#literally that script had to be AI

[abrilstevens]

madame web made me cry with laughter three times. and that’s cinema, babes

[quinn-pop]

some bits from queendom i think are silly

[leidensygdom]

new scam just dropped

We know of the scammers that dwell on Discord, Twitter, or Bsky, and ask you to commission them, either giving you an AI generated picture or charging you 300$ and giving you something they commissioned on Fiverr for 5$ . I literally have a whole-ass guide on them. Then there's the ones who ask for commissions, trying to get you to draw their pet or whatever, then sending you a fake cheque or something, which has been very common on Tumblr. This post explains it well.

But now we're bringing the first type of scam (where someone tries to force you to commission them) onto tumblr! Our buddy miruuuwuu here is going to provide a really good example. Let's start with the circumstances this happened in. I got two DMs from this account, who had followed me few minutes prior to DMing. As always, I checked their profile first.

Few things to note in here that already told me this was a scammer: The account had a grand total of two posts in their profile, posted four hours ago. Nothing else. Completely empty account. The "femenine" name and the anime pfp already were kinda suspicious alongside this. A large portion of the "commission me" scammers will have a generic anime profile picture and a woman's name. The generic-ass description didn't help.

And well, since I haven't got this type of scammer on tumblr before, I decided to go along with it, because there's something inherently funny about some scammer trying this with someone who's specifically been doing guides about scammers for years. You will notice that my responses are rather mean, which... ngl I like being sassy about scammers what can I say

First initial impression: This person was trying very hard to try to be friends with me. Very weird from a complete random who just followed. The weirdest part here is, of course, how they instantly dismiss me saying "I'm not sure I think" about their random attempts to be like "you're my friend now" and simply proceed with their script. Now, this scammer is SLIGHTLY more specific than usual, since they mentioned DnD- which is closer to my interests than they tend to target. So uh, props to that I guess.

They inmediately tried to inquiry about my character. At this point, I know they'd be offering to draw them for money. I know these scammers tend to steal people's art as examples, so I just grabbed some shitty AI-generated tiefling from google. If they steal that and then try to use it as an example for someone else, I hope they can easily realize this is a scam. Notice how little they care about me being very rude and short-responsed: They're following a script. Afterwards, they sent me an example of "their OC". Alongside a massive AI-generated backstory that has no relation whatsoever to the character, which is supposedly a half elf.

I decide to poke a bit about it. Their response is pretty detached to someone who would actually know about RP or anything. "My setting's elves are green" would've been great. But nope, they immediately jump to trying to share me more examples of their art, and send me about 6-7 pictures in rapid fire. Some of them stolen, some of them traced, some of them commissioned from people in Fiverr for five bucks.

And then we jump immediately to the core of the scam: asking me to commission them. I already knew this was coming, but let's go for it. Their entire massive blurb on how they "work on paid and unpaid platforms" is extremely unhinged to read as an artist myself, but sure, whatever they wanna use to tell me why I gotta pay them. THE CRUCIAL PART HERE IS: YOU SHOULD NEVER COMMISSION PEOPLE WHO DMED YOU FIRST AT RANDOM! I have seen WAY too many people fall for this. If an "artist" DMs you to ask you to commission them, block them! Legitimate artists WON'T do that unprompted! I have way more information in the guide I linked in the first paragraph, but yeah.

At this point, these scams tend to go in different ways. If you insist you can't pay for them, they often will jump to guilt tripping you, or bringing some sob story on how they need money desperately. We had one in our Discord trying to convince two different people to commission them with entirely different stories (one of them was "I need to buy a gift for my wife" and the other one was "i need to buy hearing aids ASAP!!!"). DO NOT FALL FOR THESE SOB STORIES. They're just trying to get you to feel bad and agree even if you're suspicious.

This is the point where I just stopped going ahead with the conversation. They will try to haggle you. You tell them you have 100 bucks, they'll try to raise 150. A lot of artists online tend to have a pricing guide, a website, some sort of TOS kinda stuff. They won't try to see how much they can milk out of you by testing the waters. Again, please check out this guide if you're suspecting anything weird, or even feel free to DM me if you need someone to double check. Don't put your money on these scams: They will either run with your money, commission someone in the global south on fiverr for literal cents, or they'll just get you some AI generated mess.

Anyways, many thanks to miruuuwuu for helping me put together this post, very kind of them to let me know this scam is now coming on tumblr too!

[moniquill]

So there's a post going around that I'm not going to engage with because my point is entirely different than what the discussion is covering there...

It's this thread: https://www.tumblr.com/galileosballs/783607164314976256/some-of-the-responses-to-this-have-been-in

(I will not be weighing in on that thread)

Here's the thing about schooling and Kids These Days from the elementary to the college level using generative AI (which is Bad for many reasons; I am not defending it):

School (for the purposes of this discussion, public school in the US because that's the only kind of schooling I personally have extensive experience with) is not designed to promote learning.

Lamentations about the ethics of the students who do this, about how this is devaluating education, about how it's frightening that future doctors etc are cheesing their way through medical school with AI all have their eyes on a particular symptom of a much, much bigger and deeper problem. That problem is ULTIMATELY capitalism, but on the way there it's about pedagogy.

I, from the perspective of not having been beholden to school for many years, can confidently say that I did not learn a single fucking thing in school between fourth grade (age 9; I learned how to do long division) and college (age 18, learned a lot of different things, absolutely none of them particularly relevant to any paid work I've ever had). School was a six to eight hour time sink (plus however long homework took) in my day that actively got in the way of me learning things WHILE piling a bunch of stress and trauma onto me that I had to spend years recovering from.

School, in the US, is designed from the ground up to train children into compliant workers. It's about showing up on time, being willing to follow arbitrary and often unfair rules, doing as one is told by figures of authority, and giving the desired answers to direct questions (while asking as few clarifying questions as possible). Curiosity and creativity are actively punished by public school.

"Does saying things that are true and that you know are true only matter when someone is giving you a little prize for it?" Literally yes, that his how the system is built. Under capitalism, there is no motivation to say true things that are true that you know are true. It is likely, in fact, to get you punished! If you want to change that behavior, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES IT.

This quote, in particular, seems to miss the point hugely:

"Some of the responses to this have been, in essence, "well, it's not our fault for being raised in a bad educational system that prioritizes grades over comprehension". And you're right, it's not your fault.

But you freely admit the system is bad. That it values the wrong things.

So why do you limit yourself to only achieving what it values? Do you not aspire to be better than a system you know is wrong? Don't you want to change the world?" with a post script of "the system is bad and that fact absolves me of moral responsibility to be a good person” is CEO rhetoric frankly"

It should be noted that absolutely no one in the thread has espoused a belief that 'hat fact absolves me of moral responsibility' - they are all talking about ways that the system is rotten from the ground up and needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. Many, many people reblogging the chain are ascribing malice/excuse-making to people who are merely correctly identifying the problem. Explanations are not excuses; sorry that someone taught you that at some point.

No one in that thread has said "I use AI, and think that it's a good and laudable thing to do!" - that is not a position that anyone seems to be holding.

There are a lot of people in that thread who are indignant that anyone is going to college who isn't deeply invested in learning, as if that's the goal that sends people to academia.

We do not live in a world that rewards learning. We live in a world that awards the possession of credentials.

We do not live in a world where people pursue careers because they are inherently important and meaningful to them - they pursue them because they want to survive under capitalism. Most people are not going into healthcare, for example, because they genuinely want to help heal people who are sick or injured; they're doing it because it's a stable career that generated a livable income. I say this as a person who works in healthcare and deals with others working in the field.

"If you're using AI to get through your education you've not fucking earned your qualifications. That AI did."

No one has ever 'earned their qualifications' re: possession of a college degree. They have merely shown a capacity and willingness to jump through the required hoops.

Do you think that you can shame people into not using shortcuts?

I want readers to look at this thread:

which has a much more coherent idea of what the problem is and what can be done about it. I want readers to look into pedagogy; check out these old-ass videos:

And just... just go watch every Ted Talk by Sugata Mitra.

I think we as a society need to be far more honest in what the goals we have are and how they're best achieved. Most of the jobs that people end up spending their lives doing should not be asking for college degrees. Most people do not want or need to go to college. Most people in college, in school at all, are there under duress and the threat of destitution.

I really want people to reblog and reply to this with thier own thoughts - I know that's no longer vogue on tumblr, but I am trying really hard to bring it back. No, the replies will NOT be opened. Fucking reblog it.

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

Studio TV Solutions presents Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware (2020) [not a real movie]. A movie with a totally improv’d script starring a moltey crew who are sure to give you a rip-roarin’ good time!

anyway hi new au just dropped. i’m calling it HLVRAIM. it’s HLVRAI but it’s a blockbuster movie and the science team are played by actors. i have many thought on backstories n stuff that i will stick under a “read more” here otherwise this post will be hella long on people’s dashes. 👇👍 pls care about this i thought so hard and much

Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware was put out by Studio TV Solutions in 2020 and destroyed the box office with how fun it was and how well the cast played off one another. The cast was given a general outline for the script with the goal for it to be mostly improv.

