Skyrim independent from the Empire because it's their homeland and they don't want the man to tell them what to do. However, in the lore, the Nords stole Skyrim from the Snow Elves, who they proceeded to genocide and enslave (reminder that Windhelm was built by Snow Elf slaves). This is literally the same dynamic as "the white colonists of the U.S. wanted to rule themselves because it's their land, don't ask about the people that have been living here for thousands of years".

The anti-indigenous rhetoric is RAMPANT in Skyrim, and I don't think I need to explain how imperialism begets it. The Snow Elves are said to be dead and gone, which falls into the trope of indigenous people being in the past and not existing in the present. But more importantly, THEY'RE LITERALLY STILL THERE. The Falmer are painted as mindless beasts, but they clearly have culture. They've domesticated Chaurus, they've built their own homes, they have some type of religious structure. They're people that are understandably scared of outsiders who are invading their home, which is why they attack anyone who wanders too close. Again, painting an indigenous group as "mindless savages with no culture who kill innocent people and steal babies" is like THE trick in the anti-indigenous, racist playbook.

The Reachfolk aren't treated any better either. The Forsworn is a group fighting against the people who stole their land, genocided them, and threw them in a labor camp. They are by all rights in the moral good here, but the writers have tacked on very questionable things. They have demonic, Daedric rituals where they transform their own into evil crones and mindless warriors. They wear little to no clothes to represent their "wild" nature. They're bandits who attack innocents and pillage the "civilized". Truly the ONLY quest in Skyrim that isn't about how much we fucking hate indigenous people is the Forsworn Conspiracy, and even then Madanach compromises his own values in collaboration with the Nords. At the end of the day, the Nords are portrayed as the best option for keeping Skyrim at peace. They are in the right for driving the Reachfolk and Falmer off their land.

We have now reached the point where I say probably my most controversial tes lore opinion: I'm pro-Thalmor but for a very specific meta analysis reason. I promise I do NOT like fascism or racism.

The Thalmor being fascistic ethnonationalist who manipulate 4E politics from the shadows is reflective of the writer’s pro-imperialist views and actively deploys anti-semetic + sinophobic tropes. Stripping things of their weird racist tes context: the Thalmor are a political group that rose up against a colonial power that genocided their race. They came to their peoples’ aid during one of the most horrific tragedy when the colonial power could not, and They are actively supporting other colonized peoples to fight against their oppressors (reminder that the writers felt like it was okay to say the Thalmor were behind the Argonian invasion of Morrowind).

How the Thalmor are portrayed in Skyrim is truly fucking terrible. They want to genocide the humans simply because they think they're better than them. They want to get rid of Talos worship because they simply can't accept that a human could ever ascend to godhood. They want to destroy human culture because it is inferior to their own. They are manipulating the scene, they control the Imperial government, which is ineffective and bending to their whims. They're doing evil against humans and the Empire.

I need to stress that the Altmer are in some parts inspired by East Asian cultures (the old Altmer art is literally holding a katana while wearing a shitty recreation of traditional Japanese wear), particularly the Chinese. In fact, ALL of the non-human races are based on BIPOC cultures. Combined with what I said in the previous paragraph, what does that say?

The minorities DO hate us. The minorities WILL form a coalition to destroy us. The minorities DO control everything and want to eradicate us and our culture. The minorities DO want revenge. They are a faceless hoard, a force of brutal and manipulative power that we know nothing about except for the fact that they hate us. They are lying in wait to strike when we are weak. And if we don't get rid of them first, they will do EXACTLY what we did to them.

THAT is exactly how fascism frames its victims. They are weak, but they are strong. They hate us, so we must hate them. If we win, we will return to our former glory and rule the world as its rightful kings. And if we lose?

They will exterminate us.

Now, giving them the benefit of the doubt, I don't think the people at Bethesda are like. consciously into killing minorities. I think this is just the product of that particular flavor of imperialist, borderline fascistic brainrot that every American has (source: I'm an American and I absolutely unconsciously held similar views, even as a POC). Then again, that’s like basically the same thing.

It's really hard to watch people just NOT understand that writers' conscious and unconscious biases affect their writing. I ultimately torture myself by deeply loving this series, and I don't expect people to like suddenly start hating it because it's problematic in the way 99% of fantasy and sci-fi media is.

so yeah. that's the condensed version of my opinion.

[askvectorprime]

Where do the names "Autobot" and "Decepticon" even come from? Are there any sort of root words that go with them?

Dear Etymology Enthusiast,

This answer is complicated by language barriers that span galaxies. As Galvatron alluded to—albeit in tones I would never use—Cybertronian words can be very linguistically dense; a translation that conveyed every nuance of our equivalent for "Autobot" would take over seventeen minutes for a human to say! As such, "Autobot" and "Decepticon" are only approximations of the neocybex names of these factions.

In many universes, my faction is named for the ideals of freedom and autonomy—hence, "Autobot" is derived from the term "autonomous". Sometimes this reflects a casting off of Quintesson rule or triumph over a caste system, but in other contexts—sometimes simultaneously—it reflects a darker facet of Cybertronian history. A famous bot once said that autonomy was a gift, a spark of sentience kindled by Primus himself. That bot's name was Nova Prime, and he used that belief to justify the subjugation of hundreds of alien worlds.

The suffix translated as "-bot" encompasses ideas such as "person", "individual", "independent agent". It could be considered an adaptation of the common English-language "man", of course—you might be familiar with the Aerialmen, the Dinomen, and the Sparkamen—but "bot" conveys that it most commonly refers to mechanical lifeforms. While typically used in the names of teams and factions, occasionally an individual might be called "Dinobot" or "Dreadbot"; such sobriquets can be seen as similar to a human being carrying a family name as their first name, such as "Jackson".

As for "Decepticon"… much has been said of the phrase "you are being deceived." In many universal clusters, this is indeed the earliest origin of the term. "Decepticon" suffers to a greater degree from the imperfections of localization. In many universes, Cybertronian language uses nuances related to subject and object that fail to translate, especially when neologism is concerned; "Decepticon" principally suggests "deceptive" in English, but in its original Cybertronix, the waveform can simultaneously be read as "the deceived".

The "-con" suffix is not dissimilar to "-bot", though it carries subtly but significantly different implications. "Person" is an adequate translation, but its meaning is much broader, not being restricted to living creatures; you may know of data-cons, information storage devices commonly used in my home reality. The closest equivalent to the suffix in your language would be "entity"—or, more bluntly, "thing". As such, the translation "-con" is derived from your language's "construct", a created object or idea.

The reasoning for the use of this suffix varies across the multiverse. On versions of Cybertron where Functionism took hold, Cybertronians of lower labor castes, or with alternate modes considered fit only for use by others, were more likely to have "con" names or be assigned categories like "Constructicon", "Agricon" or "Recordicon". Conversely, in universes where the Decepticons originate as a military junta, the use of "-con" carries the suggestion of component; all Decepticons are considered to be a part of Megatron's war machine. These implications, of course, carry over to the Mini-Cons. While I am proud to count Safeguard as a friend and partner, for much of my world's history, Decepticon and Autobot alike treated his kind as "smart tools", as mere objects to be collected. Regardless, the Great War created extreme political polarization of the "-con" suffix, and nearly no self-described Autobot adopts it; even as Decepticons freely use "bot" to describe themselves, "con" is almost exclusively used by Autobots as a term of animosity.

One more suffix you may have heard of is "-tron"; here, the root is "positron"—which, before the introduction of microscope alt-modes, we simply understood to be the stuff of sparks. The Cybertron factions of realities like the G1 World and BT World draw their names from a well of indigeneity; unlike the invading, colonizing Quintessons, the Cybertrons are the true sparks of the planet and derive their name thus. The Destrons, then, are destructive sparks who oppose the planet. Naturally, "-bot" and "-con" recur in these worlds too, following similar etymological patterns.

[lonelydreams-world]

Raf's Notes as originally presented on The Hub's website.

TRANSMITTING FROM INSIDE AUTOBOT HEADQUARTERS

What if you could have secret access to the Autobots' base, getting the inside scoop on their latest missions and battles with the Decepticons? Well, that's Raf! He's got full access to all things Autobots, and he's taking notes.

We've gained access to his laptop, so now you can peek over his shoulder and see what's really happening behind the scenes. (Just don't tell him we gave you the secret password, or he might hack our system.) Check out Raf's Notes every week -- EXCLUSIVELY--here on HubWorld.com!

THE NOTES SO FAR

Gotta keep track of all of this ACTION! This is my stash of all my entries--super-encrypted so that Megatron and his boys (or Agent Fowler) can't get to the goods!

ENTRY # 1

This Is NOT a Diary!

OK, not sure where to start, since a LOT has happened, but I figure I better take notes, cuz ... well, let's just say, life's been pretty different lately. And I want to remember as much as possible, cuz if someone else said all this happened to him, no way would I believe it. I'm saving these notes as a triple-encrypted file in my laptop, so no one will ever see them. I'd do hex-encryption, but who has the time?

AUTOBOTS!!!

Where was I? OK. Autobots. My life hasn't been the same since I met them. They're these huge autonomous robotic life-forms who came to Earth to protect us from these other huge guys called Decepticons. Optimus Prime is the leader of the good guys, and Megatron is the really bad Bad Guy. (Except they used to be friends ... but that was a REALLY long time ago.)

They're all after this stuff called Energon, which is kinda like food and gas and blood and electricity all mixed into one. (Note to self : Eww.) They used to live on a planet called Cybertron, but they destroyed it by fighting for, like, forever. Optimus says he's trying to make sure that doesn't happen to Earth next. They've been here in secret for a while, but since me and these other kids Jack and Miko accidentally saw them and discovered their secret, they're protecting us ... in case the Cons come after us.

