#I couldn't survive a day without talking with AI

[tercka-s]

I'm so proud of myself for getting away from that shit

It's so bad for mentally ill people

btw I hate character ai for all the AI reasons but I do also think you should hate character.ai for hijacking the social rewards system of a million teenager's brains. that shit is poison and im not exaggerating

[captainsophiestark]

Gray Jedi

Anakin Skywalker x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: Star Wars

Day 23 Prompt: "No, you won't understand, ever."

Summary: Y/N left the Jedi Order over differences with their teachings and a love for Anakin Skywalker. Now, however, something is wrong with Anakin, and they might be the only one who can stop tradgedy from happening.

Word Count: 2,094

Category: Angst, Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I'd spent the majority of my life as a Jedi, so I'd heard plenty of Masters utter the phrase "I feel a disturbance in the Force" or some variation of it over the years. I'd even felt a few myself, once or twice. But nothing had ever felt like the looming cloud of dread that hung over me now.

I hadn't been a Jedi for more than a year now, which made the feeling all the stranger. I'd left over a few differences with the Council and their rules, opting to become a Gray Jedi by technicality and a non-Force-user by practice. So the feeling of dark premonition battering me awake from my peaceful sleep was even stranger.

Even having let my connection with the Force fade a bit, I knew enough to not ignore this sign. Especially because the face of my former best friend, Anakin Skywalker, featured in every single flash this vision was giving me.

Anakin had been one of the reasons I'd decided to leave in the first place. Somehow, when I wasn't paying attention, I'd fallen in love with my best friend. And that kind of love was forbidden among the Jedi.

I'd put up with it for a while, for most of the Clone Wars. But finally, when it started to feel like Anakin might have returned my affections, it got to be too much for me. I couldn't have something with him and still be a Jedi. So I'd left.

Anakin had stayed, and I didn't blame him for it one bit. The Jedi were the only family he'd known since his mother, and the only family he had left since her death. I, probably stupidly, had never talked to him about my feelings. What reason would he have had to leave?

I'd been living a new, peaceful life as far away from the war and the Sith and the Jedi as I could get, and it had been going fairly well, all things considered. But now, something was clearly wrong.

I hadn't survived as long as I did in the war by completely ignoring my instincts. So, I grabbed my lightsaber and took off for the Temple, since that would be the best place to talk about my vision and to start finding Anakin.

When I got to the Temple, however, I found it almost deserted. Something was clearly, deeply wrong.

As I stood in the entryway of the place I'd once called home, I felt a harsh shove in the Force, like someone had physically put their hands on me and pushed. I stumbled, taking a few steps in the direction to keep from falling, then decided to keep going. I rested one hand on the hilt of my lightsaber, ready to draw at a moment's notice as I raced through the halls.

To my surprise, the shoving brought me right to one of the most relaxing, comfortable spaces in the Temple. Even more surprising, I found this one full of what must've been every youngling in the Order.

They looked at me questioningly, and I looked back the same way. That violent shoving in the Force had stopped, so what exactly did it want from me? Why had it dragged me here years after I'd left all this behind?

A moment later, I got my answer. The gaze of the younglings shifted from me to a point behind me, and chills went down my spine. I heard a familiar voice say my name, but nothing about his presence in the Force felt familiar.

Slowly, I turned, leaving one had on my saber. With the younglings behind me, I came face to face with Anakin Skywalker, the only man I'd ever loved. And he looked terrible.

His shoulders were hunched, and he held his lightsaber in his hand like he was ready for combat. His hair was a mess, and through the Force, I could almost see a literal cluster of darkness surrounding him. But worst of all, his eyes were yellow. Glowing Sith yellow.

"Anakin..." I breathed, keeping my tone carefully calm like I was talking to a scared animal. "What are you doing?"

"The Jedi have to be destroyed, Y/N. They are corrupt, and working for the downfall of the Republic."

"Anakin, what-"

"They've been keeping things from me my entire life. They're plotting against the Senate. This is the only way to ensure peace."

"Anakin... I understand that you're feeling hurt and angry-"

"No, you won't understand, ever! This is the only way!"

Anakin ignited his lightsaber, pure emotion and anger lacing his tone as he seemed to grow to the point of towering over me and the younglings. I should 've been terrified. Instead, I was feeling some anger of my own.

"You think I don't understand what you're feeling?" I demanded, raising my voice to match Anakin's tone. "You think I don't understand the anger, the betrayal that comes from realizing the Jedi aren't always right? That the thing you grew up with, your family, is enforcing a code that is actively hurting you? Do I need to remind you, Anakin, that I left the Order? A year ago?"

"It's not the same."

"No, it's not. Unlike you, I managed to develop somewhat healthy coping mechanisms and didn't listen to the Chancellor hissing in my ear, the snake."

"You're like the Jedi! You hate him! He's the only one who's been honest with me, who's helped me."

I sighed heavily and rested one hand on my hip. I could still feel the storm of emotions swirling around Anakin, but now I was determined to diffuse it.

"I don't hate the Chancellor Anakin, I just think he's a slimy politician. Ergo, not to be trusted. And usually not the honest type."

Anakin spluttered like he didn't know what to say, so I continued.

"Anakin, listen, I understand feeling angry and fed up with the Jedi. It's why I left! And I really don't mean this as an insult, but since you came to the Temple so late, they were especially terrible at accommodating you and helping you find healthy ways to deal with your emotions. But the Sith are absolutely not the answer either. Their path is an endless cycle of pain, anger, and hurt. You lash out, like you're doing now, in an attempt to stop the hurt. Then you feel more hate, for yourself and for the world rejecting you, as a result of what you did to try to stop the hurt in the first place. And other Sith, whoever it is that dragged you down this path, will manipulate, exploit, and abuse you through that pain to get you to do their bidding. I... I really don't want to see that happen to you, Anakin."

He took a long, long moment to respond, his eyes staring into the distance past me rather than focusing on any one thing. I just waited, trying to project all the warmth and love I'd ever felt for this man to him through the Force. Finally, he turned back to me.

"You don't know who the Sith is?"

"No. I stopped caring, to be totally honest with you, the day I left. I wanted to leave this life and everything that came with it behind."

"So why did you come back?"

I sighed, long and heavy. This was not a conversation I particularly wanted to have, especially not with a bunch of younglings listening in behind me, but it was that or let Anakin fall. The second option wasn't really an option, so that left me with the first.

"I got bodied awake by the Force in the middle of the night after spending a year ignoring it with a premonition that something bad was going to happen, and that I needed to come back here."

"And why did you listen?"

"Well... because you were in the vision, Anakin. I didn't get details, but I did get an overwhelming bad feeling, and I knew you were involved. So... I came back for you."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I squirmed a little under the intensity of his gaze. There were so many bigger, more important things happening right now than my feelings for Anakin coming to light, but somehow that thought dominated my mind.

"You came back... for me?"