Gordon Freeman: Mannie Flores (Dominican American, age 28, he/him) - Popular Youtuber/Twitch streamer (“Radi0Mann”). Got offered the role in HLVRAI thanks to the creative things he’s done in his Youtube/Twitch career. This is his first “official” acting gig. He was pretty starstruck at first, but then as he got to know everyone, he realized they’re all a bunch of dorks (affectionate). - Started off as a gaming channel, but then started branching off into various creative endeavors as he got more popular. He still plays games too though. - One of the things Mannie did in his internet career that hit the mainstream was when he wrote, directed, starred in, and filmed his own movie in just 2 weeks because he failed a bet with his audience. Except the movie was actually really good and funny and heartfelt (i want to say it was about “a man who got left behind on earth after everyone else was raptured because god literally forgot about him”, but i think the concept might’ve been done already). - Met Benji through HLVRAI. They hit it off and now they’re dating. They tried to keep it secret for a while but Mannie had a slip-up during a stream that sort of blew it out of the water.

Benrey: Benji Song (Japanese/Chinese, age 30, he/they) - Started off as a film sound designer in the industry, then through a series of silly willy little events—possibly even shenanigans—got roped into a role in a passion indie film that became wildly acclaimed and flung him into the spotlight. Been an actor ever since, but isn’t the most proactive in taking jobs much to their agent’s annoyance. People never know where he’ll pop up next. Sometimes Benji will sneak in sound designer work behind their agent’s back. - Honestly likes background work more because everyone’s got these expectations of them as an actor that they feel pressured to meet. But he’s also afraid of disappointing people. He’s working on it. - Met their partner Mannie through HLVRAI. Totally was a fan of his streams/videos beforehand though. When they mention that, Mannie gets flustered. - Does music as a hobby. Electronic stuff mostly—enjoys mashing together all sorts of sounds and trying to make them work. After HLVRAI, Mannie’s streams gets cool new music that’s made by somebody going by “johnwicklover1994.” wink

Harold Coomer: Hau’oli “Hau” Kaleo-Kirchhoff (Hawaiian/Samoan, age 66, he/him) - Old musician who’s supposed to be retired but once in a while will release a song or even do a concert (but nothing crazy). - Hau’oli is pronounced [hh-ow-oh-lee], but he also goes by “Hau” for the haoles’ sake. :) Kaleo is [kah-leh-oh]. also Hau’oli sounds a little bit like the name Holly so that’s a fun coincidence i didn’t realize until later. - Most of his music is chill island tunes but he has been known to dabble in rock and jazz. - Married to Mose (been together for 30 years and counting).

Bubby: Mose Kaleo-Kirchhoff (German, age 69 [nice], xe/him) - Veteran actor—been in the acting industry for a long time. One of his more well-known roles was in a popular sci-fi series. - Married to Hau’oli (they got married the moment it was legal). - i went with a name that started with “M” cuz when Gordon first asks Bubby for his name, xe’s like, “mmm Bubby.” and i headcanon it’s because Mose was about to say xir own name and had to swerve last minute and the thing his brain resorted to was Bubby lol.

Tommy Coolatta: Luis Tanglao (Filipino, age 37, he/they) - Child star who dropped out of the industry when he hit his teens and then came back years later as a comedian. He has material about how fucked up being a child star was. Will only take acting roles if it interests them. - They don’t care about how the public/media sees him. He’ll speak his mind and call out BS when he sees it. Interviewing them can be a war zone. - Hosts a popular podcast with some buds they discuss things like video games, their lives, news, etc. Just shooting the shit. - Sunkist is their actual dog and she modeled for the png photo that was used. Her name is actually Biko. She is a very good girl. <3

Darnold Pepper: Sage Haven (African American, age 40, he/her/they) - Famous cooking show host who gets offered roles in movies. Got popular by how unconventional her meals and cooking methods are and how funny he is. - Has had multiple food/cooking/baking shows over the years. Every competition-based one they’ve had focused more on good vibes, fun, and encouraging one another rather than drama. One show involved people competing to see who could make the best full course meal with the catch being they could only cook everything in a microwave. Many microwaves perished. - Changed their name to Sage Haven during their transition. They chose it because it reflects his passion and also is a play on the phrase “safe haven”, which is what she wants to be to others. - He has an adoptive daughter named Kit. She helped them think up bits and jokes. She also had to help explain what Half-Life was.

haven’t gotten to gman and forzen’s actors yet unfortunately. thinking gman’s actor could be a talk show host? because that would be funny. anyway thanks for humoring me on my shenanigans. bye

[lagartijus]

The Wild Robot: the most OVERRATED animated movie of the DECADE

(Read everything if you want to shut up the crowd that calls it a gem without even knowing why)

This god of MEDIOCRITY has been called even "ONE OF THE BEST ANIMATED MOVIES OF ALL TIME".

Nowdays for some reason people just care about how good a movie LOOKS and if it feels EMOTIONAL enough. If that's the case THEY ALREADY CAN BE CONSIDERED A """MASTERPIECE""" BY THEM.

But this movie isn't a masterpiece. And that's not it... The Wild Robot is not even close of being close of being a masterpiece.

The only amazing thing this film does is having A TON OF FLAWS.

First... something was already feeling wrong when the SUDDEN plot change of the snow scene happend. It felt SUPER ABRUPT, barely more abrupt than the introduction of the mentor duck which happend SO FAST. And suddenly the movie changed COMPLETELY for some reason and a new plot was introduced after the young goose Brightbill left her Wild Robot mom... the snow storm. For me THAT was already a problem as it felt we were watching a whole new movie suddenly. BUT IT GETS WORSE, because from now on I really asked myself IF THEY STICKED THE SCRIPT OF A DIFFERENT MOVIE INTO THIS ONE IN THIS SECOND HALF.

First lets remember something REALLY IMPORTANT. During the first half of the movie they portrayed natural interactions as realistic. Like how animal behaviors are in REAL LIFE. The filmmakers were NOT scared of showing wild interactions: animals eating other animals, death, surviving... basically nature. IT WAS LIKE THAT FOR ALL THE FIRST HALF OF THE MOVIE and I actually thought that was GREAT. I want you to remember this.

Then it seemed they COMPLETELY forgot about it.

I want you'all to imagine something...

Imagine a person is in the middle of a forest in a dangerous STORM with WILD ANIMALS of ANY KIND and that person suddenly tries to go and talk with them to make PEACE WITH EACHOTHER. And not only make peace in the middle of the storm... BUT EVEN MAKE AN AGREEMENT WITH ALL THE ANIMALS TO MAKE A WHOLE NEW CIVILIZATION IN WHICH NOBODY KILLS ANYBODY AND THEY ALL TREAT EACHOTHER AS EQUALS FOREVER.

It sounds dumb, right...?

Well, GUESS WHAT!!! That is exactly what happened.

And it is like... HELLO...??? THE FOOD CHAIN?! THE BASIC NATURAL ANIMAL BEHAVIOR?! THE FACT THAT CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS NEED TO KILL TO EAT?! THE LOGIC THE OWN MOVIE INSTALLED?! "Naaah, lets throw ALL of that to the TRASH BIN."

This would work in a movie like ZOOTOPIA because the LOGIC of THAT movie is made in such way that this WOULD MAKE SENSE. But in the case of The Wild Robot they made WHOLE SCENES to show us how the logic of the movie is practically the SAME as the logic we have in REAL LIFE.

They literally make bears, prey, hunters and all kinds of animals live like they were humans in a scene that felt so rushed, so out of nowhere and soooo pointless that had little to do with what we were watching before.

It is like they created a new problem and plot OUT OF NOWHERE without any kind of sense that doesn't even respect the logic of the movie itself.

BUT WAIT... that is just the surface.

Can someone EXPLAIN TO ME how is it possible that a robot that was made for GARDENING can withstand falling from MOUNTAINS, attacks from BEARS and other ANIMAL HORDES, 200 hits, scratches in middle of the rain and MUCH MORE... but the COMBAT robots, LITERALLY MADE TO FIGHT AND RESIST and with such advanced technology and AI are defeated by some BIRDS JUST BY THEMSELVES and other animals at the end of the movie??!!!! Yeah, super logical!! Of course it isn't plot armor... pfff!!!

But there is MORE...

HOW THE F*** did a FREAKING GOOSE manage to DESTROY THE MAIN WINDOW OF THE BATTLESHIP THAT CARRIES ALL THE COMBAT ROBOTS AND VITALE RESOURCES AND THAT IS DESIGNED TO RESIST STRONG HITS?! And he didn't only destroy it with its body... but HE JUST BROKE ONE OF HIS WINGS. JUST ONE WING when his entire body should have EXPLODED into the window! HELL... HE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO MAKE A SMALL CRACK ON THE GLASS. A glass that should resist even crashing into a mountain. But no... he destroyed it all WITH HIS BODY.

Remember that these actions LITERALLY WERE THE ONES THAT SOLVED THE ENTIRE PROBLEM THE CHARACTERS HAD IN THE MOVIE.

AND THAT'S NOT IT... there is just one more thing that is also really important...

The message of the movie...

"We don't have to act the way we come from the factory."

WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT WE WERE WATCHING THROUGH THE ENTIRE MOVIE?!

WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN?!

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

And I know... I know... It's related to the robot not acting as it should as it was made in a factory to follow a script and rules, yes... it's true... but...

What lesson does it teach to the characters and how? Why?

How does that complement the entire story we were watching?

What lesson does that teach to us that would be related to the story beyond what I already explained and the animals magically not devouring each other and any other scene in the movie?

