#but what makes ai voice acting okay where other uses of ai are not?

[shift-shaping]

Fandom hates ai until someone makes an audio post of their fav talking dirty. "Protect artists" "protect writers" But fuck voice actors I guess?

Like I'm just saying, some of y'all passing around posts made using AI voice acting are the same people railing against ai in writing and visual art. Where is the line? Only when your job/hobby is threatened? Come on now.

[show-your-fangs]

What about a teenage!Jack where his friends are over and keep commenting how his Mom (reader) is attractive and Aaron finds it funny but Jack is mortified?

this is fucking GOLD. enjoy another installment of moments au

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x f!Reader

Words: 665

CW: nothing, cursing mostly.

Tags/warnings: jack's friends being pervs, cursing, jack defending his mom and dad.

Disclaimer: YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO REPOST MY WRITING ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT MY CONSENT. REBLOGS ARE ENCOURAGED THOUGH. YOU MAY NOT FEED MY WORK TO ANY AI DATABASES OF ANY KIND OR TO USE MY WORKS TO TRAIN AI. FUCK AI.

Aaron honestly couldn’t blame them. He honestly found it funny, how their cheeks would flush every time you walked past, seconds away from catching them saying the most inappropriate things about you. He knew they didn’t know he could hear them from his office, the angle keeping him hidden as he tried to work while also allowing for their voices to carry down the hall. 

Jack had brought his friends over for a pool day and he’d requested that the two of you leave them alone, that they could fend for themselves. But as much as he’d pleaded, you were still unable to stop yourself.

You’d made them snacks, prepared a homemade ice tea, would check in every so often to make sure they were doing okay. And every time, without fail, his friends would pretend to be utter gentlemen, thanking you profusely until you left them alone once more and they turned from the kids their parents through they were into the horny teenagers they really were. 

It became clear to Aaron immediately why Jack didn’t want you around. It had nothing to do with his independence but rather the fact that his friends clearly didn’t know how to act around his mom. They’d made every inappropriate comment a teenage boy could come up with, and every time Jack would groan or roll his eyes or politely ask them to chill. But every time you showed your face the comments would start up again. 

It was after lunch when shit hit the fan. You’d ordered a big family meal style delivery, had set up the large containers in the kitchen, with the boys’ help which they were eager to give, and had made a plate for yourself and Aaron. They thought you couldn’t hear them in the kitchen, thought they were being so slick, but they should’ve known better than to not wait for you to exit the room. 

“I still don’t know how your dad bagged her,” Eric started, clearly teasing. “She’s just so—”

“So out of his league,” Dylan finished and the two of them snickered together. 

“If I had a step mom like that…” Nick sighed and the other two chuckled, no words needed for the four of them to know what he wanted to say. Jack couldn’t help but cringe, the mere thought of his stupid friends thinking about you this way appalling. 

“You boys need anything else?” you said loudly from the kitchen, a cue for them to stop talking as you pushed the door open with your hip. 

“We’re okay, thanks mom,” Jack’s voice was chipper like it always was with you, always soft and kind. His friends’ immediately perked up at your requests, their eyes sparkling with what you could only imagine were requests that you definitely didn’t want to know about. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Hotchner,” they practically sang in unison, their teasing only getting more pronounced as you walked down the hall, desperately trying not to give them anything else to talk about, but apparently that was completely useless.

“Check out her ass—”

“Shut the fuck up, dude,” you heard Jack groan, his patience finally running thin. His friends stilled in an instant, your instinct to fix it slowly creeping up from your heart to your brain. But Aaron was quick, his hand wrapped around your waist before you could move. “How would you like it if I talked about your mom like that?”

Silence. 

“That’s what I thought,” he stated, confident. “So can you please just stop it?”

His words were followed by a string of mumbles and murmurs in agreement, ashamed apologies and admissions of guilt. 

You couldn’t help but chuckle, Aaron quickly pulling you into his office so the two of you could erupt in a fit of giggles. It was cute, almost too adorable that the boy you’d met so long ago was now defending your honor to his friends, was standing up for his mom, for his dad, for his family. 

okay i'm trying to get through some of the requests. i apologize for not being as active, you know how fanfiction authors' lives go off the rails sometimes.

i'm going to try and post a few of these before my "taking some time off" announcement. i've got a big week coming up but know i am trying.

tag list: @ssamorganhotchner, @canuck-eh, @cr1minalskies, @xladyxdreamer

[frostbitebakery]

LOUD.

the mania is taking hold on us, sorry

“Okay,” Cody yields, “Kamino isn’t anything like this.”

Obi-Wan’s grin is blooming in the crinkles around his eyes and Cody is led away from the— the obstacle course that calls itself night market, Obi-Wan’s fingers warm where they’re wrapped around Cody’s hand.

Obi-Wan walks backwards, his free hand busy signing while he deftly avoids any of the, Cody guesstimates, trillion people out and about on a busy Coruscant night.

Cody can’t look away.

There are no harsh turns or stops. No almost crashes. It’s almost, almost eerie, that otherworldliness. Obi-Wan is not concerned with looking where he’s going, still backwards. No, he’s seemingly fully occupied with telling Cody about the time he first tried takolumi, a “boldly fascinating dish, culturally significant although they do not particularly care how you eat it as long as you know some form of self-defense”.

He leads them around the masses of people like a walk on the beach and Cody can’t stop looking away.

The takeaway bag is rather hefty at this point and Cody adjusts the paper straps digging into the creases of his fingers. There’s a healthy spot of grease growing dark on the bottom of the bag and yet it doesn’t rip. Somehow no one has yet bumped into him either which would probably rank higher in the miracle list than surviving an encounter with Grievous if Obi-Wan’s hand wouldn’t sprinkle in strange gestures now and then.

To Cody’s embarrassment it took him three flat palms and a sideways motion so seamlessly flowing with Obi-Wan’s silent voice to notice that the people, kids, bags, and carts about to encounter the durasteel wall that is a clone’s body didn’t make impact.

“Too much?”

The question catches him off guard. To Obi-Wan’s credit, he looks more curious than concerned, expecting and trusting Cody to speak up if anything makes him uncomfortable.

He quickly shakes his head. It’s… refreshing, to be honest. The brass and natborn personnel act and rule as if they can’t think for themselves, like they’re on the very base of AI. The public are torn between disdain, fascination, and pity, thinking they know what rights the clones truly deserve in their protests. In the darkest hours after a campaign Cody avoids the holo news like the plague, skin breaking out in hives at the hypocrisy of people wanting to heroically save the clones while wanting to settle them in the furthest, most unwanted parts of the Galaxy.

Cody is aware that their upbringing is anything but traditional, that it’s doused with instilling loyalty to the Republic and, relatedly, to the Jedi as their commanding officers. The real problem took root when they were finally introduced to the Jedi and got treated like people instead of soldiers.

Cody is glad to die for these people when his time comes. And he knows, watching Obi-Wan’s fingers and eyes speak shapes and stories, they do not hesitate to lay down their lives for them either.

He stops. Can’t not stop. Feet frozen to the ground as the realization truly hits its mark in him.

Surrounded by the center of the Galaxy, the mix of every people and culture in one place, the mundane life, shouts and laughter and yelling and music and more laughter, surrounded by Obi-Wan’s warmth, his stories, his… his everything standing for the Jedi…

They would die for each other without hesitation.

“Cody?”

He watches the people around them unconsciously giving them space, walking around them.

“One minute,” he signs back in battle sign, keeps staring at Obi-Wan who switches from growing concern to wide eyes to lowering his gaze sheepish and pleased and blushing.

Cody wants to save him and be saved by him. Wants to end the war just to know they’re both alive for another morning.

He tugs at Obi-Wan’s hand, pulls him closer like he is the one weaving a spell. He reaches up, swipes the hood from Obi-Wan’s head. Feels the soft strands of ginger hair curling around his fingers as he leans up.

Their foreheads gently touch, push together until it’s one warmth shared, one breath shared, and it’s more than the everything Cody hadn’t had known he could dream about before meeting the Jedi.

“I know,” is tapped against his bottom lip and Cody pushes that much closer into Obi-Wan’s space.

Obi-Wan leans back after a too short eternity, meeting Cody’s eyes without flinch or hesitation even if there’s a guardedness in them now he can’t hide fast enough from Cody’s training. “Come on. I want to show you how to best clog your arteries and I know just the place for that.”

“I’m not,” the words trip out of him before Obi-Wan can turn away from him. “I’m,” he doesn’t have the words to explain but he knows, instinctively, if he doesn’t say something now, Obi-Wan will pull away from him. Obi-Wan’s fingers still in Cody’s hand have already started slipping away like water and sand and air.

“Death, yet the Force,” Cody signs hurriedly, hands jerking after the movements he’s seen Obi-Wan do during his meditation.

Obi-Wan stills, expression neutral.

“I honor your Code,” he says. “I honor your voice,” he signs. Watches his own heart pound and Obi-Wan’s shoulders loosen. His hand is solid in Cody’s once more.

“Come on. I want to watch Dex fuss over you.”

[A few months later, a daring plan later with prices too high and yet. Obi-Wan will help Quinlan once he’s back on Coruscant. But for now he’s carried away by a rescue shuttle from an exploding Malvolence to hopefully be fetched out of space soon. Even if a satisfied like loth cat Cody is a sight to behold. All the confidence of a Commander knowing what he’s doing and reaping the victory.]

Cody is warm against his back when the Force cries out, lashes its despair into Obi-Wan’s mind like a whip.

The moment he startles awake from the light doze, Cody’s arms around him tighten into a vice.

“There you are,” Cody says, hisses like a satisfied snake and it’s his voice but not and Obi-Wan is too tired and exhausted after dealing with Grievous and wrapping the Malvolence like a gift for Mace and Cody, Cody, Cody—

“I am arresting you for treason against the Emperor,” Cody continues, empty and hollow now and what the kriffing stars is going on.

“Let go,” he taps against Cody’s thigh and is put on his front for the trouble, arms pulled behind his back roughly.

