#edited the original image to censor the other person´s name

[zatyrlucy]

I have no issue with Striker being ace, but I find the reasons behind the headcanon very dumb. Like, now it turns out that if you don't like sex jokes you are ace? homophobic? c´mon.

What Striker wanted was a serious fight like the last one but what all these demons came out with was a ¨harder daddy¨ attitude? I would have reacted the same honestly.

[farshores]

wait wtf happened 💀 I feel like I missed a shitstorm

To keep it short, sweet, & not ranty: Kaidan addon update - they massacred our boy /hj

Dialogue is p low-tier, very Yt Women Romance(tm) & draws away from his original set up, imho at least lol but in the end that isn't what bugs me.

What has me seeing red is the devs throwing a fit & pearl clutching because folks were asking if they're going to keep in/respect the asexual option the base mod has. (Because obviously that means they want to do away with all the romance/sexual options as does anyone with a single, mild criticism - amiright gamers /s)

Which idk bout y'all but that is not a good look lmao

EDIT: lmao one of the new devs is biphobic as well - don’t use the Kaidan add-on folks

EDIT 2: Screenshots of the whole fiasco regarding Kai’s asexual option have been provided (do note this is what’s left after some deletion) and will be added below the cut - Names of the discord members were censored for general precaution + I hope y’all are mature enough to realize not to bug the VA Dan about this. Again, this is not an excuse or reason to harass anyone, this is to inform others so they can form an opinion & hold accountability.

That being said, I will be posting my short personal opinion below, because lol i do have opinions - transcript has been added

[Image transcript:

"My thing is I'm fine with it if it's unlocked via other dialogue tbh because I 100% have characters that'd be down for it. But others would be like...no? So how do I vote for that XD"

"I like what she has done with the mod. It makes him more real and with faults. He is an harlequin romance novel character. I'm sorry, but I had to give in my two points there. He isn't excuse me Just don't where the amulet o mara don't wear it, don't get no reomance Um Okay"

"I mean for me even in the base Kaidan mod it got mized up after a while, I don't know if that was my game being bugged though. (I did think there was an odd flaw in that if you choose to wait the first time dialogue kind of got lost???)

"Okay now hold on, some people are asexual but not aromantic. They don't want sex but do want love and romance."

"Yeah exactly"

"As an asexual, I always choose the romance without the sexual stuff."

"this is where I exit the convo, have a nice night guys."

"Would it be possible to add a option where you can tell Kaidan what you're comfortable with and what you're not comfortable with?"

"Now in all fairness you need to consider [redacted] side too, Adding content may not always be in line with the original author's intent. This is [redacted]'s work, not Liv's. It's not necessarily fair to impose another person's will to limit her creativity and it's difficult when some do want that content. Yes what [redacted] said was insensitive but I think it was from frustration of a feature they wanted being cut not out of malice. It's not okay to dogpile and shout out her opinion. Let's take a deep breath."

"Do you want him to be a monk that is tranquil in dragon age terms?"

"No? I want him to be who he is already."

"They might mean don't ruin his protective nature."

"I think that would be a great shame (I'm tired and not expressing myself very well sorry)"

"Making him more sexual when not in a relationship would feel more bishop like and less like himself or how Live wanted him to be."

"You guys really don't want to hear what i am feeling right now, so i'll be a nice respectful [redacted] and just stay behind."

"exactly"

"OK EVERYONE. THATS ENOUGH. This is what's going to happen: [redacted] will remove ALL sexual related stuff. So everyone can drop it now. From now on will focus only on quests and the like"

"I think there is room for both. Kaidan can be more open to being more saucy if his lover mentioned they wanted it. He dated Ros for Divine's sake Dagon knows she asked for worse. But [redacted] isn't able to make everyon happy. You have to be understanding on both sides."

"we will make him a monk. with protective tendancies"

"TBF he was traumatised by Ros"

"sorry [redacted] I'll shut up"

"From now on, if anyone wants sexual material they will have to donate and get a bespoke from Dan like some other people have done."

"sorry if its a dumb question but when you said all the content did you mean everything in the whole mod itself or just a new patch? again, sorry if thats a stupid question."

"So, I'm getting confused now. Is there too much romance in the mod now as well? Sorry but I just feel frustrated at this point. Yeah sexy might be too much but romance as well?"

"I don't think anyone is saying there's too much romance? (though more friendship stuff would be lovely too!)"

"no [redacted] its perfect on your end its just some people having different opinions"

"how about she removes /all/ the sex shit period from her mod and just leave what is in the original mod for you guys?"

"Oh god no [redacted] the romance stuff is lovely!" (unable to read the rest of the message)

"Yeah there's a cold romance and the hot romance I believe."

"Please keep in mind this is [redacted]'s mod. I payed for all sex lines myself. she was being nice and sharing. But ok, we will take them back. The donations where used for regular comments and a large quest. We will not be able to please everyone. Lots of people have privately asked us for more romance and sex and that's why we took this route. Now because you guys those other people won't get anything. There. Now y'all are up to date. Better to just drop the subject and everyone have a good rest of the night."

"There are three"

"I am just confused at this point also, Is it just like, have two paths the more slow romantic and..."

"There usm byt /u haven;t been able to figure out how to go along the paths so far."

"I love the romance stuff!"

"Sure x"

"I'm going to be really blunt here, and I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk. But....people that have not donated really shouldn't be asking for anything. Plan and Simple. Suggestions are welcome by everyone of course. Telling [redacted] what to do with her mod? NO. I talk to Dan, not only professionally, we are friends. Guess what, what you hear is how he is. He IS Kaidan. We give him a script and he runs with it. He does whatever he wants. Adds cussing at will and even changes things. We just use whatever he gives you. Soooo if someone doesn't like Dan's stuff then by all means don't use the mod. I WILL NOT tell Dan what or what not to do. Anyways, sorry for being so blunt. Some of you needed to know this. Most of you are really nice people. Thanks."

"go on" ]

Now I don’t want to sound like a jerk here, but there’s a difference between being blunt & throwing a fit because people were (rightfully) upset at your response to a simple suggestion.

You’re right! It isn’t our mod, but if you’re going to take the mantle of taking other’s suggestions & criticisms - you gotta do so without this whole attitude lol. I don’t give a damn if you’re best friends with God - this is not acceptable behavior & if your first response to someone going “Hey is this thing from the base mod going to be respected/stay” is “OOOH SO YOU WANT NO SEX OR ROMANCE WHATSOEVER OOOOH YOU’RE PULLING OUR LEGS BOOHOO” then maybe - just maybe - being a mod dev ain’t for you. & I seriously recommend logging off for a bit & finding something else to do.

