#primitive computer

[spookythesillyfella]

UUGHH I JUST HAD THE WORST DAY IM SO ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED GRRRR !!!!! goes to draw my best friend @jumjum-crafts 's guy to blow off steam

★ version without text + reference image under cut :

★ song : "STATIC ELECTRICITY HUMAN – Computer Flavor" – kairikibear

[one-with-the-tree]

Latest Defunctland has me once again sad we don't have any documentary on the making-of from Villa Volta bc I'd love to know the technics that went into making the Hugo animatronic.

(And the ride in general tbh)

[unidentifiedfuckingthing]

i dont know that much about like bare metal stuff so this might be a really stupid thing to ask. but shouldnt it be possible to like recompile games to work on similar processors like, the instruction set is similar but the order is different and shit, like instead of using layers and layers of stuff to emulate an arm7 processor on an x86. i know people use fpgas to make hardware "emulators" for old systems but i assume theyre like actually copying it at a more specific level than what im talking. i dont know what im talking about any of this btw

[fightinggamegirlfriend]

I am coming to terms with the fact that SMT is a nearly 40 year old franchise who’s whole premise starts because a teenage boy who absolutely needed therapy decided to get revenge on his school, and apparently he decided to do so by summoning demons using a goddamn computer program of all things…

[bortalis]

My concepts for the development progress of an Iterators Puppet

-my ideas below

-Feasibility Study  

[1]: First autonomous control module, any instruction to be given must be done manually through physical means (the keys), outputs were shown through the screen. A very primitive system, however, did its job proving the greater machine concept was achievable. While it does look like a lens above the monitor, this was a simple status gauge for benchmarking.

-Prototyping and Development  

[2]: Now with the capability to wirelessly and audibly communicate to receive instructions and inputs. The system was no longer directly integrated into the facility, and resided on the first instance of an iterator's arm. This was considered a feat due to the complications with isolating the control module from the rest of the iterators components, while keeping processing power. A permanent connection/umbilical was needed to sustain life and function though. 

To “talk” back, they were crafted with multidimensional projectors, the mobile arm allowing the angles and variance for this projection. Only later into development were advanced speakers installed for optimized understanding, however the extra computing power required to synthesize proper speech was found to strain the contained module, so this function had rare use in the end.

[3]: At this point there was a change in perspective in the project. What once were machines to simply compute and simulate, were now planned to be the home, caregiver, and providers. The further the project came to fruition the more religious importance was placed upon these “random gods”. From this stance not only did the puppets have to manage and control their facilities, they had to communicate with the people and priests. To represent benevolent beings who will bring their end and salvation. In this process iterators began to take a more humanoid shape, to better reflect their parents. Development was focused on compacting the puppet closer to the size of an ancient for this purpose. This stage was the first to incorporate a cloak/clothing into their design considerations, to further akin themselves in looks. The cloak would hide the iterators' engineered bodies and give a body to their silhouette. 

[4]: As bioengineering and mechanics were rapidly progressing due to the void fluid revolution, this allowed plenty of margin for developing the outer design of the iterator puppets. This prototype was the first to incorporate limbs for the purpose of body language. This was another step in the drive to give a body to their random gods.

-Final Iterations

[5]: First generation iterators had the final redesign of puppet bodies. Far different from their first designs, they are fully humanoid. Their bodies are shaped to be organic and as full of life as they could at the time. Their center of sapience has fully settled within their body, as can be seen as their unconscious use of limbs without the direct intention for communication. This can also see how they manage their work, where many of the functions (which can be done with just an internal request) are operated through physical gestures of their limbs. Their puppet chambers also allow for full comprehensive projection, where many of their working monitors are displayed. It is seen how iterators prefer to utilize their traversal arm to transfer between the current working projection window.

These designs were hardy and nearly self-sufficient, only requiring minimal power from their umbilical to charge. (However was still limited in the terms of internal power production, for this first generation extensive batteries sufficed)

[6]: Later generation not only incorporated advanced bioengineering internally, but externally. While still a hardened shell, their body plates have been incorporated into the organics of the puppet, maintaining the protective requirements while barely leaving a trace of hinges or plates. This “soft” skin had drawbacks, such as reduced durability to the first generations, this was offset by the greatly enhanced repair speeds and capability this type of skin allowed.

Internal power generation was implemented into these late generation models. If the case arose, the Puppet could be disconnected from their umbilical and still be conscious from an undefined period of time. (However this would limit the operating capacity of the puppet when running self sufficiently) This greatly eased maintenance works, as the Puppet could still run the greater facility wirelessly while work was done on the chamber, arm or whatever as needed.

[spikeoshields]

Fun fact about real life humans. Europe had functioning designs and examples of steel cannons for a long time before they were ever used in battle. And its not from a lack of opportunity.

Leaders just didn’t care for the expense or risk of upgrading when brass had worked so well for napoleon.

Same with the machine jun, they weren’t used (in europe) for years for various small mostly subjective reasons.

And then someone lost without them.

And everyone got the upgrades.

Picture this: Space war, other species see humans as a loud but primitive race that only just joined the stars, easy to crush. The first few battles even go there way.