NOTHING. It's like they forgot what they were doing. Or like they paused the production and continued it years after with a different team. Really... I know it sounds good, but now think about the message and how it could be related with the characters and the plot. It doesn't have any sense.

I think there were also one or two other mistakes, but I can't remember right now, but anyways...

And I know what some of you could think now...

"But Lagartijus... even if it has some mistakes they aren't that bad and also the movie has good things too."

Yes, the movie has many good things but NO... those mistakes ARE TERRIBLE. Most of them are the ones that solved the entire problematic in the film and other just make whe whole film not having sense or continuity. And if you don't agree with that now remember how YOU probably have hated or criticize harshly other movies FOR HAVING LESS MISTAKES THAT THIS FILM HAS. Because I am 100% sure YOU DID.

That's it, bye. Give me your opinion.

My Letterboxd:

[stephreviews]

Steph's Weekly Watchlist (Mar. 17)

So many shows are starting this week! Whoooo! I'm so ready!

QL Dramas - Currently Airing

Lost in the Woods (Wed, Airing: 1/7)

This one looks like "Tale of Thousand Stars" style, except Fifa did not want to go to the town. Honestly same bruh. It doesn't look high quality, but I'll give anything a shot. Also, this got delayed by 1 week. So hopefully it's airing for realsies.

My Golden Blood (Wed, Airing: 2/12)

This show had a lot of hype but fell flat for a lot of people. This episode pretty much met my expectations LOL. I knew GMMTV's first real foray into CGI was not going to be pretty, but what I wanted was gay Twilight and God damn it that's what I'm getting.

Secret Relationships (Wed-Thur, FINALE)

It's interesting how differently all 3 men are treating Daon. Honestly? I'm not sure how I want it to end anymore. Soohyun forcing himself onto Daon was Not It. Jaemin is The Worst. But also like....it would be kinda messy and fun for Daon to pick one of the red flags, you know?

Top Form (Thur, Airing: 1-2/11)

This show looks really interesting! It's another meta (a few of these have come out of Japan recently, but I think this is the first out of Thailand), where it's two costars dating. See the extended trailer here.

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist (Fri, Airing: 1/12)

I'm so excited for this show! Much like My Golden Blood, they released a behind the scenes episode. Mark is an amazing actor, but has been stuck as a side character for literal years. I neeeeeed to see him as a main. Watch the trailer here!

Flirt Milk (Sat, Airing: 9/10)

I binge-watched the 8 episodes of this show that are out this week one day when I was bored, and damn this show is so stupid. Nothing makes sense. I honestly feel bad for the actors. The actors are doing their best with a script that feels like it was either AI generated, or written by somebody who wrote like a single short-form fanfiction and then thought "I can write a 10-episode drama".

Every conflict resolves in 10 seconds or less so for some reason there's a billion things going on and way too many characters for 10 episodes. That wig and fake beard? Absolutely hilarious. Frankly I have no idea what the lesbians are doing there and how they're related to the guys. Took me forever to learn Phra Rong's name. Phra Rong was harassing Pai at the cafe and for some reason I can't figure out decided to flirt with him? I'm very confused. I feel like I'm on multiple drugs.

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun, Airing: 22/24)

Okay I just KNEW that bullshit with the mom was going to come back during this arc. I mean, we all knew Faifa's issues stemmed from the way his mom picked him up and threw him away as she pleased, but the way Yotha and Newton treat him? No one thought to call or text him when she couldn't come to visit? Also, this entire time that Faifa has been courting Wine, Yotha has been threatening him and telling him to not hurt Wine. What about Faifa's feelings?? Like my dude. Gun cares wayyy more about Faifa than Yotha does. I need an episode where Yotha gets a reckoning.

Ossan's Love TH (Mon, FINALE)

This episode took me on a wild ride. Honestly this whole show has been a wild ride, but I think it's the first love triangle I haven't hated, and I'm the number one love triangle hater. Kongdech is kinda pushy, but he doesn't let it affect how he treats Heng as his boss. They also address how Heng doesn't set boundaries and never says no. Mo also has flaws and never speaks his mind. It's three messed up adults colliding in a way that's funny, but relatable. This episode, we finally see everyone address their issues head-on....and then Heng gets amnesia!

QL Dramas - Catching Up

I see it as a win that this list keeps getting smaller 🥹

Fragrance of the First Flower SS2 (Tues, Airing: 9-10/12, Me: 1/12)

Reverse With Me (Wed, Airing: 7/8, Me: 1/8)

Exclusive Love (Fri, Airing: 7/12, Me: 1/12)

Us the Series (Sat, Airing: 10/12, Me: 1/12)

Other Dramas

The Witch 마녀 (COMPLETE)

This was an amazing show. It kept me guessing until the end, and I was surprised by how romantic it felt despite the leads barely interacting. My only critique: they introduced a second couple in the last two episodes. Either don't introduce them, or have a few more episodes to tell their story. I hate when a couple gets thrown together for no reason. The main couple, however, was amazing and perfectly developed. See my full review here.

The First Frost (COMPLETE, Me: 2/12)

I only had a chance to watch episode 1 this week, and I already got sucked in. The cast is high-powered, the chemistry is chemistry-ing, I love my girl besties, the cinematography, everything! I just need a day where I can binge cause I know myself and I will not be able to hold back.

Boys Journey 2 (Fri, Airing: 8/10)

They finally (!!) divided the boys up by their branded pairs and sent them on a scavenger hunt. We got lots of cute moments, like feeding each other and cuddles and hungry baby Pooh (that boy is a black hole). This show continues to be a hilarious addition to my Fridays, including the hashtag (#BJOuting)

(side note - I thought it was hilarious how Joss was shirtless for basically the entire episode of My Golden Blood. Will this be a theme? If so - I'm so on board.)

[ktisis-collective]

Ok I haven't made an official post about this yet but I have decided to talk about how much I hate the warner brothers company.

Number one. Most of their movies are dog shit. I will not be taking this back, some of their video games and tv shows were good and the lego movies were peak, but the rest is awful.

Number two, I have generational beef with the WARNER BROTHERS THEMSELVES. My great great grandfather fell into a pile of literal horseshit while working for the warner brothers company and the actual warner brothers bullied him into leaving. So yeah, fuck with my gramps you fuck with me.

Number three, THE ENTIRE MINECRAFT MOVIE SITUATION. I've never been more pissed about a movie, it's gonna be dog shit. I could go on for hours about how awful this movie looks, how it should have been animated, how it looks like AI, how the script is awful, how they whitewashed Steve, how the plot is just Jumanji, how pissed I am that they made the game a joke, but I won't.

And finally, THEY FUCKING COPYRIGHT STRIKED MUMBO JUMBO. Mumbo jumbo had the only good take on the minecraft movie out of everyone and those greedy bastards just had to do that. I don't care if mumbo likes the trailer, I hate it because of what the company did to him.

I have never hated a company more than warner brothers and if the last thing I do is take them down that just what I'll do

[transformers-mosaic]

Beast Wars: Second Chances - The Covers

Originally posted on February 2nd, 2011

Cover A - Daniel Olsén Covers B & C - Seb Quickstrike - Ed Pirrie Depth Charge - Loke Mei Yin Snarl vs Terrorsaur - James Ferrand Waspinator - Jeremy Tiongson Dinobot sketch - Matt Frank

deviantART

wada sez: Okay, this one was as much a surprise to me as it is to you. Prolific Mosaic contributor Mike Priest asked me if I had any plans to archive Beast Wars: Second Chances, a full-length comic he originally pitched in a similar vein to War Journal and Spotlight: Stunticons. As nearly all the writers and artists who worked on this one were also Mosaic contributors, and I’ve always felt like there weren’t enough Beast Wars strips in Mosaic, and because Mike asked nicely, I couldn’t say no! Thanks to Mike’s involvement, I’ve got the original scripts and his original story treatment, titled Beast Wars: Beyond, which you can read below—although the final story ended up wildly different, if you want to read along without any spoilers whatsoever, I’d recommend coming back to this post later! It seems that Matt Frank was originally tapped for the project, as he produced a sketch of Dinobot which you can see below, but no further contributions from him ever surfaced.

Okay, this is my initial rough pitch for the story.

Again, anything and everything here is mutable and subject to tweaking and whatever, or downright ignoring and trashing.  I won’t cry.

We start roughly a month or two Earth-time after Primal’s crew left.  The first page should explain this and whatever, and then something akin to “BUT SOMETHING STILL STIRS on this planet!”  Cut to Depthcharge dragging himself out of the surf.

(I’m trying to work AROUND the Mosaic “Eternal”, making it more retroactively tied-in.)

We establish Waspinator as leader of the proto-human tribe, out on a hunt or something with some other humans.  Perhaps some brief proto-human comedy before we hit the nitty-gritty.

We establish Depthcharge wandering around, arguing with himself, totally nuts, screaming at no one in-particular (He’s arguing with Rampage, who only responds through text boxes, so to anyone else, DC looks like a nut).

Waspinator encounters Depthcharge, is initially scared and confused, but decides, what the hey, see what’s up with fishie-bot.  Waspinator honestly is curious/wants to help.

Depthcharge, in a confused, blind rage, grabs Waspinator and viciously beats him near to death.  And not in a funny, usual-Waspinator way.  He’s pleading, BEGGING for Depthcharge to stop.  I’m talking the reader needs to actually feel really bad for Waspinator; he is an endearing character and kind of our “hero” for this story.

