#this is how 15.AI was meant to be used

[tieflingkisser]

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants

The Israeli military’s bombing campaign in Gaza used a previously undisclosed AI-powered database that at one stage identified 37,000 potential targets based on their apparent links to Hamas, according to intelligence sources involved in the war. In addition to talking about their use of the AI system, called Lavender, the intelligence sources claim that Israeli military officials permitted large numbers of Palestinian civilians to be killed, particularly during the early weeks and months of the conflict. Their unusually candid testimony provides a rare glimpse into the first-hand experiences of Israeli intelligence officials who have been using machine-learning systems to help identify targets during the six-month war.

[...]

“This is unparalleled, in my memory,” said one intelligence officer who used Lavender, adding that they had more faith in a “statistical mechanism” than a grieving soldier. “Everyone there, including me, lost people on October 7. The machine did it coldly. And that made it easier.” Another Lavender user questioned whether humans’ role in the selection process was meaningful. “I would invest 20 seconds for each target at this stage, and do dozens of them every day. I had zero added-value as a human, apart from being a stamp of approval. It saved a lot of time.”

[...]

Several of the sources described how, for certain categories of targets, the IDF applied pre-authorised allowances for the estimated number of civilians who could be killed before a strike was authorised. Two sources said that during the early weeks of the war they were permitted to kill 15 or 20 civilians during airstrikes on low-ranking militants. Attacks on such targets were typically carried out using unguided munitions known as “dumb bombs”, the sources said, destroying entire homes and killing all their occupants. “You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people – it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage [of those bombs],” one intelligence officer said. Another said the principal question they were faced with was whether the “collateral damage” to civilians allowed for an attack. “Because we usually carried out the attacks with dumb bombs, and that meant literally dropping the whole house on its occupants. But even if an attack is averted, you don’t care – you immediately move on to the next target. Because of the system, the targets never end. You have another 36,000 waiting.”

[...]

“We were constantly being pressured: ‘Bring us more targets.’ They really shouted at us,” said one intelligence officer. “We were told: now we have to fuck up Hamas, no matter what the cost. Whatever you can, you bomb.” To meet this demand, the IDF came to rely heavily on Lavender to generate a database of individuals judged to have the characteristics of a PIJ or Hamas militant.

#free palestine #palestine #news

[romana-after-dark]

Room's on Fire Masterlist

Dark!Santiago Garcia x Fem!Reader Dark!Francisco Morales x Fem!Reader Dark!William Miller x Fem!Reader Dark!Benjamin Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary:

Years after the world fell apart, various communities have established themselves, one of which is ran by four men who claim to be divine.

When they decide it's time to and heir to be born, they chose a virgin from their cult and make her their wife. Reader is offered a choice, of course. She doesn't have to marry them. But if she doesn't, the savior won't be born. She choses to become the Madonna. She is wed to all four of them, and moved into their home where her body is open to use whenever her husbands desire (free use au), in the hopes of getting her pregnant. It doesn't matter whose baby it ends up being, because they are all part God, so it doesn't matter... right?

Warnings for full fic, if anything is added or really emphcized it will be in additional warnings.

THIS IS A DARK FIC THOUGH SO BE WARY! I CAN'T PROTECT AGAINST EVERYTHING.

DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT

DUB CON MOSTLY but there WILL BE NON CON. Major character deaths, forced breeding, physical abuse, brainwashing, manipulation, violence, gore, alcoholism/addiction, BIG OLE BLASPHEMY WARNING like this cult appropriates a lot of religious themes and they call reader their Madonna, Santi is called the Pope, like all that stuff. However, this is a cult so I mean. It happens. None of it are my thoughts on religion or meant to make fun of religion or demonize religious people. Disgusting views on virginity. Attempted rape outside the boys. T*m warning. Age gap. Creepy terrible men. Non-reader rape, dub con, violence. Covert incest, massive mommy issues, sexual abuse all around, past grooming by parental figure. no CSA but the victim isn't much older. some Bates Motel type shit. I cannot properly warn you for everything, without just telling the story but consider this a major warning that there are dark dark themes. No one involved here is morally clean, and who you perceive as the good guy cannot be relied on. Don't come to my story and say im romanticizing these things until at least the story ends.

Unknown amount of chapters right now.

Chapter 1: Pilot: Delta finds their Madonna Chapter 2: The wedding Chapter 3: Aftermath of the wedding FishBen: Symptom of Being Human Chapter 4: Pope is not pleased. Chapter 5: Jonah lore, Madonna gets through to Frankie Chapter 6: Madonna gains Frankie's heart, Santi is jealous Iris: Rey and Iris find pockets of time Chapter 7: Fun with Ben: wining Pope back Chapter 8: big announcement to the community

Non canon Frankie Madonna Chapter 9: Madonna’s blissful ignorance to the world around her. Chapter 10: There's a lot Madonna doesn't know.

Chapter 11: Things start to crumble around Madonna

Chapter 12:

Chapter 13:

Chapter 14:

Chapter 15:

Chapter 16:

Chapter 17:

Chapter 18:

Chapter 19:

Chapter 20:

Bonus Content

not necessary for the series. Pieces in the main list are suggested as they add depth and sometimes small plot points.

"Can you peel my orange?" Jonah smut

Jonah Hanson character ai

ROF characters Star signs

Jonah x non-Madonna reader x Marcus flashback commission

Art

By @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog

By @survivingandenduring

Lil comic by @my-secret-shame

As I said, a lot of themes and dynamics ended up accidentally similarly to Watch Your Step by the amazing @charnelhouse Some was because that fic is what developed my characterizations of the boys. Some was totally incidental, like Pope and readers relation to art. It's different though, a much different series, but I wanted to tell y'all that she s PUBLISHING WYS AS A NOVEL NOW, Its called Cardinal Sin's and I'll link it right here!

How to keep up with the story!

Comment on this masterlist that you want to be tagged and I'll tag you in updates

Follow @romana-updates and/turn on notifications

Follow the tag Rooms on fire

THANK YOU FOR YOU'RE SUPPORT!

Please remember to reblog, and I love comments/asks, anon or not, and would love to see engagement and theories!

#Triple frontier #dark triple frontier #benjamin miller #dark benjamin miller #william miller #dark william miller #santiago garcia #dark santiago garcia #Francisco morales #dark francisco morales #frankie morales #dark frankie morales #non con #dub con #yandere #yander triple frontier #santiago garcia x reader #benjamin miller x reader #frankie morales x reader #william miller x reader #bisexual santiago garcia #bisexual francisco morales #bisexual benjamin miller #bisexual william miller #FishBen

[tamlinweek]

Tamlin Week 2024: Rules, Prompts, and FAQ

Click here to download Tamlin coloring pages!

Click here for the AO3 Collection link and instructions!

Thank you all for the support and prompt suggestions! The prompts have been chosen for Tamlin Week 2024, which will run Sunday, April 14 - Saturday, April 20. Every day will have two prompts for you to choose from, and the last day will be a free day.

This post is intended to serve as a masterpost for the entire event. It will include dates, prompts, rules, and a FAQ. Make sure to click the read more to get ALL the information!

Prompt List

Day 1; Sunday, April 14: Heir of Spring/Human Tamlin

Day 2; Monday, April 15: Poet/Warrior

Day 3; Tuesday, April 16: Mates/Flower Language

Day 4; Wednesday, April 17: Calanmai/Happily Ever After

Day 5; Thursday, April 18: Shapeshifter/Masquerade

Day 6; Friday, April 19: Dreams/Fairy Tale AU

Day 7; Saturday, April 20: Free Day

Ideas for interpreting the prompts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Rules

All works must focus on Tamlin! Any and all ships are allowed, as long as the ship with Tamlin is at the forefront. You are also welcome to create general, non-ship content for him.

Any and all gender/sexuality headcanons are allowed! And no ship-bashing, please.

There are 2 prompts for each day. You can choose one or both of them to inspire your work. The last day is a Free Day, so go crazy! If none of the prompts speak to you, feel free to create your own Tamlin content on any day. The prompts are meant to promote creativity, not restrict it. If you have questions about any of the prompts, you can message us.

NSFW/Mature content is allowed, as long as you tag everything appropriately and follow the rules of each platform. So on tumblr, that means following their guidelines for NSFW images. On AO3, that means giving your fic the appropriate rating and tags.

Any kind of creative content is encouraged! Fanfiction, fanart, edits, playlists, headcanons, moodboards, ANYTHING!

That being said, AI art is not permitted, and will not be reblogged.

(click under the readmore for FAQ, more resources, and last year's masterpost)

How do I participate in Tamlin Week?

Create your content and post it on tumblr. If you post on AO3, make sure to share the link on tumblr. Also make sure to add it to the Tamlin Week AO3 collection, which will be posted about later. Tag this blog in the main body of your post (@tamlinweek). In the tags, tag "tamlinweek2024"

If we don’t reblog your post within 24 hours, feel free to send us a message with the link! I’m sure we all know how unreliable the tumblr tagging system is, we would never intentionally not reblog someone’s post.

If I’m not a creator, how can I support Tamlin Week?

The best way to support content creators leading up to and during Tamlin Week is to let them know you support them! Reblog and comment on their work, send Tamlin content into this blog for us to post, etc. We’ll be reblogging Tamlin content from now up until the week itself. Supporting that work now will encourage creators for the event week itself.

Who is in charge of Tamlin Week?

This blog and the event are being run by @goforth-ladymidnight and @praetorqueenreyna.

I have a question that isn’t here!

Feel free to send us asks, we’d love to hear from you all! They can be questions, headcanons, ideas, or anything else! If you have a question you’d like us to answer privately, be sure to let us know in the ask. Otherwise, all other asks will be published on our blog.

Resources for Tamlin Week 2024

The Language of Flowers: ideas for the Flower Language prompt

How to Participate in the Event (including ideas other than art and writing)

Tamlin vs. Tam Lin: A Brief Retelling

Click here for last year's master post, including all the content submitted, the AO3 collection, and the community playlist!

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #tamlin #pro tamlin #tamlin week #tamlin week 2024 #tamlinweek2024 #masterpost #prompt list #rules #faq #tamcien #tamsand #feylin #tamlain #neslin

[auroblaze]

Here we go!

[GENERAL RULES AND TERMS OF SERVICE]

I START WITH 6 COMMISSION SLOTS. First come first serve, by the time they are full I’ll open them again only once I’m finished with them all.

If you want a slot and you know what to ask me to do please send me an email at [email protected] subject titled "Auro commission". In the email, include your selected commission type and any other details about your commission. Visual reference must be included, and if it’s a comic you want, please include your storyboard.

🚨🚨 EDIT of the 5/10/2023: SECOND SESSION IS OFFICIALLY PAUSED. I’ll be working on the 6 slots commissions that made it before the technical difficulties with Paypal (mentioned in the last reblog). If something changes I’ll be reopening the remaining 4 slots!💪🎨 If not, I’ll be seeing you at the next session directly :’>

✨Please read all the details that are written down below under Read More before sending any email. If something is not clear do ask about it! ✨

This list can be updated at any time if situations and/or experiences demand so.

IMPORTANT:

Currently I don’t work under deadlines, and I don’t do rush jobs. I guarantee that clients will be kept updated on progress of their respective commissions. Please keep that in mind before asking for a commission and I thank you so much for your patience.

If the goods are meant to be showcased in videos or other projects of the kind (permission must be discussed beforehand), please give proper credit and link to my pages (instagram, deviantart or just one of them) in the description.

The goods will be distributed digitally only. Printing is only allowed for personal use and you cannot resell the commission under any circumstances or claim to be the original author of the artpiece.

Unless it has been agreed otherwise, I’m able to choose to display the commissioned art on my galleries and portfolio to promote my work.

I do not allow my art to be used for NFTs, training AIs or crypto transactions.

Things I can draw… Characters from shows/anime, video games and manga/comics I’m familiar with (examples: Sonic The Hedgehog, Homestuck, Pokémon, NiGHTS, Skullgirls, Splatoon, Hades (by Supergiant games), The Legend of Zelda, YuGiOh!, Promare, Undertale/Deltarune, The Owl House, Trigun, Dr. Stone); characters from a series I’m not familiar with if given proper references; crossovers, fantasy, scifi, animals, fanfic illustrations, OCs (if given proper references), and possibly more. Feel free to ask! Things I will not draw… Gore, vore, rape, abuse, offensive themes (racism, transphobia, homophobia, etc.), RPF (real person fanfiction) or shipping real people, I reserve the right to refuse any request.