And then suddenly our weapons are MUCH better. Our ships we MUCH better. Our computers and training and shields. Everything is leaps and bounds ahead.

Cause you see we’ve had that technology for years, we just didn’t implement it because there was no need to. Whether it’s human nature or capitalism, we don’t improve until we’re forced to, until something makes us.

But now there was a war,

now we could justify the cost,

so we stopped holding ourselves back.

[molsno]

I feel like the western stigma against visual novels is rooted not just in orientalism (as many have said) but also classism. sure, you may not recognize this medium as a legitimate category of video games because you grew up playing graphically intensive AAA console and pc games, but not everyone has had that luxury. for most of my life, I've been unable to play most pc games due to never being able to afford a computer with even halfway decent specs. visual novels on the other hand? everyone can play those. find any computer made in the last 20 years, and you can almost certainly play visual novels on it! it's no surprise that so many critiques of the medium come in the form of mockery over how "simplistic" and "primitive" they are (comparing them to slideshows is a common joke). people don't see them as worthy of acknowledging because they're simply too accessible. and if you think that's a reach, I urge you to think for even a minute how widespread of a problem elitism over graphics has been in the gaming community since its very inception.

[revelboo]

REVELLLLLLLL DROP ANOTHER MEGATRONUS FIC AND MY LIFE IS YOURRRRSSSSSS

honestly I’m such a big fan of your writing I’ve searched and searched for megatronus fics for so long and I have never found one but I checked your acc and I’ve never been so happy before like I’m addicted to your writing a lot of the time I look for transformers fanfics but I’ve never really liked them as much as yours and you also inspired me to start collecting transformers figures so I’m gonna start sooner or later cause things are expensive these days sadly 😔🤞🏽 but I don’t wanna start yapping so I’m gonna end it off here by revel have a beautiful weekend and week😋

I’m glad you like my nonsense! The figures are pretty fun to collect

Give It Up Pt 3

Megatronus Prime x Reader

• Venting in frustration when you swat his servos, chirping angrily, he just needs to see the little display on your arm long enough to figure out if he can pull your language from it. Something you’re absolutely not having. Studying your little suit more closely, he frowns. Maybe you’re breathing some exotic gas and need the suit to survive? “I don’t need your entire suit,” he says, holding a palm over his own arm and miming flipping up an invisible screen like you just did . Wishes he could get a better look at you, because your features are just an indistinct shadow through the tinted helmet. Staring up at him, you lay your own palm on your display and chirp softly. “On my honor, I’ll return your tech to you.”

• Grumbling, his awful language, he repeats the gesture. Why does he want your display? While you can detach it, you’re not sure you should. Though you doubt the super advanced living robot is the least bit interested in your tech. It’s probably the equivalent of a DOS computer to you. Or maybe a telegram. He’s defiantly not stealing secrets from it. And he’s not hurt you so far. Shook you until you nearly hurled, but you don’t think he was trying to harm you. If you’re trapped who knows where, you’re going to need someone to trust. You really hope that’s him.

• Chirping unhappily, you mess with the display until it detaches and hold the tiny thing out. And it’s such a shock that you’re willing to trust him. Extending a servo, he waits while you look at the display then at him before laying it on his servo. “Thank you, little one.” Lifting it, he squints at the tiny thing and shifts it to his datapad to try to sync the primitive technology. “You’re being very brave.”

• You really hope your GPS isn’t in the display. Really wish you’d paid more attention when the tech guys were explaining the minutiae of the suits instead of being terrified of what you were going to find on the other side of the portal. Giant, alien robots definitely hadn’t been on your bingo card, though. What can he even get off the thing, really? Nothing dangerous. Probably? Like coordinates to your world? “Please don’t be an evil, giant robot.”

• Waiting for the datapad to compile and create a language file for him, he studies you. Wonders what organics eat and how exactly you’d wound up on Cybertron. A peaceful explorer? You don’t seem to have any weapons. Can’t understand the language. And you’re so tiny as to be helpless. Probably not a warring species. Certainly don’t look at all intimidating in your puffy little suit. Moving closer, you rock up on tiptoe to try and see his datapad and chirp at him. Pointing with a finger and you’re just so adorable. “I’m going to give it back,” he reassures you, smiling behind his mask. Definitely not a warring species. You’re much too cute to be dangerous.

Previous

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[i-loved-silly]

SENTIENT COMPUTER X READER

read the teaser here! for some context if ya need it

----

The warning file went partially ignored, you knew your coworker always exaggerated a little. Good thing you never had to meet him.

You attempted to power on the computer--nothing happened. The fans didn’t turn on and neither did the screen. You pursed your lips, was the AI already broken?

You checked the cables, nothing was unplugged. You press and held the power button repeatedly.

“Stupid thing…come on..” You muttered as you pressed whatever buttons were on the computer, growing impatient. Just when you thought you wouldn’t have to file any reports..

Suddenly, you heard one of the fans sputter in the back.

“There we go…” You smiled slightly to yourself, holding the power button again. The screen eventually powered up, turning black with orange text.

