I remember loving this when I read it the first time, but this second time around I really struggled with it. I guess my taste has changed throughout I remember loving this when I read it the first time, but this second time around I really struggled with it. I guess my taste has changed throughout the years
Book 28 in my project of reading/re-reading the whole Stephen King bibliography...more
Don't you love it when you re-read a childhood favourite and you realise half of your personality is based on it Don't you love it when you re-read a childhood favourite and you realise half of your personality is based on it ...more
This manga is 50% song lyrics and 50% white background lol I decided for this rating: Art: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ The white backgrounds typical[image]
This manga is 50% song lyrics and 50% white background lol I decided for this rating: Art: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ The white backgrounds typical in CLAMP's mangas are a bit too much in this one, but I still love their art style. As for the plot, since this is an experimental anime I don't think the artists prioritised it, but it was still okay. I kinda wish this was completed but at the same time I don't know if I would be interested enough to go on reading for, let's say, 20 volumes. I get why I was so obsessed with this as a teenager though. If you read a lot of manga, this definitely looks and feels very different and... edgy I guess? So yeah, it definitely stands out....more
Seems like the plot is starting to sense now, and it's very typically "CLAMP". I don't mind it, just it was a bit rushed and I didn't really ha[image]
Seems like the plot is starting to sense now, and it's very typically "CLAMP". I don't mind it, just it was a bit rushed and I didn't really have time to get attached enough to the characters to start caring about them. I'm also starting to like the experimental feel of this manga, and as always I'm a fan of the artists. Plus this has a fantasy/biopunk feel to it that I adore. I'm starting to remember why I used to love this manga so much.
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On a side note, the white backgrounds of CLAMP's artwork are a bit extreme in this one, I wouldn't mind a bit more context in the scenes. But overall, this is an interesting reading experience and now I'm starting to be sad because it remains unfinished with only 4 volumes....more
(this image has been my wallpaper for the big part of my high school years)
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with this manga, even if I bare[image]
(this image has been my wallpaper for the big part of my high school years)
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with this manga, even if I barely understood it (if you read it you know that it's kinda experimental). It just felt magical to me, and it was probably one of my favourite mangas. Now as I reread it, it just feels like Chobits but more confusing. Also the story feels pretty non existent and rushed. The mystery is cool though. Also, CLAMP's art is as beautiful as always, even though people are even longer than usual in this one ...more
I have a new washing machine that plays a jingle when the load is ready. Every time I hear it from another room I go to the bathroom and greet it withI have a new washing machine that plays a jingle when the load is ready. Every time I hear it from another room I go to the bathroom and greet it with a gentle pat: "Hi, I heard you're done! Thank you for your hard work!", before I take my clothes out, and I smile at her (yes, I think of it as a "her"). I read some time ago that very often when people bring their Roombas to the service, they want to be reassured that they will in fact repair their own vacuum cleaner, and give it back; not just give them a substitute:
More than half the owners of iRobot's Roomba name their device, claims the Burlington, Massachussetts, company. Owners often talk to their machines, and many treat them as though they were alive, or semi-sentient, anyway. Some even take them on holiday, unwilling to leave them at home alone.
"We have people who actually consider them their companion, even though it's just vacuuming their floor," said iRobot spokeswoman Nancy Dussault. "People get attached to them and think of them as part of their family. It's almost a pet. It makes them feel like they're not alone. It's really interesting how they've taken to their robots."
Wired
According to this manga, this is because, even though machines don't have a heart, humans do; and that is why we fall in love with creatures even if they can't love us back - creatures like washing machines, vacuum cleaners, or androids.
Countless books, comics, movies etc. have been written exploring the relationship between humans and machines, and with the rise of AI the topic has become even more prominent. Weather we see the rise of AI as progress or something to be feared, we can't deny that, as time goes on, the relationship we have with technology has become as important (if not more important) than the one we have with other human beings and "living" creatures. Think about it: how much time does the average person spend with their loved ones and how much with their computer/smartphone?
Without giving any judgment on the quality of legitimacy of our relationships with pieces of technology (personally, I'm an introvert and rarely seek the company of other humans if not behind my screen, and honestly I don't see anything wrong with that), it's difficult to deny how important they've become in our daily life. Is it because we're lonely? Is it because, as a product of our modern way of living, we're more and more isolated each day? Maybe.
But the real reason why I think people often shun away from human/human relationships is because they are hard af. Humans are complicated and keeping relationships with them takes time and effort, especially with people like me who, because of how our mind is wired, struggle more than the average person during social interactions. So then it might sound selfish and immature, but sometimes it's just easy to chat with AI than with another human, because we (the humans) are the ones who programmed it to behave exactly as we want it too (at least for now...). Machines are great because they are dependable, simple, elegant and - in one word - predictable. An android follows the program that's been created and installed by a human, and will never surprise us users by upsetting us, belittling us, getting angry at us, or disappointing us. In other words, it's safe. It makes us feel like we're in control.
You can't control another human being or even, to a certain extent, a pet. And neither should you, because it would be immoral. But an android, now that is a completely different thing. An android belongs to you, it is one of your possessions. An android would never reject you, or hurt you, and it will always, always behave exactly like you want it to. Now if you had, let's say, a partner that was an android, they will never be able to refuse to have sex with you. Or bring you out for dinner. They would be, for all intents and purposes, legal slaves. However, because they're not human, this would be perfectly legal. So you would have something that looks like a human, behaves like a human, feels like a human... but has no rights apart from what you choose for them. Nothing wold stop you, for example, from torturing them to "death" for the sake of it; or to act on the most depraved fantasies, and this would be completely ok. And this is exactly why falling in love with an android would be such an icky thing to do. Because it would mean to "fall in love" with someone who loves you back just because you told them to. However, despite this sounding like some incel utopia, in reality this is why loving an android would be such a sad thing.
I'm a homesteader and I have a cat. She's a barn cat, born and raised in the countryside, but when she was little she was too small for her age and kinda sickly so we kept her inside since it was winter and the temperatures here go down to -25 C. When the good season came, I know I was supposed to set her free again, but I struggled and found a million reasons why I shouldn't, because I was scared of losing her. In the end, I decided to let her go, and was delighted when she came back a couple of hour later. Now every morning I let her out, and every afternoon she comes back for food and cuddles, and a nap. The fact that she came back is what made me so happy, because I knew then that she was with us because she chose us. Nobody forced her to come back to me, she chose me, she chose to love me. So when Hideki holds Chii in his arms for the days to come, his happiness will forever be bittersweet, as he'll never be able to know if she chooses to be with him because she wants him, or because she was programmed to, and this is why, tragically, a relationship between a human and a machine (at least of this kind) could never be anything but bittersweet.
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