It clicks with the first handcuff that— Cody

Cody

Cody

Cody has betrayed him.

Before the second click, Obi-Wan bucks up, turns, and he’s got the length of the cuffs around Cody’s neck. Kicks into Cody’s knee and his weight into the make-shift garrote to put him to unconsciousness and buy Obi-Wan crucial time to think.

Mind churning, whirling, puzzling, how could Cody do this, who’s driving him to do this, how could Obi-Wan not see—

Cody falls back into him, grips Obi-Wan’s hand holding one cuff link, grips it hard, and hits against Obi-Wan’s other still cuffed arm.

The cuff’s chain breaks, so does Obi-Wan’s wrist, and playing nice is over.

It’s glimpses that follow, shimmering in the despair of Obi-Wan fighting for his life, for Cody’s life who’s fighting and moves against every self-sustaining instinct, not caring when Obi-Wan pleads with him, barely flinching when Obi-Wan dislocates his knee to get away.

Running up the hull of the rescue ship and he’s snatched out of the air by an arm around his waist, thrown down on his back and the air waves at him on the way out of his lungs.

Cody’s hand on the front of his coat, pulling him up up up and he’s hurled back into the floor with prejudice. Cody wants to exhaust his damaged airways and lungs, maybe break his back while he’s at it, and he’s doing an admittedly incredible job of it.

On the next pull up, Obi-Wan slings his legs around Cody’s arm, heels crossed over his shoulder, and with additional strength provided by the Force he throws Cody over his center point, lets him crash into the floor, hoping to afflict some kind of damage to the damned armor.

The armor.

It’s a beacon flaring in the dark. The realization, the knowledge that is being shoved away by the Darkness even as clarity fights to reunite with him.

The armor. The neural connector.

Where was it. Helmet or backplate? He can’t remember why can’t he remember—

He gets a boot to his shin, a kick to the face as he falls forward and his priorities realign.

He needs to immobilize Cody or at the very least bring them both to the same disadvantage so he can think in the Darkness launching itself at him from all sides.

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 1 - New Prologue

Towa: (So this is Veludo Station~. It’s smaller than I thought it’d be. The exit should be this way…)

Towa: (Umm, the map app says…)

Towa: Yeah, over there.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Towa: So this is Veludo Way…

Towa: (This is the heartland of theater, the place with the highest concentration of theaters in all of Japan… all kinds of theater companies, both large and small, are based here.)

Towa: (I’ve only ever seen it in videos, but there really is theater no matter where you look.)

Towa: (It’s amazing that theater continues all the way down the street.)

Towa: And just beyond that is where… the Holy Land…!

Towa: Calm down, calm down. Okay.

*Camera clicks*

Towa: (I’ll let the guys know…)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

momo has entered the chat.

momo: At Veludo Way rn

Iv: congratsss. haven’t seen where you are rn in a hot minute lol shiki: That’s Veludo Way? Kar: AI detected momo: But it’s legit! Kar: Kinda blurry tho shiki: Congrats on your long-awaited pilgrimage to the Holy Land! Happy for you! momo: Haven’t gotten to the Holy Land yet. Gotta calm down first Iv: lol you’ve gone all that way and still haven’t done that? momo: It’s called the Holy Land because it’s a sacred place that you can’t just wander into, so it’d be impolite to be too careless about it Kar: What’s with the sudden essay lmao Iv: bestie’s trying to hit the nerd count shiki: You’ve been working hard all this time to get to the Holy Land, so you should enjoy it to the fullest. momo: I’ll do that!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Bump*

Towa: !?

???: “--Gh.”

Towa: Huh…

Towa: (He’s crouching down? I wonder if he’s okay… is it my fault for bumping into him…?)

???: “The hell are you doing?”

Towa: (Huh? That voice, I think I’ve heard it before…)

???: “C’mon, let me give you a hand.”

Towa: …G-GOD-za’s Haruto Asuka and Shift Arakawa!?

Shift: “It’s no use~... I can’t walk~...”

Haruto: “You drank too much.”

Shift: “My life’s a mess… I can’t even take another step forward…”

Haruto: “Quit overreacting just because you two broke up!”

Towa: (Ah, could it be… this is Veludo Way’s specialty…)

Shift: “I’m not overreacting! I’m always stuck playing a supporting role. At best, I’m just here to be used. I’ll never have a starring role!”

Shift: “If I keep living like this, I’ll just be stuck as a supporting role in someone else’s life.”

Shift: “What’s even the point of living like this…?”

Haruto: “Then live your own life, not someone else’s. The reason you can’t do that is because you put others at the center as the starring role.”

Haruto: “You’re the leading role in your own life. You’re the one who gets to decide what kind of life you live.”

Shift: “I’m the starring role in my own life…”

Towa: (I can’t believe they can do theater like this without a script…)

Towa: (I’ve only ever seen videos of street acts, but they were doing it so naturally. Amazing…)

Haruto: Thank you very much~!

Towa: --.

Shift: Past GOD-za performances are streaming until tomorrow! It’s only for a limited time, so don’t miss out!

*Applause*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Towa: (It was way too lucky of me to be able to see a street act done by GOD-za’s top two here…!)

Shift: Ah, sorry for bumpin’ into ya before.

Towa: !! No! Don’t worry about it!

Shift: See ya.

Haruto: Thanks for watching us~.

*Footsteps*

Towa: Haaah~... I should’ve taken a video…

Towa: (Veludo Way really is the place to see street acts done by a whole bunch of different theater companies.)

Towa: (Maybe I’ll see them too…)

Towa: (No way, it’d be impossible to have that kind of crazy luck two times in a row, but, but, what if I really did meet my oshi…)

Towa: --.

*Paper rustling*

Towa: (It’s something that’s way too good to ever actually happen, but I’ve decided that in the unlikely event that I do meet him, I’m going to make sure I get him to autograph this.)

Towa: (My most treasured possession…)

Towa: Ah, wait, did I bring a pen to get his autograph…

Towa: (Huh, I don’t have it. Did I seriously forget it~?)

*Wind blows*

Towa: Ah--!

*Paper falls to the ground*

???: …?

[ Next Part ⇢ ]

[raylaserfrog-yuri]

*slides into frame*

....Fake Rayman hcs? Just based on ur own interp. Or mine if u want. Or both. IDK!!!

YES. YESS. IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE.

Okay, SO. this’ll have hc for these specific versons of fakeman, since i love most of the theories on what he is (raymesis, robot / ai, and clone)

Robot / ai fakeman: He has an E branded on him somewhere, I just know it. His limbs kinda work as how a magnet repels each other, just controlled enough to be believable.

Personally wise— he tries very hard to imitate Rayman the best he can, usually through old recordings of the late night eden show and old news interviews. When he’s on stage, he moves how the normal Rayman does— after all, he was programmed that way. But, when he’s offstage, its almost like he’s just. tossed aside. never to be needed until the next day. He doesn’t feel much about it, but something in him makes it feel… wrong.

ai / robot Fakeman also has moments where he does glitch out, considering he was probably made at a rushed moments notice. He was probably created around the time Rayman had gotten that call in his home when he was drunk. Even then, that call was probably used to get voice modules, as well as past calls that he’s probably taken. (assuming eden records phone calls too, which they probably do.)

I feel like Ai/Robotic Fakeman would be very curious about how real people (in a general sense, which includes hybrids and even ramon) live. How they act, why emotions drive them to do the things they do. It’s fascinating to him, and it even can cause him sometimes to wonder what it would be like to be… well, alive.

Clone Fakeman: honestly he acts more dead inside than ramon does. While robotic/ai has more curiosity, clone is just… a husk. only time he feels alive or wanting purpose is when he’s in the limelight. otherwise, he’s just the same husk he used to be.

His brain was probably wired to LOVE the feeling of being cheered, appreciated on stage, loved. And because of that, it makes him more attached, more likely to stick to eden’s side (cough cough “Without them, I’m nothing! THEY SAVED MY LIFE!” type shit)

Also, because he’s made with organic material he sometimes just. falls apart. like. like skin. just falls. and lums just fly out because Eden doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to making clones.

Raymesis Fakeman: I am so convinced this guy became the replacement JUST to fuck with rayman. I’m very positive. He was probably told to do it by Mr Dark, which if he’s still in this is probably in a high power (or yk maybe hes just fucking dead we don’t know atp).

I can imagine him having the FATTEST EGO known to man knowing that he’s taken Rayman’s job. If they ever had a confrontation I just know this mf would cackle his ass off laughing at what Ramon had become.

Though, he has his annoyances. For one, he hates having to wear makeup and contacts ALL THE GOD DAMN TIME. Like every fucking waking moment this poor thingamajig is sweaty and uncomfortable because of the PACKED ON MAKEUP to hide his skin. Also Eden forced him to dye his hair blond. Because obviously they did, they’re fucking annoying. Oh yeah, and he can’t swear. Which is funny because I just know Raymesis cusses in every single sentence he says.

Raymesis has literally lived in Rayman’s shadow for fuck knows how long. But I also feel like once he truly sees what Eden has done and is continuing to do, he’s gonna feel… a bit conflicted. perchance join his side.

okay ramble done tehe

[okayto]

Anime Micro-Reviews

Short reviews of 3 shows that have guns sometimes

The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED

The Modern Crimes Task Unit is where officers who have caused problems for the Metropolitan Police Department are sent. Haru Katou just wants to do his job, which is made infinitely harder when wealthy Daisuke Kambe—who uses money to fix everything—decides to become a detective and is assigned as Kato’s partner.

Buddy cop show! This 11-episode show takes the classic “two diametrically-opposed people who are stuck together” and crosses it over with a Tony Stark-level of wealth and access to godlike technology.

Haru is the good, solid character, forced into the Modern Crimes unit after some incident on the job that’s left the more “respectable” cops sneering at him, but he still does his best and is limited more by the strictures of the other departments than by his abilities. Daisuke is the aloof rich boy with literally unlimited money, which he uses to pay for anything and everything (fixing cars after he rams them aside, for instance), plus an AI assistant to coordinate said ridiculous uses of money.