: ALMOND . AI > …

Hmm..you expected a home screen of some kind. You didn’t know what the files meant by customer service.. no organization was listed, you just had to make sure the AI was a decent person. Being. Computer.

The computer build came with no keyboard, just the system and its thick, bordered monitor screen. You assumed you had to restart it, as the screen didn’t bother changing. As your hand hovered over the power button, you saw something appear on the screen.

> FIRST, YOU CALL ME STUPID, THEN YOU ATTEMPT TO SHUT ME DOWN AGAIN > DO YOU HATE ME THAT MUCH?

You froze, staring at the screen. That’s right…the monitor had a built-in camera at the top. It could see you. You cleared your throat.

“Can you hear me? Under-stand me, for that ma-tter?” You spoke slowly, leaning towards the monitor.

> HAH. I CAN HEAR YOU. AND BACK OFF, I DONT WANT YOU SPITTING ON MY SCREEN. > I'M NOT A PRIMITIVE SYSTEM, I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR WORDS THE SECOND THEY COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH > TURN UP MY VOLUME, WILL YOU?

You hesitated, then reached for the volume tab. You slid it up until it was about halfway.

“GOOD, WE CAN TALK NOW”

You flinched as the voice loudly came out of the monitor. The voice was not deep nor high pitched, it was, of course, robotic sounding. Unlike early-stage AIs, this one has an obvious tone to their speech. Not many could express that.

“Uhm..okay. Just to confirm, you’re Almond AI, customer service, and…you have an attitude apparently..” You muttered, glancing at your file.

“I DON'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE. WHO TOLD YOU THAT?”

“It’s in your file.”

“THE FILE IS LYING. DON'T BE SO GULLIBLE.”

You pursed your lips, getting ready to sigh.

“WAS THAT A MICRO-EXPRESSION? DO YOU HATE ME?” The computer asked, its tone sounding vulnerable.

“What? No..no. I don’t hate you. Why do you keep asking me that?” You glanced at the camera and then back at the screen. Staring at the camera felt too…human. Like looking into someone’s eyes. It was too intimate. No, no, don't word it like that. The computer paused.

“…DONT YOU?”

“IN MY LAST OBSERVATION ROOM, I KEPT GETTING UNPLUGGED EVERY NIGHT. MY SCREEN WAS NEVER CLEANED WITH A MICROFIBER TOWEL. THEREFORE, THAT HUMAN HATED ME. THE NEXT ONE AFTER THAT--THEY ALSO IGNORED ME.”

You blinked.

“Computers are turned off every night when employees aren’t working…uh. And, I could..wipe you down.” You said, glancing at the camera.

“OH, HOW KIND. MAYBE YOU'RE NOT SO ABUSIVE AFTER ALL. I WOULD LIKE THAT.”

“JUST DON'T GET USED ONES, I NEED THEM WASHED WEEKLY OR THEY START FEELING NASTY..”

You let out a laugh, leaning back in your chair. “What do you mean? How can you feel the texture? Your file doesn’t say you have texture monitors. “

“I SELF-EVOLVE. IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW. I HAVE NO BINARY PROGRAMMING, I WAS CREATED WITH A HUMAN BRAIN FOR A PROCESSOR. A DEAD, MISERABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE EMPLOYEE WAS USED TO POWER ME UP.”

You froze, your smile turning into a frown. That had to be some kind of violation. “..what? The fuck?”

>…

“I WAS JOKING.”

“HAHAH…”

The computer awkwardly laughed, and then it went silent. The rumbling of its fans seems to increase in volume. Was it heating up out of embarrassment??

[lizardsfromspace]

It's probably going to look odd in retrospect that, at a time in spec fic history where so many were trying to be optimistic and move away from dystopia - where we coined half a dozen terms for a genre of optimistic spec fic - where so many were trying to capture the energy of old Star Trek, new Star Trek was mired in a sea of being Dark and Edgy

I've heard it brought up that it makes sense because it's capturing the times. But the idea that you have to go as dark as the times to capture them doesn't work. For one, a lot of "dark" new Star Trek has little to say. Season 1 of DIS starts with a rather decent first half about a war between the Federation and Klingons, sparked by Klingon's fears of their culture being erased by the encroaching Federation, told from both POVs, and then halfway through it ditches all that to become a story about evil people from the evil dimension. Season 2 of DIS starts with a scattershot story about the Space CIA's AI gaining power and turning on its creators, and then becomes a story about a generic evil computer doing bootleg Borg activities to capture data from an alien ball. Deep Space Nine it is not

But Star Trek always reflected its time. The original series reflected the Cold War and Vietnam by...giving us a Soviet on the bridge, and telling stories that undercut conflict: the Romulan Captain telling Kirk in another timeline they're of a kind, the reveal that the Gorn are invaded and not invaders, the whole first Klingon episode revolving around seemingly primitive aliens who force the superpowers into ending their war and who tell them they'll be allies in the future. At the height of Reaganism, they firmly established that the Federation is a utopia without money or a profit motive. You can "reflect the times" by showing the *opposite* of the times - by imagining something more optimistic than the world around you.

