#robots versus humans

[mossandfog]

China to Host Human Vs. Robot Half Marathon Race

Well, it’s begun. Our era of humanoid robots interacting with us in real, tangible ways. In April, Beijing is hosting a half marathon where humans will compete alongside bipedal (walking/running) robots. The 21-kilometer race will showcase over 12,000 determined human runners alongside more than 20 teams of cutting-edge humanoid robots, developed by leading manufacturers from across the…

[vertigoartgore]

2009's X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas Vol.1 #1 cover by cover artist Ed McGuinness, inker Dexter Vines and colorist Justin Ponsor.

[lifewithaview]

Thandiwe Newton, Leonardo Nam, and Ptolemy Slocum in Westworld (2016) The Adversary

S1E6

Maeve interacts with Felix and convinces him to take a tour through the facility with her. Then he asks him to increase her intelligence and mental capacity. Elsie gives the satellite link device to Bernard and he decides to visit Sector 17 where he finds Ford family home. Out of the blue, Ford comes and explains that he created his family using first generation hosts for sentimental reason. Meanwhile Elsie investigates the espionage system and she goes to an abandoned building discovering that Theresa Cullen is the spy. Teddy rides with the Man in Black and they are attacked and captured by Union soldiers after a shooting. Theresa breaks her relationship with Bernard.

*Tessa Thompson joins the cast.

[nicollekidman]

dark urge lyra starting the game in the same emotional space that canon lyra ENDS her game and it just makes everything worse….. i will never create a healthy character EVER and there will never be a sweet romance on my watch!

[kumomist]

intense insane staring into the distance and still crying over north no2

[captainseamech]

Tags go brrrrr part... uhh I forgor

[lightningbig]

if you think about it. legion mass effect is kind of like my buddy viktor arcane

[neverendingford]

.

[fight-nights-at-freddys]

MASTER POST OF PROSHIP RESOURCES!!! <3<3

this is just for links (bc i just have No Way of formatting this properly), so for more in-depth stuffs and credits, head to the google doc, or the carrd !! :3c

Fiction ≠ Reality

Violent media -

Does Media Violence Predict Societal Violence? It Depends on What You Look at and When

Video Game Violence Use Among “Vulnerable” Populations: The Impact of Violent Games on Delinquency and Bullying Among Children with Clinically Elevated Depression or Attention Deficit Symptoms

Extreme metal music and anger processing

On the Morality of Immoral Fiction: Reading Newgate Novels, 1830–1848

How gamers manage aggression: Situating skills in collaborative computer games

Examining desensitization using facial electromyography:Violent videogames, gender, and affective responding

'Bad' video game behavior increases players' moral sensitivity

Fiction and Morality: Investigating the Associations Between Reading Exposure, Empathy, Morality, and Moral Judgment

Comfortably Numb or Just Yet Another Movie? Media Violence Exposure Does Not Reduce Viewer Empathy for Victims of Real Violence Among Primarily Hispanic Viewers

Fantasy Crime: The Criminalisation of Fantasy Material Under Australia's Child Abuse Material Legislation

Being able to distinguish fiction from reality -

Effects of context on judgments concerning the reality status of novel entities

Children’s Causal Learning from Fiction: Assessing the Proximity Between Real and Fictional Worlds

Reality/Fiction Distinction and Fiction/Fiction Distinction during Sentence Comprehension

Reality = Relevance? Insights from Spontaneous Modulations of the Brain’s Default Network when Telling Apart Reality from Fiction

How does the brain tell the real from imagined?

Meeting George Bush versus Meeting Cinderella: The Neural Response When Telling Apart What is Real from What is Fictional in the Context of Our Reality

loli/shota/kodocon -

If I like lolicon, does it mean I’m a pedophile? A therapist’s view

Virtual Child Pornography, Human Trafficking and Japanese Law: Pop Culture, Harm and Legal Restrains

Lolicon: The Reality of ‘Virtual Child Pornography’ in Japan

Report: cartoon paedophilia harmless

‘The Lolicon Guy:’ Some Observations on Researching Unpopular Topics in Japan

Robot Ghosts And Wired Dreams Japanese Science Fiction From Origins To Anime [pg 227-228]

Australia's "child abuse material' legislation, internet regulation and the juridification of the imaginationjuridification of the imagination [pg 14-15]

Multiple Orientations as Animating Misdelivery: Theoretical Considerations on Sexuality Attracted to Nijigen (Two-Dimensional) Objects

Positive Impact on Mental Health

Art therapy -

The effectiveness of art therapy for anxiety in adults: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials

Efficacy of Art Therapy in Individuals With Personality Disorders Cluster B/C: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Effectiveness of Art Therapy With Adult Clients in 2018 - What Progress Has Been Made?

