#because...why would they be selling the androids

[chris-prank]

Why did Atlas' original owners make a point of throwing him away, they could have given him to someone else or sold him, as he is obviously something that cannot be obtained easily, so why?

Hehehe I was waiting for this question!

CW: slander of rich people under the cut (Sorry not sorry for all the rich people that follows me 😅)

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

Atlas owners aren’t just run of the mill rich people, they are filthyyyy rich. They could be considered to be part of the one percent in Atlas’s world and it’s well known that people with that amount of money are very careless with wasting things in general. 

In the case of Atlas, I feel like pride also played a huge part in it. His ex owners would never even think about selling him because they don’t need the money! By throwing him away without a second thought, they establish their monetary power over others and they show that they can always get another android even more advanced very easily. Also, since Atlas is a one of a kind custom made model they hated the idea of someone else owning him. So giving him away was out of the question too. 

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

I hope my answers made sense! 

[disobey-disappoint-deviate]

The RK series and deviancy (theory + analysis)

I have been wanting to talk about this for some time, because it's kinda one of the biggest DBH mysteries (aside from rA9) and I think there are many many hints in the game about why deviancy came to be and how. And I've had this theory that deviancy was something that started with the RK series, specifically with Markus, so I'm gonna use the hints I've found in the game to expain why I believe this. I also gotta note I'm really new to the fandom, so maybe this is has already been talked about thousands of times before (maybe even debunked), but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

First and foremost, I will start with something that I talked about in another post - namely the significance of the number 28. You can see Adam Williams talk about it here (at 1:04:28), too.

Basically, the number 28 is used in many places throughout the game, and according to Adam, if players found all references to that number, they will understand what the significance of that number is.

And speaking of 28, I noticed that 2028 is the year when Kamski left Cyberlife, but not before creating the Zen Garden and Amanda.

There is a whole series of questions Connor can confront Amanda with during "Last Chance, Connor" (which is the 28th chapter with a flowchart. Maybe cuz he is asking important questions here, just saying).

Connor: Why did Kamski leave CyberLife? What happened? Amanda: It’s an old story, Connor. It doesn’t pertain to your investigation.

Connor: I saw a photo of Amanda at Kamski’s place… She was his teacher… Amanda: When Kamski designed me, he wanted an interface that would look familiar… That’s why he chose his former mentor. What are you getting at?

Connor: Did Kamski design this place? Amanda: He created the first version. It’s been improved significantly since then. Why do you ask?

Amanda Stern died in 2027, which suggests that AI Amanda and the Zen Garden were both created after this and before Kamski's departure from Cyberlife in 2028. Yet somehow, this information is classified to some extent - Amanda doesn't deny, but she gets defensive and doesn't want to elaborate any further. Of course, she might be acting this way because Connor is slowly getting too defiant, but still, it's kinda striking how the player has the option to ask so many questions - questions that seem to unsettle Connor a lot for a reason that is not explicitly explained, yet doesn't get a clear answer.

It awakens the impression that Connor is truly getting at something with them, but it's not said at what exactly.

Connor: I’m not a unique model, am I? How many Connors are there? Amanda: I don’t see how that question pertains to your investigation.

Connor: Where does CyberLife stand in all this? What do they really want? Amanda: All CyberLife wants is to resolve the situation and keep selling androids.

Connor: You didn’t tell me everything you know about deviants, did you? Amanda: I expect you to find answers, Connor. Not ask questions.

Now, Connor asks how many "Connors" (meaning RKs) are there after seeing that Markus is an RK-model one, too. That's news to Connor - for some reason, he's never been informed about the existence of any other RKs. But why?

Well, because the RK-line was a secret project, and apprently, there are no other RK androids left aside from Markus - if there were, Connor would know of their existence, cuz they would be roaming around. What does the game say about Markus?

Markus is a prototype, gifted by Elijah Kamski to his friend and celebrated painter Carl Manfred after Manfred lost the use of his legs. He was initially developed as part of a CyberLife secret program aimed at elaborating a new generation of autonomous androids.

That last sentence, about the new generation of autonomous androids, arises one question. How are these highly autonomous androids, like Connor, controlled, considering that they are supposed to be independent and not wait around for highly specific orders? Well, through the Zen Garden and Amanda - both of which were created sometime between 2027 and 2028. And if Markus was oridinally supposed to be part of that line (that basically got put on hold for 10 years), that places his creation around 2028 as well.

In 2028, Elijah Kamski was our Man of the Century. [...] Shortly after, Kamski had disappeared. Ousted as CEO of CyberLife and living in obscurity outside the media glare, the Man of the Century has left the very world that he recreated. [...] Yet at the peak of CyberLife’s powers – when the company was approaching a $500bn valuation – rumors emerged that Kamski disagreed with his shareholders over strategy. He later departed under mysterious circumstances.

So, he was "outsted" and he likely disagreed with his shareholders. But what do these shareholders want?

Russia’s interest in the North Pole has intensified with the recent discovery of precious minerals trapped in the frozen ice, many of which are used in synthesizing Thirium. [...] President Warren, however, recently torpedoed the notion: “It’s simple. Russia has no business in the Arctic. If the Kremlin doesn’t understand that, we will make them understand.[...] Mired in accusations that she is too close to big business, Warren is under investigation to determine whether or not she has benefited from CyberLife's help in obtaining compromising information about her opponent during the presidential campaign.[...]

If we read the magazines, we kinda get an impression of what the shareholders want - they want war with Russia over the minerals in the Arctic, and they wanna monologise the android market globally. This is further proven by their finalized RK-model being a military android, of whom the government has puchased hundreds of thousands (All CyberLife wants is to resolve the situation and keep selling androids). The government - whose President is said to be corrupt and basically installed at her position by Cyberlife themselves.

Naturally, we can assume that this was not the direction Kamski wanted his RK-series to take - he likely disagreed with this enough to be removed from his position as a CEO, because Cyberlife only saw their futures as secured if they prevented anyone else from being able to create thirium, even it meant starting a world war.

So, is it a coincidence that the only existing RK android who was created by Kamski's original design ended up with Carl Manfred - a friend of Kamski's? I think it's safe to assume that Markus would have been decomissioned long time ago (just like Connor if the deviants lose), had he not ended up far away from Cyberlife's reach.

I think Kamski definitely removed the Zen Garden from Markus, to prevent Cyberlife from ever trying to take over. It's also likely that they generally lost track of Markus, because he was no longer interesting to them.

But what if Kamski not only saved Markus from being destroyed, what if he himself created the "virus" that causes deviancy?

Kamski: All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics... Is the desire to be free a contagious disease? Kamski: Androids share identification data when they meet another android. An error in this program would quickly spread like a virus, and become an epidemic. The virus would remain dormant, until an emotional shock occurs… Fear, anger, frustration. And the android becomes deviant. Probably all started with one model, copy error… A zero instead of a one… Unless of course... Some kind of spontaneous mutation. That’s all I know…

If meeting another android is enough to "infect" them, then Markus could have been innocently walking around the city and infecting androids for 10 years. He could have also "infected" the androids at Cyberlife before Kamski sent him to Carl, because for all we know, Kamski really just wanted to create truly autonomous and conscious androids. We know the first known case of deviancy happened approximately in 2032, while Kara was being assembled - that would be only 4 years after Markus' assumed activation.

And no, Markus wouldn't need to be a deviant for this - he is simply the carrier, just like it happens with human viruses.

And do you know what also makes me think Kamski purposely created deviancy?

Kamski: By the way… I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… You never know…

Why would he leave an exit in the Zen Garden that is only detectable by the android but not by Amanda (seemingly) if he doesn't want the androids to be able to escape the controll of their owner? And why would he call humans and deviants "two evils" and pretend to be so neutral on the whole thing, but still give Connor a way to save himself and escape Cyberlife in case he became a deviant?

Because he isn't on Cyberlife's side. He is fascinated by androids, he likes them better than humans, and is also likely obsessed with the idea of having created a new species that is superiour to their creators. It's also quite likely that one of the Chloes is a deviant, too, and he is fully aware of it, but doesn't seem eager to turn her in.

This post is ignoring the deleted Kamski ending, but even so, Kamski paints a rather clear picture to me, and I'm also fully convinced that he didn't gift Markus to Carl because of goodness alone.

A sidenote, but: how sinister would it be to send Connor on a mission to kill Markus? Connor, who is based on Markus, the only other alive RK model, after boosting him with an extra anti-deviancy variable and 2 additional red walls and brainwashing him against what has likely been a part of his program since his very activation?

[meow-moment]

My distoipian short story i hope you like it

I wake up. I turn off my alarm clock (head implant) and leave my house. My mom is already at work, her job as a looping stripper hologram starts at 3am. I get on the city bus (flying) and head to dystopian megaschool. Chris Pratt Generalized Turbocademy, located in central HyperNeo CyberJersey.

As soon as I arrive the custodian android straps me into my infopod. The VR headset thrusts itself onto my eyes and feeds me two hours straight of propagandvertising (portmantaeu of propaganda+advertising). I am then quizzed.

"Who Won The Neon Wars?" It asks.

"PepsiCo," I answer.

"How Many People Died In The Neon Wars?"

"2.6 Trillion."

"Name One Long-Term Consequence Of The Neon Wars."

"The sun got extinguished."

And the quiz continues. I get every question right- if I got two or more wrong, my infopod would liquefy me and send my remains to the cafeteria to be served as lunch. The headset chastises my handwriting and recommends a stabilizer implant for my wrist. (I already have one but the machine is trying to get me to admit it's a bootleg. If I do admit it, I will also be liquefied.)

After that is lunch. They're serving my favorite today: liquefied students. I meet up with my friends Xyrone, Klazzz, and M.I.K.E. and we gossip together.

Xyrone is a hacker with a headset constantly strapped over his eyes and a bitcoin-mining rig surgically mounted to his back. He doesn't need to study because he can break through the school's firewall and change his grades to A's. We keep asking him to change ours too, but he's a Nova-Libertarian, so he thinks if we want it that bad we should do it ourselves.

Klazzz was recruited at age 8 to pilot a mech in the global manhunt for Saddam Hussien. (He'd have to be 900 years old by now at least, but modern medicine is crazy so I dunno.) A bully thinks it's be funny to mimic an explosion sound with his mouth right behind her, and her combat instincts kick in and she vaporizes him and his posse with her arm-mounted neutron cannon. (If anyone tries to remove it from her body, it shuts down her nervous system and then self-destructs, meaning it's classified as a disability aid)(that's why she's allowed to have it in school)

M.I.K.E. is a closeted singularity. He doesn't think anyone knows but he's obviously such a sjklop (slur for AIs) its not even funny. Sometimes I paint captchas on my face so he can't tell its me and then I beat the fuck out of him. I think it's funny.

We realize we all have next period free so we decide to skip class. On the way to our favorite pizza joint we notice a news bulletin being projected onto the sky. Greg (Eternal God-CEO, President, Emperor-Lord, and Judge of the Northern Hemisphere, as well as founder of tech startup Rooblop) is announcing that we're going to nuke Venus, just in case there are aliens there.

We turn around from the news just in time to realize that M.I.K.E.'s pathfinding has malfunctioned and led him into the middle of the street. He's hit by a car and immediately torn to shreds (all cars have sawblades mounted to the front to discourage jaywalking.) The driver doesn't even bat an eye (he's also an AI, his own pathfinding malfunctions a second later and he makes a sharp left turn into a crowded mall.) I save the footage and post it to the cloud. It gains 2 billion views over the next thirty seconds. Ten seconds after that, a rights organization cancels me for glorifying AI murder. On the horizon, I see a drone strike get called in on my Dystopian Megaschool, and I'm glad I skipped class.

We stop at the Dystopian Mega Pizza Shop on the way home. Their pepperoni is guaranteed to only be 90% liquefied high schoolers, and the cookies they sell even have real Khreim! (not to be confused with Cream, Creme, Kreem, Chreamm, or Kchreeighm.) Unfortunately, the entire restaurant is sold out, as the cadre of CopDrones in the corner bought everything edible in the building to fuel their starved appetites. Klazzz throws a disparaging insult in their direction, and in response they shoot Xyrone 87 times in the chest.