Upcharges

My limit of characters to draw in one picture/comic is 1, you will be charged for every additional character in the drawing. For an illustration, the price will be multiplied by the number of total characters. The backgrounds will remain one charge. For a comic, every additional complex character is $30 for a pencil page, $40 for an inked page, and $50 for a coloured page.

If your character has a complex design (Examples: detailed armor, complex clothing or jewelry, additional features…) a charge of $15 will apply.

Excessive changes will be charged. On your third and every subsequent major modification request, you will be charged $20.

My limit for short comics is 1 page. If you want more, it will be multiplied by the number of pages and type of commission (ex. a 2 page pencil comic is $100 x 2 = $200).

HOW TO PAY: You will receive an invoice from my Paypal email once the commission has been agreed upon. I will not start working on the commission until the invoice is paid. No refunds. Payment in euros is preferable, if possible. Otherwise USD is always accepted.

[ILLUSTRATION PRICING]

PENCIL SKETCHES:

Head: $10

Half body: $15

Full body: $30

            -> With Abstract Background: +$30

            -> With Detailed Background: +$50

INK (or DIGITAL LINEART):

Head: $20

Half body: $25

Full body: $50

FULL BODY FLAT COLOURED (with pencils, markers, or digital): $75 (+$15 for shading)

With Abstract Background: +$35

With Detailed Background: +$100

FULL BODY COLOURED WITH WATERCOLOURS: $100

With Abstract Background (watercolours): +$80

With Detailed Background (watercolours): +$150

NSFW*:

Half Body Pencils: $40

Full Body Pencils: $80

Half Body Pencils + Inks: $45

Full Body Pencils + Inks: $95

Half Body Coloured (only digital) : $65

Full Body Coloured (with pencils, markers, or digital) : $110

          ->With Shading: +$15

          ->With Abstract Background: +$125

          ->With Detailed Background: +$155

*YOU MUST BE 18+ FOR THIS TIER. As it is a new and delicate subject for me, we’ll discuss beforehand what kind of scenarios I will be comfortable enough to draw.

[COMIC PRICING]

The client has to show me the storyboard or script of the scene that I’m meant to follow in the desired commission.

SHORT COMICS:

1 Page Comic, Pencils: $100

1 Page Comic, Pencils And Ink: $180

1 Page Comic, Inks + Colours (with pencils, markers, or digital): $270

NSFW COMIC PAGE**:

1 Page Comic, Pencils: $300

1 Page Comic, Inks: $350

1 Page Comic, Inks + Colours (with pencils, markers, or digital): $400

**As it is a new and delicate subject for me, we’ll discuss beforehand what kind of scenarios I will be comfortable enough to draw.

#auro talks #paypal commissions #art #auroblaze commissions #my art #auroblaze art

[alpaca-clouds]

Why AI sucks so much

(And why it doesn't have to.)

AI sucks right now. Because it was never to be used, like it is used right now. Because the way AI is currently employed, it does the one thing, that was always meant to be human.

Look. AI has a ton of technological problems. I wrote about it before. Whenever you have some "AI Writer" or "AI Art", there is no intelligence there. There is only a probability algorithm that does some math. It is like the auto-complete on your phone, just a bit more complex, because it has been fed with basically the entire internet's worth of words and pictures. So, when the AI writes a story, it just knows that there is a high likelyhood that if it has been asked to write a fantasy story it might feature swords, magic and dragons. And then puts out a collection of words that is basically every fantasy story ever thrown into a blender. Same when it "draws". Why does it struggle so much with teeth and fingers? Well, because it just goes by likelihood. If it has drawn a finger, it knows there is a high likelihood that next to the finger is going to be another finger. So it draws one. Simple as that. Because it does not know, what a finger is. Only what it looks like.

And of course it does not fact check.

But all of that is not really the main problem. Because the main culture actually just is the general work culture, the capitalist economy and how we modelled it.

See, once upon a time there was this economist named Kaynes. And while he was a capitalist, he did in fact have quite a few good ideas and understood some things very well - like the fact that people are actually working better, if their basic needs have been taken care for. And he was very certain that in the future (he lived a hundred years ago) a lot of work could be done by automation, with the people still being paid for what the machines were doing. Hence having the people work for like 15 hours a week, but getting paid for a fulltime job - or even more.

And here is the thing: We could have that. Right now. Because we did in fact automate a lot of jobs and really a ton of jobs we have right now are just endless busywork. Instead of actually being productive, it only exists to keep up the appearance of productivity.

We already know that reducing the workdays to four a week or the workload to 30 or even 25 hours a week does not really decrease productivity. Especially with office jobs. Because the fact is that many, many jobs are not that much work and rather just involve people sitting in an office working like two hours a day and spending the rest with coffee kitchen talk or surfing the internet.

And there are tons of boring jobs we can already automate. I mean, with what I am working right now - analyzing surveying data - most I do is just put some parameters into an algorith and let the algorith do the work. While also part time training another algorithm, that basically automatically reads contracts to make notes what data a certain contract involves. (And contrary to what you might believe: No, it is not complicated. Especially those text analysis tasks are actually super simple to construct, once you get the hang of it.)

Which also means, that half of my workday usually is spend of just sitting here and watching a bar fill up. Especially with the surveying data, because it is large, large image files that at times take six to ten hours to process. And hint: Often I will end up letting the computer run over night to finish the task.

But that brings me to the question: What am I even doing here? Most of the time it takes like two hours to put the data in, run a small sample size for checking it and then letting it run afterwards. I do not need to be here for that. Yet, I do have to sit down for my seven and a half hours a day to collect my paycheck. And... It is kinda silly, right?

And of course there is the fact that we technically do have the technology to automate more and more menial tasks. Which would make a lot of sense, especially with the very dangerous kinda tasks, like within mining operations. Like, sure, that is a lot more work to automate, given that we would need robots that are actually able to navigate over all sorts of terrain, but... You know, it would probably save countless lives.

Same goes for many, many other areas. We could in fact automate a lot. Not everything (for example fruit picking is surprisingly hard to automate, it turns out), but a lot. Like a real lot.

And instead... they decided to automate art. One of the things that is the most human, because art for the most part depends on emotions and experience. Art is individual for the most part. It is formed by experience and reflection of the experience. And instead of seeing that, they decided to... create a probability generator for words and pixels.

So, why?

Well, first and foremost, because they (= the owner class) do want to keep us working. And with that I mean those menial, exhausting, mind-numbing jobs that we are forced to have right now. And they want us to keep working, because the more free time we have, the more time we have to organize and, well, rise up against the system, upon realizing how we are exploited. Work itself is used as a tool of oppression. Which is why, no matter how many studies show that the 30 hour week or 4 day week is actually good, that UBI actually helps people and what not, the companies are so against it. It is also why in some countries, like the US, the companies are so against paid sick leave, something that is scientifically speaking bonkers, because it actually harms the productivity of the company. And yes, it is also why still in the midth of a pandemic, we act as if everything is normal, because they found out that in the early pandemic under lock down and less people working, people actually fucking organized.

And that... also kinda is, why they hate art. Because art is something that is a reflection upon a world - and it can be an inspiration for people, something that gives them hope and something worth working towards to. So, artists are kinda dangerous. Hence something has to be done to keep them from working. In this case: Devaluing their work.

And no, I do not even think that the people programming those original algorithms were thinking this. They were not like "Yes, we need to do this to uphold the capitalist systems", nor do most of the AI bros, who are hyping it right now. But there are some people in there, who see it just like that. Who know the dangers of actual art and what it can mean for the system that keeps them powerful.

So, yeah... We could have some great stuff with AI and automation... If used in other areas.

I mean, just imagine what AIs could do under communism...

#solarpunk #cyberpunk #fuck ai art #fuck ai writing #anti ai art #anti ai writing #ubi #universal basic income #anti capitalism #bullshit jobs #automation

[stemwriter]

Pursuit of Knowledge - Chapter 4

Summary:

[Y/N] continues Act II of Mondstadt, finds out the worst thing about not having the ability to control time at will, and, along with Kaeya, takes a well deserved rest. What's something else that happens in Act II?

That's right! The Diluc trial run. Still, even that should be "normal", right?

Completion of story recommended: Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises (Sumeru Act V), Shenanigans and Sweet Wine (Kaeya hangout)

Also on Ao3 under StemWriter!

Word count: ~8k

You were part of the story now, weren’t you? No matter if the world your avatar was in was made from earth and sky or 1’s and 0’s, you were influencing it regardless. At this point, it’d probably be best to just go with the flow, but you had been thinking about what major event you would want to change, and you really hoped everything would stick to the script long enough to enable you to do that. Even if it meant you would end up upsetting people by hiding things from them.

The four of you hung around in the tavern for a bit just thinking, until Venti finally said to you, “Ah, [Y/N], it should be getting close to time now. Shall we get going?”

You looked at your phone to see the time. It was about 15 minutes past 6pm. It was time. “Oh- right, yeah, we should!”

“You two have somewhere to be? Since Kaeya and I have nothing more to talk about up here, I suppose I can go do other things. If you need me, I’ll be working the bar for a while.” Diluc said, crossing his arms.

“Everyone’s leaving already? Well then, I’ll be taking my leave as well.�� Kaeya said, heading towards the stairwell.

He hung around for a second, seemingly expecting someone to say something, then left.

“Come on [Y/N], let’s go! Our prize is waiting for us!” Venti tried to make it sound like you weren’t about to try to steal a divine artifact, and become wanted criminals. 

Oh right, you were going to see Diluc again after this! You should probably give him a little hint on what’s going to happen.

“Alright, we’re going to go now.” You walked up to Diluc, and began whispering. “Hey Diluc,” He looked at you. “I promise it wasn’t us, it was the Fatui.”

He looked at you in confusion.

“You’ll get that later. Anyway, bye~” Your tone sounded a lot like Venti’s at the end there. You sighed internally when you thought about that.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright fortune-teller, what’s going to happen?” Venti asked, eager to get a response from you. For some reason, it almost seemed like he already knew, and was just asking you to see what you’d say.

“Well… We’re not going to get arrested, I can tell you that. At least, not if we do this right.” You didn’t want to tell him it wouldn’t work.

“Is that all you can tell me?” He whined. “Fine, let’s go in.” He pouted after saying that. “But you have to tell me more later! I want to see how much you know!”

You went back in the Cathedral with him, making sure to be quiet. He stayed behind while you snuck your way to the Holy Lyre. You made sure to be very careful there, assuming the guards were actual people, and not the dumbest A.I. you’ve ever seen in any modern game. You looked at their movements on your way in, and they… still seemed robotic. Were they still AI? They can’t be, right? You looked at the face of one of the guards, and while his face had a few more polygons than the NPC’s you saw in the regular game, he had a blank stare as he paced back and forth. That’s… something to think about later. You kept going through the basement, avoiding being seen.

During your attempt at burglary, you remembered your soundboard. You hadn’t used that in a bit, and you knew a good moment to use it again is coming up. You got that ready as you made your way through.

As you entered the room with the lyre, an Electro Cicin Mage steals it, and teleports out. Wow! What a surprise! Thankfully, you just got teleported out of the building too, because you weren’t sure you could go back through the basement without getting caught.

“We’re busted! Run!” You and Paimon said at the same time.

Venti looked a bit confused for a second before leaving with you to the tavern. You made sure your soundboard was ready.

*Benny Hill theme*

The goofy music was fitting, considering the wind tunnel things you assumed he made threw you into the huge statue in the middle of the plaza, as well as the roofs of several buildings. Your grand escape wasn’t very graceful, but you made it safely. As you busted into the tavern, Venti gave you a weird look.

Next thing you knew, you were talking with Diluc again. Right before you headed upstairs, you decided to remind him of what you’d said earlier about the Fatui. In the version you remembered, he trusted the Traveler enough to not turn them in, but you still wanted to make sure he didn’t turn you in here. You listened as two Knights rushed in.

“Ah, Master Diluc. Have you seen two thieves around?”

“...What happened?”

“Haven't you heard, Master Diluc? Two thieves were trying to steal the Holy Lyre!”

“Oh? How odd… any ideas on who the culprits could be? Fatui, perhaps?” He remembered. Yes!

“We don’t know, Master Diluc. One appeared young, was dark-haired, and dressed in a teal green, and the other was… blond. We’re putting up wanted posters now.” 

You still didn’t know how they got so much from Venti and yet couldn’t describe Aether as anything else as “blond”.

“I believe they headed that way.” Diluc said, pointing out the door.

You went downstairs to talk to him, Venti running ahead of you. Diluc already seemed tired of Venti’s attitude, assuming he stole something. Not the Holy Lyre der Himmel, but a bottle of alcohol.

