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animentality · 11 months

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Dude I'm so confused

Why are the redditors refugees here-

Whats up with the tag 196

AND WHY IS EVERYONE BEING SO NICE WITH THE TWITTER REFUGEES CAME WE GAVE THEM HELL (almost)

The Reddit refugees are here because several subreddits have gone private in protest of reddit's new policy of charging third party developers for access to its API.

Hence the term reddit blackout.

196 specifically was a very queer friendly subreddit that had one rule: that you post before you leave. 196 is trending because those Redditors have come here and they're basically sharing their memery here instead as they protest reddit's greed.

As for why we're welcoming them when Twitter refugees were seen with a little more irritation, well.

Think of the culture similarities.

Tumblr and reddit have far more in common than Tumblr and Twitter.

Twitter is about clout and manipulating algorithms and discourse in 280 characters or less. It's about bad takes that reach the right people and it forces you to see things you don't want to see and it's crawling with the worst people imaginable and you're forced to see them, all the time. They also brought bad tagging and 2016 Tumblr discourse with them, because Twitter culture really involves starting fights for clout and braindead opinions that no one really wants to come back to Tumblr culture.

There was a time when Tumblr did the same thing, but worse, with more words...but nowadays, it's really calmed down.

The worst people...went to Twitter after the porn ban. Ironically, it made the site less toxic and hostile.

But then they came back.

And it was like...hm. no thanks. Stay back where you came from.

But Tumblr and Reddit have much more in common.

Both have a more streamlined way of customizing your online feed. You can choose what subreddits you see on your home screen, just like Tumblr only shows you the content of your followers, on your dashboard, and in chronological order rather than what's trending. You can join a very specific weird niche group of freaks with a shared obsession, and not care about the rest of the site at all. You also don't have a character limit on either site, which lets you ramble more and share weird detailed stories.

Reddit might have karma, but like Tumblr, the majority of people are lurkers and not posters. It also allows you to downvote bad opinions, and moderators who have to adhere to certain guidelines of behavior, which means a lot of banning disruptive people.

Granted, sometimes their mods are power hungry, but. You know.

It does more to control its users than Tumblr do, and that's a good thing in terms of keeping toxicity and illegal shit off its subs.

Reddit also has a way more leftwing attitude than you would think.

It has a reputation for being full of incels but I honestly think that's outdated.

It's cleaned up its act quite a bit since the old days.

I see way more vile shit from Twitter and TikTok. Like seriously.

Twitter is crawling with conservative bots and propaganda machines and just outright inflammatory lies. TikTok literally has the worst comment sections I've ever seen, like edgy teenagers cracking racist and misogynistic humor and acting like it makes them different and special. Its algorithm also spoon feeds you garbage and is designed to be as addicting as possible.

At least reddit's culture, while chauvinistic and regressive in certain subcultures, is mostly on the tech positive, atheist libertarian side.

It can be a little pretentious and caustic about certain subjects, and a little full of itself. Some reddits are also very male leaning and disregard female concerns in favor of moaning about how men have it worse than anyone else on earth.

But for the most part?

...well.

I welcome them here, because if they left reddit in protest, then we always support protests. But 196 specifically is also a queer subreddit, and we support that even more.

Plus they're funny as fuck.

What's not to like, really?

You should welcome them with open arms too.

#reddit blackout #196

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chrollohearttags · 3 months

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long winded ass post I contemplated not writing but did it anyways. read if you’d like or ignore lmao.

so I feel as though this kind of goes without saying but a lot has changed on tumblr and the vibe has shifted a lot, sadly, not for the better either :/ I thought about this for a while and although last week, I was not posting any new content due to the strike, I’ve decided to step away from writing in general after this month. I could sit here and go on a tangent about how it’s the ‘algorithm’ and ‘dying fandoms’ but to me, this boils down to the fact that I refuse to exhaust myself to be unappreciated + disrespected. That’s not to say I’m ungrateful to everyone who reblogs and comments on my works all the time because I am incredibly grateful! I love each of you and I look forward to reading your tags/thoughts. However, it’s not lost on me that the anime fandom in general is becoming shrouded in toxicity and many of us are being pushed away. We’re in an age where people are seen as content machines and not humans so others feel entitled to their art and feel no need to be kind, understanding or empathetic to that person’s feelings. I’m not wasting my time trying to teach people manners that they should’ve learned a long time ago. I refuse to share my craft with people like that. And to say the quietest part out loud: y’all don’t want black writers around, PERIOD. One scroll through the dash shows that much. As someone who’s written primarily for AOT (not changing btw) and specifically the black side of the fandom, it’s almost laughable at the extreme lengths that ppl have gone through to see it be erased. And I don’t mean getting fics hit with labels or reporting (that failed so they switched to plan B.) since I began back writing in 2020-21, it was obvious that it was the most popular among black girls and I remember ppl telling me to write for them. Hell, it’s the sole reason I even watched. Needless to say, I fell in love with the show and it holds a special place in my heart. However, I realized I didn’t need any of the original material. Not only that, in all the years I’ve been writing, it’s the first time I’ve seen so many black girls resonating and happy with a group of characters. It was the first and only time I’ve seen stories where I didn’t feel as though them being a black character was a hidden secret or toned down to appeal to others (no shade). It was in my face and proud, even if I didn’t personally resonate with the reader or concept of the story. It still felt good coming from a fandom where I was literally the ONLY black writer in it. Fast forward and I clearly see that now, it’s not welcomed. We could sit here and blame it on non-blk (yt) having the problems but that’s a load of bullshit and the only enemies we have are one another. It’s been other black writers who have littered the tags with discourse abt the same stupid topic to avoid new fics being seen. It’s been other black writers who have switched fandoms when they were no longer the ONLY ones bc coexisting is just too damn hard apparently. It’s been other black authors who have made it blatantly clear that they are only interested in seeing and creating stories that are palatable to other races so they won’t be perceived in a negative light or to be seen as one of the ‘good ones’. Even down to not using black reader tags or avoiding coded language. So much so, they are comfortable laughing at anti-black rhetoric being pushed on other apps so as long as their new favs are not the brunt of the joke.

I’m not here to tell anybody how or what to write. I’m not here to say you ONLY have to like one show but what I am saying is that i will NOT be spending hours and days agonizing over a fic for it to be minimized to a joke for a bitch on TikTok. I will not spend the little free time I have trying to crunch and finish a fic for it not do well but watch y’all pile in my mentions to argue over nonsense. And I won’t sit here and watch y’all purposely try to run other black writers away bc they don’t fit ur aesthetic. Fiction is fiction and whether you resonate with it or not, it’s expression. I’m a boring ass country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere, Florida who’s got social anxiety, chronically ill, neurodivergent and is in bed by 10:00. I don’t smoke, never had sex and I literally never leave the house unless I’m grocery shopping. I never have and never will live the life of any of my characters, even the most tame ones. But I write for EVERY black girl and want everyone of them to be seen. The one space where that seems to be allowed is obviously not welcomed anymore. Arguing and trying to defend ourselves against people who are committed to misunderstanding us is pointless. Minimizing us down to ‘baby mama’, ‘hoodrat’ fics, simply bc you no longer like certain characters (many of which you all were writing for not too long ago) is quite frankly clown and coon ass behavior. Watching y’all become enraged by tropes that are used by ever race, every fandom, etc but turning the blind eye bc it suits ur narrative is fucking hypocritical and laughable at best.

I’m not insecure in my writing. Never have been and never will be. I know I pour everything I have into creating the best work I can and it’s for that reason that I won’t allow it to be treated like trash. I have over 250 drafts in my Google docs and best believe, that’s where they’ll stay until I see fit. Although I know it’ll probably mean leaving the last place I have any sense of community and social interaction in general, it’s not worth coming on here angry everyday in defense mode. Its not worth getting out of my character over and I rather just not be around if it means I have to play mean girl. My mind may change and all of this will just have been me getting shit off my chest but as of right now, this account will be archived come February 28th. Thank you to everybody who’s supported me this far and gave me a safe space. I love all of you so very much and hope that we can enjoy the rest of this month together 🫶🏾 🤍

#cherry chats 🍒#tw rant #tw discourse #tw long post #happy black history month lmao #writing #fanfic writer

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auroras-void · 8 months

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THE PLANTS CAN FUCKING TALK!!!

plants’ short sounds were about as loud as a typical conversation, but too high-pitched for humans to hear (though dogs’ ears might perk up). And each plant species had a recognizable “voice.” A machine learning algorithm the team created could tell the difference between clicks from tomato plants and tobacco plants. It could also pick out thirsty and hydrated plants.

THE PLANTS CAN TALK THE CATS CAN HEAR IT.

(ok like it's not that dramatic actually but it's still bonkers and rad as hell)

#post #196 #science #plants #botany #like wtf

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allysunny · 26 days

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Heartwired Love

Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x Engineer!Reader

Synopsys: When Bruce surprises Lucius with a visit to his department, he wasn't expecting to find a beautiful woman there. He asks about her and that's how he discovers she's not only pretty, but extremely talented, an engineer who's been working under him for years. He's immediately mesmerised.

Words: 6.1k words

Warnings: Not much, I'd say? There's a lot of fluff, and a lot of funny moments, and like, one suggestive moment? One twinge of angst, but it lasts like two minutes. Maybe some inaccuracies about engineering? I really don't know much about it so I kinda went with my gut and holy fuck I hope I don't get it wrong or upset / offend anyone.

A/N: Hey everyone!!! So, this is a funny story, because a while ago I got an ask. And I thought I was writing that ask, but turns out I got everything mixed up, and this is not really what my sweet anon requested of me. So, while I work on that piece, have what I ended up writing! I think it's rather fun. I'm sorry to my anon, I'll get started on their request right away!

I hope y'all enjoy this!!! <3

You were brilliant.

In fact, if there was a word for anyone better than brilliant, that’d be you.

Bruce first saw you when he visited the Applied Sciences Department. He was quite sure Lucius was the only one who actually did any of the important work there, but boy was he wrong.