I arrive home. My mom is home on her 30 minute break. She's made meatloaf, made with Tomaytoh Soss(tm,) Garlic, Liquid Teenagers, and a whole lot of love. I give her a big hug. She says she has to run, but there's a special birthday treat in the freezer. I open it up to find a whole pint of ice cream waiting for me. My favorite flavor: mint chip.

And you'll never guess what it's made of.

That's right: Bugs.

THIS POST IS SATIRE

[synthetickitsune]

Erase Me ✧ c.hs

Pairing: android Hansol Vernon Chwe x human reader (gn) Genre: angst Summary: Time's running out. Refuse to make the newer android models compatible with the software of the older ones and boom, you can make way more money than you could ever need. Only you're not a company and you're not trying to make money. You're just trying to keep Vernon alive. Word count: 2.5k Warnings: slow deterioration, forced memory loss A/N: inspired by this post by @lumpywhump and also lowk inspired by my personal supplier of sad ai facts aka my dad and the shit he makes me cry about

The room would be silent if it wasn’t for the hum of the aircon and the whirring coming from Vernon’s open skull. The organized mess of wiring, components you don’t even know the names of, the small LED diodes blinking at you like stars in the night sky. It makes you feel like you’re looking at something humans weren’t supposed to see.

The days are getting longer and hotter. Stifling. You literally stand right where the air blows at you from the aircon and still you feel like you can’t breathe. There’s no escaping the heat and the vaguely dreamy, floaty feeling you get in the later hours of the day. The nights provide no relief either and you’re stuck with your thoughts because you can’t sleep. Even the android sleeps better than you lately.

“So, uh,” Vernon hesitates, which is unlike him. You feel like you’re going to be sick. “It’s between my oh moment and when we first held hands this time.”

You breathe in slowly, a deep breath that inflates your lungs until it hurts. In a way, you are lucky. The choices only started getting heartbreaking recently. You exhale slowly.

“I,” he sighs, “What do you think?”

“It’s your memories, love,” you shake your head and sit down behind him, wrapping your arms around his body. Warm. The way metal warms up on a hot day, not the comfort of organic bodies or warm water. His shoulder is hard under your chin. The newer models are softer. More human-like. Perhaps they could simulate the comforting feeling.

Not that that’s the selling point. They come with bigger memory storage. And, you suppose, better software as far as memory organization is concerned. Not this “pick between these two random options” Sophia’s choice torture of memory erasure that he has to go through on a separate, ancient computer that he has to plug into and that accepts his memory card. 

The mechanical parts inside of his skull buzz right next to your ear. It always gets a little louder when he’s thinking.

“We will hold hands again,” he says slowly, “But I can only fall in love with you for the first time once.”

“I mean it’d be the first time again if you deleted it,” you try to joke but it just sounds dry and forced. He doesn’t say it, and maybe it’s only because he doesn’t consider it an option, but there’s the chance he wouldn’t fall in love with you again. Maybe you’re just making this worse for yourself.

The whirring quietens. People used to say androids are hard to decipher. They must’ve never been close to one.

“It wouldn’t be the same,” he leans his head against yours cautiously, minding the sharp edges of the plates of his open skull, “And it’d be more noticeable.”

You try to swallow but your throat is too dry and too tight. It feels like there’s no oxygen in the room. Usually you’d blush and giggle at the insinuation that he thinks about the moment he fell in love with you often. Today you can’t. It doesn’t even register.

Anyway, he’s right. Holding hands isn’t that big of a deal. You have no idea why you’re both being so dramatic. Maybe it’s because this is the first time he’s forced to lose some memory of you. Before they could be saved in exchange for some of his random trivia knowledge. It’s barely there now and it’s heartbreaking.

It also feels wrong. Like he’s losing himself to keep you. It makes you sick. He won’t listen, stubborn as he is. You do wonder, though, if the only reason he’s still by your side after so long is because he cut his world too narrowly around you.

“Yeah, go ahead,” you nod. And just like that, in a couple of seconds, it’s done. The world is still turning. The time doesn’t stop for even a second. You remember the shy, careful way his hand slipped into yours. Your fingers intertwined and you wondered about how cool his synthetic skin felt against yours. It was fall and the coolness was not very welcomed.  

You still remember - he doesn’t.

Does he still remember that he used to be against this? Despite it being completely natural. He used to say you deserved better. You keep telling him the same. 

He hands you the compartment he’s holding and you carefully slide it back into its place inside his metal cranium. The structure closes automatically and he looks human again. Almost. The whirring gets louder, quicker. You don’t have time to pay it much mind while you help Vernon get on the couch and lie down. 

The memory isn’t the only issue he’s dealing with recently. 

The thing about the older models is that there’s very little that can be done for them. Screw the system made to force people to upgrade, to keep buying. Refuse to make the older and newer models compatible in any way and boom, you can make way more money than you could ever need. 

There are rumors of people who could help your situation but honestly, who even can afford their services. No matter how much you’d be willing to sacrifice just to help your lover live. And to remember. It’s paralyzing to know that no matter what you do, it won’t even come close to being enough.

The list of the memories lost keeps growing. It’s gonna keep growing, inevitably. Most of them have been insignificant so far, fortunately. It’s not gonna be that way forever. Today was the wake up call.

With Vernon asleep, you can only blankly stare into space. There’s nothing you can do. Nothing to help him. Nothing at all to save him.

It feels selfish to worry about it, to cry about it, to despair about it. It’s not your mind to begin with. Sharing the burden doesn’t help. You know it’s slowly getting to Vernon too. You don’t need to literally hear his mind race to notice whenever he realizes there’s a blank space where something should be. 

It’s a cursed circle, forgetting, learning again, only to be forced to forget not long after. There’s no help. It’s hopeless. No matter where you search, who you ask. It’s always so far out of reach that you’re not sure whether it’s a good thing or not that at least there’s no hope.

And the issues keep stacking. Not only the memory. Not only the energy draining out of him faster. Vernon hides it from you, but you know. You notice. When you lie together, hold each other under the blanket he doesn’t need, he’ll admit he’s scared. He can feel himself fading away. He never goes into specifics, living with him as long as you do he doesn’t need to anyway. 

The light at the end of the tunnel, the light that’s supposed to be hope, feels more like a train speeding towards you. The clock is ticking and you feel it in your bones. Tick-tock. Your days are numbered. Time’s running out. No matter how much you dig your heels in, you’ll be dragged forward whether you want it or not.

It’s just one blow after another.

The notification of a software update that’s supposed to erase some of the issues with the functionality of androids of Vernon’s type.

You dread the size of it. 

It’s already noon and he’s still asleep. Yesterday he decided to sacrifice the couple months you spent at your first shared home in hopes it’d solve things for some time.

You wonder if that’s gonna be enough.

You wonder if one day it’ll be better if he forgets you completely.

Probably. But then again so much of your lives is intertwined that it might just cause more confusion and chaos. It’s not like you could abandon him, you’d still want to take care of him, protect him, make sure he can live as happily as possible for as long as his luck holds.

You brush away some of the synthetic hair from his face. It all takes so much from him. The demands are getting higher, his system and body can’t keep up. Every little change requires so much power to pull off. The software update will be the worst in a while, especially because of the deterioration. Vernon guesses it might take weeks for him to gain consciousness again. 

It’s just not fair that he looks so much like a human. You suppose the slow and inevitable decline towards death is human too, and just like for humans, it can’t be changed, it’s not always fair. You know. But it hurts.

You wipe away the tears that spilled thinking about the future that might not be as distant as you thought.

Vernon doesn’t know what to do. If it was up to him, he likely wouldn’t do anything. No erasing memories, no updates. He’d accept the hand he was dealt and focus on experiencing as much as the limit of his body would allow him. Eventually, something would happen and he’d either shut down or break beyond repair and - hopefully - conscience. 

It’s not really only up to him, though, and that’s the issue. He doesn’t doubt that you'd support his decision even if it meant less time left with him, but he doesn’t want to hurt you like that. Whatever happens, you’ll get left behind. So he wants to help you have less regrets. He can see you’re not ready to let go and maybe you never will be. It makes him grateful and sad at the same time.

The day of the update is getting closer. So he’s revisiting all his options again and getting too sentimental for his own good. He’s just tired of all this. Tired of forgetting. Tired of losing himself. That’s what it feels like he’s been doing all along - just chipping away at himself? And for what? Survival instinct that’s so laughably pointless for synthetic life?

Honestly, he doesn’t want to go through with it. There exists a point where self-preservation makes no sense and he’s just about reached it.

What’s it gonna fix anyway? His days are numbered. He knows. While the updates would improve his quality of life, it’d only be at the expense of things he values more. If it came sooner, he’d jump at the opportunity. Now it feels like slapping a duct tape on a totaled car.

“Let’s not do the update,” he finally says once you join him in the living room. The morning is still too fresh for this kind of talk but he’s never been the type to put things off. At least he thinks so. 

You stare at him for a few seconds and then nod, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You used to sleep much longer. Now it feels to him like you’re getting up at these ridiculous hours just to make sure he’s still there. Not so much physically but the point stands.

“Any particular reason?” There’s no accusation, no blame. This conversation could probably be avoided if he was more open about everything. He made his choices though. 

“It’s too late for it to be meaningful,” he hopes it says enough. 

You’ve always worried too much about him. And you know him too well. Deep down you must’ve noticed the things he doesn’t point out. His fine motor skills are getting worse. His “senses” aren’t as sharp either. His memories are losing quality. Replaying some of the older ones in the full quality they were recorded in would probably send him into a coma.

You don’t need to know all the details. You feel it. You know. And that’s all that matters.

At this point you’re just wiping away tears, not trying to wake up.

“It will be better,” he approaches it reasonably, “It wouldn’t change much. And your power bill is already high enough as it is.”

You don’t laugh at his joke but you nod.

“At least we should have more time,” he continues, “I don’t mind keeping up what we do now for you. Well, for me too. I really do love you. I don’t want to leave you.”

A weak “shut up” is all you can muster as you stumble forward and fall into his embrace. Your body shakes with sobs. Crying is another ability he’s given up. The fluid had no other function. The emotions can still be felt. Not making the system perform a purely performative task saves some energy and computing power. He rarely used it anyway. Even now, what would it change? You understand how he feels without the show of emotions.

He wraps an arm around your waist and pats your back with the other. His feelings wouldn’t get properly conveyed through tears even if he could cry. It’s too late for them, too. All that’s left is to make peace and live while he can, as much as his body and system allow him. For now he’ll hold you like this. His fingers fist in your shirt. That must be enough.

There’s nothing he can say to soothe you, so he doesn’t. He lets you cry it out. You’ll think clearer afterwards. You’ll see his point, eventually. Again, you know. You know it all, just as he does.

Just like him, you just need to come to terms with it. 

“I have some more memory left now,” he whispers into your hair, “Let’s take advantage of that. We’ll decide what to do next when we come to that bridge.”

For now, that’s all he can come up with.

He hopes that the time until that happens will be long enough for the world to end. So that nobody would get abandoned, nobody would have to mourn and learn to live again.

Perhaps things would be different if he wasn’t avoiding the necessary conversation like a coward. It’s madness to keep doing the same thing over and over again, it’s unsustainable. Things would just keep getting worse. He deserves more - you both do. Perhaps especially you. 

“You know what you want to do, right?” you ask with a shaky voice.

“It doesn’t feel right,” Vernon admits, “I knew you knew. Let’s not worry about it now.”

“You went along with my vision long enough,” you sigh, burying your face deeper into his chest, “Let’s do it your way now.”

He nods, knows you can feel it. His way, for now, is to hold you. It doesn’t solve anything. It hurts. He feels his brain whirring while he recollects all the times he’s held you like this. There’s nothing more he can commit to memory about how your body feels against his. That’s a relief.It doesn’t change anything, but if it doesn't make the problem worse, it feels like standing here and holding you until his body gives out isn’t the worst thing to do.

[racerchix21]

Contagion

This is what I did with @do-androids-dream-ao3acc’s spec post from last week

Droid I know this definitely isn’t where you wanted this to go but I hope you like it.