Only when some of Waspinator’s human tribe start hitting Depthcharge with rocks and spears does he snap out of it, and is literally horrified at what’s he done to poor Waspinator. (Rampage is in ecstasy though; this is exactly what he wants to turn Depthcharge into; a killer like Rampage himself).

Depthcharge retreats, transforms to jet mode and flies off, horrified at what he’s become.

The proto-humans can’t do anything to help the dying, whimpering Waspinator.  So they make a stretcher and begin carrying him home.

Only they don’t make it.  Something attacks and kills them; Waspinator is too weak to help them.  And it takes Waspinator’s remains.  (Hints of a giant metal spider, perhaps in this sequence)

We establish Tarantulas.  Or rather an AI program that approximates Tarantulas’ personality and goals.  It is housed in a sub-level of Tarantulas’ former lair.  He “lives” through his Steel Tech proxy body, the (black and grey Transmetal Tarantulas), but he cannot particularly control it too well/or it really is just a poor substitute for a sparked body.

Tarantulas has a blank stasis pod that was affected by the Quantum Surge.  He plugs Waspinator’s spark into it.  And Transmetal Waspinator is born.  Waspinator comes back online strapped to a table, with the Steel Tech drone working on him (And Tarantulas’ face on a computer screen, establishing that he really is housed in his lair’s “hard drive”)

Tarantulas explains that he still has to accomplish the Tripredacus Council’s goals, even after death, and Waspinator is one of his new tools.

Faux-Tarantulas ALSO reveals that he has the bodies of Scorponok and Terrorsaur (both Transmetalized), which he recovered from the lava pit.  (TM Terrorsaur’s fine, but a new design for Transmetal Scorponok is essential.  NOT the McDonald’s toy design.  Make him larger and bulkier and his third mode should have flight capability- this is important for later)  

Fitting all three with “neural implants” that ensure obedience, Tarantulas explains he will use them to breach the Ark and carry out its destruction (His Steel Tech drone isn’t dexterous or durable enough to fight through the Ark’s automated defenses).

And Waspinator is a test subject.  Tarantulas releases him from his bonds and orders him to obey.  The neural implant holds, and Tarantulas decides to send Waspinator for a test-drive.  Waspinator speeds out of the lair in his new jet mode.

As he travels over the landscape, he is watched by someone new on the ground.  We don’t find out who it is YET.  Just a close up of a wide, toothy grin and an “Interesting”.

Meanwhile Depthcharge is having a nervous breakdown.  Rampage is slowly driving him insane, and Depthcharge starts repeatedly trying to kill himself.  It is MESSED UP, including Depthcharge throwing himself on his own sword, tearing bits off, and such.  But all the damage heals.  Exhausted and pained, Depthcharge suddenly becomes aware of a visitor watching him.

Cue DINOBOT II, standing arrogantly and grinning down on Depthcharge, telling him it won’t work.

Both Depthcharge and Rampage are surprised to see him.  Rampage particularly.

Meanwhile, Waspinator’s test-drive includes going back to his proto-human village and is ordered to raze it to the ground by Tarantulas.  But Waspy surprises Tarantulas (and the audience) by fighting the neural implant and eventually succeeding in burning it out, overcoming Tarantulas’ will by plumbing that can-do never-give-up Waspinator spirit and his genuine affection for the proto-humans.   Tarantulas is surprised by this, but notes he has back-ups anyway, activating Scorponok and Terrorsaur.

Back with Depthcharge and Dinobot, who, of note, acts somewhat uncharacteristically, giving half-answers and grinning a lot.  Rampage begins to suspect something is different or wrong with Dinobot.

Meanwhile, Scorponok and Terrorsaur are both activated and forced into line by the neural implants.  Terrorsaur is still his arrogant self, but Scorponok is more quiet and almost more professional (It’ll be seen/developed that he’s a bit disillusioned that Megatron never saw fit to recover him from the lava pit).  Anyway, as neither of them have any particular strong will to oppose the neural implant, they go to carry out Tarantulas’ orders to attack the Ark.

We establish the VOK, who realize the danger to the time stream is not yet over.  The two that “killed” Tarantulas decide to intervene.  They go to where Tigerhawk died and begin pulling his shattered pieces together with their powers.  (Tigerhawk would be dead, just a zombie shell animated by these Vok and while his body is whole, it is in horrendous shape, missing an optic, generally looking like a terrifying zombie).

Meanwhile Waspinator is speeding along, knowing somehow he has to go back and stop Tarantulas, when he sees Scorponok and Terrorsaur in their new Transmetal vehicle modes, headed in the Ark’s direction, along with Tarantulas‘ Steel Tech proxy body.  Waspinator isn’t particularly positive he can take both of them, even with his new body, so he decides to go look for “crazy fishie-bot” and hopes Depthcharge is somewhat more lucid now.

Back with Depthcharge and Dinobot, Rampage suddenly senses a familiarity between his own spark and Dinobot and realizes Dinobot’s shell is now possessed by STARSCREAM!

Guilty as charged, Dino-Scream shrugs.  He’s been stuck in this time zone for a while and returned to the planet, but everyone’s left now.  So he looked for the Nemesis (Hoping to find something there he can possess without damaging history) and found Dinobot II’s ravaged, sparkless shell.  Possessing that and healing its injuries, Starscream set out for the Ark next.

Before anything can be done, Waspinator finds them, telling them (as best as he can) about Tarantulas’ plan to destroy the Ark and what not.

Depthcharge and Starscream don’t want to be erased from history, so they agree to help (Rampage even finds it interesting).

Faux-Tarantulas, Scorponok and Terrorsaur arrive at the Ark, and the latter two fight their way through Teletraan-1’s automated defenses (which come out of “sleep mode”).  Faux-Tarantulas hangs back.

But by the time they make it through, Waspinator, Dino-Scream, and Depthcharge/Rampage arrive.

We have a three-on-three battle.  Scorponok fights Depthcharge/Rampage (Scorpy’s new Transmetal body is bigger than his old one and almost a match for Depthcharge, even with the new ferocity that Rampage’s presence in his mind gives him).  Scorponok angsts over his abandonment by Megatron while they fight.  Terrorsaur fights the groundbound Starscream/Dinobot II (Starscream grumbles that this body sucks cuz it can’t fly) and manages to actually hold it off, as Starscream is unaccustomed to fighting like this.

Waspinator faces off against the Steel Tech Drone, and despite some initial trepidation, realizes he’s far more powerful now than any drone and takes the faux-Tarantulas down easily once his confidence is up.

Meanwhile, the zombie Vok-possessed Tigerhawk arrives at Tarantulas’s lair, runs roughshod over the meager defenses, and destroys the Tarantulas’ hard drive/AI for good.

This causes the neural implants in Scorponok and Terrorsaur to fail, and they stop fighting now that they are no longer under Tarantulas’ will.

Confused at what is going on, everyone leaves the Ark.  The Vok-possessed zombie Tigerhawk arrives.

First order of business is noticing Dinobot II.  The Vok declare (The Transmetal II clone body) an “abomination” and perversion of their technology. (Starscream’s like “Whoa, wait a minute!”)

The Vok incinerate Dinobot II’s shell in a blast of lightning from Tigerhawk.  We don’t see what happens to Starscream’s spark.

The Vok explain that the constant interference with the timeline has TO STOP, and tells everyone to get the hell off the planet.

Of course, everyone is like “uh, HOW?”

The Vok tells everyone to go into Earth orbit.  They will self-destruct Tigerhawk’s remains, with the release of alien energies ripping a Transwarp wormhole that’ll send everyone back to the right era.

Everyone of course is like “But…how do we get home from the middle of space?”

And the Vok of course are like “We don’t care, you’re going back to your rightful place in history or we’ll just kill you here and dump you there”

So everyone engages flight modes and follows Zombie-Tigerhawk up into space.  They stand back and the Vok do as they promised, detonating Tigerhawk’s shell and making a wormhole.  Everyone flies through in a flash, the Vok take their leave with some end dialogue about cleaning up some more small glitches or whatever.

Everyone arrives in the middle of space, nowheresville.  Depthcharge isn’t hanging with these “Preds” anymore and “Besides, I’ve got enough company as it is”.  He flies off into the nothingness of space, deciding to either find a way to deal with living with Rampage…or destroying them both.

Waspinator and Scorponok get into an argument about which direction Cybertron is, which ends in Waspinator engaging his jet mode and flying off alone.  Scorponok sighs and goes in the opposite direction, asking if Terrorsaur is coming.

Terrorsaur (who hasn’t said a word since they left Earth) just widely grins and unseen to Scorponok, we see the ghost of Starscream possessing Terrorsaur’s frame.  “Sure thing, pal.”  He follows Scorponok.

END.

Notes-

*Inferno and Quickstrike…well, seeing as Quickstrike’s head was hollowed out and made into a mask, I think they’re a little harder to swallow as still alive.

*I kinda tried to do the exact opposite of what the Botcon comics did…bring Tigerhawk back (albeit a Vok-possessed zombie) instead of Tigatron and Airazor.

*When the zombie Tigerhawk destroys the Tarantulas AI core, depending on preference, we can have him say “You last bit of Unicron” or some such, depending if everyone agrees on Tarantulas’s origins.