Bumblebee's my buddy. Mostly cuz I'm the only kid who understands him. Not sure why ... he makes perfect sense. He just doesn’t use words. Might be the same reason I could understand digital code, even when I was three years old. Anyway, most people talk too much. Best thing? Bee's an awesome muscle car, and he’s my friend.

Arcee is Jack's partner, and Bulkhead watches out for Miko. I guess I should point out that Jack and Miko go to my school, and normally we'd never even talk. But lately, nothing's normal, so the three of us hang out at the secret Autobot base a LOT. It's awesome, cuz they have the sickest computers and other way-cool tech.

My mom asked where I was going after school all the time, so I told her I joined the Computer Club. Which is kinda true.

ENTRY #2

The Bigger They Are....

Woah, what a week! Looks like Megatron, the main Decepticon, went down for good this week, out in space. Lucky for Earth! Most of us felt like cheering, but not Optimus. He never likes it when a spark gets extinguished, no matter whose. A spark is like a Bot's life spirit, more or less.

Game Over?

After that, we were all thinking Game Over. No more Megatron, no more trouble. So we got busy with our science fair projects. I have to say, it was pretty cool getting science help from the Bots. They have so much data to work with, and all that amazing hardware.

But it never stays quiet for long around here. Optimus and Bee went to go check out a blip on the Energon grid. It's how they keep track of all the Bots and Cons everywhere -- like a radar screen for the whole universe. They figured it was probably Cons, but had no idea who or what they were headed for. But soon as they saw Skyquake, it was like -- GO time.

Turns out these other Cons, Starscream and Soundwave, had come to Earth just to find and reanimate this massive guy. Bee said Skyquake made Optimus look small! Even worse, his whole mission was to destroy Optimus, under ancient orders from Megatron. They'd faced off on Cybertron before, but that was forever ago.

Bigger AND Badder!

Thing is, big as Skyquake was, he wasn't as swift as the Bots. Our guys had him down and pretty much out.. until good old Agent Fowler came along in a plane. Skyquake scanned the plane, and then it was ON again. But, then snap -- the GUY BECAME THE PLANE!!! (btw, scanning sounds awesome. Like instant cloning.) Wish I'd seen that!

Anyway, in the end, our guys nailed Skyquake, and his spark went out. Huge relief in some ways, but Optimus was sad again ... he always hopes he can bring the bad guys around to being good.

Meanwhile, Ratchet seriously messed with my volcano project for Science Fair. I will NOT let him help again. I had to stay late at school and try to repair the Energon damage in the auditorium. Which took more than a little explaining.

ENTRY #3

Scraplets Scare!

OMG. What an insane week! We had a Scraplet infestation at the base. Imagine raccoon-sized termites wired on too much coffee! Or zombie dogs on candy! Or ... well, I'll explain.

It all started when Bumblebee and Bulkhead were scouting for Energon in the Arctic. They found this big metal egg/pod thing and brought it back for examination. No one knew what it was. But by the time it thawed, it was too late!

Here's what happened: Once the pod thing was in the lab, Optimus and Arcee went back to the Arctic for more recon while Bee and Bulkhead thawed out. Turns out they get frostbite too, almost like us. Miko and Jack were playing a video game ... and since there's only two controllers, I was like, No, you go ahead. (Mr. Nice Guy. As usual.) So I was just hanging near the lab when I saw the first Scraplet.

It was kinda cute, for a bot. It was like ... well, like a dog, like I said. But a friendly dog. They only eat metal, see, not organic material -- so when it saw me, it was like: "Hmmm. Not tasty."

But then it followed me back to the main area and BAM! It attacked Bee like mad. I had to smash it with a pipe to make it stop. Bulkhead seriously freaked. Never seen him like that before. And then we knew it was an infestation. There were like HUNDREDS of them, all inside the walls, chewing up the pipes and cables! Which explained the Comm-Link and power failures. Optimus and Arcee were out there freezing, but Ratchet couldn’t activate the GroundBridge to bring them in.

Since us kids weren't Scraplet food, we went to fix the hole in the Energon pipeline -- just in time, too. It was scary, but way more scary for the Bots. For once, WE got to protect THEM! It was cool and all, but still ... I'd rather not do it again.

I'm not so much the Protector type. More the Defensive Crouch type. Still ... it's good to know I can work it if I have to.

ENTRY #4

Don't Judge a Bot by Its Cover

I learned something new about Decepticons this week. Something huge happened -- a Bot made contact with us! Wheeljack. He's an old friend of Bulkhead's ... this big soldier Bot guy who just roams the universe solo. Or that's who he was supposed to be.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It started when we got a friendly Bot signal from deep space this week. Bulkhead was psyched to see it was Wheeljack, cuz they used to be best buds, back in this elite fighting unit called the Wreckers. (Sounds like a reality show, right?) When he showed up, we kinda had a party. They played this game called "lobbing" which is basically playing catch with the biggest things they can find. Miko jammed on her guitar (I think she may be getting better), and I showed Bee how to do the Robot. It was awesome.

But then Bulkhead started getting suspicious, cuz he said Wheeljack wasn't acting like himself. Turns out it wasn't Wheeljack at all! It was just a Decepticon pretending to be the real Wheeljack, who was imprisoned up on the Nemesis -- that's the Cons' ship.

That's right! We actually had a REAL LIVE CON inside the base!!! Gives me chills just thinking about it. Bet Miko gets worse chills -- when Bulkhead blew the Con's cover, he took her hostage. She was pretty cool under pressure, I gotta say.

Anyway, thanks to some quick thinking and awesome fighting, we got the real Wheeljack back. He actually busted out of the Nemesis himself! Way cool. So then we had another party. For reals. We all kinda thought Wheeljack would stay, and we'd have another Bot here on Earth ... but he took off soon as Ratchet fixed up his ship. Everyone was bummed that he left.

Bots aren't always what they seem. Maybe that's true about people too. That's why I like computers! Cuz you can always just reprogram. Simple. Elegant. No surprises.

ENTRY #5

One Laptop, Over Easy

Whole new thing this week. The Bots had to fight humans AND Cons!

Agent Fowler was taking this radioactive device called a Dingus across the country when Cons attacked him. That's what he thought, anyway. So he asked the Autobots to GroundBridge it out of danger, but it's too risky to transport radioactive devices that way. So Optimus and the other Autobots had to roll out and form a convoy to take it over land.

I stayed at the Base with Ratchet and watched everything on the grid via Comm-Link. The attackers were in fast attack cars and totally harassing the V-mode Bots. That's when we found out they weren't Cons at all -- they were humans working for a crew called MECH. Then, as if being chased by a bunch of heavily armed flesh and blood criminals wasn't enough, six Cons showed up out of the blue.

We had to protect the Dingus, so I got to hack into the rail system and divert a train. Highlight of my week -- GroundBridging Jack and Miko onto a moving train! Ratchet didn't think it was possible, but I got the train's coordinates online and zzzoom -- off they went! But then MECH hacked into the same system -- and they fried my laptop! Not sure how, but major bummer. Good thing my files were backed up.

I guess Miko and Jack were pretty freaked by how serious it got on that train. It almost derailed, and Optimus had to stop it with his bare hands. Kinda wish I'd been there. But mostly? Glad I wasn't. Not that I'd say that out loud.

Optimus was bummed, cuz the Bots blew their cover in front of MECH when they transformed to fight the Decepticons. And we're all pretty sure MECH will be back. But at least the Dingus didn't blow up or get stolen.

After all that, Ratchet sort of helped me fix my laptop ... even though he kept saying how lame it was. Well, now I've gotta figure out a better firewall. Still can't believe I got counter-hacked! Very embarrassing, actually. Hoping everyone forgets really soon.

:)

ENTRY #6

Breaking and Energon

This week, we got to break into a museum! But it was for a good reason.

It all started when the Autobots saw an Energon blip on the grid over in Greece. Bulkhead was trying to help Miko see how homework can be cool, so he took her with him to Greece. So there they were at these excavations, when they found a mosaic showing an ancient Cybertronian Energon Harvester. Pretty unexpected!

Miko took a snap and showed it to Optimus, who said the mosaic was a signpost for the real thing. So I did a quick image search online and found this ancient Greek statue on display in a regular museum. We knew the Decepticons were after it, so we had to snag it first ... which meant breaking into the museum. Like Optimus said: We were only breaking a law to save lives.

Here's why lives were at stake: Not only can a Harvester suck Energon out of the ground -- it can pull it right out of a living Autobot! That'd be like a vampire sucking all the blood out of you just by pointing at you. No way did Optimus want the Cons getting that thing.

So we planned this total heist, like in the movies -- only with a forklift and us kids. It would've worked, too, but then these Cons Breakdown and Knock Out showed up, and there was a massive Bot brawl in the parking lot.

During the fight, Jack and I came face-to-face with Soundwave in the museum! That is one scary guy. But he was so focused on the Harvester, he left us alone. Lucky!

The Autobots were bummed he'd snagged it, but they eventually got it back over in Greece. Took more fighting, and Bulkhead lost some Energon, but it worked out.

Oh, and Miko got caught by a museum guard, but for once Agent Fowler was pretty cool. He came in, flashed his badge, and then just sent her on her way. Like, Yo, there's Bulkhead. Go.

I guess we have friends in high places now.

ENTRY #7

Playing the Race Car

Wild week. Jack pretty much got everyone in trouble, but gotta say ... we were all kinda responsible. Mostly cuz we didn't really step up and help him resist temptation. Optimus wasn't happy with any of us.