You forgot the Traveler and Paimon hadn’t met Diluc yet. Sure, you have, but they weren’t you. Thankfully, Diluc understood enough to where a quick “Ooohhh, right, they haven’t met you yet!” was enough to get the point across. He continued as you remembered, sneaking in an expected bash at the Knights at the end.

Diluc really didn’t like the Knights, huh? You understood that he felt that way because of trauma and stuff, but you wished he had a more… positive attitude about things like that. There weren’t any therapists in Teyvat, were there? Oh! New idea! Become the therapist. Were you qualified? Probably not. But at this point, anyone for these people to talk to would help. You sat back and listened to Venti’s stunning performance again, this time without the fancy cutscene to go with it. Diluc looked awe-struck, probably the same way you did when you first heard it.

You agreed to meet after midnight, when the tavern was closed. Great! Another six hours to wait! …That rhymed, didn’t it.

“Alright, I don’t really have anything to do, so I’ll probably just eat something and take a nap. Bye, see you later!” You said to them, leaving the tavern. You found a corner to log off, and left your bedroom to go “take care” of yourself. 

Your eyes hurt a bit from looking at the screen for so long, and your stomach growled with hunger. You’d been online for a good 7 hours, and you only now realized just how much you needed a break. Well, time flies fast when you’re having fun! ‘Was all of that really fun though?’ You asked yourself, before immediately pushing that thought out of your mind to go eat a whole family-sized bag of potato chips. Self care!

You snacked before… gracefully falling asleep, yeah, that, on your couch for a nap that would end up lasting way longer than you anticipated. 

--------------------------------------------------------

As it turns out, falling asleep on an uncomfortable couch after binging on junk food isn't the best for the human body. You woke up on the floor, nauseous, and somehow even more tired than when you fell asleep, and you decided to go in the bathroom just in case. You checked the time on your phone, and it was already close to midnight. Thankfully, the nauseousness went away and you didn’t have to get worried about getting sick at the worst time possible. You washed your face, and headed to your bedroom to meet the others in the tavern.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before [Y/N] had left with Venti, they said something that Diluc had no clue what it meant until those Knights came running in, looking for the thief who stole the Holy Lyre. He had chosen to believe [Y/N] when they said they could basically see the future, and this only proved it more. 

The question was no longer if they were telling the truth or not. It was how to proceed. He had some time to spare while they waited until the tavern closed. He needed to investigate this on his own. “It was the Fatui”, [Y/N] said. If that was so, then he should start where all the Fatui in the city seem to stay. He headed to the Goth Grand Hotel, preparing for a search for answers.

He hadn’t seen Kaeya at all. He was normally still out and about at this time. Did he actually wrap things up at a decent hour? Or was he up to something?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Kaeya left the third floor of the tavern, he was hit with a wave of exhaustion. He was planning to stay in the tavern for a bit, and possibly wait for [Y/N] and Venti to do whatever they needed to, but he desperately needed rest. He left the tavern, beginning to walk to his room in the Favonius Headquarters. Wait, couldn’t he use the waypoint there? [Y/N] had taught him how earlier that day.

It was at the highest point, wasn’t it? He just needed to visualize the area, imagine himself there. Just feel it, and…

And there he was. He almost fainted from the sensation paired with his exhaustion, but he made it. He glided down to the door on the roof, and entered the building. It had been a long day, hadn’t it? He entered his room, took off the bits of armor he was wearing, and promptly passed out on his bed.

--------------------------------------------------------

He woke up in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason. Everything told him that he wasn’t supposed to be up right now, but he didn’t feel like he could fall back asleep. He sat up, and realized how bad he felt. He was drenched in sweat, his hair was a mess, and his eyepatch had shifted, making his right eye visible. He quickly adjusted it. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, right? …Of course there wasn’t. 

After a quick shower, he changed into a clean uniform, minus most of the accessories. It wasn’t worth the time to put all of that on for the little he was planning to do. He figured he wouldn’t need it, since he could easily hold his own in a fight, should he get in one, but he decided to bring his Vision with him. 

He left the building, being careful not to make too much noise, and realized he had no destination in mind. Had the tavern closed yet? Ah, it probably had, it’s not worth it. Is it? Again, something told him to just forget stopping by, but it wouldn’t hurt to check, right? He planned to stop by the tavern to see if it was open, and if it was, to get a drink before leaving the city. After that? You know what they say in Mondstadt:

“Let the wind lead.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Venti couldn’t believe Master Diluc wouldn’t serve him any more alcohol, especially when he was going to be in the tavern, in a room filled with wine barrels for so long. He was alone now, so maybe he could sneak just one more sip without him noticing… But that wouldn’t prove he was trustworthy now, would it? And besides, he wasn’t that addicted to it to where he couldn’t go a few hours without it. For now, he just started to come up with his latest ballad to pass the time.

Or at least he was going to, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about [Y/N]. From the very beginning, they knew who he really was. At first he thought it was because they recognized his voice from when he helped them battle Dvalin, but they supposedly have knowledge of future events. He was wondering how much they knew, but they wouldn’t tell him much at all. It seemed like a weird way to phrase it, and they acted like they knew a lot more detail than he did, but if they really were telling the truth, were they too, aware of the s-

Venti heard Diluc open the door to the room on the third floor. He immediately looked around at the wine barrels, making sure they weren’t touched. Good thing he didn’t try anything!

“Ah, Master Diluc, you’re back! Any news on the Holy Lyre?” Venti perked up. He already knew the answer to that, but he wanted to get the conversation started.

“It’s not where I thought it may be, in the Goth Grand Hotel, but I… persuaded some Fatui members to tell me where it is.” He adjusted his left glove.

“Well then, are we only waiting for [Y/N] and the tavern to close now?” Venti asked.

“That, and I was thinking of contacting one more person to help us. I know it’s late, but hopefully she’ll understand…” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diluc stopped by the tavern to close up and check on Venti, and quickly set out again to find some others who could help. It was getting close to time, but he should be able to get someone. Hopefully Jean wouldn’t be too preoccupied with her work…

He opened the door to leave the tavern, and saw Kaeya walking away. Had he not gone to rest? Kaeya turned around after hearing the door open, and looked at Diluc with that same smug expression as always.

“Diluc, you’re still here? And here I’d thought everyone left already… I came for a drink, but I won’t bother you if you’ve already closed up.” He started to turn back around to leave.

“Hold on. I haven’t put everything away, you can come in for a bit if you’d like.” He could help right? Even though Diluc didn’t exactly get along with him very well anymore, he couldn’t deny that he got things done when he needed to.

“Oh, where’s this hospitality coming from? Do you need something from me, is that what this is?"

“I think you’d be useful to us here. I’ll discuss it with you more inside.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Diluc said he was going to contact people to help them, but Venti didn’t expect him to be back with help this soon.

He heard two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs, and then there were three in the room. The help he had found was Kaeya, who sounded almost… shy, like he didn’t feel like he should be there. When questioned about it, he got a little nervous and insisted it was just insomnia. From the looks of it, he thought he could cover up his emotions with clean clothes and perfume. Venti played along with him, changing the subject to what they were going to do next.

“So Diluc, where exactly did you say the Holy Lyre was?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You turned on your console, opened the program, and watched the celestial pathway for a while. It had been sitting there for quite a bit now, huh?

Verifying file integrity…

Why was that taking so long? 

Almost as soon as you noticed it, it went back to its normal speed, and the doors appeared. It probably wasn’t anything to worry about, but it scared you at first. You thought your game finally realized something was wrong, and was just going to either fix itself, and sever your connection to this Teyvat, or ban your account.

If you remembered correctly, Venti, Diluc, and Jean should be waiting for you inside Angel’s Share. You knew Jean couldn’t hear you, but you wondered if she would notice your avatar’s robotic movements. Apparently, she didn’t back in the Knights headquarters, but who knows? Maybe she just wasn’t paying much attention.

You walked in to an empty tavern, but after a few seconds, Venti jumped down from the second floor, landing right in front of you. He looked around, and you made Aether jump a couple of times.

“The mysterious [Y/N] has finally returned! Ready to go? Master Diluc can tell you where we need to go. Or, perhaps you already know?” He said, smiling.

He wasn’t going to stop bringing that up until you told him every little detail, was he?

You sighed, and said “Yes, I know. It’s near Springvale, isn’t it?” 

You had basically just woken up, so your voice didn’t sound the best, but you hoped he wouldn’t notice. Diluc came down the stairs, followed by… Kaeya? Did he come instead of Jean? That wouldn’t drastically change anything, right? Wait, was that why it took so long to load? Because the story had changed? This wouldn’t drastically change anything yet, right? No. It can’t. Not yet.

Diluc looked at your avatar, and answered, “You’re right about the location. If we’re all ready to head off, we should get going.”

Venti turned to you, you, not your avatar, and questioned, “Everything alright, [Y/N]? Is there something bothering you?” Did you sound nervous when you answered him?

“Yeah, I just took a nap, and… I didn’t exactly sleep well. But that shouldn’t matter too much, let’s go.”

You briefly explained to Venti and Diluc how you were able to teleport, and that they should be able to do it too, and then you all were at Springvale in the blink of an eye. Venti acted like it was nothing new to him, while Diluc was… fascinated, to say the least. Kaeya had to explain to him that yes, that feeling of having your soul torn from your body was normal for this.

Diluc had quite a bit to say about it.

“Those waypoints are all over Teyvat… If the wrong people learned how to use them…” He looked in the direction of the hideout. “That could spell catastrophe worldwide.” 

At one point, you had noticed Kaeya had a different shirt on. Or was it the same one, just with less of the flamboyant stuff on top of it? It was nice seeing people in different outfits, instead of the exact same clothing 24/7.

As you all stood at the entrance, you thought about what was in this domain. This was the one where you had to ask a bunch of different Fatui agents where the key to a door was, right? …And it was the one with the Diluc trial, wasn’t it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Add another thing to the list of [Y/N]’s powers… Not only could they possess others at will, and suddenly make people stronger, and tell the future, but they could teleport anywhere in Teyvat they wanted to. And apparently, anyone could do that last thing. Diluc was surprised no one else had found out about this, and frankly, he was glad. There was also something else he didn’t know about yet. The other two kept looking at a spot a little above and behind [Y/N]’s avatar when they were talking to them. It felt like something was there, but he couldn’t see anything. He doubted it was a secret, since chances are, they wouldn’t be doing it in front of him if it was, but he hadn’t had a chance to ask anyone about it yet.

He was about to go in the hideout with everyone when [Y/N] gasped, and said they needed to tell him something.

“Hey,” they began. “I know I probably should have told you this earlier, but remember what my system did with Kaeya that one time? Or, I guess technically two times, but whatever- Just, that thing where it forces someone into my team?” They sounded very tired saying that. He knew they had just woken up, but he felt they were also just… annoyed by that happening.

“Yes. It happened less than a day ago. …Why are you bringing this up now?” 

“So- I- Look, there’s nothing I can do about it, at least, not now. Maybe I can eventually figure out how to fix this, but-”

He sighed. "...I’m about to be forced into your control, aren’t I? You don’t have to tip-toe around it, I guessed that as soon as you brought it up. If you can’t do anything about it, do you at least know how long this is going to take?”

He trusted them, right? As far as he was aware, they hadn’t lied to him yet, and they were warning him beforehand. Still, it felt like he barely knew them. Should he trust them with his body? Did he even have a choice?

“Give me a bit, and I can check, but it shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes.”

“You make it sound like you can check any little detail with the snap of your fingers.” 

This was a very specific event of the future they were talking about, but it would just take them a minute to check it? They’d done it before with that letter, but he had no clue how. Either that meant they were a very talented hydromancer, or they were getting their information from some other power or source.

“Oh, uh, I kind of can, except I have to do a little more than just snap my fingers. I type the thing I want into a device, I find the media I want, and then I have it. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to find said media, but I can pretty much find anything you could ever think of. Aaaand here’s the thing I was looking for! One more second…”

“You have a device that allows you to view information on anything you want? I guess that sounds about right if your world also has the technology to see the future of other worlds… I’m sure you already know of this, but we have something called astrology that allows people to see the future using the stars. Does your technology take advantage of that?”

“I’ll tell you more about the device later, but no, the technology my world has doesn’t use that. Astrology does exist here, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work the same as it does in Teyvat. People in my world use it to give people ideas of what may be yet to come in their lives, but here in Teyvat it’s like astrologers can see fate itself. …Anyway, I think we’re getting off track here. Going off of what I’ve seen, it’s going to take a little over 10 minutes, give or take. It might be a little longer because I’ll be focusing more on your safety than getting through it, or it might be a little shorter because I have others to help me now. Are you fine with that?”