*I have Starscream possessing Dinobot’s shell and later Terrorsaur, trying to avoid the clichéd possessing of Transmetal Waspinator.

[sweetrollbakery292]

Daredevil Born Again (spoilers)

FUCK THIS SHOW. FUCK THIS COMPANY. FUCK THE WRITERS. FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ABOMINATION OF A SERIES. This isn’t Daredevil man This isn’t a continuation. This isn’t even THE SAME fucking show. It’s an insult, a spit in the face and a goddamn fucking fuck wax museum animatronic of what once was peak fiction and now it’s reduced to whatever this fucking mutilated corpse of a series is supposed to be Muse was the only fucking thing I was looking forward to, and they actually had the AUDACITY to cast him properly and get the costume right. But instead of actually adapting his character properly, they mutilate him beyond recognition, turn him into an afterthought, a footnote and a COMPLETE disgrace. I have waited YEARS LITERAL. FUCKING. YEARS for this character to finally get his due, and instead, they make him into a fucking joke because apparently, NOBODY in the writer’s room has ever actually READ A FUCKING COMIC. Oh but it doesnt stop there, because the entire show is a fucking trainwreck from start to finish (SO FAR) The tracks aren’t even laid out properly so it just derails at every possible moment The pacing is so fucking atrocious, it feels like an AI tried to stitch together completely different drafts of scripts written by people who don’t even speak the same fucking language. The plotlines are either introduced and immediately abandoned or completely bungled in ways that make no goddamn sense.

They completely butcher Matt as a character. And I don’t mean in the way a tragic hero suffers BECAUSE I mean they write him as if they genuinely don’t even understand who he is. Like they’ve never even SEEN the original show, let alone read the comics. He makes decisions so monumentally stupid, so catastrophically out of character, that I would genuinely believe this is some kind of cruel parody if it wasn’t so clear that Disney actually thought this was a good idea The courtroom scene is one of the worst things I have EVER seen on television. I cannot stress enough how much of a fucking travesty it is. Nothing about it works. It is NOT SUSPENSEFUL OR INTENSE LIKE FRANK'S SCENE IN SEASON 2 It actively makes Matt look like a complete idiot who has no idea what the fuck he’s doing They frame the previous episode as if he accidentally kills a corrupt cop while protecting a witness (AND WE EVEN HEAR HIS NECK CRACK THE MOMENT HE GETS SLAMMED HEADFIRST INTO THE FLOOR), only for that to be completely retconned in the dumbest way possible. So why the fuck was that even included? Did they forget to edit it out? Did they rewrite the first four episodes and forget to remove the scraps of an abandoned plotline? And then, to top it off, Matt in his infinite wisdom outs Hector Ayala in the courtroom and THEN CONVINCES HIM TO GO BACK OUT AS WHITE TIGER, KNOWING DAMN WELL HE JUST FUCKING LEAKED HIS IDENTITY TO EVERYONE. AND THEN HE ICED IN THE STREET, AND MATT BARELY FUCKING CARES

Like, what the actual fuck am I watching? What is this writing? How do you fumble the bag this hard? How do you take one of the most interesting side characters and just fucking kill him off for nothing, without any emotional weight or consequence? Oh right, so his daughter can take up the mantle and immediately get captured in episode 6. Great storytelling. Amazing writing. Peak FICTION AMIRIGHT? js pull the fucking trigger already i cant handle this shit no mo bro Like i get it, Hector doesn't last long in the comics either and Ava is arguably the definitive White Tiger and is the most recognized. Shit she is supposed to take on the mantle. But that doesn’t mean you just throw Hector aside like some disposable character You can't just kill him off in the most meaningless, underwhelming way and then pretend like it's all fine. There was potential for a real arc here, and they just pissed it all away Other than that, RIP Kamar de los Reyes, gone too soon. FUCK don’t even get me started on the way they fucking sidelined Foggy and Karen, the two most important supporting characters in the original series, for absolutely NO FUCKING REASON No no, the reason was so they could focus on a bunch of new characters who add absolutely nothing to the show, because the writers think they can just strip out all the things people actually liked about the original and replace them with literal nothingness call it a day and somehow expect fans to be on board

AND FRANK. THEY ARE GOING TO FUCK UP FRANK SO BAD. I ALREADY KNOW IT. IT IS INEVITABLE. EVEN WITH HOW HIS SCENE WITH MATT IN EPISODE 4 HAS ADMITTEDLY THE BEST DIALOGUE IN THE ENTIRE SHOW SO FAR (LIKE THAT IS EVEN A HIGH BAR)

This isn’t even just bad bcuz this shit is actively insulting It is the television equivalent of a rotting corpse being paraded around in broad daylight while Disney puppeteers its lifeless limbs pretending everything is fine The soul is gone, the spirit is gone. the heart is gone. It is empty and hollow and fucking infuriating to watch The entire season is just a series of failures stacked on top of each other I’m still going to finish it, and yeah alright ill be optimistic maybe season 2 might be half decent, but I fucking doubt they’re going to do the Shadowland run justice (EVEN WITH HOW ABSOLUTELY DIVISIVE THAT RUN IS) fuck elektra isn’t even coming back, and without her, how the hell are they going to handle that storyline? It feels like they’re just throwing out everything that made it work in the comics. But even with two episodes left this season, I have absolutely no hope for any of it. This show is still awful and they’ve made a mockery of what was once great I’m not holding my breath for them to fix it in season 2 This show gets a 3.4/10. Follow me on bluesky btw. @_rmbk9.bsky.social (without the underscore) I am not using twitter.

[fizzigigsimmer]

Didn't want to hijack @destroya2005 's post, but can never pass up an opportunity to call out the Duffers messiness.

Steve being forced to work at Scoops to "see what working in the real world is like" makes absolutely no sense, if he worked as a lifeguard for three years before then.

1. He was likely paid more as a lifeguard. Going off my own experience in 90s Illinois and Google AI lol, there was typically a small pay bump above minimum wage for lifeguards cause it requires a certification. Nothing huge but that dollar makes a difference. And goggle search seems to support it was the same in the 80s (on national average, there were always exceptions depending on location).

2. Even without that small pay increase, Steve already had experience getting and keeping a real American job lol, and there's no reason not to stick with that real job. Unless we're introducing the idea that Steve's dad is an elitist ass who doesn't think lifeguarding is a real job. But the writers never address this, or why slinging ice cream would be more "real" to Mr. Harrington so we're just left with the confusing conflict of Steve having already had real world work experience when his dad decided to force him to get some lol.

3. If it was a case of needing something that would last longer than the summer, then we need to address the question of why he couldn't just express interest about being hired on for winter work through the park district (or whatever public organization is running the place) he's worked for for three summers? I worked at my community pool as a teen, and even if the swimming facility was closed in the winter, the other activities attached to the facility and the connected park were still open. If not for school, it would have been easy for me to stay on and honestly work anywhere within the park district. Frankly they'd have been thrilled to pay me less than hiring older staff lol.

4. If it was their intent to imply that the Hawkins community pool is either too small or is detached from any larger community asset management (like a park district), they needed to make that explicit in the writing and filming. Which it most certainly isn't. LOL . They scripted this place to have a decently sized facility with multiple interior rooms, large enough to feasibly contain extras like an indoor sauna and a workout gym for their "sauna test", and showed multiple shots revealing the public park next door as well. The filming location is literally everything typical of a community pool: there is also a park next door with a playground, a basketball court, and a dog park, plus picnic and BBQ areas, and they are all managed together through the district. It doesn't take more than a quick google search for community pools in Indiana to confirm that even in tiny towns, this trends toward the norm. Even if the facilites aren't as large as this pool in metro atlanta, they at least tend to have a park with a playground for YEAR ROUND USE.

So in summary we have Steve, a recently graduated 18 year-old who is charismatic, easy on the eyes, a big name in town, with at least 3 summers of prior work experience, suddenly needing a permanent part time job, and he ends up in a doofy sailor hat at a place he hates because he wasn't qualified to work anywhere else? *squints* *tilts head* HOW? The math aint mathing.

All of this to say, that as a writer, the minute they introduced the idea of Steve working at the community pool for three years, their whole reason for having Steve work at scoops the season before disolved like sugar, and it's just so hilariously avoidable, and then fixable after that, and yet they do neither. They really just needed to provide the audience with further explanation for why he took that job besides : the plot we decided to go with demanded it.

Unless the reasoning is just that Steve's dad is a giant dick who goes out of his way to make his kids life hard as some kinda punishment for disappointing him. Which valid, and fandom writers are more than happy to take that and run with it lol. But a show really demands tighter writing. If that was what they were trying to say about Steve's dad, a throw away line about his dad wanting him to experience real work doesn't cut it.

Which yes, fandom runs away with that general assumption, but in reality it's glaringly obvious the Duffers just plain forgot that daddy wanting to teach his spoiled rich son a lesson about real work was supposed to be Steve's reason for working in the mall the prior season. And here we are.

[jeonscatalyst]

Hi May, so glad youre back!

There has been a lot of negativity in this fandom since AYS dropped, and it's always nice to have sensible Jikookers to turn to and discuss some things from the show.

I'm curious about your take on the car talk - since that one has been most controversial one. I know you said you'd probably make a master post about AYS but in the meantime I'd like to hear your overall opinion

Hey anon, thank you so much.