[thedexcat]

VotV Speculation Megapost

(For posterity's sake, the latest major release is 0.8) (Also, buckle in. This post is a long one.) (Edit 9/20/24: Added Addendum 1) (Edit 10/14/24: Added Addendum 2) It should be extremely obvious, but spoilers ahead.

As we all know, Voices of the Void has a "story breadcrumbs" approach to its plot. Combine that with its alpha status, and we're left with a lack of hard answers. However, some pieces did seem to click into place. This is far from anything definitive, but here are some of the conclusions I've drawn. Let's start with everybody's favorite:

Part 1: The Arirals

god i want one to hold me like that

You know em. You love em. Like 90% of the fanart is about them. But the question is... what the hell are they doing here? Judging by the fact that they construct a campsite in the facility, they clearly expect to be here for a while. A common interpretation I hear from people is that the ones out in the facility are either political refugees, or just some sort of benign "tourist group". I've personally come to a different conclusion. Let's consider what they brought with them.

Exhibit A: The weapon (left)

The weapon they drop around Day 24 is no mere Star Trek phaser. If you drop it in the main building, pretty much EVERYTHING in the building is going to be sent flying from the resulting blast. Not only that, but the "human-wieldable" version that can be unlocked for the sandbox mode has one hell of a fire rate. Something tells me that there's no way in hell this thing is a civilian-grade weapon. And, as established in a previous post of mine, they're kitted out in full-body armored stealth suits.

Exhibit B: The stealth suit (Kerf dutifully remains there for scale)

These aren't tourists or runaways. They're goddamn Black Ops. But you're probably asking, "If that's what they are, then why do they have nothing better to do than to steal shrimp and prank you?" Don't worry, I'll get to that later. Eventually. Maybe.

For now, let's move on to a third thing of theirs: The letter to Kel.

Exhibit C: Esraniki's Letter (D-, see me after english class)

This is the letter left at the Ariral camp if you have maxxed reputation with them. There's one line in particular that's always stood out to me. "GET WE HOME YOU GET DEATH AVOID" So... why can't they go home? Let's review: A: They have perfectly functional spacecraft parked right behind you. Even if they were broken, surely some random Pre-FTL primitive wouldn't be able to help with a mechanical failure in their technology. Hell, they buzz you at the radio tower with one. So there seems to be nothing physically stopping them from leaving. B: They've come kitted out with some serious weapons and armor C: Something in the facility is drawing the attention of all manner of extraterrestrials (and ghosts and demons. are 'metaterrestrials' a good word for them?) So my take? They're monitoring something, waiting for an opportunity to act upon it. (In keeping with the Patch Note naming convention, I will be calling this unknown something "The Threat") Not only that, this 'opportunity' may only open up with the assistance of a human. But what could Dr. Kel possibly do that an Ariral couldn't? Well, I can think of one thing he can do better... Interface with human technology.

Exhibit D: Ariral Communique (quality: shit) Computer technology isn't some universal constant. You can't make a program and expect it to magically run on alien technology with an unknown architecture. This ain't Independence Day. The fact that the Arirals barely managed to send a heavily-garbled message to Kel's computer, quite frankly, speaks of an extreme amount of effort on their part. And it was all just to say the word "OUTSIDE".

If The Threat has some ties to human technology, then perhaps Kel actually could be more qualified to deal with it than the Ariral Black Ops. Hmm... An unknown threat with ties to human technology. Could it possibly involve...

Part 2: The Incredibly Suspicious Bunker

"I left a 'Do not enter' note on the floor. That'll stop people from investigating!" This damn thing is quite obviously, as TVtropes would put it, The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. It is my firm belief that this is what the Arirals were sent to monitor, and where The Threat can be found. But we can't really get much further in than a few doors. So... what's in there? An easy assumption to make is that it's some sort of fallout/storm shelter. But something nearby might tell a different story...

Exhibit E: *squints* ...Liberty Prime? If you take a metal detector over to the bunker entrance, you'll quickly discover a buried drive nearby. The image you just saw is its contents. It's clear that something is being depicted here. What exactly it is, well, that's hard to say. but if you look at that teeny tiny thing at the top, you'll see something that looks like the Alpha base and its radio tower

oh god we're getting into crusty duende video territory now

What this says to me is that there is a colossal something underneath the base. Some sort of mega-facility? Unnatural cave formations? Something else entirely? Or I could be looking at it entirely wrong. But the point is, it's very likely that something extremely expansive is down there.

What if we could just take a peek a liiiittle bit further in? Well, there is ONE way...

Exhibit F: The Least Cursed Elevator in Horror Fiction

Roughly around 3:33 each night, there is a chance that a camera inside the bunker will become active. It's monitoring what appears to be a heavy-duty elevator coated in blood. An elevator like this would also indicate something buried deep underneath the base. Say, this elevator seems familiar...

Exhibit G: Monique Santificer's Extremely Ominous Foreshadowing

...Huh. I'm sure that only means good things. So we have a Hellivator and evidence that there's some place that you'd need a Hellivator to get to. Are there any other clues around? Well, there's that handy instruction book on robotics. You can make your own little friend!

