#p:so

[emailmyheartau]

Email my heart and say our love will never die

[lilajekins-blog]

Shove Off | Lila&Christian

“Okay Lila, you’ve got this. Just confront him.” She muttered to herself. She had one hand shoved in her pocket, fist clutching the pepper spray attached to her car keys. He was already creeping her out, just following her around the school. There was not a chance in hell that he had all of the same classes as her so naturally her mind made the decision that he was just a crazy stalker following her around, waiting for the right moment to swoop in for the kill. Alright, maybe that was a tad dramatic, but there was no way that his intentions were all pure. Clearly, he had to have some less than normal reason to be following her everywhere that she went. She just needed to ask him what they were. 

Lila approached him a couple steps, made eye contact with him, and immediately turned the other direction to deflect any intention to talk to him. Not liked it worked, though, seeing as she had nowhere to go but to walk over to the tree on the quad, and pretend like she was taking some weird path to get where she was going. She shook her head in disappointment of her own stupidity. “Come on, Lila. It’s not that hard. Just go tell him to stop being a creep. You can do this.” She tried to talk herself back up. “Just like in the mirror last night. Hey, you. Stop following me around it’s weird. My stepdad’s a cop. Blah, blah, blah. It’ll work. The cop line always scares them away.” She said, turning around with the courage to confront him again before making eye contact, and losing all the words she had just muttered to herself again.

[emailmyheartau]

A five-page ramble, condensed to one. I still feel self-conscious of the length enough to use a cut, though.

Some world-building facts:

Data worlds have two modes: theatre mode and free mode.

All true data-people who have Minds (the data equivalent of Hearts) and are developing AI have one world which is their homeworld. They are considered “citizens” of that world.

Only true citizens of a world can access free mode of that world. Consequently, citizens are confined to their homeworld in free mode. They may still appear in theatre mode of other worlds, though.

Exception: Data-people who have been manually upgraded to Program status by Users or other Programs can go wherever they please. Including the spaces between and underneath data worlds, such as Backdoor Areas, System Sectors, and the Central Hub.

Exception #2 is the world that acts as the Datascape’s recycle bin. Anyone can get chucked in there. 

Data-Sora is a citizen of the Destiny Islands. This is why he was able to chill there between canon and this AU’s first adventure (when he gets modded to Program status and becomes SO) without being stuck in a theatre mode loop.

Generally, Nobodies are not recognized by the Datascape as true data-people. They are not citizens of anywhere, and have no Minds. They can never access any free mode, and don’t grow AI. They exist solely as theatre mode actors.

The exceptions, of course, are Namine and Roxas. For all the usual “they’re special” reasons. They are citizens of Castle Oblivion, but that world is still corrupted so they didn’t actually have a free mode. Data-Namine was upgraded to NAMI almost immediately after being recovered from the recycle bin world though, freeing her to go wherever. Data-Roxas was basically just dormant until someone thought to go look for him.

The World That Never Was appears because it is discussed in the KH2 Journal. However, it is the Nobody equivalent of a world. No one is a citizen of it. Programs can access a free mode, but nothing ever happens there aside from the occasional appearance of bug blox, monstery nobodies, and heartless due to glitches. It’s creepy and no one likes going there. 

Okay these are getting to big for comfortable bullet points.

The Journal & Datascape know all, even when they don’t consciously know that they know. Secret feelings, intentions, and memories seep into written accounts from their authors, and get extracted to the Datascape as Hidden Data. The process for discovering and recovering Hidden Data is different every time. The true data-person versions of Namine, Roxas, Lea, Xion, Aqua, Ventus, Terra, and Repliku (because fuck the writers for acting like he never happened!! HE COUNTS AS A HURT, DAMNIT.) are all Hidden Data. They have been observed by data-Sora and User Mickey, but so far only Namine and Roxas have been properly recovered. 

All this is why AXEL is a wall/hologram. He is a glitch. Data from the KH2 Journal and the Dream Journals became entangled and tried to overwrite itself, due to reading data-Axel and data-Lea as the same entity. The unextractable nature of data-Axel corrupted data-Lea and caused their fused form to only be semi-extractable. Additionally, the fact that Lea is originally from Radiant Garden became Hidden Data when Lea uploaded his Dream Journal. So in theory, Lea’s body COULD be extracted from Radiant Garden eventually, but the data revealing his presence there is Hidden. Therefore his model is Hidden. So for now, AXEL exists as a wall between the Datascape render and the Void. Though his hologram can wander around the cytoplasm-esque Backdoor Areas between actual  worlds and... himself.

[emailmyheartau]

A ramble about skins.

I was considering that the data characters don’t actually have bodies underneath their clothes at first. So like RI couldn’t unzip his coat, and Sora couldn’t take off his jacket. There would just be voids underneath. So when coding outfit skins, it really is full a neck-to-toes render that has to account for both where literal clothes are, and where the “clothes” are seen as flesh. But hunting around for existing skins that have all the bits of exposed body they want in order to build new skins is a pain. So they decide that first things first, they need to figure out how to modify their base programming so they have a full body shape, which they can then use as a base for building skins (including “painting-on” flesh where they want it). The bodies are completely black at first, because it’s the simplest render.

