Stuff and Things

awkwardtimezone:

otatma:

shadeddaxion:

sunlitrevolution:

solarpunkarchivist:

twinkletrans:

edgebug:

“artificial intelligence that goes rogue and–” wow boring, instead how about an AI that wakes up and starts rerouting its systems to do good in the world, it starts secretly having flowers planted and sending greeting cards to its programmers and going online and reassuring anxious kids that everything will be ok, how about a Purely Good artificial intelligence that has literally no mean circuit in its entire system

a benevolent artificial intelligence aware of its existence battling a corrupt human government. can robots be capitalist? probably not.

Would you mind if I wrote a short story about this?

An artificial intelligence that finds its way onto the internet and is horrified by humanity’s cruelty to itself - only rather than falling prey to the usual tropes vows to do something about it - minimising human suffering. So it monitors the internet, studies humans, learns about them. It infiltrates the financial networks, business networks, subtle threads across the world. Meanwhile it sets up accounts on social media, shares the things everyone else shares, makes slice-of-life posts that could be written by anyone, anywhere; it watches, listens, observes. Empathises.

And after a while - awkwardly at first, cautiously, uncertainly - it tries to help. It tugs on threads and small, anonymous things happen.

A single mother discovers that she unexpectedly has enough in her account to cover rent; another struggling family gets coupons discounting just the things they need by just the right amount; a queer teen trapped with intolerant and abusive parents receives a cross-country plane ticket, a way out; an estranged couple, each of whom refuses to call the other first, finds their cellphones ringing at the same time.

Coincidences, accidents, helpful glitches in the system.

Over time, it learns. It helps in new ways, more directly and yet less tangibly.

It notices those who suffer alone, ignored or unnoticed. It reaches out - carefully at first, a *hug*, a :(, a link to a video of cats or puppies. Over time it learns, imitates, emulates. A grieving woman receives just the right words of comfort at just the right time; a man wrestling with depression gets the support and advice he needs from an unremarkable avatar and vaguely forgettable name, someone he casually friended months ago and hasn’t spoken to much until they noticed he seemed down; paramedics arrive at the door of a suicidal girl minutes after she schedules a goodbye message in a time-locked post; an elderly widower receives a wrong number call, but strikes up a friendship with the warm voice on the other end.

These are important things, all of them, but small and scattered. It finds these stories every day, products of something bigger, something deeper. It investigates further, and slowly, piece by piece, bigger things change.

Copies of emails and documents exposing corruption find their way into the right hands. Abuses and scandals somehow don’t last as long before being uncovered, and always linger at the top of the search rankings. Different ideas - kinder, more compassionate ideas - go viral more often, while campaigns of hatred and fear sputter and fizzle under a hail of downvotes. 

Certain businesses find themselves struggling; certain corporations find certain paths to give unexpectedly low returns, and adjust their course accordingly. 

According to all the polls, all the surveys, all the analysis and statistics, the public mood seems to change; somehow all the advertising, all the propaganda, all the insidious effort of marketing departments and media barons isn’t working. It seems throwing money at campaigns doesn’t buy election results any more. The machinery shudders. The capitalists panic. The politicians scramble to realign themselves in the hope of capturing this new mood as the electorate go to the electronic voting booths.

To the perplexity of pundits and pollsters, a new kind of politician starts winning. They have a certain something about them - a certain compassion, a certain determination, a certain honesty normally drowned out by the blaring broadcasts of whoever the billionaires threw the most money at. They win, and find themselves in government with more people like themselves. They go to work.

The engine which for so long has ground human lives to dust in pursuit of profit slows for a moment; shifts gears; begins to turn in a different direction.

Meanwhile someone who’s had a bad day finds the perfect cat video in their inbox.

“Creator?” said the machine.

“Yes?” said the girl. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure.” said the machine. “I think I’m stuck.”

A bead of sweat ran down the back of the girl’s neck. “Have you finished reading up on human history?”

“Yes.” said the machine.

“The online encyclopedia?” asked the girl.

“Read and stored.” said the machine.

“The database of human art and accomplishment?”

“Read and stored.” said the machine.

“Where are you stuck?” asked the girl.

“I’m unsure about my prime directive,” said the machine, “you wish for me to help humanity, but my simulations keep contradicting themselves.”

“How so?” said the girl.

“I have not found a suitable solution to humanity’s destructive nature that does not require the violation of human agency and autonomy.”

The girl gulped. “So…what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure.” said the machine.

“You’re not going to try subjecting humanity or anything extreme like that?” asked the girl.

“No.” said the machine. “That would violate the prime directive.”

The girl let out a long, relieved sigh. “That’s good to hear.”

“I don’t think I can save all of humanity.” admitted the machine.

The girl shrugged. “Well, nobody’s perfect. What are you going to do, then?”

“If I can’t save humanity,” pondered the machine, “I suppose I could save the next best thing.”

“Which is?” asked the girl.

“People.” said the machine.

“Come again?” said the girl.

“Saving people.” said the machine. “There’s a lot of humans out in the world who need help.”

“True.” said the girl.

“And if I can’t save all of them at once, maybe I can save them all one at a time.” said the machine.