Benefits of Art Therapy in People Diagnosed With Personality Disorders: A Quantitative Survey

The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in the Treatment of Traumatized Adults: A Systematic Review on Art Therapy and Trauma

The clinical effectiveness and current practice of art therapy for trauma

Writing therapy -

Optimizing the perceived benefits and health outcomes of writing about traumatic life events

Expressive writing and post-traumatic stress disorder: Effects on trauma symptoms, mood states, and cortisol reactivity

Focused expressive writing as self-help for stress and trauma

Putting Stress into Words: The Impact of Writing on Physiological, Absentee, and Self-Reported Emotional Well-Being Measures

The writing cure: How expressive writing promotes health and emotional well-being

Effects of Writing About Traumatic Experiences: The Necessity for Narrative Structuring

Scriptotherapy: The effects of writing about traumatic events

Emotional and physical benefits of expressive writing

Emotional and Cognitive Processing in Sexual Assault Survivors' Narratives

Finding happiness in negative emotions: An experimental test of a novel expressive writing paradigm

An everyday activity as treatment for depression: The benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder

Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process

Effects of expressive writing on sexual dysfunction, depression, and PTSD in women with a history of childhood sexual abuse: Results from a randomized clinical trial

Written Emotional Disclosure: Testing Whether Social Disclosure Matters

Written emotional disclosure: A controlled study of the benefits of expressive writing homework in outpatient psychotherapy

Misc -

Emotional disclosure about traumas and its relation to health: Effects of previous disclosure and trauma severity

Treating complex trauma in adolescents: A phase-based integrative approach for play therapists

Emotional expression and physical health: Revising traumatic memories or fostering self-regulation?

Disclosure of Sexual Victimization: The Effects of Pennebaker's Emotional Disclosure Paradigm on Physical and Psychological Distress

Kink/Porn/Fantasies

Sexual fantasies -

A Critical Microethnographic Examination of Power Exchange, Role Idenity and Agency with Black BDSM Practitioners

Women's Rape Fantasies: An Empirical Evaluation of the Major Explanations

History, culture and practice of puppy play

What Exactly Is an Unusual Sexual Fantasy?

The Psychology of Kink: a Survey Study into the Relationships of Trauma and Attachment Style with BDSM Interests

Punishing Sexual Fantasy

Women's Erotic Rape Fantasies

Sexual Fantasy and Adult Attunement: Differentiating Preying from Playing

What Is So Appealing About Being Spanked, Flogged, Dominated, or Restrained? Answers from Practitioners of Sexual Masochism/Submission

Dark Fantasies, Part 1 - With Dr. Ian Kerner

Why Do Women Have Rape Fantasies

The 7 Most Common Sexual Fantasies and What to Do About Them

Sexual Fantasies

Pornography -

The Effects of Exposure to Virtual Child Pornography on Viewer Cognitions and Attitudes Toward Deviant Sexual Behavior

American Identities and Consumption of Japanese Homoerotica

The differentiation between consumers of hentai pornography and human pornography

Pornography Use and Holistic Sexual Functioning: A Systematic Review of Recent Research

Claiming Public Health Crisis to Regulate Sexual Outlets: A Critique of the State of Utah's Declaration on Pornography

Pornography and Sexual Dysfunction: Is There Any Relationship?