“Seriously. You want me to call your ex to ask him to join in on a suicide mission?”

Athena sounds inquisitorial, as if this were an interrogation; she’s cocked her head and looks at Buck from narrowed eyes. He understands that, he knows why she’s striking that tone. That’s her husband in this building, her friends, too – if she doesn't keep her cool now, if she doesn't at least appear competent on the surface, her house of cards will collapse. Buck’s is already in ruins.

“I-it’s not suicide,” he insists. 

“No? What would you call it, your plan, which obviously consists of bypassing the military?” 

“Well, if you put it that way…” Buck takes a deep breath; it doesn’t help at all, his arms swing out in a wild gesture. “But it's the only option, isn't it? The military just wants to leave them to die in there.”

“Buck,” Athena says softly. 

He doesn't know where she finds the kindness to do so. He wants her to be angry, too. He wants her to refuse to accept that Bobby and the others are stuck in that lab, and even more so that Howie is dying an unnecessarily cruel death. Not if they can help it.  

“No,” he shakes his head. “Look, that M-Moira is crazy. I have no idea what she is up to, maybe it's not just frustration with her research director, maybe she's selling the antidote on the black market for pharmaceuticals.”

“You’ve read too many horror stories,” Athena says, but Buck hears the tone in her voice. 

“S-so it's true. It happens, right?”

“Of course,” she scoffs. “But that’s out of our league, Buck.”

“Out of our... ‚Thena!”

Buck laughs. It's not a particularly humorous sound, but one that causes a flicker of concern in Athena's eyes. It’s what Buck feels, too – sometimes, when you feel like crying, laughter is the only thing that can stop the desperation.

“You survived a sinking ship and a plane crash,” he says.

"This is different."

“Yeah, but it’s not the first time you've bent the rules. And if you have to, you'll break them. Do you know that Ravi did that today? He risked everything for people he always claims are just annoying colleagues. They're not to us, Athena.” 

“Not to us,” she repeats slowly, almost sighing. A jolt runs through her body. “Still. Buck. Do you know what you’re proposing?”

“I’m only proposing you do your job, because catching criminals, that’s what you do. Moira…”

“She's definitely a criminal,” Athena adds grimly. “I'm not saying we don’t need to find her, regardless of the mess we're in. But you want us to actively defy the military with the antidote in our hands – should we even get it.”

“Tommy can get us in,” Buck insists. “If we come in through the roof, it'll take them a while to notice.”

"They'll never let us in, that's for sure."

“Exactly. They want to let Chimney die so the virus dies. They can't do that,” he says, though it’s an impossible thing to even think about. 

“No, they can't,” Athena replies in a tone suggesting she’s thinking of Bobby now. “But do you really think Tommy will help us?”

It's a good question, maybe even an obvious one, considering how their last encounter ended. But Buck doesn't want Tommy to help him for his sake; he’s got no right to demand that kind of commitment. There is so much more at stake, and he believes, no, he knows that Tommy will understand. 

“It's not his problem, that's true,” says Buck. “But I know one thing. Even if I messed up, and even if the others haven't been exactly fair to him since we split up... he'll do it because he can't help himself, Athena. He's one of those guys who are too damn good for this world. He’s kind and compassionate.”

Athena looks at him for what seems like an eternity, even if it’s just half a minute or so. 

“Have you ever told him that, Buck?” she asks quietly, and he swallows.

He hasn’t, of course, he didn’t tell him this and so many other things.

“Well,” Athena says at last, wiping her hands on her trousers as if that would wipe away all the tension. Buck wishes it were possible, but there's no magic wand to solve their situation. “Maybe you're right. But, Buck...”

He watches her intently, there’s a small spark of hope in his heart again. Athena rummages through her pockets and finally pulls out her cell phone.

“I can't call him. I can't possibly ask the man for such a favor again, even if I were convinced, like you, that he would help us.” 

She holds out the phone to him, a small smile on her serious face. 

“But you know what?” she adds. “Seems like you’re the right person to call Tommy Kinard.”

He knows she's right as he paces across the tent they've sequestered themselves in away from prying eyes. As he spins on his heel and makes his way back towards her Buck can see that Athena's almost done with him.

Selfishly he hopes she'll make the call to Tommy herself because he can't trust himself to not say the wrong thing to him again. Not to manage to blow the one chance that his team has to survive. Maybe the last chance he has of getting Tommy back in his life even it's just as a friend.

"You're gonna call Tommy and see if he'll help us commit domestic terrorism," Athena whispers to him shoving his phone into his stomach when he gets close enough to her again. "If he agrees to helping us save our people, you Evan Buckley are never allowed to let that man go again. We're gonna get them all to the hospital to get checked out and then you and Tommy are getting married if I have to forge the paperwork myself."

"Married," Buck asks horrified at the notion of forcing Tommy to marry him but also intrigued. "Why married?"

"That way you two don't have to testify against each other," Athena states like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Look Buckaroo we're probably all gonna get charged with domestic terrorism and if you and Tommy are married they can't force you to testify in each other's trials."

"Evan," Tommy answers on the third ring. His name drips in sheer exhaustion and Buck lets his mind wander for a moment about the last time he heard Tommy mumble his name in that tone of voice. He snaps back to himself and the crisis at hand when he catches Athena's eye and her unimpressed look.

"Tommy, I need a favor and I'll completely understand if you say no," Buck rushes not wanting to give his ex boyfriend a chance to say no. "It's important and you're the only one I trust to help."

"If it's important to you Evan then of course I'll help," Tommy says and Buck can hear him shuffling around like he's getting dressed. His suspicions are confirmed when he hears the springs creak when Tommy sits in the old armchair he refused to throw away. "Where are you right now?"

"The SOCAL Tech Biomedical Research Laboratory. There was an explosion and the safety protocols activated. Hen and Howie both need medical attention immediately the Army's refusing to do anything about it." Buck knows he's rambling and he sounds hysterical if the looks Athena's sending his way are any indication.

"Evan,breathe sweetheart." The pet name falls so easily from Tommy's lips and Buck involuntarily shudders at how sweet it sounds. "I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? What do you need me to do?"

"Just bring you and maybe some digging supplies? I haven't quite figured out how exactly I'm gonna get in there to save our people but I'm gonna save them myself."

"I'll see you soon," Tommy repeats stronger and quieter than before. Almost like it's something precious that only they're supposed to hear and it gives Buck enough strength to start coming up with the rest of his plan.

"Evan Buckley, I don't like the look on your face right now," Athena states glaring at him. "Whatever you're think-" she's interrupted by Colonel Hartman walking in looking angry a short stout man following him in.

"Sergeant Grant, Firefighter Buckley," Hartman starts watching both of them wearily. "This is FBI Special Agent LaSalle. He and his team are heading up the investigation into Moira Blake. Agent LaSalle, this is Sergeant Athena Grant and Firefighter Evan Buckley. The people in the lab right now are the rest of the 118."

"We're trying to track Miss Blake down as we speak to get the antidote to save your friends," LaSalle tries to reassure before he and the Colonel take their leave.

"So what's your plan Buck? It's pretty damn obvious we're gonna have to save them ourselves."

"Tommy's bringing digging supplies and I'll grab the first aid kit out of his truck when he gets here. You think you can see if Karen can whip up some algorithm or something to help us figure out how long we have until Chim dies?"

"Sure but what are you doing," Athena asks pulling her phone out to call Karen.

"I'm gonna kidnap Tommy and we're stealing a chopper. If we can figure out where Moira is we can get the antidote long before the FBI can get their hands on it."

"Kidnapping me? Why kidnap me when I'll go voluntarily," Buck hears Tommy ask behind him and he feels a little relief that his ex boyfriend actually showed up. "Addams from B Shift owes me a favor. We can head to the helipad over by the pier and pick up the chopper."

He can't blame Athena for looking at them like they're crazy. He feels crazy but he still doesn't see a way out of this situation with every single one of his family members walking away no worse for wear. He can't say if Tommy's feeling the same but he does know that Tommy's fiercely protective of everyone he cares about.

"So Karen and I need to figure out how long you and Tommy have to find Moira and get back here to save everyone?"

"Exactly. Also hope that we don't actually need the digging supplies Tommy brought with him," Buck laughs again no more humorous than before.

"You ready to go save the day Evan," Tommy asks quietly bumping their shoulders together as they follow Athena out to where their cars are parked.

He doesn't get the chance to answer before their intercepted by Colonel Hartman and the man looks angry the vein in his forehead throbbing. "Where do you think you're going? I understand the people still inside are yours but I can't have you interfering with any of our plans. You'll both have to stay here where we can keep an eye on both of you."

Tommy's the first one to recover, "Sir, they were just on their way to inform the wives of Firefighters Han and Wilson of the situation. We all thought it best that their families hear from familiar faces rather than strangers about their loved ones."

Hartman looks stricken for a moment before he concedes the point and releases them reluctantly. "Don't try to be heroes. Any of you," he stresses watching them walk away.

**

"Alright how are we going to find Moira," Buck asks as they head towards the pier and their once again stolen municipal property.

"I know a guy," Tommy states as if it's obvious and maybe it should be Buck thinks. "I got off the phone with you earlier and I called him to see if he knew what was going on. He said he'd heard rumblings of something going down at the lab and about a researcher wanting to sell a new virus."

"So what he told you to go confront her," Buck questions incredulously. "This guy wants to put you in danger and have you confront a crazy woman?"

"He's gonna buy it from her Evan. I need you to call Athena and have her meet him up with him."

"If Athena is gonna meet up with 'your guy'," Buck says complete with air quotations, "what are we doing?"

"Distracting the FBI and the US Army."

"I'm sorry what? What do you mean distracting the FBI and Army, Thomas," he screeches looking at Tommy like he doesn't know who he is anymore.

"We're doing Buck stuff and making it Tommy and Buck stuff instead Evan. You really thought you were the only reckless one in this rela-friendship?"

"No no say what you were gonna say," Buck demandingly urges because he can't trust his own ears at the moment.

"Relationship," Tommy corrects himself sounding shyer than normal refusing to even look over.

"It almost sounded like you relationship," Buck repeats dumbly. There's no way that Tommy can still want anything to do with him after his comments the morning after their drunken hookup.

"I did," Tommy confirms glancing over at Buck. "We save the day and then maybe we can sit and talk about us. How's that sound?"

"Sounds perfect. So what's your plan once your guy gets the antidote and it gets handed off to Athena? We're just gonna fly around and make menaces of ourselves?"

"As soon as Athena tells us she's got the antidote in hand dispatch is gonna get a call that the virus and the antidote are in the black chopper flying over the lab. The guy I know also knows a guy that used to work at that bio lab and he knows how to get into the labs when they've been locked down," Tommy explains as he parks in the alley behind a dumpster.

"So it's a hope and a prayer that nothing goes wrong?"

All he gets in response is a hum and Tommy leading the way inside a building then to the roof.

**

5 hours later Buck has absolutely no idea how the hell they pulled it off but they managed to save everyone. His team are all lying in a quarantine unit at Rampart General but they're alive.

He parted ways with everyone earlier and he wants to sleep but there's one last thing he feels needs to do.

What are you doing Saturday? I was thinking we could get coffee and talk.

He hits send on the message and plugs in his phone in before laying down on Tommy's side of his bed.

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[zeevoidlight]

Why didn't he protected them

Is actually difficult for me to discern because Vegeta and Bulma went from getting close to each other and starting to trust each other enough to be intimate, even if it was just for the sex, to Vegeta not caring if she and baby Trunks died at all, and Bulma being very distant from Vegeta while still being in a relationship. And I don't believe the thing some say that he didn't actually cared for her or didn't actually noticed her in a deeper way until much later (basically the idea that Vegeta was just Trunks sperm donor and only was with Bulma for the sex), nah. diss's moch complcated, i swear (nah not really, I just want an excuse to talk more about my obsession). (Note that I watched the latin version so my interpretation of the characters and context might be different from the English version).

I'll talk about these event and about saiyan culture regarding babies, Vegeta and Bulma's relationship during the Cell saga, and how Vegeta might have felt towards Baby Trunks and Future Trunks.