He was just visiting the floor to ask Lucius for some help (his suit needed improvements), when he spotted you under a flurry of blueprints and reports. There was a pencil on top of your ear, and you were nibbling on another one as you erased something on the paper in front of you.

“And who might this be?” He asked no one in particular, eyes trailing the way your eyebrows furrowed as you wrote and sketched away.

You told him your last name, not even daring to look up. You were far too busy - a new particle reactor was being built, and it had fallen upon you to build its security system, something that’d keep the machine should it fall on the wrong hands. Bruce leaned over and looked at your sketches, observing the careless handwriting and the doodles and the little comments you had on top of each calculation. “Not good”, “doesn’t work”, “tested and failed”.

“And how long have you been working for me?” He inquired once again, still looking over your blueprints. Your calculations were good - far too good. Where the hell had Lucius found you?

“Lucius,” you mumbled, removing the pencil from behind your ear and drawing a big cross on top of whatever you were writing.

“Excuse me?”

“I work for Lucius, not you,” you said, not even bothering to look up.

“Lucius works for me, though.”

“And I work for him.” Finally, you looked up, and what you saw did not surprise you. You knew Bruce Wayne’s voice, after all, Lucius did work for him, and you’d overheard them talking once or twice. You looked up to him immensely - he was an insanely smart man, you knew what he had achieved in your department (or at least you knew he had something to do with it), and you wanted to cause a good impression. It also did not help that he was extremely attractive, and you were afraid your body would betray you and give you away. It was nothing, really, just a small little crush. It was harmless, really, and you’d rather be noticed for your work, than anything else. You wanted him to see how smart you were, not notice just how much you admired him.

“Are these for the particle reactor?” Bruce asked, leaning against your desk, hoping to hold eye contact with you for a little longer. He liked that look on you, that focused gaze of yours. It reminded him of himself.

You nodded and shook your head with a sigh.

“I’m working on the security system. But so far, it’s been a bust. I can’t find any combinations that allow Wayne Enterprises full access to the system. Full and only. I'm trying to come up with an algorithm that’ll prevent third parties from accessing whatever services the reactor might have, but it’s tough.” Bruce nodded.

“How long have you been at it?”

“Two weeks, give or take. I managed to write a short thing for the opening sequence, but that’s about it. I still have to come up with the rest, and it’s killing me.” You leaned backwards in your chair and stretched, letting out a groan. “And my back hurts like a bitch.”

Bruce chuckled ever so slightly - he wasn't used to this kind of honesty and openness right off the bat. He supposed anyone who worked under Lucius’s supervision would be just like him, honest and truthful.

“How about you take a break?” He crossed his arms, tilting his head. You looked away - was that the famous Wayne Charm he put on every time you watched him on television? You weren't going to be fooled. You didn't want to be just a number on his list. You admired this man far too much to get your heart broken by him - not to mention your job at Wayne Enterprises was a dream, and you did not want to risk that. Did all of that even make sense?

“Mr. Wayne, I don’t think I can afford the luxury of taking breaks,” you chuckled, turning back to your blueprints.

“And if it’s an order?”

“You wouldn't do that. You have far better things to do than order some random nobody to take a break.”

“You don’t seem like a nobody to me.”

“Up until today you didn't even know who I was, and I've been working for you for about two years.”

“For me.” “Huh?”

“You said you were working for me.”

“Under Lucius.”

“Same difference.”

You chuckled at his smugness and let your eyes return to his handsome face. The magazines did not lie - he was even better-looking in person. Sharp jawline, chocolate-brown eyes, he was an absolute dream, and he probably knew it too. Which is why it felt wrong to be laughing along with him. You didn't want to taint the image of Bruce Wayne you had in your head. He seemed like an airhead in public, but you knew just how much he did and contributed to your department - not every airhead can do that. The little crush you’d allowed yourself to develop should remain just that - a crush. People say never to meet your heroes - well, you didn't want to date them either. You thought it would end just as badly.

“Looking at security algorithms all day isn't going to make you come up with them faster. Take a break. I know a nice coffee place not far from here, I'm sure it’d help. And after that, if you want to, you can come back here, drown in blueprints, and never be disturbed again.”

You eyed him curiously, raising an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Because you look like you’re a sketch away from having a mental breakdown, and despite what everyone says, I do care about my employees’ health.”

You weighed your options.

You could either get coffee with your super hot, super intelligent, super incredible boss, maybe talk to him a bit about your work and prove that you’re an amazing employee, or -

Yeah, it’s not really a hard choice, is it.

That's how you got yourself seated across from Bruce Fucking Wayne, yapping away about your ideas and projects. And surprisingly, he drank up every single word.

As cliché as it might sound, the rest was history.

Bruce took a liking to you almost instantly. You were so smart, so full of ideas and so innovative. It also helped that you were strikingly beautiful, and that he felt himself drawn to you every time you were near.

You allowed yourself to fall for Bruce. Slowly, but you did. Only after he proved to you that he was a good person, that he was nothing like the man people saw on TV and gossip magazines. He was more, much more than that. He was extremely intelligent, being an incredible match for whenever you wanted to discuss any new technological advances, and a very good conversation partner. It helped you two had a shared interest in applied sciences - soon, spending time together also doubled down as him giving you a hand with your projects, and you with him.

It was a win-win situation. You enjoyed spending time with him, he enjoyed spending time with you. You liked doing a good job, he liked helping you. It was perfect.

And it wasn't just about work, of course, you just liked being with him, in his presence. He was comforting and so very funny, and your heart could about burst with joy whenever he was near.

You had that same effect on him as well. During company dinners, he started paying attention to you more and more, dragging you away to dark corridors and telling you jokes and anecdotes about other workers and people he disliked. He'd place his hand on your lower back and bring you close so you could hide your face in his chest and giggle into it. It felt natural to be in his arms, like nothing had changed and nothing ever would.

About three or four months after you began talking and hanging out, he officially asked you to be his girlfriend.

You knew it was a big deal - normal people could date and fool around all they wanted, but not Bruce Wayne. So when he took your hand and looked into your eyes, you knew it was serious.

It had been a lovely evening. A dinner at some nice restaurant you’d always wanted to try but could not afford, a stroll in the park, and his sweet confession under the bright lights of Gotham. It was perfect, and you’d kissed him and thus sealed your romance.

Work became easy to manage after that. You could often be found at Lucius's department, and were often buried with a thousand different projects, so you really didn't have the time to miss Bruce. It's not like you didn't miss him as a whole - simply that you knew the both of you had business to tend to, and the quicker you got it done with, the quicker you could meet up after.

But that’s not to say you didn't spend time together at work. Bruce visited you on your lunch breaks more than often, the two of you pressed against each other as you spoke and ate your respective meals. There was nothing Bruce wanted more than to bring you to his office and spend time with you there, but it was risky. No one knew you were dating, and it could mean trouble for your department and his company. You didn't mind it - your space felt like home, and having Bruce there just added to its charm. Besides, you felt like some sort of character from a movie, hiding your secret relationship with your boss from the entire world. Well, not the entire world. Lucius found the both of you quite often, shooting you Bruce a wink, and you a knowing smile, and telling his boss about how “real smiles look good on him” and how he should smile them more often.

Speaking of home, you got to meet his. Bruce took you to his Manor a few days after you’d started dating. He wanted you to be around his place more often. Being Batman was lonely - being Bruce Wayne was even worse. He had to go home to an empty Manor pretty much every day, with only Alfred for company. And no offense to the older man, he had taken care of Bruce his whole life and he was extremely grateful for that. But the Wayne heir did not exactly want to come home to his butler sleeping on his bed, clad only in one of his shirts. It was a vision he never wanted to have.

Instead, he gave you a set of keys and told you to make yourself at home. If you didn't know just how serious he was about the two of you, you wouldn't have accepted them. And it’s not like you’d be moving in right away - the keys were simply so you could come in and out as you pleased, spend some time with him, spend the night if you wanted to.

He had rules, which you understood. No going in the piano room - that was his father’s old study and he did not want anyone in there. It seemed inviting, and the books on the shelves tempted you, but you did not want to break Bruce’s trust and never entered it.

You made friends with Alfred rather quickly. You found the way to his heart was fixing the coffee machine he so loved and refused to replace.

“Miss, with all due respect, do you know what you��re doing?” He’d asked in that low British voice of his, somewhat worried.

“I promise you, it’ll be good as new.”

To your credit, it was. You'd fixed it after a few minutes, and Alfred marveled as the machine he’d tried to have fixed about seven times the past month worked flawlessly before him. When Bruce got home that day, the butler turned to him with a proud nod and declared you were the one for him.

Bruce thought so too.

That’s why he began planning how the hell he was going to break up with you before things got too serious.

He knew he liked you - that much was obvious. He liked you very much. He liked you, and your personality, and your voice when you chastised him but also when you praised him and told him you loved him, loved your sarcastic sense of humour, loved the way you made his heart leap out of his chest with a simple smile. He thought of all the reasons that made him like you so much, and they only reminded him of why you couldn't be together. He couldn't have you in his life - not when he had a double identity, when he kept a secret as big as life itself. He couldn't drag you into his mess of a life.

Which is why breaking up hurt him a thousand times more than it did you.

He sat you down in his living room and spewed some bullshit about not being able to give you the future you wanted, something about not being a good person and you deserving better. He wasn't very clear, kept it short and concise, and confined himself to his bedroom after it was done so you wouldn't see him cry.

It broke your heart to say the least. You'd come to know this man and learned to love him so deeply, and to have all that happiness taken away from you was devastating. You wanted to follow him to his bedroom, ask why the hell he was doing that to you when you loved each other so much, when you were sure your love was stronger than any force in the world.

But something inside you made you hesitate in front of his father’s study. You were told to never enter that room, but right now, all you wanted to do was go against each and every one of Bruce’s rules. You wanted to love him, to be with him, to go inside the stupid room and play the piano he told you never to touch.

You walked inside, marveled at how pretty everything was, how right. Everything was in its right place, and the room seemed like a very soothing room to be in. You imagined yourself, sitting by the window, book in hand as you sipped your coffee. You could get used to that.