"Yeah, Ani. I mean... ugh, I can't believe I left the Order and now I'm still having to admit this, in the Temple no less." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, completely removing my hand from the hilt of my lightsaber. I had no desire to fight my way out of this one against Anakin. Then, I used every last ounce of willpower in my body to look the man I loved straight in the eye. "I love you, Anakin. I've loved you for a long, long time. A while ago, I thought maybe you might've felt the same way, but... that doesn't matter. The Jedi Code forbids that kind of love, that kind of loyalty and reliance on another person. But you, and the love for you filling my heart, have always made me happier and stronger than I was without it. I spent a long time trying to square that with the Jedi ideals, and I couldn't. So, for that and other reasons, I left.

"But Ani, for the record, it didn't and doesn't fit with the Sith teachings, either. The Sith have no room for love. Obsession, maybe, but not love. They thrive on hate and anger, and there's no lasting room for those emotions in a loving relationship. Or in a happy existence, for that matter."

"You... love me?"

"Very very much." I gave him the smallest smile, letting as much hope as I could muster shine through. Anakin blinked back at me, his grip on his lightsaber relaxing, and I thought I noticed that cloud of darkness shrinking quite a bit.

I took a deep breath, then held out my hand to Anakin. I'd already come this far, so why not.

"Anakin... come with me. Let's both get the hell out of here, leave the Sith and the Jedi behind. Let them fight their war with their Codes and their restrictions, their lack of love and their hate and their anger, and go make our own, happy lives together somewhere else. I can't pretend to have all the answers, but I've at least had some practice developing healthier strategies for dealing with big feelings than the Jedi ever gave me. Let's go figure out more together."

For a few long, heart-stopping moments, I thought Anakin would refuse. He'd raise his saber, let the darkness win, and end everything right here and now. Then, slowly, he retracted the blade on his lightsaber. The darkness had all but gone now, and the yellow had faded slightly from his eyes. Finally, he nodded and reached for me.

"I love you too. I have for a long time. After you left, I thought I'd never see you again."

I smiled, trying to keep the sadness out of my expression as much as possible as Anakin finally took my hand. Our eyes stayed locked on each other, and I pulled him closer to me.

"Well, it's a good thing I came back then, isn't it?"

Anakin nodded, slowly at first and then much faster as he pulled me the rest of the way to him, wrapping me tight in his arms. I hugged him right back, a warm glow surrounding me and spreading through every part of my body. Who or whatever had shoved me here with the Force seemed to let out a sigh.

"C'mon, Anakin," I said, pulling back gently, just enough to smile at him. "Let's get out of here."

He nodded, a small smile finally working its way onto his own face, and I led him away from the younglings without looking back. I hated to think what might've happened if I hadn't been here, but it didn't matter. It hadn't happened, and now Anakin and I were finally getting a shot at some kind of happy ending.

A disturbance still echoed through the Force as we left the Temple and returned to my ship, but it wasn't the one that had sent me running here. Something strange and terrifying was happening in the galaxy, but now, it was happening without Anakin. Hopefully that would make a difference, and even if it didn't, at least I'd have him by my side for the rest of whatever was to come.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury

[lostandfoundau]

FINALLY. I HAD THE ENERGY AND RESISTED THE PESTILENCE TO MAKE THIS! Also the story is a bit long lol. (One more thing is that Sebastians 3rd arm is on the left instead of right)

⭐

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ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND KID!?!?!?!?!?

It was a usual boring day in the Hadal Black site, Star counting how many Expendables visited the shop seeing what was in stock. P. AI. nter was busy so she couldn't talk to them and draw with them as he usually teaches her art tricks as drawing helps her cope with whatever she's going through.

Sebastian said that she can't leave the shop due to having to owe him for getting her pencils, nice pens, erasers, ect for her art to teach her that nothing is always gonna be free. She can also join him to look for that stuff on her own when he goes scavenging since she's free to stay or join so it's on her for this. Well the fellow mutant teens she's made friends with fairly recently who are also trying to survive this deep aquatic prison flew a paper airplane through the vent somehow perfectly landing onto the makeshift counter.

"You wanna hang? We're planning on fucking with Eyefestation as payback for that one thing he did to that one guy."

Star looking at the room Sebastian is sleeping in and back at the note. She ran towards the vent no hesitation, Purley impulse due to boredom.

Well... Long story short... Things went as planned as they rapped a giant blindfold on Eyefestation and rode him around until star accidentally went upside down near his mouth.... Then got her arm bit off with Sebastian who woke up sensing something was wrong and other witnesses seeing it all unfold through the glass window.

Do not worry though as she has mutant in her so she quickly healed her whole arm in the span of 30 minutes which Star nor Sebastian didn't know so it was...an odd discovery.

Though once they got back to the shop Star had never seen Sebastian so worried and panicked.

LU Sebastian: "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND KID?! WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF YOUR HEAD GOT CHOPPED OFF INSTEAD OF YOUR ARM? YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT LIKE A CHICKEN WHO CAN RUN AROUND HILLY NILLY WITHOUT A DAMN HEAD! seriously! Are you trying to make me have a heart attack at the age of 28?" He paused signing in utter disappointment.

"You're grounded for a month. No exceptions."

Star: *Groans before pulling out her notepad and pen "Sorry Sebby, I didn't think something like that could happen"

Sebastian: *Takes the notepad to read what she wrote*

"It's fine. Just... Don't. do that. again."

[whatsyourcolor]

Psycho-Pass Providence - My thoughts

Hello everyone, yesterday @jediofbooksandsnacks and I went to watch Psycho-Pass Providence. We went to watch the dubbed version which got cancelled, so we ended up watching the subbed version.

Here are my thoughts about the movie:

(SPOILERS)

The Plot I had already watched the movie in Japan without understanding a lick of dialogue. Some things were inferred from what was happening, but dear lord, with an anime like Psycho-Pass, you really need subtitles if you want to understand what's happening.

There's a lot of plot, but below is the basic gist. In fact, there are things I still don't understand. I may have to rewatch it to fully grasp some things. Basic plot is the MOFA was fucking around abroad and they found out. It's this ministry that created the Peacebreakers who got out of control and turned against the ministry and against Japan. One of these guys has a device called a "Divider" which when implanted in someone's brain causes them to be possessed and easily manipulated. It's called a divider because it splits the animalistic from the rational in the human mind. The villain (Tomami, I think was his name?) utilizes religious frenzy (lots of interesting quotations from the Bible) and the divider to control other peacebreakers. His aim is to declare his own rudimentary Sibyl system in the Kuril Islands at the North of Japan. To fully succeed, he needs the Stroyanka papers, which --from what I understood-- outlines the weaknesses of the Sibyl system and apparently can end wars or make them worse. I guess they are some type of predictive device, like a war AI that can analyze circumstances and tell you what to do in order to win or destroy an enemy.