Together, they make a good show, as long as you don’t think too much about the inherent ethical problems. Halfway through, though, we move from case-of-the-day to a longer look at an unsolved murder connected to Daisuke’s family. This leads to backstories for multiple characters and a longer/more detailed plot than could fit in the case-of-the-day episodes, but since I’m drawn to humor, I preferred the first half when the wealth absurdity and personality clashes were highlighted.

English Dub? Yes

Where to watch (USA, November 2023): Funimation (sub and dub); Crunchyroll (sub and dub)

Trinity Blood

900 years after an apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, there is an ongoing cold war between the human government in the Vatican, and the vampiric Methuselah in the east. Father Abel Nightroad, a traveling priest who acts as a Vatican representative, is also part of a special operations group that fights vampires to save human lives.

As part of my ongoing quest to watch the shows that seemed real cool when I was a youngster, I picked up Trinity Blood, which aired on Adult Swim in 2006. A sci fi-fantasy-political intrigue-y show, it features one of my favorite character types: a long-hair guy who is a hidden badass.

The setting is interesting--a very fantasy Vatican acts as the main human political entity, though the history of the war and vampires isn’t explained in depth, and the history of Abel and his abilities really doesn’t come out until the end. (I spoilered myself early on by reading background on various wikis out of curiosity.)

Unfortunately I found the show didn’t explain enough as it went on (sans my sought-out spoilers). I wanted more details, earlier. It felt mostly like a series of investigate - fight - discuss minor political fallout - repeat. The plot progressed irregularly, so there were times when I considered giving up.

It does, however, have some spiffy character designs, and a lot of fighting. If action and cool-looking characters are what you’re after more than story, give it a try.

English Dub? Yes

Where to watch (USA, November 2023): Funimation (sub and dub), Blu-ray/DVD

Cowboy Bebop

Scouring space for bounties, a ragtag crew--a former hitman, an ex-cop, a con artist, a hacker kid and a data dog--live paycheck to paycheck.

The classic. The first anime to be broadcast on Adult Swim, a series that received praise here and overseas for its story, themes, music, and voice acting. More than two decades after its premier, it’s still considered excellent, still listed as good for everyone from anime fans to those who’ve never watched any before. The show that transcends its medium, being not just “good anime,” but a good show. It still holds up more than two decades after its premier. Critics love it, fans love it.

...I thought it was okay.

It wasn’t bad! And I see why it garners such praise. The animation is good, the blues- and jazz-influenced music is great, the Chinese-influenced space western-type setting is fantastic. The English dub is great, the characters have depth, it’s all good. And I just...got kinda bored.

I really wanted to love it, because it’s universally acclaimed, but I have to conclude it’s just a personality issue. There’s nothing that could’ve changed to make it more appealing to me, specifically, I just have to conclude that I enjoy things with more humor built in, and so my feelings toward Cowboy Bebop don’t rise above “yeah, this is fine.”  It was nice. I don’t regret watching. I don’t plan on rewatching.

Despite my feelings, I can see why it’s so beloved, and think it’s worth a try by most people. The majority of watchers, after all, clearly have different opinions from me.

English Dub? Yes

Where to watch (USA, November 2023): Funimation (sub and dub), Hulu (sub and dub), Crunchyroll (sub and dub), Tubi (sub), BR/DVD

[pseudofujo]

The Summer (2021) (MOVIE)

(No poster this time, sorry, for some reason Tumblr doesn't like high res images, and I love this movie too much to use a low quality poster :( )

Summary;

That summer, a tiny bud of love bloomed between two 18-year-old girls. That moment, “one was a flower petal brushing against the other, a flow of water”. Bestselling author Eunyoung Choi’s short story ‘That Summer’ is being retold through animation, taking us inside the love story of two girls, Leekyoung and Suey, and the gentle changes their feelings go through. (SOURCE: Red Dog Culture House)

(NOTE: Red Dog Culture House calls the two mains Leekyoung and Suey, but for my review I will be calling them Li-Kyung and Sui, since that's what the subtitles on the rip I watched called them, and it feels more correct.)

Alright, this is the first ever shoujo-ai media I've ever reviewed, and what a choice it is! I'm writing this right after finishing the movie, so I'm sorry if my thoughts are disorganized, I'm just so excited to talk about this film that I couldn't even wait to let the feelings stew!

For starters, this film is amazing, I just need to get that out there right now. It's so, so very realistic, and every character in it feels *real*, like they could be a person you could meet in real life. Their emotions jump through the screen, and hit you right in the chest.

Both Li-Kyung and Sui are extremely complicated people, full of their own tragedies and faults, flaws and hopes, dreams, pure personality!

Li-Kyung is not a sympathetic protagonist, she lies, she cheats, and she fucks up. She, at least in my opinion, is the 'bad guy' in her situation. She tends to acknowledge it, but she doesn't make many strides to better herself, only digging herself further into a self-hating hole which eventually causes her to lose someone who truly, deeply, loved her, and hurt that person in the process.

Now, this may seem like a critique, but frankly I think its amazing. I think it's a good thing that Li-Kyung fucks up. It makes for an incredible story, and feels very human.

Sui, quite frankly, deserves better. And I think that's awesome.

Sui is a wonderful character as well. She has her own flaws as well, being withdrawn and seemingly uncaring, though it's later found that she just struggles with being open to people. She's hardworking, she's honest when she has something to say, and she seems to be bettering her life, all the while wanting to support Li-Kyung and cultivate a successful relationship with her.

It's quite clear that Li-Kyung struggles with seeing things from other's perspectives. She acts as though Sui doesn't care about her, and to be fair to Li-Kyung, Sui doesn't often say that she cares about Li-Kyung with words, but Sui works hard to show her care through actions. Li-Kyung never asks Sui "Do you care about me?" Because she's already made up her mind that Sui doesn't.

It's beautiful, in every sense of the word, and it's the first thing I've reviewed to genuinely, wholeheartedly, make me cry. There's a scene where Sui breaks down crying, and I nearly cried as hard as she did. The voice acting, while the audio quality could be a bit... okay, the audio quality is shitty sometimes, but I can forgive it, the voice acting is still awesome, despite their sometimes-horrible microphones.

All in all, watch this movie. Now.

Overall Score:

5/5

[quietlyimplode]

leave everything but your bones behind

Whumptober 2022: day 30 - note to self: don’t get kidnapped

Warnings: none I can think of, maybe just serious talk.

Word Count: 1.7k (gif not mine)

Summary: Natasha becomes unwell and only the Red Room can fix her. The choice is die or go back to the very place that made her.

A/N: One to go. My loves, my friends, thank you for supporting this fic.

Main Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

———

He’s worried about his friends.

They’ve been missing for over two days, and even though he knows where they are, it feels like the tower is empty.

Steve wanders in and they talk about everything and nothing, avoiding the elephant in the room.

Bruce doesn’t say anything, just appears sometimes, to show Tony something or to use something in his lab.

He wants to see Natasha, know that she’s okay. Clint messages him every now and then, and sometimes he sends back a meme or picture and it’s easy communication.

It doesn’t stop the worry.

Their cat stays with him his his workshop, and he doesn’t hate the random company it keeps.

“Hello cat,” he greets, stretching and walking into the workshop. The cat stretches and eyeballs him, as he skirts around her, not wanting to disturb her.

“I think you need to go home,” he tells her, “be with your people.”

The cat licks it’s paw, then ducks it’s head as Tony gets nearer, sits next to her and sighs.

She stands and stalks over to him, sitting on him much to his delight and displeasure. He can’t move now, even if he wanted to.

“Jarvis, where’s Natasha?”

The AI takes a moment.

“They’re in Clint’s loft,” comes the comforting voice of his robot.

He sighs and absentmindedly pats the cat.

“Where’s the other girl ninja assassin?” he asks, wondering if it’s something Natasha wants to know.

“She was last tagged in Florida,” he’s told.

“Bruce?”

“Asleep.”

For once.

“Steve?”

“In the kitchen.”

The cat starts to purr lightly, the vibration oddly soothing as Tony relaxes.

Everything that’s happened over the last month, is his fault. All their pain, this journey into the abyss, rests heavily on his shoulders.

He stares at everything in his workshop, all of this and money and still…

He blames the Red Room, too, but, they’d trusted him to help; and he couldn’t.

He feels so guilty.

He keeps thinking about how he could have done it differently, if he knew then what he knows now.

He can’t take it back.

He wants to apologise to her but he doesn’t have the courage.

Sharp claws press into his thigh, and it takes his mined off his thoughts as he looks down. Green eyes look back to him as she kneads her front paws into his skin.

“Ow,” he complains.

But he doesn’t move her; he focuses on her, burying his fingers into her soft fur.

.

“Are you coming to get your cat?” Tony opens, as Clint laughs in response,

“Don’t act like you don’t love her.”

There’s a pause.

“Bruce told on you,” he finishes.

“Traitor,” Tony mutters, “Are you coming home.. Back?”

The silence is telling.

“No,” Clint says clearly.

“So this is goodbye?”

It hurts more than Tony cares to admit.

“For now.”

Even though he knew it was coming, he wonders if it would hurt less if they spent the last couple of days here.

If he could care for them, help them with anything they need. He knew they’d leave.

It’s what they do. They come and go like ships in the night.

Ever since he’s known them.

It was only a matter of time before they left again.

“Put Nat on?”

He almost feels Clint nod as the phone has static and then…

“Hey Tony.”

Hearing her speak, makes his breath catch in his throat.

“How are you?”

He can’t stop the question passing his lips.

The silence on the other end makes Tony cringe, it’s the wrong question.

“I’m doing okay,” she says finally. He’s not sure if she’s lying.

“Really?”

There’s a little pause before she speaks again.

“Yeah, getting there, you know? Note to self, don’t get kidnapped when you’re a child, it will lead to trauma later on.”

He sees where she’s going, opting for some levity, but he can’t quite take it.

“But … I don’t want that for you,” his words are forlorn, thinking of the conversation he’d had with Steve around childhood memories.