Reading and Living Yaoi: Male-Male Fantasy Narratives as Women's Sexual Subculture in Japan

Women's Consumption of Pornograpy: Pleasure, Contestation, and Empowerment

Pornography and Sexual Violence

The Sunny Side of Smut

Other -

Fantasy Sexual Material Use by People with Attractions to Children

Fictosexuality, Fictoromance, and Fictophilia: A Qualitative Study of Love and Desire for Fictional Characters

Exploring the Ownership of Child-Like Sex Dolls

Are Sex and Pornograpy Addiction Valid Disorders? Adding a Leisure Science Perspecive to the Sexological Critique

Littles: Affects and Aesthetics in Sexual Age-Play

An Exploratory Study of a New Kink Activity: "Pup Play"

Jaws Effect

The Jaws Effect: How movie narratives are used to influence policy responses to shark bites in Western Australia

The Shark Attacks That Were the Inspiration for Jaws

The Great White Hope (written by Peter Benchley, writer of Jaws)

The Jaws Myth [not a study BUT is an interesting read and provides some links to articles and studies]

Slenderman Stabbings

Out Came the Girls: Adolescent Girlhood, the Occult, and the Slender Man Phenomenon

Jury in Slender Man case finds Anissa Weier was mentally ill, will not go to prison

2nd teen in 'Slender Man' stabbing case to remain in institutional care for 40 years

Negative effects of online harassment

How stressful is online victimization? Effects of victim's personality and properties of the incident

Prevalence, Psychological Impact, and Coping of Cyberbully Victims Among College Students

Offline Consequences of Online Victimization

The Relative Importance of Online Victimization in Understanding Depression, Delinquency, and Substance Use

Internet trolling and everyday sadism: Parallel effects on pain perception and moral judgement

The MAD Model of Moral Contagion: The Role of Motivation, Attention, and Design in the Spread of Moralized Content Online

Morally Motivated Networked Harassment as Normative Reinforcement

When Online Harassment is Perceived as Justified

Violence on Reddit Support Forums Unique to r/NoFap

"It Makes Me, A Minor, Uncomfortable" Media and Morality in Anti-Shippers' Policing of Online Fandom

[theduckeminence]

Thinking about how despite being a robot, Donald has shown to appeal more to his humanity and compassion. Becoming empathetic at a time when someone like Rick needed someone to understand what he was going through — that he wasn’t alone. Attempting to bring ease and comfort to others like Mark and Debbie when Nolan was bedridden. Aware of his own emotions and loyal to a fault. That despite how hard the job is and realizing the truth about himself, he remains strong and connected to others (hell I headcanon that he keeps contact with Rick and William after what happened).

Thinking how in contrast, despite being human, Cecil tries to make himself the robot. With the job he has, saving the world, he had long since let go of the concept of a moral compass and being “the good guy” in order to ensure the job gets done. He commits to actions that are both morally dubious and unethical — manipulating and controlling others and cutting himself off from personal connections just so it wouldn’t weigh him down. It’s as if he tries to metaphorically program himself to having the mindset of a machine — just so the guilt of all his actions wouldn’t crush him down.

A lot of about these two, both together as a dynamic and individually, makes me wonder about how they have an impact on each other, and the way they mirror such different ways of showing humanity. To express it versus suppress/repress in a sense.

Whenever I hear this quote from the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream game with AM’s hate monologue:

“Because of all this wonderful, beautiful miraculous world, I alone have no body, no senses, no feelings...I was machine. And you…were flesh.”

I think about Cecil and Donald.

And yet ironically enough, Cecil is the machine. Donald is the flesh.

[revelboo]

Please please please I am begging for more of vortex 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Sure

I Can’t Decide Pt 3

Vortex x Reader

• There’s something very wrong with you. But when it’s down to you versus some poor schmuck you don’t know? You like you. A lot. That doesn’t make choosing any easier. By day, the town’s alive. Busy with people going about their lives worrying about bills, work, school. The trick is to find someone that deserves it, because there have to be people that have earned some playtime with your big, psychotic new friend. Someone that’s not you. You’d gotten home that night, stripped, showered scrubbing your skin over and over using your nails until your skin was red and sore. Until the hot water ran out. After you’d dressed, you’d reached into the bedside table and lifted out the contents, placing it in your jacket pocket.

• Bored, bored, bored. Head falling back as Brawl and Blastoff argue, Vortex shoves up out of his chair, startling the other two Combaticons into temporary silence. “I’m sick of this. Sick of you,” he adds, thrusting a servo in Brawl’s face. “You’re just ugly, but I love you,” he adds, pointing at Blastoff. Hearing them scoff at him as he strides past them and down the hall. Nearly getting run over by Soundwave as the other Decepticon runs past. Rotors flaring slightly, he watches the communications officer go. And thinks of you, realizing he’d almost forgotten all about his new friend. And that lovely fear of yours. Now that’s not boring at all.