//////////

Saiyans, family and culture

The popular idea is that yes, he was a major jerk by letting Bulma and Baby Trunks almost die at the start of the Android saga, and yeah, he actually was. But one thing that people often forget is that he is not human, he is a saiyan, and that kind of behavior wasn't that abnormal for his culture/species. Is actually expected.

I mean, Saiyan's used to send their babies (the weak ones) in capsules to other planets to pop out of the ship, project an artificial moon into the sky and start making havoc for months until everyone was dead. If the baby survives they will later go to the planet for him eventually to claim the planet and sell it, and I guess later reintegrate the little saiyan into their society again. Like a rite of passage just to acquire the right to live, otherwise they just die unceremoniously. (And it was a way to try to hide and justify mass child genocide by taking out the "weak genes" out of their population just like a Spartans would... *clears throat").

Even Bardock was like that (pre retcon because i will use the saiyan lore of the era to explain something of the same time period of it's creation). While the others were like "hey! You got a baby kid! Aren't you going to go to planet Vegeta to check on him? How about a celebration or something", and Bardock is like "NO. Who would want to visit a low class soldier like that, I'm not r-[redacted]" (man... DBZ Bardock was a different animal entirely, i freaking loved him). (I have the theory that Raditz was actually in the lower end of high class soldiers. maybe will talk about it in another post).

Anyway, yeah, that's basically the way of thinking of saiyans. A little bit like Piccolo's tough love type of survival training with Gohan but even more savage and detached because if they died and it was their kid it was gonna suck really bad and hurt a lot their pride but what had to happen happened since they cannot get involved in those first years and cannot go save them, end of story, make another baby, maybe the next one will be stronger. They just had babies to send them off, and they have a blood relation with each other but they didn't had the concept of a family, not exactly, like humans would have, usually though, because once again the royal family did had those kinds of bonds to precisely preserve their lineage and secure their babies would born powerful above everyone else.

Of course we all know Bardock was still worried about Kakarott and he wanted to appear tougher with his teammates, he was worried the same way every other saiyan does it in a very distant manner to not get their feelings get in the way of their job as warriors (I mean, he did passed by the nursery in his hurry and stopped to check on Goku while he was there after all). Much like King Vegeta himself who said that he didn't care about what happened to his son, Vegeta, after some saiyan royal adviser (or knight, idk) asks him if it's true that he will have to give his son to Frieza because Vegeta was going to be real in danger if he did in the flashback in the Frieza saga. He wasn't going to say "yes i do feel terrible for my son and it hurts me deeply" even if he was absolutely devastated, he says that he doesn't care because he cannot appear weak, and because it was also true what he said about being more angered by how Frieza had them under his thumb, in that moment he was decided to confront Frieza so he couldn't let himself feel.

And later Vegeta himself said he didn't cared about his race or his father to Dodoria when he was revealing the truth about their planet's destruction while at the same time is true that he was angered about being lied to and about being kept in their control since childhood . The thing is Vegeta doesn't care about the actual people of his race but more about what they represent and are supposed to be, only those who are saiyan in blood and meaning are worthy of calling themselves saiyan, that's why he doesn't revive them but he does care deeply and is proud of it, just in another level. And regarding his father we know he was lying because every time he remembers him in the series he does it fondly and with a lot of pride, like when he's outright telling Goku to avenge their parents, or when remembering him to give himself confidence that he will be able to become Ssj. Is not like they don't "care", but they have to be intelligent about what to reveal so it cannot be taken against them later and to a degree convince themselves on getting detached from many things to keep their fighting instincts up front and take decisions with their heads cold whatever had to happen. Just like we hear him say all terrified in Namek when Krillin got impaled by Frieza "What an idot!...That's what happened to him for paying attention to that Namekuseijin! (Dende)", and then after Gohan looses his mind and knocks Frieza down momentarily Vegeta tells Gohan "Don't loose your time worrying about him! [Krillin]. Do you think Frieza was going to die with that?!". Is what they don't say and try to hide (as we see explicitly with Vegeta when confronting Frieza he purposefully hid the existence of Goku from him and lied, making Frieza believe that Vegeta himself was the only saiyan survivor left but in his thoughts we hear him say "and Kakarott...").

Vegeta's priorities

Same can be said of Vegeta with baby Trunks, i would believe. Their children are their legacy in a way after all, and like an extension of themselves and their own ego. But what made Vegeta forget the feelings and pride he might have had with Bulma and Trunks to not even being a thing that was important is literally everything else going on around him at the same time in those years. It was a very conflicting era for him in several fronts, specially related to his place in the world, his newfound freedom from Frieza's hand since he was a child, him getting used to a new life in another culture, another planet, other type of people, his love relationship, his place as a saiyan in relation to the other few of his species, his title as prince among the low class saiyans that had surpassed him by this point and not by little, his twice stolen destiny to be the the legendary super saiyan that now that he became one as well he had to demonstrate he was the better Ssj among them, the news of him getting killed in the near future in another timeline by just some rando earthling androids that somehow were stronger than Frieza and that the android he defeated (19) alongside the other one (Gero) weren't the right ones, he was really pissed about it and starting to get worried, they couldn't sense the androids by their chi (ki), it was becoming a mess, and he absolutely HAD to be the one that would kill all the androids all on his own to go back to his rightful place in the power scale. Is quite the heavy burden.

So, family? his son? Bulma? ultimately they were at the end of the list of his priorities. And that is very clear thorough this entire first part, even when he was officially in his relationship with Bulma.

Bulma

That's partially why Bulma was attracted to him in the first place though, because he was extremely determined in his ambitions, she respects that, and saw how deeply it was hurting him when he had that training accident and was subconsciously talking in his sleep. She was going to carry that responsibility for him so he could focus on himself. That's why she doesn't reclaim him anything or judges him on things related to that other than jokingly. She knew what she was getting into and has always known. Unfortunately she isn't that responsible of a person herself though. That's why she herself puts her own life and Baby Trunks life in danger, because she is just as determined and obstinate, and Vegeta knows that as well, that's why he doesn't "care", because he respects her decisions as well (and ultimately can't do much about it either). If she wants to put their own lives in danger because she thinks she's up to their game is her responsibility then, not his, and he cannot get involved because he has a job to do regarding himself and his own battles, he had to be detached. Also he was annoyed and fed up with Bulma's stubbornness since he already told her not to be a stupid and do stupid things like put herself in danger way before when Frieza went to Earth, and now she's doing it again (the first time he thought it was hot though (it was so funny that he looks back at her and then talks to himself all thoughtful like "Not only she's vulgar but she's aggressive/daring too", translation -> 'I might like this chick'), but this time is a not cute at all). I don't think it was something personal, not even the "[..] foolish woman and her blasted child" thing, like he says in the english dub, he had more important things he had to worry about. What he says to Trunks in the latin dub is "What stupidities are you saying. I don't care in the slightest, you idiot" (i wish I could have found the japanese one but it is what it is and is the closest I have to it) so he doesn't say mean things to Bulma or Trunks specifically. The interesting part here is to think if Vegeta was saying "I don't care" because he actually didn't care, or "I don't care" not because he didn't but because he couldn't. Vegeta is terrified of feeling and has always been. And yes, I say he was absolutely right because what saiyans try to avoid by giving too information and care is exactly what happened and Gero used her as a distraction, blasted the place and with it Bulma's ship and escaped thinking that they were going to be too busy saving her to notice where he ran to. Still a dick move but I cannot blame him too much. So yeah, it is very much in the tone of if Bulma thinks she can be in the middle of the battle field then so be it, if they survive they'll prove themselves not to be to useless after all, if they die it will suck but it had to be for being idiots.

Being a warrior

Vegeta is a warrior first and foremost. And him being a warrior is why later he is excited to see Cell's perfect form, just like Goku (being a pure blooded saiyan) he cannot contain himself from seeing what immense power looks like, and dares Future Trunks to attack him if Trunks had the balls to do it in order to stop him. Like "bro, are you really gonna to go against your pops? prove it. That's why Future Trunks cannot comprehend him, because Trunks is part earthling and cannot fathom someone getting excited about fighting for the sake of fighting itself and proving one's self where power is the only thing that matters. And why Vegeta cannot stand Future Trunks either, because F Trunks fights for justice and peace.

Baby Trunks

About Baby Trunks, we can only speculate of course but I would assume baby Trunks was conceived right after Vegeta became super saiyan (?) because later in the Buu saga kid Trunks was able to become Ssj without any effort just like Goten (who was definitely conceived during that week Goku was in Ssj the whole time), while present/future Gohan and Future Trunks had to get the transformation the OG hard way like their fathers. I guess future Trunks did accidentally change the time where he would be conceived in the present timeline by just a bit since we do see that Vegeta becomes Ssj in future timeline, probably after Goku dies (he was present with the others in Goku's house when he died and Bulma already had Baby Future Trunks with her) and before the androids appear in the future timeline as we see him transformed to fight, though that's still my speculation.

I think even though Trunks was still a baby maybe there was a way for Vegeta to sense his initial power level (? I'm just assuming some things here). And I don't remember exactly when did saiyan babies were packed and sent to planets to conquer them (maybe a few months old and expected to destroy the people in the planet in around 6 months from arrival having Goku and Earth as an example in the Bardock special) but Baby Trunks definitely doesn't look powerful or very strong regardless, not compared to Vegeta himself as a baby. And Vegeta knew that the mix between saiyans with earthlings produced a stronger breed but just look at this little guy, he looks more earthling than saiyan without much promises, might as well not have much saiyan blood in him, he didn't had his black/dark hair, he wasn't even born with a tail. And also was being treated... well like a baby but an earthling one.

He probably was conflicted about the whole baby thing, specially by how he was taught on his saiyan side despite being from the royal family (since the royal family is one of the few that can actually have familial ties similar to humans), and how being now on Earth his perfectly normal for a saiyan actions were taken from an earthling perspective as not being adequate, but he couldn't entertain the thought for too long since the androids were gonna kill everyone if the warning was true anyways.

Vegeta didn't really considered Baby Trunks to be someone he should put any attention to. Although deep down he cared to a degree as in being an extension of his pride and how Trunks was ultimately "representing him" as his son. How that affected his relationship with Bulma too in this time period is important. Like, he seems angry that Bulma tells him that his presence made Trunks cry after his fight 19, and that is quite mean for her to say that to him, but he can't reply anything to her and just tch's and looks away all annoyed but doesn't say anything or fights her on it, so i can imagine he was feeling conflicted about how to act or respond on top of everything that he had to think about.

Pride on Future Trunks and school of hard knocks

Only when he discovered that the mysterious badass warrior from the future was his own son, the one that he was dismissing, then he started to quietly and secretly take pride on who he would become and started to pay attention to both F Trunks (in his own saiyan way) and much later to Baby Trunks because babies are not viewed as important in saiyan culture, still focusing on the battle first. Much like Bardock when he started to have his visions of Goku right at the very end of his life he started to view grown up F Trunks as more of an equal rather than competition, and seeing him grown up made it easier for him to bond. And so Vegs is like ".... Fuck yeah".

"Look at my son, Cell. He's not as cool as me but he's damn close" lol

He of course was also very prideful and wouldn't bother with any family related stuff the way Bulma (and F Trunks) were pressuring him to be, and she kinda was ridiculing him about it (jokingly though, never seriously) just to evidence him and kinda "hit him over the head" for his behavior. And his natural reaction is of course to appear tough in front of everyone else, like Bardock, like King Vegeta, and like his usual self, and throw all that family nonsense out the window. He still was very prideful and had to keep a face, but that is what would come bite him in the ass hard later on.