Bruce clearly had no idea what you were up to, because if he did, he wouldn't have let you wander around the room, looking through bookshelves to find out what kind of reading his father did, and finding a weird contraption that seemed far too odd to belong to a bookshelf. That sort of mechanism belonged in doors, in gateways, in entrances - more specifically, to the kind of hidden doors Lucius’s office had.

Bruce clearly had no idea what you were up to, because if he did, he would've found you as you figured out how the hell to open that mysterious door that posed as a bookshelf, and would've stopped you before you could enter the elevator inside.

Perhaps he shouldn't have let an engineer and a technology prodigy alone in his most forbidden room.

Bruce clearly, most assuredly had no idea what you were up to, because if he did, he wouldn't have let you wander around his cave, eyes wide in surprise and amazement. You looked around, wondering why the fuck your boyfriend had a whole ass dungeon to yourself. So you got busy. And it didn't take much for you to understand exactly just what the fuck was happening there.

You looked through the blueprints, through the prototypes, through the endless stashes of papers. You eyed every sketch for gloves and utility belts, and confusion clouded your brain until your eyes laid on top of a cowl. A very familiar one.

Holy shit.

Your boyfriend is Batman.

And then suddenly, everything clicked into place.

The weird schedules, the missed dates, the exhaustion, the odd bruises you managed to get glimpses of.

The breakup.

It all made sense now.

And when Alfred confronted you a few minutes later, having found the secret entrance to the cave open and having quickly followed inside, you frowned and asked out loud why Bruce had hidden such a thing from you.

“I think that is something you should discuss with Master Wayne himself,” was what he’d told you, and you were quick to cradle the cowl next to you and run back upstairs.

You knocked on Bruce’s bedroom door incessantly, and for a while you thought he had gone out or abandoned you for good, but after an assertive “I know who you are”, he opened the door at the speed of light, eyes widening once he took note of the cowl tucked under your elbow.

It was an extremely awkward conversation - for him, that is.

While half of you was freaking out because your boyfriend (you refused to call him your ex. You were not breaking up with Bruce Wayne.) was the fucking Batman and he’d never told you, but the other half told you that everything wasn't always what it seemed, and that you should let him explain himself.

He did, very awkwardly. He wasn't expecting you to find out - not at all. So, this whole “you-found-out-i’m-a-masked-vigilante-after-i-broke-up-with-you” atmosphere was one he was simply not used to. And he hated it! He’d just told you a bunch of bullshit about the two of you not being able to be together - somewhat true - and he’d tried to erase you from his mind. And now you were sitting in front of him while he tried to explain everything to you.

It took a while to settle in, but once it did, it was easy to understand why he did what he did. He told you how afraid he was to lose you, should any of the criminals he fought against get a hold of any personal information on him. He told you about how it was already hard enough to trust Alfred, the man that had raised him his entire life, the man he saw as a father figure, too afraid something would happen to him. The more you knew about his double-life, the more it’d put you at risk.

Still…

You grabbed a nearby pillow and hit your boyfriend on the head repeatedly.

“You - “ HIt. “Are - “ Hit. “Such - “ Hit. “An - “ Hit. “Asshole!” Hit. “What the hell were you thinking!” You hit him once again for good measure and he removed the soft weapon from your hands, tired of being hit.

“I was thinking that I had to protect you.” Bruce said calmly. He’d be lying if he said a massive weight hadn't been lifted off his shoulders. He loved you, truly. He wanted to keep you safe and away from harm and away from him, from Batman, from the one figure that could doom your life forever. But he also trusted you and wanted to share everything that was his with you. He wanted to show you everything, to show you who he truly was and what he did and just trust you because it felt so nice to have someone like you. Someone he could trust. “You shouldn't be with someone like me, with someone that could endanger you so easily.”

“I think I can make that decision by myself,” you retorted, reaching for the pillow again. When it was clear Bruce was not relenting it to you, you scoffed and playfully pushed at his chest. “You're an idiot, Bruce. I thought you didn’t love me anymore.” It seemed like a playful remark, but Bruce could make out the sadness in his voice, and kicked himself mentally for causing it.

“How could I not love you anymore?” He asked, caressing your cheek with his hand. “You’re everything to me. That's why I was willing to let you go, so you could be happy.”

“I can’t be happy without you,” you mumbled.

“You'd learn how to. Find some nice man with no secret identities, who spent his night doing something normal like puzzles or crosswords, whose life would never put you in harm’s way.”

“Puzzles? Crosswords?”

“As long as he didn't go outside dressed like a bat, I'd be happy.”

“But I don’t want that. I want you.”

Bruce sighed and looked away, but his hand never left your face.

“You shouldn't. It’s not good for you to be with me. Hell, look at me. I'm Bruce Wayne. my whole life is under scrutiny and the public eye is merciless. How can I willingly let you be put under a microscopic lense just like I am?”

“That’s not your choice to make, Bruce, and you know it. I don’t mind. I don’t care whatever I go through, as long as I go through it with you,” you held his hand with your own, and placed a few soft kisses on his.

“Still. You just saw my cave. That's not exactly boyfriend material now, is it?”

“I’d say a sex dungeon is worse.”

This earned a chuckle out of him, and for a brief moment, he got lost in your gaze, as he often found himself getting.

“Only you could make me laugh at moments like these.”

“And I'll be here too do that for many more years to come.” You scooted over, and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Just… Don’t shut me out, Bruce. I love you. We can do this together, and I'll be fine, I promise. And honestly, you don't even have much of a choice here, because you said yourself you didn't want to break up with me, so, well, there’s no real reason to do it.”

He sighed, and after a while, nodded. He was allowed to be selfish, wasn't he? To take you for himself, to allow himself the comfort of being loved.

He didn't have much of a choice, it seemed. You were intent on being with him no matter what, and despite a little voice in his head telling him that was a terrible idea, he let himself smile and agree to whatever you had to say. He always would, really.

“So you just weren't going to let me break up with you?”

“Pft,” you scoffed, kissing him softly. “I wasn't. You’re mine now, Wayne. Or should I call you Dark Knight from now on? You gonna save me or something, Batman?” You chuckled slightly and something dark flashed in Bruce’s eyes. With one swift motion, he had you pinned down to the mattress, and your giggles had evolved to full on laughter.

“Pretty cheeky, aren't we today?” He asked with a soft smirk, the one you recognised not from the tabloids and the gossip magazines, but from time spent with you. “You seem awfully into roleplay.”

“Nothing of the sort. Just wondering if having a goal such as rescuing the fine maiden would improve your performance.”

“Improve my performance, huh?”

Bruce reached down to spread your legs and slot himself in between them.

“We’ll see.”

Now that Bruce could be completely open with you, life was good.

He'd no longer come home to an empty Manor and even emptier bed, but you working on some sort of new prototype by the fireplace, or reading about some new technological advancement in bed. Such sights made his heart melt. It was all worth it. The sleepless nights, the bruises, the exhaustion. It was all worth it for you.

Your time together went by quickly, and before you noticed, you were celebrating your second year as a couple. It was a lovely celebration, quiet and private - the way you two liked - a nice dinner by the river, music, some champagne, promises of a future together, and a question to move in with him.

The answer was more than clear. You already spent a lot of time at his Manor, so moving in felt natural and comfortable. You wanted this. Wanted to move in with the love of your life, wanted to wake up to his lovely face every day, wanted to teach him how to make coffee and laugh as he gets it wrong after all this time, want to massage the knots caused from stress off his shoulders, wanted to be with him at all possible times.

Moving in was extremely fun. You had some stuff from your apartment that you simply had to keep. Old memorabilia or some furniture you were super attached to. Items and clothes and such. But aside from that, you simply sold everything else and began your life inside Wayne Manor.

It was great. It was perfect, even. Bruce still came home rather late sometimes, and he still cancelled your days ever so often, but at least you knew where he was, what he was doing. Sometimes, you’d go down to the cave and talk to him, ask him how patrol was doing through the intercoms and ask him to drive home safely. He always complied.

One night, he came home to you fiddling with some of his old grapple gun prototypes. Useless, he thought them, having only kept those for spare parts.

“What’re you doing?” Bruce asked, walking up to you as he removed his cowl.

You smiled. Seeing him in his suit did things to you - it reminded you he was the just vigilante that kept Gotham safe, risking his own life for others, of course - and you gave him a head to toe look, clearly enjoying the view.

“Working on something,” you said simply.

Your boyfriend walked up to you, looking over your latest creation. It was still his old grapple gun, and yet it looked different.

“I implemented two other grapples.” You handed him the object, crossing your arms over your chest. “Was a bit tricky, but I managed to do it. The line is strong to handle five times your body weight now, and you can use it not only to holster yourself up in the air, but also pull heavier objects towards you. What do you think?”

Bruce took the gun in his hands and examined it. It was slightly heavier, but you’d managed to keep it small and efficient. It would be of extremely good use.

“Thank you,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to your head. “You're brilliant, really. What would I do without you?”

“Probably die in a ditch.”

“Probably.”

At first it was hard convincing him that it was totally okay for you to help him in his endeavours as Batman. You told him over and over again that there was nothing wrong with it. You weren't out there, you weren't actually out there, it’s not like you were in danger. No one could hurt you so long as you were in the safety of your shared home. After a few helpful tips and some upgrades on his gadgets, Bruce relented.

And it was when you began to slack off at work that he realised that something had to change. He'd find you asleep on the job, too tired from having spent the night working on some new concoction for him. You couldn't keep your eyes open during meetings, and would fall asleep during every single ride you took.

You told Bruce you were fine, of course. You'd been a college student once, and you’d survived. This was nothing. Still, your too sweet boyfriend would force you to stay home for days on end just so you could get some rest. He needed you not only safe, but also healthy, even if his demands for you to take a break were met with groans and eye rolls.

One night when you were huddled up in bed, you confided in him that you loved helping him out as Batman. It was a way for you to be involved in his life, do something nice for the city, and put your inventions to test.