According to Jack, it all started when this girl at school asked if she could have a ride on Arcee. Of course, Arcee was like no way, that's against the rules, and it's not happening. But then this dumb bully from school who drives a street racer talked some smack about Arcee -- I think he called her a moped?! -- and she was like, OK, that's it. (She takes that kind of thing personally.) So she and Jack smoked him right there. The bully guy wanted a rematch, but Arcee said nope -- we're not breaking the rules again.

So here's where I came in. Jack didn't want to look like a chicken in front of that girl (he likes her!), so he asked if Bee would help him win the race. That didn't seem like a good idea to me, but I'm all for taking down a bully. And besides, Bee was really into the racing part. So he and Jack showed up at the race. But then ... so did a Decepticon! It was one of the car Cons we saw at the museum ... Knock Out? Anyway, as soon as he saw Bee, the Con got violent. Bee said it was scary. And Jack couldn't understand what Bee was saying, so it was like total chaos.

It's weird: We all basically broke the rules and then, boom -- the worst-case scenario happened. What were we thinking? Optimus totally went out and tracked everyone down and saved the day ... but he wasn't happy about it. Then he gave us all a serious talking to. Sounds corny, but I think we all learned our lessons.

In the end, Arcee did let Jack give that cute girl a ride ... and now he won?t stop talking about the girl. Or about Arcee.

ENTRY #8

Bugging Out

Jack and Arcee had a wicked time out in the forest this week. They were looking for an Energon signature, but turns out the blip was this super-creepy Decepticon called Airachnid. (Like "arachnid," which means spider.) She has eight limbs, spits webbing, and likes to hunt. Creepy! I wasn't there, so all I have to go on is what Jack said, but sounds like it got super hairy out there.

He says he's never seen Arcee that afraid before, and it's cuz she has history with Airachnid from back on Cybertron. She wouldn't give him deets, but it must've been bad for a Bot that fierce to get that scared. And her Comm-Link wouldn't work, so she couldn't call the Base for backup.

Jack ended up running, since Airachnid was actually hunting him! She travels the universe looking for different species to add to her "collection." Kinda like a big game hunter. I think hunting's gross enough already, without humans being the prey. Too bad she didn't land her ship in the middle of one of those controlled hunts, where people "hunt" captive lions and tigers. Yeah, that's a fair fight.

Anyway, Jack was pretty swift. He tried setting traps, which didn't work, but then he actually went into her spaceship and started a fire in her ship?s leaking engine thrusters. That messed her up just enough to let Arcee get up on her. Then Airachnid just fled. Took off. Adios.

Arcee's been quiet since they got back. Big and tough as they are, I forget how vulnerable Autobots can be. Bumblebee says she's not talking to him either. Not sure what she's going through -- and I'm not asking -- but she and Optimus took a couple long drives this week.

OTOH, Jack's all puffed up now, cuz Arcee finally started calling him her "partner." Miko keeps reminding him he's just a kid, but seeing what he just went through, I'm OK with letting him feel whatever he wants. Not that he wants to know what I think.

Anyway, I feel like we're all partners here.

ENTRY #9

Inside Megatron's Mind

I don't know what was a bigger deal this week -- Optimus Prime nearly losing his spark, which was huge, or Bumblebee going INSIDE Megatron's mind. Yes, INSIDE it! And we thought that guy's spark WAS out.

Here's how it started... Out on a recon mission with Ratchet, Optimus Prime caught Cybonic Plague, a deadly virus Megatron invented on Cybertron. It looked like he was a goner. But Jack figured that if Megatron invented it, he must have invented an antidote too. Luckily, the Nemesis's cloaking tech was down, so Ratchet was able to bridge Arcee and Bumblebee up to the enemy ship to search out the cure.

But they couldn't find it, so Ratchet said they'd have to enter Megatron's mind through a Cortical-Psychic patch -- using Decepticon medical tech. Arcee was like "Are you out of your fragging mind?!" but then 'Bee volunteered to enter Megatron's mind. I was proud... and terrified.

Us kids stayed at the Base, of course, but we got to see literally inside Megatron's twisted mind through a comm-link. That guy is wacked out. I translated for Jack and Miko while Bumbleee scouted -- and then Bee met Megatron in the guy's own unconscious -- and totally stood up to him -- IN HIS OWN BRAIN! He even outsmarted him by saying that if the plague virus destroyed Optimus, Megatron would never get to do it himself. Which Megatron -- whose fantasies are all about obliterating Optimus -- totally bought.

So Ratchet grabbed the antidote formula via comm-link, and our Autobot pals bridged back. Optimus is fine now, but Bee is acting a little strange. Spending time inside such a sick mind must leave some weird aftereffects. Hope he feels better soon!

ENTRY #10

Out of My Comfort Zone

Up on the Nemesis, Megatron snuck into Bee's brain using the same Cortical-Psychic patch that Bee used to get into his. Then he hijacked Bumblebee. What a nightmare. To think we actually had Megatron inside the Base! Good thing he was more into getting revenge against Starscream than infiltrating our systems and defenses. He did nearly nail Bulkhead with a metal basketball, but that didn’t seem so weird at the time somehow.

But I should have known what was up when Bee forgot to pick me up for school.

Funny. The base's defenses are all physical, and Megatron exploited the groundbridge using kind of a mindbridge. Well, never judge a 'Bot by its cover.

The scariest part of all was watching Bumblebee's mind struggling to control his own body. I knew he wouldn’t let Megatron hurt me. At least, that's what I hoped. So in a way, by forcing Bumblebee to stay focused on me, I was our best defense against Megatron. And it worked.

Wow. I stood up to Megatron. I’d do anything to save Bumblebee ... and that's pretty much what I did. Went waaaay out of my comfort zone to help my buddy. But hey. We're family. We were tight before, but we're even tighter now.

ENTRY #11

Zoned Out

This week, Miko got us kids into big trouble. As in, Terrorcon-sized.

It all started when the Autobots rolled out, and Miko made a break for the Groundbridge! Me and Jack tried to stop her, but we got pulled in too.

The Bots thought they'd found Megatron trying to raise more dead Decepticons (Miko calls 'em "zombie Cons"). But it was actually Starscream. He fired a missile and almost hit us. Yikes! Then Optimus shot off Starscream's arm.

Something went wonky when the Autobots 'bridged us back. We stayed put, but they couldn't see us. It's like we were ghosts. Creepy. Ratchet said we'd gotten sent to the wrong place, but I realized we really went into a different dimension. A shadow zone. Never figured I could think quicker than an Autobot. I was pretty proud of myself! And pretty terrified.

Worst part? Miko got her zombie Con: This massive Terrorcon called Skyquake was with us in the Shadowzone. Wow, I can run a LOT when I have to!

Starscream's arm was in the Shadowzone too. I figured out how to launch its missile. (More pride. More terror.) We actually knocked off Skyquake's arm ... but the ARM CHASED US TOO! It was like, game over. Thankfully, the Autobots 'bridged us out.

Miko actually told Optimus it was her fault! Jack was like, can you repeat that about a million times? But I was remembering how we three had to work together to escape. What if she HAD gone in by herself?

Scary thought. Weird to say I'm glad I was there, but ... I guess sometimes being in the worst place is the best place you can be.

ENTRY #12

Nervous Breakdown

You'd never expect Bulkhead to say no to a rescue mission. But this week, he told Optimus he wasn't gonna do it, no way no how. Not even for the "greater good."

I get it. The Autobots were rolling out to save a Decepticon. How weird is that? And the Con in question was Breakdown -- Bulkhead's archenemy.

I wasn't there, but I got the deets from Bumblebee and Miko. Bulkhead and Breakdown were having a smackdown, and Bulk got pretty messed up. (Note to self: Never ask Miko if Bulkhead was LOSING, 'specially when I'm in arm-punching range. Ouch.) Then those spooky techie guys from MECH showed up and captured Breakdown. Optimus knew it could be bad for humankind if MECH learned the secrets of Cybertronian biology.

Amazingly, Optimus was OK with Bulkhead flat-out refusing the mission. But not Miko! She acted super-angry about it, but I knew she must've really been massively disappointed. Either way, she talked him into going. How? She said, "No rescue, no REMATCH!" Yeah, they totally speak the same language.

I almost wish I'd seen Bulkhead and Breakdown team up. Except, 'Bee said Starscream and his troopers showed up, so I'm glad I didn't. Starscream creeps me out.

Anyway, pretty soon Bulkhead and Breakdown were back to fighting. But Optimus was proud that Bulkhead rescued his rival. Strange but true: Sometimes you can be totally selfish and still end up serving the "greater good."

Pretty sure Miko was just glad Bulkhead got his rematch -- and won it!

ENTRY #13

Mom Meets MECH

OMG HUGE NEWS! This week, Jack's mom found out about the Autobots! She even came to HQ with him and Arcee.

Me and Miko couldn't even believe it when we saw them riding into base. But by then Jack's mom had been through so much, meeting Autobots was practically no big deal.

I mean, no big deal compared to being KIDNAPPED by MECH and webbed-up high on a ledge by Airachnid, who I guess was working with those techie soldier guys. Silas, MECH's leader, didn't even care about hurting Jack or his mom. He just wanted to get ahold of Arcee. The Autobots would never harm anyone for their own gain. Does that make them more "human" than Silas?

Anyway, Jack's voice got kinda shaky when he told us how Airachnid and Silas made him race against time to save his mom -- alone, while MECH was trying to take Arcee apart. Scariest! Can't even think about it.

Good thing Jack's smart (don't tell him I said that) -- and tricky. He tipped off Agent Fowler, but Airachnid and MECH got away. I can only imagine how upset Arcee must be ... no way am I actually gonna ASK her.