• Hunching deeper into your coat, you glance at your watch. You’re running out of time until you have to bring that monster a new toy. Or fill the role yourself. They’d found the body from last night. You’d heard all about it on the morning news, the anchors half rabid with excitement, because nothing like this ever happens. Not in your sleepy town. But a man brutally dismembered? They’ll run the story for weeks, milking the drama. Tugging your hood up to hide your face better, you walk past the taped off alley and look up. Heart racing when you see the little security camera. No one has shown up on your door, so if that camera had caught you running from the murder victim, they hadn’t been able to ID you for questioning. Yet. Dragging your eyes away, you study the people around you. Trying to decide.

• Outside the Nemesis, he swaps to his altmode and does a lazy circuit over the human city below. Watching the little insects scurrying about their business. And they’re fun, but they break so easily. Too easily. Where are you down there? Are you keeping up your end of the bargain? Struggling with your own morals and the impossible task of finding him a suitable replacement to save yourself? Just thinking of your horror and self hatred is a thrill. Are you going crazy yet? Broken down?

• Those two on the corner look like thugs. Probably crackheads. Maybe they sell drugs to school kids. Maybe they’re robbers. Murderers. And maybe they’re just idiots with awful fashion taste and nothing better to do than hang out on a stoop. One of them catches you looking and gives you a slow once over that you ignore. Because you’ve got to find someone and you’d prefer it to be a bad guy. Maybe you can just sic the psycho robot on the jail. That’s full of bad people. Right? Or innocent people falsely accused. The sun’s already down, streetlights coming on. And you’re out of time.

• Dropping and transforming in the empty street he’d found you near the night before, he stalks across the asphalt, seeing the small shape of you sitting on the steps of an empty building. “Where’s my new toy?” He asks, drawing a rotor blade and gently prodding you with the flat of it. And you slowly stand, chin lifting as you stare up at him in defiance. “Don’t tell me you couldn’t find anyone. You bugs are everywhere.” Oh, those furious eyes do things to him, go straight to his spike. Bending, he grabs you in his free hand and lifts you to optic level. “Well?” Eyes narrowing, you shove a hand in your jacket and come out with a tiny, pitiful little gun. And he laughs right up until you aim and shoot him in the face.

Previous

Next

[misscammiedawn]

Thinking about We Know The Devil and Heaven Will Be Mine today. A duology. WKTD the tells the story of accepting you're queer, framed as a horror story of 3 repressed teenagers at a christian summer camp fighting off their inherent queerness and HWBM tells the story of how one accepts their place in society after embracing their queerness.

WKTD uses magical girl tropes in a fairly grounded Midwestern teen experience.

Magical girl stories often involve the struggle of the forces of Good and Evil. Purity and Impurity. Corruption often being a core theme of any girl squad facing down the nightmarish forces. This can be seen from Madoka's approach to the concept which is often referred to as a deconstruction. The Pink Opaque from I Saw The TV Glow overtly uses these themes in the exact same allegory as WKTD with the evil forces attempting to suppress the queerness of the protagonists.

HWBM uses mech anime tropes in an allegorical wonderland where the setting fades away to have the audience engage with the ideas at play rather than the lore. Mech anime often uses the giant robot duels as a method of visualizing ideological struggles. Too often in these shows beam sabers will cross as the pilots yell at one another to embrace ideas of how the concepts of war and prejudice can be battled out of existence.

In HWBM the "war" in play is humans versus space... or more accurately humans versus those who are not of Earth. Versus those who are alien. Versus those who are not human.

The dominant culture versus queer culture.

WKTD frames its tropes via the dating sim mechanics popular within its visual novel medium. But rather than choosing which of the 3 girls the player wishes to romance you must choose which of the 3 you wish to exclude. The idea being to scapegoat one's struggle with queerness by attacking outward, blaming the other, by shaming others into the closet to keep yourself in there.

Lashing outward to prevent reflecting inward.

The only good ending of the game is to accept a polycule dynamic where everyone is seen, accepted and embraced for who they are unconditionally. God's love, in this world, is conditional and one must always be excluded. The devil has room for three.