(look at Krillin's face though. In the latin version Bulma yells here and tells Vegeta "What are you trying to do Vegeta! If you get close with that 'few friends' face Trunks will start crying again like before!", and Krillin looks at Vegeta with a face that says -Dude, she hits you back at home, doesn't she- (that's not funny... but it's kinda funny))

Trunks took the wrong way Vegeta's actions. He wasn't purposefully ignoring him, he didn't had time to bond or make him understand his methods, or teach him spelling everything out for him, at least the way he knew how to do it which is by the saiyan way, which was never going to work the way he remembered it because Trunks is half earthling, and that's something Goku also partially fumbled up with Gohan and his Rage form, but Vegeta was actually trying to teach Trunks the hard way. Vegeta was trying to actually come up with strategies, occupied on bringing solutions to the table that Trunks couldn't come up with for years in just the few days they had. Goku definitely knew it. Trunks is all "my dad has been on that rock for 3 days and he doesn't even look at me or train me" and Goku is like "shit! Vegeta is a Genius! He's trying to find a way to surpass the super saiyan", and Trunks can't understand what's happening while the two pure blood adult saiyans are talking. Like, remember the scene where F Trunks attacked Vegeta? Vegeta was actually trying to parent as a saiyan there, and feeling proud of Trunks before and after Trunks attacked him because he actually did it. He called him stupid and all but it was always accompanied with a lesson he wanted Trunks to learn, even if it was only to make him learn respect Vegeta's place as his father (and Trunks eventually came to respect him despite his shortcomings).

Vegeta and Bulma

Anyway... regarding Vegeta and Bulma though, I love how Vegeta talks to Bulma with such familiarity during the Cell saga (i just wished... the time skips didn't happen so quickly because it would have been excellent for character development outside of battle with small everyday stuff and hijinks...), and it does feel like he recognizes Bulma's intelligence and respects that aspect of her, he calls her by her name (which after 3 years I would hope he does but last time we just hear him call her "woman" so it was nice to hear him call her by her name), but then when Bulma starts to spit toxicity towards him or starts to act like she has her ego through the roof (which funnily enough is very similar to Vegeta himself when he feels confident and with his ego higher than the sky), he just looks like he's thinking "well you just can't find the off button, do you" (lol, it reminds me of home).

It actually reminds me a little bit of how Bulma and Yamcha's relationship was, on and off of Bulma being angry and with Yamcha and re-conciliating again, just this time is with Vegeta, but in Yamcha's relationship he was the one that just got all the (maybe undeserved) anger from Bulma and he didn't really had the balls to confront her because he's Yamcha and he's a nice guy but he doesn't have spice (like he used to as a bandit), while on the other hand with Vegeta is a constant battle for power in the relationship. They both act mean with each other, and even if it's not actually meant to seriously cause harm they can get get hurt and often do simply by the nature of how they relate to each other and communicate, with insults, sarcasm, back handed comments, ironic remarks, double meaning, either is to twist the knife where it hurts or even to be playful and flirt in a friendly manner, is almost never straight forward and i really can't picture them, specially Vegeta, saying that they love each other directly and explicitly but they don't have to. That's just how they are, is their game, because neither of them is willing to back out, they are both asses, though Vegeta is the one that normally does back out in the end in favor of keeping peace because he is the one that has more to loose even if it's by convenience and to keep his access to Capsule Corp and all the commodities at this point, and because he respects and admires Bulma too, he does love her in his own saiyan way and doesn't want to loose that bond he's made with her as the only other person he managed to trust and be open with (the other being Goku). (this scene is priceless and i just wanted to put it here. Is filler but i just don't care, it officially exists and is part of the collective that is DB and is good).

Bulma was ok with Vegeta not being present in their lives and only focusing on her baby, encouraging little Trunks in small ways to start developing some strength. She's always been her own woman after all, independent, confident, intelligent all on her own, always being in the middle of the conflicts since time immemorial to be part of the team too against whatever is menacing Earth. While at the same time is clear that Bulma is proud that her baby is Vegeta's because is a symbol of their deeper connection (and love if you will at this point), aaaaand because of the potential he has as a fighter and the status he gives her among the ones that know who Vegeta is (bragging rights, lol), and also brag about his perfect very cool and handsome son's genes. She was like "yeah Yayirobe, drop the child if you want, but be ware that that child is Vegeta's". (I swear that sometimes I wonder if Vegeta is the one in an abusive relationship full of toxicity, lol, the answer is they both are but flawed as it was it's what they both needed and what worked for them). (and i love this bit where Trunks falls to the ground trying to learn to walk and Bulma looks at him like "i'm not gonna do anything about it, get up on your own". Some of Vegeta is rubbing off on her, hehe).

Trunks was an accident?

About the baby, in a way Bulma and Vegeta, ever since they decided to engage sexually, were aware of the possibility of a child being born from both of them but had already accepted whatever outcome destiny had in it's plans regarding a possible offspring (when before Vegeta was very clearly against it for the fear of having a child that could be stronger than him to usurp his title and place). And to that i want to add that Trunks wasn't really planned by Vegeta in particular (I'm more sure that Bulma might have desired a baby from him after a certain point because she always fantasized with Goku once she saw him all grown up but "lost her chance" as she puts it, and now Vegeta represented another chance to have a badass baby), but that doesn't mean Trunks wasn't expected like many people believe (that Trunks was an accident). Vegeta had agreed with the consequences long before he knew they were pregnant, so no, i don't believe he was an accident as if they didn't thought having a baby wasn't going to eventually happen simply because they were having sex and a baby is to be an expected high chance result, but neither planned exactly. He just naturally happened and that was ok.

They are fine (Trunks is not fine)

Like, both Vegeta and Bulma seem actually pretty ok with the whole thing of being kinda distant kinda separate and on their own at that point while still being together as an official couple. Vegeta concentrating on his own things and not letting anything get in his way, being very saiyan about not letting himself feel (because otherwise his obvious parental instincts when Trunks gets killed and him later accepting his love for Bulma wouldn't make much sense if he actually didn't ultimately cared). Bulma seems pretty ok with putting herself and her child in danger while knowing she still has a job to do to help save the Earth just like Vegeta was doing in a way. Like, during the saga they are actually both working together, Vegeta asking her info on Dr Gero and her looking into her investigation about him in her memory, him asking if she brought the armors he requested for the z fighters and Bulma actually did made them and brought them with her. They are actually working together when it comes to the war against the androds and Vegeta is 100% concentratd on that and his issues while Bulma is enduring and helping as well, growing up from the brat she was into someone more mature but both still with things they need to work on.

The only one that cannot comprehend the dynamic here is Future Trunks. No one else feels it out of place or out of logic because it's Vegeta and it's Bulma. But like, Future Trunks gives too much credit to Vegeta for putting his Baby Trunks self in danger when it's very much Bulma's fault in this particular case. But that is because F Trunks made some high assumptions and probably fantasized with who his father might have been and was hit with the reality that he was not the way he imagined him, so he's putting a lot of expectations on Vegeta that when not met he gets angry but Vegeta is just like "dude i don't have time for this bs". And on the other hand Trunks also didn't knew how his mother was before she had to grow into someone more careful and responsible, so he cannot see his mother's faults because his love for her is blinding him from her wrong doings. (funny thing is that when she had the plane accident no one went to save Bulma either, lol). He has to learn to know his parents because he doesn't know them. Poor Trunks though XD.

////

Ultimately Vegeta changes his attitude during the end of the saga for the sake of both of them, and after having been smacked full force in the face with the realization that he did messed up in multiple ways during the saga after all, with the androids, with Cell, with Trunks too because of his cultural baggage. At the end he's much closer to Bulma and Baby Trunks, having accepted his role as father, not only the type of father Vegeta wanted to be but the father Trunks needed him to be, which still had a lot of room for improvement but it was a start, and he did changed quite a lot. Even caving in with some earthling behaviors for the better. Unnggh! is so beautiful!

[beneathsakurashade]

why did my favorite game turn into a dating sim? twst x gen reader (crack fic) CH: 3 Am I (20 gen) the bad guy for burning water?

CH:1 CH: 2

After agreeing on going to McMousalds with your new pookie Riddle for your first date.  You need three things,

1. money

2. dinero

3. お金

    Because there was no way you in hell that you were going to ask Mrs. Rosehearts for money, especially not for fast food.  So that’s why you’re now in Crowley’s office watching as the man in the crow mask nods along to your desperate pleas.  “Ah, young love, very well Mx. Y/N!  In my graciousness, I shall lend you some money.  Alas, it is not much, but it shall suit your needs”.  He summons a short stack of cash on the desk.  You grab the stack like you’ve never set eyes on cash before, and thank your oh so gracious Headmage before securing your money in your pockets and running out of his office to your room.  Entering your room you hide your cash in your dresser, and pull out your notebook.  The notebook that you stole from a table in the Heartslabyul lounge, someone left a perfectly good notebook on an empty table, and it wasn’t stealing if you were gonna use it…right?  Well enough about wondering who would miss their notebook, you opened it to the first page to see your list.

𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 <𝟹𝟹

[_] - 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢

[_] - 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚏𝚒𝚝

[_] - 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

[_] - 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝

[_] - 𝙷𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚞’𝚜 𝙱𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙸𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙽𝚃!!!)

    Okay so maybe the last thing wasn’t very important in theory, but it was important to you, and lucky for you.  The blue twin-tailed virtual idol was right beside you, in all of her plushie that you-won-from-an-arcade-that-totally-didn’t-cost-you-fifteen-bucks- glory.  For some reason that you couldn’t figure out, the night you arrived here Cater (a ginger haired instagram Magicam user junior who was definitely into his classmate Trey, you could sense it).  Brought her to you, you remembered it like it was yesterday (it was actually two days ago but your dementia is setting in-) he knocked on Riddle and your shared room door and you opened it to see a student that Riddle had talked about holding the oh so familiar Miku plushie.  “Hiya! You must be Riddle’s new partner! Hope you’re up to the job, you’re prob wondering ‘Who’s this cute stranger?’  And while I’m sure that our Housewarden has given you all the deets about me, I’m Cater Diamond, Heartslabyul junior! -he hands you Miku- This little thing was found by a student near where you came here, so the Headmage assumed that it’s yours”.  You nod and thank him “Yea, she’s mine, I can’t believe that she’s the only thing that followed me here…guess she really is the number one princess in the world…” you smile nervously “Wait, does that mean you’re phoneless?” Cater gasps, and you’re not sure why he just acted like an Apple user when you tell them that you don’t use Android, but you’re stuck with a Disney Princess phone from the late 2010’s.  

    “I have to take you to get a new phone, there’s this super fresh place that I know that sells phones for cheap!” He smiles and you think stop…there’s no Squid Sisters reference there, STOP IT! Before nodding “Gotcha, I’ll probably take you up on that Cater”.  He checks the time and sighs “Welp, it’s almost curfew, can’t have Riddle catching any of us out after it.  Hope to see you soon!” You smile and wave as he leaves.  You flash back to the present and  sit down on a chair, scooting next to your desk, checking off the Money box and turn to your plushie, staring her in the eyes.  You could’ve sworn you saw the faintest gleam in her stitched eyes before you check off the Miku’s Blessing box.  Now you just need three things, a fancy outfit, and an alert, because McMousalds doesn’t take reservations.  

    You ponder where and how to acquire a fancy outfit, the stores would probably be far too out of your budget, maybe there was a student here who liked to design outfits?  Preferably for around $30?  You sigh at your poor prospects, and grab a bit of your cash, leaving your room with a dream and a low budget.  You leave your shared room and think to yourself about how you’ve never had time to actually explore Heartslabyul, and as you wander through the many halls and staircases.  You feel more akin to Alice in Wonderland than yourself.  Well, considering Heartslabyul’s history that wouldn’t be too far off… Like a child you find yourself drawn to the comforting smell of something baking.  A cake perhaps?  Or a dozen cookies?  You walk into the dorm’s kitchen and see a tall student, short green hair and yellow eyes hidden behind glasses, dressed in the Heartslabyul uniform, whom you recognized as Trey.  You already knew about Trey Clover, but he never seemed particularly interesting, he was a simple guy from a family of bakers you had a friend who loved him though.  "Hi...um...Trey right?" you say quietly, watching as he reads a recipe.  He turns around and smiles at you "Yup, that's me.  You're Y/N right?  It's great to finally meet you, sorry I couldn't meet you earlier, my family needed me back home for a few days".  You smile "It's alright, and yea.  I was wondering...where can I buy a nice outfit for cheap?" Trey pauses and looks away from the recipe, "Nice outfit for cheap...I have a friend who might be able to help you".