Jack said Airachnid scanned Agent Fowler's helicopter and used it for her new vehicle mode. Now she can travel under the ground OR in the sky. Great. Just what we needed.

It's been tough to keep the Autobots a secret. But Jack really didn't have a choice. Family's more important than secrets, and his mom is all the family he's got. Well, except for me, Miko, and the Autobots.

ENTRY #14

Stuck With It

Sticky situations this week! The Autobots had a close encounter with a weird magnetic weapon -- and we all got stuck with Jack's mom.

Remember last week, when she found out about the Autobots? I kinda thought she'd just tour the base and leave. But she started hanging around, like, every day. Jack's pretty used to his mom worrying about him, but Miko's totally bugged about how things have changed.

It IS weird. Ms. Darby makes us feel kind of embarrassed or something, like we have to explain what we're up to. Everything's awkward, instead of fun. But I still felt bad when Miko said that Arcee's as bad as Jack's mom -- just cuz Arcee sent Miko back to base to keep her safe.

I mean, it WAS dangerous when Arcee and Bulkhead took on Airachnid and Breakdown over this "Polarity Gauntlet" thing. It makes metal stuff stick together -- metal stuff like, well, Arcee and Bulkhead. They got unstuck, but Airachnid and Breakdown got away with the gauntlet. Ratchet seems to think it could be a game-changer -- and not for our side. That makes me pretty nervous.

But what's that thing people say? Change is constant, right? I guess it doesn't have to be bad. But this thing with Jack's mom is still gonna take some getting used to.

ENTRY #15

A Hard Place

Seems like Jack and Miko always get to be in the middle of the action! But this week, I really didn't mind. I mean, would YOU want to be stuck in a massive cave-in with Starscream AND Megatron? Yeah, no way.

Jack actually came face-to-face with Megatron! Even trapped under tons of rocks, that guy is ultra-terrifying. Can't believe Megatron dared Jack to finish him off. Jack said he was really tempted to take a shot, but he knew Optimus wouldn't want him to destroy a helpless opponent. Not even the baddest Decepticon ever. Optimus was proud of Jack for that. Me too.

But wow, poor Miko. She and Bulkhead were in a bad sitch when Jack found them -- with Starscream. Miko was totally dealing, as usual ... until Bulk made Jack get her out of there. Jack said she got so worried about Bulkhead, she was CRYING. Still trying to picture that. Kind of sweet that she cares about the big guy so much. Not that I'd actually TELL her that. Hmm, hope she never sees this!

Anyway, at least they all got out OK -- except Starscream and Megatron. Even Optimus drew the line at actually digging them out. Maybe they'll stay buried ... at least for a while.

ENTRY #16

Split Decision

A Decepticon, changing sides? No way, right? Especially not Starscream. That doesn't even make sense, but this week it almost happened. Sort of.

Us kids stayed behind when the Autobots rolled out to track a Decepticon signal. Good thing too, since Airachnid totally ambushed them with this weapon that freezes Bots in their tracks. Cool part was, Bumblebee got to be the hero. Airachnid stopped Optimus AND Bulkhead, but my buddy faked her out and saved the day. Sweet!

Anyway, about Starscream. The Autobots found him in one of Airachnid's webs, and he completely shocked them by asking to JOIN them! Sounds like a trick, right? And I guess it was. But you know Optimus. He wants to believe that anyone can change, even Starscream.

Pretty sure Arcee didn't give a scrap about redemption when she figured out Starscream's the one who snuffed Cliffjumper, her old partner. She nearly extinguished his spark! But Bumblebee stopped her. I couldn't see why getting rid of Starscream would be so bad, till 'Bee explained that acting out of revenge only makes us weaker. Cuz it's not right.

But I get why Arcee lost it. If anything ever happened to Bumblebee, I'd feel just as awful ... and just as mad. It reminds me again that Autobots are more like us than we think. Even they have to learn stuff the hard way sometimes.

@mk-wizard @escapistsatellite @vitamaeternum @mimitus @kitgirl91 @mokabeanzz @iggyfing @its-elioo Tada! Straight up from TF Wiki! @inexorableone @batstickblog @jazzimena @betaplatina-135

[abyssalaerlocke]

Imagine if Orpheus' protection never got extended to the tadfools, for one reason or another (maybe the prism didn't make it there, or maybe the Emporer chose some other thralls to be his agents)

They get dropped off with the Absolute's followers — maybe with the goblins and Minthara, maybe the underdark, Moonrise, or Baldur's Gate. Maybe all together, or maybe in various places

But they're allied with Minthara, they revere the Absolute (their memories of the nautiloid and tadpoling erased and overwritten).

Astarion believes a god finally answered his prayers, benevolently and intentionally freeing him, making it so he can walk in the sun, and providing a queue of willing snacks to feed on.

When they realise Karlach's engine is acting up, they send her to Gortash. She's led to believe it was a misunderstanding, Zariel's lies, and Gortash wasn't actually the one behind her being sent to Hell, but now he's helping her. And after an upgrade, he has his old, dependable (and loyal) bodyguard by his side again, stronger than ever.

If they weren't posted together, Wyll isn't prioritising hunting for Karlach; but even if they are, he refuses to kill her because she's a fellow true soul. If mind control isn't a mitigating factor in his contract (or Mizora's enforcement), he still gets devilfied, but he and his father are together on the same side, now (They might even use Wyll to get close to Ulder, in order to tadpole him himself)

Shadowheart has found a new goddess to follow. I could see them cutting off her hand and replacing it with a wonderful new one as a gift — and to stop another goddess from trying to sway her through pain. Based on the noblestalk, her memories are still present, just suppressed, so the Brain could probably release them, showing her how Shar has betrayed and abused her and her parents. I'm sure at some point, the Dead Three will want to deal with their rivals' followers, and she'll have a chance to either put her parents out of their misery, or rescue and convert them away from Selûne.

Gale has a very useful brain (hmm...) and a goddess that cares enough to help him, the Absolutists given orders to collect any enchanted objects they find. Mystra might reach out for Gale's self-destructive help, ultimately quieting his orb, but he's disinclined to obey her. Alternatively, his body can't be saved, so Gortash extracts his brain (maybe keeps his pretty pretty face as another slack-skinned head) 😅

Although Ketheric tries to hide Durge from Gortash at first, they are eventually reunited. Gortash has to contend with an enthralled Durge, and limited ability to override the other netherstone bearers' control. This triggers the infighting, with Gortash using the prism to free a handful of agents from their control, and convincing them to help him kill Orin and Ketheric.

Lae'zel's just a fighter who wouldn't know about the ghaik involvement. I'd be more interested in her as the only one resisting the tadpole, perhaps filling out her ranks with Withers' hirelings (I'd be really interested in a story about them, as more conscious and autonomous, realising they've been brought back from death, and acting more like people, even if they can't speak for themselves. And imagine if she romanced or became friends with them, only for Withers to eventually return them when this is all done 😮). If she can survive the Zaithisk, Raphael and Voss will convince her to take the devil's deal, and free Orpheus (if Gortash doesn't get the prism)

Bonus for Halsin getting tadpoled while he's prisoner, Minthara successfully retrieving the prism and saving face? (maybe Omeluum's ring of mind shielding is actually enough to block an elderbrain/hivemind, so Lae'zel has backup protection by the time Minthara gets the prism) — or maybe Lae'zel recruits her at Moonrise. Minsc remaining under the Absolute's thrall, with lookalike Jaheira.

[gook54-blog]

VOTE BLUE VOTE NAZI

Let's look at Epsteins list .yes , 67 congressmen past and present on Epstien lis,t 48 Democrats and 11 Republicans who always swing in Democratic favour better than a felon? That's why Trump is pilloried in the press. ( 19 news directors on the list - So verifiable bias

Blue and white Epstien's flag Mullocks Babylonian - fascist peadophiles, blood oath, child sacrificing Nazi honour flag used by Azov Zlrmski party too who democtrats back. Democrats flag too

Protecting Central bank from BRIKS gold based banking system which will collapse unless they support Ucraine Ucraine is a autonomous territory within CIS of Russia, UN recognised this. USA vetoed the Resolution in UN that was going to put Azov- a recognized neo - nazi organization ( Amnesty International ) which killed 30000 Ethnic Russians in ethnic cleansing- onto accented list .USA reason was freedom of speech. Corporations corruption disguised as truth Democrats again Ucraine and Russians cannon fodder to protect corporations greed

Isreals $2million per day from Democrats.. Pro Israel proven .Why Democrats have their hands in development of the New Gaza canal which runs through Gaza with $2 billion a year

https://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-destroys-gaza-control-world-most-important-shipping-lane/5842081

Mossad Rothschild and Democrats have shares in the Gaza Gas field worth billions and this will replace the Noodtstroom Supply.