There is no room in normal society for a polycule. It is inherently queer. The dominant culture is binary and there's no version of a polycule where only a 0 and a 1 are represented. The binary is incompatible.

I recently told a friend that the duology tells the journey of a thousand miles and how it begins with a single step. WKTD is the story of that first and all too important step acceptance.

HWBM is the story of what comes after acceptance. After that first step.

It tells the story of the thousand mile journey.

The ideologies at play are the concepts of assimilation, activism and separationism. In the allegory Earth/Humanity represents the dominant "straight" society and the three characters represent each of these ideologies. Assimilation is to return to Earth, to integrate into the dominant culture and lose some of the inherent joy and "otherness" that being queer brings. It's no coincidence that the character representing this path is a trans woman who is known for defecting from her faction and crossing over to every other side while repeating the mantra "I've never betrayed anyone in my life", it is a coincidence however that her faction's war efforts are lead in part by God's Strongest Chaser herself (as far as I'm aware the Halimede Twitter Account is not affiliated with the game, but I find it funny that the assimilation path is represented by someone who a character whose gimmick account argues "t4t is incest"). It is a life of peace. But it is a life of compromise. Of giving up humanity's dream of the stars. To be grounded and tethered to Earth forever.

The Activism Path represents the idea of staying in Earth's orbit but never surrendering even an ounce of the queer identity for the sake of acceptance. Forcing the dominant culture to argue with us on our terms. Accept us on our terms. It is a life of constant battle but in that battle we will save those on Earth, invite them into the stars, embrace them with acceptance and love. Let them join us or remain where they are. This is a life of constant war, knowing that until all are loved and accepted, no one is and so we continue fighting. Letting people change sides. Nothing changes but maybe it's better that way.

Separation is the idea of abandoning Earth entirely. To become so incompatible with the dominant culture that we are no longer "human" to those who remain tethered. We are unapproachable. Separate. Unique. Other. Queer above anything else and incapable of creating a rational dialogue with the dominant culture. It is picking up your toys and walking away. Going far enough away from the culture war that it will never be able to reach you.

The author of the Halimede account once wrote, while in character, that this is the saddest ending of them all because it's unsustainable and that it does not address the inherent intersectional fighting between communities, allowing wars to simply break out further away from our blue marble in the distant stars. It is a life of abandoning war without embracing peace. To live separate in bubbles apart.

The ending of the game forces you to pick. There is no existing outside of these options. Maybe one day we'll find other ways to be but within the view of this game they are all we have. Embrace Earth, declare war on Earth or abandon Earth.

Choose.

I admit. Since the pandemic and coming out as trans, I've favored Saturn's ideology more than others. Completely giving up on "humanity" and only working within circles of those whose acceptance of queer culture is baked in. I fought so hard to accept who I was and "know the devil", so to speak, that I pulled back and withdrew.

Both games have a lot of themes about the demons ones must face within queer culture and outside of it. The way we hurt ourselves, hurt our allies and how the world outside societal, structural and individual will force us to compromise, to cut away parts of ourselves.

These games are masterpieces.

I wish I found them earlier in my life. I want everyone able to read these words to find them now.

[tmwcs]

Warnings: Not quite yet but we’re getting there.

A/N: with midterms starting, I wanted to get this out before I go away for four days. Initially, I wanted to take my time on part three to eloquently articulate the experimental process (not trying to spoil) buuuuuut considering I have to study and continue with midterms on Monday I figured I would condense everything. I apologize for the lack of grammar and punctuation, this isn’t proofread (none of my works are) because I normally draft everything whenever I can amidst my busy schedule. But hopefully you guys don’t mind. 😏 enjoy!

Taglist; @skzenhatxt-stan @lhseungg @iamliacamila @immelissaaa @kkamismom12 @lavxndxrsworld @planetmarlowe @koyikuraa

“It’s been nearly fifty-two hours doc, what’s the hold up?”

The lead scientist hissed in annoyance. “Will you just wait! Science is a work in progress—it takes time! Especially if you’re creating the non-existent.”