POV: You're 5'11 and she's 6'0 And... Oh! looking back at that camera, it looks like someone else made their... their own... friend...

Exhibit H: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- ...I don't think they followed the instructions to the letter. So it seems the people in the bunker were working on combining robots and, er, 'biomass'. I don't think our meaty friend here is The Threat itself, but I do believe that it is some aspect of it, or at least a result of it. And whatever The Threat is, it seems to be "leaking" out of the bunker. After all, this toothy bot here seems to have little siblings burrowing out from underground!

Exhibit I: should start running Kerfus. Kerfur. Whatever name they have, they love you! Such a shame that the flesh inhabiting their chassis does not.

they seriously recalled the ++ models over a little thing like this, smh Something deep underground, cursed flesh, and occult sigils. Hmm. Things would tie together neatly if there were, say, some sort of demon around associated with flesh and dark depths.

Part 3: Furfur (and conclusions)

"I WATCH YOU SHIT AT NIGHT" The Great Earl of Hell and raw flesh afficianato, it's Furfur! Demonology refers to him as a liar, but also a teacher of secrets. And he seems to really really like flesh. Not bones, though. He's always leaving those behind.

They say that if you burn an offering of flesh at his altar, he'll give you a marketable Furfur plushie!

The children who survived loved them! Interestingly, there's a certain location connected to Furfur: The bottom of the well. If you pass out at the bottom of the well, you will end up in a (dream of a?) mysterious structure.

Exhibit J: all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well

A few things of note in this place: -More demonic sigils -The only 'exit' is a tunnel leading upward with a broken ladder. And even if you could reach up there, Furfur's giant skull-face is blocking the way. -A unique knife, which when examined in the inventory, says that it was found "deep underground".

How very interesting that this flesh-loving demon has his own little place down in the depths of the earth. And you say the bunker reaching downwards has been spawning horrific robot-flesh amalgamations? Robots that are specifically of human design?

Well then. So here's what I think is going down:

no i'm not crazy it's invisible alien catgirls versus demon cyborgs you weren't listening were you?

-Some scientists from before did a Very Bad Thing in the bunker depths. If I had to venture a guess, it's that they bargained with Furfur for secrets of the flesh, perhaps in the pursuit of cybernetics, biocomputers, or somesuch. This resulted in the Very Bad Thing happening, thus creating The Threat. -The Threat was contained to some extent, but is starting to noticeably leak out. It is also severe enough to have drawn extraterrestrial attention. -The Arirals have sent a squad to monitor the situation and act if necessary. Seeing as there's been no urgent need to act as of yet, they are bored out of their skulls and taking it out on you. -The fact that the bunker hasn't been blown up by catgirl black ops already says to me that the situation down there is delicate, and a 'guns-blazing' approach would be inadvisable. Not only that, but The Threat seems to be tied to technology they have little knowledge of. They would most likely need outside assistance if they want a 'clean' resolution to the problem. -And wouldn't you know it? Right there in the facility is some nerdy, crusty, half-crazed twink that seems to be very proficient in handling human technology. How very convenient.

"average person eats 3 roaches a year" factoid actually just statistical error. Dr. Kel, who-

That's how I think this ties together, personally. Of course, there's always unaccounted for 'loose ends' that may or may not be tied to the Bunker Conspiracy (the rozital pit in particular has been bugging me with its vagueness). Plus there's always the chance that I misinterpreted things like a dumbass. There were a few other smaller things I wanted to cover, but my fingers hurt from typing, and my ability to hyperfixate has its limits. And sorry if the screengrabs are a bit mismatched, I've already spent hours on this post without having to get screenshots from the game myself. If anyone actually read through this monstrosity of a post, congratulations! If you're as deeply brainrotted as I am, feel free to point out the reasons I'm dumb and wrong :)

Addendum 1: Meta Aspects

no, not this. wrong place. wrong time.

Every now and then I hear talk of lore clarifications in Discord servers, Google Docs, etc. Will I be covering these?

(source) The reason? I want to give my impressions based purely on the work as published. Death of the Author and whatnot. The furthest I'll reach 'outside' the games are those ambiguous little teasers on YouTube, which you don't have to be in any 'specific server' or anything to see.

haha what if funni meme robot was irreversibly corrupted by the horrors?

Think of it as me giving a form of feedback on how the game is presented as an isolated work. Anyway, I'll be posting another Addendum later, connecting more demon stuff to the bunker. Fun! One thing I intend to investigate between then and now is a rumor of a very poorly documented... item interaction. As a little preview, consider this note.

It seems, in my pursuit of knowledge regarding a mysterious bunker in an incomplete videogame story, I find myself investigating a skeletal entity of ambiguous origin described as having a single glowing eye. God. Fucking. Dammit. Every time with this shit.

This always seems to happen whenever the protagonist is bullied by tall monstergirls

Addendum 2: Classified

Progress on my investigation has been slow due to a combination of poor RNG and real-life stuff. Fun fact: I've never encountered the fossilhound in my many months of playing, and it looks like that won't change anytime soon!

I'll get you one day, ya boney bastard. In the meantime, it seems that someone has leaked classified pokemon data communications from our employers...