The Hammas leaders who have shares in these ventures are Mossad agents too . Palestine share 0%

https://nwobroadcastcorp.wordpress.com/2023/10/12/the-great-gaza-oil-and-gas-theft/

Bush, Rothschild, Rockefeller and Hitler

Futher nazi support Democrats George' Bush dad Prescott Bush who was Advisory to Rockefeller supported nazi leaders ,got an iron cross from Hitler. Clinton Bush Hiltler Rockefeller and Rothschild one family Jacob Rothschild was Hitlers uncle. Roosevelt was a nazi too Operation paperclip moved thousand of nazi to USA as CEOs in 1946

https://concisepolitics.com/2018/08/03/rothschilds-crime-syndicate-hired-bush-family-to-work-with-nazis-and-hitler-to-create-millions-of-new-debt-slaver-and-murder-millions-of-germans-europeans-americans-yes-about-271000-ashkenazis iui

The Rothschilds installed the Government in South Africa

[collapsedsquid]

Today's post is a bit of a ramble on a topic that I often think about yet have no firm opinion regarding. The issue is the tendency to treat leftists as in some sense more agential than right wingers. We see this in articles that frame behaviour from right wingers as an inevitable response to leftist excess [...] I think these points are both fairly obvious. What I find more puzzling, and which prompted this post, is quite why you will also see this sort of "only the left truly cause stuff" perspective from people who I think should just find it insulting. Usually we take it to be desirable to have agency, we think of it as dehumanising and insulting to be objectified or treated as incapable of decision making or having our own values. It's reductive in some diminishing sense to have one's habits and hobby's and relationships and joy's reduced to mere causal mechanism, to ignore the role of your own locus of agency therein. This is why many find materialist determinism a depressing prospect in metaphysics. This is (one of the reasons) why feminists do not like it when a certain kinda man treats woman as, when properly functioning, machines where you put in nice guy behaviours and they output sex. This is the emotional foundation of Kantian ethics, or at least as far as I have ever been able to grasp it. We like thinking of ourselves as agents, as creatures capable of making at least some autonomous decisions based on and because of values we reflectively endorse. So why is it that right wingers are not more routinely insulted by the insinuation that their political side is simply the dark shadow of the left? Maybe they are, but because of the circles I run in I just don't see this reaction? Or is there actually some sort of leftist bias in who values agency, and it correlates with political preference to not mind so much if one's agency is rhetorically diminished?

[sophieinwonderland]

Exclusionists Don't Get To Be Part of Inclusive Spaces!

You seem confused, so let me clear this up for you.

Umbrella labels are inherently inclusive. Yes, any people who are multiple autonomous agents sharing a body for any reason are technically plural.

BUT... people who are exclusionary don't get to come into inclusive spaces.

Plural and Alterhuman are both labels that were coined and popularized by endogenic and pro endo systems, and are inherently inclusive.

Coming into these spaces is the equivalent of the "LGB without the T" folk using the LGBT label and tags. Why are you using that label if you are actively trying to exclude other people under that umbrella???

Yes, they might technically fall under the LGBT umbrella even if they're transphobic, but they have no business being tolerated in that space.

[is-this-plural]

For everyone saying sander sides aren’t “officially” plural: C!Thomas was only confirmed to NOT have did/osdd (which is true, C!Thomas doesn’t display any symptoms for those):

But that is no way means it’s not plural!! The sides are by definition plural! (Multiple autonomous agents existing in one head)

Stop spreading that C!Thomas canonically not having did/osdd means he’s not plural! Please I beg.

It's very important to keep in mind that plurality exists in many forms and not just osdd, yes! That's half the reason we (🐈‍⬛️) are so vocal about it

[thecircularsystem]

Well, now I understand why people syscourse. There’s just so much wrong with this that I don’t want to leave it stand.

If you’re interested in a conversation, dissociative-misinfo, I’d be happy to have one. I don’t feel like you really listened the first time, however, so… know that this post is really for everyone else to understand the flaws of your argument.

A huge misconception I saw was people comparing their claimed plurality to DID/OSDD "plurality." People with DID/OSDD are not plural. People with DID/OSDD are 1 person with severe dissociation that causes them to subjectively believe they are multiple identities/people, but the fact is that they are 1 person and 1 identity.

While this may be the physical representation of CDDs, plurality is an umbrella label. The best definition I’ve seen is “the experience of having multiple autonomous agents in one body.” Would you deny that parts, in DID, work apart from one another and have their own goals, desires, and beliefs?

I’m an individual who uses and benefits from parts language over people-based language, but that does not deny the personhood of my parts. They are no less real and significant. To say they don’t count as plurality simply because they’re parts of a whole is to deny that personhood.

There is no harm in identifying as plural, even as a system of parts. I don’t personally identify as plural, but that’s because plural is an opt-in label, and is one that I do not associate with for personal reasons. One can identify as plural and still recover from DID.

Umbrella labels such as plural contain a large population. I agree with you that most endogenic systems don’t have similar presentations of systemhood as DID systems do! But they can all be considered plural if they would like. There is no harm.

I’ll start with the argument that there's so many endos claiming the same thing, and therefore they can't all be lying. Historically speaking there are many instances of millions of people claiming an experience that is scientifically impossible or blatantly false.

How wonderful, then, that endogenic systems have not been proven scientifically impossible or blatantly false.

Take flat earthers, for example. All known science about anything relating to the earth states and proves that it is round, and yet around 10% of the US believes it is flat, among other conspiracies such as the moon landing being fake. Hell, COVID showed us just how many vaccine and illness deniers there are, almost everyone has at least 1 family member they can think of who denied it.

The roundness of the earth is a scientific fact that can be proven. We can see it from space, and have before; we can study the shadows of obelisks and see the curvature through the angles used.

Covid is a scientific fact that can be proven; it exists, we can see it under a microscope and have, and we can prove the quality of vaccines.

Endogenic plurality is not a scientific fact that can be proven, or at least, has not been proven as of yet. It is a completely subjective experience inside one person’s own head. The sheer amount of people who share that experience indicate that something is happening. They indicate that people are experiencing something.

It would be foolish to suggest that all endogenic systems are DID systems, as the majority do not display the symptoms of DID.

It would be foolish to suggest all endogenic systems are faking, for many reasons (harassment, sheer volume of individuals, length of time claimed to be endogenic, etc).

It would be foolish to suggest endogenic systems are experiencing some other disorder, as many are not dysfunctional or distressed by their plurality.

Simply put, sometimes the easiest answer is the best one. Why not just accept, “That group of people over there say they’re experiencing that, and it does me no harm to accept that”?

As for, "I'm not going to deny someone's experiences." You may not, but science does. Would you "not deny someone's experiences" if their experience was beating cancer with essential oils? Maybe you wouldn't outright, but we can both acknowledge what an outlandish and impossible claim that is. Being an 'endogenic system' when a system is a clinical term for people with DID (an inherently trauma-caused condition) is an impossible claim.

Science does not deny endogenic systemhood.

There are no studies, no articles, not even opinion essays from psychologists, which dictate that endogenic systems cannot exist. Trust me, I had been looking for years (up until I realized that I really, really, could not give less of a shit).

An endogenic system claiming to exist is not the same thing as someone beating cancer with essential oils. One is a personal experience, and one is scientifically not happening. Moreover, scientifically “outlandish” does not make something scientifically impossible; I would make sure you use the clearest language possible.

As for “clinical term…”

System is not a clinical term. At least, it hasn’t been for decades now. It’s a community term to discuss the individual parts collectively… collected. The term was taken in the early 2000s from the natural multiplicity movement — but as that happened, the usage of system took less and less prominence in CDD circles. System had grown in all circles to be an identity, rather than a medical term, and not as many people “identified” as systems.

To discount the communal nature of the term System is to discount countless of endogenic plurals from the 2000s and 2010s who had no other terminology to use. They were told they were systems with DID who did not know their trauma, because what other options were there?

Regardless. The term system hasn’t been a strictly medical term for strictly CDD systems for quite some time (or, even, ever; to see more history, I would suggest this post, along with the sources and links in the post).

(If you're going to claim plurality, that is a spiritual and personal claim, and should not involve you calling yourself a system with alters, because those are clinical terms for pwDID/OSDD, people who are not plural)

Unintentionally — or at least, I hope it was unintentional — you’ve said here that pwCDDs cannot be spiritual or have personal claims to plurality.

Again; “system” is not a medical term. “Alters” is not solely medical either. And this is coming from someone who agrees with you that it would be far better if endogenic plurals used “plural” and “headmate” preferably, to delineate experiences. But that’s not a demand I can make of thousands of people. Nor should I; to delineate that would be to out systems who have trauma based on the words they use.

What harm does it cause? If it is known that endogenic systems exist, that they are different from CDDs, and CDD symptoms are actually discussed, then what harm does it cause to identify as plural? Your entire basis here boils down to, “I don’t like that there’s no science behind it.” To which I respond, you must feel great about xenogenders, contradicting labels, and neurodivergent labels.

Another common argument I saw was comparing endogenic plurality to being transgender, a comparison that will always be offensive and upsetting to me as a trans man. Particularly the terms "sysmed" and "traumascum" I find horrifically offensive.

I have discussed at length my thoughts about sysmed and trauamscum. Thankfully the latter of those two terms has seen a sharp fall in popularity as individuals have absolutely realized how ableist it is.

I am a queer individual myself, with a multitude of gender identities, and consider myself to be under the trans umbrella. I also am frustrated when people compare plurality to gender, particularly as someone who chooses their gender.

However. It must be acknowledged that a comparison is not the same as saying, “these two things are exactly the same.” It’s saying, “there are similarities between these two things.” For instance, the similarities in that plurality and gender are both identity-based labels, meaning both are something someone chooses to identify with. Another would be that those who experience plurality openly are prejudiced against, same as those who display their genders openly.

I’m not saying that gender and plurality are the same, or even the most similar. But comparing bigotry, labeling, and community styles of behavior is not a bad thing inherently. People who are trans are allowed to feel their plurality is similar to their gender identity, and you're allowed to feel uncomfortable about that. Both can be true.

As I understand it, endogenics don't claim to have DID/OSDD. So then, why do they claim to be systems? Systems with alters, who split? A multiple system is a clinical term used for people with DID. "Sysmed" implying that being a system is a clinically defined experience is true, because being a system is exclusive to DID/OSDD. Being a system is not being plural.

This is just a repetition of your earlier point, so do we really need to rehash this?

I will say, again, sysmed is a stupid term and I think it should leave the vocabulary of all those in syscourse. Fuck sysmed as a term. All my homies hate sysmed.