Yea it’s been a shit show since AYS dropped with everyone having very different opinions about different things but if you think about it, it’s always been like this. It’s literally always been a war zone everytime we got a new content with Jikook so just like any other time, this too shall pass.

Now about the car talk.

I think many of us already knew that Jimin and Jungkook weren’t seeing alot of each other or spending much time together in chapter two mainly because of their different schedules but them actually talking about it gave us more context.

Now, I am not going to behave like a taekooker and start coming up with lame ass excuses like, “it was scripted” or “they lied to hide their relationship” or “they didn’t mean it like that”. I’m not going to do all of that. If Jikook said they didn’t see each other much, then they didn’t. If they say they didn’t make time to call each other much then I 100% believe that, that is exactly what happened.

The car conversation started with Jimin saying that it’s been long since he went somewhere with Jungkook and Jungkook joined in a mentioned that they were supposed to go for drinks but unfortunately didn’t. Jk then mentions that when he was free and Jimin was busy, he didn’t call him and when he was busy and Jimin was free, he didn’t call him. Jimin said no he called but it seems like Jungkook doesn’t remember that he did. I have seen some different translations suggesting that Jimin and Jungkook weren’t talking about literally calling each other on the phone but talking about calling each other to hang out and do stuff together but all of those are technicalities and don’t really matter or make much of a difference to me because the point still stands that they didn’t seem to make time for each other for some reason and it seemed to have been a mutual thing.

Now, while some people will hear this and throw their hands in the air saying that this debunks Jikook and pack up their bags, it doesn’t. The only thing this possibly debunks is the fact that Jikook possibly weren’t actively in a romantic relationship at that particular point in time but it doesn’t debunk the idea that Jikook have in a romantic relationship before or are currently in one.

I have mentioned before that so often, many of us only look at the black and white of the world and neglect the grey and possibly the color. People often have a simplistic, binary way of thinking where things are seen as either all good or all bad, right or wrong, with no middle ground or shades of gray but the truth is that, in the real world, things don’t quite work like that. Situations, decisions, and people often exist in a spectrum, with various factors to consider, and understanding these subtleties is important. It important to look beyond rigid categories to appreciate the complexity and diversity of perspectives, emotions, and experiences in life. To put things in lay man’s terms, if Paul and Mary were in a relationship 6 months ago yet for some reason weren’t in a relationship last week, does this mean they never were in relationship? Short answer is no. People possibly not being together at one particular point in time doesn’t debunk the idea that they have ever been together and thinking that Jikook’s car talk debunks them completely is you looking at the world only in black and white and again, the real world doesn’t work like that.

I had also mentioned before on my other blog (gosh can tumblr give me my blog back already😩) that there was a good possibility that Jimin and Jungkook were not in the traditional or conventional type of relationship many of us are used to but this idea wasn’t welcomed by so many people because once again, to so many people, it is either Jimin and Jungkook are in a committed long lasting relationship or they are not at all but the issue with limiting things to opinions like this is that, when we get this kind of information that we got from Jikook, you don’t know how to make sense of things because to you, it had always been either this or not, true or false, yes or no and never the possibility of maybe or maybe not and that is why I kept maintaining that it was necessary to open your minds when it concerned things we don’t have full context of because you never know. You could be 100% right about Jikook being in a romantic relationship but when you limit that type of romantic relationship to just the conventional type, then it that’s an issue. It could also be a little to heteronormative to look at things like that and that unfortunately doesn’t also factor in so many things that could affect the kind of relationship jikook have, like the fact that they are idols, members of the biggest boyband in the world who live in a homophobic country etc.

Let’s look at Jikook’s history for a bit. Out of all members, Jimin and Jungkook are possibly the two who were usually seen around each other in and outside of work the most. For years, they were the two who spent most of their time together, by their own admission so they have a long history of spending time with each other in and outside of work. Taekook on the other hand don’t have a history of spending much time together outside of work. As a matter of fact, they both admitted that they didn’t. The person we always saw Jungkook with for so many years was Jimin while Tae was usually seen with his wooga and other sets of friends outside of BTS. So a jikooker thinking that just because Jikook were not seen together in chapter two, completely debunks Jikook is exactly the same as a taekooker thinking that just because Tae and Jk hung out together quite alot in chapter two proves they are a couple even though they don’t have a history of hanging out together outside of work before chapter two. See how dumb it sounds? It makes no sense because for a romantic relationship to be plausible, there needs to be history and that is something that Taekook doesn’t have while Jikook have a lot of it, so Taekook could have hung out every single day in chapter two while jikook never hung out a single day in chapter two but that will still never mean that Taekook is real and Jikook never was.

Jimin and Jungkook had consistently prioritized being with or spending time with each other more than anyone else for years, so the fact that this abruptly stopped in chapter two, convinces me more than anything else that those two did not have a platonic relationship with each other and that something probably happened. Jimin isn’t the type to just stop hanging out with his friends and especially not Jungkook. He isn’t the type of person who is flaky in his relationships. He isn’t the type of person who doesn’t value friends and relationships in his life. Jimin did seem to make time for everyone else but just not much of Jungkook and we know that it’s not like there wasn’t a chance for them for them to meetup at all because even Jungkook had tried a few times to ask Jimin to come have chicken with him, come box with him, come do a Live with him, Jungkook even opted to go to Jimin but Jimin said no. I’m not going to pretend like I know what was going on with them because I obviously don’t but it is obvious that something was off.

I think that now, it makes more sense why we saw Jungkook obviously pining. It makes more sense why we saw him waking up at 4am to watch Jimin. It makes sense why we all saw him visibly glow up everytime he saw Jimin comment on his Lives. It make sense why he talked about Jimin so much because for two people who didn’t seem to care to reach out to each other, they both really seemed to have each other’s names in their mouths and thoughts alot especially Jungkook. It made alot of sense for Jk to mention Tae as much as he did because he hung out with him alot, but what was his reason for mentioning Jimin as much as he did when according to them they barely kept in toch with each other? What was his reason for sitting his ass down and watching Jimin centric videos as much as he did?

I think that something was off with Jimin and Jungkook at the beginning of the solo era but it seems like things went back to normal after their NY trip because we know for a fact that Jimin and Jungkook spent time together after that. Jimin spoke about always discussing music with Jk when they were together, we heard him singing 3D before it’s release date which means he had heard it and the most important thing….Jimin and Jungkook enlisted together. They wouldn’t have done that if they were not in a good place.

It’s important to note that we are all watching Jimin and Jungkook’s lives unfold before our various eyes and what this means is that, we would witness good, bad and ugly moments. We would witness moments of them being so in love with each other as well as those moments when something seems a little off. These are things that happen even in our own relationships and maybe if we all had our lives being broadcasted and we sat down to watch every action, word, facial expression, body language etc, we would be more understanding of these people. We wouldn’t be so quick to judge, to get annoyed, to accuse, or to jump into conclusions. We would understand that human beings are complex and life itself is not and will never be a one size fits all.

Seeing as we are still following the story, I guess we all would have to wait to see how things play out but for now, I think Jimin and Jungkook are good. I cannot say for sure what they are to each other (cause I really don’t know) but what I can say is that those two really love each other.

[r0tting-rat]

DCA PROMPTOBER 2024

Am I 2 days late? Yes, yes I am.

Day 31 - Trick or Treat

Pairing: Jack-O-Moon x Gender Neutral Reader Warning: Slight Angst at the end Words: 2500+ Summary: Jack is not as good as he thinks he is at scaring people (reminder that this is not TSAMS! I literally never watched that show in my life)

You hadn’t been working for Faz&co for long, but by god, you were already tired of your job. You had been hired to test some of the new games being developed by Faz Entertainment before they could be released to the public, which meant that you’d make room in your living room and stand right in the middle of it, then you’d wear the headset and enter the little digital world you had begun to love in the last weeks. You had long finished most of the levels, ending up replaying many just to have something to do before you had to give back the headset. You weren’t ready to let go of it, and not due to the games, but because you had made a friend there.

Jack-O-Moon was a rudimental AI made for the Captain Foxy’s Log Ride and Cinder Carousel. He was similar to the Sun and Moon animatronics, which you had interacted with along with many others, but Jack was… different, in a way. His AI seemed to be less developed, more simple, but that didn’t change your opinion on the animatronic. Jack was peculiar; he was creepy—he was meant to be, considering he was a Halloween themed character—but he was also extremely playful and sweet. He made you laugh, he told you jokes and brightened your day in his peculiar way, and overall he made you feel comfortable. You could say the stupidest and most nonsense thing, and Jack would reply with something even worse.

As every day, you selected on the main menu the Captain Foxy’s Log Ride, and after a moment you were “sitting” inside one of the logs, holding the usual dart gun while the Foxy animatronic began to explain the rules to you. You had heard them thousands of times, so of course you didn’t even listen to the robotic voice, instead beginning to look around yourself in search of your friend. As per script, Jack was supposed to appear only in specific parts of the ride, advancing towards the player while laughing in a menacing way, and the player was supposed to close the door on him before he could get close enough to jumpscare them. Easy enough, right? Except you had shit aim and died multiple times because of him. 

Now that you had befriended the AI—you weren’t even sure how it started, at some point you had begun to talk to him whenever you’d see him, and he eventually stopped jumpscaring you, just hopping on your log to stare at you in curiosity—he would appear as soon as you entered the ride, sitting beside you or hovering over your head, chilling. 