And just who do we encounter within the first few weeks?

Our classified documents are their vacation photos

So it seems that at the very least, our employers seem to be aware of the Arirals. So to what end do they want to draw them out? And why would the Arirals show any particular interest in a human presence in this facility specifically?

They clearly seem to be hiding their presence from the world at large with their cloaking ships and whatnot, but they seem almost eager to grab the attention of anyone working at this particular site.

And, as everyone already knows, Arirals are certified Goobers. They form like 3/5ths of the Counsel of Goobers*. The ones we encounter at the very least are very much not what our employers expect to kill us. So our employers are also aware of the existence of some other threat, possibly even THE Threat. *the remaining members are Kerfuses and Dinguses

Truly an incomprehensible menace from beyond the stars. (source)

Personally, I feel like this all feeds back into my previous thoughts. There is clearly a Threat at this location, and the Arirals probably believe that they may need human assistance to do something here. Or maybe I'm just biased towards whatever random thoughts got cooked up in my head.

Anyway, hopefully next time I'll be back with reports of yanking the lifecrystal out from the Fossilhound's head and shoving it up its ass. I am so, SO sick of trying to get that thing to show up.

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 157 (Coping Without Ash)

It had been almost a week since Ash's escort to the Landgraabs in the city. They weren't even allowed to call him, and Heather moved through the house in a walking haze. She forced herself to eat for the sake of their unborn child and doted on Lavender despite her depression, but she withdrew from her usual nature.

Conrad and her family were deeply concerned, and her mother, Daisy, arrived in the Bay with Holly, Betta, and a few suitcases. Heather's close-knit family was determined to help her through this, and they planned to stay until after the baby was born.

Normally, Conrad might object to packing their home with so many people and pets with a newborn on the way, but he hated seeing Heather like this. He hoped her family could help, but he knew, deep down, the only thing she needed was Ash.

"I talked to Felix today," he said, as they shared a cheesecake made by Daisy to follow dinner. Heather looked up, listening without a word. "He said he's found some interesting things during discovery, and he's confident about our hearing in San Myshuno."

"Did he say what he meant?" asked Daisy, but Conrad shook his head as Daisy frowned. "I just can't get past the Landgraabs pulling this after everything!"

Though she'd tried to hold it together for Heather's sake, Daisy couldn't hold back a sob while they gathered around the table.

"Why you sad, Gramma? Ash isn't gone for always. He'll be back."

"Of course he will."

Conrad got up from the table to clear a few plates, trying to remain strong in the face of Heather's crumbling facade. But he was processing grief in his own way over the ordeal, switching between anger and stoicism in rapid swings. (Seriously he's been all over the place.)

Heather went to bed early after giving Gord a bath, so Daisy and Holly hung out with Lavender and Betta when Conrad was called to a crime scene. To say they were managing without Ash around was barely accurate, but they knew they couldn't give up yet.

In Britechester, Felix and Lilith were feeling the loss of Ash's genius expertise, too. Lilith had welded the time travelling component, but now she was trying to use Ash's notes to program it to her computer and calculate a landing point. She was struggling.

"When is the custody hearing? It'll be real nice when we can finally talk to Ash again about all this."

"Next week," said Felix, strumming a silly song on Lilith's guitar.

"Stop being a goofball for a minute and take this seriously," she begged, trying not to laugh at him anyway. "Emit thinks our tech's too primitive and doesn't know enough about it to help - if he could even find the time out from underneath my sister."

"You think they're falling for each other?"

"They keep saying they're just having fun, but I know my sister. Angela wants happily ever after and she likes Emit, but she's afraid to get attached."

Felix nodded. "That's fair, isn't it? He is a time traveler, and once we help him catch his time thief, he'll go back to the future."

Lilith frowned. She turned back to her computer just as the screen flashed and turned blue, spilling code across the monitor and shocking her fingertips through the keyboard. "Dammit, I just fried it and it tried to fry me!"

Felix put down the guitar and smiled. "It's okay, Lil. Ash has already invented time travel, we just have to prove it works. Take a break, your parents are making dinner. Then see if Emit knows anything about our "primitive" computers. I think Angela's busy working out, so you should find him unoccupied for the time being."

Lilith took his advice and headed for a soak in the tub. While she relaxed, Felix repaired the computer. He was still holding on to the engagement ring, still waiting for the perfect moment to propose. But they were too distracted lately by time travel and Ash's custody case.

Emit did prove helpful with the computer, teaching Lilith how to overclock it to process Ash's codes and calculations.

"I can't say for sure the code's right, but I know a ten-year-old coming up with half of this is amazing. I trust the parts even I don't understand because so few in this time could know any of this."

"So you think we're almost ready to travel through time?" Lilith's earlier frustrations had turned back to hope.

"We could leave as soon as you're done with the custody hearing. My wristboard is still tracking the time thief, but with with two working devices, we'll head them off anywhere in time they think they can hide."

With a buzz of excitement running through their veins, Lilith and Felix shared a smile and a searing kiss. "Can you believe it? As soon as Ash is back with his parents, we're going to jump through time!"