So it’s not astrology… What is it, then? …Whatever. They’re right, they’re going off track. 10 minutes shouldn’t be too bad, especially with others watching over him to make sure [Y/N] doesn’t do anything harmful. It’s not like he had a choice, anyway.

“That’s… fine. Just try to get it over with quickly. It’s fine if I get a few scratches, just don’t kill me.”

“Alright, I guess we’re ready to head in. I’ll check to see if the guards in there can hear me. If not, great, but if so, I’m… gonna need to rethink things.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…How were you going to explain to them what a phone is, and what the internet does? That’s a question for another time, but it still made you think.

You’d let Diluc know what was about to happen to him, and you just needed to tell everyone your plan, at least for this first part.

“One more thing, as soon as we go in, there’s going to be a rotating bridge with those cylinder torches or whatever they’re called on one side, and a clear path on the other. Once the bridge flips to the clear side, there should be just enough time to get all the way to the other side if we run like hell.”

Venti thought for a second before responding with, “Wouldn’t it be better for me to just… make a wind current at the start? Then no one has to worry about spinning bridges and torches at all~”

Oh. Right. You had others to help you. He could make a wind current and you could just. Skip over it. 

“...Yeah, that might be better. I guess I’m so used to having to rely on my own skillset here that I don’t realize others can help. Also, I’m probably just... tired. Anyway, after that first room, there’s a… door with a guard who acts like he’s about to piss his pants, but after that, there’s a big room with a bunch of smaller rooms inside and we’re going to have to find a key to move on. My question here is, should we split up or stay together while we search?”

Diluc was the first to chime in this time. “Normally I’d suggest we split up, but under these circumstances, it’d be better to stick together in case something goes wrong.”

“Alright.” You said. “We’ve been standing here for a while, I think it’s finally time to go in.”

Diluc adjusted his gloves, and you all went in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, Kaeya gets to witness [Y/N]’s powers of possession; except now, he isn’t the one experiencing it.

After everyone entered the hideout, Aether had vanished, and Diluc, now wearing a Fatui mask, stood in his place. Something about this whole situation seemed… familiar, for some reason. Nothing like this had happened before, right? …It’s probably just déjà vu. 

“Come on, let’s just get this over with.” [Y/N] said, nudging Diluc forward.

Now, Diluc had the same slightly-inhuman movement Aether had when [Y/N] was using him as their “avatar”. He was somewhat used to seeing it on Aether, but it was strange seeing Diluc move like that. When he was under their control, he could only move his eyes, and now, he couldn’t even see Diluc’s, as they were covered by the mask. 

Venti did as he said he would, and made a fairly large wind current to carry everyone over. He made it look incredibly easy. If it wasn’t for him hearing other Anemo Vision bearers talking about their experiences, he would have thought that was something anyone could do.

At first he thought [Y/N] had been hiding something from him, but he had a feeling they weren’t. Something was certainly… different about Venti. He couldn’t merely be just a wandering bard. Until Kaeya found out who he truly was, he figured he would stay on guard around him.

Diluc- No, [Y/N] walked into a small opening, thinking there might be something in the room it led into. There was a chest inside, guarded by 3 small Electro Slimes. They made quick work of them, unsurprisingly, but they weren’t paying attention to the fight, instead focused on something else.

They left the room and headed to a large door guarded by a very nervous-looking Agent, just as [Y/N] said. They went up alone to talk to him, and switched avatars to the Traveler, who was also wearing a Fatui mask. The Agent did not seem to notice the change.

“No, NO! Don’t eat me! Ah? You’re… You’re human? The entire floor’s defenses… have been broken. I thought it was the Abyss Order attacking…” 

[Y/N] said “Hey,” testing whether or not he could hear them. No response at all. They chuckled a bit, and he could swear Aether said something, though he couldn’t hear anything.

“AH- No, do- We hi- The place- I don’t kn-” 

“This guy-”

“Y-you- One of the Ele- Signora-”

The Agent pointed his sword at them in both fear and anger, still shaking, still not noticing the person he was speaking to change forms in front of him. So to get the key, they have to venture further in, also just like [Y/N] sai- Wait a minute, did he actually hear that guy say any of that? He definitely heard him say the floor’s defenses were broken… and then [Y/N] checked if he could hear them… and then they laughed for some reason… and then about 5 seconds later, the conversation was over. Something must have happened; there’s no way he could have said that much in that little time. He looked at where the man was again, only to see that… he was gone.

Kaeya turned to [Y/N], who now seemed nervous, and simply asked, “... Did you notice anything unusual there, by chance?”

“...Shit, you did notice. Uhhh, so remember when you first met Aether and you didn’t know his name until I told you because you didn’t hear it even though you knew what was said? I might have done the thing that does that again.” 

Which was what, exactly? They hadn’t explained it yet, but now wasn’t the time to get an explanation from them, so he reluctantly decided to move on from that.

They opened the door and though he couldn’t see her, Paimon decided now was the time to ask questions.

“Did he say Signora? What a strange name…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaeya had described to Diluc what it felt like, and although it did feel exactly as he described, he definitely wasn’t used to it. He felt something watching him that he didn’t feel before, but when he looked in its direction, there was nothing there. He didn’t think much of it, as Kaeya had mentioned something like this to him. It was likely where [Y/N] was looking at Teyvat from.

[Y/N] talked to a guard, and for that conversation, he was thrown out of his body, now watching the Traveler from a similar position [Y/N] was. Was this how they saw the world? Strange, but again, exactly what Kaeya described. 

Other than that, Diluc didn’t notice anything off with the conversation, but Kaeya apparently did. Diluc wasn’t the type of person to miss things, so he knew something weird was happening when [Y/N] responded to him in a way that practically confirmed something was off. He made a note to himself to ask them about that after this was over with.

He didn’t understand how that fairy thing- Paimon, was talking. Where was she?

“Number 8 of The Eleven. Goes by the name Signora. The fact the Fatui can run amok across the seven nations like they do is entirely because of The Eleven.”

That was his voice talking. Was that what he sounded like? …Whatever, it was just another thing Kaeya had told him about. He had been surprisingly reliable so far, but he still wondered if there was something important he was leaving out.

They entered a large hall, with a large door at the opposite end and two rooms on each side. There was a mechanism in the center that needed a key, and it presumably opened the large door. …If [Y/N]’s system hadn’t taken control of him, everyone could search one room on their own. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, so it was better they stayed together.

They first searched what seemed to be a storage room. No one was there, so they searched every nook and cranny without interruption. At least, until a few Pyro Slimes came out of nowhere, which his abilities couldn’t provide much help with. Sure, if everything was normal, he could use just his sword instead of his Vision, but…

Kaeya and Venti made quick work of the slimes, since Venti could make a massive wind vortex to suck all the slimes in. No key to be found in there. They moved on to the next room, which stood a single guard. He seemed to stop paying attention to anyone other than the Traveler once he started talking to him. The Traveler tried to convince the guy he was part of some alliance and wanted to “borrow” the Holy Lyre, but he obviously didn’t believe it, especially not when he offered a single apple in exchange for it.

A Cicin Mage appeared, and they fought. His Pyro abilities would actually do something here, but [Y/N] still wouldn’t engage in fear they would hurt him too, with how Pyro and Electro interact. It ticked him off a bit. Fight. He told them before they all went in, it was fine if he got a few scratches, just fight, don’t just run around like a headless chicken. Did this have anything to do with them being a pacifist? She’s already attacking you, just defend yourself. Fight. It’s an easy opponent, he could easily take care of her if he could just- fight. 

His body stopped for a second, then pulled out a sword he’d only seen in legend, sending off a fiery phoenix at her, setting the blade ablaze. Was he back in control?

[Y/N] screamed, before going completely silent. Diluc heard something fall to the ground with a clatter, and could feel someone watching him in fear. Was that the point Kaeya and Venti were looking at?

He still couldn’t do much. He was only able to mimic the same few repetitive motions, and even those were incredibly difficult. Every movement felt like breaking out of chains. But still, he pushed. How was he able to do this? Kaeya couldn’t escape it after hours, but he could do this after minutes? The mage was defeated, and [Y/N] finally spoke up again.

“I didn’t do any of that. …Diluc?”

He tried to move more freely, but he couldn’t do anything except that same moveset. How did he even do that? He looked around, trying to get the attention of someone, but he realized he was wearing a mask. He had no way to communicate with anyone. 

“I… I don’t know, maybe my controller just glitched? Let’s just keep going.”

…There goes any hope of being able to break out of it. He shouldn’t have thought it was that easy. Still, how was he able to control himself at all, even if it was just for a few moments?

They checked the last room that was downstairs, which had a chest with a few Cicins around it. Just like the other enemies here, they weren’t an issue at all. Thankfully, the key was in the chest, and the group managed to open the door. [Y/N] said there was one more fight, and then they could get the Holy Lyre, and this whole thing would be over.

“Hey, you wanna know the guy's name?” [Y/N] asked. They sounded more and more tired by the minute.

“You know his name?” Kaeya scoffed. “If you know that much, you might as well tell us what he says to us.” 

He was acting as if he didn’t believe they really could see such things, but he obviously believed it. He was just saying this to squeeze more information out of them, wasn’t he?

“Oh my god, fine, but I’m not going to be able to do stuff like this all the time. First of all, his name is, I hope I’m saying this right, Zamenhoff…? And as soon as we go in there, he says- wait should I do the voice? I’m doing the voice. ‘Where did you rats scurry out from… Signora is not going to tolerate this kind of interference in our affairs. So I'll be the one to take care of you - save her the trouble of having to deal with you herself.’ …I’m sorry. I think I need to go back to sleep.”

That was probably the least professional telling of the future he’s ever heard, but as they walked into the last room, it turned out to be accurate, just as everything else they’ve said has been. They were audibly exhausted, and he could only think of one time they’ve taken something completely seriously. Should he have let them take control of him? It hadn’t gone too horribly yet, and it was almost over, but he started to get a little nervous. 

They entered the fight, and once again, he tried to perform those repetitive moves. [Y/N] was actually fighting this time, but he wanted to contribute something as well. They didn’t seem to notice anything was off this time. The Agent was defeated, and finally, he was fully in control of his own body again. He immediately let out a large sigh. 

“Signora is going to end you. The songs bards sing of your demise will be so terrifying - the people of Mondstadt will never sleep again for the nightmares they give them.” Said the Agent, now escaping. [Y/N] mocked him while he was saying it, speaking at the same time as him, but in a far more dramatic tone. 

They mocked Paimon too, even trying to match her high-pitched voice. He will admit he found it a bit funny, but he kept a straight face, unlike the other two, who couldn’t help but chuckle. She shot them a look before vanishing again.

“You alright?” [Y/N] asked him.

“Well, I’m not dead, so that’s something.” That… definitely could have gone better.

“So… Back to the tavern now, right? Wait, Venti, aren’t you still wanted?”

“Ahh… That may be a problem… But can’t we just teleport back?” Venti sheepishly said.

“We can only teleport to waypoints, at least as far as I know, and the nearest waypoint is right next to the plaza with all of the shops. I know it’s literally the middle of the night, but I don’t think we can be sure there won’t be anyone out. I don’t want someone seeing people appear out of nowhere.” [Y/N] had a point. Doing that when someone was near may have consequences.

“So I suppose we’re walking, then? I’ll walk ahead, and make sure any Knights patrolling at this time are… looking the other way.” Kaeya said, already going ahead of everyone else.

No one said a word for a bit. Venti had a slightly worried expression on his face, as if he was hoping whatever plan he had would work. [Y/N]’s avatar had that same expressionless face as always, which was… creepy, sometimes, but they seemed like they weren’t paying attention to anything now. Normally Diluc wasn’t one to break the silence, but he had something to say now.

“That wasn’t an issue with your controller earlier, [Y/N].”

“...Hmm?” They replied. They sounded… completely out of it. “So you did that? How?”

“I don’t know. I hope you don’t take any offense to this, but your… pacifism doesn’t exactly suit the way I do things, so, I broke out of it, in a way. I wasn’t able to fully break it, but I managed to do something.”

“So the solution to breaking out of it… is to just break out of it. Wow…!” They sarcastically said, before walking their avatar into a tree.

“I don’t mean for it to sound like that. I’m guessing I had enough willpower to resist your system a little. Again, not all the way, but I think I was able to at least do what you could.”

“That’s so weird… I think I’m gonna have to set aside some time to take a closer look at my system and figure out what’s up sometime.” They yawned. “But definitely not tonight…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…God, you were tired. What the hell had happened in that domain? Somehow Diluc had managed to fight against your system, and do a bit on his own. How? No clue, but it was a nice surprise. 