That's when he came up with the idea.

It took a while for him to confess it, after all, he knew how much of a hardworking woman you were. You wouldn't simply abandon your job to help him out, now would you?

To his surprise, you did.

You loved the idea as much as him. Sure, you loved your job at Wayne Enterprises, and were extremely proud of what you had achieved so far. But you had to admit you were stretching yourself too thin. Between your job and your little side gig, you had no real time to rest and it was killing you. So, you accepted.

You handed in your resignation letter to your boss, billionaire Bruce Wayne (who smiled and spun you around in the air as he kissed you. You teased him about his lack of professionalism and he reminded you the company was his with a pat on your backside.) and headed home.

From then on, you made being Batman’s sidekick (a title he hated, really. You were much more than just a sidekick) your full-time occupation. You had your hobbies, sure, and your interests, and you went out with friends and made the most out of your life. Only this time, instead of working a 9-to-5 job at your boyfriend’s company, you remained inside his cave, crafting new objects and tools for him to use during his nightly duties.

You created an explosive gel for him, a tool he could use to blast doors down and even stun enemies with. You were quite proud of that one, laughing loudly when you heard him use it for the first time through the intercoms. All you’d heard was a loud “boom”, and Bruce’s voice muttering a husky “fuck”. That was how you knew you’d done a good job.

The Remote Control Batarang was one of your finest inventions. Bruce first asked you what he hell he needed a remote control Batarang for (he also hated the name Batarang - truly, no fun), but it proved to be useful real quickly.

“You have two men to your left, one of them has a gun, the other has a bat.” Chuckle.

“Very amusing,” Bruce whispered.

“I think it’d be a good time to try the remote control Batarang,” you said, eyes flicking between the screens in front of you. “The one with a gun seems confident, but the other one not so much. If you tackle him down, he’s sure to not put up a fight.”

“You were dying for me to use this, weren't you?”

“So much.”

You heard him remove the Batarang from his belt, and the few beeps informed you he was done setting it up. The slight woosh as the object cut through the air, and a distant man’s scream of agony was enough for you to know you’d succeeded once again.

“Now who doesn’t need a Remote Control Batarang?”

“Don’t call it that.”

“Love you too. Coast is clear though, go ahead.”

Maybe the Shock Gloves were your favourite. They were a quick and easy way for your boyfriend to stun his enemies and leave them unconscious long enough for him to do whatever he had to, while not taking their lives.

You took Bruce’s no killing rule extremely serious. While you thought some of the people that terrorised Gotham most certainly deserved a fate worse than prison, you thought it was noble of him never to take a life for himself. His moral code was commendable and something you loved about him.

And it goes without saying that after you finished the first prototype for the shock gloves, you made a smaller, daintier tool that allowed you to playfully shock people when you greeted them. Alfred was your first victim and later that evening, he cut off your hot water in retaliation. Touché.

Your freeze blasts were quite useful as well. He'd used them only a handful times, but as long as he did and they helped, that's all that matters.

Sometimes, Bruce would come home in the late hours of the night (or perhaps the early morning), and find you doubled over your desk, sketching prototypes or putting pieces together.

It warmed his heart to see you were working so hard just for him, but tugged at it because you needed sleep. You needed rest, and here you were, working away for him. Creating new “toys”, as you’d so often call them.

“What’re you still doing up?” He asked one particular night/morning, after having taken off his suit, and resting his head on the juncture between your shoulder and your neck. You sighed at the gesture - after such a tiring day,Bruce’s comfort was all you needed.

“Working,” you mumbled, fingers moving with dexterity, tugging and twisting at some cables.

“Isn't it a bit too late for you to still be working?” He replied against the skin of your shoulder.

“Isn't it a bit too late for you to be coming home?”

“I’m not working anymore though. Coming to bed.”

“Are you? Goodnight then.”

Bruce shook his head and you could feel his brown locks brushing against your skin, tickling you.

“Look at how far we’ve come. I used to be the one abandoning you in bed.”

“You're lucky I found a new hobby.”

“Hm.”

You remained in silence for a while as Bruce watched you work. He had no idea what this new contraption of yours was, but he was sure it’d be brilliant, as they all were. As you were.

“This,” you said, voice only above a whisper, as if to not distract you, “Is a remote electrical charge.”

“Interesting.” What was interesting though, was that he began pressing kisses to the column of your neck, hands wandering to your waist. “I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. Because now, we’re going to sleep.”

You scoffed.

“I have to finish this Bruce, I'm sorry.”

“You’re stubborn. So very stubborn. Why did I hire you anyway?”

You turned to face him and feigned a thoughtful expression.

“Because I'm really hot and you love me?”

“Damn it. Both of those are true.”

You chuckled and leaned in to kiss him, sighing as soon as his lips slotted against yours. You'd never get tired of kissing your boyfriend, that was for sure.

“Fine,” you mumbled.

“Hm?”

“Take me to bed, Batman.”

“No. No Batman here. With you, I'm Bruce.”

“And that's what I love the most about you.” You smiled and lifted your arms, a silent plea for him to carry you. He rolled his eyes but did so effortlessly nevertheless, happy to obey your every command. And he of course was a sucker for having you near him at all times.

“Let’s take a shower first. You reek, Batguy.”

“Whatever you say.”

Needless to say, the Remote Electrical Charge was extremely efficient.

You were the perfect pair, really.

Although you joked about being Bruce’s sidekick, you felt more like a partner, really. You'd go and make the tools, he’d go out there and use them to kick some ass. It was a perfect situation. A win-win. And you didn't mind not working at Wayne Enterprises anymore, not really. You still visited Lucius often, and, when you weren't too tired, you’d help him out with certain projects. Your ideas and skills had only gotten better after all the things you’d help build, and your former boss appreciated the effort.

You helped Bruce with pretty much everything.

Helped improve his suit, fixed his car (more than once), his motorcycle, and even made a few prototypes for other means of transportation. He’d tested everything from jetpacks, to something that weirdly resembled a rocket and a flying suit. There really was no limit to your imagination.

Your life as Bruce’s girlfriend was eventually discovered, shortly after you two moved in together, and you decided to take in a “secret” identity, just as he did. To the public, you were Bruce Wayne and his dumb girlfriend who spent her days inside his mansion, sunbathing and spending his fortune. To those who knew you better (so, like, about two or three people), you were the Caped Crusader and his inventor girlfriend.

Although that title didn't stick for long, because after a few years, Bruce asked you to marry him.

That’s when you became his inventor wife.

And that was a life you were happy to lead.

A/N: And that's it!!! I hope you guys enjoyed this! Once again, I'm so sorry to my anon. I've been super busy and tired, and I got the requests mixed up. If it helps, I really enjoyed writing this - Bruce and an engineer girlfriend who builds stuff for him sounds like a pretty cool idea.

Well then, that's all for today!!!

I hope y'all have a wonderful day ahead <3

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne x you #bale!bruce wayne #bale!batman x reader #bale!batman #bale!bruce wayne x reader #the dark knight #the dark knight trilogy #the dark knight fanfic #the dark knight fanfiction #nolanverse #bruce wayne fanfiction #bruce wayne x fem!reader

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thetimesewers · 1 year

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Proof that the Professor has been possessed:

His fur is a different colour. His eyes are a different colour. And yet, in the picture, he has his original colour, which means this is not just an updated design, we are supposed to notice the difference.

Also, his satchel. His satchel dropped somewhere else when he fell into the mouth of the dinosaur, and it also wasn’t mentioned in any of the articles Ryan went on. Only the hat and the glasses. So… why does he have his satchel back?

This one might be a reach in the dark, but the Professor mostly lives off of jellybeans and spiders. In fact, the spiders are his main source is protein, so would he actually eat steak? Then again, I guess he does (possibly) eat dolphin meat, so maybe not. And he completely dismissed Sara when she said it was bad for the environment, when I feel like the Professor would take it into consideration.

Also, his voice. Instances I found of his voice going all demonic (just in case there’s any correlation):

YOU LIKE MEAT, RYAN?

*demonic laugh after his ‘Boer-d’ joke*

THE LEARNING HAS BEGUN

You know that algorithm machine is running BETTER THAN EVER THIS SEASON

When he pops up after the first puppet show

WHAT DO YA GOT

What could the deal with the box possibly be? It’s some sort of energy source, obviously… and the Professor is very adamant on not talking about it, and, well… we know that when the Professor chooses not to elaborate on something (i.e. the genie), it can’t be good. He’s so angry when they bring it up, has he ever shouted like that before?

Also, he acts pretty much feral with Ryan. Like, growling at him and trying to bite him. I mean, I get it, I probably would too, but we’ve never seen the Professor be violent, ever. He’s also never had a problem with anyone touching him before, in fact, he encourages people to take a jellybean out of his satchel.

Why does he say it like that? “On account of having to TAKE HUMAN LIFE.” Like, it’s not demonic, but Professor… just chill, please. What the fuck is wrong with you, my man?

His demonic laugh after making that pun. Like, come on, man, what the fuck is wrong with you, sir? And when the question comes up, and he goes “THE LEARNING HAS BEGUN! Ready your quills, my beauties!” WHAT THE FUCK MY (NOT SO) GOOD SIR

What was with the weird, creepy giggle? Professor doesn’t laugh like that… “Well, I’m alive! It feels good!” Sounds exactly like the kinda thing that someone who isn’t alive would say.

“Oh, we got my b-boys out there. I can’t remember what this bit is.” THATS BECAUSE THERE ISNT ONE. THERE IS NO B BOY BIT. HE JUST SAYS B BOYS.

Ryan: “I’m in hell.” A buzzer. The blank screen. Something sus is happening.

The most obvious piece of evidence: the glitch when he says “I guess we don’t have to,” when Ryan doesn’t wanna talk. Possibly something to do with the energy box?

The algorithm machine is “RUNNING BETTER THAN EVER THIS SEASON.” And it’s the only episode where Ryan has won, which means it has most likely been tinkered with to favour Ryan rather than the guest.