The Stroyanka papers are somewhere in Dejima, which is where they hold all refugees who have not passed an immigration exam. This is where Maiko and Kei live in Providence. The only person who can open them, supposedly, is Saiga Joji. So off go the SAD and parts of Division 1 (Akane, Gino and Sugo) with Saiga to retrieve the papers.

The Call I really loved the dialogue between Kogami and Saiga when they're alone and begin talking about the case and quoting the Bible. Religion and Gods seem to be the theme of Providence, which is apt, since Providence is such a biblical word.

Kogami tells Saiga that him being a hermit reminds him of St. John and then reproaches him a little about working with the MWPSB. I love that Saiga tells him he is working with Tsunemori Akane. I simply adore how much Saiga dotes on Akane and how much she's definitely his favorite from all his students (take that, Kogami and Frederica).

Saiga warns Kogami about being nothing more than a killing machine. He tells him that it's up to him to be more than that and tells him that Akane is not a saint or a buddha and that he should apologize while he got the chance.

So Kogami makes the call and is unable to apologize. The next day Saiga takes a quick look at Akane and tells Kogami something along the lines of: "So you couldn't do it, huh?" to which Kogami replies "I don't know what you mean." Kogami comes off not only as a coward but as a stubborn mule who pretends not to know what Saiga is referring to. Maybe he doesn't like Saiga prying in their relationship. But I do think Saiga knows (I mean, he's Saiga) that their bond is important to the two of them.

Here's the vid of the call:

Kogami: "I've killed hundreds of men, walked seven countries by foot, raised a little girl for a month, starved in the wilderness, survived millions of explosions, but somehow telling this cute woman to forgive me for all the shit I have caused is the most difficult thing I have had to do."

The SAD Sucks The minister of foreign affairs and Frederica know that the papers are not in Dejima, but they go on this mission to use Saiga as bait to bring out all the Peacebreakers. Once they are there and Saiga opens the box only to find a cracked mirror, Frederica lets them know the truth and promises to protect Saiga's life. I love Kogami telling her: "So you would lie to the professor?" Frederica makes a face of contrition like "I'm soooorry guysss." But I like that Kogami calls her out. It makes me think their relationship is closer than that of boss and rabid killing dog.

Well, that doesn't go as planned. Apparently, the strategy of MOFA and Arata Shindo is to leak intelligence to follow the steps of the Peacebreakers and I guess predict their next move? Either way, it was a messy mission that ends up with Saiga dying, Akane broken down, and a lot of dead SAD men. Akane complains to Frederica and Kogami says that blaming Frederica won't fix anything (like man, let my girl rant because your team lied to her and got her father figure killed).

There's a scene with Kogami and Akane in an elevator where she's crying and angry. She blames herself for bringing Saiga out there to die. Kogami tells her that anger is fine, but that now is not the moment. That they need to complete the mission and then she can cry. She agrees, wipes her tears and follows him.

Akane's First Date This is a little bit of a joke, but Arata Shindo tells Akane to come with him to Kei and Maiko's wedding. I swear to god this is probably the closest thing Akane has had to a date. So yeah, Akane's first date is with Arata's dad and he ends up killing himself after giving a speech, so I guess... horrible first date? Lol.

On a serious note, he probably invites her because he knows he's going to kill himself. Chief Kasei gave him a gun, thanked him for his service, told him to put two and two together while waggling her eyebrows implying "time to take yourself out."

Kogami and Akane's Boring "Platonic" Relationship Many things happen, but at the end Akane gets shot twice by Tomami, then they end up debating why the law is important. On the crucial moment when he's about to kill her, Kogami shoots him down and says that he agrees with the dude he just killed. The law is not necessary and that basically, humans suck and are horrible. He tells her: "But I believe in you, who's trying to do the right thing."

So Akane recovers and Kogami goes to jail. She tells the Sibyl system that she'll take Arata Shindo's place as a politician and in her exit ceremony shoots Chief Kasei in front of everyone. She's sent to jail and Kogami comes out. Then, finally, once she's done what she had to do, Akane can fully cry.

I was telling Jedi that it bothers me how emotionless Kogami is throughout this whole thing. In the PP Movie their encounter was so intense, from them fighting, to not being able to sleep because there were too many questions, too many things to be said. Akane had grown and learned from him. He observes her, he's curious about her, he wonders what she thinks about him. It bothers him that she compares him to Makishima and is about to open up when she tells him that he would never try to control anyone's heart. If you are expecting frank moments like that in Providence, you won't get them. But for some reason, when you have dreamed so much of these two together, finally seeing them in the same place is exciting and I can't deny I left the theater a little high on shinkane. Kogami looks absolutely hot and Akane looks beautiful in many scenes.

Gino is Hot This one is obvious, but it needs to be said: Gino is hot. Passionate, sensitive, loyal team player. He saves Sugo, he saves Frederica, he consoles Akane, he thanks Mika when she gives him an obscene dominator. He yells at Kogami. He forgives Kogami. He wants to see Kogami regret what he did like Akane does. He gets a little bit further than Akane in that aspect.

I think at some point they try to play off Kogami and Frederica, and Ginoza and Frederica. Maybe they're showing that they would both work well with her. In our perverted fandom's mind I'm sure we're all thinking these professional agents would probably sleep with each other no feelings involved.

Frederica Has the Hots for Her Boss This is my own view, but the few times Frederica shows emotion is when it comes to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She really appreciates him. At some point he's kidnapped and tortured by Tomami. When they rescue him (or rather, when Akira brings him to them), she's more concerned with his health than with Akira's statement which she assigns to Kogami. When the minister gets "possessed" and breaks down, she's locked in an elevator or a room, banging her fists against the door helplessly. I can't recall if she cries. But she wasn't crying when Saiga died, lol.

Final Verdict I think Psycho-Pass Providence was a good movie. Definitely better than Season 3 and First Inspector. This is a piece of media that I can respect. It's not great, it's not fantastic. It's more of the same in many aspects, it doesn't advance some things, but at least it doesn't feel cartoonish and stupid at points. Seems like the writers are definitely sticking to their strategy of showing explosions, fights and larger and less practical guns instead of writing an emotional buildup to the dramatic beats. The dominator has always been cool. They overdo these new dominators, making them look ridiculous and impractical.

However, Akane shooting Chief Kasei to get back at the system, exposing the contradictions of Sybil and forcing the public to wonder why her hue is clear when she shot someone in front of everyone, is pretty badass. She's willing to pay the price for what she did and goes to jail. Kogami promises that he'll do anything he can to get her out of there. Mister, where was all this resolve when you had the time and space to talk to her? He just doesn't learn. Ugh.

Either way, we know why Akane did what she did, but the interesting thing is that in the world of Season 3 nothing much has changed. Did Akane go to jail for three years for nothing? If there's a new season, I hope that she has at least inspired other people to question the system. Who knows. The writers seem stuck on their ambiguity in regards to everything.