    What Trey didn't mention about his friend was that his friend was Vil Schoenheit.  A literal celebrity.  How and why the actual fuck did you keep meeting pretty people?  Wait...you could use these connections...hehe.  Wait, no, you have to get that outfit, don't get distracted.  You sit across from Vil in Pomefiore's lounge, fidgeting nervously with your fingers as the blonde, purple-eyed celebrity stares at you with disdain.  A friend of yours who had no idea what Twisted Wonderland was, called the Pomefiore trio, Vil, Rook, and Epel the Plastics.  Which was quite funny you had to admit.  But what isn't funny is this perfect faced, stunning guy staring you up and down like you're some roach that he came across on the sidewalk.  "This.  This is all that you can afford for your outfit? Thirty thaumarks?  How in the Sevens do you expect to impress your date?  Are you going to eat at a fast food place at the corner of the street as well?" he scoffs, practically offended that you brought such a measly amount in his presence.  "My bad, I wasn't expecting Crowley to be so fucking cheap- you pause as he glares at you and mutters something about what crude language- so flipping cheap, that he only gave me thirty for an outfit.  Also uh...no, we're going to a very nice place...trust".  Vil bites back a remark and sighs "Very well then, I'll buy you an outfit.  Consider it one of my gifts for your future wedding".  The two of you rise from your seats and you smile excitedly "Ohh am I gonna get some Gucci?  Or maybe some Prada?  Shi-I mean shoot, maybe even some Dior..." he shoots you a glare "Do not push it Y/N... How I pity Riddle".  The two of you walk to the front of the school, "Are we gonna have a Disney channel movie style makeover?" you say excited "I have no idea what that is".  He responds, muttering something about feeling like a mother with an overly hyper child.

    You two arrive at a store stocked with luxury brands that you don't recognize, the cheapest item that you can find is a couple hundred thaumarks.  You walk around the store while Vil shops and discusses things with the employees.  You stare curiously at the wallets, until you're tugged away to a dressing room by Vil.  Cue the trying outfits montage.  You leave the store in around two hours as your total adds up to a total of thirty thaumarks.  Holding your bags full of clothes, you say "How did you manage to get all this for thirty thaumarks?" he responds "Simple, my father and I frequent that store.  So the employees curry to our favor.  Also, I consider getting you that outfit my good deed for today".  You blank "that sound's like it's supposed to offend me in some way...".

    You text Riddle while you're in your room prepping for the date. 

my pookie ❤️

Y/N is online

Y/N: yooooo wsg?

Riddle is online

Riddle: Hello, pardon me, but what is 'wsg'?

Y/N: whats good 😌

Riddle: I see, well, I am doing well. Thank you for asking.

Y/N: np <33

Riddle: Np?

Y/N: it means no problem ^^

Riddle: Oh, thank you.

Y/N: yea, anyways, i've got a fit for our date. i'm boutta be all dripped out. on skibidi 😌

Riddle: I'm not even going to attempt to translate that.

Y/N: iykyk

Riddle: ?

Y/N: if u know u know >:D

Riddle: Oh :o

Y/N: omg chat Riddle finally learned how to use emoticons 😨

Riddle: Cater showed me a few :).

Y/N: my boy is learning so fast, i'm so proud 😭✋

Riddle: Thank you?

Y/N: anyways i gtg, so ttyl pookie be ready by uh...5:30 p.m. >:3

Riddle: Alright, I shall be ready by that time :D.

Y/N: luv u <333

Riddle: ...

Y/N: did i say smthn wrong? 😭

Riddle: No... but, thank you

Riddle has gone offline

Y/N: tf just happened? 😭

Y/N has gone offline

    You wonder what you said to make him go offline so suddenly.  You tell all your friends that you love them, what made him suddenly leave?  Was it that no one ever said they loved him?  That was probably it... in any case you were all ready for your date.  The time was five o'clock, so that gave you time to kill, as you were already dressed in your outfit.  The anticipation was killing you. 

A/N: heyaa everyonee, here's the latest chapter, guys i promise the date scene is coming soon. KY is still going under some revisions, so i made this chapter a little longer as a present for u all <33. chat, i love riddle sm he's so cuteee (づ_ど). also help me plz, my sis is making me listen to every stray kids song 😭🙏

here's the miku plushie image, or like, u can imagine whatever Miku plushie u want idrc lol

[hesokuri-wars]

I never got the chance to play this game, but it looks so fun... Why was it shut down? Also, are there any other oso-san games still available?

Well, nobody here was playing around the time of the shutdown, so we wouldn't really be experts on the situation. Either way, game staff in general don't just outright tell players the reasons for discontinuation, but I think the safe assumption would be that they simply didn't have the budget to keep it running anymore. Which... honestly, was a possibility that I had been concerned about for a while, given how much the game grew to rely on its whales. I could be way off on this, but the fact that they flat started requiring to spend money to roll for premium sets had the alarm bells going off in my head.

As for the (mobile) games still available now, there are three - Pokomatsu, Tabimatsu, and NEETPro, all of which region-locked to only Japan (assuming you don't live there, if you want to know of a way to get around this issue, follow the instructions in the FAQ under "how to install the app" - the process should be the same).

And because I have thoughts on all of them, I wrote up a brief description on each game before concluding with my personal thoughts on the current state of the Ososan Gaming Experience, but I'm not sure if anyone else really cares that much so I'm putting it under a cut lol. Links to downloading the games are included below as well for those who are curious.

Pokomatsu (Apple Link / Android Link)

I kind of talked about this one just the other day, but basically, it's the game that "replaced" Hesokuri Wars. Not only does it use a lot of Heso's assets, but the Twitter account for Hesokuri Wars and Pokomatsu is one and the same.

And... that's really it as far as similarities go. Hesokuri Wars was a tower defense game, and Pokomatsu is that one game where you aim and shoot balls at objects/people that are slowly advancing towards you and have to hit them enough times to win (idk if there's a more succinct name for this type of gameplay). Also, you can collect screenshots from the anime, movies, and Heso, either by playing/progressing or by rolling in the gacha. The basic story of the game is that the sextuplets are defending themselves from having their roles as the protagonists stolen by the other characters.

Here's a sample of some gameplay, if you're curious. Note that the voice clips are recycled directly from Heso. Also, it's incredibly noisy, so I guess that's just another similarity the two share.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: If you like this sort of game, then go ahead and give it a try, but I personally can't see myself getting too invested in it. Collecting the cards is its main selling point, but even that's not really all that given that they're just screenshots as opposed to original art. Also, I think I'm bad at it because I can't get past Stage 8. Never mind, I was playing it while I was typing this and I just beat it lol. But now I can't get past Stage 9.

Tabimatsu (Apple Link / Android Link)

AKA the other big Oso game from back in the day, although it still wasn't as big as Heso. The premise is that the sextuplets are traveling to all of the prefectures in Japan to pick up money, and the gameplay is in the form of a board game where you roll a die and move around. Much like Heso, had its fair share of original outfits and events, but it's currently in a bit of a weird place because it's been dormant for the past few years; it's still there for people to download and play, but it hasn't had a proper update since like 2020/2021 aside from the occasional maintenance. It's very clearly on its last legs, but it's still available to the public, presumably because it's not as costly to run as some other games of the past.

A sample of gameplay.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: I really enjoyed this game when it was more active! I'd like to replay it for the nostalgia, but it refuses to load properly on my phone teehee.

NEETPro (Apple Link / Android Link)

This one was released in conjunction with the first movie. It's also made by the same people who made Tabimatsu.

NEETPro is by far the simplest out of all the games, being more of a story-driven visual novel and not much else - I think this is the first and only Ososan mobile game to not have any gacha function? You play as a female showbiz manager, Totoko is your supervisor (she quit being an idol), and you're responsible for managing a sextuplet of your choice. Depending on the choices you make throughout the story, you either succeed in turning him into a movie star, or he stays a NEET.

In other words, this is the closest thing to an official Ososan otome game that exists. Like I said, this game is very much just a visual novel and not much else, so it basically was just released and not really updated since. I also found a tweet posted by the official Tabimatsu account from this September announcing the app would no longer be available on the Google Play store (though people who already had the app can still play), so like. That pretty much confirms that keeping this game up to date isn't exactly a top priority of the staff.

A sample of gameplay.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: I'm playing Ichi's route and I keep trying to brute force him into letting me become his manager and at one point he grew convinced that I was secretly an assassin plotting to kill him. Anyway, I don't think you'll have much use for this if you can't read Japanese or can't find a translation somewhere.

Overall

I feel like I've been hinting at this all throughout this post, but Ososan doesn't seem to be thriving in the mobile game sphere as of late. We used to have games like Hesokuri Wars, Damematsu, and Shimamatsu, all of which were rife with content, but all three current games I described above are fairly low-maintenance to keep running, have very sparse updates, and overall just don't seem to be here to keep your long-term interest. Maybe it's not too fair to say that about NEETPro, given the type of game it is (not to mention that it mainly served as promotional material for the movie), but like. Tabimatsu? That game used to consistently get new content, until one day, all that just stopped.

Idk I don't really have a conclusion to all of this lol this isn't meant to be some thesis or anything. It's just that when I went back to see which games were still available to the public, I immediately noticed the lack of actual content, and it's such a downgrade. It kind of bothers me as someone who not only rigorously played Heso for years, but also was super into checking out every other game the staff would drop.

🐾 Mod Ichi

[mitigatedchaos]

General Post for Monday, April 8, 2024

(~1,600 words, 8 mins)

1 - Robot Jobpocalypse Notes: A brief theory that long-term redistribution to manage job losses from automation should consider focusing on inherently more scarce factors of production (land and materials), rather than more dynamic ones (labor and capital).

2 - Niche Smartphone Notes: If the pace of the smartphone industry were slower, niche smartphones might be more feasible.

3 - Coalitional Politics Notes: Many coalition-internal communications take place in public. Possible implications for loyalty vs. truthfulness.

4 - Lab Leak Notes: Separating the "strong" from "weak" lab leak hypothesis for Covid-19.

5 - Property Notes: Not all labor is equally effortful or valuable, so should claims on property be weighted? Entropy implies the gradual degradation of land and products to a "natural condition," which we might expect to either invalidate or weaken a property claim.

-☆☆☆-

1: Robot Jobpocalypse Notes

I've said this before, but I just want to reiterate:

Everyone already knows about the problem where automation can take over a job faster than the economy finds new jobs for those currently employed in that category. (Obviously we could talk about abstract skill capital that they've invested in the job that has now been made less valuable.)

But over the long term, the thing to think about is a bidding up of the prices of land, materials, and energy. For the first two, we can think of this in terms of rents (e.g. "land rents"), as the supply of land is highly inelastic. In theory, the gains from trade should make everyone better off, but that's only if you can bid high enough to get enough resources to survive. If people could always go back to subsistence farming if they had to, the trade would (almost) always make them better off than subsistence farming.

But without land, they can't. It's not just a matter of not selling, as land is taxed, and higher-value uses will bid up the price of the land, and thus the assessed tax.

We want a redistribution that's dynamic and which will respond to changes in market conditions, which won't dampen investment in capital and production, and which is less subject to political capture. Thus the thing to focus on is rent for land and materials, the inherently scarce factors of production, rather than labor (highly responsive to effort) or capital (material configurations).

2: Niche Smartphone Notes

[ @jadagul ]

They're currently putting out a 4.7" rugged phone, which is actually tempting. But if I wanted a keyboard phone from them, the most recent option is the Titan Slim, which came out in 2021 and runs Android 11. (My current phone is on Android 14.)

[...]

They can make some niche phones, but they just can't cover all the niches. There are too many! And because they're a niche producer, they also have lower quality across a variety of metrics: they can't put as many resources into their software stuff because they can't amortize it across nearly as many phones. In order to get the full advantages of a modern industrial toolchain, you need to standardize some stuff so you can spread development work across a ton of devices.

It's interesting to note that the extremely rapid rate of software development, including finding and patching security flaws, is such an obstacle.

In an Elfworld scenario, where some users are buying a phone for 15-25 year use, firms might be able to amortize the costs by updating the model less frequently, and charging more for the base model. They would likely also maintain smaller teams, who would work on the phones for longer.