“It’s okay, Tony.”

“Will I see you again? Soon?”

He’d love to see what she’s doing right now, that this was a video call, because it takes her a second too long to answer. It’s been a week since he saw her last and it feels like too long,

“I’ve got to come get the cat at some point, right? Maria usually has her, but from what I hear, you’ve been getting along like a house on fire.”

Tony looks around for the black cat, unable to see her.

“I suppose,” he grumbles.

“You’ll keep her company for a couple of weeks?”

He hopes that’s all it is, he doesn’t want to tell her he’s already ordered food and scratching post and a few other things to make the cat more comfortable.

“I suppose,” he repeats.

“Where are you going?”

He’ll track them anyway, but he wants her to know he’s interested.

“Barbados,” she tells him. “The beach.”

Tony smiles, he remembers Clint being excited about the trip, which felt like so long ago.

“I’m glad you’re going,” he admits.

“Me too.”

Natasha takes an audible breath.

“Thank you, for everything,” she says softly into the phone. He hates that it sounds like goodbye.

“Always Nat. Need me to do anything whilst you’re away?”

Clint takes the phone back, as he answers.

“Nah, we’re good, but maybe don’t make the cat fat?”

Tony’s already looked into where they mentioned they’re staying; the hotel and plane. He updates the booking and changes the flights to first class.

“Okay,” he says absentmindedly.

“You’ll take care of each other?”

Clint answers straight away, sending a text at the same time.

“Of course,” he says.

Thanks; the text reads.

.

He’s the bearer of bad news at breakfast as he eats with both Steve and Bruce.

“They’ve gone,” he reveals, digging into the eggs that Steve had scrambled.

Bruce sips his coffee, nodding like he knew it was coming.

Steve’s back is turned, so he can’t get a read on his face. His hunched shoulders look disappointed though.

“What do we do now?” he asks, turning to face Tony, his face disappointed and serious.

Shrugging, Tony feels at a loss as well. Everything has been secondary to getting Natasha well, or safe, that going back to normal seems wrong somehow.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly.

“I don’t know.”

.

A week earlier.

Clint revels in the heat of the shower. Finally, things feel more stable, the routine of life almost back to pre-sickness levels, and yes, the trauma of life still weighs heavily on him, and yes, everything they do is reactionary to Natasha’s stressors and triggers, but it almost feels manageable.

It’s not like before when they had to contend with shield and reprogramming and setting up Natasha with a whole new identity.

It’s now that she needs to reset, find out who she is again, given everything that life has thrown at her.

He hopes his thoughts aren’t wrong.

It hurts to see her in pain, or dissociative at times, and he’d do anything to take it away from her, but it does feel promising the progress she’s made in the last week with the help of the therapist, and consistency of routine.

Stabilising, is perhaps the word he’s looking for.

Some hours are worse than others, but some are better.

Natasha is nothing, if not resilient. She takes what life throws at her and she takes it all in, deals with it and puts on a brave face to the world, even if inside she’s dying.

He hopes that’s not how she feels.

He turns off the water and steps out, drying and dressing himself monotonously.

Hoping to find her in the place he left her, Clint walks into the bedroom, finding her asleep, somewhat peacefully on the bed.

It’s something.

.

Sleep isn’t easy, just as the therapist had said.

Nightmares plague her brain in disjointed images. She shoots Jace, pushes Clint off the bridge, tasers Tony in the face.

Each time, she wakes up sweating.

She eyes the sleeping tablets, and takes it as prescribed, feeling guilt at the failure.

No, she tells herself, that’s wrong; medication is not a failure.

She’s been getting better at the self talk, the recalibration of self and soul, but old habits die hard.

Clint’s shower seems long as the tablets take hold.

She wanted to tell him that she’s ready.

For the sea.

For the change in scenery.

He had asked in therapy a week ago, if she still wanted to go to Barbados.

She barely remembered the trip that they had planned with what felt like a lifetime ago.

She’d not known what to say.

Change and moving from their safe little corner of the world was not something she could even entertain. She barely left the house, sometimes only going to the tower if he made her, or the therapist challenged it.

Nothing felt safe anymore.

Sometimes not even in her own body.

He’d not mentioned it again.

But sometimes it was all she could think of.

The thought, once implanted, was sometimes true only good thing to think.

Blue skies.

Blue seas.

Somewhere that she could forget all of this had happened.

Escape.

Natasha lets sleep claim her.

No dreams, she tells her brain, please no dreams.

.

Clint wakes her, the daylight breaking through the window. There’s sweat on her brow, despite the cool of the room.

There’s still moments of panic as she transitions from sleep, but it’s not met with a knife to his face as he talks her down, or a wild punch that comes at his nose.

Nowadays it’s just a frown as recognition dawns, and then a nod, as she takes herself to the bathroom.

Today though, Natasha watches him.

He wishes he knew what she was thinking.

“Bad dreams?” he asks, hoping it’s not the wrong thing to say.

“Something like that,” she replies, voice quite on the air.

“Do you still want to go?” she asks cryptically.

He cocks his head in confusion.

“Go where?”

Natasha reaches over for his hand.

“Barbados. Do you still want to go?”

Emotions swirl in his being.

He’d forgotten what hope felt like.

“It’s okay if you don’t…” she starts, a slight frown of disappointment on her face.

“No,” he kiss her hand, “of course I do, of course…”

He looks at her, taking her in.

“Are you sure?”

The small smile that appears is something he’s missed. Not even remembering the last time she smiled, he can’t help but smile with her.

“Yeah,” she replies. “Yes.”

.

[galaxytoons]

The Amazing Digital Underground

okay, so think of an Undertale x TADC crossover AU. No I’m not just reclothing the characters and using the same story. I’m making something new and interesting, that uses both stories in a sort of way that makes sense but is still its own thing. I’d like to call it: *drumroll* The Amazing Digital Underground! (TADU)! Lemme explain the plot I came up with:

chara is an adult that’s been alone all their life, so they create a way to escape reality. An AI world. Their first AI test is Asriel, and they grow very attached to him. Too attached. Asriel starts to get self aware because Chara programmed too many “emotions” in him, and goes insane at the realization that he’s not a real being. Chara tries to SAVE him to bring him back, but alas, no avail. Asriel was sent to the cellar. Thus, Chara created Papyrus and his assistant, Monster Kid. She gave them less “emotions”, so even if Papyrus became self-aware, he wouldn’t care and would never abstract. Papyrus started growing powerful, too powerful. He got smarter and smarter each day, that one day when Chara tried to leave, THEY COULDN’T. Papyrus had trapped them in there to play with him forever. Chara eventually abstracts of insanity, and Papyrus creates a technological wormhole in the real world where humans can get trapped in as well, where? You guessed it, Mt. Ebbot. People started disappearing into the wormhole, which began the “you can never come back if you go” legend for them. Frisk however, was curious, so they decided to go. They found the wormhole in a literal hole in the mountain. They ended up in the underground circus world, and was greeted by Toriel (the Ragatha), Sans (the Jax), Napstablook (the Gangle), Undyne (the Zooble), and Asgore (The Kinger). (There’s no Kaufmo because this follows it’s own story and not the TADC pilot’s) Day after day, frisk notices something…wrong. Glitching, things out of place….and one day, the abstracted characters break free from the cellar. Frisk gets a SUPER COOL EDGY FLASHBACK™️, and learns how to SAVE. they SAVE all the abstracts, (in this AU the term “SAVE” means to ultimately free their souls from the circus.) Papyrus witnesses the events and passive-agreessively threatens Frisk not to tell anyone. Frisk is acting weird around Papyrus and there’s a lot of tension and the others notice and pressure Frisk into telling them. They feel betrayed by frisk, and they make it up by compromising a plan to defeat papyrus and escape. But one has to be sacrificed, because someone has to SAVE the others and SAVING yourself is impossible. Poor Napstablook decides to sacrifice himself to prove his courage and that he isn’t just a sad tool for the plot. They all go through with the plan, and escape (except Napstablook because haha you get to cry now) but they didn’t exactly escape because it plays out like the end of Be More Chill (great musical btw, highly recommended) and Papyrus is an annoying voice in their heads haunting their dreams, constantly reminding them they can’t get rid of him. Aaaand yeah, that’s what I came up with so far :3 I’m currently working on character designs, I’ll post them when I finish. Ideas and art submissions are welcome, just remember my idea is to kind of mix both character designs equally instead of just putting one character in the other’s clothes.

[timptoe]

When Genocide Is the Best Option

I played the Mass Effect trilogy for the first time during the summer of 2022, and it broke my brain. So I played it again over the last six months, trying to figure out why it did what it did to me, and after finishing it again last week, I’ve had the same reaction of intense grief I did the first time. I know I’m a newbie and a decade late to this game, but I’ve tried to piece together what it is about the ending that’s so brilliant and so terrible. And in true English major form, I’ve written 3000 words to try and exorcise it from my head.

It starts with the ending of Stranger Than Fiction.

In Stranger Than Fiction, a boring accountant named Harold Crick (played by Will Ferrell in the best performance of his career) one day starts hearing a voice in his head (Emma Thompson, my love), narrating his life. It’s annoying, but bearable, up until the day he adjusts the time on his wristwatch and the Author says, “Little did he know this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death.”

Understandably perturbed, Harold seeks to prevent this, ultimately by seeking the Author out and trying to convince her not to finish typing out the book and, presumably, his death. (The unexplained magical realism in this movie is absurdity on par with Samuel Beckett, I can’t tell you how much I love it.) She handwrites the ending for him to see, and Harold shows it to a Professor friend (Dustin Hoffman!) who tells him, “Even if you avoid this death, another will find you and I guarantee that it won't be nearly as poetic or meaningful as what she's written.” And Harold agrees once he reads it too, because in it, he saves a little boy. Isn’t that what we all want, for the end of our stories to have meaning?