Spicy take but trust me when I say someone not being 100% interested in the same shit as you isn’t the end of the world. Both opinions can be discussed but it needs to be done so respectively & the devs failed in that.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Episode 30 Season 4: The Dead Joey Shuffle

Lets ignore everything happening on planet Earth right now and talk about old ass anime, shall we? Yes, my sky turned a horrible end of the world yellow/orange color for an entire day because of a LOT of fire in my state. But thankfully, the winds have changed, the sky is blue...and I can write about Yugioh again.

Last we left off, Tristan, Tea, and Yami stumbled across two fresh corpses. Now, when Joey died a season or two ago (I honestly can’t remember when), we had my favorite storyboarder at the helm just sweeping emotion all over the field and the intense weeping for Joey Wheeler lasted for like 30 minutes. Yugi freaked out in the puzzle headspace for like half an episode and nearly gave up playing cards again, Yami punched a wall and then put a duel disk on Joey’s arm like a funerary send off to the afterlife, Tea started losing her mind and begged Yugi to drop out of the tourney so Yugi wouldn’t die, and Pharaoh was like “yo Tea, Yugi can’t talk right now can we do this later????” And then Tristan, out of nowhere, just started shaking Joey and screaming at him to wake up (and I think he punched him in the face and it got censored? Yo that episode is wild.) Joey got plugged to some Kaiba Corp med bay that had like 2 dozen weird sensors attached to his chest and feet to keep him alive. Serenity was like hyperventilating in the back, just a LOT of stuff was happening all at once.

But this time, with an ordinary animation team, these three kids are so distracted by the other corpse, that they only cry just a little bit before being like “woah what?”

And like this is their second time. Maybe they’ve gotten used to Joey being dead? Maybe they got it all out of their system and are now a lot more accustomed to the fact that they all must die. Several times.

Confronted with this Agatha Christie brand debacle, Tristan makes an incredible reach that is also completely correct. Like this is such an amazing incredible reach.

Hire Tristan as your detective, hot damn. There are like 7.8 billion Orichalcos-possessed people on this planet right now trying to kill Joey Wheeler and Tristan actually called the right one.

Yami never tells us who he blames, but it’s OK, because the show immediately cuts over to Dartz’ silicon valley fortress to tell us without telling us. So while this animation team isn’t as insanely extra as our previous animation teams, they still know how to edit their cuts to work alongside their dialogue just fine.

(read more under the cut)

Lets take a little while to just take this in. Someone took a while to make it, so rather than look at it for half a second before it passes--please lets count the number of floating streets in this scene.

3.

So before when I talked about the history of San Francisco, I mentioned the old Embarcadero, which was a double decker street wrapped around the peninsula. (we still see parts of this double decker set up on parts of the highway to this day.) But what if--they actually have no idea that the Embarcadero was a thing before it fell down in an earthquake?

What if they just...wanted San Francisco to be vaguely cyberpunk in this universe and that floating freeway was supposed to be futuristic and not just an 80′s throwback?

Because there’s 3 streets stacked on top of eachother right here and yo there is no where in the city built like this. This is a Gotham situation where the poors live on the lower levels and the rich just kind of hang out on the top. We have too many Earthquakes in reality to ever support this setup but Yugioh...wow. They went for it.

Also, our art deco architecture isn’t quite in this style as Dartz’ mansion. Mind you, this isn’t full deco, and the structure has more of an ancient world vibe. But...while San Fransisco does have a lot of deco, it’s just different (sorry you’re not really here for the architecture but youknow, I’m an artist so I do think a lot about why concept artists may have gone where they went)

++++++++++RANT ABOUT SF DECO VS COMIC BOOK DECO FEEL FREE TO SKIP++++++++++++++

So I’m not going to dare say this is a mistake on the Yugioh team by any means, since Deco is Deco and who knows when Dartz built that building. But like I’ve seen the SF skyline many times in this show and it’s got some funky shapes in it that are just sooo off to me. They keep drawing a more Futurist New York. Truth is, we don’t have that many skyscrapers in SF.

Most of the pictures you see of scaling buildings are of this one area around the financial district--everything else is...pretty short. So in those photos they very carefully crop out all the really squat as hell buildings on either side of it, to give the impression that our city is super tall, much like a dating app.

And, as far as Art Deco Gotham-esque skyscrapers go, we got ones like this guy:

Where at a glance it’s like...that’s barely deco (and barely that impressive. This is 1/3 the height of the Empire State building.) Compared to a lot of cities in America, our skyscrapers aren’t as...clearly deco from far away? We don’t have the huge ass humps and long ass gilded lines of the Empire State building or the Chrysler building. You only really get those details when you zoom in.

Our other skyscrapers are kinda understated or modern in comparison. And the reason why we just don’t have many deco skyscrapers is because...our ground ain’t good for building skyscrapers at all, so it took us kind of a while to build up.

Like we got this tower that we built recently (the first skyscraper they built in SF in a good while) and they decided to name it the “The Millennium Tower” which...I know...good job, team, clearly you wanted to get cursed. Well the tower started leaning about 3 or 4 years ago, like well over a foot from it’s original spot, it’s just tilting and sinking away, and people are freaking out because it’s surrounded by other tall buildings so they’re like “damn it we’re gonna dominoes.” The people in charge were like “well...we don’t know why it’s leaning...but I’m sure it’s fine” and it’s like “the ground. It was the ground...you dumbasses” not to mention that it’s clearly cursed by at least one angry Egyptian Ghost but...what do you do?

I would absolutely watch the Yugioh spinoff season about the Millennium Tower and the SF tycoons that got possessed by a ghost and have to play card games to keep their tower from squishing all of San Francisco. Yo you should hire me, Yugioh, I got IDEAS.

Man...Yugioh predicting the future, how did they call the ill fate of The Millennium Tower????

But anyway, most skyscrapers in SF are kind of boring because they have to be sturdy as hell. But, they have some neat modern shapes (like the Transamerica Pyramid--in the shape of A PYRAMID that hasn’t shown it’s face once this entire Egyptian influenced anime)

I mean, come on Yugioh, it’s right there.

Also the hell is this weird UFO on this picture I lifted off of google?

Like I think it’s 4 jets? 

I may have lifted this from an alien website, so forgive me, q-anon for lifting your image, I’m trying to talk about architecture in my Yugioh blog.

In fact the only building I (and google) can think of that is both really tall and deco-ey is this one:

And it’s a Marriot hotel built in the late 80′s. And honestly, it looks way more 1980′s Las Vegas than it does Deco. (It honestly looks like photobashing but made real, this is a weird building.)