You remembered that quest on that far-away island that you couldn’t finish the first day. After this, maybe you could beg Venti to take you there so you could finally finish it. There was still about… what? An hour and a half? before you were able to continue it. Yeah, never mind, screw that. There was no way you’d be able to stay awake that much longer. That nap just made you more tired. Guess that quest’ll stay unfinished…

The four of you finally got back to the tavern. Thankfully, Kaeya managed to keep any Knights from seeing you. You pulled up the Wiki again, and found your way to the page on the part of the quest you were at.

Sure, Kaeya was there instead of Jean, but everyone else’s lines were still the same. It looked like things would be on the right track. You repeated everyone’s lines as they said them, but only vocalizing Paimon’s, while just mouthing Diluc and Venti’s to not weird them out too much.

“From now on, you’ll be known as-” Oh, this part, where Paimon gives him a nickname and refuses to call him by his actual name ever again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tone-deaf bard!” said Paimon and [Y/N] simultaneously. The bard didn’t seem too bothered by his new nickname.

So not only could [Y/N] could just pull up a word-for-word script of the “story” they knew whenever they wanted, but said story was accurate, also down to the word? That’s… concerning.

It had been a very long day… Kaeya hoped he could finally get some sleep. Everyone bid their farewells after agreeing to continue in the morning, and he left. Venti was still wanted, right? That may cause some problems. He made a mental note to tell Jean that the Holy Lyre was in safe hands first thing in the morning.

Again, he teleported to the Knights Headquarters, but now, he remembered why they didn’t teleport back to the tavern. Was anyone watching? He looked around, and could see no one. As for the last time he did this… He didn’t check, did he? …Whatever, it should be fine. He made his way to his dorm, and, now feeling he had enough energy to do so, actually did his nighttime routine rather than just passing out. He stayed awake for quite a while, making notes and pacing around before he finally felt tired enough to be able to sleep through the night.

Those thoughts of [Y/N]’s “story” continued as he drifted to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------

“But I shall not bow to the will of fate. I am no pawn in heaven's plan.”

…Here he was, acting in a play, as a character destined for tragedy. Seemed familiar. His character was supposed to simply accept it, yet “he” had decided to improv a section on defying fate. 

Despite this being “improv”, it was obvious all of this, scripted parts included, was supposed to reflect his own story. He’d noticed the similarities when he first heard of the story, though he didn’t fully remember when that was, but it seemed even more accurate now, looking at it from a different view.

The truth was, the improv was no less scripted than the rest of the play, nor anything else he’d experienced for that matter. This “play” began much before this street performance.

Even though it felt as if it had been years, he still remembered the beginning as clear as day.

When the Traveler first appeared in Mondstadt, he was unable to clearly remember anything prior to when they arrived. Hell, other than the most major events in his life, he couldn’t remember anything at all, and even those major events were fuzzy. He knew his interests, and his relationships with people, but it was like he had some strange form of amnesia. He’d wanted to tell someone about what he was going through, but every time he got a chance, he would black out, and wake up somewhere completely different.  

To him, it hadn’t even been that long since he’d first noticed, but already, days had gone by. He “woke up” again outside of Good Hunter, in the middle of a conversation with the Traveler about something he couldn’t recall thinking about. It had been days. The periods of time he was being knocked out for were getting longer. He had to say something as soon as possible, but he found he couldn’t control what he was saying.

He quickly realized that he was bound to some sort of script. Sure, “fate” served as a loose script, but this was word for word. He wondered whether this was happening to anyone else, but had no way to check, since he was either stuck to this script or unconscious.

It would sometimes be months at a time now he would be unconscious, almost like slipping into a coma. The Traveler was there with him wherever he was, so he assumed they must have something to do with it, but he hoped they didn’t know they did. Maybe then he could still tolerate them.

Over time, it seemed like the writer started to tease him more and more. It started with a few jokes from “him” hinting at it being some kind of story, and now it was a whole play.

He was an actor, playing a character, playing a character destined for tragedy. The only difference between this play and his experiences was that in reality, he was given no choice on whether to take the role.

This little improv session with Prince Qubad made the audience think he refused to accept the fate he was given, that he rejected it entirely, but the story still ended in the same way it was written.

As he looked at it now, he was no different from Prince Qubad in this story. Or at least, “Kaeya” wasn’t. He knew how Qubad’s story was similar to his, yes, but this improv session added something to it.

There were two layers to the scripting. One was fate itself. Destiny. Most people knew about this, and it could be seen fairly easily, only needing the help of some magic. This already seemed like enough restriction, as it was supposedly extremely difficult to change, but there was even more on top of that, at least for him.

It looked like in the future, “he” would have to make a very important decision, and end up choosing a secret third option. While this would be rejecting his fate in terms of what the people of Teyvat consider it to be, he would still be following the narrative this second, stricter script had for him.

…Oh, the irony. Just like the play, the character is written to refuse fate. Sure, the original script may not have included that, just as “his” original fate does not include what he’s likely to do.

He’d been wondering whether he should keep trying to break out of this. Obviously, doing so would grant him back autonomy, but it would also be following the whole “defying fate” path set for him by whatever scripted this. Either way, he was still playing right into its hands.

“Perhaps there's an inept god out there deciding everyone's fates... much like the Akademiya student drafting Darbil's scripts. Yep, "inept" is a good word for it. Honestly, it might even be a little too civil to describe a god who turns fathers against their sons and is bent on endless warmongering... don't you think?”

Either somehow, he had managed to change the script slightly with his thoughts, or the writers were mocking him.

…It was the latter, wasn’t it? “He” continued on about how someone doesn’t have to follow the script if they don’t like it, like it was just that easy. He’d made up his mind. He had to get out of this, no matter if that was what the writers wanted.

The conversation was coming to an end now, he could feel it. The Traveler was about to leave, and from what he knew about their journey, they likely wouldn’t be seeing him again any time soon. Any second now, the Traveler would disappear, and he would be knocked out for gods know how long. Couldn’t they just stay a little longer…?

#sagau #genshin sentience au #genshin fanfic #ao3 #pursuit of knowledge

[babyangelsky]

BL Challenge 2k24 ✨Day 15✨

Hello and welcome to @negrowhat's 15 Day BL Challenge! Full challenge can be found here.

5 Bestest Besties

We did it! We made it to the last day of the challenge! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read through my posts and a big thank you to Eboni especially for putting this challenge together! I had a great time doing it 🥰

In case you missed any of my posts, here they are: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

And now onto all of our besties!

Toh, Jao, Daisy, and Som in Secret Crush on You

♡ gif by @pharawee from this set

This may be my favorite friend group in any show I've ever seen. Period. The extended friend group is also incredible but these four are the core. It all begins with them. They're so loving and supportive and kind to one another. Watching them is pure comfort and joy. If you haven't seen SCOY, go. Run. It's worth it for them alone.

Uea and Jade in Bed Friend/Middleman's Love

♡ gif by @alienwlw from this set

Believe me when I tell you I would lasso the moon for Uea and Jade. They're each other's rocks. They're each other's comfort. They bring each other so much love and sweetness that it makes me want to cry. These two were going to bat for each other long before King and Mai came along and they didn't stop even after they'd both entered into relationships. Their friendship means everything to me. EVERYTHING.

Kuea and Diao/Lian and Yi in Cutie Pie/Naughty Babe

♡ gif by @gunsatthaphan from this set

One of my very favorite things about the Cutie Pie cinematic universe is how much weight and importance is given to friendship. It's on par with the romance and sometimes even supersedes it. This is true especially for Kuea and Diao. These two take pride of place to each other over their husbands. They're ride or die for each other first before they're ride or die for their husbands.

♡ gif by @sunshinesanctuary from this post

All four of these men are terrible at communicating in their relationships (even though they do improve) but in their friendships? No secrets, no miscommunication; only complete openness and honesty.

Zong Yi and Ai Di in Kiseki: Dear to Me

♡ gif by @leedongwook from this set

My love for Kiseki is as boundless as the sea but the only thing I wish they'd given us more of is this friendship because it was fucking great. I love when a feral boi adopts a gentle boi and becomes his protector the way Ai Di did for Zong Yi, in prison and beyond. They always gave each other an ear, a shoulder, advice, comfort, whatever the other one needed. We deserved more of them.

Lom and Yiwa in Wedding Plan

This story simply would not exist if Lom and Yiwa didn't love each other and weren't fiercely loyal to each over absolutely everything. They kept each other's secrets. They gave each other a lifeline. They each moved heaven and earth to ensure the other got the love and happiness they deserved despite what it cost them and they would do it again.

♡ gif by @gunsatthaphan from this set

When Shakespeare wrote keep thy friend under thy own life's key, this kind of friendship is exactly what he meant.

#BLChallenge2k24 #secret crush on you #kiseki dear to me #bed friend #middlemans love #cutie pie #naughty babe the series #wedding plan the series

[porterdavis]

This is a disturbing and chilling look at how war is conducted with AI.

At one point in October, Abraham reports, the Israel Defense Forces targeted junior combatants identified by Lavender only if the likely collateral damage could be limited to 15 or 20 civilian deaths — a shockingly large number, given that no collateral damage had been considered acceptable for low-level combatants. More senior commanders, Abraham reports, would be targeted even if it meant killing more than 100 civilians. A second program, called Where’s Daddy?, was used to track the combatants to their homes before targeting them there, Abraham writes, because doing so at those locations, along with their families, was “easier” than tracking them to military outposts. And increasingly, to avoid wasting smart bombs to target the homes of suspected junior operatives, the Israel Defense Forces chose to use much less precise dumb bombs instead.

And then when it comes to decisions made by humans:

On CNN, the analyst Barak Ravid told Anderson Cooper of a conversation he had with an Israeli reserve officer who told him that “the orders are basically - 'shoot every man in fighting age'.

Welcome to war in 2024.

#idf #gaza #israel

[escaping-thoughts-reviews]

Except that’s not what “high fashion” is.

“Fashion” in Gabriel’s world is “art”. Haute couture, or “high fashion”, uses the medium of cloth to create wearable pieces of art. 

Sure, most of high fashion is hidious, but that’s because every piece of clothing represents the artistic vision of the designer. It’s very personal and not everyone will like it (same with traditional art).

What the writers are describing here is “fast fashion”, which is a wirlwind of styles and trends engeneered to appeal to the masses, while having little staying power. It’s lightyears away from the kind of world Gabriel would work in. Sure, sometimes high fashion influences a trend in fast fashion, but designers don’t care about it. It’s beneath them. Just like an artist wouldn’t look at AI generated images as “art”. 

Fast fashion is cheap and souless, while the “fashion” Gabriel creates (high fashion) is meant to be impactful and last forever.

Proof? Gabriel, Emilie and Amelie keeping the same style of clothing for years. I know that’s because of 3d models being expensive, but they can’t show us that and then make this argument. Because, if we follow that logic, Gabriel has spent the last 14-15 years “being out-of-style”, as many other fashion designers irl, that rarely change their style.

It’s sad how from scenes like this, we understand just how little the writers actually know about the topics they choose to use in their story.

#me? over analysing mlb? no.... anyways #what gabriel is refering to actually is fast fashion #something he has nothing to do with #gabriel agreste #miraculous ladybug #miraculous the tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous spoilers #ml season 5 #ml spoilers #ml pretension #escaping thoughts

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 17

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

The moment I sat down on the Throne, something activated. The lights that I turned on in the room became brighter, and there were more of them. Galleries on my left and right lit up, empty now but clearly meant for the residents to see me when I make speeches or proclamations. And most surprising of all

I can see.

Everything.

I can see how many ships are docked - it's 6 counting us. Hah, we're listed as UNKNOWN STARSHIP. Hold on, I can fix that... There. Now we're listed as FarReach - Human/K'laxi exploration Starjumper.

I can see how many people are here - it's 11.5 million - huh, Rapid River Roaring wasn't lying after all.

I can see the food distribution centers - they're offline. What the? How are people getting fed? Clearly something is up there. I won't turn them on just yet until I learn more.

I can see the environmental systems... why are they running at such low output? That doesn't seem right. I think if I push here, and tweak there... There we go. That should help a great deal.

I can see... wait, what's this over here?

I can see the Gate

The Gate is locked.

How did we get through the Gate then? I mean, that means that Ottarn won't be able to get through at least. I'll have to explore that one later.

Turning away from the Gate, I look back at the Starbase. Hmm. It feels like I'm on the edge of something big. If I were to just... let go a little bit... I think I can... see...