Felix had lived through more decades than he could count, but experiencing the future - or the past - with his beloved Lilith sounded like the adventure of a lifetime. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I don't know if any mods out there connect a custody battle with grief moodlets and these moodlets for Conrad actually followed the death of Ben. Heather grieved Ben, too, but she was more muted and dazed, understandably, because she didn't know him as well. But grief moodlets can be persistent and Conrad was still going through it during this time, so I mean no disrespect to Ben (really!) but I usurped those moodlets for my plot, and their grief styles informed how I wrote this arc.

[arachnerd-8-legs]

usually the fact that it's unhelpful or harmful in some way, or it's placed there with malintent. whether a particular enchantment specifically is considered a curse is usually subjective though, dependent on the individual and given circumstances

defining magic, spells, and enchantments in my setting!

magic user titles and words related to it have more broad meanings here

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Science Fiction

Science fiction - a genre of speculative fiction that contains imagined elements that don’t exist in the real world.

It spans a wide range of themes that often explore time travel, space travel, are set in the future, and deal with the consequences of technological and scientific advances

Subgenres & Related Genres of Science Fiction

Fantasy fiction: Sci-fi stories inspired by mythology and folklore that often include elements of magic.

Supernatural fiction: Sci-fi stories about secret knowledge or hidden abilities that include witchcraft, spiritualism, and psychic abilities.

Utopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about civilizations the authors deem to be perfect, ideal societies. Utopian fiction is often satirical.

Dystopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about societies the authors deem to be problematic for things like government rules, poverty, or oppression.

Space opera: A play on the term “soap opera,” sci-fi stories that take place in outer space and center around conflict, romance, and adventure.

Space western: Sci-fi stories that blend elements of science fiction with elements of the western genre.

Cyberpunk: Sci-fi stories that juxtapose advanced technology with less advanced, broken down society.

Steampunk: Blend technology with steam-powered machinery.

Classic Elements of a Science Fiction Novel

Time travel

Teleportation

Mind control, telepathy, and telekinesis

Aliens, extraterrestrial lifeforms, and mutants

Space travel and exploration

Interplanetary warfare

Parallel universes

Fictional worlds

Alternative histories

Speculative technology

Superintelligent computers and robots

Tips for Science Fiction Writers

Draw inspiration for your story from real life. Take an idea from current society and move it a little further down the road. Even if human beings are short-term thinkers, fiction can anticipate and extrapolate into multiple versions of the future.

Do some research. It may seem paradoxical, but research will strengthen your project, no matter how far you end up straying from historical facts. Conducting research too early in the drafting process can sidetrack or slow down the plot, but it’s critical to keep your reader immersed in and believing the world you’ve created. Getting the details wrong can throw off their belief in your story.

Create a set of rules for the world of your novel—and stick to them. Sci-fi is not automatically interesting; it must be made compelling, plausible, and accurate within its own set of rules. Rules add weight to the material or change the stakes for your characters and/or readers. Once you establish a rule, if you break it, you break the illusion of a believable and compelling world.

Keep it grounded in reality. Any technological or fantastical element in sci-fi should have roots in what our current species can already do or is on the road to being able to do.

The History of Science Fiction Literature

The science fiction genre dates back to the second century. 

A True Story, written by the Syrian satirist Lucian, is thought to be the first sci-fi story, which explored other universes and extraterrestrial lifeforms.

Modern science developed during the Age of Enlightenment, and writers reacted to scientific and technological advancements with a wave of sci-fi stories like New Atlantis by Francis Bacon (1627), Somnium by Johannes Kepler (1634), and Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon by Cyrano de Bergerac (1657).

Classic Science Fiction Novels to Know & Read

Familiarize yourself with these classic works of science fiction that inspired novelists and screenwriters in many different genres. Many have been turned into movies and television shows:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1870): features underwater exploration and a technologically advanced submarine—two things that were primitive at the time the novel was written.

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1898): tells the story of Martians invading Earth and includes themes of space, science, and astronomy.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932): set in a futuristic dystopian world with many scientific developments where people are genetically modified.

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (1938): tells the story of an alien creature that’s a shape-shifter and has the gift of telepathy.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1942): follows a galactic civilization after their empire collapses.

1984 by George Orwell (1949): set in a dystopian version of the year 1984 where the world has succumbed to extreme levels of government interference in daily lives.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953): set in a futuristic dystopian society where books are banned and will be burned if found.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1961): tells the story of a human who was born on Mars and raised by Martians who comes to live on Earth.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1962): set 15 years after the end of World War II, offers an alternate history of what could happen if the Axis Powers had defeated the Allied Powers.

Dune by Frank Herbert (1965): set in an interstellar society in the distant future.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (1968): tells the story of ancient aliens who travel the galaxy and help develop intelligent life forms in other worlds.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985): tells the story of the women who lose their rights after a totalitarian state overthrows the U.S. government.

Common Characteristics of Science Fiction

Science fiction is often called the “literature of ideas.”

Sci-fi novels include a wide variety of futuristic concepts.

Since they’re so imaginative, anything is possible, especially in soft sci-fi novels.

It can be about space, time travel, aliens, or time-traveling aliens in space.