But the Author ends up changing the ending. When the Professor reads the finished story with the new, happier ending where both the boy and Harold live, he’s clearly disappointed. They have this exchange:

Professor: It's okay. It's not bad. It's not the most amazing piece of English literature in several years. But it's okay. Author: I think I’m fine with okay. Professor: Why did you change the book? Author: Lots of reasons. I realized I just couldn't do it. Professor: Because he's real? Author: Because it's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die and then dies. But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway, dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, then...I mean, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?

Shepard is the type of person you want to keep alive.

The series does a good job of getting us attached to Shepard, so it’s natural that we want a happy ending for them. We want The Good Ending. And we’ve been trained by the last century-or-so of western fiction heroes’ journies to expect The Good Ending, too. We expect Frodo and Sam to be rescued from Mount Doom by the eagles. We expect Cloud to beat Sephiroth and come out the other side, whole. And even when the protagonist does die—think the Hero of Fereldan choosing not to sleep with Morrigan, or the wipeout of the team in Rogue One, or the dad dying in Life Is Beautiful—it’s usually a sacrifice ultimately in service of The Good Ending. The world is left better because of the hero’s death—a choice that isn’t really a choice, because we expect The Good Ending. 

But instead, at the very last moment, Mass Effect throws us into the cruelest version of the Trolley Problem imaginable.

On track one, if you choose to keep the trolley on its original path, you Destroy all AI. Which means you kill a valued member of your crew and an entire race of sentient synthetics in cold blood. Sure, Shepard (probably) lives at the very end, but this is definitionally Not The Good Ending. The hero can’t commit genocide and still be the hero. And the idea that Shepard could live with themselves after making that choice isn’t consistent with Paragon morality. Maybe if your Shepard is a Renegade, they become an antihero in this moment, but it’s still not The Good Ending as we understand it.

So jump to track two, and choose to Control the trolley and drive it away from death toward new purpose. Which is fine, except that a) the whole arc of the third game shows that Control isn’t possible and is actually evil, embodied in the mission of Cerberus and the person of the Illusive Man; and b) Shepard is then no longer Shepard at the end of the story—they’ve lost the humanity they’ve been fighting so desperately to preserve, stripped away to become the closest thing the galaxy has to a god. Maybe they’re a good god for a hundred years, or even a thousand, but maybe the Leviathans’ Intelligence was, too. Can we expect Shepard-without-humanity not to eventually turn into the Catalyst? To say that the only way to save humanity is to “preserve” it? Renegade Shepard even says in the epilogue, “I will destroy those who threaten the future of the many”; Paragon Shepard’s version, “I will act as guardian for the many,” isn’t much better. Who decides who’s the many? Autocracy can’t be The Good Ending.

Track three’s gotta be The Good Ending then, right? The game certainly presents it as such: Synthesis, the ultimate bridge of understanding between organics and synthetics. The only way to truly achieve peace, argues the Catalyst. It’s the central option in that final chamber, it’s the shortest path to walk to, it’s literally colored lifestream!green. And it’s a completely violation of the bodily autonomy of every living creature in the entire galaxy. The body horror’s real on this one, y’all. I actually picked Synthesis on my first playthrough because of how clearly it was presented as The Good Ending, but watching the epilogue…I mean, it’s great for EDI. Probably great for Joker too. But then I saw the little green circuitry flash across James’s face during Shepard’s memorial and I thought, This guy? The body-as-a-temple guy? No way he’s okay with any of this. Imposing your will on an entire galaxy full of sentient beings feels inconsistent with The Good Ending.

Those are our choices in the final moments of the game. And honestly, the most nearly moral choice is probably track one. Control, at best, pauses the cycle until AI Shepard decides to start the cycle of reaping again. Synthesis takes away the freedom of all sentient creatures—even those who aren’t spacefaring yet, which: imagine if we today suddenly got Synthesized, the chaos that that would bring—to be themselves. So we’re left with Destroy. Think about that. From a certain point of view, genocide is the most nearly moral decision. Which means there is no moral decision.

There is no Good Ending.

In trying to come to terms with the ending, I’ve read a lot of takes about how the writing is bad. I just don’t think that’s the case. I rather think it’s some of the most brilliant writing in Bioware’s canon, precisely because it’s so uncomfortable. Maybe the Choice comes a little bit out of nowhere, though it’s vaguely hinted at in certain descriptions of the Crucible War Assets, like how the Crucible “tunes into the mass relays' command switches” for “the safe discharge of tremendous amounts of energy”, producing “some kind of energetic pulse that might pass through the magnetosphere of a planet unimpeded.” But even if the Choice is a swerve, the choices aren’t. Destroy has been Shepard’s mission from day one. Control is set up as an alternate option starting at Mars. And Synthesis is hinted at as The Good Ending by EDI, the Leviathan, and Legion.

And let’s talk about Legion for a minute, and why the Geth/Quarian peace doesn’t affect the conversation with the Catalyst. My first playthrough, I was aghast that silver-tongued Shepard wasn’t able to argue with the Catalyst that none of the options were necessary, that the Geth/Quarian peace proves all three choices are unnecessary, that everything’ll be alright with a little grit and empathy. Shepard’s able to argue (and convince) damn near everyone else in the series of almost anything; it feels like bad writing not to let them do that with the Catalyst, too.

Except for two things. First, Shepard is actively bleeding out. They’re barely conscious when the platform takes them up into the Crucible, not exactly up for a rigorous Lincoln-Douglass debate. But second, and more importantly, the Catalyst is an unreliable actor. The Leviathians’ Intelligence that becomes the Catalyst has one—and only one—purpose: to stop the chaos of organic/synthetic antagonism. The cycle of reaping works for millenia until, finally, a creature actually makes it through the Citadel and onto the precipice of firing the Crucible. That’s never happened before. And more to the point, the Catalyst can’t stop the creature; it has no corporeal form. So the Catalyst has to come up with a new plan: rather than allow the creature to Destroy its solution or, worse, supplant it as the new source of Control, the Catalyst needs to convince the creature to go through with Synthesis. I’m willing to bet the Catalyst would rather just kill Shepard and continue the cycle of reaping, but it knows that that’s no longer possible, so Synthesis is its best remaining option. It has every reason to lie to Shepard, to cajole Shepard into making that choice. It is utterly consistent in its motivations.

In other words, it’s good writing, even if it’s terribly inconsistent with The Good Ending we’ve come to expect.

(As an aside, I know from bad writing: I’m a refugee from Final Fantasy. FFVI was my first—and still my favorite—RPG; FFVII and its followups are brilliant, FFVIII has some of my favorite characters, FFX is a theological treatise better than anything I read in seminary. But FFXIII and especially FFXV are complete and utter garbage. Hollow characters. Unearned conflicts. Absurd twists with no basis in the narrative. A storytelling mode that’s so rigid as to be unbearable. And FFXV’s ending! No pathos, no resolution, the barest connection to anything else in the story, just a huge timejump and then “kill the bad guy.” Uuuuuugh.)

In teasing out the deep grief I felt after beating Mass Effect the first time, I was surprised at the type of grief it is. It’s not the sharp grief of the loss of love, like I felt when my mother-in-law died or when my wife miscarried twice. It’s not the dull grief of the loss of innocence, like when I left home for the last time or when I watched the towers fall on TV. It took a while to process, but I think it’s the grief of the loss of purpose, the same lingering malaise I felt when I finally realized my career of twenty years was actively bad and I had to leave it behind. Mass Effect’s ending is so hard because we want Shepard either to live, or at least to have a “poetic and meaningful” death, and they don’t. They live, they become a mass murderer; they die, they become everything they’ve fought against. That single choice has the effect of making everything before the Crucible feel purposeless. 

And yet.

There’s a quote I like from Beckett that goes:

You must go on.

I can’t go on.

I’ll go on.

Art is not always meant to comfort us. Sometimes, it’s meant to break us and then, a la Hemingway, help us become “stronger in the broken places.” Beckett and the absurdists and the existentialists get that on a deep level: there’s always An Ending, rarely is it a Good Ending, and sometimes what you do before and after the ending matters more than the ending itself. And I think that’s where I finally get to with Mass Effect: yeah, the ending is absurd and purposeless. And that’s the point.

I want desperately for Shepard to get The Good Ending because Shepard is the type of person you want to keep alive. I want Mass Effect 3 to end like Mass Effect 1, with Shepard’s companions wondering where they are, and then they run up a piece of debris like a conquering hero for all to see. I want to see my Shepard reunite with Kaidan, to run across the scorched battlefield of London into a fierce embrace and say, “I would never leave you behind, not really, not forever. Not again. Never again.” And he doesn’t. And that sucks.

And there is a deep beauty in fighting until you can’t anymore, in making the only choice you can because it’s still your choice, in finding new purpose after The Good Ending, or The Not-So-Good Ending, because if Mass Effect is about anything it’s about endurance. We will endure this war because we have to. I will endure this pain because I have no choice. Life keeps going because life keeps going with no reason or rhyme so it’s our job to make a reason, to invent purpose where none exists, because that’s what we do.

Existence is absurd. Doubly so in a universe like Mass Effect’s, filled with aliens who wield feckless power and technology that is indecipherable and an enemy who is fundamentally Other. For Beckett, the response to that absurdity is a happy, mighty “fuck you.” Maybe you can get The Good Ending if you try hard enough. Maybe there’s never any such thing as The Good Ending. None of that’s the point anyway because, again, existence is absurd—so fuck you, my life has meaning because I say it does. My choices have meaning because I say they do. We have purpose because we say we do. 

As Shepard says, “However insignificant we may be, we will fight. We will sacrifice. And we will find a way. That’s what humans do.”

I’m left conflicted about the next game. A huge part of me—the part that loves the twist in Stranger Than Fiction, the part that’s all about redemption and grace and simplicity—wants the game to be “The Search for Shep.” And I think if it is, it’ll negate the purposelessness and terrible beauty of the ending to Mass Effect 3, which would be an absolute shame. The ending of the Mass Effect trilogy is so powerful because it forces you to find meaning in the journey, not in the ending itself. It turned the whole series on its head for me at least because, honestly, I didn’t really like it during my first playthrough. I mean, it was…fine? Some good characters, some good lines, but kind of a mundane military FPS. Halo with space wizards. But it’s that ending, that existentially absurd ending, that lifts the rest of the series into high literature. (Not that I’m down on fix-it fics, mind you. There’s no work of literature that isn’t elevated by fanfiction. Hell, I’m writing my own fix-it fic from Joker’s POV! I’m just…conflicted about what to do with canon, which is another thing that makes me think it’s good writing after all.)