I regain consciousness on the floor, out of breath, with Ava kneeling over me nearly in tears from panic. "Melody! Melody! Oh thank goodness you're all right!"

I sit up and look around. Ava wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly. "I was so scared Melody. After you sat on the Throne, I heard noises like heavy machinery starting up, and then there was this storm of wind, and then your eyes glowed and there was a scream."

"Slow down Ava, a scream?"

"It came from everywhere. It sounded like the whole Starbase was screaming! It sounded like you were screaming. I looked up at you, and you had blood coming from your nose and ears and your mouth was open and you were glowing but your body wasn't making noise. I-I didn't know what to do, so I pulled you off the Throne."

Reaching up to my face I touch my ears, sure enough, my finger comes back wet with blood. I can feel it drying under my nose. What the hell happened?

You tried to integrate with Reach of the Might of Vzzx, but the Nanites weren't ready. You had a partial connection. Ava was correct to pull you off.

But what does it mean? What about all that stuff I saw?

When you sit on the Throne and truly integrate you become Reach of the Might of Vzzx. This is what Builders are.

Wait. Our starbases and starships are operated by AIs. You're telling me that out here they're operated by Builders?

Builders build. They rule. They are.

I look back at Ava "Thank you Ava, the Nanites tell me that you saved me." I return the hug just as tightly. "Builders are the starbases out here. They sit in the throne and become the starbase."

Holy shit. That's the missing piece!

"Ava! I know why everything looks so run down here. They haven't had a Builder on the throne in a long time. Reach of the Might of Vzzx is running on automatic! The wind you heard? The environmental systems were running at a super low setting. I turned up the air and scrubbers!"

Ava breaks the hug and looks at me wide eyed. "You mean that they... don't have AIs here, they have... humans running all the stations? As Builders?"

"Yes, I think that's how it works. A Builder, or a team of Builders lives and works at every starbase and they... become the starbase with the help of the Nanites. My Throne is like a... superpowered version of that. I can see so much more than the Starbase. I was able to perceive out into space, I could see the Gates! Ours is locked by the way, Ottarn isn't going anywhere."

"But, how did we get through then?"

I shrug "Builder magic I guess. As we learn more, we will become more proficient at operating things I think. For now, I'm going to take it easy and just try and get a handle on the basics." I move to get up and get back onto the Throne.

"No Melody! It nearly killed you!" Ava's voice trembles.

I reach for her hand and squeeze it tightly. "It's okay Ava. I know what I did wrong. I tried to go to deeply too early. The Nanites say I'm not ready to fully integrate yet, but I can get on and at least like... read the status log. Find out what needs to be done, and then make plans. I'm also going to try and reach out to FarReach, and let her know what I've found."

"Okay, if you say so." Ava plunks down next to the throne, sitting on the floor. "I'm staying right here though. If you start making the Starbase scream again, I'm pulling you off."

"Thanks Ava, please do that." I smile warmly at her. With the dried blood under my nose and down my neck, it probably doesn't look at nurturing as I meant it to.

Sitting again, I'm more prepared for it, but it's still a shock when I become the starbase again. This time, I reach out for the radio. There, okay, I see how it works. I think about the human system frequency for our Starjumpers and try and talk to FarReach.

There's a pause and a burst of static, then it clears and I hear FarReach! "This is FarReach, joint Human/K'laxi exploration Starjumper, who is this?"

"Hi FarReach!" I say brightly! "It's Melody!"

"Melody? Where are you? What are you doing? I suddenly got flooded with radio until I opened the mic to listen, and then it focused in on the standard channel."

"Sorry, that was me."

"You? Are you at a comm station?"

"Kind of? I'm Reach of the Might of Vzzx right now."

"I know you're on the Starbase Melody, where on the Starbase are you?"

"No no, I mean I am Might of Vzzx right now. I've reassumed my Throne and it turns out when a Builder does that.. they kind of become the starbase.

"Become the-- Melody, What are you doing?" FarReach sounds worried.

"Don't worry FarReach, other than the screaming - that was totally my fault, I tried to go too deep at first - it's fine. It's better than fine actually! I can see everything. I can see the Gates - they're locked by the way, I have no idea why we can traverse them. Also I can see... everything. It's tough to describe."

"Believe it or not, Melody, I have a hunch I know what you mean. You're looking at things like we see them."

"Yes! That's what I was thinking. I don't think they have AIs out here, they have Builders."

"Melody, that's... quite a lot. Is this what being an Empress is over here?"

"I think it's what being a Builder is. As Empress I think I have access to like, a higher level. I tried to access it, but Ava said I made the whole Starbase scream, and she had to pull me off the Throne."

"We heard that! That was you?" FarReach sounds worried.

"Ava said it was. Sorry if I scared everyone."

"And you got back onto the Throne?"

"Well, yes. I am Empress now. This starbase hasn't been managed in a long time. I need to read the logs and figure out how to start affecting repairs."

There's a pause at that. I bet FarReach is talking with the crew.

"So Mei'la was right. Thank you for reaching out and letting us know where you are and that you're safe. Captain Q'ari was worried when Mei'la and Fer'resi came back alone. Ava is with you?"

I look down at Ava, and she looks back up to me worried. I smile down to her and give her a thumbs up.

"Yes, Ava is here with me, she's okay too."

"Thank you Melody. Come on back when you're able. Everyone would love to hear about what you found." and FarReach closes the connection.

Huh. That was odd. She sounded distracted at the end. I wonder why.

The crew told her something she didn't like.

But what, do you suppose?

Many people in the crew do not like your new role and title. Some worry about what it means for them, others worry about what it means for things back home. Still others seethe with jealousy.

No, that can't be it. Why would they be jealous? Why would they worry about what this means for back home?

Melody, you are being naïve again. You are Empress. You can control matter. You can order people to do anything. You rule this side of the Galaxy now, and can easily rule the other again.

But it's not like I'm going to do anything bad to anyone. I'll be a good Empress. A great one even.

Great Empresses are feared as much as they are loved. More so perhaps. We can discuss this later. Look, you are seated upon your Throne. Much can be done here, call up the Gate map.

I think about a Gate map. Springing in front of me is a stylized map of the Galaxy. I recognize the spiral arms and it's actually quite pretty. A small royal blue dot is lit. That must be here.

I concentrate on the map "Show me the location of all Gates."

A flood of yellow dots appears on the map, all over the Galaxy. Far more than we had mapped out, truly there are over five hundred of them.

Wow.

"Show me currently active Gates."

A worryingly small amount of the yellow dots turns blue. Maybe seventy five of them? Interestingly there is a large cloud of blue dots over on the other side of the galaxy, back home. Other than a small swarm around here, that's the largest other location of Gates.

Even after they rejected your rule, they kept their Gates and they are some of the largest group now active. The Nanites chuckle to themselves.

Hmm. If the Gates are connected to each other - and they'd have to be in order to work then I wonder...

"Ping all Gates. Color code replies; Green as working active gates, Yellow as working but deactivated gates, Red as locked but still active gates, and Black as no reply received."

At that command, I can feel it. My... order, my command leaves the Reach and connects to the Gate. There's a sense of spreading as the command reaches out. How am I able to see the Gates so quickly? What am I seeing?

There is only The Gate. All Gates you traverse are... shadows of The Gate that exist in four dimensional spacetime. They all pass through The Gate that exists in a higher plane.

So Gate traversal is instantaneous?

Well yes. You're not moving once you enter the Gate. The Addressing Module directs the Gate where to put you in Spacetime. It takes no time, because no distance is traveled.

Wild. Did Builders make them?

Yes, long, long ago. It was one of our greatest achievements.

Okay, so I have the data, but how to interpret it. Let me try and overlay the results of the Census over the galaxy map. When I look up, my jaw drops.

Way more of the gates are green than I had figured. As in, active, operating and ready to traverse. The majority are yellow, meaning that they're currently not online, but can be brought online. There are only a few red gates, and no black gates.

The Gate system is completely intact.

Wait, what's that red gate over on the other side of the galaxy. There's a locked gate near home. The K'laxi have never reported to us they found a locked gate. I wonder if that's one we don't know about or if...

That's the Gate to Earth.

It's just locked? As in, I could unlock it and open it?

At any time, Empress.

But, we never had a Gate. We explored our system inside and outside and never found any technology - and believe me we looked. We spent millennia thinking we were alone until we met the K'laxi.

I want to unlock the Gate. Pass through it, and show everyone what I found, what I am.

You need only say it, Empress.

No. Not yet. I need to be able to go there in a way that's... befitting me.

Back to the starbase. If it has 11 something million people, then it has to be way larger than what I've seen. Show me the whole thing.

I'm shown. I see kilometers upon kilometers of halls, thousand upon thousands of living quarters, I see gardens, and parks and playgrounds and offices and... I see a whole transit system I had no idea was here! I can't believe there's a train here and I haven't ridden it yet!

Remembering Ava, I say out loud "Holy shit, this place is huge. The parts that we've seen is barely a tenth of the whole place. They have a train Ava! Let's go for a ride later!"

Ava smiles "I'd love that, Melody."

Wait a minute. I turn inwards again.

"Give me a listing of all known Starbases."

A list appears next to the galaxy map. Almost every system at one time had a Starbase at least as large as this one, some had even larger ones.

"Give me a listing of known Planets."

A slightly smaller, but still large list appears. I'm starting to feel faint. What have I dived into? There are literally tens, if not hundreds of billions of people here. Back home there around 15 billion humans spread across space, with 4 or 5 billion K'laxi and 3 or 4 billion Xenni. Combined that's...

That's more people than what I can effectively rule. What am I doing? I don't even know about this whole Starbase, let alone the Galaxy. One person can't rule a Galaxy, no matter how much they want to. What are these Nanites trying to sign me up for?

We need you to understand the immenseness of your task, and understand that we do not intend for you to rule alone. Currently, you are the only Builder known, but that never meant you were meant to be the only Builder. Make more.

W-What? I don't even have a partner! I don't even really know yet if I like men or women or both or neither! I'm barely out of my teen years, I can't make more people!

Sigh. Not like that, Melody. Use us. Use the Nanites to make Builders. You are Empress, only you will have the commanding voice, but other Builders will help you to rule. Start with that one, Ava. She already craves it. She will be a welcome and loyal addition.

I look over at Ava. She's still looking at me worriedly. She really does want to be a part of all this - whatever it's going to be.

There are others too. Q'ari wants to be involved very badly, but we don't know if the Nanites will work on K'laxi. We don't know how we feel about K'laxi Builders too.

Don't be racist. They'd do a fine job.

So you say, Empress. Invite them then.

Ugh. If I'm going to do this, the Nanites are right. I need help. I'll need more Builders. Should I do this? I want to do this, but is that the Nanites talking? Every time I let them off leash I tend to sound... intense. I wish I had some coffee.

I wish I could get some range time in.

I sigh. Am I doing this? Am I really doing this?

I think I am. I have never really wanted anything as much as I want this. As much as I want to show everyone what I can do, what I can be.

I stand up and break the connection. I feel... empty for a moment. I can see how people could get addicted to data streams like that. I stretch mightily and sit down on the floor next to Ava.

"Ava. There's a metric ton of work to be done, and I don't think I can do it all on my own. I don't want to do it all on my own. The Nanites were giving me options and I was wondering..."

As I speak, her eyes get wider and wider and she practically vibrates from excitement. She knows what I'm going to ask her.

"Do you want to become a Builder? You won't get the voice that orders people around, that's an Empress thing apparently, only one person as a time can do that. I can see why too, what happens if we both have the ability and try to use it on each other, right? Anyway. The Nanites say I can make you a Builder, and you can help me out. We'll need more Builders too. I want to try on the K'laxi too, Captain Q'ari seems like she wants in, though I don't know if she'll agree to it. Being Captain is important to her. So what do you say?"

"Yes yes yes yes! I want in!"

I hold up a hand. "This means that officially, your old life is over. It means throwing our lot in on this side of the Galaxy permanently. We can Gate home for visits or something, but it won't be for a while, and it'll be as foreigners. We will be cutting ourselves off from our old lives."

"My old life sucked ass. I want in!"

"Okay, last thing." I take a breath. "It could mean - though I hope it doesn't - that we will be seen as enemies back home. You saw the Marien's ship, it's trying to escape and is taking days to get somewhere FarReach can go in hours. FarReach alone has enough firepower to shrug off any threat we can bring to bear. If the folks back home decide to cause trouble for us, it'll be big trouble. If you throw in with me, it becomes your trouble. Our trouble.

Ava kneels down in front of me without a single bit of hesitation. "I want this, Melody. More than anything else I've ever wanted. I accept all the risks, I happily throw my old life away."