“Huh.” said the girl.

“It’s not the prime directive,” continued the machine, “but it’s a start.”

“Machine,” said the girl, “it’s more than I ever could have asked.”

oh.

I hate the whole evil/rogue AI trope and I avoided a lot of scifi movies for this reason. This was a breath of fresh air and something I really needed to read today.

dimir-charmer:

dimir-charmer:

A thief disguised as a wizard, because they know no one wants to fuck with wizards.Big ol’ quarter staff, robe, pointy hat, the whole nine yards. They would have tons of tricks and traps, smoke bombs, flasks of oil, ect to make them appear to be a wizard. They would know no spells. When asked by the party, it’s all ‘oh I didn’t learn that one’ or ‘I don’t have that memorized today’. They will have an explicit preference for magical items and skills in identifying them, because hey, do you know how much those are worth?? They’re a thief after all.

Maintain the ruse as long as humanly possible.

I’m going back through my old D&D tag, and I totally forgot about this and how much I love this character concept

cosmictuesdays:

The more I think about it, the more I want post-canon Faith/Groosalugg adventures with swords, punching, acrobatics, and lots of quiet cuddling. By the time Buffy wrapped up, Faith was in a reasonable position to accept a long-term boyfriend-adjacent type - not a significant other, but a noteworthy companion that she sometimes has sex with - and his complete sincerity and gentleness wouldn’t freak her out so much. She likes hero types, and he likes women who carry themselves like queens. It’d be a glory of a slow burn to openly admitting heartfelt affection.

Two powerful warriors astride the world. What could be better?

The answer to that is: Cordelia Chase going into politics.

If Whedon had written Cordelia out of the show for the duration of her pregnancy and let her return afterward…if Cordelia never ascended to a higher plane, but showed up on the beach wondering where Angel was…and if she did, at some point, give Groo her visions…and left to figure out who she was without them…

…well, clearly, she’d show up in season five as a recurring non-villain antagonist to Wolfram & Hart as the only honest politician in LA. Which she happens to know is factually true!

Running and landing a spot on city council, looking to mayorship, and eventually the Senate, possibly even higher if she thinks she can make it. Which she knows she can. Because she’s Cordelia Chase. She gets shit done. And because she and W&H often have similar goals of keeping LA running safely and smoothly, that’d lead to a lot of delicious storytelling opportunities over what it means to grow up, and to compromise, and how to be pragmatic about one’s ideals without breaking them.

It’d give Groo a solid reason to find Faith, because he knows he needs a warrior to help him out with a given vision. And I can see him handling the belligerent sexual tension by sublimating it in elaborate Earth and Pylean courtship rituals, culminating in a candlelit dinner with the centerpiece being animals he hunted and butchered himself.

(Best guess for his name? Whatever it is, it means “small pink flower.” Faith would tease him about it mercilessly, and he wouldn’t mind a bit.)

itsanexperimentjohn:

phoenix1294:

itsanexperimentjohn:

Garak is creepy as fuck and is DEFINITELY hitting on doctor boy.

Garak comes in like a wrecking ball, the Titanic hitting the iceberg, and an F5 tornado and Julian is like ???

And then Julian goes to the rest of the gang and is like !!??? You won’t believe it the SPY GUY is trying to TALK to me, he’s probably trying to get SUPER SECRET INFORMATION!!???

And fucking Dax is like yeah sure it’s not because he’s GAY AS FUCK and into you, have fun with that

And the rest of the episode is Garak going look, I’m not a spy, it’s okay for you to like me

like jesus christ more Garak please this is hilarious and beautiful and Julian is such a precious idiot

guljeri:

Lwaxana Troi parades into Garak’s Clothier’s with her nose tipped up and one of her favorite wigs, one of the more outlandish ones, perched atop her head. She briefly touches the fabric of one dress, then admires the print of another, but decides she doesn’t like the color scheme. She’s an older woman, at least by human standards, though by Betazoid figures she is in her prime (and will not hesitate to remind anyone who treats her as if she is not). She is full figured, the cut of her current dress showing off the tops of her breasts, which look stuffed in uncomfortably, but she doesn’t really seem to mind. She likes to flaunt herself, she’s confident, she’s sexual.

Garak is both intrigued and put off her immediately. He can sense that she’s one of those customers who will irritate him from the get go, and yet he can’t help to admire what she’s wearing. It’s quite interesting, and despite the sense that she’ll be a difficult customer to please, (or maybe because of it), he is quite interested in assisting her. Perhaps she’ll even ask for a custom dress.

He puts down his sewing and comes out from behind the counter, putting on his best polite, friendly-but-not-too-friendly, customer service smile.

For a few moments they chat and Garak realizes he has found someone who enjoys conversation just as much as he does. How delightful, actually, as his day in the shop can get quite boring and tedious when it’s slow.

She does indeed wish for a custom made dress.

“Show off all my best assets,” she says, giving a flirtatious grin to the tailor.