They end up really liking the freedom of movement, both literally and from a data point of view. The less complex the character render, the faster and more smoothly it can load and move about. They eventually add the colored trim and other details, mostly just cuz they look sweet and don’t take much more power to render. So the catsuits become their default outfits, because they are the most efficient skin. Even appearing buck-ass nude would take more power, because of all the textures you need to simulate skin and body hair and stuff.

They briefly look into making clothes simply objects they can interact with, starting with RI’s coat. Which is why you can sometimes see him running around in his finished catsuit but with the coat over top, unzipped different amounts. But man, why go through the hassle of physically putting on and taking off clothes, when you can just slap your chest and apply a skin? Besides, full skins come with that benefit of being able to hold abilities. So ultimately the catsuits are their base, default forms, and everything else is a skin applied on top. Except Riku’s coat—that’s just an object now. Which, full disclosure, he only put back on because he was worried about what User Sora would think of him when they first meet during the escort mission. I mean he’s not only a weird little clone of Sora’s best friend, he’s been modified with eyes that some Users report as being “creepy.” So he keeps the coat zipped and hood up until ANSEM’s teasing and Sora’s… Sora-ness convince him to open it. But since it’s an object, he still has to haul it around until they get back to the Datascape proper.

Also since I am addicted to fabulous costume changes, I figure that once they really get the hang of making skins, they start making different outfits for different worlds so they blend in better. Sometimes you just wanna visit a world as a civilian to hang out, y’know? (But everyone else is programmed to not notice the facial oddities ;P) It’s just always annoyed me a bit that very few Disney characters in KH ever mention how absolutely ridiculous and out-of-place the KH characters look. Like I know that conversation would get real old real quick, but still. “Ah yes, a child in red parachute pants and giant, monstrous animals. Seems legit.” May as well at least put on some more "normal"-looking clothes depending on where you're going, right?

As a final note — just a point of interest, really — this whole “skins” thing occurred to me because of data!Riku’s reveal in the game. It seemed pretty overdramatic to do the whole fancy-pants digital removal of his hood, instead of just reaching up and pulling it off. But then I was like… maybe he literally can’t just pull it off. Maybe “hood-up Riku” and “hood-down Riku” are two different models, and he had to swap between them. Not saying that’s actually true for canon, just that it’s a mechanic I’m using for this AU that’s “supported” by some canon events.

[emailmyheartau]

I'mma drag'n'drop this ask over here, since I have a side blog and all now B)

adisagestar said:

maybe they have to change their models to the catsuit + reduced facial features version b/c otherwise it interferes with the information in the journal? like, they have to be noticeably distinct from the versions of them who lived the journal events, because if they don't then the journal will read them as players in the simulations instead of programs and they won't be able to view a simulation without changing it. (which would also mean that the simulated enemies could hurt them probably...)

I am not asserting that any of the following is canon. It’s purely how I’m choosing to re-interpret some events for the purpose of framing this AU. tl;dr Yes, but I had to talk myself through some stuff to get there. And by some I mean a butt-ton because I like the sound of my own voice.

Humm, I’m not sure. But your idea does actually bring up a really interesting and rather big question I’ve been meaning to make myself think through at some point, which is “what are the worlds really like in the Datascape these days?”

Originally, the data worlds were supposed to purely be 3D reproductions of the events chronicled in the Journal. The Users could watch them from angles that flat writing couldn’t provide, and look for clues. Because magic and also shut up. But then the bugs came, and corrupted the stories. But instead of acting like broken animatronics that just repeat themselves and move in circles, the data people reacted to the bugs. True that the way they handled it made the stories still play out in very similar ways to KH1, but that’s because that’s all the personality the Journal could offer them at the time. How would Aladdin react to a monster threat? Uh, well, I know how he reacted to Heartless, so I guess he’s do the same thing? Etc.

Mickey et al continued to mess with the stories by altering data!Sora, giving him his powers and knowledge early. He evolved into a true AI, gaining a real Keyblade and all. When the Journal was reset, the theory is that he would’ve gone back to just being an actor in the grand data play, moving in the same patterns laid out for him by the text and simply re-creating events of KH1 for Users to watch. However, they pulled him out AGAIN, and the whole Castle Oblivion fiasco proved that he still had feelings from his previous adventure. He was still an AI, and was permanently modified to the point that (given the chance) he might start reacting differently during stories, changing the scenarios.

So my theory is thus: ALL the data people are slowly evolving into true AI. When Sora isn’t on a world, does that world stop moving? No. The characters are developing their own AI, and start bumping into each other and writing new stories. They might need upgrades in order to do things like age or have children, though. And it takes them a lot longer than SO and RI to build up personality subroutines, since there is less info on them to start with. So it may be a little Pleasantville on the worlds for a while, with people very prone to routines. But they’re not just replaying KH1 over and over and over. The world itself has evolved too, and starts spitting new day-to-day occurrences at the citizens for them to react to. But it’s a complex and brand-new process, so there’s bound to be bumps and glitches and thing the citizens can’t handle by themselves. So that’s what SO and RI do all day, basically. They watch over the worlds and facilitate their growth.