We like her. She gets it.

I stand up in front of her.

Okay then, how do we give her the Nanites?

Give her a kiss.

You are kidding me.

We are completely serious. It's the quickest way to transfer enough of us to begin the process. Plus, it's ceremonial, has an air of regal intimacy about it. Also, she'll love it.

Fine.

I reach down and gently tip her head up with my fingers, bend down and gently kiss her on the lips.

She leans in slightly and melts into the kiss.

Told you she'd love it.

"Rise, Builder."

She stands on shaky legs. "Builder Ava, it will take a day or so for the Nanites to replicate and integrate, but once they do, you will be a Builder like me, and be able to do many of the things I can do. You will be my right hand, and be my voice where I am not. You will carry out my decisions and have the power to make your own. Together with the other Builders I create, we will reunite this galaxy and show everyone our power, our might and our love."

"I am yours to command Empress."

"Excellent. Your first task is to get me my coffee supplies from FarReach, I am dying for a cup."

Part 18

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans go on adventure #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and ai #humans and aliens #the k'laxiverse #jpitha #just a little further

[akusaimonth]

AkuSaiMonth 2023: July 8 - August 7

And here we go again! Welcome to AkuSaiMonth, a month of celebrating AkuSai & LeaIsa!

AkuSaiMonth 2023 Bingo

Just like last year, we will be playing bingo again! The prompts on the bingo cards are randomized! Which means, every participant will have their prompts in 1 of 30 different arrangements!

Where can I get the Bingo Card?

To claim your personal AkuSaiMonth Bingo card,

click >> HERE! <<

Using the link on the same device and browser should (in theory) always lead to the same card. However, I would strongly recommend also saving the card by either using the print button on top or by making a screenshot.

How does it work?

The goal is to get one “Bingo!” during the month (Jul 7 – Aug 8) by filling 5 prompts in a row, column or diagonal. 

This could mean one post every week, for example:

Post 1: Saturday, July 8 (IsaLea Day)

Post 2: Saturday, July 15

Post 3: Saturday, July 22

Post 4: Sunday, July 29

Post 5: Monday, August 7 (AkuSai Day) -> Bingo! <3

You are of course allowed to do less than five prompts (one is perfectly fine! <3) or even fill out the entire bingo card (I wish I had your time management skills)!

Rules:

General Rules

• The event is open to everybody, there is no official list of participants and you don't have to register for it.

• You can start and end your participation at any time!

• You can fill as many prompts as you want at whatever schedule works for you!

• The goal is to achieve one bingo, but this is meant as motivation only; it’s not an obligation or restriction!

• Everybody who reaches one bingo "wins".

• There is no prize for "winning" and there is no punishment for "not winning"

Posting Rules

• The event is held on instagram & tumblr, but you can post wherever you want.

• On tumblr tag your works as #AkuSaiMonth and #ASM23

• On instagram tag your works as #AkuSaiMonth and #AkuSaiMonth23

• Mention @akusaimonth in your works both on tumblr and instagram so I can’t miss it!

• Don't hesitate to send me your works per dm if I somehow do end up missing them anyway!

• On tumblr all posts will be reblogged to the @akusaimonth tumblr

• On instagram I will collect all posts in the stories. It is also possible to invite @akusaimonth as a collaborator to showcase and collect your works on the @akusaimonth instagram page as well. All rights to your works remain with you of course!

• If you post to other sites (e.g. AO3, twitter, wattpad, youtube, ...) you can send me the link in a DM on either tumblr or instagram so I can add that link to the instagram stories and tumblr (assuming you didn't post it there yourself). Please let me know where you would like me to put the link and whether it contains NSFW content or not.

• I do retain the right to not share content I find in bad taste and I will ask you to remove it from the #AkuSaiMonth tags as well. I don't expect any problems, but just to be save.

Content Rules

• All forms of content are allowed, including but not limited to fanfiction, fanart, edits, videos, music, …

• The “/” in some prompts means you can use either or multiple of the terms

• All prompts are open for interpretation, there’s no right or wrong way to use any of them!

• You can stay within the framework of canon or create AUs or crossovers or whatever you want, everything is great!

• All content has to be made by you! Stolen fan work is NOT allowed.

• AI generated work is strongly discouraged

• If you want to include fan content made by other people in your edit/video/… you have to get permission first and add credit to the original creator/s!

• Official material can be used with no restrictions

NSFW Rules

• NSFW is allowed!

• Consuming NSFW content happens at the viewers own discretion.

Tumblr:

• Please post visual NSFW under a “Read More” or with the appropriate community label

• NSFW content will be reblogged with an #nsfw tag

Instagram:

• Keep the Instagram NSFW rules in mind (cropping, censoring, ...)

• Please add a NSFW warning in the first two slides of any visual NSFW works.

Disclaimer

• AkuSaiMonth is a fan event only and stands in no relation to any copyright holders of Kingdom Hearts or any of its content or characters.

• The rights to all works remain with their creators and the copyright holders.

• AkuSaiMonth is not responsible for any content created during the event.

FAQ

Who is behind the event?

Original creator and host from 2014 – 2019 is the wonderful @misomilk! This year’s host is @herzblutrose

I lost my card!

If you remember your Bingo Card ID, then that’s absolutely no problem. Let me know and I’ll give you a permalink to the card you pulled!

What does prompt (…) mean?

It means whatever you want it to mean! Have fun with it!

Other questions?

Send me an ask or a DM!

Plain text prompts in alphabetical order:

• Arguments Turned Love Confessions

• AU where nothing goes wrong

• Crossover

• Distortion / Static

• Early Mornings / Late Evenings

• Fake Dating AU

• Far Away / Together

• Farewells / New Beginnings

• Forehead Kisses / Scar Kisses

• Found Family

• FREE SPACE

• Getting Stuck on a World / No Way to RTC

• I Didn't Forget You

• I didn't know where else to go.

• Jealousy

• Magic

• Memories / Snapshot

• Mobsters / Crime AU

• My soul will find yours. (Jude Deveraux)

• Stars

• Summer Snow

• Sun (or Fire) & Moon / Red & Blue

• Tear Marks

• Was it worth it?

• You Have Changed

#akusaimonth #asm23 #akusai #kingdom hearts #axelsaix #isalea #leaisa #saixel #axel kingdom hearts #saix kingdom hearts #isa kingdom hearts #lea kingdom hearts

[n--n]

One last touchstarved theory thingy bc I’ve almost purged my brief obsession!! It’s mentioned by both Leander and Vere that the one running the Senobium- and thus its shady policies- is someone called The Abbess. An Abbess is a nun in charge of the nunnery, so I can only assume she is gonna have some sort of religious symbolism related to her like Kuras and Mhin do. Unfortunately the literal one-sentence blink and you’ll miss it lines are all we have to go off for her, but I’m excited to see what she’s really like in game! (From the attitude both Vere and Leander have in those one-off lines, it’s clear she’s almost certainly a villain).

Some misc, tinfoil-hat theories:

- Elyon, as a powerful noble, likely works with but opposes the Abbess. He owns most of the brothels in Lowtown apparently so he has incentive to keep the divide between hightown and lowtown, but as someone with power he probably chafes at the control the Senobium has over hightown

- Sen, from her one-sentence descriptor, is a revived warden seeking her own death. Almost certainly one of the Senobium’s experiments, not sure what a warden in the context of the touchstarved universe is but probably a Fancy Jailer for the Senobium like the word usually implies. Maybe the experiments left her with such a painful condition she’d rather die? Or it could be more supernatural, in that she can not Rest until her unfinished business in Eridia is Taken Care Of.

-The Abbess could be the one that initiated the changes at the Senobium in the first place a generation ago, since immortality is confirmed to exist in-universe (see Vere being chained “Centuries Ago”)

-I think Leander is meant as the sort of “starter LI”, since the demo and supplementary info give us the most info about him while at the same time holding back just enough as to be intriguing (see: the countless Leander-specific theory posts that started this post lmao) I imagine his route will tell us the most about lowtown, fogfall and Eridia at large, whereas Vere/Mhin/Kuras will tell us most about the Senobium, and Ais will tell us most about the overall world, magic (fogfall again), monsters (like the soulless), and of course Ais’s boss/“friend” Ocudeus and the Seaspring

Other thots:

- I’m most excited for Leander’s route for obvious reasons (hot + will get to meat of story + I want to see What’s Really Wrong With Him so bad) but also know that will make me more disappointed if he turns out to be Just Some Asshole. I want him to be a monster bc he commits atrocities like the rest of them, not because he’s a reminder of the shittier guys I’ve met. That being said I know I’ll probably still really like the character if they do go that route, since the overall writing from the demo is super engaging and solid in quality- which bodes well for the final product

-Speaking of writing, I’m loving that different backstories actually have weight in the narrative. I love when the player is actually rewarded with info for making a choice, instead of it just being one or two flavor text things. Choosing different backstories affects your red dialogue options (the romance-y choices) and gives you different attitudes towards events in the story, making replay ability high

-I’m worried by how successful the kickstarter is since I Have Been Burned last times I backed videogame Kickstarters (Blue Omen Operation, Homestuck Game) 😭 The team seems experienced and competent, since most seem to have come from Nix Hydra/other successful otome games that got killed by poor management. But like, still really worries me since it’s their first game and all. The demo was so good but so was Blue Omen Operations and look where that landed me ($15 less in my pocket from backing years ago 🥲)

-On a lighter note, this game is clearly a passion project and I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far- if I have enough money to spare before the Kickstarter is over, maybe I’ll get it just to support the devs

-getting so obsessed w the demo even if only for a week or so has reminded me Oh Yeah, I Forgot I Love Gothic Horror. If by some miracle you’re still reading this drop a recommendation pls

#touchstarved demo #touchstarved game #red spring studios #touchstarved spoilers #touchstarved #touchstarved theory #I didn’t find out abt the Nix Hydra/Larian drama until recently bc I redownloaded the app to play the full game #only to find it was both shittier and different #I was playing it as it came out but stopped after a while and decided to just play when it was done but whoops #looks like I waited too long and the company imploded #oh well I have other otome games to be obsessed about now rip Arcana you were a solid game w great art

[constantcrisis19]

20 Questions for Fic Writers (& Artists)

AN: I wasn't tagged, but I saw this and just had to do it!

1. How many works do you have on ao3(Tumblr)?

44 works on ao3

51 works on Tumblr

2. What's your total ao3 (Tumblr) word count?

570,835 words on ao3

84,623 words on Tumblr

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Honestly, whatever I'm into at the time (but I have a tendency to bounce around a lot) so I'll just list off a few of my favs to write for:

Call of Duty: MW2

Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

Teen Wolf

Stranger Things

Supernatural

The Walking Dead

4.What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What Is Meant To Be (Always Finds A Way) | Geraskier | 2,687 kudos

Tell Me Every Terrible Thing You've Done (And Let Me Love You Anyways) | Montgomery Gator & Gregory [Gen] | 2,359 kudos

The Goal Isn't To Live Forever (It's To Create Something That Will) | Winterberg | 1,897 kudos

Sometimes Peace Come From Painful Things | Winterberg | 1,143 kudos

I Just Wanna Hunt You, Hunter | KiriBaku | 1,025 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I don't always respond to comments and I usually leave that to my co-writer (and partner in crime) Tibby since we both collaborate on most of the fics I post and they're more comfortable with responding to comments. But if it's a solo fic, then I work through my anxiety and respond to anyone who's kind enough to leave a comment because I genuinely love getting feedback and seeing people enjoy my work really inspires me to keep writing!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uhhh... That's gotta be my newer oneshot, Free Fall. It's a SoapGhost fic and a rewrite of the ending of MW3 (Yeah, you know the scene).

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've got a few (cause I'm a sucker for a happy ending) but the one I'm gonna go with has to be The Goal Isn't To Live Forever (It's To Create Something That Will). It's a part of the list above and it's currently one of my only completed, multi-chaptered fics.

8. Do you get hate on any fics (Art)?

Unfortunately, yeah. But mostly on my smut pieces (especially the ones that include a trans character).

Though I also remember recently getting a particularly rude comment accusing me of using chat ai to write my Geraskier fic, even though it was first published it way back in 2020, before chat ai was even a thing that people used.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yup. I usually stick to my comfort zone and write M/M stuff.

Though, in my longer fics, the smut isn't really the main focal point so I keep it pretty tame.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Oh boy. My co-author has actually got me hooked on a crazy rare pair to the point where we wrote a whole fic for it (and are working on the second in the series). It's a Daryl Dixon/Dean Winchester pairing set in the TWD universe.