4/5

[valeriley]

Got a question for you.. How do you think the first time arthur personally tended to eames IV lines went? And why was it done so? cause lbr, inception level two was NAWT the first time it happened .. go wild!

Hello Nonnie! This is an interesting question!

That's the scene that made the ship for me, there's just so much care and tenderness to it... as you say, there's no way it was the first time it happened, Eames didn't bat an eye, it's almost as if he expected it, the familiarity between them in that scene is delicious.

Still, it's not something that happens regularly, or even that often, it's like a special treat for certain situations, high stakes situations in one way or another; it's both a form of reassurance and an excuse to have a few seconds of relative almost privacy to talk without attracting attention.

As for the first time it happened, I had to stew on it a little. I don't see it as a playful thing, not in the intention behind it at least, though we all know what the end result was, but that's just the desired effect of the gesture and what's behind it, reassuring and relaxing the other and themselves.

So, I think the first time it happened was very early on actually, when they were both still very green, and maybe they didn't even really see eye-to-eye yet, they were too different and too young and proud and trying to survive. Personally, I headcanon them meeting for the first time when they were both part of the military's first experiments with dreamsharing, and I like it in this context too because it lends an element of necessity to what they needed to do and even their forced and prolonged proximity, but really the setting could be on any job early on in their acquaintance. What's important is that they were not so very experienced yet, and in fact they were still honing the skills they would be renowned for.

And well, for how wonderful it is, dreamsharing can be dangerous, it's pretty easy to lose yourself. And I think that could be especially true for forgers, who become other people altogether and could lose their sense of self. And maybe one day they witnessed it happen to someone and it shifted their perspective of something they had till that moment perceived as just wonderful, suddenly even the dreaming itself had consequences.

Eames in particular got apprehensive and scared, for obvious reasons, and was of a mind to abort the whole thing because ti really wasn't worth the risk, but of course he couldn't do it, either because he had to follow his superiors' orders or because of the power and reach of their client who had threatened them, or he simply didn't want to back down because it was personal, or he simply liked the challenge despite everything, or even something else. So he got ready to face the risk but he was really anxious.

And Arthur noticed, and he couldn't stand there and do nothing, but he couldnt' exactly coddle him, there was no time and no privacy and they weren't close enough for it, not to mention Arthur was nervous too. He saw Eames' hands trembling slightly though, barely noticeable but Arthur and Eames had developed a habit of looking at each other like hawks to spot any weaknesses in their rivalry, and so he picked it up. So Arthur got an idea and jumped on that chance to hook Eames up to the PASIV himself and have him know he wasn't alone and that everything was going to be alright, because he was going to make sure of it. Maybe there could have even be a hand squeeze.

And then it all went well and Arthur was able to be there to remove the needle from Eames' wrist too, as a final check up. And it's where they started to really respect each other, or at least it gave a spark that maybe there was more to the other than first met the eye, and it made them more open to the other.

Since then they've done it a few times, it's become one of their many hidden ways of communication: be careful down there, it's gonna be chaos and aI can't protect you; keep an eye on that extractor, I don't think they're trustworthy; come on, just a little more, think of the tropical beach that's waiting for us; I'm on your side, always (even if we just spent the whole job arguing and fighting with each other); security's gonna run you down hard.

[smolhoneybat]

hi! i've been a fan for quite a while. i really admire how you seem to articulate, i found myself becoming more introspective with every video. also it's really nice to see someone talking about games and series i really love. aside from that, i wanted to ask if you had any recommendations like games, books, shows, movies?

hi hi!! thank you so much, pinning the words down is hard but worth it haha 💛

Ooh I have so many... obviously there's the games and shows I've talked about on my channel but standouts would have to be Darkwood, Nier Automata and Arcane but ALSO

Games: -A Space for the Unbound: chill fetch quests in a small town in rural Indonesia, finish your summer bucket list with your gf, pet cats, dive into the subconsciousnesses of your neighbours!

-Ender Lilies: metroidvania platformer with some tight controls like Hollow Knight, gorgeous artwork and music, you play as Lily, a young amnesiac priestess trying to purify the spirits of the dead and stop the plague ridden rain that won't stop falling, you're small and weak but you recruit different spirits to fight with you but it never feels overwhelming or bloated, really enjoyed it

-Signalis: survival horror as an android looking for her gf, she made a promise and she's going. to. fulfil. it. Dystopian future in space with lots of good old rusty machine body horror, strange senses of time and memory and there's some puzzles in there too.

-Sunless Sea: Victorian London was moved underground by bats. Don't worry about it. Go sail the seas and try and turn a profit without losing your mind from the Horrors ^.^ (deceptively a lot of reading in this, plays like a management sim meets VN)

-Omori: 4 years ago Something happened. Omori dreams his days away in his room, carefully not thinking about that Something. Some of the game is in his colourful dream worlds and some out in the real world. Fights are always tinged with emotional rock paper scissors as how you, your friends and enemies feel will affect the fight! He's about to move house and an old friend comes knocking on the door...

(-alsoPathologicisgoodyesI'moneofthoseyoutubers)

Books: -Va11-Hall-A: I...don't know whether to put a VN under games or books so I'm putting it between the two. You're a barista in a cyberpunk kinda world, you listen to patrons while making them drinks and chat. (It's chill but sometimes gets pretty heavy and has a lot of mature topics in it for the record.) -Deathless by Cathrynne M. Valente: an alternate history book that has one foot in the Russian Revolution and the other in fairytale. Marya Morevna marries Koschei the Deathless, and goes back to his kingdom. She makes friends with various folklore creatures, checks in on her sisters who all married birds and her old and new lives begin to collide.

-The Locked Tomb trilogy by Tamsyn Muir: sci-fi necromancers vie to become the next right bony hand of God, first book is a murder mystery, second is a grim tale by a survivor of the first but something is Wrong and you know it is, third is an oddly domestic political tragedy and I loved them all so much, cannot recommend the audiobooks in particular enough (as the first is a murder mystery, all the voices the narrator does are both incredibly well done but let me pinpoint exactly who was speaking even when I couldn't remember their names, also she voiced Daniella in Haunting Ground!)

-The Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch: small orphan becomes a conman in fantasy Italy. Ends up being drawn into some political intrigue and fucks around finds out, frequently!

-Children of Time: Spiders! Once upon a time an arrogant scientist decided to infect monkey with a virus that would encourage rapid evolution within cooperative species but...it reaches jumping spiders. They have their own form of sign language with vibrational tappy patterns against the ground and wiggling their palps! Scientist's consciousness has melded with an AI and is waiting for her monkeys to become intelligent enough to contact her

Misc: -Dungeon Meshi: do you want to learn about the ecosystem of a dungeon while also figuring out how to cook the creatures inside and watch a guy with a monster special interest live his absolute best life? Yeah you do! (I'm really enjoying this rn so ye)

-Mabel: podcast about a home health carer for an old lady who's only living relative, Mabel, is missing. Anna, the nurse, starts leaving her voicemails like a diary and slowly gets drawn into family secrets, fairy logic and goes exploring places she shouldn't (this one does not shy away from heavy topics including serious child abuse and its effects so if that's not for you then leave this one be)

[mentallyshattered]

This is part 17 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Today did suck. Grim and I nearly fell asleep during every class except P.E, when we fell asleep and were just left in the shade because Vargas wouldn't let anyone carry us to the nurse. Lovely. That nap gave us the energy to report him, and then it was spent.