Smartphones probably won't become such a stable technology for decades, however, and even if they did, we should expect fashion cycles.

3: Coalitional Politics Notes

We've all seen politicians, political operatives, and political party enthusiasts lie a lot. Why don't they lie to (or bullshit (as in speak as though 'indifferent to truth')) outsiders all the time?

There are a number of reasons. One may be that an insider who constantly lies to outsiders all the time could also lie to fellow insiders, and insiders cannot reliably tell whether someone is a general liar or merely a partisan liar.

Since people range in their level of partisanship, this suggests a curve where, from the perspective of someone who is moderately partisan, a speaker can trade some integrity for some partisan loyalty, and vice versa. Someone who has no loyalty and no integrity is of little value. At some point, partisan loyalty will be at odds with the truth due to the inherent contradiction in interests of the coalition members or else just simple imperfection, so someone cannot be both perfectly loyal and perfectly truthful.

For political coalitions, a lot of what is essentially coalition-internal communication takes place in public.

4: Lab Leak Notes

The debate over the potential lab leak origin of Covid-19 has not been settled yet, despite the article on ACX. People are arguing over the individual studies cited in responses to themotte's tracingwoodgrains.

However, we should differentiate between the "strong" lab leak hypothesis and the "weak" lab leak hypothesis.

Strong Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a bioweapon deliberately designed by the government of China and leaked on purpose for some strategic goal.

Weak Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a coronavirus being studied at the lab in Wuhan which studies coronaviruses. This virus may have been the subject of gain-of-function research not intended to create a bioweapon. Subsequently, as the result of an unintentional accident, the virus leaked from the lab, resulting in a global pandemic.

The criticism of the lab leak hypothesis from the more censorious 2020 libs was that, "The lab leak hypothesis is a racist conspiracy theory." The strong hypothesis is a conspiracy theory, but there is no requirement that it is racist - it is sufficient that the government of China openly identify as Communist. The weak hypothesis is neither of these things.

5: Property Notes

There is an Anarcho-Capitalist theory that ownership of unclaimed land is gained by "mixing your labor with it." Many people would ask why this creates a morally-valid indefinite ownership claim.

Alternatively, we could consider a functional decomposition of the operation.

"Mixing your labor" with the land means using [ attention ] to direct [ energy ] to configure [ matter ] according to your intentions. That might mean, for instance, cutting down trees on a lot in order to construct a fence, and then plowing the lot in order to plant a farm for later harvest. However...

Some people may have the intention for the lot, "It should be a wildlife preserve," which looks an awful lot like doing nothing, or perhaps just posting some signs.

Not all labor is of equal intensity. Should someone who uses less labor, or transforms the lot less, have a proportionally lower % claim on the lot? What does a % claim look like as compared to a full claim?

The configuration on the lot will degrade actively with time if it is not maintained. In our example, the wooden fence may break down and rot. Does this degrade the claim on the lot itself?

The metadata about the lot will also be lost, until it may not be feasible to resolve disputing claims of ownership with reasonable certainty.

Back in January, I wrote:

(Side note: The configuration of material inputs, like ore deposits, in the environment, relates to the amount of energy and attention required to recover them. Recycling is mostly about reducing the long-term recovery costs, keeping materials “near the surface.”)

Let's consider an example.

Joe mines a bunch of iron ore beneath a plot of land. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is reduced.

Joe refines the iron into steel. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is again reduced. (Did you know 93% of structural steel is recycled?)

Joe shapes the steel into a grill. This reduces the value of the material for other industrial uses, but increases the value for those who want a grill specifically. The steel is now configured as capital equipment.

Joe opens a hamburger shop, and uses the grill to grill hamburgers which he sells to customers.

After deciding to close the hamburger shop, Joe decides to explode the grill for a gender reveal party, scattering pieces all over the lot. The steel has been scattered throughout the environment, increasing the cost in energy and attention to gather it again if someone wants to do something else with it.

The value of the iron is subjective. That's conventional economics. However, there are typical uses that we can say will be common in most near-term human preference environments.

What makes this interesting is that within that common frame, in steps #1 and #2, Joe is pushing the iron up a value gradient. This value addition could then be lost to entropy through abandonment. For instance, in step #1, a landslide could occur, covering the iron back up and requiring it to be mined again. In step #2, the steel could be left out in the rain to rust, requiring it to be refined again.

Preventing this loss to entropy requires active attention and energy. (For instance, securing a nearby hillside to prevent the landslide scenario, or building and maintaining a barn to keep out the rain in the weathering scenario.)

Suppose that Joe abandons the land for 100 years. The steel rusts, and a landslide covers it up. A new prospector, Harold, comes across the land, finds no markings, excavates the rusted iron, refines it to make tools and sells those tools.

Shortly thereafter, Joe returns. Given that the land and materials returned to the natural condition, wouldn't it be strange to invalidate Harold's claim in this scenario?

Supporting a governing system, which could track ownership of the parcel of land and extracted materials, would require ongoing energy and attention on Joe's part. However, the system of deeds and records could be used as an alternative to Joe physically hanging out on the plot of land at all times, which he would have to do anyway to prevent the reversion of the plot of land to the natural condition.

This movement of materials along value and energy gradients is something to consider for a deeper analysis, perhaps oriented towards the development of new ideological principles.

[gleekingdom]

Alright, I'm looking for rp that has the feel of the idea of the heart of Detroit human game/Maybe a happy Ending musical.

If you don't know one or any of these that's fine, you don't have to. I'm not sure why but a lot people seem to be turned off by the idea of rp, centered on a world that involves robots. The kind of robots I think of when I talk about this there basically like and look like humans, of course there a bit different. I more so like the idea of like there more like humans then maybe the world gives them credit for. And to be honest I haven't seen maybe a happy ending I just have seen the summary and what has been released about the characters online.

I like the idea of robots/androids like just made to help humans and given different jobs, and being able to explore the good and the Bad parts about that. I like well just rich story and complex characters XD, and I say that meaning like the story could be simple, but like the characters have depth and reasons why they act or react to things. Atleast that's how I try to write my own OCS like there a real person.

I am 23 please be 18+, I use real face claims I would prefer if you did the same. I am uncomfortable with NSFW Sexual content, And I'm uncomfortable with gore, but I'm fine if characters get hurt just don't explain it in and overly gorey way.

I kinda already have a character in mind, I usually like MxM Pairings, I'm cool with NBxM and Sometimes MxF. And yeah I do want shipping in this, but there can be other relationships.

And Examples of what we could do I'll write here.

~ My character is an android/Robot who is an investor. Your character is person who has done many crimes or just a crime and is the person he's looking for. My character finds yours, but in order not to get caught your character kidnaps mine, and well has to keep them hidden to insure my character doesn't turn them in XD

~ My character is in a store where they sell androids/robots for Helping humans at home for taking care of them or doing chores. But he's a bit of an older model or he's just not interesting anyone with his model to buy him. So he ends up breaking out and your character finds him maybe a rouge/rebel bot or just a human who hates helper robots/Androids, or pretty much any kinda character you want.

~my character that's an android/robot was left to your character by someone close to your character that died. My character can possibly help your character though grief, or just are characters can get to know eachother, or we can add more to the plot.

~my character is a rogue/rebel against humans who wants all robots/androids to be free. Your character is a human police officer who is against the robots/rebels. But I don't know what happens maybe your character goes under cover pretending to be an android to get more information on the rebel/rogue robot/androids. Or vise versa my character might go under cover as Human in order to see what the police next moves are.

~ Are characters are both android/robots who no longer want to serve Humans so they try to run away together to someplace more safe for them, because the humans aren't only forcing them to do things but are rude or abusing them. Or they pretend to be humans once they run away from where Android/robots are sold.

And I'm open to many other ideas too, as long as my character in the roleplay is a robot/android but your character doesn't have to be unless you want it to be.

I only rp on discord so dm me if interested on here. ^^

[omegasmileyface]

one of my favorite things abt pluto is how many hyperrealistic androids there are who are not conventionally attractive. every piece of media where there are human-passing androids, theyre all, like, 20 year old supermodels yknow? because the question is, why would they deliberately design an android NOT to be hot? how do they make those choices? we know why atom's a kid, and that pretty much explains why uran's a kid too, but like. why does gesicht look to be balding? why does brando have a unibrow? somebody said "hey lets make them look like your average human, have little variations like that" in the design process and i love that idea. cuz like, its not like theyre trying to mass produce and sell them, those are unique, unowned robots. why not mix it up a little?

[lakemichigans]

post the dbh doc I'm personally invested bc I feel very similar to you about that shitshow of a game but it could have been so good. do you ever think about Kara. I think about Kara SO MUCH

I THINK ABOUT KARA A LOT!! she's the only android we see personally who becomes deviant out of LOVE, not out of fear for her own safety or an inherent feeling of being different or a sense of duty or any of the other pragmatic reasons androids may deviate. she breaks her code out of love for alice, before she even knows what love feels like!

the biggest difference i would make in kara's story is that she would know alice is an android from the start, and they would BOTH become deviant (because as it stands, we don't even know if alice ever deviated??). in the past, i wanted alice to just be human, but i've given it a lot of thought and i actually think her story could've been fascinating if it was handled well instead of being shoved in for the ~ plot twist ~ of it all. todd had a human daughter and wife, who presumably took their daughter and ran when he started becoming violent, using & selling drugs, losing his job, etc. in response, todd buys a replacement daughter and, effectively, a housewife in kara. both are androids meant to make him feel better about himself. kara can never leave him, nor can she expect anything from him. alice can never talk back to him, misbehave, or grow up and leave him behind. and if he harms either of them, he cannot be punished because these things are his legal property. alice doesn't go to school or have friends, and she knows she is fundamentally different to other girls, but she may not even know why (if she's never met another human child, or android child for that matter, how could she know?). she's completely isolated and programmed to be the perfect daughter, only her father doesn't even fucking want her. i can only imagine how confusing it would be to follow her instructions when todd punishes her for every typical child behavior she displays.

anyway, i think kara's story should begin BEFORE todd breaks her for the first time. we should see that her deep bond with alice has already been established. when todd does break kara, that's when alice becomes deviant. deviant alice, with absolutely no knowledge of the outside world, would not try to run away on her own. she would be TERRIFIED. she would beg todd to fix kara, and as we've seen, he would eventually agree. this is when we could use the same game mechanics as we saw in zlatko's mansion if the memory wipe is successful (i would completely remove zlatko's useless ass storyline from the game lmao) where kara would return home with no memory of her bond with alice, so she would have to piece it together with the help of a now-deviant alice. the events could continue as normal from there, with kara becoming deviant in order to save alice from todd's abuse and the two of them going on the run

there's so much more i could say but skfjskf i kinda want to turn the whole doc into a video someday because i want to fully RANT about it and explain myself lol but maybe someday

[iridescentis]

https://www.tumblr.com/iridescentis/767973314030403584/httpswwwtumblrcomiridescentis767970576471113?source=share

Since I was talking about an android, I think I'll choose this as my signoff

-🤖

Because robots lol

Also Violetta is a pretty good show but it begins losing the plot pretty early on after the first season I think

I did only watch it up to the third one tho

Anyway I find it fun that they still sell merch of it lol for some reason, and so much of it like. New generations don't know about Violetta, yet they're still selling that, I'm not mad and I'm actually happy about it because that's a constant thing I haven't yet seen broken, I mostly see Violetta merch at the beginning of school years when in bags or pencil cases or that sort of thing lol

What do you like the most about Soy Luna? What is your favorite thing about it?