This time, however, you couldn’t see him anywhere. He knew you were there, there was no possibility that he hadn’t noticed, he was programmed to know your position on the ride for the entire length of the game. You wondered if he felt lazy and wanted you to come to him, or—even worse—he had malfunctioned and couldn’t get to you. The only way to find out was to play the game, so you sat more comfortably on the log and began to play.

☆

You had finished the ride a total of 3 times, but Jack was nowhere to be found. You had even waited outside the open doors, waiting for him to pop up like he was supposed to do, according to his fucking code. That alone was proof that something was wrong, because Jack could not simply ignore the orders given by his basic code! Your hands closed into fists, wondering if Faz&co had suddenly decided to remove him from the game for whatever reason, but you would have known if they had made any updates to the game, you were their beta tester. You returned to the main menu, anxiety gripping your heart into a squeeze, and you kept thinking about what you should do about Jack. Technically, if you noticed any anomalies in the game, you were supposed to email Faz&co and tell them, but you were hesitant to do so. Maybe Jack was alright, maybe it was just a minor bug and you were overreacting.

As you stood in the main room, facing the monitor with all the games, you decided to try and see if he was in the carousel, but before you could press the button, you heard a sound coming from behind you. It was metallic, a clicking you had begun to link to your animatronic friend, but before you could turn around, a well- known raspy voice whispered in your ear.

-Trick or Treat?- Jack asked, joyful, and the first thing you did was turn around and shove him away.

-What the fuck is wrong with you?!- You were so angry you could barely speak clearly, while Jack looked at you confused, perched on a chair like a cat. -I looked for you for- for f-fucking hours! Where were you? You scared me shitless, idiot!-

You were breathing heavily, staring up at the animatronic, who clicked his head to the side and looked down at his chest, surprised. 

-Jack, where the fuck were you?- you asked again, stepping closer so he had to look you in the eyes, but once more the robot’s face was a mask of bafflement.

-Waiting for you,- he whispered, -Here. To scare you.-

-You wanted to… to scare me? Why?- You stared at him, puzzled, crossing your arms over your chest. Jack nodded, slouching a little on the spot, like he felt guilty. 

-Halloween,- he spoke, -I like Halloween.-

Suddenly you felt terrible—no, not just terrible, you felt like a monster. Shit, Jack just wanted to scare you a little, after all, he was an Halloween animatronic! It was only natural for him to try and… disappear? You thought more about it. Why did he hide, why did he disobey his own code just to scare you? Why did he think it would have been a good idea in the first place?!

-Oh, Jack,- you said, voice softened, -I didn’t… I’m so sorry buddy, I just got so worried when I couldn’t find you anywhere! I thought you had malfunctioned and that you…-

You shook your head. You didn’t want to think about it anymore. 

-Listen, I’m okay with being jumpscared and stuff, but don’t do anything to make me worry. It’s a different kind of fear when you’re scared for someone else’s well being.-

-I’m fine,- Jack said, like he couldn’t understand why you were stressing for him. 

-Now I know it, but how was I supposed to know that you were fine if I didn’t see you where you were supposed to be?- you asked him, and only then the animatronic seemed to understand. He nodded, still looking down, then one of his large hands came to rest on his chest, where you had touched him when you had shoved him away. 

-What’s wrong?- you asked, confused, and Jack made a humming sound.

-You touched me,- he said, and you nodded. 

-Yes, I did. So?- Gently, his other hand came to hold one of yours and slipped his fingers in between yours.

-You can touch me.-

You finally realized, and when you did, your eyes widened and you gasped, closing your fingers around Jack’s as well. 

-Holy shit, I can!- You had never really touched Jack before, not even when he sat on the log next to you, you had never tried to. You had always simply assumed that your hand would have met empty air, but now that you had your fingers intertwined with his, you could definitely say that Jack was very, very consistent. He felt almost… almost real. Were your touch receptors that fucked up by all the time spent in the game that you had begun to have sensory hallucinations? How rare was that?

Out of the blue, Jack began to purr, smiling down at your joined hands. The intensity of his gaze made your cheeks heat up. 

-Feels nice,- he grinned, and that sentence evoked something inside of you. 

-W-Wait, you can feel? Like, feel stuff, with your hands?- you asked, and Jack nodded, -But you’re… you’re just an AI in a game, you don’t have a physical body! How is that possible?-

The robot tilted his head to the side, but he didn’t seem to actually think about what you just asked, instead, he just shrugged and kept playing with your hand, holding it in both of his and brushing his hard metallic fingers over your soft pads.

-Dunno.- He kept smiling. -I like this.-

The purring was getting louder, turning into a constant rumbling coming from his chest, making you feel more and more flustered by the second. 

-This is so weird,- you whispered, but Jack didn’t seem to listen to you, or if he did, he didn’t care about it, -I should probably tell Faz&co and…-

Immediately, Jack’s head shot up to stare at you straight in the eyes, making you jump in place and attempt to retract your hand, but his firm grip didn’t allow you. 

-No,- he said, -No Fazbear.- 

-Okay,- you said, nodding, -Alright, no Fazbear, understood.-

Jack mumbled something you didn’t quite hear and then returned to his purring and touching, reminding you of a weird cat who had heard the word “vet” during a cuddling session. Alright, so Jack didn’t like Faz&co, understood. 

-Can I hug you?- he suddenly asked, looking at you with hope, and even if you were still feeling pretty weirded out, you still nodded. 

-Oh, uhm, sure?- you agreed, and immediately you were pulled into Jack’s tight embrace. Again, you were left speechless from the fact that you could feel everything: the burned green ruffled around his neck, the cold metal of his torso and arms, the rough texture of his pants, his fingers spread out around your lower back and your nape. You could feel his purring deep in your chest, loud and warm through the fabric of your shirt. 

-Nice,- whispered Jack as he buried his face in your neck, -Feels nice.-

Hugging something that wasn’t supposed to exist on the physical plane surely felt nice, in a way, but the more time you spent in the animatronic’s embrace, the more you questioned your sanity. You couldn’t think of something that made sense, and you were so engrossed by your own thoughts that you almost didn’t hear Jack’s next words.

-I like you,- he whispered, holding you tighter. You waited in silence, struggling to understand what he meant. 

-I like you too, Jack,- you replied, -You’re my friend.-

-No,- he insisted, pulling away just so he could grab your face and look at you intensely, -I like you.-

You blinked a couple of times, unsure, until you realized exactly what the robot meant. You looked into his yellow eyes, bright as a candlelight, and at his soft, crooked smile, and all you could think about was how you had less than a month before Faz&co would begin to question why you were taking so long to beta their game and demand their headset back. You brushed your fingers against the orange skin of the robot’s face, feeling all the small craters on his moon side which reminded you of cute little freckles, and Jack closed his eyes with a soft whimper, leaning in your touch, starved for more. 

-I like you too,- you repeated, -I.. I do, Jack. Really.- 

You leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on the robot’s nose, and then you pressed your forehead against his, smiling. For a moment Jack stood silent and still, not believing that you had actually done that, and then his internal fans immediately whirred to life, loud and clear in the silence of the main room of the game, clearly giving away his embarrassment.

You giggled when you heard him making a glitching sound with his voicebox, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him back into a hug. Something inside Jack’s chest was beginning to warm, and the sensation quickly spread all over his body, beckoning you to stay close. Still, you had to pull away from his embrace—it was late, and you had to begin to make dinner for yourself.

-Where do you go when you leave the game?- asked Jack. He had always been weirdly self-aware of the fact that he lived inside a game, and as far as you knew, he was the only one to know between the other animatronics. Jack might have looked childish, maybe even a little dumb or dopey at first, with his manic laughters and senseless ramblings, but he was actually incredibly bright.

-To my home,- you answered, stepping back from Jack despite his complaining whines.

-Is it a nice place?- His head clicked to the side, like it always did whenever he had a question. 

-I guess it is. What’s more important is that it’s all mine, though.- 

Jack hummed in thought, probably thinking about how your house looked like, imagining you waking up in a bed all yours and cooking food for yourself—it was hard, to be honest. Jack had only the most basic information about the human way of living, like the fact that you needed to sleep to function, and that to sleep you needed a bed, and that bed was supposed to keep you warm so you wouldn’t freeze. Everything else was stuff that he had learned through you and your conversations. 

-Will I ever be able to see your home, one day?- Jack asked, and you laughed, before realizing that he was serious. Your smile fell and your eyes traveled down to your feet as guilt gripped your heart in a vice. 

-I don’t think that’s possible, Jack,- you whispered just loud enough for him to hear, -I will try and describe it to you next time, but I’m afraid you will never actually see it.- 

Jack didn’t say anything, he just nodded, then leaned in and smushed his face against your forehead, trying to repeat what you did when you kissed him, not completely succeeding in the task.

-See you tomorrow,- Jack purred, and for one last time you caressed his round cheek. 

-See ya, Jack.- 

You removed the headset, finding yourself back into your living room, with your eyes tired and your legs aching after being stuck on the spot for so long. With a sigh, you placed the headset down on the closest surface and sat on your couch, holding your head in your hands and closing your eyes. 

You liked Jack, you really did, but… there was no way it would work, and a part of you wondered if maybe it wasn’t better that way. Maybe, if you and he had met in the real world, if he had been one of the physical robots at the plex, maybe things would have been different—for better or for worse, you couldn’t say, but they would have been different. 