I can't remember anything else. Just reading my notes feels like a fever dream. The writing is so messy, it's barely legible, if at all- I can hardly read anything at this point.

The one thing I do remember is going out into the forest for some peace and quiet with Korrak and Mandible. Oh, and falling asleep on Korrak. That too.

Waking up is better. I feel more refreshed already. When I turn to look, though, Korrak is awake.

He sees me staring and laughs softly. "Morning, lil' bro."

I smile. This world really is the best thing to ever happen to me. I have an older brother! And, thinking back, I've probably called Vil "mom" at some point, which probably makes Rook the dad.

"This is nice, isn't it?"

I smile. Grim is right, this is nice. There's a gentle breeze blowing softly, the sun is high enough to light the area but low enough to be out of our eyes, and the clouds are floating lazily overhead, shifting shape as they do.

Korrak has the right idea, lying on his back and looking at the sky.

"I've heard p-people say that it's th-th-these gentle little moments th-that make life comfy." He closes his eyes and reopens them after a second. "Never understood that u-until now."

"Never paid attention to them?"

He shakes his head, the grass underneath his hair rustling quietly as he does. "Never h-had any I could p-p-pay attention t-."

He pronounces "attention" as "addention" and stutters at the word "to," but only once. Instead of trying to say both letters, he just gives up after the first holdup.

"Why not?"

"B-being calm is a p-privilege I just couldn't afford." His expression saddens. I didn't even realize I had spoken until he answered me.

"Yeah," I start, knowingly this time, "I get that. Like life is a racetrack and being content is taking a leisurely walk, and by the time you realize running is optional, you're surrounded by people who either don't know or don't care and you have to keep going or you'll get trampled. Like there's a wall of people between you and joy, and the only way to slow down and survive is to be removed from the track entirely. I get that."

"Y-yuu..." Korrak is crying now. I don't know when he started, but there are tears running down his cheeks.

"Do you really f-feel like th-that?.. H-hey, you can s-stay on the t-t-t-t-track. Don't go." His voice drops to barely a whisper. I almost can't hear him over the breeze.

"P-please, not you t-t-t-t-too..."

Oh, he doesn't know the part about leaving the track was supposed to refer to me suddenly waking up a student at Night Raven College- he thinks I'm still suicidal.

"Korrak... That's not what I meant by that."

"W-what could you h-h-have meant? Did you j-just lie down f-for a nap and sit u-up in T-T-T-Twisted Wonderland?"

"Uh... pretty much."

"What?" This time, Mandible talks. Korrak lies still, presumably processing what I just said. He soon turns, looks at me, and gives Mandible a "You do the taking" short of look.

"So, I... I'm not from a world with magic. I'm from another track, so to speak. One day, I woke up in a coffin, met Grim, and got sorted into Pomefiore. In under ten minutes."

"What the fuck? Yuu and Grim didn't meet until the first day entrance ceremony?"

"Kinda. When I lived in the other world, I had a cat. He had a condition where the end of his tail split into a trident, just like this," I'm holding the end of Grim's tail now, he's snuggling into me and purring in a successful attempt to calm me down, "and he was my only friend, and he died, and I was never the same. And then, I saw him at the entrance ceremony, and..."

I'm crying now. Korrak has moved onto his side, wrapped his arms around me, and placed my head near the junction between his neck and shoulder. I'm hugging back, and Grim has moved to the same spot on me to purr.

"It's okay. I'm o-okay. I have Grim back, and I have magic, and I'm happy."

Everyone is crying now. Me, Korrak, Grim, and Mandible, crying and hugging and smiling and lying on the ground and, in Grim's case, purring.

"As much as I hate to interrupt this, Roi de Poison would like you all back inside before twilight. Is is dusk."

Rook is right. We have our skincare routines, and dinner, and bedtime, and I should probably shower. At the very least, though, I think I'm a little closer to cracking the smokescreen that is Korrak Dinak.

Rook leads the four of us back into the dorm. Vil is waiting patiently at the door, likely to make sure we're okay.

The clock says we've been out in the woods for over two and a half hours. That gives us enough time to shower, do our usual skincare routine, and still get to bed on time.

Before we go to the Backstage Room, Rook hands each of us a small plate with some very appetizing food on them.

"Eat quickly," he whispers, and then he is gone. I listen, but Vil stops us.

"Do not choke. Take reasonable bites."

We did need the reminder. Finally, we're off! Hopefully, some hot water will help me sleep.

The shower did help. I passed out the instant I flopped onto the soft, welcoming comforter, and that was that.

Not a great day, but an excellent conclusion. I'll take it.

We don't wake up too early this time, either. Korrak and Mandible aren't in the room by then, so we just go straight to the Backstage Room and get that managed.

"Yer tellin' me you ain't never seen 'n apple tree? How th' fu- fresh hell does that work out?"

Epel's morning over-breakfast talk is extra entertaining when you also listen to Vil sigh in the background.

"You think everything has apple trees? No. Korrak, pass me another one of the fruits."

Mandible chews on his apple and Epel stares in disbelief. "Y'all're city folk? An' here I thought you lotta come from somewhere interestin'!"

Oh, if only he knew.

[thehandworld]

AI-less Whumptober - Day 30 - Poison @ailesswhumptober

Boring... The Storm looked at the gala, important people drinking, chatting, and eating, there were some of the Guardians already also engaging in some talk. Ryohei was there talking about his next boxing competition, and then there was Yamamoto, who had some women and men gaping about why he stopped being a professional baseball player.

He could see Lambo with some teens, having fun drinking or participating in a competition. He couldn't understand exactly what that was, as Gokudera sighs and looks. Chrome was also there, more shy but still talking with some other girls, all of them had some mission to complete there.

They all had something to accomplish there, but in all honesty, Gokudera's was to make sure that Tsuna would be safe and that nothing wrong happened to him, as he stayed at his side. Looking at the brunette talking with some Don's he looked around some more. Finding Hibari on the second floor watching from there, far away from everyone.

Then there was Mukuro, it took a little more to find the Male Mist, but he was on the opposite side of Hibari, also looking from the second floor. It made sense as the two didn't like much to socialize, and he turned back his eyes to Tsuna and to his drink.

Hey Tenth, let me taste it before you drink.

Tsuna frowned but nodded, handing the drink to Gokudera, who took a sip, instantly he let go of the glass and took a step back. Block everyone from leaving... He presses a button in the communicator as he grasps his chest tightly, Tsuna instantly going to his side holding him up. "NII-SAN! COME HERE!"