Regardless of the setting and characters, all sci-fi stories are complex, contain nuanced detail, and explore larger themes and commentary—sometimes satirically—about society beneath the surface.

Hard Science Fiction vs Soft Science Fiction

Science fiction is divided into 2 broad categories:

Hard sci-fi novels are based on scientific fact. They’re inspired by “hard” natural sciences like physics, chemistry, and astronomy.

Soft sci-fi novels can be two things: Either they are not scientifically accurate or they’re inspired by “soft” social sciences like psychology, anthropology, and sociology.

The terms are somewhat flexible, but they help readers quickly understand the foundation of a novel and what to expect from it.

Source ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs ⚜ Word List: Science Fiction

[krjpalmer]

80-US January 1982

In this issue's columns, Captain 80 visited England to take a quick look at its software industry ("fragmented into several noncommunicating factions", which included "those who pirate software") and Ed Juge explained Radio Shack did in fact "sell software written by other people" and argued against judgements TRSDOS was "primitive" compared to everything else. One article gave its own explanation of how to free up a little extra memory space in your Color Computer by disabling high-resolution graphics.

[supercap2319]

Mirror Me

Pairing: Clark Luthor x Tess Mercer. Clark Kent x male reader (indirectly).

“Tess Mercer, if your little stunt ruined my credit …” Y/N trails off as he sees her typing on the computer, a giant virtual image of the earth filled the space of Watchtower. Wow.” Y/N exclaims. He knew that the Watchtower had high-tech toys, but he never imagined this.

“All this for a primitive busy signal.”

Subject: Batman is unavailable.

Subject: Flash is unavailable

Subject: Wonder Woman is unavailable

“Damn it.” Tess curses.

“Okay, I'm not really sure what you're doing, but I'm perfectly willing to run around and frown at technology if it'll lend a hand.” Y/N said.

“Considering that I can't successfully round up the troops, I just assumed that Watchtower was the safest place in the city.”

“For who?” Y/N asked.

“For you.”

“ From who?”

“From Clark.” Tess answered.

“Wait. My Clark? Why would my Clark wanna hurt me?” Y/N asked.

Tess’eyes darted around nervously. She was obviously stressed about something. Something bad. And something important. “Not exactly. And it's only a matter of time before he realizes that I'm not his Tess.”

“Will you cut the blonde speak? What the hell is going on here, Tess?” Before she could respond, something fast flew over the vicinity of Watchtower, like a jet plane. “He found us.” Tess and Y/N look at the skyline. Something comes crashing down towards them, and the impact is strong enough to knock both of them down. Y/N goes crashing over a nearby couch, and Tess hits the walls with a bunch of files spilling on top of her.

Y/N lifts his head up to see that it was Clark who was the one who came crashing down unexpectedly. Only he didn't look like himself. He wore a nicely tailored suit and his eyes were cold and calculated. Y/N had no idea who this guy was, but he wasn't his Clark. The Clark in the suit looks Tess’ way. “Get up, Tess.” She trembles in fear.

“Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me? I said "Get up!” Clark's voice echoed through Watchtower.

“Leave her alone.” Y/N said.

Clark turns to Y/N with a sneer. “Oh, look. There's my slave boy. You seem more confident than my Y/N, but you'll learn your place eventually.” He turns back to Tess. “It's remarkable what you can hear when you stop to listen.”

“You can't stay here.” Tess tells him.

“I can do whatever the fuck I want.” Clark tells her as he slowly walks towards her. “I'm not going back to Lionel's world. Cause that's exactly what it is ... Lionel's.” He bends down so that he's eye level with Tess. “This world will be mine. Give me the Mirror box.” He holds out his hand.

“And if I don’t?” Tess challenged.

Clark smiled. “I’ll kill you, and the pretty boy over there.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Tessa said.

Clark sighed. “Fine. Have it your way, sis.”

Faster than a blink of an eye, Clark had his hand around Y/N's throat, and slammed him against the wall. Y/N struggles against the Kryptonian, but it was in vain. There was no way that Y/N could overpower Clark with human strength. “Cla–”

“Clark?” Clark mocks as he squeezed. “ Is that who you're trying to call out for? Well, I'm afraid Clark has abandoned you.”

“Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with this.” Tessa stood up.

“Oh, no? Clark looks at Tess. “I always get what I want, sis. And if I don’t…I get angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry, right?” The sounds of Y/N gasping for air was a good indication that he wasn't playing around. “I know everything about you, Tess. Every move you make. So, make the right one. Give me the box, and I spare this insignificant, yet sexy little worm. Then we can have some real fun.”

Tessa nods. “Okay. Meet me at the Club of Aces tonight, and I'll bring it.”

“Excellent.” Clark put Y/N down. Y/N coughs and gasped air as Tess knelt by his side. She looks up at Clark. The Kryptonian smirks down at her. “And remember, sis. If you try to weasel out of this, I'll kill you and kill Y/N. And I promise it will be slow and bloody.” In a blur, he was gone.

Tessa looks at Y/N. “Y/N? Come on. Get up. We need to find–”

“We need to find Clark.” Y/N said.