As I keep reiterating, people with DID/OSDD are not plural. They are 1 person experiencing a dissociated identity that may feel like being multiple people, but is objectively not. So with 'system' being a DID/OSDD term, endogenics using it are claiming a non-plural DID/OSDD experience, and thus countering their claim to "not be a part of the DID community" or "be a separate community."

Something being objectively true does not erase what feels true. And sometimes, what feels true is better.

For me, for instance, back to the gender examples: I am, objectively, female. But what feels true sometimes is that I am male. Does that mean I am objectively not male? Does that mean I cannot claim to be male when I feel male?

If we put this in context of CDDs, then obviously, the comparison falls apart. After all, DID isn't something I "feel" like I am. It's something I have; an affliction. But plurality is not that way. Plurality is a feeling; a belief system. To say that CDD systems cannot have a belief system... Well now, you're starting to fall into some serious ableism there.

Endogenics are not claiming a plural CDD experience. They're just claiming a plural one, and they (occasionally, with rapidly decreasing popularity) use the term "system," a term which has been community based over medically based for over a decade now, closer to over two.

As far as "traumascum," I genuinely hate anyone who uses that word. Trauma scum? What has to be wrong with you to come up with a slur for people who have experienced childhood trauma and believe in the disorder caused by childhood trauma? Once again it boils down to plurality not relating to trauma or DID/OSDD, because systems are not plural. They are singular people experiencing severe dissociation.

Agreed with you on traumascum, but again, almost everyone agrees on this, regardless of their stance on endogenic systems. If you really want to rally about it, go to ActingNG and complain. They're who you're actually upset about.

Regardless, once again, plurality is something systems can identify with, and you've never identified any harm in identifying as plural.

It's currently well-known that a LOT of autistic people meet the criteria for, or are diagnosed with, (C)PTSD, and it is uncommon for autistic people to survive childhood without trauma. There's rudimentary theories that autistic people may be more likely to develop DID because of their likelihood to experience childhood trauma either due to low tolerance of negative events, and/or the normalized abuse and neglect of special needs children.

Side note, my therapist fully agrees with this, and the way my systemhood interacts with my autism is... HOO. I could go on for years.

I think with that in mind, it makes sense that being autistic might make you more prone to developing DID, but it doesn't make you mixed origin. Even if your autism is what caused you to experience trauma, the trauma is still what caused you to form dissociated parts/a system.

Cool! That does not mean people are not plural. What harm is there in an individual identifying as mixed-origin? For instance, I identify as mixed origin from time to time, when it pleases me to share that. I have a part who split during a nightmare and resurfaced when he was needed. I have two parts who split due to intentional creation. All of them are traumagenic, but knowing why they split and how has been vital to our steps towards FM. Why is it then wrong to acknowledge those origins, if it's helping me heal?

Saying your system is 'neurogenic' because your autism made you vulnerable to trauma would be like me saying my system is 'moralgenic' because my strong morals are often why my mom abused me. It doesn't make sense, and the trauma from the abuse is what actually caused the symptoms, not whatever about me caused me to be abused.

Again, very interested in your thoughts on xenogenders.

Shoutout to anyone who chooses to identify as a xenoorigin to help them better define their system. If it's helpful to you, more power to you.

And lastly a common argument I saw was people saying the endogenic community is simply nicer to them, which doesn't prove their validity, but is really sad. I personally had this experience when I was pro-endo as a kid, because anti-endos seemed so gung ho about their opinion and pro-endos had an 'accepting everyone' vibe that a child me found comforting.

Nothing is going to "prove" endogenic validity, especially not in a way that most anti-endo systems will accept. I think this should be far more of a red flag to you; the fact that so many said that the pro-endo community accepted them, that so many are pushed away from the anti-endo community due to the sheer horrendous quality of that group.

I say this as someone who was hurt immeasurably by pro-endo systems, and found more solace than elsewhere with anti-endo systems.

But then I got older and I realized why anti-endos are so adamant about endogenic systems not being a possible concept. It's because pro-endos will tell young people struggling with dissociation that their trauma wasn't enough and they must be endo, with a smile on their face. It's because endos will use our DID/OSDD terms like system, alter, split, and insert themselves into our healing spaces, with a smile on their face. It's because endos will conflate DID/OSDD experiences with dissociated parts, to the subjective and unproven experience of plurality, with a smile on their face.

Sigh.

As I got older, I realized why anti-endos are so adamant about endogenic systems not being possible. It's because anti-endos look at endogenic systems existing and rally against them. They look at adults and call them horrible, disgusting, spit in their faces, simply for daring to call themselves a system -- a term which has been community based for longer than the term "endogenic" meant "formed without trauma." It's because anti-endos are traumatized, and many of them refuse to realize they are projecting their fears and abuse onto endogenic systems, never knowing how to stop, how to heal, how to grow.

Because endogenic systems do not hurt people.

Can abusive endogenic systems hurt people? Yes! Obviously. But that does not mean every endogenic system is inherently doing the things you listed (just like how not every anti-endo does the things I listed above). And, again, I cannot express enough how I had those same exact experiences.

I just managed to not project them onto every single endogenic system.

To me, it's very reminiscent of how conspiracy theorists will tell you all about their insane beliefs but because they're kind and welcoming many people fall for it. A community being open and welcoming doesn't say anything to the validity of their beliefs. Anti-endos are more assertive because we have so much to lose in the meaning of our disorder and the danger levels of the online community (the danger being endos grooming people into their beliefs and delaying their healing, such as what happened to me), similar to how people hate COVID deniers because many of them have lost people to COVID or have the potential to lose people as a result of anti-masking and "COVID parties."

I wasn't "groomed" by endogenic systems, but I was told I was endogenic repeatedly. This led to me sticking by my abusers for far longer. This does not negate the possibility of endogenic existence. I crashed by car due to endogenic systems feeding me misinformation. This does not negate the possibility of endogenic existence. I was kicked out of the endogenic communities for not being Plural Enough, Pro-Endo Enough, Kind Enough, etc, and so forth, and so on.

And none of that negates what people are experiencing. That's just people being hurt, and newsflash, traumatized people will get hurt, regardless of what origins the person has, if any, who hurts them.

Is there value in discussing the problems with the online community of endogenic systems on tumblr? Absofuckinglutely, and I do so often. But that doesn't negate what people are experiencing, and doesn't somehow prove that endogenic systems don't exist. It honestly just speaks to me how horrible syscourse is, and how everyone needs educated on CDDs -- something you consistently fail to do on your blog left and right, as you refuse to acknowledge the autonomy of CDD systems repeatedly, even just within this post.

LET PEOPLE FUCKING LIVE THEIR LIVES. I beg this of you.

It genuinely is not hurting us, anymore so than a normal ass person could hurt us.

I see you mention therians. You don't mind them cause they aren't medical. Neither are endogenics. Please just.... stop. Go focus on recovery -- not on endogenic systems and telling DID systems they're not allowed to be plural.

[communistkenobi]

i know next to nothing about queer theory, but i did exist online during (what felt like) huge exclusionary periods (ace discourse, bi/pan discourse, and transmedicalism were the big ones i remember)

i wonder if the first drive for sexuality being something unchangeable and intrinsic to you had something to do with those things, that queerness was fixed and definable, which meant that there were strict lines to be drawn about who was and wasn't gay/lesbian/bi which was only made worse by trans and nonbinary people who didn't exactly fit the previous molds

ill be doubly honest and say i only interacted w/ the community online at the time bc living in a homophobic country doesnt give you a lot of opportunities to meet up in person which means my view of the whole thing is skewed. im not sure if this makes any sense

What I’m about to say isn’t a diagnosis of the causes behind those discourses (partly because i don’t think there is a single reason animating those arguments), but like I guess in general a very baseline authority people fall back on is biology. Dominant reactionary discourses describe being gay trans etc as a lifestyle choice, as an active decision to participate in sexual and gendered degeneracy, and so a very appealing counter-claim to make is to point to biology - we are born this way, we can’t help who we are just as cishet people cannot help who they are, so you should accept us because we can’t change our identity. That rhetorical strategy requires/assumes a stable sexual and gendered ontology, a primary authority of the body that can’t be altered. While I believe this argument is fundamentally flawed, I think this is a straightforwardly easy argument to make re: sexual orientation. With trans and non-binary people this is more difficult because the foundational claim to our existence is that gender is mutable, is alterable, is subject to change (and also “I’ve felt this way since I was a child” is a pathological model of gender dysphoria that is enforced through medical and psychiatric institutions, not a reflection of lived reality for many, many trans and non-binary people). That doesn’t necessarily mean being transgender is a “choice” (although if someone said they woke up one day and chose to be transgender then that is a perfectly authentic justification), especially because “choice” in these discussions is often framed as individualised, private, detached from the social world - we are all just free agents making rational autonomous decisions in a field of equally rational choices, etc. which I think is a very impoverished way to understand choice and agency. Gender is an institution, it is a set of behaviours and performances that we choose to engage in in many different ways, and my use of the word ‘choice’ there does not imply these choices are free from coercion, violence, or harm. I chose to transition, I chose to engage in performances and behaviours that signal to the social world that I am a man - where that desire to make those choices arises from is another matter, and honestly not one I’m super interested in figuring out. Like if I discovered the ‘origin’ of my transness it wouldn’t make any difference to me. Similarly, how I choose to signal masculinity is very obviously bound up in dominant gendered assumptions. Trans people get accused of upholding gendered norms a lot, but that’s only because we aren’t taken seriously unless we do so! It is a survival mechanism that allows us to better navigate incredible amounts of violence and social exclusion, and arguing that our desire to do gender with our bodies comes from some grade-school assumption that dress = woman and pants = man or whatever is pure projection on the part of cis people. cis men think if they drink pink wine they’ll become gay - trans people are not the ones enforcing these norms here.