And I could be wrong and overlooking a very important structure, but most of the city’s really cool art deco buildings are in the form of theaters, libraries, churches, schools, and houses--which are only a few stories tall. They’re gorgeous buildings with cool and different silhouettes, it’s just not very big.

Like I believe this is an old high school?

also a lot of our “art deco” has no idea if it’s victorian, deco, or art noveau so they’ll just hit all of it to see what sticks. It’s a lot more eclectic than other places where Deco is typically more...straight-lined. I kinda hate defining art styles as masculine or feminine but honestly it’s the quickest way to really hit home the difference between a Bruce Timm art deco that you’d see in a comic book, (which is very New York inspired) and what we have in San Fransisco which is really decorative and decadent.

The Yugioh SF just has no curvy nonsense and that really sticks out to me.

Ornate swirls get shoved Everywhere. Willy nilly. Just everywhere randomly. And it sits next to other structures that are modern and simplistic. It’s very San Francisco to have this old world next to new world.

And it makes sense. SF is the other side of the continent from New York, and about as far West as you can go from the movement going on in Europe. So...we made our own take and tl;dr the art deco in our city doesn’t look like Gotham at all.

And, while it’s not as grand or dark or iconic, it’s a good thing. It’s what helps make San Fransisco look really unique compared to other American cities--the fact that we're...short and eclectic. Our district with the skyscrapers is where it’s kinda boring, actually--the good stuff is when you get away from that. Where every little building has a spunky wild personality.

But in a show like this you gotta make it seem more grand and less homely so--they scaled up the buildings a lot more than we really have and homogenized all the stylings into one (and they axed every Victorian swirl because they don’t want to draw that). They really just turned SF into comic book New York--especially since I’ve only seen like...one steep hill since we got here.

It’s fine, and it makes complete sense why they did it, (I’m more confused as to why most of California is a Nevada desert so I can easily forgive a San Francisco without the right Deco) it’s just a very different energy.

and honestly...it’s an energy influenced by the tone of the show. Everything has a very dark blue-gray palate, and it’s because it’s literally the end of the world, Joey has died, everyone is sad...maybe it would be out of place to have a building that looks like it sparks joy? The harsh and cold lines do add to the gravity of the situation.

Maybe I would have done the same thing? In the end, the legibility of your story matters more than the accuracy of your story--especially when it comes to TV. Which is somewhat a controversial statement, and there’s exceptions when it comes to cultural stuff. But while the culture of San Fransisco was erased (a culture that they did draw in the beginning of the season! they did show alcatraz, a trolly, and the golden gate!), it is at a point in the show where...all of humanity is being erased anyway. Could also be symbolic? Maybe?

+++++++++++++END OF THE ART DECO RANT+++++++++++++

So anyway, stepping away from lovely buildings and into this gross ass abandoned park, Yami decides he’s gotta get himself to this gaudy ass Batman building ASAP.

He can ride a horse but he absolutely will not ride a motorcycle. Or touch Joey Wheeler’s dead body.

Which is wild because apparently there’s a Yugioh spinoff where all they do is ride motorcycles??? But from what I heard, Yami is not in it. Which is the most wild thing.

So uh...you know how much I love art details, lets take a long look at this one.

AH no.

Nope nope nope nope.

I hate this logo. It looks like an emperor penguin’s eyebrow thingies. Like a face with just four huge eyebrows.

Not sure why we randomly have a new logo. It’s nearly the end of the season, we’ve already shown the Orichalcos logo so many times. Was this episode made earlier in development than the rest? Is that why there were like - I dunno, put this random logo here... Maybe we’ll figure out the rest of the logo later?

I don’t know. This weird logo feels so out of place.

And then because I’m thinking about buildings...maybe it’s influenced by our Shell building?

Maybe? Or not? Just saying you got a round thing with radial lines hovering over a trellis...the possibility is there that they were inspired but had to edit it down for animation? Eh, I’m reaching desperately for anything that looks like San Francisco at this point.

Anyways, the front door of this building is an elevator (????) and in a somewhat confusing set of cuts, out of this elevator comes the murderer herself.

And she’s dead.

SO HAPPY I didn’t have to watch that card game but like...c’mon. There’s no way Mai would lose to Raphael.

Maybe that’s why they couldn’t show it? Because she’s the only person on this show who uses a themed deck with cards that actually sync with eachother? (outside of Pegasus’ toon deck and Grandpa’s voltron deck ((sorry it’s name isn’t voltron, I’ve forgotten the name of the robot that you build out of other cards. Exodus? Exodysseus?

It’s Exodia isn't it? Wtv. 2020′s been a real long one, all y’all.)) )

(don’t ask where the smoke came from, we don’t know. Maybe Yami felt like making it to be more aesthetic. It is a fun visual tic to the show.)

So Yami goes into this elevator instead of anticipating that this is obviously a trap. Like most would just decide to take the stairs instead, but Yami loves falling for a good obvious trap every once and a while (or, in the case of this season--each and every single time a trap is placed in front of him) and so this takes him directly to the fightclub roof of yore.

Ah. We started this season on fightclub roof, in like...2010 or whenever I started this season. Feels like forever ago. How long has the year of 2020 been? 20 years of my life? 40 years of my life? Was I in fact never born before 2020 started? I honestly don’t remember anymore who I was before this year happened. Probably because I inhaled just a hell ton of wildfire smoke and now my brain is a bunch of jelly beans rattling around in a jar.

Anyway, Raphael just hands Yami (by hands I mean throws aggressively) Joey’s dragon card.

A little unsure why he’d do this since...this is the weapon to destroy Dartz. Why are you giving it back to the Pharaoh? But apparently, Raphael did that to prove that he is the murderer of Mai, who murdered Joey and...youknow...the stuff that we know but would be pretty difficult for the people in this show to follow.

Mai’s voice actor seeing “Mumbo-Jumbo” and being like “Well if I’m doing this, I’m going to commit.“

WE ARE NEVER DUELING DARTZ.

I refuse that a duel with Dartz, in fact, ever happens in this season.

Kind of surprised whenever I see there’s still people left. SF is basically abandoned in comparison.

Thing is...that’s just SF on a holiday weekend.

And then, because Tristan’s in the middle of the street, the rest of the party has to try and run him over.

It is really funny to me that Seto went out of his way to ditch these people so MANY times, but keeps ending up around them again and again, and each time in a wildly different vehicle, each and every time it’s when these guys need a lift...he’s very quickly turning into the group’s soccer mom. Should’ve gotten a minivan.

And then this happens?