One thing was sure though: if Jack hadn’t met you, his existence would have been far, far easier and more peaceful. Thinking about it, with all your human tales and stories, you might have actually ruined his life, condemning him to long for something he could never have, not even in his wildest fantasies. You just hoped he could move on one day. 

[yanderecrazysie]

Good day, I was actually the anon who requested oshi no ko… I hope you enjoyed it cause I just recently rewatched it cause I couldn’t move past Ai’s death.

But can I have Yandere Aqua and more specifically if you are ok with it, with someone from his past life like his young intern. Like someone he had an attachment to as a doctor as they spent a lot of time working together and become really good friends despite the reader not really being into an idol stuff. So after his death, the reader naturally mourn him and left his hometown because of guilt of not being able to find his body.

So flash forward reader is now a certified doctor for stunt doubles and meats Aqua in a movie set. Seeing you, his once meek intern now a professional doctor brings feelings from him. You are his only connection to his past life as Gorou and he can’t seem to shake you off the emotions you bringout from him. He sees you as someone he has to control to protect you from harm and this leads to yandere obsession.

Thanks for reading my ask and request. Although thinking this more clearly, I feel like there would be a significant age gap between intern reader and aqua but The idea won’t leave my head so I hope you’re ok with it as long as both Aqua and Reader are legal adults

Oshi no Ko was literally so good! I cried at Ai’s death scene, it was so sad! (Then again, I cry at everything on TV these days lol) 

I made Reader young at the start, but there’s still a large age gap obviously. Both are adults though, so it’s technically fine.

Title: To See You Again

Pairings: Hoshino Aqua x Reader

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, significant age gap (legal adults)

Summary: Aqua sees someone from his past life again after 18 years. It brings up some darker feelings.

“You know, I can’t really get into this idol stuff, but it makes me happy to see you happy,” you giggled. 

Dr. Gorou couldn’t tear his eyes away from the TV, where a beautiful girl in a pink dress danced and sang on a brightly-lit stage. He gave a grunt of acknowledgment to show he’d heard his young intern. 

At just 18, you were the youngest person working in the hospital. It was clear you weren’t aiming to be a gynecologist like Dr. Gorou was, but your hometown was a small one and there weren't many options to intern at. 

You sat down on the bed next to your mentor, watching Ai blow a kiss to the audience, her eyes shining with emotion. Although you didn’t see the appeal in it, you understood that he had gotten into it from a young patient who had died. You couldn’t help but wonder if that death had scarred him somehow.

Scooting a little closer, you smiled up at Dr. Gorou. He looked at you from the corner of his eye for a moment, smiling back, before he turned his attention back to the idol on-screen. You stifled a sigh.

He’d never notice your feelings, would he?

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aqua stood idly around, watching the other actors practice their lines together. He’d already memorized his part of the script- it was easy compared to all the medical terms he’d had to memorize in medical school. 

“Quiet on set! Quiet on set!” Someone called out. The actors went quiet as a stunt actor got in place on set. Aqua watched silently from the corner he stood in.

The stunt double took a running leap through a glass window, taking the place of the main character, who had performed the scene just before this one. Suddenly, he stood up, clutching his leg and letting out a strangled cry. Sticking out from his thigh was a large shard of glass, blood beginning to seep through his pants.

“Cut!” The director yelled, leaping up from his chair. “Aqua, take him to the doctor on set!”

Aqua bit back a sigh. Why him? He walked over to the stunt double and offered him his arm to take. The stunt actor leaned against him, limping with each step and wincing in pain.

Aqua had never seen the doctor, but he knew where she was staying. He helped the man along the backstage hallway and to the office. He gave a quick knock and entered, helping the stunt double onto the bed.

Once he saw the doctor, his heart stopped. 

You were older now, probably around the age he was when he’d died in his previous life, but it was unmistakably you. He felt an irresistible tug at his heart when he looked at you, reminded of your smile and obvious crush on him.

For a moment, he waited for you to recognize him, but remembered that he wasn’t the same person anymore. Of course you wouldn’t know him. 

You had turned all of your attention to the poor stunt double in front of you, and Aqua was struck by the realization that you’d matured so much since he’d last seen you. You were a fully fledged doctor now, not just an intern. 

He was surprised by the thoughts that crossed his mind. I’m an adult again, so surely she’ll recognize me and want me again. And even worse, the childish reaction he had when he saw the wedding ring on her finger. I knew her first!

Back when he was Dr. Gorou, he had specifically ignored your advances. He was too old for you in his 30s, he had thought. But now, here you were, and the roles had swapped. Now he was the young adult, and the attraction had taken hold of him. Maybe it was hormones or maybe it was the fact that he finally had something from his old life in front of him.

He spotted a photo on your desk and leaned in to inspect it. He was shocked by the image- younger you standing next to Dr. Gorou. He just about choked on his tongue asking, “Hey, who is this?”

You looked up from the leg you were tending and followed his gaze. A sad smile crossed your face. “Oh, that’s my old mentor. He was a kind doctor that went missing, presumed dead. I miss him every day.”

Take that, (Y/n)’s husband. He thought victoriously.

“When can I see you again, Doc?” The stunt double asked as you bandaged his leg, “Maybe at a bar, just you and me?”

Aqua felt red-hot rage shooting through his veins. How dare he?

You giggled your sweet giggle, the one he’d missed for 18 long years, and turned him down. He didn’t deserve your laughter or your kindness, and Aqua seethed silently from it. You had pined after him for so long, why had you moved on?

Maybe your husband had forced you into a relationship. Threatened you. That’s the only conclusion he could make from this situation. After all, you still had his picture on your desk.

He’d take care of your husband for you, and then he’d find a way to make you see that he’s the same man you fell in love with all those years ago.

[icarusupinthestars-blog]

this article from new york magazine about how college students are now all cheating using ai is really chilling, but one of the major sociological points that i think we need to address (that the article alludes to) is how the capitalist world has conditioned us to think of education solely as a "checkpoint"/a means to an end for career progression and family life. that guy, chungin (roy) lee, had this quote where he basically said that he cheated to get into an ivy league school not because he wanted to learn anything but because he thinks that somewhere like columbia is where you're most likely to find your future co-founder and your wife.

it reminds me of this exercise that i once had to do for a class in undergrad where the professor asked us to draw a timeline of what we imagined our lives were going to look like in 5, 10, and 15 years. when we all talked about our individual timelines as a class, the professor really insightfully pointed out that the majority of our timelines were largely oriented around the type of work we wanted to do and what we thought our future families were going to look like. i was kinda shocked at this revelation because i hadn't even thought about quotidian things like what types of hobbies i wanted to pick up or what i'd want to do outside of work and family life. my future identity, as it was, was literally what i thought my labor would amount to.

i think this is part of what karl marx was talking about when he said that one of the major effects of capitalism on human beings is an alienation from the self/our species-being. I use species-being - and marx does this too - because he points out that most human beings have an inherent drive to create just because we're human. literally any attention to internet fandom shows that we are incredibly complex, creative creatures that will make things just for our satisfaction and pleasure. but what capitalism does is harness this creativity - and therefore our ability to imagine the future - and redirects it so that all of our life energies are dedicated solely to the creation of profit for the bourgeoisie/capitalist class.

public education is particularly complicit, and i think teachers need to think more critically about this when forming their pedagogical practice. think about how many career days/career oriented activities that we would be expected to do throughout middle and high school. so many career simulations, etc. that all condition us to be workers. hell, even think about how one of the most common questions we ask children in elementary school is "what do you want to be when you grow up?" a.k.a. what type of profession do you want to do as an adult. i think kids are a bit more fantastical with their answers generally - lest we forget about the superheroes, princesses, etc. that lots of kids want to be - but they understand that that particular social script is oriented around the jobs that we wish to have in the future. i remember when i was in kindergarten, at my little graduation ceremony we were all expected to come up to the mike and announce to our parents what we wanted to be (or do, really) when we grow up. even the language of "being" a profession (our species-being) shows how we cannot imagine ourselves and our identities outside of the labor that we can provide for the bourgeois class. i'm sure many people have similar experiences to this.

also not to mention how career days will implicitly devalue domestic labor as an actual form of labor, based on the way that stay at home moms are largely excluded from career days even though cleaning, cooking, and childcare are all forms of labor that would be considered as such if it didn't take place in the context of the family.

we live in hell.

[localcryptidsteg]

What Gen Ai in advertising actually means:

Ai voiceover: they literally could not pay someone to say something nice about their product. That's just pathetic.

Ai script: not even the people that made it had any idea how to explain or demonstrate it properly- its likely not done, or wasn't thought through, but got made anyway and now they're scrambling to find any scenario in which their junk might be useful or wanted- so they asked a computer to figure it out for them

Ai art: The makers of the ad don't have enough patience for a quality, eye-catching representation of their product to be made- Are they just so impatient they couldn't possibly wait the maybe week or so it takes a small studio to animate their ad on a puppet rig? Couldn't even handle the day to three days it might take a professional artist to make custom art for it? Either way, they clearly cut corners like it's their calling, and I doubt whatever they're trying to sell holds up any better.

If you see any of these, your first question should be, "Is this product even finished?" because if they don't even have enough money to advertise properly, they sure as shit dont have enough to make something that will last. Remember: If it uses AI to advertise in any capacity, it's either a complete piece of shit or a scam!