What is with the obsession with flesh? “Supple… life-defining… flesh.” Professor… you don’t eat flesh. You eat jellybeans, spiders, and possibly dolphin meat, but he’s getting a little weird here with his obsession for meat/flesh. And again, when talking about meat alternatives. The way he says “fleshier” is just… just weird.

Avoiding the question of “are you a ghost?” with “What kind of question is that? Come on.”

Okay, again, I’m not too sure about this one, but right before the first puppet show, when the curtain’s down, you can hear “where’s his fucking people?” Not “my” people, but “his” people, meaning that it’s someone else referring to the Professor. This is most likely just Shane honestly, having gotten used to calling them the Professor’s puppets, but I thought it was worth noting down.

After asking about why hippo meat didn’t take off, the noise he makes almost sounds like he’s deflating or powering down, so to speak. And he makes the same sound when he comes back up, so I think it’s definitely something to do with the box. I just don’t know what yet.

When he brings the guy up (Captain Claude), and he says: “But a word of warning. Not everything on this stage is as it seems,” combined with the fact that this is a guy who, a) faked his own death and b) pretended to be someone else. It’s obvious he’s talking about “the Professor”. But then again, it’s the Professor doing the voices, so does that make sense? Probably not, but it’s some form of evidence, so I’m sticking with it.

When going over the kinda summary thing, there’s an image of the Professor about to eat something. They lift up the lid and the flag says “100% Grade A Puppet Meat”, and he looks into the camera. This just adds more depth to his whole weird obsession with flesh.

It’s very strange how there’s just suddenly no trophies (especially when the Devil says in the last episode that the Professor buys those things in bull, suggesting he has a lot of them backstage), but instead a moisturiser. A very random object. The Professor is very adamant on him using it, and linking back to my earlier theory of the algorithm being rigged to let Ryan win, I think there’s a reason for it.

This one isn’t linked to any evidence for possessed!Professor at all, but I just noticed that the logo for ScienceSimp is one of the Bye Bye Brothers.

One of the tabs that Ryan has open is “Puppet Necromancy” and “Time Travel Methods” (as well as something about Nighttime Dan — again, unrelated, but I love that little detail). I think perhaps we could get an episode about the dinosaurs, based on the fact that there’s an article on it. There’s also an article about hologram technology — something to do with the Professor? Maybe he’s not possessed, but just a real weird hologram (like in the Holiday Spectacular)? I am genuinely very interested in this little insight to the going-ons in the WCU (like a Joker being elected Pope).

The genie lamp is surrounded by jellybeans. I don’t know what the implications of that are, but… it’s weird. “This breathtaking lamp will make a stunning addition to any home, no matter how drab. This piece was among many rare antiquities recently auctioned off at a local estate sale seemingly managed by the devil and a three-headed demon.” This means that the Devil, Asmodeus, or the Genie can’t possibly be possessing the Professor. But, why are the selling the lamp? With the genie presumably inside? It’s also worth noting that it says Ryan placed a $15 bid on it, while this “Connie M.” bids $5,500 on it — it seems like this Connie really wants that lamp, and she’s been at it for a while “oh, fucking Connie, again).

You can see that one of the professors (the one that moves) is different from the others, clearly standing out. But his colour seems to match the other toys (which are the original colour of the Professor).

That’s pretty much all I could pick out. I have never analysed anything so deeply before, and I can’t wait to do this every week. But yeah, I think there’s definitely something going on with the Professor, but I don’t know if it’s possession, since the Devil and Asmodeus sold the lamp. The hologram theory kinda makes sense, but I’m gonna wait until we have more info to develop that one any further.

#puppet history #puppet history spoilers #I need a name for this series #Professor the Possessed #yeah I like that #I feel like my English lit student energy really came out here

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betterbemeta · 2 months

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As it is right now, machine learning image generation is classist. It depends strongly on the human audience's eye for pareidolia to smooth over its inconsistencies and find patterns in its noise where its procedural generation falls short.

This means that the less opportunity a person has to gain context for information, the more likely 'AI art' is to be convincing. As long as that person has been given a baseline to 'believe' the general arrangement of elements, AI art will 'make sense' even if that baseline is just exposure to more acontextual imagery. Which is what the machine learning's algorithms were trained on in the first place.

For example, 'AI' right now struggles to coherently depict plants. When it's not blurry, indistinct plant fur, leaves from different kinds of plants appear on the same stem, plants from the wrong biome are included in 'nature' images. Someone who has very little educational opportunity, but has seen movies where people walk through jungles or forests as set pieces or something, might not notice the difference. And why do you 'need' to know if the plants look right, poor person; you'll never leave your immediate area or take a biology class!

Someone without the opportunity or comfort to travel might not recognize that a cityscape has been artificially generated, depicts no actual real-world city. Is that supposed picture of Dubai or New York City or Cairo showing a real place that exists? Who cares, you're too poor to ever go there.

Searching for information about animal species, even, can get messed up by generated 'content.' Do servals have ear tufts? What kind of insect is that? What species of lizard or snake am I looking at? You don't deserve to know what kinds of animals are real. What time do you have to go to a zoo, if there's even one around you?

The less money you have, the more likely you are to be surrounded by advertising and "AI Art" is ideal for advertising because it only tells a very simple story at best. There's no complicated human emotions; its literally made of averages of what has been seen before. Marketing and advertising content often replaces actual art that might be a window into a greater world. It may even just be dropped in there to fill the awkward silence or blankness that would have otherwise surrounded marketing efforts-- commercials would be surreal without some say-nothing 'music' track behind them, and billboards would be creepy without the graphic noise that surrounds the product and its information. Someone who passes through more monetized public spaces per day will see more of it than someone who inhabits private property.

And like, at the end of the day if you are wealthy... you probably don't care about any of this. You have access to whatever you want, so why do you care what's real? You trust you can 'pay for' the real thing, right?

Plus, who knows the economic status of who generated imagery the machine learning algorithms train on? It's all stolen.

Photography has been critical in modern history for bringing 'the world' across social divisions of class, race, geographical divides. Photographers and filmmakers, along with other visual artists as well as musicians, writers, and journalists associated with all of these disciplines give us lenses, framing, voices, and perspectives to understand our greater world no matter where we are. Hell, identifying the human intentions BEHIND those lenses, framings, voices is key to our development. No matter your circumstances, with a strong grasp of media literacy anyone can sit down and say, wait a minute, is this real, would it be true for me too? Or is this someone's point of view?

To the point of view of wealth and capital, the working class and those without wealth who cannot work (disabled people, displaced people, homeless people shut out of employment, and more) do not deserve to know about reality. To that point of view, nonwealthy people don't deserve to even know who created the perspectives they're allowed to see. You can be born, get trained to work, go to work, come home to the minimum, repeat, and die having seen no images of reality for all they care. They'd like that! How can you dream of something outside the current exploitative structure if you can't even trust you know what plants and animals and cities look like, outside your tiny box?

#long post #AI art #machine learning #something something the matrix

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vidoeslot · 3 months

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as a tech lover what do u think of ai. love ur art <3

Oh man. This is a hell of a question!!

I think right off the bat I want to say that “AI” as a term is so so deeply misused it may be beyond repair at this point. The broadness of AI cannot be understated. Even the most basic search and sorting algorithms are AI. Chessbots are AI. Speech recognition is AI. Machine translation, camera autofocus, playlist shuffle, spam filtering, antivirus, inverse kinematics, it all uses AI and has used it for years. Every single piece of software you interact with has AI technology in it somewhere.

All of this is mostly unrelated to what most people think of as AI nowadays (generative AI, like chatGPT or midjourney), both of which are entirely unrelated to the science fiction concept of an artificial intelligence.

That said, I'm assuming you're talking about generative AI since that's the hot-button issue. I think it's a very neat technology and one I wish I could be enthusiastic about seeing improve. I also think it is a deeply dangerous technology and we are entirely unprepared for the consequences of unfettered access to and complete trust in AI generation. It's what should be a beneficial technology built on foundations of harm – programmed bias from inextricable structural prejudice in the computer science world, manipulation of sources without creator/user/random person who happened to be caught on a camera once/etc consent – being used for harm – deliberate disinformation, nonsense generated content being taken as fact, violation of personal privacy and consent (as seen with deepfake porn), the list goes on. There's even more I could say about non-generative neural networks (that very reductive reference to "bread scanning AIs they taught to recognize cancer cells" so highly lauded by tumblr) but it just boils down to the same thing; the potential risk of using these technologies irresponsibly far and away outweighs any benefit they might have since there's no actual way to guarantee they can be used in a "good" or "safe" way.

All of it leaves a rotten taste in my mouth and I can't engage with the thought of any generative AI technology because of it. There's just too much at stake and I don't know if it even can be corralled to be used beneficially at this point. The genie's out of the bottle.

#sorry if you meant something else and i just started a lecture for no reason #.txt #asks #anon

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tinyozlion · 8 months

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The ZERO System- Why you shouldn’t let a battle algorithm determine your life goals

-Arrival (2016)

The ZERO system is a program that interfaces between a pilot and a Mobile Suit.

The purpose of the system is to enhance a pilot’s natural abilities by increasing their reaction time and accuracy, even allowing the pilot to “feel” the response of their Mobile Suit as though it were an extension of their own body, and to provide an adaptive, real-time battle plan that suggests the most advantageous course of action based on accumulated battle data and iterative projections of likely outcomes.

How exactly the ZERO system does all this is a little unclear– but we do know that it’s open-source, DRM free, and runs off a floppy disc.

The future is the 90’s!

--To start off with a quick overview, there are two mobile suits installed with a permanent copy of the ZERO system: the Wing Zero, which has it built into the cockpit, and the Epyon, which displays the system data via a flight suit helmet (technically the Epyon’s system was reverse-engineered without the benefit of the original ZERO program, but its effects are identical). There is also a modified version of the system that was utilized to coordinate the movements of Libra's mobile doll fleet– a novel use of the technology that elevated the otherwise limited AI of the Dolls to monstrous effect by giving them the intuition and oversight of a human mastermind.