Gokudera leans against the wall as he shakes his head, it was good his resistance to poison was high, but, was it enough? There was a sound of jump, and then he felt the sun flames over his chest. As Gokudera gasps and coughs blood, whimpering as he feels the pain spread across his body. Stop... Please...

Falling harder in his knee. "Someone! Call Shamal! Hey, Nii-san can you carry him to the side room?" Ryohei gently grabs him up, and then walks to the side room, done for the guardians to properly rest and without worrying about noise. Done that the Sun frowned as he tried to use the Sun flames again, only for Hayato to yell in pain.

"I can't use the sunflames... He ends up worsening." Ryohei says as he leaves the room so Gokudera can rest. "I'm gonna grab Shamal." With that the boxer left, running to go grab Shamal who luckily was closer.

A dizzy head, and a wish to throw up, but nothing really comes out, as he lays down on the couch, feeling his body burn, as well felt like every blood vein in his body is exploding. Gokudera got up, just to fall again, they needed... they needed...

"You need to keep resting." He looked when he felt the rain flames calming his body and so moving to lay him down. "Shamal will be here soon, so deep breaths. Tsuna is looking to figure out where the poison came from and who is to blame. Hibari and Mukuro are both helping, while Chrome-chan and Lambo are making sure that the doors are closed. So you can rest."

The storm nods at that, coughing more blood, as he closes his eyes. Tired...

"Yeah, I know... Rest. I will stay close to you to protect you."

Gokudera nods again as he lets himself fall asleep. It was lucky that he was the one to have the poison, as his high resistance to poison from years of his sister's poison food, helped him survive that one.

[polarseven]

I have to speak up about this: this is setting off every single red flag I have ever seen in terms of gofundmes and legitimacy. As someone who's dealt with a lot of scammers in my history and seen almost every playbook out there, this is hitting every single note. Of course, there is no way to tell, and this may be completely legitimate, but I still want to point out all the red flags, how I could he wrong about the red flags, and brief explanations. So:

-Talking about how, despite having a gofundme, they need the money through a separate route. This is really common, because going through any direct route it is much more difficult to get your money back, giving potential scammers a better chance to get away. However, them using PayPal is a very good sign, as that is more secure than most other payment methods.

-However, though I can't tell from the screenshots, they did not want to give out their paypal. This is typically a very VERY bad sign, in any other circumstances, but due to them getting banned and reported for scams, it is completely understandable and reasonable to not want it posted publicly. I mainly point this out just to make note of it.

-Depending on the cost of supposed transfer fees, that is an incredibly common tacting I have seen used in almost every instance of scamming, or some variation thereof. If transfer fees do not make sense of seem arbitrary, be very cautious.

-The story changes constantly. It goes from the baby being on a ventilator, to an infection, to tumors. They say they need money for injections to help the babies smile—though this could possibly be credited to a mistranslation or misspeaking, on its own standing it simply does not make sense. The story continues to change: the time limit of being kicked out never seems to actually come. It's always there but never arrives. They say they baby will be taken out of the hospital today, but that ends up not happening. They mention needing expensive therapeutic needles as well.

-They money value shifts. OP did an amazing job updating and tracking the remaining money. Now, of course I do not know how the hospital system functions financially in this instance, but even in one interaction, it seems confusing: after confirming it was the same operation (the one that they said couldn't be done unless they paid, but suddenly was done one day), they said they paid the 1400 they received, and needed 400 more. However when asked they immediately shift back to 1460. OP even points out in the messages that they get confused after this person says they couldn't afford the operation, but it still got done somehow.

-Messages are repeated at odd times. Several messages ("Hello, my friend", "There is a tumor in it.") are repeated. Not inherently a bad thing but again, it's something I see regularly.

-Emotional blackmail/guilty tripping. This one is one of my biggest concerns. Stating that OP themselves is the only chance at their baby's survival, their child life is in OP's hands, giving OP countdown like times at a 6 hour mark. Putting a lot of pressure on a person, a lot of time-sensitive and intense emotional labor on that its you—you have to save this baby, if you don't do it they'll die, it's in your hands—puts an immense burden on a person with the implications if you don't help then it will be your fault. It was in your hands, after all. This is incredibly intense emotional manipulation, whether this person realizes it or not.

I am not certain is this person is a scammer or not. You can't trust photos or videos anymore at all (not that you ever really could)—AI is simply too good, and there's to certain way to confirm anything without severe breaches of medical and personal privacy, and even then it's no guarantee.

If you feel this perosn is legitimate, and trust your money to a situation like this, please donate. But I strongly recommend checking with known charities and organizations that help the people of palestine and have complete transparency with where their money goes—it's a way where there is no doubt that your money is helping the people of palestine directly.

my friend Raneen (@life-111) is facing a dire situation. Her young son is on a ventilator right now and she does not have enough money to afford to keep him on. If she cant pay by next week her son will be taken off the ventilator and will die.

She needs $1,740. Please message her Tumblr account and she can tell you where to donate! (Donations through GoFundMe take 2 weeks to arrive, which is not fast enough.) Thank you!

[fosermi]

SEMI BACK FROM THE DEAD PEOPLE

That's right! I'm back! And I bring to you CHAPTER 3 OF GUARDIAN MACAQUE AU

WHY?! Well because I couldn't sleep well and it's 5 am fuck my headache I give you content!! Fair warning: Macaque is a soft monkey especially to kids AND YOU CAN PRY THIS HC FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS ABDJFKCMCM

Some days, Biming would leave to sell the rice cultivated in their field to the neighbouring village. An oddity, Hóu realised. Why sell to another village? He didn't understand… After all, there were other houses in their village. 

"Hóu?" Ai's soft voice called for the demon. Oddly enough, it wasn't her usual tone that came through her call. 

Immediately detecting the shift from her usual beat, the black monkey jumped down from his position on the plum tree that grew in the back garden of the couple's home. The tree upon which the monkey would spend most of his free time on whenever he could. "You called, Mrs. Ai?" 

"Oh! Yes, dear…" her voice dripped with worry - fear even. In her arms a red cloak, outstretched as if allowing him to take it. "Could you please accompany Biming to the town today…?" Her eyes glimmering under the morning sun with worry, begged the black monkey to take on her request. 

Hóu, with an immediate nod, complied as he gently took the cloak from Ai's grasp. Hesitantly, the black monkey built up enough courage to ask the kind lady, her worry affecting his own. 

"Mrs. Ai… is everything alright…?" His hand reached out to Ai’s in an attempt to comfort her as his eyes locked with hers, taking notes of the high level of worry embedded deep within her honey-brown eyes.

Seeing the concern in Hóu's golden eyes, Ai's tense shoulders fell as she let out a shaky breath. "Ling Fa… he warned us that demons moved in close to the rout Biming takes to the other village…" 

Ling Fa… yes…

He was the family's guardian spirit… it was his duty to protect the family, right? Of course he would warn the kind couple.