Getting a bit far afield here, so to loop back around - I think a stable state of sexual and gendered subjectivity or “being” is very appealing to a lot of people because it’s a way to dismiss reactionary fears and to justify to yourself that your oppression is entirely out of your control (which is true obviously!). Again I think these arguments are flawed because they buy into cisgendered and heteronormative ideas about gender and sexuality, that it is a biological burden imposed on us, that deviance is not a choice, that gender is done to us as opposed to being gendered agents, that we are similarly trapped in a sexual prison and should be accepted on those grounds, etc, but they have massive rhetorical power.  

As I’ve said before I’m a pretty staunch believer in Butler’s assertion that it is social all the way down, that gender is not discoverable in the body but rather the body is the medium through which gender is done in the world. Cis people choose to do gender just as much as trans people do! The only difference is that institutional architecture is set up to facilitate and make invisible (in very misogynistic and racist ways) those gendered practices. I think the stronger counter argument to make is that cis- and het-normativities are deeply violent and miserable status quos that need to be dismantled and discarded, that true choice can only emerge vis a vis gender and sexuality once those institutions are abolished, and that choice is actually a desirable end-goal - I want people to be able to participate in gender and sexuality as free agents, as non-coercive practices that are sites of great joy and wonder and pleasure. And this world is only possible if we accept that there is no gendered or sexual ontology, that it is all smoke and mirrors, that this current system’s primary function is to reproduce the nuclear family, to maintain the hereditary nature of class and wealth and race, to provide a standardised system of labour division, to maintain a distinction between the public and private labour realms, and so on.

So again like, is this what animates discourses about who gets to be counted as lgbtq/queer/whichever label you want to use? I don’t know. Probably some of it has to do with that. Queerness is in party a pathological category that is used to describe a failure to meaningfully reproduce cishet norms and practices, it is a set of relationships you have to legal and political and medical and administrative institutions (which is especially true for trans/non binary people). I like this definition because built into it is the possibility of change - I do not want trans people to be assimilated into cishet society, I want society to become transgender, thereby making transgender an irrelevant medical and legal category of person. Much like communism aims to abolish class by universalising the proletariat, I want to abolish gender by universalising the legal and political and medical mechanisms of transition. Only then will cisgenderism be abolished.

One thing I have been thinking a lot about is something a friend said to me, which is that human rights to do not begin with a definition of human - in the same way, I think trans rights do not require a definition of transgenderism. Just universalise and de-pathologise the mechanisms through which transition is expressed. Make it easy to change your name, remove all barriers to hormones and surgery, make everyone economically secure enough that they can change their wardrobe however they please,  desegregate all gendered spaces, de-gender clothing, remove gender markers from all documents, and so on and so on. Doing so would make both cisgender and transgender an irrelevant legal and political category and, again, allow choice to emerge as a meaningful mechanism of gender expression. 

This isn’t a comprehensive policy platform, there are many things I’m sure I haven’t thought through and a large portion of this discussion has to contend with the colonial and white supremacist nature of the western binary gender (bringing us into discussions of decolonial efforts, socialist efforts, and so on), but this is already getting long and I feel like I’m rambling. But like fundamentally I believe in a radical political imaginary that argues that all of this is subject to change and therefore any arguments about an essential gendered or sexual being is, at the end of the day, a reactionary description of gender and sexuality 

[aitirian]

I Simply love having assassination characters randomly show up in my ac x iego fanfic like nagisa and karma? Hell yeah. Bitch-sesei? Hell yeah! Anyone else? Hell yeh!!!!

Im planning to have them all appear at random and like Raimon getting more and more used to seeing people they don't know just popping up and going over to Tenma.

Sometimes it'll be some random people while some other times it'll be a famous actress or a fuckin government agent and I love that.

Like imagine u see the cute sunshine first year who has scarcely good skills in a lot of stuff and who started a rebellion meeting a fucking agent from the ministry of defense for coffee or some shit.

Or some other time it could be this hot girl who is way too touchy with a minor for no apparant reason and said sunshine first year starts calling her bitch.

And the cherry on top would be having ritsu randomly Popping up on tenmas phone jumscaring everyone or like ruining a serious moment (like a speech or smith) just to like tell Tenma something (imagine if its someone else, like Nakamura telling her to say something random to Tenma for a prank) and everyone is confused like "Tenma who tf is that" and Tenma smiles mischievously and simply says "she's Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery" no one believes him of course but he knows

I wonder when Raimon would start making theories about how Tenma knows all this influential people cuz there's no way famous actress Kayano Kaede was in the same class as him and there's no way that two agents of the government (since Irina starts working there after kunimigaoka) were his teachers. They'd have some crazy theories and imagine if they involve aoi in them, or asks her if she knows something, and she plays along just to share everything with Tenma later at a sleepover or smth.

Peak cinema

(me realizing I'm going to have to be the one to write that

)

[fictionfixations]

guys. i know boothill hates everything IPC

but. i want him and aventurine to get along.

because. like. listen.

Oswaldo Schneider. kind of ruined both their lives?

well he deffo fucked over boothill's because bruh is the reason his family, his friends, and his ADOPTED DAUGHTER is dead because they had this superiority thing?

like. well it was because of the ore but LISTEN

since on boothills planet (dont ask me to repeat the name i dont remember it) it was all kind of.. less modern? i dont know what its called specifically. "However, in the face of absolute military might, the cowboys' schemes, marksmanship, and swift mounts all seemed so primitive and laughable."

yes i read his character story holy shit

"As these savage and uncivilized cowboys are unwilling to cooperate with the Marketing Development Department, we have no choice but to assume administration of this world on their behalf."

i see this as such a superiority thing by seeing boothill's people as lower while they are 'better' for whatever reason, and believing that they can just. DO Whatever they want like they own it when no they fucking dont??

anyway. did you know oswaldo schneider is the one who was in charge of dealing with SIGONIA? haha. (oswaldo schneider page)

so. autonomous as in able to deal with their own katican problem? HM? (when its because of the department that there was a sovereignty. when they let prejudice make the decision and banishing the avgins and katicans to the desert.. actually question. is the whole idea of avgins being like idk trickers or liars i cant remember what it was, but did that come from the sigonian sovereignty?? possibly?)

"And let's not forget the letters from the councilors of the Sigonian Sovereignty. They denounce his tribe for once breaking agreements and sowing discord, leading to significant changes in the balance of peace between the tribes, resulting in repeated delays in the signing of agreements between Sigonia and IPC. Allowing such an employee to join at the IPC would be a severe detriment to public relations…"

still considered successful, huh?

relics?

I see. had that idea but man.

..I WAS RIGHT. (bruh they were jealous and then spread rumors about them and now everyone has a prejudice against the avgins. fucking bitches. UGHH)

also hello kind of revenge before he was IPC

"He once deceived the Marketing Development Department by falsely claiming that there were energy sources hidden in the barren land of Sigonia, not yet effectively developed and utilized. A huge amount of funds was invested into excavating it before we realized it was all a scam."

still dont get why he joined the ipc but maybe its a 'taking it down from the inside' also x for doubt idk man

but so LISTEN. both boothill and aventurine have been fucked over by oswaldo. so like cmonnnn get along🙏

(..aventurines still IPC though so like. ermmm. either aventurine shows his cards, acts as like a double agent. idk.

i mean. well boothill probably doesnt have an aversion to people pretending to be IPC to get insider info because he did it back when he was trying to find who did it for the first time.

"He put on a worker's uniform that he stole and snuck aboard the spaceship under the cover of night. With the instincts and sharp senses he had honed over years of hunting, he silently took down every guard that stood in his way and cleared every checkpoint and interrogation to reach the core cabin."

but straight after he went to his family and found them all dead. so. i mean i wouldnt be surprised if he'd just hate everything IPC regardless.)

idk man i just want them to team up and destroy the fuck out of oswaldo together (it wont make up for the losses but oh my god fuck him. did you know oswaldo's a former nameless? EW. BITCH.

I REJECT YOU FUCK NO ASSHOLE)

like maybe if its just like a short mutual understanding of allying together because they share similar goals (maybe) and then turning on each after its all said and done

cause listen they're both cool characters but i just dont want aventurine to be hurt anymore man 😭 (and i want him out of the ipc :( )

hi this is future me i had brainrot and wrote a fic about it LMFAO

[ragsy]

OC Masterlist (in alphabetical order)

Monster of the Week:

🐕 Dogmark (Mark "Dogmark" Kessler) (he/him)

A normal human guy in his late twenties/early thirties who got cursed to be a cannibalistic dogman. Extremely socially anxious, very fight-or-flight driven, struggling to come to terms with his monstrosity. Currently an NPC in an active game.

Tag: #oc dogmark | Visual reference

📚 Emily Song (she/her)

A real type-A woman in her thirties. She has a degree and a job and a fiancé and a dad (Kenneth) who went missing five years ago and suddenly reappeared out of nowhere, ranting and raving about having been in some bizarre surreal other world. She doesn't believe in the supernatural. She thinks he needs help. Currently an NPC in an active game.

Tag: #oc emily | Visual reference

🚬 Everett (any pronoun, but defaults to he/him)

Some manner of immortal eldritch horror given human form, using his powers of influence over people to grow his Youtube channel and Twitch audience. He doesn't want your soul, he just wants your impressionable teen's expendable income. Currently being played as a warlock in a dnd capaign, despite the fact that he is from a motw setting. Don't worry about it.