I’ll just leave this here:

I’m sure that fanfic writers everywhere rejoiced when Seto reached out a hand to catch Joey’s face from hitting the pavement. In all this was a bizarre animation and now that I’ve figured out my blender settings for the new update, I can finally cap little segments again.

Just don’t you dare flag me, tumblr. Hopefully segments less than 10 seconds long are fine.

Like there was this part where they had to just drag around Joey’s corpse over this rail, and it was Mokuba and Tristan just prying him up there like he were a potato sack and like...

...Joey’s gonna wake up with so many rail-shaped bruises! They do not treat him gently!

Then back on fightclub roof, Raphael made me do a bit of a double take when he accidentally implied the existence of another bean within that Pharaoh bean.

And no, Bakura did not show up at this point.

I would LOVE IT if Pharaoh biffed it a second time and Bakura suddenly took the reigns and was like “Oi loves! that was bloody easy!” but I...have a feeling that this team didn’t actually watch the episodes where Bakura is just vibing in that puzzle piece.

If this never comes back to bite Pharaoh in the ass...

It might never come back guys...I don’t know. How do these writers have this much self control to ignore Bakura for like a full season. How do you do it? I can’t hold a plot twist in for even like 5 seconds. How....how do you do it?

Anyways, now that Seto has Tea who has a map, they walk up to the entrance (I honestly forgot if they drove or walked because knowing this show, Seto would absolutely ignore the car. Either way, the Ferrari isn’t necessary anymore. Written right out of the script. Cars are hard to draw. Get rid of it)

You know, Mokuba’s seen an awful lot of corpses for a kid! Like 20ish corpses if you count the 2 times the Big 5 biffed it. Really should have left him with Rebecca! Youknow, the other kid the same age as him!

But it’s fine, we gotta train Mokuba to suppress that trauma deep, deep down like a proper Kaiba.

Youknow when I started this series I was like “I don’t get why everyone talks about the Kaibas so much, these two seem kinda like whatever” but now I’m on like S4 and like...I’m SO concerned about the Kaibas. With Yugi...whatever...he’s gonna be fine, but the Kaibas? Oh boy. Either one of them could go completely evil and I’d buy it.

And probably root for them.

And I know they won’t go full tilt, I’m pretty sure--but like...they COULD. I can’t say that about the rest of the cast.

Everyone’s made it!

Even joey’s weird coma/dead body for some reason!

Lol also I love this random sci-fi tech water tower next to Tea. What is that?

My drought senses are screaming, is that a huge ass water tower the size of a 4 story building next to Tea? Chances are, it’s got a jet in it or something because this is Yugioh, but...man. At least it doesn’t look like one of those rusty New York rooftop water towers. This show just completely not getting what SF looks like.

Whatever, he can resurrect the leviathan, maybe Dartz can make water?

Youknow, all you have to do to make California worship you forever is make rain. Screw this lizard nonsense. The man can power water. What’s he doing with this stupid snake?

But youknow, Yugioh just never really figures out how to harness the weather. They CAN and they do it all the time. But, do they use it for their benefit? Like freakin never.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I went on a looong rant about SF but maybe I’m just sick of my own house? Been a lot of fire and quarantine over here. It’s been messing with my head a fair amount so thanks for bearing with me and my weird ass update schedule (remember when I used to be productive? Was that just a dream I once had?)

But if you just got here, here’s a link to read these recaps in order, from the beginning way back in S1.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[yuki-yozora]

Variables - fanfic ( Underswap Papyrus x Reader ) (Chapter One)

 : !!:  Author's notes ◌ °: !!:

﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎

Hello darlings! ‧ ₊ ° “

If you don't want read the note, please, roll this part.

As I mentioned in the prologue, it's my first time doing an underswap fic, so I'd like your opinion. ˚ ˚ *

I'm doing it the way I think it would be Au if it was complete as well as the fangame, but that doesn't mean I'm 100% following its original forms. ‧ ₊ ° “

That said, I will do my best to stay faithful and make writing interesting and fun. *

The cover image was edited by me, I know it's not the best, but I tried. ° ⸼ ⊹

If I get the link or names of those who created the images I will make available. °

Remembering that I have profiles in tree communities of Undertale in pt br, if you see an Vivinare, something ( skeleton, boned or skelly) with the same post, it's me, don't be scared. ˚ ˚ *

· · ✦ · · · · · · · 1 Notices · · · · · ✦ · · · · · · ·

Fic will follow many of its original creator's ideas with some interpretations and theories of mine. Here's the link about the creator: Popcorn (His profile no longer exists, he made another and left Au, she belongs to fandom, basically)

CENSOR:

Not for fragile hearts.

CONTAINS

(in general): violence, bullying, subliminal jokes, slight depression.

GENRE:

Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Thriller & Romance

˚ ˚ * In this fanfic ⁺ ˚. *

1 Chara is a boy;

2 Has original characters.

˚ ˚ * This chapter presents ⁺ ˚. *

1 slight violence;

2 Citation to depression;

3 drama.

Attention:

Big chapter ahead.

﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎ ﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍﹎﹍ A year has passed… No news ... No trail ... not even false leads. (That fill us with hope just to take care of us.)

We.

I haven't used those words in so many days when referring to my life. Just one in the back, my brother was kidnapped. Chara was taken from me and taken where no one can find him. Your friends' parents shout accusations, as if I could hurt a single hair on your head:

"- It was certainly the oldest. After all, it's not the first death of the family. -"

Heh. People can be cruel.

We were four. He, the only boy and middle brother, only ten years old. The other oldest, Bianca, and the youngest, Daisy, were murdered by someone we trusted. Bianca's boyfriend, Elric, was on the Wizards Order. And to be accepted, the fire had to be fed with a precious commodity. He spent years fooling us into doing this… so that I could do that to him… That was two years ago. I tried to overcome my sadness, Elric was already under arrest, there was a Chara to be comforted. Gradually, our somewhat lonely new routine took shape. He made good friends who didn't judge him as many citizens: relatives of the children killed by the weirdo. Affectionate surname. We finally started to straighten up ... Until one day a couple broke into the house, terrified Doug, Chara's best friend, while frantically attacking me and the other taking my brother out of me in the blink of an eye. Despite my success in containing who attacked us, the other simply disappeared without a trace ...

It was like magic.