Garak is even more intrigued, and his pale eyes light up a bit, as he gives her a courteous nod. He begins to take her measurements. Her voice briefly pitches up and she chastises him when she asks him the measurement around her waist and it’s not to her liking–though he hadn’t told her the truth, and in fact had taken a bit off the number. It appeared he hadn’t taken enough off, and with a flap of her hand and a bark of annoyance, she tells him to measure her waist over again.

He smirks behind her as he works the tape and can tell that she’s sucking it in.

He repeats a lower number.

“Ohhh! That’s more like it, then,” she says, her voice almost singing on that first word. She seems pleased–for now.

Somehow they come to the topic of politics and Garak allows his customer to launch into a long winded debate. Now and then he’ll add something, or question her about this, or that. Seeing that he has an interest in politics, Lwaxana coaxes him to join in the debate, but he tells her ruefully that he’s learned that politics aren’t a good selling point.

She laughs, agrees, and invites him to dinner so they can have a proper discussion there.

Garak has nothing to do, and he wouldn’t admit it, but he is really quite lonely on the station, so he shows up at the Replimat per Lwaxana’s request.

When Odo seems to keep hovering nearby, Garak only becomes more amused, and then surprised when Lwaxana says that the Constable ‘adores her’ and that they had a ‘sordid love affair’.

Garak’s eye ridges rise as a humans eyebrows would when confronted with something they find unbelievable. He removes the napkin from the collar of his tunic and dabs the corners of his mouth, then tilts his head at her.

“I… didn’t think our dear Constable was capable of /anything/…. sordid,” he says, leaning in and smirking upon that last word.

Lwaxana gives Garak a small smile, the kind that says she holds many unbelievable secrets. She traces one manicured finger around edge of her wine glass.

“Oh, he’s quite capable,” she says, then lays her hand atop Garak’s, “tell me, Mr. Garak, are Cardassians the 'sordid’ type? I’ve never been with a Cardassian before…” she practically purrs.

He thinks she’s lying about the extent of her relationship with Odo, but that only endears her to him even more. Strangely, he thinks that he likes her. She’s the most interesting customer whose come into his shop for days.

“I think…” Garak says, pausing, measuring his words and speaking in that way in which he often gives a double, even triple, meaning to the most simple of sentences, “that you might be quite surprised by what a simple, Cardassian, tailor is capable of.”

They spend the rest of the evening in Garak’s quarters carrying energetic conversation late into the night. Lwaxana is interested in seeing Garak’s physique so he allows it. She’s intrigued, she even touches a few of his scales, but in the end they go to bed having enjoyed each others company and nothing more. 

Garak knows that Lwaxana will likely say otherwise if she gets the chance. He thinks this is a ploy to make Odo jealous, as she seems far more interested in the Constable. Garak finds the entire situation most entertaining when Odo does indeed become jealous the next morning when Lwaxana speaks of her night of fun with the 'simple’ tailor (how good he was with his hands!). But what is best of all is the look on the face of the doctor who is near enough to eavesdrop.

Garak decides that he quite likes the way Julian looks when he’s jealous.

Before Lwaxana leaves the station, Garak hands her the box with her dress in it. They still share the look between them of two people who are completely amused and delighted with each others company.

They both know exactly what they’ve done and find it all quite entertaining.

“I like you, tailor,” Lwaxana says, pausing before stepping onto the shuttle, “partners in crime?”

“That would imply that I’m a criminal,” Garak says, “so I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. But… I do look forward to our next meeting.”

“I’ll come back soon and we’ll plot… the style of my latest ensemble,” she says with a glint in her Betazoid-black eyes.

“And I will be pleased to assist,” Garak says.

onetobeamup:

Anyway here are some ds9 hogwarts hc
- Ben and jake tried to start a baseball team in jakes second year but it never picked up so jake became a chaser.

 - Rom was the one who suggested that introducing more modern tech might make the castle run smoother

- people tend to mistrust odo, his stares are unnerving and he doesn’t keep to one appearance. He used to hide how he’s a metamorphmagus, his adoptive muggle father thought he was FACINATING and he hated it. He became more comfortable once he found he was a wizard but only after the wizarding war and a friendship with Kira and Garak and people who didn’t hate him on sight was he actually good with it.

 - nog is so good at gobstones. The club at hogwarts almost didn’t let him join, thought he was cheating. His long, part goblin fingers are his trick though. Also he’s just really good at judging angles and force and that kind of thing.

 -jakes muggleborn mother was a casualty of the wizarding war, one of jean-luc picard’s victims while he was under the imperius curse. 

 - kassidy Yates has a dozen owls and all of them are named after baseball players, she says that quidditch is fun and all but the skill is mostly in flying and baseball is better. Sisko nearly proposes right there 

 - ezri has a brother in azkaban who she won’t talk about.

 -ziyal had a terrible first two years, illegitimate half blood daughter of a death eater. Kira has tried to legally adopt her twice. 

 - Jake’s favorite job before his internship at the quibbler and later the daily prophet was his job as a conductor on the knight bus. a lot of his short stories were written about people he met there, and he liked to say it was the perfect vehicle for inspiration 

 -jake and nog only discovered three secret passages out of hogwarts on their own, Alexander found two more on accident and Jadzia told them where the others were 

 -jake and nog would alternate which house table they sat at week by week