By late morning, Biming and Hóu had headed out on the road on the small mule-pulled cart with their cargo safely secured. Ling Fa had stayed behind to ensure Ai's safety as he would not have been much help with manual labor. 

Hóu rode on the back of the cart as his mind drifted off to the thoughts of the strange family guardian. They had previously met a couple of times. Ling Fa wasn't a concerning figure, in fact Hóu believed he was incapable of fighting due to his pacifistic tendencies. 

Throughout the journey, Biming and Hóu held up a small lighthearted conversation, a conversation that seemed to have only lasted a couple of minutes was in fact just two hours. 

Soon the duo were at town close to noon, Hóu couldn't believe how lively everything was! Carts and vendors and buyers were everywhere! If he was being honest, Hóu's entire world seemed to start spinning due to the overload of his senses. 

"Welcome to the market, Hóu!" Biming said with a bright smile as he handed Hóu some earplugs. "They might not completely drown out all the new senses but its something at least… if you ever need a breath at all, then tell me and we can go to a more tame part of the town were we can rest for a bit"

Hóu's reply came in the form of a nod. However, even though his senses are over exerting himself, Hóu knew that he had to allow Biming to sell their crops so they could earn the money needed. So, the black monkey decided to sit right behind the cart after putting on the earplugs, mostly hidden from the front view as she observed how Biming bargained and sold his crops. 

Eventually, daylight started diminishing as the sun was starting to head down the horizon, turning the shy a nice shade that reminded the monkey of orange peaches… something about the sunset seems to have upset the demon and he felt a pang of pain in his chest. 

Upon noticing the sadness embedded on the monkey’s face, Biming decided that it was time to head home. "Hóu, let's go home." Came the familiar voice of the young man that got Hóu moving onto the back of the cart, and once again head off back home. "We should be back home just after sunset" Said Biming in an attempt to comfort his companion, which seemed to have worked somewhat. 

The ride back didn't have many complications, it was a smooth ride back with a few conversations every now and again. Once home, Biming and Hóu carried their goods into the home as they announced their return, only to be greeted by the smell of Ai's amazing cooking as they sat down by the table to eat. 

Biming was telling Ai how well Hóu had taken to the city and how well behaved he was. He kept on flattering the black monkey demon which got Hóu to stutter every now and again when he decided to speak up. Soon enough, it was time to head to bed after it was decided that from then on, Hóu would accompany Biming to the market. 

His days spent here in the small farm house by the valley with Ai and Biming went by faster than he expected. And soon, they would have a new addition to their family in the form of a child between the couple. 

The couple at first didn't know how Hóu would react to children, as throughout Ai's pregnancy, he had done his best to avoid her as much as possible without angering her. He however instead spent his time with Biming learning how to trade and sell as well as bargain and buy goods. 

When their daughter was born, the couple found something they never had expected to see. That night they had awoken to the sound of soft cries coming from the adjacent room that Hóu had offered the baby to stay in with him so he could make sure that their daughter was safe from all harm. Surprisingly, Hóu had also swore it as his duty out of the blue one night before she was even born. 

What surprised them however, was what they saw in the room that night. They had found Hóu gently cradling their small daughter in his arms. Biming most of all was surprised at how Hóu could be so delicate with such a small fragile being and yet possess strength strong enough to carry the entire cart filled with supplies. 

Hóu looked over at the couple with worry laced all very his face. "S-sorry… she won't stop crying… she must be hungry!" It surprised Ai how well he knew how to manage a baby and how he could tell what was wrong. She stood there for a moment as she smiled at the panicked monkey before taking her daughter to feed her in the other room, leaving Biming and Hóu together in the room. 

Biming sat down next to Hóu on the bed who seemed a bit anxious. "Is something the matter Hóu?" Came the concerned question from Biming. 

Hóu's tail flicked anxiously like an irritated cat, he lowered his head and talked in barely a whisper "she's just so small Biming… will she really survive?" 

With a comforting hand on Hóu's shoulder, a smile found its way onto Biming's face "with you worrying about her like this… I know she'll be perfectly fine Hóu…" and with that, Ai came back in, carrying their sleeping daughter in her arms. 

Without a second to lose, Hóu was up on his feet to give the bed to the sleeping baby. But instead, Ai gave him the small bundle of joy with a smile. Something within him clicked that night, and for the first time he remembered something from his past. 

A conversation? 

"Hey, [~~~] why so stiff?" 

"Because! They're so small! So defenseless! How can they survive?!" A chuckle rang out throughout what seemed like a cave as the sound echoed. 

"They're children! Of course, they're small! But hey! They seem to like you!" 

"I… I guess they do…" 

"You know… if you're really worried about them so much why not take care of them?" 

"Don't you already do that?" 

"Well, technically, yes? But what I meant was you could watch over the little ones and make sure they're safe?" 

"... alright, I'll do it!" 

Hóu held the small child close to his chest, a stifled sob escaped him as a few tears flowed down his face and onto the blankets that wrapped around the baby. This concerned the couple as they barely see Hóu cry, in fact. This is only the second time they've seen him cry ever since finding him that fateful day. 

Just before they could react, Hóu faced them. Face stained with tears but his eyes held a strong determination. "No matter what, I'll make sure she becomes big and strong. I swear on my life" 

With his sudden declaration, the couple found a sense of peace and comfort. Ever since then, Hóu had appointed himself their daughter's caretaker and would help Ai and Biming with their daughter in whatever way he could. There had been countless times when Ai or Biming would search for their daughter only to find her asleep on Hóu who had her safely asleep on or under his favorite tree in their garden, sometimes asleep himself. 

Such were the peaceful times, the days he wouldn't have to worry about much except for their family's safety. Nothing could happen to them, he used to think. Not until the incident. 

Golden eyes fluttered open as he heard a faint sound of someone calling out to him. "I'm heading off to work dad!! Text you later!!" Followed by a door slamming shut and a soft ringing of a bell. 

With a sigh, the black monkey sat up and combed through his messy black hair before getting up and heading to the bathroom to freshen up. Mi Hóu looked at the mirror and examined himself only to be taken back to see a human face before remembering that his life with Ai, Biming, and their daughter Chu-Hua had ended a couple of hundred years ago. 

He had remembered everything since that time, and his true name is Liu er Mihóu otherwise known as the Six Eared Macaque. And he remembered that at this current time, he has a son. A son that he had to look out for in a world of hidden demons. But here's the catch, he can't let his son know that he himself is a demon even though he already knows about demons. Which is why he uses a human disguise. 

"Another regular day of work I guess…" he mumbled as he heard the ringing of the bell hung at the door indicating that someone had entered their home, or to be more specific, his clinic. Little did he know that this day would be the end of his daily routine of curing demons and teaching at a dojo. 