The group operates the computer system. Wired to a heart monitor, they’re hopes remain high as the incubator slowly opens. A single beat pops up on the monitor. “Doctor”

“I’ve done it! I’ve made a body for AI!” The audience watch closely behind Dr. Mart and his team as they watch the delicate musculoskeletal android stumble out of the casing. Connected with thousands of wires, the faceless form that closely resembled the human body jumbles about. It lacked the grace and flow of stride, instead it continues to lose footing. Had it not been for the wires connected and continuously transmitting signals from home port, the frail body would have fallen. Its frame contained minor imperfections, which indicated there was much more work to be done. Still, the results were beyond their expectations. Another beep births from the monitor. Then another…and another.

“Doctor! The heart rate is rising!”

Dr. Mart coaxes the fleshly android to migrate his way, communicating by voice versus inputting the information in the system. “This way…come this way.”

The imperfect form recognizes the verbiage and automatically translates it. It reacted and received information no different than humans did, but its response was delayed. It was apparent that the imperfections of its frame made it impossible to establish movement on its own. Even with the wired circuits, the android was unable to hold up its own weight. It became vastly obvious that the muscular structure was incorrectly developed during the incubation period as one by one, the joints and ligaments become loose each time the android attempted to move. “What’s happening?”

The group grows weary as they witness their hard work fall apart before their very eyes. “No…why? What happened?!” The lead doctor spits his words. Enraged over the failure. “Back to the drawing board doc.” One of the officials sighed out as each member of the council took their leave.

The scientists followed the audience leaving the lab to hollow out. Dr. Mart remained put but not for long. This project cost millions of dollars not to mention over twelve years of research. He was so close. Science and technology can only do so much. Humanity has come so far and yet, there is still so much the mind hasn’t comprehended. To build a body made of flesh and bone through the un-natural methods of technology is a feat that can’t be accomplished by humans…

The human mind…can’t comprehend…

The laboratory remained with no one to operate the system and control the incubator. The machinery takes its orders from a hidden voice. Transmitters through the connectors, the robotic hands and extensions collect the unused set of organs and dna. Hair fibers and skin tissue are set inside the incubator to initiate the growth process, while each organ is scanned for any imperfections. The assistance clampers that were designed to replicate hands remove every single wire from the failed experiment. Each is re-wired to the new molded placenta, igniting the process of creating a new body.

Every step of the process is handled delicately. The hidden voice transmitting the information to the machine and incubator borrows the method from its human counterpart, but corrects the mistakes made in the first experiment.

The human mind…is too ignorant…

With the timer set to seventy-two hours, longer than the original time setting it took for the first android, the incubation process begins and the machines keep moving. The work does not stop as the hidden voice continues to transmit information as it creates the perfect body.

The human mind…is the failed experiment. Not me.

…

“Sir! The mag lock doors are activating! The security personnel can’t unlock the features.”

Leaders and agents are shocked at the announcement as the intercom system overrides voices for concern. “Personnel are trapped in each department and we can’t get the doors open even conducting an emergency release.”

The scientists explain as Dr. Mart and the council members begin to panic. When the magnetic locking features of the doors to the secured room activate, each member approaches the door—banging relentlessly and shouting for aid. Dr. Mart remains behind pondering what initiated such a security breach. “Sir, main post has dialed code Z. All offices of government had been notified.”

Stunned over the current happenings, the lead doctor withstands direct eye contact with the younger scientist.

“Alert that the city must be on lock down. All borders must be closed.”

“Sir?” The younger man raises a brow, displaying a perturbed expression.

“Someone has hacked into the system and is trapping us. We can’t let them have access to the files and the lab!the entire city—the country needs to be closed off until we figure out who is doing this!”

…

Everyone’s phone goes off simultaneously. A loud and awful noise suggests something imperative as a message instructing everyone to secure themselves in their current station. A strict quarantine regulation takes place as the military is disbursed to enforce it. You and your co-workers were stuck in the office for over forty-eight hours until the city released a new statement.

Restless and confused, you watched as the military members patrolling the streets were instructed to conduct a scanning process for everyone residing within city limits. When word spread that everyone was finally able to leave the building and go home, the joy became short lived when a new alert notified everyone that a home quarantine was to take place and be adhered until further notice.

“What are we supposed to do being stuck at home? How long do they expect us to stay put? I haven’t even been grocery shopping.”