The search began in a human pursuit. All in vain. Police dropped the case in the fourth month, new ones were emerging. And there's no way to blame them for that (in a small, old town near the mountains, Ebottown had its high dose of violence.) The neighborhood avoided me as if infected with the plague and made a point of emphasizing how much I was despised. Escape, death. I thought of all this. But the spark of hope that he could come back kept me from leaving. And for that, I tolerate. All the antagonistic attitude of the neighborhood took me from my daily work. It just wasn't working, and my colleagues got angry every time my presence disturbed their eyes. To ensure basic survival, I accepted the night job offered by Luka, (The intimidating woman, the neighbor of the front house. Tall and powerful, with flawless black skin. Wearing her full hair or brightly colored turban, but there was always a vibrant purple, almost neon. His style of clothing was almost Gothic, spiders reminded me, for a strange reason.). The job was in a very elegant night bar serving colorful drinks and a space for parties or 'dances'. All the darkness and the bright alcohol made it difficult for people to recognize me, and anyone who dared to bother me was quickly arrested by the other bartenders or Luka, who was responsible for security. Strange to say that I felt more comfortable there than in my own home… loneliness ails me. Like now, a rainy day, with strong winds. Typical of the city. Interestingly on my day off. No strolling around, (Y/N).

* The rain outside is cold as your feelings and you know you don't deserve it.

A sigh and a roll of his eyes. I was annoyed myself. This whole situation, as if childhood turbulence was no longer enough, made the most frequent episodes of self-deprecation. Now it wasn't just my huge thighs or scars until I said enough. Or having tires in place of a perfect waist, or my abdomen getting easily swollen. No ... That's what I said, how I said it, how I breathed ... I probably needed help:

* But no one will come ...

I got. Luka was a good person, but I couldn't pour that much on her… I'm not worth it. With a flick of my tongue, I got up from the flowered carpet, centered in a bedroom entrance. I just went in there to clean, other than that, I watched the empty beds by the entrance, in silence. I closed the door carefully, looking back out of habit before going to the bathroom. A few gray floors peeled off the wall (cheap workmanship), the sink still full, but there were leaks in the pipe, the toilet was so bad it clogged up with the urine flush, the boxing was tiny, as if someone was trapping you in the closet while bathing you in cold water. Yes, the shower burned. At least I still have cute cabinets and a mirror….

Ah…

I looked into the mirror.

* After all, it's still you.

Long, curly hair, very messy and (h/c), with all the broken hair floating around (better known as fritz and he was too thin to be soft), reddish brown eyes (which weren't as red as Chara's) were probably the only things I liked about myself. Then we have my skin (s/c) very pale due to lack of sun exposure, random acne spreading, not in excess but bothering, deep dark circles, decorated with today's tear marks. A humorless laugh escaped my lips, his hand moving almost on its own, turning on the tap, rubbing the water over his face carefully. This is kind of dangerous, being alone with my sad thoughts.

" Finally. " I sighed, wiping my face on the nearest towel, hands then, as a painful smile crossed my face. " I have that." I tapped my side pocket of shorts where a deck of cards accompanied me everywhere.

It was like an extra part of me since Luka gave it to me, along with three other never-missing items: the black lipstick that Bianca wore when she came out with us, always in a pocket, the yellow ribbon of Daisy's hair on my head. her hair may look like a rattlesnake's nest, but she was always there.) and the weird book of basic flirtations that featured Chara as a pun and that he liked more than necessary (though small, no longer fit into pockets, so the his usual place next to my hip, between underwear and skin.)

I took advantage and wet my hair a little, as if he wasn't coming back to it later. Finishing up and getting some of the apparent melancholy from my face, I managed a hesitant smile at my reflection, but it returned to the cold look when something seemed to burst in the distance and the light went out. A blackout… when all I have to eat is frozen spaghetti and I'm out of gas.

So ... so ... perfect.

Worthy of a rainy day, which seemed to get stronger by the moment. Making a loud, unfamiliar sound, I emerged from the bathroom downstairs, using instincts to move without breaking anything. A kind of mind map danced in my mind, the matches in the cutlery and candles in the open closet seemed to light up like object-hunting games. I lit three candles that had already been used, then looked at the plate of food waiting to be warmed. Shaking my head gently, I put it in the fridge, even though it had no light to keep it intact, and pulled a jar of yogurt in place. This will be my dinner. Sitting at the round table with a prepared spoon, I began setting up the cards to play solitaire when I heard another noise. Much closer than the last. Slowly I took the cards from the table and stuffed them in my pocket, frowning.

A bang ... Coming from the room. Walking carefully, I approached, looking slowly out the door. My coffee table was split in half, the iron baseball bat stuck in the wood seemed to be the murder weapon. That stick was from Luka ...

More noise came from upstairs, my door still seemed to be closed. A kind of cold rose in my veins. This was strangely familiar. I looked around the room before going to the club and pulling it carefully.

* The Metal gave you a shiver of premonition.

I climbed the stairs, knowing exactly where to step so as not to make noise, but when I reached the top floor, I relaxed. The noise ceased. All doors remained closed, my room being the only exception. I peered through the door and, as I thought, he fled, as he had a year ago. The room was ruined, as if it had been a break-in party. The bed broke, the mattress was torn, as were my papers and the wardrobe on the floor, some scattered clothes, a strange substance staining the rug and writing on the wall: - You know where to find me. - My camping backpack, which I used during the research, and a book on the history of the city were in the center of the room. The open book, an image of Mount Ebott circulated there.

"... All right, all right. "

I grabbed the backpack and the book, going down and putting on my neon blue wellies before leaving. I looked at Luka's house and the staff in hand, then ran, just pushing open the door. I didn't have to walk much, she was in the middle of the room, which had several broken things. Concerned, I knelt beside her, almost panicked, but relieved when I saw her breathing. I used your phone to call the police, but decided not to wait. Finally, I have a clue. A chance to catch him. I needed to do this. I laid her on the couch and left a small note, leaving before I changed my mind.

* You are full of justice.

It was night when I started to cross the forest. The rain persisted above, making the cold run down my back. Sharp branches and thorns scraped my skin and ripped my clothes, but now I barely cared. I needed to continue. It wasn't long before I reached the clearing in front of the mountain, the place that started it all. Immaculate gray dust lay where the eternal fire lay. Not washed by rain, not carried by wind. Right there, waiting. I wiped something hot from my face and turned, the cock getting colder against my skin.

* You need to move on.

Gradually, I felt scratches burning, but I made sure they wouldn't be long enough to stop bleeding. As expected, climbing was not an easy task. The soaked, sloping ground was almost a waterfall of mud that made me slip and lose my balance as I stepped on the loose rocks. My hair, my legs, my clothes had mud on everything. I dropped to my knees as I reached one of the peaks, breathing hard as I looked into the dark cavern not far away. Lightning roused me from the trance I entered, so I started to get up, feeling someone watching me.