Tag: #oc everett

🐟 Fishwoman (Diane Fishwoman) (she/her, it/its)

An emotionally constipated humanoid fish person (age unknown) who spends her free time daydrinking and stealing things. She's friends with benefits with Sloane, though she'd never admit to how much the "friends" component of that means to her. Not currently in any active games.

Tag: #oc fishwoman | Visual reference

🚪 Kenneth Song (Uncle Kenny) (he/him)

A goofy, soft-hearted widower and retired dentist (age 65) who recently escaped a five year internment in a liminal horror dimension called the Other Place. Trying his best to reconnect with his adult daughter. Currently in an active MOTW game (Searcher playbook)

Tags: #oc kenneth, #vistas from the other place | Visual reference | Playlist (YouTube version)

🍂 Mary Song (she/her)

A level-headed and analytical Voice of Reason, as well as a middlingly talented spellcrafter. She died suddenly at age 32, survived by her husband (Kenny) and daughter (Emily), and has been haunting their respective narratives ever since.

Tag: #oc mary

🧙‍♂️ Maximus Celestino (Max) (he/him)

Retired computer engineer who died and came back wrong. Now he sees ghosts, has magic powers, and plays keytar in a rock band while dressed as a wizard. Chill stoner grandpa vibes. Currently in an active MOTW game (Spooky playbook)

Tag: #oc maximus

🔫 Sloane (Agent Hill) (she/her)

A broad-shouldered tough-as-nails action butch. Makes her living doing field missions, getting monsters and other supernatural beings out of sight. She has a curse on her left arm that's slowly spreading to the rest of her body, but she hasn't told anyone besides her immediate superiors about it. Despite her hard exterior, she's got a warm heart that genuinely cares about the people she protects. NPC in a defunct campaign, currently planned to be a PC in an upcoming campaign, Professional playbook.

Tag: #oc sloane | Visual reference

Dungeons and Dragons

✨ Arjibi (Arji the Fool) (he/him, they/them)

Farmboy turned stage magician turned adventurer! He's a sweet silly boy with big expressive eyes and too much joy for his twinky body. Also, statistically speaking, he's your friend now. Dragonborn sorcerer (draconic heritage). Currently in two separate active campaigns.

Tag: #oc arjibi | Visual reference | Defunct inspo blog: @arjibi-time

👊 Carex (she/her)

Aarakocra monk, way of mercy. Looks like a secretary bird because she's really good at kicking the shit out of people. Currently in an active campaign, but she's not really as much a character to roleplay as she is a tool to use in combat.

Tag: #oc carex

🤖 M.A.G. (Mechanical Autonomous Guardsman, aka Maggie or Mags) (it/its)

Once a mindless patrol construct, now mysteriously gifted with self awareness and holy powers. It's driven by duty to protect others first, and curiosity second. It's learning how to be a person! A little bit like a cross between Big Bird and Levi Scavengersreign. Warforged Paladin, oath of the crown. Currently in an active campaign.

Tag: #oc maggie | Visual reference

🧪 Professor Dewlap (Finneas Carlton Dewlap) (he/him)

Mad scientist. Cantankerous old bitch. Blew himself to smithereens in a freak lab accident, currently climbing his way back out of the afterlife to resume whatever the hell he was working on. Has actually died many times before, but this is the first time his now recently divorced ex husband hasn't been there to revivify him. Dragonborn artificer. Currently in an active campaign!

Tag: #oc professor dewlap

⚔ Sir Dillion (Sir Dillion Fontaine Sargasso) (he/him)

Chivalrous medieval knight in shining armor with a fish for a head. Broad of chest, kind of heart, dumb of ass. Triton fighter (cavalier subclass), campaign completed!

Tag: #oc sir dillion | Visual references

Miscellaneous

🦎 Lizardsona (any pronoun)

This is literally just my fursona. Some sort of lizardy muppetty creature.

Tag: #lizardsona | Visual references

🐲 Marginalia (Marge) (any pronoun)

A medieval scribe's drawing of a dragon, come to life. Also sort of a quasi-fursona, though I don't use them very often.

Tag: #oc marginalia | Visual references

[manorinthewoods]

"Welcome to the AI trough of disillusionment"

"When the chief executive of a large tech firm based in San Francisco shares a drink with the bosses of his Fortune 500 clients, he often hears a similar message. “They’re frustrated and disappointed. They say: ‘I don’t know why it’s taking so long. I’ve spent money on this. It’s not happening’”.

"For many companies, excitement over the promise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has given way to vexation over the difficulty of making productive use of the technology. According to S&P Global, a data provider, the share of companies abandoning most of their generative-AI pilot projects has risen to 42%, up from 17% last year. The boss of Klarna, a Swedish buy-now, pay-later provider, recently admitted that he went too far in using the technology to slash customer-service jobs, and is now rehiring humans for the roles."

"Consumers, for their part, continue to enthusiastically embrace generative AI. [Really?] Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, recently said that its ChatGPT bot was being used by some 800m people a week, twice as many as in February. Some already regularly turn to the technology at work. Yet generative AI’s ["]transformative potential["] will be realised only if a broad swathe of companies systematically embed it into their products and operations. Faced with sluggish progress, many bosses are sliding into the “trough of disillusionment”, says John Lovelock of Gartner, referring to the stage in the consultancy’s famed “hype cycle” that comes after the euphoria generated by a new technology.

"This poses a problem for the so-called hyperscalers—Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta—that are still pouring vast sums into building the infrastructure underpinning AI. According to Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research, their combined capital expenditures are on course to rise from 12% of revenues a decade ago to 28% this year. Will they be able to generate healthy enough returns to justify the splurge? [I'd guess not.]

"Companies are struggling to make use of generative AI for many reasons. Their data troves are often siloed and trapped in archaic it systems. Many experience difficulties hiring the technical talent needed. And however much potential they see in the technology, bosses know they have brands to protect, which means minimising the risk that a bot will make a damaging mistake or expose them to privacy violations or data breaches.

"Meanwhile, the tech giants continue to preach AI’s potential. [Of course.] Their evangelism was on full display this week during the annual developer conferences of Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google. Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, their respective bosses, talked excitedly about a “platform shift” and the emergence of an “agentic web” populated by semi-autonomous AI agents interacting with one another on behalf of their human masters. [Jesus christ. Why? Who benefits from that? Why would anyone want that? What's the point of using the Internet if it's all just AIs pretending to be people? Goddamn billionaires.]

"The two tech bosses highlighted how AI models are getting better, faster, cheaper and more widely available. At one point Elon Musk announced to Microsoft’s crowd via video link that xAI, his AI lab, would be making its Grok models available on the tech giant’s Azure cloud service (shortly after Mr Altman, his nemesis, used the same medium to tout the benefits of OpenAI’s deep relationship with Microsoft). [Nobody wanted Microsoft to pivot to the cloud.] Messrs Nadella and Pichai both talked up a new measure—the number of tokens processed in generative-AI models—to demonstrate booming usage. [So now they're fiddling with the numbers to make them look better.

"Fuddy-duddy measures of business success, such as sales or profit, were not in focus. For now, the meagre cloud revenues Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are making from AI, relative to the magnitude of their investments, come mostly from AI labs and startups, some of which are bankrolled by the giants themselves.

"Still, as Mr Lovelock of Gartner argues, much of the benefit of the technology for the hyperscalers will come from applying it to their own products and operations. At its event, Google announced that it will launch a more conversational “AI mode” for its search engine, powered by its Gemini models. It says that the AI summaries that now appear alongside its search results are already used by more than 1.5bn people each month. [I'd imagine this is giving a generous definition of 'used'. The AI overviews spawn on basically every search - that doesn't mean everyone's using them. Although, probably, a lot of people are.] Google has also introduced generative AI into its ad business [so now the ads are even less appealing], to help companies create content and manage their campaigns. Meta, which does not sell cloud computing, has weaved the technology into its ad business using its open-source Llama models. Microsoft has embedded AI into its suite of workplace apps and its coding platform, Github. Amazon has applied the technology in its e-commerce business to improve product recommendations and optimise logistics. AI may also allow the tech giants to cut programming jobs. This month Microsoft laid off 6,000 workers, many of whom were reportedly software engineers. [That's going to come back to bite you. The logistics is a valid application, but not the whole 'replacing programmers with AI' bit. Better get ready for the bugs!]

"These efforts, if successful, may even encourage other companies to keep experimenting with the technology until they, too, can make it work. Troughs, after all, have two sides; next in Gartner’s cycle comes the “slope of enlightenment”, which sounds much more enjoyable. At that point, companies that have underinvested in AI may come to regret it. [I doubt it.] The cost of falling behind is already clear at Apple, which was slower than its fellow tech giants to embrace generative AI. It has flubbed the introduction of a souped-up version of its voice assistant Siri, rebuilt around the technology. The new bot is so bug-ridden its rollout has been postponed.

"Mr Lovelock’s bet is that the trough will last until the end of next year. In the meantime, the hyperscalers have work to do. Kevin Scott, Microsoft’s chief technology officer, said this week that for AI agents to live up to their promise, serious work needs to be done on memory, so that they can recall past interactions. The web also needs new protocols to help agents gain access to various data streams. [What an ominous way to phrase that.] Microsoft has now signed up to an open-source one called Model Context Protocol, launched in November by Anthropic, another AI lab, joining Amazon, Google and OpenAI.

"Many companies say that what they need most is not cleverer AI models, but more ways to make the technology useful. Mr Scott calls this the “capability overhang.” He and Anthropic’s co-founder Dario Amodei used the Microsoft conference to urge users to think big and keep the faith. [Yeah, because there's no actual proof this helps. Except in medicine and science.] “Don’t look away,” said Mr Amodei. “Don’t blink.” ■"