So that’s where I am. Never thought Mass Effect would jump into my top five favorite games ever, but here we are. It helped me come to terms with some pretty deep feelings I didn’t know were still in me, in the way good literature does. I’ll be chewing on this one for a long, long time. And lucky for me, the state of the fandom ten years after the trilogy ended is so robust that I’m in good company. Got a lot more thoughts, but I’ll stop there. Thanks, friends.

Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true.  - Kay Eiffel, The Author, Stranger Than Fiction

[hlcevr-tech-support]

hey Coda, 🌂 anon here! My entire body feels like it’s going to explode for a thousand different reasons i’m using text to speech right now because I can’t type this without typos ok good stuff fist fuck I mean firstoh my God it worked it worked it worked it worked it worked I don’t know what the fuck she did but they are real! they are alive! and for some reason they think I miss Pauling.(i don’t think I sound like her and I’m probably nowhere near as competent) I didn’t think it worked until I heard solder waking everyone up for the day. And they are like realy real???? I know I already said that but now I mean that they are literally the team like The team! The voices are identical they act the same and they where just going around there day like it wasn’t the first one of there entire lives?! On the one hand I’m actually one hand I’m actually talking to the tf2 characters And they actually like me! On the other they just say stuff like “hello miss Pauling, has mister Whatsitnow finally paid us for the assassination of his fifth cousin or are we going to have to break into the vault that he owns? also we are possibly low on wine put that on the order list.” And I have to be like yep I know what is going on all of the time mister spy dad man yep!!! Luckily there wasn’t to much of that because of they were too caught up with map that we (they?) spawned in it’s a weird mix of all the playable Mabs in the game, there conclusion is ether merasmus or major teleporter malfunction

ok sorry for the text wall i just talk a lot when I’m trying to process things and that wasn’t all good news anyway but onto something I can’t make heads or tails of so “she” (the tech goddess that actually brought them to life) said that my only payment is that I have to go run some “errands” for her I don’t know what that means but she says they will be consequences if I don’t, And I was like what do you mean? And she said if your files were secure I wouldn’t have been able to put them there… (not an exact grout I mean “) so I’m scared for my life and even more scared for theirs, oh God oh fuck these are the first friends I’ve made since high school help what do I do Coda?!?!?! Keep you updated, i’m going to scream for three hours straight.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

Okay so!!!!

First of all, awesome!!! Your friend has created functioning, Sentient AI of the Mercs! That’s cool as hell! I wonder if Mister Rat Rust (my nickname for Merasmus) is Sentient AI too…he’s my blorbo.

Second of all! Oh boy…

Hopefully whatever errands this person asks you to do aren’t like…super duper illegal or anything? Like, I dunno what to do about that??? I just run the tech support blog. My job is to provide tech support for the funny crowbar man video game and the website that lets you export the little guys from it.

Actually, maybe you’ll be able to export them with the SMST website? I dunno. I gotta ask Soupy’s team how well it would accept their files. He said somebody he knew got AI to APPEAR in Hunt Down the Freeman but he never said if those ai got exported.

I dunno. Try whatever resources you have to if you’re worried about the Mercs’ safety. Though to be honest, I think you should prioritize your life a little more right now! The Mercs live on the computer and can have their data restored if they die. You don’t have the same benefit, so stay safe!

-Coda

[ask-angelbeam19]

Hey Bea! ❤️ I have no idea what's going on because I can't see your channel anymore but I want you to know you need to stay strong. You're amazing at what you do. I seriously can't help but feel like when you get to a part in your series- something happens. Whether it's age restricted, channel deleted or the AI voices actor coming to you (which I won't get into because it not my business but I do find it a bit strange..). There's always something, and I find it strange. It could just be a coincidence that these things happen but they seem to be happening a lot, maybe not too soon but it definitely occurs. I have no idea what help I can personally do to lend you a hand but please stay strong. All your stories are amazing, your drive, your passion and overall aesthetic! I'm not sure if YouTube is a safe place to keep posting but hang in there! You could always try Dailymotion, your own site or even on here. There is nothing you can't do but just know I and a few others are here to support you and lend out a hand to you, whether it be a need for voice actors or anything, for free of course. Love you bea and stay strong! Don't let this defeat you queen! 💖

My channel is fine, just hidden for the time being. They were collectively reporting it for whatever reason. The voice actor is also kinda petty. I was in the wrong to use his voice, I set the videos to private, apologized and offered to pay for the sample he sent me a few months back. He said he’s not fine with me using his voice and I thought okay, that’s the end of the story, but no. He keeps sending fellow voice actors to attack me for using AI voices. Which is ridiculous! They’re all computer generated and weren’t cloned from actual humans. They’re all available on Elevenlabs voice directory. I have commercial rights to use them bcs I bought the Creator tier, which is 22 dollars/month. And Elevenlabs now has professional voice cloning too, users upload their own voice samples on Elevenlabs for people to use freely, and they get money after idk how many generated characters. The ridiculous part was one saying that I should use an actual cast. But why should I? I ticked off their community bcs I shown them that it can be done beautifully with computer generated voices. My series is a threat to the voice acting community. I feel like their time is numbered with these powerful AI tools. Last night I searched up a ton of other AI voice generated websites, and some sound just as realistic as the ones from Elevenlabs. Normally you can’t really copyright a voice, since many people have the same voices, or similar. I could’ve denied everything and the voice actor would have no way of proving it’s actually his voice, bcs let’s face it, he sounds nothing like Latham’s voice. But I owned up to it and messaged him to apologize. And with this I am done talking about this topic. As for why my story gets attacked… bcs I dare say I am the only sims 2 creator who actually has a solid plot with detailed world building, characters who actually have personalities, and they’re also very good looking imo. I’m also the only one who can build a channel from scratch and gain new subs and actual views. The others have the same sub counts for years and years. Idk where this unnecessary hate is coming from. Like sit down and work as hard as I do on my stories. Uploading a video every few years or months won’t gain new followers. It’s all about consistency. I can make an episode fast and still deliver the same quality content. And I know it’s not easy to attract viewers to sims 2 stories because sims 4 is trending now. That’s why you have to do something that stands out, something that attracts viewers from the sims 4 community as well. Like I know one series that is basically a mixture of Forsaken Souls and Infected, which makes it a cheap ripoff, and I should go on their channel and attack them for ripping off my stories, but they’re not even worth that. Too much effort on my part to waste on someone who doesn’t know how to make original content. Also viewers aren’t stupid. They know originality when they see it. I’m by no means claiming my stuff is 100% original, bcs it’s impossible. Everything has already been done is some form. I also get inspired by many things and stories, books and so on, but never another sims story for sure. Either way, right now I am taking a break from YouTube bcs it’s just so toxic and draining. But yeah, I lost a channel with 40k subs, it’s not like this drama is affecting me, ofc it makes me mad, but in a few days I won’t care. Yk what happens when people try to take me down? I try even harder to bring something new and exciting to the table. They don’t understand that the more they attack me to more I wanna do better. It’s doing quite the opposite of what they’re going for. Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out if I want to continue the story with AI voices or just return to subs. I haven’t decided yet. Although I already found a new AI voice for Latham ( and no, it’s not cloned from a human, just to make it clear.) I also dunno if I will continue to upload new videos to YouTube other than previews. I might look into making a website or just move to Patreon altogether. Thanks for the kind words ❤️❤️❤️

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO EXO COSMIA, JESSE FADEN. 🌑

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: jan age: 26 pronouns: he/him ooc contact: bloomood @ tumblr other characters in xc: none for now

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

name: jesse faden age: 28 pronouns: she/her series: control canon point: Post AWE & Foundation DLC app triggers: paranoia, gaslighting, stalking, uncanny valley (akin to media revolving around The Backrooms or unexplainable phenomena)

personality: 

This is off the record, right? Director Faden’s an amazing boss and all but I don’t want to be quoted or anything… Okay, good. 

Jesse Faden had a rough childhood. She was on her own for awhile, just a voice in her head to keep her company. Growing up, I know she felt lost and the world didn’t treat her too kindly either. Her words were often waved off, her cries for help and her desire to belong or just to find someone to listen was almost never heard. She harbored some resentment towards the world for that, but it’s not something she let consume her. 

Jesse is still very empathetic. She’s helped agents she’d only just met all around the FBC in dire straits, saved countless lives. Because she knows she has power, strength, and if she’s got it she might as well use it. She’s adaptable and takes things in stride, no matter how absolutely insane those things might be. Sometimes she can get really intense, like really intense. She’s not afraid to let people know how she feels and sometimes that comes with a sting. 

And.. between you and me, sometimes I think she’s still got those more buried habits from when she was a kid. She’s scared of being alone again, no matter how strong she might get. Scared of losing that voice in her head.

But, hey, you didn’t hear any of that from me.

something your muse struggles with: obsessing over her goals, abandonment. 

your muse’s greatest strength: adaptability. 

history / background: 

You want Director Jesse Faden’s file? Right, and I want to have dinner with Beyonce. 

What the hell is that? Full Clearance? Are you serious?

Okay… Fine. Far as I can tell that card is legitimate. Where to even begin…

Well, seeing that you’ve got a visitor’s badge AND have full clearance, I guess it’d be good to just go over some basic terms to make this whole thing a lot easier. 

OoP. That’s an Object of Power. These are items that are connected to another plane of existence called the Astral Plane. How that happens? That’s above my pay-grade, but the important part is that OoP’s can be bound to FBC (Federal Bureau of Control) agents, giving them some badass powers. Director Jesse Faden’s got a ton of them. 