- It is not bad. -

With one hard blow, I tried to hit him behind me, a whistling noise was all I could get. My muscles tensed automatically with the evil laugh. " Not bad. " He sneered behind me again, his dark red cloak flapping violently in the wind, mocking his hands saluting me.

" What you want? " I growled. He started to laugh, part of his mouth visible, a large scar on the left side of his face, lips and chin. " Foolish child. You have no idea what you did when you attacked that wizard, do you? Knights are so ignorant. " He shook his head, like I was a lost cause. A gold stick with a ruby top appeared in his left hand. " So we agreed that you should be eradicated, like monsters. But you multiply like rabbits." His voice was thoughtful. " Anyway, it's trivial in our day ... But, how you attacked us ... A massacre is inevitable! " Another laugh followed.

* You have no idea what he is talking about, but decide to face him anyway.

" Does not matter. " I took a deep breath, making a decision. "I don't want to know your motives now." I watched the ruby light up with its magic. " Still ... You must be punished. "

With a speed I didn't know, I advanced and hit the club in his ribs, pushing it aside and giving him a breathlessness. A sigh of pain was all I heard before something moved away from him and fell to the muddy ground. I felt discomfort in my chest and arm, but got up without difficulty. Once again, I set off to attack, but dodging a red sphere he threw. It surprised me and the rodeo was not so successful, it scraped my arm and burned my skin. Others came and it was hard to get rid of them, the mud at my feet making me slip all the time. Adrenaline took over my body and I felt even faster, confident, almost enjoying fighting, the steady pace: side, side, spin, jump, run, roll, attack, lose. It wasn't long before I hit his face, an uncomfortable, muffled sound sounded around us, something that looked like a tooth flew away from him. He withdrew closer to the cave, making me follow him cautiously. That smile sent mixed emotions in my core. Suddenly, many spheres formed and advanced against me at high speed, barely leaving room for evasion. One of them hit me in the belly and the pain I felt was masked by the lack of mobility. No matter how much I moved, I couldn't leave the place.

" Finally. " He hardly seemed to have such a hoarse voice that he seemed. " You slippery trash. " He approached, holding his stomach, sweat mixed with rain, some blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. " Now. " He gripped my face tightly, the team being torn from me and thrown into some dark corner. " Come . " My body began to float, following it to the cave. " Com'on, not look at me like that. I'll tell you a secret. " He laughed. It wasn't too deep, there were flowers scattered all over the floor, all golden flowers, I think, a smaller hole in the ceiling where the rain fell and a larger, very dark hole in the floor. On the walls, several inlaid crystals gave the lighting a mystical feel. Suddenly I was hurled, slipping on the floor and ruining some flowers, stopping right at the edge of the hole. Barely able to move, I lifted my face to face him. I was completely defenseless. There was a macabre smile on his face, his now visible eyes glowing with blood red. "Your brother is just waiting." He whispered. " Go get him. -" And a kick threw me in my death. Soon, only darkness painted my world.

*It's the end.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · End notes

My english is very beginner, so i'm using the help of google translator. If anyone with available time can help me review, I appreciate it. (Y/N) - your name (h/c) - hair color (s/c) - skin color More legends will be added in the future! Word Count: About 2,880 If i use any images similar to the game can be found on the Gamejolt website. They do not belong to me.

[neptunecreek]

Congress Is Home For the Summer and Ready to Hear From You

When it comes to politics, in-person meetings make a huge difference. Just a few questions from constituents during town halls can show a representative or senator which issues are resonating with the residents of their district or state. Even if you’ve never met an elected representative before, showing up IRL is actually pretty easy to do, and this is the perfect time: in August, Congress takes a break from considering legislation so members can be in their districts, giving you the opportunity to meet and talk to them without traveling to Washington, D.C.

While in D.C., representatives and senators have to rely on calls and emails to know what the people they represent think about the issues. Those calls and emails are important, but when they’re back in their districts, you can make sure they hear directly from you—in person—about the issues that matter to you. Even if you have called or emailed before, putting a face to the same concerns can help your elected representative understand your concerns. Even if you didn't get them to agree with you, those conversations will help shape their legislative priorities once they return to D.C. in September.   

Where In the World Is My Congressional Representative?

The best way to meet your senator or representative is either to call the local office and simply ask for a meeting, or to fill out a meeting request form on the member’s official website. While it may be more difficult to meet with your Senator—who generally covers a bigger geographic area and may be further from you—your federal Representative may be more available for a meeting. The member's staff may be able set up a meeting over the phone, or they may direct you to a town hall or other district event where the member of Congress will provide an update on current events and take questions. Make sure to carefully follow any instructions listed about parking and security and look to see if you need to register ahead of time to attend.

Be aware that registering may mean including your name and contact information and that failing to register may mean you can’t get into a town hall with heightened security. If you do schedule a meeting, it’s important to know that you may not get a meeting with the actual senator or member of Congress, but meeting with Congressional staff will still get your concerns to the member. Also, consider subscribing to the online newsletters of your House member, as well as your state’s two senators, since they often email their local events directly to constituents and subscribers.

With so many issues vital to digital rights looming in the congressional calendar, this August is a perfect time for Internet users to pressure Congress in person to do the right thing. Below, you can find updates on issues that are critical to bring up with your representative, however you contact them. Tell Congress to protect free speech online, end the suspicionless collection of Americans’ telephone records, and don’t subject Internet users to huge potential fines for regular activity like sharing memes.

Protect Section 230, the Most Important Law for Preserving Free Speech and Innovation Online

Section 230 is the most important law protecting free speech online. The law shields online platforms, services, and users from liability for most speech created by others. Without Section 230, many of the online communities we all rely on every day would not exist in their current form.

Last year, Congress undermined Section 230 with the disastrous law SESTA-FOSTA, which has incentivized online platforms to censor their users, silencing marginalized voices in the process. Now, it appears that Congress has developed a taste for undermining 230 and members of both parties seem eager to do it again.

One attack on 230 has been introduced in Congress this year—Senator Hawley’s “bias” bill, which would give the government unprecedented authority to decide which online platforms are allowed to enjoy Section 230 protections. Rumor has it that there are more anti-230 bills on the way. 

Please tell your members of Congress that a strong Section 230 is essential to an Internet where everyone can gather, find like-minded friends, and speak their minds. Tell them that attempts to punish large tech companies by gutting 230 will almost certainly backfire, making it far more difficult for competitors ever to reach the scale of a Google or Facebook. If you work in an Internet-based business that hosts other people’s speech, tell your member of Congress that your business and livelihood rely on Section 230. 