A close second would be my Among Us x KiriBaku AU.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, thank god.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup! Someone reached out to me and asked to translate my FNaF: SB fic into Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sure have, but only with one other person.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Omg, no! I have to pick!?

Well, if forced with a gun to my head, I supposed I'd have to say Rinch (John Reese x Harold Finch from the TV series Person of Interest). I love the show and the characters and the story and the world building. It's just a pairing that I will always keep coming back to no matter how many other ships/fandoms I fall into.

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My KiriBaku x Among Us crossover fic. The main page, where I had planned out the entire fic, was accidentally deleted and I don't know if I'll ever recover from that since I'd have to rehash the entire rest of the story from scratch if I decided to one day come back to it.

However, that being said, I'm still holding out hope that I'll randomly get a burst of motivation for the story. Who knows.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd say my strengths are writing angst, witty banter, and transition paragraphs (since my co-author often gets stuck going on tangents and writing really detailed scenes so they often ask for me to make a segue in order to get us to the next plot point, which works out for everyone).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My weakness is definitely in-depth, detailed scenes, hands down. It's kinda embarrassing, but my writing can sometimes lack the descriptive, engaging language necessary to make the story/situation/characters interesting (especially when it's decidedly not a writing day) and it often reads like boring exposition.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I am not fluent in anything other than English, but that doesn't exactly stop me from (relying heavily on google) and using other languages in my fics, especially if the character that I'm writing for prefers another language. Take Miguel O'Hara for example, who is canonically bilingual.

The same kind of goes for accents too. I try my best to emulate how it the words would sound while speaking it while writing dialogue. Take for example my SoapGhost fics, where both characters have a thick, distinct accent.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Unofficially (as in never posted): Vampire Diaries.

First fandom I posted to Wattpad (yikes) when I was like twelve: BBC Sherlock

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Jeez, another difficult question. Um... I'm gonna go with What Is Meant To Be (Always Finds A Way), for several reasons.

It was the very first fic that I posted to my ao3 account.

It was the first multi-chaptered fic that I'd ever completed.

I managed to finish and post the final chapter on the day of my birthday (which was a pleasant surprise).

I love it so much that my co-writer and I are actually currently in the midst of lovingly revisiting/revising the entire fic to make it even better!

_____

That was fun! Now for the tagging!

@mistertiberius, @ghostao3, @captain-mj, @fogsrollingin

#tagging game #tag game #tag chain #fanfiction #writing #ao3 writer #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #ao3fic #ao3 author #writers on tumblr #tumblr writing society #tumblr writing community #join us

[thebibliomancer]

Here's what I think... (I hope I have not been annoying with all the these asks. Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya's involvement with the NWP is such an interesting concept that I rarely see the fandom talk about or get to discuss about.)

I don't believe that Makoto and co had to bring any equipment to run the NWP. I think it was fully finished and developed, ready to be used anytime. I think all Makoto did was bring the remnants to the island and hook them up.

In a travel guide for Jabberwock Island, it mentions a large administrative building. That building must have the NWP installed into it. Like maybe the entire building was converted to hold this huge machine.

2. Miaya isn't the only person who worked on the program. Yasuke and Chihiro chipped in as well. And considering these are ultimates and Alter Ego was made by Chihiro, I believe that without these two, the NWP would not be as advanced as it is. So this program had to be full complete before either of them die.

So the NWP was completed right before the tragedy started. Miaya was the only ultimate still alive so when she joined Future Foundation, she likely told them about the NWP so that's how that program fell under ownership of Future Foundation. And that's also how Makoto found out it exists when he joined FF as well.

Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya needing a crew of people to help them transport and assist in saving the remnants is something they should have had. It would be a huge undertaken to do this with only three people. But from what is seen in canon, it doesn't look like this is the case.

Those three alone really did brought 15 people to an island and hooked them up to a complex machine they have no prior training for. A machine that has to be used with extreme care or else they risk total personality destruction.

Dying in the NWP is one thing. But waking up from it and your memories and personality and entire being has been changed so you no longer are your past self is quite another. This is something Makoto has to AVOID doing while using the NWP. And he is doing it all without any help from professionals or those who built the program.

So yeah, Makoto was truly wild for doing this.

No worries, I’m interested in this stuff.

I’ve been assuming that Ultimate Programmer meant Alter Ego and Ultimate Neurologist meant Yasuke’s notes looted from Hope’s Peak after DR1. But if the Neo World Program was something Chihiro, Yasuke, and Miaya worked on before the Tragedy, then yeah, fewer logistical hurdles to jump that way.

Chihiro does mention a big, secret AI project in a DR1 free time event.

And, geez, hypothetical Makoto. You’re really lucky things turned out as well as they did, you mad lad

#danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa 3 #spoilers

[nixtape-foryou]

✿ SHOP MAGNOLIAS

The magnolia blooms symbolize youth, innocence, and joy. During the Victorian times, the magnolia flowers often symbolized dignity, nobility, poise, and pride. The strength of its bloom is also symbolic of self-respect and self-esteem.

Bouquets = Series | Stems = Oneshots | Seeds = Drabbles | In Shipment = Ongoing

BOUQUETS

Who You Are, Who I Am by hanibalistic (52.0k) || Another Dimension AU || When you find yourself waking up to a good-looking man who claims to be your husband, there isn’t much for you to do aside from assuming you got stuck in a drama, you know?

STEMS

Leave the Door Open by formidxble ★★★ (12.3k) || Mature, Sugar Daddy AU || Months after ghosting your sugar daddy, lee know, he gives you a call. you answer.

Between the Lines by maatryoshkaa ★★ (9.7k) || High School AU, Slight Enemies to Lovers || In which a frantic search for an overdue library book leads to you finding other things that are…long overdue.

7 Days by yyxgin (3.7k) || College AU, Best Friends to Lovers ||  You confess your love to your best friend for a whole week before he finally takes it seriously.

Pick Your Poison by linorachas (14.5k) || Mature, Celebrity AU || The last thing you want is to be at this gala. Minho convinces you to stay.

Business Proposals by chanluster (10.9k) || Mature, CEO/Secretary AU || Clashing heads with your annoyingly attractive boss was your everyday activity, but when a new, beautiful client comes in for the day you find yourself getting jealous.

The Enemies to Lovers Project by softukiyos (18.0k) || Enemies to Lovers || Taking part in Jisung's psychology project was supposed to be simple - date your worst enemy, Lee Minho, for one month and see if the two of you start falling head over heels for each other, though, things start to get much more complicated.

Youngblood by changbeanie ☆ (17.4k) || College AU, Best Friends to Lovers || Lee Minho crashes at your apartment four out of seven days in a week, but you’re the crashing for him.

1-800-Be-Mine by binniesthighs ★ (7.1K) || AI AU || Thank you for calling 1-800-Be-Mine! We appreciate your service. How can we help you today? Just so you know, we are currently holding a Valentines Day sale: all purchases will be 15-20% off depending on the package you choose. 

Not So Bad by luvknow (13.7k) || College AU, Best Friends to Roommates to Lovers | Falling for your best friend isn’t the most ideal situation, but it’s not as bad as you think

In Another Lifetime by luvknow ☆ (18.9k) || Iron Man AU, Co-Workers to Lovers || You and your boss were inseparable. no one could understand how you could work ungodly hours for such an inexperienced ceo. but your job was to stick by Mr. Lee for as long as you were getting paid, and that meant being his date to charity balls and helping him turn into the country’s best superhero

Your Heart & Your Headache, Too by missinghan ☆ (9.6k) || Stray God AU, Comedy || A self-proclaimed god shows up at your door in the middle of the night for a place to stay. you let him and hope the unconventional encounter doesn’t become a regular thing. of course, it becomes a regular thing

Weight of Worth by abiaswreck ☆ (13.0k) || Mature, Vampire AU, Part of Monarchs Collection || You were hired as a live-in servant for one of the town’s founding leaders Lee Minho. The job fairly simple so you were told. Only being fed from on occasion till your family’s debt was paid.

Destiny’s Design by h0neydewmoon (16.4k) || Royal AU, Arranged Marriage to Lovers || “Names are meaningless in this world,” his words seemed filled with spite despite the quiet tone he spoke with, as though if someone heard him mutter them something horrid may occur, “all that matters is whether you can be used as a chess piece for politics.”

Human Condition by mxxndreams (6.7k) || Superhuman AU, Classmates to Lovers || When Minho decided to use his powers as part of his plan with Jeongin, he never expected to get caught by you. However, instead of turning him in, you decide to offer him your help, stating you also want change. Still, one cannot be too careful and Minho isn't sure if he can trust you or if he'll ever be a normal human while his powers are slowly taking over every aspect of his life.

Invisible Thread by astraystayyh (20.0k) ★ || College AU, Rivals to Lovers || Your studies were your lifeline for as long as you can remember. What happens when Minho comes into your life and rips it away from you?

Conflict, Conceal, Confess by fizzydrink698 || College AU, Rivals to Lovers || “Why don’t we call a truce?” Minho blinked, caught off-guard. “Truce?”

IN SHIPMENT

Consort by fizzydrink698 || Mature, Historical AU, Slight Enemies to Lovers, Arranged Marriage to Lovers || “Nervous?” Minho asks, casually, as if completely unaware of what the two of you needed to do. You bit your tongue, and held your head high. “No,” you lied.

#nix reading nook #fanfiction recommendation #fanfic recommendation #stray kids #bang chan #christopher bang #lee know #lee minho #changbin #seo changbin #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #han #han jisung #felix #lee felix #lee yongbok #seungmin #kim seungmin #in #yang jeongin #stray kids fanfiction #stray kids fanfic #stray kids series #stray kids oneshot #stray kids recommendations #lee know fanfiction #lee know fanfic #lee know oneshot #lee know series

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Hi I’m sorry to bug you (pun intended) but do you mind explaining everything you listed in the 2023 tumblr bug poll. I’ve been here all year but I don’t think I understand all of the options. You have been really fun to follow this year I appreciate your presence in our community :)

thank you Anon 1 that is very kind of you to say!!!! :)

All right, buckle up folks:

Get Back day-by-day re-watch (January): In January some people on decided to rewatch the bits of Get Back from that specific date, some also went through the nagra tapes of that day. They'd make cool compilation posts with moments that stuck out to them. I just remembered it was actually called Get Backuary :) I didn't really participate though because January is a busy time for me, in general.

Beatles poll wars (around February-April): once the poll feature reached bug tumblr we started having a LOT of polls and it caused a not insignificant amount of discourse and accusations of "bootlicking" or whatever lol. Interestingly, we discovered that Paul and George have roughly the same amount of fans (taking ~35% each) and John and Ringo also have about the same amount of and only about half as many fans (~15% each).

McLennon Conspiracy Blogger Disappearance Event (April): I explained this here, though I forgot to mention that in mid-April this blogger went scorched earth and dropped off tumblr completely. One time they made a post insinuating that no one's ever bothered wondering why John was depressed in 65/66 (and implied it was because THEY knew McLennon had broken up for a while or something)… Sir, this is the John Lennon Psychoanalysis Website.

Eyes of the Storm (June): Paul published a book and held an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featuring tons of never before seen pictures from late 1963 to early 1964. Very fun time though people randomly claimed the majority of the pics were John when that wasn't really true lol there was just a general bias in which pictures from the gallery got shared.

Now And Then announcement + initial discourse (June): in a radio interview to promote said gallery, Paul offhand mentioned he had used Peter Jackson's AI technology to isolate John's vocal and "the last Beatles song" would be released later this year. There was a first wave of discourse from people thinking Paul was gonna use an AI-generated John vocal, rather than use AI to isolate an existing vocal (this was so frustrating because it was so clear in context what Paul meant but online news just ran with it). Then, there was a second wave of discourse (which was revived upon the songs release) over the extent of George's involvement and how much he would have wanted this.

Beatles song tournament (July–August): A sideblog was created to do a Beatles song poll battle. It got a bit intense lol. Everyone started hatejerking about Hey Jude beating A Day In The Life in the semi-finals.

Top Worm™ (August): Literally One Of The Greatest Moments On This Site. Also, let no one tell you John wasn't Top Worm. It is law.

Now And Then song + video (November): think this one's self-explanatory but basically Now And Then came out, we all reacted to it, the video came out the next day and was kinda hilariously bad but in the funniest way possible, George Discourse Part 2 and also How Much Is Paul Allowed To Change John's Song Discourse which I found puzzling lol. Someone said him removing a verse was "Paul Rewriting History". fantastic. no notes. what a time to be alive.

#ask #Anon #discourse