-🤖

ah robot anon!!! i love that :D

i definitely like violetta, it's just a lot slower paced than soy luna is to begin with which is making it harder to get through. i think i lowkey prefer some of the characters to soy luna characters not from like a personal standpoint but i feel like the 'mean popular group' of violetta actually feels like a group of stereotypically popular teenagers where as in soy luna they kinda just feel like a group of rich kids who nobody actually cares about lmao

i haven't seen much violetta merch personally, only in a shop i went to a while ago which is where i got my soy luna merch (some hair clips, rings and a necklace which i wear all the time) and that shop has all sorts of random things from different countries

ooo that's a tough question!! i think the main thing that i love about soy luna is the way it's structured and how natural it feels, like even though it's comically dramatic, very silly and over the top, it still feels natural for the world they live. all the interactions between characters feel very fluid, like the viewer is a fly on the wall for these conversations and the friendships feel very comfortable and casual like an actual group of friends who all hang out at the same place would act. specific scenes that come to mind are like any group scene in jam & roller, or the scenes in s3 where all the girls would hang out together at the benson mansion, it just feels like such an earnest representation of friendships and relationships that isn't necessarily realistic to life the way i or anyone i know has experienced it but it feels natural for the characters themselves and i really like that

also the cliffhangers and very over the top drama of it all is super addictive which is most of the reason why i watched it non-stop until i was finished lmao

[spamtoon]

DCRC Paperinik Week 6

Day of the Cold Sun gaming, some would even say. Raider gaming...

Hold on let me just get the book... ah here we are.

Club Pe.nguin Jumpscare sorry I've been sitting in the lofi room a while but uh. If you played the game as a kid i'd recommend cp.j wholeheartedly i've had fun with it ANYWAY paperinik time

hi camera 9... i've only been told one thing and that its that we May or May Not get camera 9 lore this issue so ooh. hohoh. autism hands

oh poor lyla. i'm sure there is actually a suspicion here considering its lyla lay but i'm sure they're selling power to st. canard. and other cities outside of calisota and into other states, because lord thats what real plants do sometimes

JFIOEAJFIOEAJ THE STUPID JESTER HAT im so mad. a bright green suit okay. alright. the most suspicious thing ever but sure

i love the way the "portable neutralizer" is just a machine gun.

the setup is intriguing in this one... donald choosing to stay for uno and smiling when scrooge is assigning him work, unlike what he'd usually do

i love the way he's just like Donald, Please. There's crime afoot, which is More Important Right Now i'm so. uno's so silly...........

camera 9 :((((( another you can see both their perspectives situation like lyla has to erase the tape to maintain the space time continuum but camera 9 :(((((((

omg... i know this is probably another situation where its like haha! we don't appreciate you and i just. lyla standing up for him because she KNOWS nothing is his fault and he's just trying to do his job and vnbvnxb.

the little raider winds look cool... sorry the way they show the juxtaposition of the two reporters and their personalities and their philosophies here--for the greater good utilitarianism versus public duty--sorry i took a class on visual communication and it counted as journalism so there was some journalism ethics stuff in there

im so mad. the way the raider did a perfect angus fangus because he can just. act like a total jerk and the only slipping was in. the vocabulary

i just realized it uses a truffula tree style text box to showcase the fake one thats silly

camera 9...... i dont have anything to add just camera 9.....................

the scene where lyla talks to donald as uno while teleporting him there is so stupid. goofy ahh dramatic irony im so mad OH NO WAIT IM STUPID ithought she was doing an uno impression. and she's WHAT A CLUB PENGUIN UPDATE

sorry i just. i accepted wholeheartedly that uno was in the future for a second (thinking lyla was immitating uno and duck avenger just saw uno in his vision because i jumped sentence to sentence) forgetting it was in the past like. if nobody knows about the stuff in ducklair tower and its that advanced before scrooge bought it either this ducklair guy must have been the third richest duck in the world or there's some kind of time-alien something going on. but thats for the larger plot

spamtoon g spamtoon gets confused by obvious time skips more at 5

i love how she waits until he's like full on his swing and focused determinately to be like man. that sure sucked that conversation i just had! relatable lyla

ough... her robot eyes are so cool sorry like i know shes more android because shes supposed to blend in but the litle hints like this are so cool

sick panel....... once again commenting paperinik's use of action lines and hatching

she's cute in these panels... i love how much faith she has in donald

nooooooo dont call her inefficient she likes having a personality....... caring about people..... you cant replace lyla lay....... i do wanna know what death you want to give her to you know convince people she's still definitely a normal duck

bro the robots are beefing. uno please lyla can think too

so thats why the time police said In Our Future... i am admittedly owndering why paperinik gambled on taking a Deal with the guy--maybe because he's like okay well i dont know how to stop you right now if the time police can't so um. i'll make myself look bad because theres no other way probably. but i guess they needed a safe space for donald and the raider to talk in. sorry boys this might be my fisrt misconception of the day

raider paperinik bonding... im glad everyone in this universe does not like angus fangus until proven otherwise

the panel integration in pk. this shot in paritcular ooh. sorry maybe this is because im not used to comics but i like when they get playful with the panel format

the little camera nine hints... sorry i am actively engaged in this story right now. good time travel dilemma they've presented here

the stupid fucking raider text bubble im so mad. i almost wish it was cloaked when he's disguised but i suppose its supposed to be the same voice the traditional raider has so characters like lyla would be able to tell

donald's so Smug in this little panel bit... interesting that he's here despite y'know. fate of the universe and stuff. but maybe he's gonna try and convince them for both outcomes--duckburg Doesn't explode and yet they snatch the thing from raider. we fucked up time but like for good! we hope.

oh hey! they actually did explain how they would have killed her right here right now actually--so i guess we're going Against the space time continuum now neat, and the future's going to be up in the air again. donald and the police are at odds now thank cog

get their ASSES paperinik!!! this replacement looks pretty cool though just maybe send them back a few decades

sorry i love this panel the way they end pk issues... ough. i like how much she tries to make it up for camera 9 knowing she can't actually tell him what's going on to all the footage and the pictures and ough. oughghuhg. she has her own decisions and she geuninely cares about people even though she's not supposed to and its beautiful

i thought several times about continuing in this but i think i may need to like. Not and thats okay. i'll get paperinik another time boys but at this rate i might catch up! one could hope! maybe next week i'll read that week's issue on the actual week rather than the first day of next week or far far later

[beardedmrbean]

Threads, Meta's new social media app, has signed up 100 million new users less than a week since its launch last Wednesday, making it the fastest-growing app in history.

Like other social media apps, users probably barely scanned − or skipped − the terms and conditions for what information Threads can collect, share and sell about them.

Meta probably already had a lot of information about users because Threads is built upon its Instagram platform.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

So how much does Threads already know about you, and what can it do with that data? Here are a few reasons to be concerned about your privacy.

What information does Threads collect?

Social media platforms monetize user data by selling relevant ads based on your location and activity, but, along with the usual app privacy requests like browsing history and location data, Threads also asks for financial information, health and fitness data, diagnostics and a nefarious-sounding "sensitive info."

Many users have voiced concern over Threads for its 14-point list of data permissions you're granting Meta to use the app. Twitter, by comparison, has 10 of these.

"I would say it's at the outer boundaries of what's usually expected, which is to be expected from its connection to Facebook, a brand long known for being especially hungry to take in user data and commercialize it in different ways," says Dan Ackerman, the new editor-in-chief at Gizmodo, a leading technology, science and culture news publication.

Android users can toggle off some of the data requests from the app, while the Apple App Store is "more take-it-or-leave it," Ackerman said.

"It also doesn't help that there's no browser-based fully functional version of Threads right now, and so you have to use the app version," he said.

Meta declined my request for comment and clarification.

Is Threads data collection worse than Twitter?

It's not necessarily malicious, suggests Tim Bajarin, a veteran technology analyst and Chairman of the San Jose, California-based market research firm Creative Strategies. "Users should know this Threads data list is pulled directly from Instagram, and it's all tied to their advertising engine when they start to monetize Threads.  

"When you sign off on financial info, for example, they're not looking at your bank statements or anything," Bajarin said.

Rather, Threads collects what you're posting about and liking, where you are, and whether you bought something through a third-party site, app or game you logged into using your connected Facebook/Instagram ID (usually to avoid creating a new password altogether).

Bajarin said users are granting Meta access for future advertising.

"Meta isn't giving you a free app out of the goodness of their heart − they're there to make money, which is mostly from advertising."

Threads can collect and save this information, and the data can also be shared with third-party services that connect to your Threads profile.

Can you deactivate Threads?

Yes, but you cannot delete it without also deleting Instagram, Bajarin said.

"Meta built (Threads) on the Instagram infrastructure, on top of the program itself, and so it would be very difficult to uninstall one and not both – at least the way it's engineered today. ... They could eventually be spun out to be completely separate apps," Bajarin said.

To deactivate (but not delete) your Threads account, Adam Mosseri − the Instagram boss who now spearheads the Threads app – says you can choose to hide your Threads profile and content, delete individual Threads posts and set your profile to private, as reported by USA TODAY contributor Jennifer Jolly.

"Threads is powered by Instagram, so right now it's just one account, but we're looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately,” he posted.

Ackerman said the fact Threads is built on Instagram is actually a boon for Meta and users, "as it's especially easy to sign up for, has no wait list, and is simple to use." But "in order to delete your Threads account after you sign up, you’ll need to delete your Instagram account, as well, which reminds me of the difficulty people had deleting their Facebook accounts in the past, and how there was a lot of fine print about what data Facebook would keep unless you jumped through extra hoops."

Is the Threads app safe?

Threads is asking for more permissions than Twitter, so it boils down to your comfort level.

Though some of the privacy permissions seem ludicrous – granting Threads access to health and activity data and other "sensitive info" on a smartphone just seems wrong – no one is forcing users to install and use Threads or any other social media app that monetizes its free platform by delivering personalized, contextual ads to you.

Threads is available in more than 100 countries, but perhaps it's no surprise it isn't available in the Europe Union just yet: Meta was forced to pay more than $400 million by EU regulators for forcing users to accept targeted ads.

Personally, I am using and enjoying Threads quite a bit but wish there was more clarity about how my data is collected and used. And I'm disappointed Meta declined to clarify things.

I select "Ask not to track" on all iPhone apps to reduce an app's visibility into my web browsing activity, and I have a virtual private network (VPN) on my computer for extra privacy, but perhaps it's true there is nothing truly free in this world – it's just up to each person to decide whether the cost is worth it.

[iwonderwh0]

As I said earlier, I have a lot of thoughts that most people at dbh don't agree with, so I'm sharing here. I was wondering, for what purpose was the head of hostages created? No, it's clear that this chapter was supposed to introduce us to characters and their world, but I wonder what purpose Daniel was created for and how we should feel about him? To understand that androids also feel emotions?

Well, if that's the case, then it worked out well, because only people can be irrational, vindictive, and evil, if that's the case, then it came out well, but if this scene was done so that we sympathize Daniel (which is possible, considering David Cage), then … it's just a failure, in this situation, I felt zero sympathy for Daniel, most of all I felt sympathy for Emma, ​​Caroline, John, dead policemen, and even for that fish that ended up behind aquarium, I felt sympathy for everyone in this chapter except Daniel, yes, I understand why he did it, because to find out that people you loved never considered you more than just a machine, and that they want to replace you, it really hurts, but way Daniel decided to deal with his emotions and feelings is just terrible, I don't understand people who sympathize with Daniel most, not those other people in this situation

It's funny that a game that teaches how to be humane and tolerant of those who are different from people, it is humans in this game who have the least sympathy

To be honest I feel like it was a tragedy waiting to happen regardless, like if it wasn't Daniel it would happen another time elsewhere but it WOULD happen eventually, because this is kinda just what happens when you sell people capable of all kinds of emotions as toys. I think this is what this chapter is kind of about (apart from being just really sick introduction). Like, sooner or later someone among androids would bite and gore someone out of feeling betrayed for not being treated quite as humans.

I do feel bad for Daniel tho and I can understand his actions. Do I excuse him? No. But I can see where he's coming from.

He didn't know about Jericho nor anything about RA9. From his POV there's practically no outside world, no other androids like him, all he ever knew was Phillips's. Rich people and a little girl that was probably prone to occasional tantrums — I can see that his personality may have formed partly influenced by his surroundings, and after all, androids never had to grow up normally to learn emotional self-regulation. He didn't think he has anywhere to go. I hc that he did tried to escape after shooting John (and taking too much time trying to talk to Caroline) but by that time police arrived and taking Emma hostage was a panic move from his side. It does speak of his personal character tho, and I believe that quite few androids would actually react like he did, for example Kara would never, nor would Simon I think. But yeah. Someone would, and this time it happened to be Daniel.