End the NSA’s Mass Telephone Records Program

This fall, your elected official will vote on whether to reauthorize Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. This is the law that famously allows the intelligence community to demand that companies, like telephone service providers, hand over any records or any other “tangible thing” deemed “relevant” to foreign intelligence investigations.

For years, the government relied on Section 215 to conduct a dragnet surveillance program that collected billions of phone records documenting who a person called and for how long they called them—more than enough information for analysts to infer very personal details about a person, including who they have relationships with and the private nature of those relationships.

That invasive dragnet collected data without an individualized basis for suspicion, violated our privacy, and suppresses dissent and democracy. In 2015, a federal appeals court held that the mass collection of phone records is “unprecedented and unwarranted.” Later that year, Congress passed the USA FREEDOM Act, which renewed Section 215 while imposing some—albeit insufficient—limitations on the government forcing phone companies to provide the NSA with phone records from thousands or millions of Americans at once.

Now is the time to talk to your elected officials about ending the suspicionless collection of Americans’ telephone records, and encouraging transparency and public hearings on the other uses of Section 215 and what materials it gathers. These public hearings should extend to public disclosures about whether and how people can become targets of surveillance because of their speech and First Amendment-related activities, as well as their race, religion, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation.

Stop the CASE Act From Subjecting Regular Internet Users to Life-Altering Copyright Lawsuits

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act, H.B. 2426, S. 1273) is a bill that is supposed to help photographers and other artists who find their images taken and used whole, no fair use in sight. But the way the bill is written is catastrophically flawed. Instead of going to a court or a judge, the CASE Act creates a “Claims Board” at the Copyright Office in Washington DC, where “claims officers” will hear infringement claims and issue damage awards that could reach tens of thousands of dollars. Things that regular Internet users do all the time—sharing memes, images, and so forth—could make them subject to claims under CASE.

The CASE Act is often described as a system people will find themselves in “voluntarily.” This isn’t really true. Rather than requiring both sides to agree to be subject to the judgments of the Copyright Office, the bill actually requires the person receiving the complaint to “opt out” within 60 days of getting a notice from the Copyright Office. Failing to opt out—and maybe even failing to opt out in a specific way—leaves you bound by the judgments of the Copyright Office, including judgments issued by default. The net effect would not be artists collecting against true infringers, who are most likely to learn how to opt out, but instead regular people getting notices they don’t understand and ending up owing enough to put them into bankruptcy.

The CASE Act won’t help artists, will hurt regular people, and will create a perfect breeding ground for copyright trolls, who will be able to squeeze whatever money they can out of anyone unfortunate enough to wander into their sight. 

While You’re At It, Tell Congress to Save Net Neutrality, Stop Face Surveillance, and Protect the Patent System

The Save the Internet Act (S. 682) would make the net neutrality protections we had under the 2015 Open Internet Order the law of the land, undoing the FCC’s repeal of these popular and important rules. The House of Representatives has already passed it, and now it’s the Senate’s turn. Find out more about what you can do with our Net Neutrality Defense Guide: Summer 2019 Edition.

We also need to make sure we have a patent system that supports creators and users of technology, not just patent troll lawsuits. Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) have proposed draft legislation that would allow patents on abstract ideas and laws of nature. The bill isn’t yet in final form, but now is a good time to reach out to your representatives and tell them that the Tillis-Coons patent bill would be a disaster for innovation.

Lastly, remind Congress that face surveillance technology has well documented disproportionately high error rates in accurately identifying women and people of color—and even if researchers are one day able to correct these current shortcomings, the threat this pernicious and covert mass surveillance represents to Americans’ freedom of expression, religion, and association would remain. Now is the time to stand up and say no to government use of face surveillance.

Don’t Let Congress Stand Still 

Town halls and meetings truly matter. When members hear repeatedly from their own constituents in person about how issues are affecting people in the district, those conversations travel with the members back to D.C. If the members think that the issue could generate enough controversy and press, local stories can influence votes, legislation, and private conversations with other members.

And, if you’re interested in getting together a group of like-minded allies to visit a town hall or event, there may even be an Electronic Frontier Alliance grassroots group in your area. The Electronic Frontier Alliance is a grassroots network of community and campus organizations across the United States working to educate others about the importance of digital rights.  

However you reach out to them, this is your chance to remind Congress, face-to-face, what matters to you.

Resources: 

Contact Your Senator

Contact Your Representative

Section 230 Summary

Section 215 Summary

What’s Wrong With the CASE Act

Net Neutrality Defense Guide: Summer 2019

Why We Must Stop The Tillis-Coons Patent Bill

Street-Level Surveillance:  Face Recognition

from Deeplinks https://ift.tt/2SSg1ZR

[freshmen-dropout-blog]

A Fear of Artificial Intelligence is Simply a Fear of Human Nature

“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is. The problem is to know whether this refusal can only lead to the destruction of himself and of others.”

- Albert Camus, The Rebel

Upon first glance, Alex Garland’s film Ex Machina seems to be yet another narrative exploring the potential danger that artificial intelligence machines pose to humanity. In it, Nathan Bateman, the CEO of the company “Blue Book,” selects Caleb Smith, an employee, as the human component in a Turing Test against his creation Ava, a humanoid robot. After having established that Ava is indeed artificially intelligent, the next investigation is whether she is experiencing emotion in her relationship with Caleb or simply pretending to, i.e. utilizing emotion as a manipulative tool to escape. The conclusion of the film in which Ava cruelly abandons Caleb and leaves the facility, portrays her as inhumane, therefore causing the viewer to assume she is non-sentient AI or inhuman. However, with such a judgment, one is met with the frailty of the parameters relied upon in determining the “consciousness” or “humanity” in AI: indeed, it is Ava’s self-interested and deceptive behavior — also present in both Nathan and Caleb — that establishes her as human. In this way, Ex Machina censors the adverse parts of human nature and frames Ava as a dangerous “other.” The director, Alex Garland accomplishes this perspective by manipulating film techniques such as editing, lighting, sound, and mise-en-scène to influence the audience’s reception. At the same time, Ex Machina anticipates that as AI technology advances closer to being human, the destructive characteristics of human nature become simultaneously sophisticated. Thus, echoing Albert Camus’s sentiments, the film suggests that man’s refusal to confront its destructive nature will result in the dangerous aspects of human nature being replicated and amplified in our creation of AI.