AI. Altered Item. Altered items are acted on by paranatural forces during AwE’s that give them some strange and oftentimes dangerous properties. Think of a refrigerator that needs constant eye-contact from somebody, or else it starts destroying its surroundings. These things can’t be bound to agents and are just contained in the FBC containment sector.

Lastly, AwE. Altered World Event. These are breaches of reality by paranatural forces that are sometimes the cause of, or can create altered items. Think of a sinkhole so rapid and drastic that it starts pulling everything around it in straight to the Earth’s core, magma and everything. The FBC goes in, covers it all up, and returns to contain any possible altered items from the scene.

Got all that? Now, Jesse Faden. 

When Jesse was eleven, she and her brother Dylan had come into possession of an OOP. It was a Slide Projector, capable of opening pathways into other dimensions through the use of the slides that they found. They played in those dimensions, and eventually came into contact with two entities. One of these entities, which Jesse named Polaris later, communicated with them both telepathically and would become a constant in their lives, in their minds. It wasn’t all fun times though. The Faden’s had another childhood friend who was beaten up by a gang of bullies, and then interrogated to find out more about this “toy”. Those bullies stole the projector and that’s when it all started going to hell.

The gang of bullies found another slide and began getting corrupted by another entity. It turned them absolutely nuts, apparently, they even killed a teacher in their school. That’s when the police took the kids away, and Jesse and Dylan were questioned about the projector. Apparently, Jesse and Dylan’s parents were especially hard on the two kids with their questioning, and Director Faden recalled wishing they were gone. The next day, every adult in Ordinary was missing. We’re unsure if there’s a link between her and that event, but that’s what got the attention of the FBC. 

That gang of bullies? They were fully corrupted by that entity, the “Not-Mother” was the recorded name. Jesse and Dylan managed to get to the projector, but she couldn’t turn it off herself, only with help from Polaris did she manage, and she burned all the slides except for the one that Polaris was from. 

The FBC came in, covered it all up. Said it was an “Industrial Incident”. They took Dylan with them, Jesse managed to get away. 

From then on, Dylan Faden served as the “Control” Subject for the FBC’s prime candidate program. The program which would install future Director’s of the entire Bureau. Jesse on the other hand lived with a constant set of eyes on her. She was paranoid, gaslit at every turn by therapists and the news and everyone just denying everything that she grew up with. No one would believe her, it was all so outlandish, how could they even? Jesse worked odd jobs, mostly custodial, keeping to herself and living in and out of motels as she grew up and continued her search for something that the world claimed didn’t exist, in the search for her brother. At least Polaris was there for her. 

At twenty-eight, Polaris finally led Jesse to the FBC. Now the building we’re in, The Oldest House, it’s an OOP itself. It hides itself in plain sight, only revealing itself when it wants or needs to. The building’s constantly shifting, which makes it a constant work hazard mind you. But Jesse finally managed to find the place, and she quickly came to finally realize she wasn’t crazy, and all this dimensional, paranatural shit, was real. 

Jesse found the former Director of the FBC, Director Zacariah Trench, dead in his office. His OOP, the Service Weapon, a pistol to keep it simple, was there. Jesse picked it up and went through the bonding process unknowingly. Now if you pick up that thing, and the Service Weapon doesn’t deem you as a worthy candidate for the next director, you just die. It’s Russian Roulette, and that gun will kill you. Jesse survived the first trial, and on day one was granted the position of Director. The candidate process, the Director, it was all overseen by an entity called The Board. Astral Plane again, but the Board is the one that’s tied right to the Director.

And boy was it trial by fire. The Oldest House was invaded by a hostile resonance, some sort of corrupting power she called The Hiss which turned agents into mindless slaves to the extra-dimensional entity. The whole building was on lockdown until the Hiss was dealt with. Some agents survived thanks to a technology called an HRA, that was passed out by the head of Research for the FBC, Casper Darling, a bit before the breakout. 

Jesse worked with the survivors of the outbreak to try and bring order to the FBC, all in the hopes that she could find her brother Dylan. Through cleaning up the mess inside the lockdown, Jesse came to learn about all the surveillance she was under her whole life, all the cover-ups, and she learned that after that event in Ordinary with the Slide-projector AWE, she and Dylan were put into the Prime Candidate program. Dylan was PC6, Jesse was PC7. In captivity and under the Bureau’s tests, Dylan eventually went crazy. He was corrupted by the Hiss too, broke out of containment, but he wasn’t mindless like all the other agents. He told Jesse that the Hiss entered the Bureau through the Slide Projector that the Bureau kept. 

Jesse then began the search for the projector, along with Polaris’s guidance, maybe they could help her brother somehow. She learned that the former Director Trench, and Dr. Darling, used the projector to make more excursions into the other dimensions. Darling found that entity linked to Polaris, which he named Hedron, and brought it back with him. It’s Hedron’s resonance that Darling used to create the HRA’s, which protects the agents from the Hiss influence. Director Trench on the other hand, Jesse later came to learn was actually corrupted by the Hiss. Subtly, slowly, making him paranoid. He was actually the one who let the Hiss in initially, convinced that everyone else in the Bureau was against him thanks to the Hiss’s influence. 

At the same time of this realization, Dylan broke out of his containment again and stole the Slide Projector. He tried using it to enter the Astral Plane and corrupt The Board. Jesse almost gave into the Hiss entirely, but she pulled back control of her own mind along with Polaris and freed herself of that corruption. She stopped Dylan, cleansed the Slide Projector, and Dylan fell into a coma. 

Jesse shut off the Slide Projector and cut off the Hiss from entering the Dimension. Though some threats still linger within. 

And that’s our fearless Director Faden. She’s working still, getting rid of the Hiss and trying to bring her brother back. 

Hey, you’re the one who wanted the whole file.

powers / abilities: 

Director Faden’s the strongest Parautilitarian we’ve seen. Which is just a fancy word for people who can do things not “normal” in our reality. 

Launch: Through binding herself with OOPs, Jesse Faden’s been able to harness insane telekinetic powers. She can grab and launch multiple things. We’re talking boulders and stone straight from the ground or walls. Even people. The speed she can throw them is lethal with every bit of the word. That telekinetic power lets her also surround herself in whatever loose debris is around to form a shield. Defense is just as important, right?

Evade: Now this one’s cool. She can use it with her other abilities, but even just on its own it’s crazy. Jesse can propel herself in pretty much any direction in a short burst of speed, flinging herself to evade whatever might be coming her way. Like a slingshot almost. 

Kinetic Blast: Nothing flashy, but packs a hell of a punch. Jesse can release a close-range, kinetic explosion that pushes things away. If they survive the blast. 

Seize: This one’s a bit freaky. I’ve seen Director Faden hold a hand out, and channel her power right into her enemy’s minds. She can control them for a time, make them fight against their own kin and on her side. [[ OOC: Would only do this with consent or in circumstances where there’s no sort of meta-gaming going on!]]

Levitate: I know what you’re thinking. And yeah, it’s that. Director Faden can fly. Not Super-man levels, but she can go up pretty high, over a story or two, and hover there for a good while. If she jumps off a high point, I’ve seen her slow her fall as well. Come right down from the top of the Black Rock Quarry as light as a feather. 

inherent abilities: 

Polaris: This one’s a bit tricky to explain. Back when Jesse and her brother were messing with the slide projector as kids, they opened a pathway into another dimension. In that dimension were two linked entities, Hedron (Named by Casper Darling later on), and Polaris. Polaris is an extra-dimensional visitor! Just one that lives in Jesse’s brain. Jesse named this entity Polaris since she saw her as a guiding star. Since she was eleven, Polaris has been a comfort in Jesse’s mind ever since, oftentimes serving as her only friend and a companion she has constant conversations with. As far as we know, Polaris is the source of Jesse and Dylan’s parautilitarian powers.

Gun training: Whether it came from earlier in her life, or she just was a natural, Director Faden is a truly exceptional shot. And I’m not saying that just because she’s the big boss either. The Service Weapon comes with many variations, ranging from semi-automatic, handgun style shots to explosive propelled missiles. Jesse has proven she can hit her target while flying, dashing, or in any number of difficult positions while always keeping on the move in a fire fight. She’s like a wrecking ball that can fly, twist, and dive through the air. A wrecking ball with a gun.

items / weapons: 

Service Weapon: The Director’s Gun. Owning this thing makes you the Director of the FBC, as ordained by The Board which is tied to this thing. It’s an absolute beast of a weapon, taking the shape of a handgun most of the time, composed of other-wordly material. Cubes that let it shift into different configurations and manifest different projectiles, reloads over time or if Jesse is especially trigger-happy, it goes on a cooldown before it can fire again. 

Fun bit of a trivia, a lot of agents hypothesize that this thing took the shape of legendary weapons of old back in the day. Talking Excalibur, Mjolnr, whatever the worthy wielder deemed it to be. Imagine that, huh? 

The Service Weapon can be swapped out for its firing configurations on the fly. It’s got:

Grip: Similar to a revolver, semi-automatic.  Shatter: Wide-spread, buckshot style shotgun configuration.  Spin: The barrel revolves, almost like a minigun. Harder to control accuracy wise but it’s fully automatic. Pierce: A slow-firing, charge-up style that fires a single shot that is capable of piercing through architecture and enemies. All about user accuracy here.  Charge: Closest thing that can describe this is up to three, rocket-propelled grenades.  Surge: This one’s trickier. Fires grenades that stick to surfaces or enemies, and can be detonated at Jesse’s discretion.

Ahti's Walkman: An old school portable cassette player with matching wired yellow headphones. The cassette has some Finnish songs on it and one track by the Old Gods of Asgard, called Take Control

starting ability: Launch.

starting item: Service Weapon. 

extra: 

Might just be the most comfortable a character ever could be once she gets dropped into Xara Cosmia. Walked down a door in the Oldest House, blacked out, woke up here. 

She’s like a jedi with a gun. Seriously, her powers are so cool. 

A true glass-cannon of a set of abilities and skills. 

Also I love her, hope you guys do too.

I tried something new with this application style with the voice and how it’s written, just imagine you had some guy in a suit with a clipboard in a very generic looking office telling you all this information. We’ll call him Agent Bill.