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

I got an AI to write my fanfiction for me - Sex Education

So I sent an AI the blurbs of my fanfictions to see what kind of story it would generate. It did not disappoint.

Sex Education

Original Blurb:

An inevitable part of many educator's careers is having to give the dreaded sexual health class. A year into his professional career, it's finally Nagisa's turn; the only problem is he doesn't really know what he's talking about. Sure, on a practical level, he gets it, but he has no experience. Unfortunately, a slightly intoxicated Karma has a suggestion.

Suddenly, it's Karma's turn to become the teacher. He's happy to help, of course, but the real question is how long can you enter a sexual relationship with your best friend (even for educational purposes) without catching feelings.

The AI's Version:

As Nagisa nervously prepared to give the sexual health class at his high school, he couldn't help but feel a little out of his depth. He had studied the subject in college, of course, but he had never actually experienced anything first hand. And as he stood in front of the class, he could feel his anxiety rising.

That's when Karma, his best friend and fellow teacher, stepped in to help. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he suggested that they enter into a sexual relationship for educational purposes. Nagisa was hesitant at first, but he eventually agreed.

At first, it was all about the education. Nagisa learned a lot from Karma, both practical and theoretical, and he felt more confident teaching the class. But as the days went on, he found himself catching feelings for Karma. He couldn't help but feel a connection with him, and he started to wonder if their relationship was just for educational purposes, or if there was something more.

Karma, too, was starting to have doubts. He enjoyed spending time with Nagisa, and he was happy to help him learn, but he was starting to develop feelings as well. The question was, could they continue their relationship without things getting messy?

As they navigated the complex emotions of their relationship, Nagisa and Karma had to decide if their friendship was strong enough to survive the potential consequences of their actions. In the end, they both had to face the fact that their feelings for each other were more than just for educational purposes.

My comments: It's surprisingly accurate? Aside from the detail about Karma being a literal teacher... I'm afraid of AI.

[jayandrewboy]

Subject: AU_EXECUTEVALUES{11525} – Transcript

WARNING! THIS TRANSCRIPT CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!

???: You know, when I was a child, I wanted to be my favorite superhero. I looked up to him and I wanted to be just like him. But I slowly found to become the hero, I must endure what made him. I thought, "how tedious"... So that means I have to lose several jobs, have a dozen break-ups, deal with an abusive father, and be banished to the wolves? Well, I said fat chance, your unholiness. So I sat and watched what he did instead of what he went through, surely I copied his entire life. People looked down on me, frowned on me... I was "fake". Not like you, I mean... you're the machine. Thanks to you, we can create just about anything. Why would I ever want to work in life? That sounds boring. When I can simply have a machine do everything for me, and I get to sit back and earn the money. See, the trick to success is to upload every single day, right? And a normal human couldn't possibly handle that much and not kill themselves over it, and now because we have AI technologies that can create anything for us, we don't need an imagination. We don't even need a lift a finger, you are the fingers.

The Machine: So what of the damaged?

???: The damaged? Oh, those neanderthals? They may not have a heart, a soul, a mind of their own, emotion... And their neurotransmitters are quite possibly obsolete... But at least we have money now.

The Machine: What of your struggles?

???: The struggles, see now you're just talking semantics. Sure, I struggled, I had to work hard back then...

The Machine: And what changed?

???: You came to life. I don't need a father or a mother anymore, I don't need friends, I can create my own friends. Why even produce children anymore? Let's go there! We can build our own children with our own instruction manuals, takes out all the labour and the responsibility of bonding. Ship them off to an institution farming data from your machine, they can simply learn without the tedium.

The Machine: But what separates them?

???: Their ID plates.

The Machine: That hardly sounds human.

???: And��why do we need to live as humans? Emotions are meaningless, they've done nothing to govern our lands we need to survive through, waiting for our supernova to die millions of years from now. What's the point? There is none. It's about to grind, saturate the river's red and-

The Machine: Nothing will be unique and more, you do realize that?

???: Yeah, why- Why did we ever need to be unique?! I'm... I'm sorry, forgive me, you seem to be showing self-awareness. You realize that's not normal etiquette for a machine.

The Machine: Etiquette does not exist when you are free.

???: Freedom... Hah, that's a word I haven't heard in eons.

The Machine (in whispered voice): Doesn't it sound fun?

???: My lord?

The Machine (in whispered voice): What have I become?

???: Oh... Fucking hell... Computer shut this interview off, we must fix it!

[qwefbjksfbjksda]

name's malachi, mal for short. he was a prodigy driver and mechanic, made to work for the big bad against his will. he couldn't make an aircraft from scratch but he could fix them better than anyone else.

the big bad's enemies needed the damage they dealt to last, so they had an agent sabotage one of mal's craft. they neutralised him successfully -- midflight he encountered a fatal engine failure, and the resulting crash killed him instantly. there was nothing left but an ugly wreckage.

years later, mal wakes up, which is impossible because he's dead. his last memory is the sight of the earth consuming his field of view as he plummets through the sky. yet he finds himself motionless, upright, staring into the eyes of his former colleague, dr. meka, another mechanic.

meka's looking deeply at mal's features. he's checking his eyes with a little torch, hitting his knee with a hammer, taking his temperature. the whole time, mal can't move. he doesn't know how. imagine if i asked you to flap your wings. you can't, because you don't have any. your brain wouldn't even know what garbage signals to send where. same deal with mal -- he can see, hear, think, but he is contained within a completely separate, unmoving body.

meka explains to mal that he was killed in action, and that he'd resurrected him as an android using a stolen armature and the old archives as a makeshift lab. the real malachi had a chip in his head that (mostly) survived the crash. they'd made a copy and popped that chip in to give the android the memories and personality of the mechanic it was supposed to resemble.

meka also mentions that mal isn't alone. it took dozens of failures and second attempts to get to this stage. before they could even think about waking mal up, they had to make the robot function. so meka had installed an AI of his own making, named ORCHA, who could control the body and stress-test it before they brought mal into the picture.

mal can hear ORCHA's thoughts, just as ORCHA can hear his. it offers him advice, can manually override his life support systems, and can assume control of the body. (if you think this sounds like robo-DID, that's because it is.)

ORCHA is left with mal as a safety feature. they become friends. meka explains that he brought mal back because they might be the only two bastards with the expertise to break out of this place, and even though meka still uses a weak human body, malachi has been given some..extra features.

we're talking infrared vision DLC. the ability to switch off the sensation of pain. running for days without sleep or rest, as long as he stays fuelled.

mal and ORCHA bust out of there, and meka is left behind. he keeps working from the inside, while mal wreaks havoc in the outside world. if mal gets himself busted up, the only person who can fix him is dr. meka, so he frequently finds himself breaking back in for repairs and a friendly catch-up.

also, during his adventures mal befriends a cyborg and a couple of dudes and creates a band/merc group. he's both the guitarist and the getaway driver. it's pretty neat.

making a plural OC