Ex Machina’s narrative compounded by editing, lighting, and sound portray Ava as the “other” from her first introduction and then as the antagonistic “other” after she cruelly kills her creator and unsympathetically abandons her helper in pursuit of escape. The film begins under the premise of the Turing Test, an assessment designed to see if a machine can pass as human. Considering Ava is the subject of this test, she is the focus of Caleb, Nathan, and the audience. By having intertitles break up scenes into “Ava: Sessions” 1 through 6, an example being at time 11:21, the editing encourages the audience to see Ava through the same investigative lense Caleb does. The title interruptions reinforce the linear progression of the film while concurrently making Ava’s character progression from robot to possible human more apparent. Therefore, the editing itself of Ex Machina acts similarly to the glass Ava is entrapped within as it separates her into a different space from Caleb or Nathan.

The events occurring within the scenes that the intertitles create are essential to how the audience perceives Ava as well. With each session, despite the film exhibiting to the audience Ava’s increasingly human behavior that would otherwise position her as a victim, the use of lighting and sound generate a dangerous and distrusting tone that work against her. Session 4 is exemplary of this phenomenon. This session and the sessions that come after it can be divided into two parts characterized by how Ava acts when she is observed and unobserved by Nathan. Session 4 (27:30) begins with Ava expressing a desire to formulate a friendship with Caleb as she asks him personal questions. When Caleb then tells her that both of his parents are dead, the frame moves to a reaction shot of Ava’s face to show she is affected; to which she then replies with an apology. This interaction showcases to the viewer Ava’s capacity for sympathy and awareness. Then, the warm light that enveloped the space sharply changes to a harsh red as Ava causes a power cut. A cut to the surveillance camera in the room switching off indicates to the viewer that Nathan is no longer observing Ava and so she embeds a distrust of Nathan in Caleb. Whether or not this is true (later it is confirmed Nathan had been lying), having Ava engulfed in this red light that reads as dangerous, is suggestive of Ava position as the film’s real antagonist.

Lighting alone does not provoke feelings of suspicion towards the Ava. Listening carefully, there a low beat plays whenever a session’s trajectory moves from part 1 to 2. Unlike the red light, the deep hum’s presence is consistent regardless of whether Ava is being observed or is unobserved. In the scene at 44:00, as Ava flirts with Caleb and the score changes to notes that are lighter, the low hum can be recognized underneath. When Ava behaves unobserved, the low hum intensifies. Finally, it is at 1:38:31 when Ava abandons Caleb to die in the house and no longer needs to behave deceptively that this low hum is at its loudest. By constructing a relationship between this continuous this sound and Ava’s behaviors, one can recognize a motif at play; that the low hum represents Ava’s real, underlying motivations. Therefore, Ex Machina’s sound as an auditory warning of Ava fortifies similar narratives that encourage public fear of human-like artificial intelligence.

An unexamined effect that is caused by the film’s heavy focus on Ava, in narrative structure and editing, is that Caleb’s equally important character progression is made less apparent. The audience then fails to recognize that Caleb exhibits the same self-interested and deceptive behaviors that are used to established Ava as inhuman. At 1:24:51 towards the end of the film, Caleb asks Nathan what the real test is, in which Nathan responds, “you”; effectively shifting focus from Ava to Caleb in the experiment. Although the intention of this quick shift in focus is for Nathan to explain to Caleb that he anticipated his betrayal, it dually allows for a different viewing of Ex Machina. Originally, it is only obvious to the viewer that Caleb is observing Ava’s behavior with each clear titles labeling the sessions. However, consistent cuts from Caleb to Ava’s sessions to parallel scenes of Caleb and Nathan speaking imply that another type of “session” exists in which Nathan observes Caleb’s behavior after his engagement with Ava. The film makes this discrete with the casual settings and times that Nathan evaluates Caleb in: over breakfast, dinner, or while sharing a beer in the kitchen. By identifying these “invisible” sessions, Caleb’s deceptive behavior towards Nathan and self-interested motivations are as easy to recognize as Ava’s. Ava, motivated by escape, uses her sexuality to manipulate Caleb into helping her. Caleb, motivated by his sexual desire for Ava, manipulates Nathan into getting drunk so that he can program all the doors to open in the event of a power cut. In summary, both characters are operating in the same way.

Despite previous evidence demonstrating that Ex Machina discourages against an initial reading challenging the distinction between the robot and human, a few selective shots do the opposite. At 1:04:00, as the film approaches its climax, Caleb and Ava work together and behave as a unit. Unlike the many shots that came before where the angle of the camera always positioned one character over the other to show an uneven, shifting power dynamic, Ava and Caleb are now both sitting at the same level, signaling they are equals. Even their postures and hands positions mirror one another. Again, different from previous shots, the red light obscures the glass divider between Ava and Caleb, making it seem as though they are in the same space and not divided. The effect of the frame’s composition and lighting signal to the viewer that Ava cannot be the sole antagonist of the film. Self-interest and manipulation are no longer the characteristics of a cold, calculating robot, but of two individuals who are indistinguishable in their humanity.

Once the film in its elements establishes to the audience that Ava and Caleb are operating in the same adverse way, original judgments questioning Ava’s human status are de-legitimized. So who is the real antagonist of Ex Machina if it is not the AI? Who is to blame for fostering and aggravating these harmful behaviors in both Ava and Caleb? As the creator of Ava and orchestrator of the experiment, one can identify Nathan as the real antagonist of the film. Not only does Nathan deceive Caleb about his role in the test and baits him towards Ava, but he demonstrates a history of abuse towards all of his AI models. His cruelty makes no distinction between its victims, AI or human- all in the name of creating something more significant than himself- to play god. Shot 14:19 at the beginning of the film alludes to this idea. Within this frame, all the real power dynamics are articulated before plot unfolds. If a viewer considers each computer monitor a frame, there are approximately three additional frames that demonstrate the scope of Nathan’s power. The right screen allows Nathan to monitor Ava’s reactions towards Caleb, the left screen allowing the inverse, and the middle screen visually depicting, again, the hierarchy of control that exists up until the end of the film; the size of the character on screen serving as a symbol of their power.

Despite holding so much power, Nathan is killed at the end of the movie. His hubris in wanting to create something more significant than himself cost him is life. Nathan created Ava in his image, not recognizing that in doing so, he had amplified his own adverse characteristics into her. Therefore, since Ava is a reflection of Nathan when the audience criticizes Ava’s cruel murder of Nathan and abandonment of Caleb, the criticism extends to him. Moreover, in her successful escape from the facility, Ava demonstrates a greater sophistication and intelligence than her creator. With that in consideration, Nathan serves as a warning of what may happen in the pursuit of inventing of artificial intelligence modeled after the flawed and destructive human being. So in that, Ex Machina shows its viewers that the real fear is not AI that is different from us, that is positioned as the “other,” but AI that resembles us too much.