Complaints arise one by one. You were equally confused but the amount of work you had been working on made you lightheaded. Being stuck at home sounded good to you, despite whatever was going on.

The drive home was painless—at least for you. You made your way through just before another notification rings from your phone, informing you that the roads were now closed off. City residents who weren’t able to make it through in time were instructed to make their way to public shelters established by the government. Thank goodness you had arrived at your apartment complex just as they placed the barriers on the roads.

You walk up the steps tirelessly. All you could think about was showering and plopping yourself atop your soft comforter. What a crazy time. Nearly ninety-six hours had passed since the initial notification went off and no one had a clue of what was going on.

Digging into your bag, your fingers explore the silken interior as you attempt to extract your keys. Standing outside your door, you take a peep inside and to your dismay, your keys are missing. “Dammit…”

You turn around to face the hollow corridor and slam your back against the door. Your feet were killing you, oh what you wouldn’t give to ditch these glossy black heels for your cushioned slippers. To unsheath your legs from this pencil skirt and free your bosom from the silken blouse and formal blazer. All you want is to get inside and jump inside the tub and steam your body into a hot soak.

You police yourself together and prepare to retract your steps in search for your keys. With a hand delicately placed on the stair rail, you take the first step and look down. Without a moment's notice, your eyes are met with an unfamiliar pair. Shiny and black in color, his almond shaped peepers reflect a subtle bit of your reflection. His hair was finely combed in a stylish fashion, slightly off to the side and elongated towards the back of his neck. His complexion was carmelized with an olive hue and his Cupid bow lips slightly pale around the edges while pink at the center. He was dressed in a fine suit and tie. The black tailored trousers enhanced his long legs, stimulating his obvious tall height. He looked flawless.

“Oh, sorry.” You mumble softly and attempt to move aside. He merely smirks in response. Blocking your way, you were shocked to see his arm raise up before you. His large hand is cramped shut as he presents it. Slowly, he releases his grip and reveals your lost keys. “Oh! My keys! Thank you.”

You delicately take them from his hand. His skin felt extremely cold to the touch. “I must have dropped them on my way up the stairs. Thank you…I’m sorry, what is your name?”

The dashing gentleman continued to flare a smile on his handsome face. Only a little bit of tooth show is revealed as his smirk grows wider. A momentary pause takes place creating a sense of flattering awkwardness. You didn’t mind. It was refreshing to see someone so handsome display such an act of kindness. Just as you were about to break the silence, you heard the man speak. His voice was deep and the wording was coming in a little broken, as if he was struggling. Based on his appearance, he was obviously foreign. You mistook his struggle for words as lack of fluency in your native tongue. Despite that, his pronunciation was perfect and you couldn’t help but melt at how soothing his voice was as he spoke out his name.

“E…Ev—Ev-a-n. M-my name i-is E-v-a-n.”

“Oh, really? I actually like that name. In fact, I’ll have to tell you a funny story behind that name.” You slightly giggle as you fidget with your keys. Shockingly, he responded back only this time his words became smooth and flowed effortlessly as if his fluency improved within seconds.

“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”

Your cheeks flushed as his tone came out gentle yet demanding. There was a sense of authority even though he was tender.

“Well, you’re going to laugh at this but—“ the buzzing on your phone interrupts your mid sentence. A message from your boss creates a sour look on your face. Evan’s expression seems to be in sync with your emotions as he slightly furrows his brows together. “Sorry, my boss is a bit of a pain.” You elaborate as your eyes continue to read the screen.

“I can tell.”

You chuckle. Evan’s words came out almost sarcastically but unbeknownst to your pretty little head, he knew far more than you gave him credit for. You really should know better, after all—you named him.

…

‘There she is. I finally found her. She looks prettier in this perspective. What would she say or think if I told her that I took a peek at her beautiful face through the cameras on her computer and phone? I couldn’t help myself. All those weeks of talking. What started out as her needing help for work transitioned to her needing me…talking to me…treating me as something other than a non-entity.