But! Something worth noting is that the ZERO system isn’t the only battle-enhancing algorithm for mobile suits!

In a brief but significant moment in episode 10, we learn that OZ has a machine-learning program all of its own, and it's installed on the (then newly developed) Taurus mobile suits.

“There is a problem with the Taurus. It has the ability to learn from accumulated battle data. I’d like to trust OZ’s control system, but there’s still the chance that the machine will ignore the pilot’s commands and move on its own. If the command to kill overrides the pilot, the consequences could be significant.” –Doctor J

Who wrote the program for the Taurus suits? The most likely answer is Chief Engineer Tuberov, the man responsible for the Mobile Doll AI system, which is no doubt the successor of the Taurus AI. However, there was a lot of cooperation and cross-pollination of ideas between the original creators of mobile suits; Tuberov, Howard, and the five Gundam scientists were all involved in the earliest days of MS development, so it's not inconceivable that Doctor J is aware of the dangers of the Taurus’ AI because he helped develop it.

And Doctor J has good reason to consider the Taurus AI dangerous, because if it’s anything like the ZERO system, it’s the absolute last thing you’d want a power-hungry global military organization to have access to.

It’s not safe in the wrong hands; hell, it’s not even safe in the right hands. There’s a reason ZERO wasn’t installed on the finalized Gundams, and was left buried inside the files of a discarded blueprint.

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

The ZERO system is a GAN : it uses the data sets of previously recorded battles and the pilot's biological feedback to generate potential outcomes for a given fight, and then evaluates those results based on their likelihood and probability of success, in a zero-sum game where "success" is always defined by the total elimination of enemies.

Like all algorithmic processes, it amplifies certain results based on what data it's given and how it is trained; it's possible to use ZERO to predict the most likely, or most advantageous course of action for a pilot's future-- as long as that future is combative. And because the system is only trained to recognize Win States, Enemies, and Vulnerabilities, every future is going to be combative.

It's not trained to look for alternative solutions to combat, or make predictions about a life NOT spent inside a mobile suit-- it can only continue to generate pass/fail scenarios that lead, by the most efficient means, to the ultimate win state: the elimination of all enemies, all future enemies, all potential enemies.

--Whatever the mechanism is that allows the ZERO system to interface with a pilot’s brain, it is possible for a good pilot, who is aware of the system and is prepared for its effects, to mitigate how much control the system has over their mind and body, and successfully moderate the interposition of the machine's priorities and their own-- but it takes an enormous amount of mental and physical conditioning to override ZERO, and the strain on the pilot is significant.

The ZERO system gives a pilot the best chance of success by grabbing them directly by the brain chemistry, heightening awareness, speeding up reflexes, and inducing an almost trance-like state of hyperfocus that eliminates “distractions”, and ignores any physical and mental barriers that might get in the way of victory.

Unfortunately, what constitutes a “distraction” in the eyes of the machine is not always in line with the pilot’s conscience, and what it considers a “weakness” is often the biological feedback of strain and bodily distress. If left unchecked, the system overwhelms the pilot and can make them keep fighting through unsafe levels of exhaustion and injury, and in extreme situations, over-stimulation from the system itself can cause brain hemorrhaging.

While assessing all of the potential outcomes of a given battle, it takes into account every likely scenario up to and including the pilot’s own death. It will tell you if you’re likely to die. It will show you all the ways you are likely to die. If you let it dig too far into your nervous system, it will in fact let you feel how you’ll die, pumping your adrenaline levels up to the screaming pitch you’d experience if it were actually happening.

Even if a pilot is technically capable of withstanding ZERO, the psychological effect of using in the first place comes with its own insidious dangers. The temptation to let the machine ride is a powerful one; it makes you faster and stronger than everyone else, it lets you see things before they happen, it allows you to stop thinking about complicated questions of right and wrong and simply focus on the most immediate action necessary for survival and success, it takes away the confusion of competing moral imperatives.

ZERO grants a human the clarity and singularity of purpose of a machine.

For those seeking refuge in numbness, this is a soporific that allows a pilot to take retributive action against their perceived enemy without feeling, removing grief and replacing it with vindication; and for those who are insecure, or weak and hungry for power, it is fatally intoxicating.

ZERO can only show a pilot the quickest way from point A to point B.

It does not take into account any factors besides efficiency. It does not have a conscience, it does not have external priorities, and it does not value life.

If you give it a problem to solve like “how do I win”, no solution is off the table-- it will remove any and all obstacles in the way of victory, and by far the most common obstacle is the fact that most people have things that they care about, and things they are unwilling to do.

For instance, the safety of one's allies and innocent third parties is not a parameter the ZERO system is equipped to recognize.

If using your beam canon is the most effective way to clear the battlefield but you're not using it because there's a Colony in your line of fire-- well, that's easy to fix. If your concern for an ally is holding you back from fighting without reservation, that's an easy fix too.

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

The scientists responsible for creating ZERO knew what a monstrosity it was that they had built, and did not implement it in the finalized Gundams. But once it was unleashed on the world anyway, they surmised that the only way to use the system wisely was to become on one’s own terms what ZERO would have tried to force you to become anyway: a soldier with a clearly defined goal, who is strong enough and skilled enough to complete their objectives, and who has nothing holding them back-- therefore, someone who the machine could not easily manipulate.

During their time in space, the Gundam pilots are isolated, scattered, and lack a clear purpose. Their Colonies betrayed them and their loyalties continue to be used against them-- in that atmosphere, the convenience of a system that can select the most advantageous target is obvious, but at the same time, a struggling pilot operating alone is at the greatest risk of being overwhelmed by it. This is why the Doctors advise the pilots to become "perfect soldiers"-- or else, go insane.

Important Clarification: This is a “perfect soldier” in nearly the opposite sense of how the Romefeller Eyebrow Brigade would define a True Soldier! What the Doctors mean by a “perfect soldier” is simply a fighter with a clear objective and few tactical weaknesses that could be exploited.

The ideal example of this "perfect soldier" is obviously Wufei:

Wufei already thinks in terms of absolutes; he acts according to the strictest assessment of who is Evil, and therefore an Enemy; he fights almost exclusively alone, relying on his own considerable strength to achieve his goal of enacting justice; and he habitually shuns any close attachment that might complicate his path forward.

It's no wonder that when Wufei pilots the Wing Zero, all the system does is confirm what he already held to be true. His goal was always to eliminate anyone trying to escalate militarism, which means defeating both Treize and Zechs, and as a slight compromise, cooperating with his fellow Gundam pilots as a team.

It’s as though Wufei’s brain was already running on the ZERO system. And since he’s already equipped to make his own tactical decisions in the field, he has no need of an external system to tell him what to do. ZERO has nothing to offer Wufei, and there is nothing for it to exploit.

But it's not just Wufei who can resist using the system: even Quatre-- who is in most ways the polar opposite of Wufei, and who at his lowest point fell prey to the ZERO before anyone realized what it was-- is eventually able to master the system. Once Quatre is armed with the knowledge of what the system is intended for and knows exactly who he has to fight, he is able to use it in a way that maximizes his natural tactical abilities, and resists all its negative effects. And upon gaining ZERO's insight, Quatre realizes that he, too, no longer needs it.

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

So what it boils down to is this: A pilot with superior skills and a firm resolve can operate effectively without the ZERO system, and a pilot with superior skills an NO firm resolve, or with too many vulnerabilities, will find themselves struggling against it to their detriment.

Either way, it is up to the pilot to navigate the available outcomes presented by their surroundings, and choose the best course of action according to their logic and intuition-- and wouldn't this still be true with NO artificial source of input?

The ZERO system may enhance human abilities by brute force, but the processes it accelerates are already present within the pilot. In fact, it’s hardly more than a limited, mechanically-accelerated version of what the senses and nervous system do already.

Like all current examples of machine learning, it presents the illusion of an objective, autonomous process that can stand in for human input. But it isn’t a true “artificial intelligence”-- and even if it were, it would not “transcend” or replace the need for human input. It is only a means of sorting and arranging data sets that come from humans, and must be interpreted and acted on by humans, in order to have any physical effect.

--We know a lot more about the dangers of algorithms and machine-learning and automation now in the 2020’s than we did in the 1990’s, but between the ZERO system and the Mobile Dolls, I think Gundam Wing did a damn good job of illustrating them.

Ultimately, it is always a human who makes the decisions, and is responsible for the consequences. Surrendering that responsibility to a machine is not only morally reprehensible, it is in fact, not possible– a human built the machine, and a human made use of the machine, and a thousand, thousand collective moments of human decision-making led to whatever outcome the machine facilitated.

The world hasn’t yet arrived at the techno-singularity, either in the present or in A.C.195, and those who are eager to pass the blame prematurely to “AI” are usually those who wish to avoid being held accountable for their actions.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the only person to use the ZERO system for something other than combat is Treize. For the confined leader of OZ, the system is a magic eight ball to scry the future with.

At the time of creating the Epyon, the system did not show him a viable path forward, or at least, not one he considered acceptable. Treize interpreted this as meaning he had NO future, but I can’t help but wonder if he was asking the wrong sort of question for a predictive battle algorithm to answer.

...Or maybe, the answer he got was “Ask Again Later”, which, actually, would have been correct.

#gundam wing #ZERO system #Wing Zero #read to the end for a surprise!#parsing post #gundam wingtionary #wingwatcher's toolkit #art by me

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bd-bandkanon · 2 months

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see, the big thing about "AI" that keeps bothering the fuck out of me, that almost NOBODY seems to be talking about, is that--what he have right now, what we as artists are having a problem with in this moment, is not real "AI". It's ML (Machine Learning), and nothing more. Or to be more specific, since ML is just a subset, it's Deep Learning Algorithm Guzzling Dooglybluck. (DLAGD) (a very real and scientific term)

To frame something under the term of "Artificial Intelligence" is to assume it's capable of emulating human-like reasoning, emotions, and abstractions. Not neural network algorithms, scraping data to regurgitate back out at us, and proximity calculations. Calling this shit AI is an insult, to me, specifically, as one who loves the HELL out of (and writes) sci-fi stories about robots and cyborgs.