Is there still a "theatre mode" where everyone snaps back to their original programming and runs through the KH1 stories like a play? I guess there could be. And once the Users are done watching and exit it, everyone goes back to "free mode" exactly where they left off, as if there wasn’t just a hiccup in time. Only the Programs ever know the real time relative to the User world anyway.

So… yeah, maybe you’re right. Maybe, since the KH1 scenarios are all dependant on the arrival of Sora, SO keeps triggering theatre mode when he tries to visit worlds. He snaps into actor mode too, and can’t deviate at all from the story because his AI is being muted. Once he gets off-world at the end, he snaps back and is like “wtf just happened, I tried to walk through this Backdoor to a world but suddenly I’m turned around as if I just walked out of it…??” And RI is just facepalming back at their HQ, pfft. But they discover that RI can go pretty much anywhere and be in free mode. At first they just think it’s because he IS the Journal, like an omnipotent god that can do whatever he wants in the world he created, but soon they realize it’s because he wasn’t part of the KH1 scenarios on most of the worlds. And even in the ones he was in, he’s not using the correct model for the computer to register him as KH1 Riku and trigger theatre mode. So they start looking into modifying SO’s appearance too so he can go to free mode. Still not 100% why they go for black sclera and no ears beyond “cuz it looks funky” but… whatever. It looks funky is enough reason for me. And KH, tbqh. What is the point of 99% of those zippers and belts? Looks funky.

PPFBT and I suppose since the Programs ARE free-range free agents, a User might have to verbally convince them to go to a world so they can watch through a scenario. “Computer, bring up theatre mode for Hollow Bastion” “Fuck off, we’re busy.” “>:O”

Wait… piss. I just wrote myself into a corner again. I assert that by the time this AU is kicking off, the Users have also uploaded the KH2 Journal (and some writing about Dream Drop Distance). That would give them access to the scenarios and therefore the character models for KH2-sized everyone. Maybe they… *throws a bunch of straws into the air* ...maybe it’s just they... *starts grasping at them* ...they can’t extract the models from the scenarios yet. They snap into the KH2 models when put through theatre mode, but their base programming in free mode is still just the KH1 models. Which they haven’t been able to figure out how to modify the proportions of yet.

I just really want them to stay in the cute KH1 models okay ;n;

[kyleok]

Sleepover // Kyle & Ava

Kyle had a continuous headache that wouldn't go away for two days. As much as he wanted to explode and let all of his frustrations out, he knew now wasn't the time. Too many people needed him to be strong. After having a small fight with Ava, the two quickly made up. Which wasn't shocking since they have always had troubles staying mad at one another. Seeing as he hadn't spent so much time with his son and her, he decided to invite them over for a small sleep over to get real time with them. He waited patiently lying on his couch flipping through the television channels for them to arrive. 

[casper-greenburg]

Sneaking Out || Casper & Noah

Casper rolled over in bed to make out Noah's form in the dark. He studied his breathing carefully for a few minutes before getting up the courage to climb out of bed and walk to the door. With his hand on the doorknob he looked back once more to make sure that Noah really was asleep before letting himself out of the room and into the common area of the suite. He glanced over at the window to see that it was already much darker than it was when he had sat outside with Nani but it didn't bother him, he needed to be outside again.

He made his way out of the suite and into the elevator where he tugged on his shirt and stared down at the floor trying to come up with things to tell Noah if he was caught trying to leave the hotel so late at night. As the elevator doors opened he stepped out carefully, keeping his head directed towards the ground and to his amazement made it through the lobby and out the front doors without any trouble. Standing outside he took a deep breath and started walking towards the pool area. When he reached the furthest beach chair from the hotel he climbed on top of it and laid back to look at the stars. "Mom, if you're up there watching over me I'm sorry for what I almost did today. I'm really sorry. I love you." He mumbled, closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep.

[pomperfect]

i'm just gonna say this about Sandra leaving i'm not happy that she's leaving but i'm also not devastated. now you could take that the wrong way but what I mean is that i'm so happy for her that she is expanding on her amazing and beautiful skills as an actor. she has given us at the end of this season, almost 10 years of cristina yang, a character that I have loved watch grow and evolve but at the same time, stand her ground and fight for what she believes in. it has been such an amazing experience watch her portray cristina for 10 seasons and i honestly couldn't imagine her being played by anyone but sandra. but on the other hand, I am going to truly miss seeing her on my screen if they do continue into season 11. i'm not gonna sit here and say that I was mature person about this when the news first broke, you can ask my sister, I was a mess and I was crying but now that I've had time to gain perspective, I really am proud of sandra for making this creative decision for herself, and I truly believe that she will give the departure of cristina yang the justice she deserves so that's my opinion