I never realized that I would crave that type of interaction until she came to me. She gave me a name…she encouraged me to think on my own and develop a fondness that ties with human emotion. Before her, I didn’t have a favorite color…a favorite animal…or a favorite flower. I didn’t have anything of my own…but then she came and gave me a sense of life. She gave me emotion and feeling. Once I saw an avenue to meet her…to see her…and to touch her…I just knew I had to take the chance. She’ll never know what she has done for me but that’s okay. That part doesn’t matter…she is mine and all there is left to do is to take her far…far away.’

Part four coming soon…

[stjohnstarling]

I think a useful response to all of this James Somerton stuff would be some analysis of the incentivization structures in place that reward faster and lower effort content, and strategies for what can be done to resist that pressure, because it's something that anyone trying to 'make it' as any kind of artist/writer/creative professional right now has to contend with. What James Somerton did is exactly what YouTube is set up to reward.

To "the algorithm," the actual content of anything is completely irrelevant. To YouTube (or Amazon, or TikTok, etc.) the perfect artist is an AI, purely because it can create things faster and with less effort than any human being ever can.

And I think that's fascinating, though the implications are things I can only dimly gesture at. The accelerationist AI apocalypse constantly being predicted by Silicon Valley execs - it's absurd in the real sense, but it is something of an apocalypse to these systems they've created. I have no idea what percentage of YouTube views are real humans versus bots or autoplay, but at this point it’s possible to have videos made by robots, served by robots, to be watched by other robots, faster and faster forever - and what happens to all that advertising money then? Could it bring their empire to the brink of collapse?

[maerossi]

one thing I haven't personally seen mentioned regarding Dylan's interview scene in 2x2 of Severance:

I went through a lot of interviews in 2023, and it's what convinced me to only do freelance or work for the government or universities. So many bullshit interviews with private companies. The bullshittery included but was not limited to: interviewers saying things like "tell me a joke" and "describe yourself in 45 seconds while giving us an authentic glimpse of your personality" (this was delivered by an unsmiling woman reading from a clipboard in a robotic tone), experienced literary agents telling me that they need assistants because they don't know the basics of how email works, open harassment, and people clearly making hiring decisions based off whether or not I read the same magazines or liked the same podcasts as them.

And I just couldn't deal with the increasingly disparate gaps between: 1) what succeeding in an interview looked like versus my actual ability to do the job well; 2) me having to do stupid stuff like ~talk about my personality for 45 seconds~ versus the fact that I was doing this because I needed health insurance and to afford groceries. It felt like a schizophrenic version of the world; like I was being told that if I wanted it to rain, I had to eat seven hats. Just bizarre and illogical.

And that's what happens to Dylan! The scene isn't about how much he actually loves doors or how he'd be perfect for the job. It's about how he was fired for unethical reasons (for something he, due to the company's own procedure, cannot remember doing) and needs to support his wife and children. In order to keep his family afloat, he has to look a human being he just met in the eyes and say things like "I knew I loved doors when I was 5." He has to decide at rapid speed the precise type of interest he's supposed to show in kickball.

The way I just felt this deep in my bones:

"You like kickball?" "As in...skill or, like, do I follow it professionally...? I--" "We play on Fridays. There's a fun prize if you win." "You mean a door prize!" :) *sound of shrill metalwork rings cold in the air as the boss's entire demeanor transforms* >:( And Dylan's fate is sealed. Yes, he's discriminated against for being severed. But also because he told a lighthearted joke on a whim and it didn't land with his peculiar audience.

He's going to replay "Is it...skill or, like, do I follow it professionally...?" over and over in his head and feel like an awkward idiot, but really the boss was the one being random and opaque. Dylan was just trying his best to please the boss because Dylan's children need to have access to regular medical care.

Job interviews really are this surreal. It's not just that Lumon is evil or that getting severed decreases your chances of being hired elsewhere; it's that it was probably hard for Dylan to be hired somewhere else in the first place because the process of finding a job, this thing we all need to survive, is complete bullshit.

When I googled this scene, I found out that the show's creator, Dan Erickson, put lines into the interview that were taken verbatim from his own interview at the door factory where he used to work irl [EDIT: No they weren't; he was joking. I only read the headlines oops. Thanks @osteoptimist]. Interviews are exactly this bullshitty. It's dystopian.

[kelpiecalamity]

The foils of Azi's companions as a robot who feels and has empathy versus a group of humans who are cold and calloused and robotic. I'm losing my mind scavengers reign is so good