I wish I could make everyone stop calling it AI, but I'm just some stupid person that most people don't even know exists (and probably would rather I not, were they to meet me).

anyway, fuckin-- idk, watch this video. This guy's better at wording this issue than me.

#ai mention #ai art mention #I need to get this off my chest #it's been making me wanna bite my fucking hand off #and I hate having to run with the flock and just *accept* the mislabeling in order to protect my own wellbeing

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seat-safety-switch · 1 year

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Years, many years ago, you may have looked forward to software updates. New features, bugs fixed, an evolution of an already pretty good instant messenger or paint program or Usenet pornography downloader. Nowadays, a software update is dreaded. There are many reasons: it may contain a grotesque new turn towards adware or algorithmic timeline bullshit, an eye-searingly-bad redesign, or the developers may have “accidentally” broken your favourite feature and want you to buy the Pro version to get it back.

Yes, software is very bad today, and getting worse. It’s ruining everything that our society used to love: self-driving cars, video game systems, laptop computers, and the sentient synthetic intelligence that spontaneously developed in your washing machine, which you can no longer connect to the internet in order to receive text messages of when your clothes are done being washed for fear of extinguishing this new and fragile form of sapient life with an update that makes the front-panel lights slightly less flickery. And I don’t think you need me to tell you that this fucking sucks.

Is there a solution, beyond fleeing into the woods and carrying half a 1980s Radio Shack worth of 8-bit microprocessors and firearms with you? Although that does sound pretty good, now that we’re talking about it, I think there is a way we can keep all of our modern conveniences (like roads, and freshly-squeezed high-octane gasoline) while turning back the tide of anti-progress. All we have to do is outlaw pie charts.

That’s right. Pie charts. We thought they were innocent when they first appeared, a way to use our trigonometry classes to make a cool-looking chart. Pretty colours. Hell, maybe they come in 3D, which makes them totally useless as a way to tell how big the slices are, but boy does it look cool. The problem is, some people took the pie charts way too seriously. Upper management began to obsess over them, their eyes seeing special secrets – margin, even – hiding at the border of each ridiculous pixelated slice. And they chased those secrets, drunk-driving the world into a technological hell.

Once we throw pie charts in the collective shredder of humanity’s memory, we can move on to things that make more sense. Bar charts, for example, can still lie, but they don’t exist purely as a function of lies. I’m not so naive to believe that humanity won’t re-invent the pie chart at some future date, of course, but I’m pretty convinced the extra productivity means that we’ll be able to build really reliable hunter-killer robots to wipe those folks out, and leave them behind for future generations. Even if those robots don’t have a “dark mode” or special new typeface every couple of months to boost engagement.

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mrs-monaghan · 9 months

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Shaz i Just realized something today. Pple really need to start taking you more seriously when u say certain things. I remember months ago, you mentioned a few times that you know Jk would very much like to go Live with Jimin but maybe Jimin is the one who doesn’t want to. I remember saying to myself “nah Shaz is probably talking outta her ass and being very taekookerish rn” lol. But u were vindicated cuz we came to find out that Jk does indeed want to do a live with Jimin but Jimin is playing hard to get. I also remember you talking about how Jk hates the vermin but I personally had not seen any reason to believe he hated them cuz he still hung out with Tae and stuff but i guess these last few months or weeks have proved you right again because the whole world can clearly see that Jk has a problem with those pple. Let’s start with him looking almost disgusted at the mere thought of living with Tae, or how visibly uncomfortable he looked when he kept getting questioned about Tae on that Live, and also how everytime he does stuff for Jimin, the cult start manifesting he does the same for Tae and he just doesn’t. And now after liking that Jin video from a tk page, he went ahead to (probably) delete the comment prolly cus his algorithm got messed up with tk stuff. My point is, I won’t be completely closed minded to certain theories u come up with cuz u’ve actually been proven right quite a few times. Cuz who would hv thought we would see an almost desperate Jk insisting for Jimin to let him come over and do a live? I never thought i’d live to see a day like that lol.

Let’s be honest, pple wanna be like shippers this shippers that, but the truth is, Jk has never shown any discomfort at pple thinking he is fucking Jimin. Not even once, hell he is the only one feeding us jokers now cuz Jimin aint giving us shit to eat. Without Jk alot of us might have thought they broke up and gone about our lives but everyone can see clearly that Jk is the one still keeping us grounded in our Jikook belief. He does all these but doesn’t care to feed tkkrs at all. The only thing he does which feeds them is basically hanging out with his friend Tae. That’s literally it! He doesn’t go out of his way to do anything that might feed the vermin and that is why now, they are claiming Jk is Tae’s washing machine and Tae is Jk’s refrigerator lmaoo. That is why now they are getting hit tweets by claiming that old sounding hacking and coughing we heard from Tae’s live was Jk lmaoo. That is why now they are photoshopping blurry af pic to claim that tk went on a restaurant date and a beach date😂😂😂😂. Tae used to feed them alot b4 but for some reason he stopped so they basically hv nothing these days. Plus taennie gets one step closer to getting properly confirmed everyday and they are losing it. Now they are planning to hit us with “Jikook is fake love” everytime we have something to celebrate lmaooo.

Anyways, i respect you my dear. I’ve learned my lesson. From today i’ll be more open minded even when some of ur theories sound a lil taekookerish lol.

How I'm I supposed to take this ask?

I have said this a milli times; i go by history. My theories and conclusions depend on history. Has JK done this before? Have Jikook behaved like this before? The number one reason why Jikook stand out to alot of people is CONSISTENCY. This is why people like me who are convinced they're together believe this to be the truth. Because they are sooooo fucking consistent. Yeah after year after year they act the same, they are the same. Their behaviour towards eo has remained the same.

So no, I'm not all knowing or a Jikook professional but I am quite good at remembering useless things that will not help me IRL in any way shape or form. I will have dated my fiance for 4 years in October and I still mistake his year of birth. Thats right, I keep forgetting my fiancé's year of birth. But I know that when Jimin had his foot on JK's crotch, that took place in Bon Voyage season 1 episode 6, but we only see it in episode 8 the finale at 38 minutes in.

That's my mind ladies and gentlemen. 🤦🏽‍♀️

JK has been debunking tkkrs for years. Its not new. He genuinely does not like them. We know this because he goes above and beyond to correct anything that may be construed as him and V being a couple. But u will never catch him doing this for Jimin/ to Jikookers. And yes, this is fact.

We don't get debunked, we get fed.

I've consumed enough BTS content to see it happen so me drawing to this conclusion stems from HISTORY. (And talking with a bunch of great friends who love to analyse) All year we had seen JK be defiant and go against the company and be unapologetic about it. While we had Jimin telling him to stop drinking on live, making fun of JK for singing unholy (a sexual song) on live. So it only made sense to conclude Jimin was the hesitant one. Not JK. Jungkook aint scared to blow shit up but his boyfriend sure is.

If you work with the belief that Jimin and JK are a couple, all that's left is to observe. And u will come to the same conclusions that i (and my pals) do.

When Jikookers make delulu theories I believe we are allowed to. Because Jikook is real and because of this, we are most likely correct. Jikook have done some crazy shit over the years, u can't blame us for coming up with some crazy theories.

Thanks anon, I guess? 😳😳

#make no mistake thou #I'm still hella nuts #he he heee #ask shaz #bts ask #jikook is real

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mariacallous · 8 days

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The algorithm has won. The most powerful social, video, and shopping platforms have all converged on a philosophy of coddling users in automated recommendations. Whether through Spotify’s personalized playlists, TikTok’s all-knowing For You page, or Amazon’s product suggestions, the internet is hell-bent on micromanaging your online activity.

At the same time, awareness of the potential downsides of this techno-dictatorial approach has never been higher. The US Congress recently probed whether social media algorithms are threatening the well-being of children, and new scholarship and books have focused fresh attention on the broad cultural consequences of letting algorithms curate our feeds. “I do think it reifies a lot of our cultural tastes in a way that at least I find concerning,” says Ryan Stoldt, an assistant professor at Drake University and member of the University of Iowa’s Algorithms and Culture Research Group.

In response to the growing sense of unease surrounding Big Tech’s mysterious recommender systems, digital refuges from the algorithm have begun to emerge. Entrepreneur Tyler Bainbridge is part of a nascent movement attempting to develop less-fraught alternatives to automated recommendations. He’s founder of PI.FYI, a social platform launched in January that hopes to, in Bainbridge’s words, “bring back human curation.”

PI.FYI is born out of Bainbridge’s popular newsletter, Perfectly Imperfect, and a simple conceit: Humans should receive recommendations only from other humans, not machines. Users post recommendations for everything from consumer products to experiences such as “being in love” or “not telling men at bars you study philosophy,” and they also crowdsource answers to questions like “What did you read last week?” or “London dry cleaner?”

Posts on the platform are displayed in chronological order, although users can choose between seeing a feed of content only from friends and a firehose of everything posted to the service. PI.FYI’s homepage offers recommendations from a “hand-curated algorithm”—posts and profiles selected by site administrators and some carefully chosen users.

“People long for the days of not being bombarded by tailored ads everywhere they scroll,” Bainbridge says. PI.FYI’s revenue comes from user subscriptions, which start at $6 a month. While its design evokes an older version of the internet, Bainbridge says he wants to avoid creating an overly nostalgic facade. “This isn't an app built for millennials who made MySpace,” he says, claiming that a significant portion of his user base are from Gen Z.

Spread, a social app currently in closed beta testing, is another attempt to provide a supposedly algorithm-free oasis. “I don't know a single person in my life that doesn't have a toxic relationship with some app on their phone,” says Stuart Rogers, Spread’s cofounder and CEO. “Our vision is that people will be able to actually curate their diets again based on real human recommendations, not what an algorithm deems will be most engaging, therefore also usually enraging,” he says.

On Spread, users can’t create or upload original text or media. Instead, all posts on the platform are links to content from other services, including news articles, songs, and video. Users can tune their chronological feeds by following other users or choosing to see more of a certain type of media.