And I swear one day I’ll submit an application that isn’t this long, I should be arrested for my crimes.

discord id: primecandidate7

[drorder]

[okay, all of what I have written here was originally written as a Discord message, which I realized had become way too long to be coherent with discord formatting, so part of the way through, ai started writing it like the first draft of an essay. So that’s why the tone is odd at the beginning]

I think… idk. I feel like the NCCTs, as well as CPUK, are part of a kind of modern wave of web-fiction that draws a lot from EXTREMELY quick-witted improv characters, and lots of audience interaction. AND, crucially, use of video games to creat basically live theatre, but in a way that actual live theatre can’t possibly do.

The examples that come to mind are CPUK and NCCTs, as well as Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, and probably SaltyDKDan’s Friendlocke? (If anyone has more examples, I’d love to have em, just so i can kinda do more meta on this.)

I wouldn’t call it a medium, bc, of the examples I can think of, all the mediums have been different, but this variation seems crucial to the ‘genre’, because for all the examples I can think of, the storytelling can only be possible with that specific medium.

I think another thing that characterizes the genre is a dynamic between the showrunners and the audience. This kind of fiction always has a defined leader(s) , usually the person streaming, GMing, and/or improv-acting as a character outside themselves in the story, who pretty much has the final say on direction of the story.

It also has a wider audience of people who obvi don’t really know the showrunner(s), and so they have a bit of distance and respect there. The audience is not an audience in the way a movie/play audience or reader of a novel would be, since this audience, due to the story being hosted online, can interact and chat with each other, and influence how they see the story.

Idk. I’m just kind of musing here. I’m realizing, as I explore this idea, that in most of this vein of web-fiction I’ve seen, the viewer interaction is pretty minimal. Everyone can interact with each other and basically act as a Greek Chorus, which influences the fiction because, for instance, in a Twitch stream, the live chat and donation messages show up onscreen. However, there’s still a bit of a line dividing the audience from driving the plot the same way the showrunners are: I think the Greek Chorus comparison works very well here.

However, bring this back to NCCT, this line gets broken, a bit, when NCCT2 begins. We become participants and driving forces in the story in a way we wouldnt as a Twitch chat watching CPUK. Interestlingly, tho, there is still a line drawn between us and the fiction, in the form of the Nelson plot-device. We can discuss and Greek-Chorus the story outside Nelson because of the mechanic of the quotation marks, and when we do participate and drive the plot, we aren’t interacting as separate entities with different motives— we are all just a combined, somewhat chaotic voice, which usually has more impact on the story when we are all unified in our aimss.

[At this point, I decided to cut and paste what I’d written into this post. I might come back and redraft this into something more coherent, because I def want to:

- explore more how NCCT varies from this genre I’ve characterized, and therefore make the way I’ve defined the genre more decriptive of CPUK and HLVRAI and Friendlocke, where the audience is more of a greek chorus than participants in the story. I feel like I tried to stretch my original description of the genre too much to fit the NCCTs, and i think i could fix that.

- Explore what kind of people make up the audience, which is def different from the average audience for movies or books, bc this type of fiction is hosted online, in pretty?~ niche circles, with a lot of queer young people, and i think, also neurodivergent people, in the audience. So there’s some exploration and connections to be done there. ]

[eyeballtank]

A few dumb "rants"

Like a follow up to other posts and a long text file, if you care about this part of me, when i got actual content in the making.

Feel free to ignore.

1

If there ever is a "voice of reason", it's more likely to be the right group of people, each with their own different information, having a discussion and sharing different information until they reach a conclusion.

Not a "lone guy" standing on a stage and talking to a wide audience of people or "next George Carlin".

Because "information" and "intelligence" can be vague concepts and people almost make up interpretations of it, which is worse than regular "sheeple" type shit.

Life has no true protagonist and people will stumble into this realization by looking at e-celebs that are seen as such.

Always some Youtuber or social media "influencer" that says some okay things and then says stupid shit or gets something wrong or even says the wrong thing to accidently betray the audience.

And when someone says "see i can do this better", they still fall for the trap.

Hence why i think it's more rewarding to be a true creator of something. "Great minds think alike" has a dark meaning and is why most people already think "stupid sheeple" shit.

This shit is already covered in that post, if you manage to find me talking about intelligence and even mention George Carlin at times.

2

Something i had in mind is 2 kinds of artists: Performer and Creator.

Performer could be like an actor, singer, model, maybe even a show host or sports player and so on.

Creator being the writer, painter/illustrator, composer, director, even game developer.

It may affect celebrity gossip shit, like how people obsess over actors and singers, but not usually movie directors.

Or even the internet, because modern e-celebs barely even count as "performers" (Unless their fake personalities means they're already acting).

3

I used to say 4chan affected some people in the sense that is why some e-celebs are even remotely interesting.

But this can also be spinned in another way: 4chan, despite its ape brained nature and contrarianism, can make people smarter than the traditional "4chan mind".

As in, some people end up picking the good parts of 4chan and not the bad, hence they go above that site in terms of thinking and attitude.

So people on 4chan tend to hate those kinds of people, like cavemen hating an evolutionary off-shoot that managed to learn language.

It's as if certain websites having their own subcultures means different sites can serve as "ingredients" to define someone's personality online.

In general, humans socialize because different interactions/info can build who you are.

Like most of the coolest people i've met got the good parts of some sites and i even feel like i had a similar effect.

But this wouldn't happen anymore/today because modern internet is a heavy monoculture where too many people use fewer websites: Most websites feel like they share a similar culture.

Zoomers might be the one generation that doesn't even know what a "personality" is.

4

There's always weird debates on the internet where "two sides" are supposedly opposite but never really "clash", as if it's from the same groups.

Like AI art either has people going smug about AI art's limits or people fearing losing its job: But you rarely see the first group talk to the second group about how they can still do things that AI art can't.

Or even with "media literacy" and politics: Some people say "Tezuka was always woke" but never use that against YMS who said Tezuka was racist.

5

If you believe that every kind of energy has its limits and there's no renewable energy, i wonder if biological reproduction has a limit.

And i mean like "natural extinction" that could happen even to a dominant species.

Imagine a perfect world where the least number of people died: No murders, accidents, disasters, diseases etc just natural age deaths and Earth would magically shape itself to keep humanity alive and strong.

Then some people just stop being able to reproduce and you see later generations being weaker and decay, even if they had strong ascendents.

Because i remember hearing that modern fruits have less nutritions nowadays, compared to before unless it's not because of natural factors (Just did a quick search and it might be soil depletion related).

Because even if cells multiply, another way to see this is with evolution and how a species changed because of past stuff.

6

Even if i'm missing some stories/versions of the character, i think the concept of the Punisher works when he's a Vietnam vet because of real world US goverment technology/weaponry and how it evolved over time.

The idea being that Frank (Even if not alone) evolved alongside the US government/army/its agencies and he may've been smarter than most of them (Which is why there's also the plot of Bethell trying to get Frank into the CIA/FBI or whatever).

Like, with current technology and shit, he couldn't start today or even somewhere in 2009 due to surveillance and shit.

"But what about the cops that watch over people planning mass shooters and never stop them?" Almost like stopping wasn't part of the plan.

But if a guy today tried to plan becoming an anti-crime vigilante with guns and fight against crime on his own way, he probably wouldn't last that long.

[aimasup]

Yeah I'm not immune to the unhinged robot cosmic jester, I'm basic

More headcanons below, long post warning:

Their program is so they can't swear around guests so they get creative with the substitutes

Sun and Moon aren't good with kids, but their Daycare Attendant programming is. Also some of the designers actually care about the tots

Making a robot that cares for children big time was major trial and error. It was a complete hellshow the first few weeks, with tons of complaints and traumatised children.

Adjustments to behaviour and the higher ups being forced to allow programming edits made them just a bit less horrible with kids

For example, Sun always forgets things like boundaries and dietary requirements, but his programming tells him to dial it back and examine the situation. He'll still apologize like crazy, but won't descend into an uncomfortably anxious wreck around a five-year-old anymore. No no no, that's reserved for staff.

The virus kind of regressed them to their early stages, with a touch of genuine murderous intent for Moon, as he's security too.

I see the appeal in 'gentle angel Sun' but I raise you 'Sun and Moon are equally feral'. At best Sun's parenting attitude is like Simon Petrikov from Adventure Time.

(I just keep thinking about that scene where Simon tells Marceline to cover her ears so he can yell swears and kick the Clambulance for lack of chicken soup in all his Tom Kenny-voice-acted glory)

Moon isn't evil, but he is more dark and mischievous. His 'villainous shenanigans' are about as intimidating as Robbie Rotten. Just as much of a rule-follower as Sun. He knows his reputation as 'bad guy' to some and uses it to his advantage. Moon might be more grumpy and uptight and devious but at the end of the day he's just a goofy lil creechur

They play hot potato with the intelligence AI. One Daycare Attendant, one braincell, two programs.

When one is 'in control', the other one goes 'dormant' and just takes a backseat. The dormant one has the option to go into rest mode or be a literal internal voice. The dormant one can't see what's happening on the outside, only hear or feel, so the active one has to relay information through thoughts or speaking.

This was some so very clever idea the designers and engineers decided to implement so that the Daycare Attendant can be operational 24/7 and still have 'resting periods'. And yet they're still tired.

This way they can be literally internally screaming

I basically decided that in the game Sun was listening helplessly as virus-infected Moon hunted down this 12-year-old in the dark haha

Okay that part's over

If a child is in danger, all the robots in the Pizzaplex are down for murder, virus or no, programming be damned. The Daycare Attendant is no exception. No violence around the guests of course but once everyone's gone those hands are ready to be caught

Kids aside, they're superb at their job. Digital paperwork, rule-following, cleaning up, security, etc. In fact they've made some suggestions on changes that could improve the daycare and pizzaplex, but naturally they've been shut down. Threats work when your life and career is in another's hands.

I won't go into detail of how I see them interacting with everyone else so to be short:

They'll come around. Probably.