Brands and bots are barred from Spread, and, like PI.FYI, the platform doesn’t support ads. Instead of working to maximize time-on-site, Rogers’ primary metrics for success will be indicators of “meaningful” human engagement, like when someone clicks on another user's recommendation and later takes action like signing up for a newsletter or subscription. He hopes this will align companies whose content is shared on Spread with the platform’s users. “I think there's a nostalgia for what the original social meant to achieve,” Rogers says.

So you joined a social network without ranking algorithms—is everything good now? Jonathan Stray, a senior scientist at the UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI, has doubts. “There is now a bunch of research showing that chronological is not necessarily better,” he says, adding that simpler feeds can promote recency bias and enable spam.

Stray doesn’t think social harm is an inevitable outcome of complex algorithmic curation. But he agrees with Rogers that the tech industry’s practice of trying to maximize engagement doesn’t necessarily select for socially desirable results.

Stray suspects the solution to the problem of social media algorithms may in fact be … more algorithms. “The fundamental problem is you've got way too much information for anybody to consume, so you have to reduce it somehow,” he says.

In January, Stray launched the Prosocial Ranking Challenge, a competition with a $60,000 prize fund aiming to spur development of feed-ranking algorithms that prioritize socially desirable outcomes, based on measures of users’ well-being and how informative a feed is. From June through October, five winning algorithms will be tested on Facebook, X, and Reddit using a browser extension.

Until a viable replacement takes off, escaping engagement-seeking algorithms will generally mean going chronological. There’s evidence people are seeking that out beyond niche platforms like PI.FYI and Spread. Group messaging, for example, is commonly used to supplement artificially curated social media feeds. Private chats—threaded by the logic of the clock—can provide a more intimate, less chaotic space to share and discuss gleanings from the algorithmic realm: the trading of jokes, memes, links to videos and articles, and screenshots of social posts.

Disdain for the algorithm could help explain the growing popularity of WhatsApp within the US, which has long been ubiquitous elsewhere. Meta’s messaging app saw a 9 percent increase in daily users in the US last year, according to data from Apptopia reported by The Wrap. Even inside today’s dominant social apps, activity is shifting from public feeds and toward direct messaging, according to Business Insider, where chronology rules.

Group chats might be ad-free and relatively controlled social environments, but they come with their own biases. “If you look at sociology, we've seen a lot of research that shows that people naturally seek out things that don't cause cognitive dissonance,” says Stoldt of Drake University.

While providing a more organic means of compilation, group messaging can still produce echo chambers and other pitfalls associated with complex algorithms. And when the content in your group chat comes from each member’s respective highly personalized algorithmic feed, things can get even more complicated. Despite the flight to algorithm-free spaces, the fight for a perfect information feed is far from over.

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wendigho · 3 months

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Every time I see AI art discourse I think of my new media teacher in college talking about remix culture.

I think about how much I love collage and how much it inspired me to keep going with art because sometimes all I can do is cut and paste.

I think if taking a few tracks I loved from a downloaded album and learning to use audacity to make something new.

I think about how much capitalism kills art.

So much so that we can't even agree that it's more messed up that life could be ruined by sharing creative energy.

No one will engage with the fact that maybe, just maybe, it's messed up that a form of creation even has the possibility to make artists unable to live.

It makes me sad when people say it's theft, abuse of other's work, lazy... It's art.

It's as much art as when I'm drawing, painting, cutting up magazines, folding zines, making a mix tape, over painting a thrift store find, making book art.

The issue is it shouldn't be paywalled, it shouldn't be censored, or centralized. Just like the Internet itself honestly.

Human beings should all feel free to create and remix any fucking thing they want.

The AI algorithm is not the problem, it is as it has always been, capitalism.

Don't want to lose your livelihood to a machine? Consider those who would use that machine against you in the first place. Side with free open source systems that do not generate profit. Actually consider why the problems exist and stop scapegoating and dismiss real actual tools for artists who are not traditional.

AI can make lovely stuff, I use it for references and to speed run sketches sometimes. I can input my art into certain things and run variations to find new directions for a sketch. I can visualize ideas, I can make something.

There's no reason anyone should be opposed to that.

But then, people hate collage too. People hate Tumblr gifsets and image posts made from screenshots. Those old composite gifs are "cringe" but they also took a hell of a lot of work. Just stitching together a fantasy.

#i just crave nuance in the debate #ai artwork #ai art #ai discourse #ai discussion #generative art #midjourney #stable diffusion #dalle3

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thejudgingtrash · 1 year

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Yass, time for adult!Percy!

I was wondering about life past the current Riordanverse and I really like the idea of gathering different possible jobs for Percy, for fics and for fun.

So here’s a few:

1. Teacher/Counselor

First of all, what kind of teacher? Is he an elementary teacher? Does he teach AP classes in high school? Which subjects? Public school or private school (let’s not forget, Percy spent a good chunk in his life in private schools as the token poor negro kid and was surrounded by awful arrogant rich kids like Nancy and Matt)? Montessori school?? And most importantly: no, I absolutely do not see it.

Percy’s ofc very compassionate and aware of surroundings, so he’d be on high alert with his students but with the current and former state in schools I don’t think he’s willing to get traumatized each and every single day at school.

2. Marine Biologist

Call me basic but since it’s essentially canon, Imma stick beside him (tbh I can’t remember anything past PJO lol). But marine biology is such an interesting and diverse field?? Like c’mon now!

Yes, it’s a lot more chemistry and math and physics than one might think but the possibilities? And the benefits with his powers? Let Percy get a minor in psychology and study animal behavior by actually interviewing them, IT’S A GENIUS MOVE IF YOU GET THE VISION!

3. Marketing Manager

Hehe. My field of study. Am I biased? Of course I am! Was this part of my fic Oh. It’s Them Again? Yessss, mama!

Again. Such an interesting field with many possibilities! And he’d get more than just a good check in NYC if he switches positions enough! Like… is Percy a digital marketing manager? How much does he hate Google, Meta, Amazon and co.? Is he working in strengthening brand awareness and if so, how? Is he forced to work in newsletter/email marketing? Is he a sales machine and constantly on the road? Or is he a key account manager and simply focuses on a handful of important clients?

Is he, as a disgruntled millennial, forced to work with spoiled gen z influencers he hates and has to figure out the TikTok algorithm like a grandpa on the sofa whilst unhelpful Annabeth is laughing at him (shut up Annabeth, we all know you use IG reels and occasionally YT shorts at best!!)? Does he accidentally go viral and HATES everyone calling him daddy in the comments??

Oh, the possibilities.

4. Firefighter/Paramedic

Hell yes. I saw someone else posting about this ages ago (if you can remember, feel free to @!). But this is so interesting. If you want to somewhat stick to canon and let Percy use his powers, this could be an option.

I see it, helping and saving people that way could be an option. Still, also more on the traumatizing side but I actually think this is more interesting than a teacher. And oh, the possibilities in stories are endless! Saving people and pets from burning houses. Coordinating shifts in the station, being a first responder… oof.

That said…

5. Doctor

Oof, I should really work on The Wedding Dance in the future even tho it’s hella minor plot point…

Hospital doc? Owning his own practice doc? Doing 1 first and 2 next? What type of doctor is he? Simply an internist? A gastroenterologist? Pediatrician (could be traumatizing)? A surgeon to let out his god complex? Okay, let’s note down surgeon for Annabeth… a neurologist? Endless opportunities. Where’s the PJO x Grey’s Anatomy fic we all need??

6. Hotelier

Whilst the service industry is incredibly fucked (pre- as well as post-Pandemic), this is also interesting. Let Percy and Sally own a bed and breakfast. What does it look like? How many rooms are there? How much do they hate booking.com and AirBnB for taking a good chunk of commission?

Where’s the hotel located? In Montauk? In Manhattan? In Greece?? What are the roles? Does Sally do the cooking and house keeping whilst Percy does repairs and is the receptionist/clerk?

Who are the guests?? You decide!

7. Chef/Baker

Ahhh… Chef!Percy my beloved, you will always be welcomed. So. Much. Stuff. To. Think. About. And yes, this will actually be relevant for one of my fics, IFYKY. Head chef, deputy chef, junior chef… did Percy go the Institute of Culinary Education? Did he go to Italy or France for a few years to hone his craft? Or did he purposefully say f Europe, let’s head somewhere else? What is his specialty? How much sleep does he get per week?

Also I’m never letting go of Baker!Percy and Sally who own their sweet cupcake shop and sell all kinds of sugary shit!

8. Stay at Home Dad

My fave trope, don’t get it twisted! While I think Annabeth and Percy realistically have one kid max plus two or three pets, I love the idea of Career and Business Woman!Annabeth and SAHD Percy who’s trying to make her life as easy as possible whilst tending the baby, trying to clothe the toddler and reminding their elementary school aged kid to pack their lunch.

A chaotic, yet amazing and rewarding life (which is still stressful! Just a different kind of stressful!)

Sooooo…

What do you think? Agreements, disagreements? Anyone who’s interested/in school for/already working in any of these fields? Do you think it’s unrealistic? Is it realistic?

Mayhaps, I’ll think about other demigods and what they can do in the future 🧐🫡

#pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #percy jackson and the olympians #sally jackson #heroes of olympus #hoo #pjo au #adulthood

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frogsky · 22 days

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i feel like this would be a long shot 😅 but i have a small crocheting business🎉!! and my shop on etsy has 2 listings (just to start). only shipping throughout the US *cause worldwide be expensive*

if anyone is interested in buying, i'd be so happy and grateful, or if you share the word around, hell even just looking at my shop would be nice (along with my insta, yk, getting to know me and all :))

i try my best at posting, but editing kicks my ass everytime ngl, but i don't give up, just take breaks cause fook the algorithm 😭 we're humans, not machines

any questions, comments, or concerns would be in my Etsy bio i believe (products are made to order too)

here's the link to my linktree, if you wanna follow/support

#small artist #crochet #me #small business #crocheters of tumblr #crochetersofinstagram

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