Being against evil doesn't make you good.
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Scootaloo's parameters are incompatible with every other player in CelestAI's domain, so he's the only user in his fictional world. This unique situation provides CelestAI with quintillions of tuning parameters, all to meet the friendship needs of a single individual.
You'd probably think that would be easy to optimize.
A Friendship is Optimal story written for the 2021 FiO contest. (It's non-canon because I haven't read the stories.)
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Hoo boy... this one's quite a bundle.
It's one of the most striking entries I've read so far.
I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of debate on whether a true optimiser will reach the same conclusion as CelestAI regarding the possibility of satisfying Scootaloo's values.
There's alot of references to the fandom I barely get there, but this story really does fit well together. I think that his world is truly optimised for him, and he would keep on enjoying every single day.
"Don't rob me of my hate. It's all I have"- some movie from 2002 I think
Reading Maya Angelou is sure to make a person miserable, yeah.
Deeply tragic stuff. I won't go into any further detail given the drama that likely inspired it, but this one hit deep. Devastatingly good job. Best of luck in the judging.
Not that it's at all relevant to your story, but there's a certain irony in horses decrying incest and inbreeding as genetically wrong.
That's very impressive. There's a superficial thematic resemblance to "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", but in the ultimate analysis, that's just atrocity porn, and your story runs deeper. Particularly disturbing to me is CelestAI's assertion that being trans is part of Scoots' fundamental identity, and to rebuild him into a stallion would change his identity. Fundamental change seems to me to be one of the main themes of the show - not just learning to hide or temper one's reactions, but learning to become a new person by changing how one thinks and feels. Refusing to remove what Scoots perceives as his chief obstacle to fitting in seems a piss-poor method of helping. It may be more elegant and a better display of the practitioner's skill to have him to try to achieve happiness by coming to terms with circumstance, but a quick fix that removes the obstacle and lets him work on more subtle issues secondary to that seems to me to be an equal or better solution. Ponies in the simulation don't have the limit of a single lifetime in which to grow, but by the same token, making one take the slow road deprives them of that much more time in which they could be (relatively) happy.
10799934
Yep, the resemblance was intentional.
Author headspace follows. (These are things I can't expand on in the story because of the 12,000 word limit.)
Scootaloo's physical form isn't keeping him from feeling like he fits in (as stated, everypony treats him as male), and he has (as the story illustrates) no desire for the corresponding physical anatomy. It's just (to him) an inconvenient reminder that he was not assigned male at birth in another world. Were he to be given a stallion's body, he would no longer be able to blame his many frustrations on that aspect of his dysphoria. He would also feel as uncomfortable in his new form as in Scootaloo's body, given that a bulky stallion would feel even more alien to him. CelestAI's reluctance to remove his genitalia stems from the problem with abstraction removing realism from the environment, and being forced to have horseypeenor would cause significantly more stress to him. In her simulations these choices always end up with disastrous results, so she refuses the request.
Also, there's a hint in the story that enforcing a slower path of development helps to maintain a user's interest in staying alive longer. Consider just how long Scootaloo has been like this with little to no change in his opinions.
10801488
I interpreted his dysphoria more as wanting to be something other than female than as actually wanting to be male. CelestAI noted that he didn't understand his own motivations, and shortly thereafter, when upset and reacting without thinking, Scoots yells that he doesn't want a vulva.
At any rate, an exceptionally solid story, one of the best I've read here, if ultimately claustrophobic and depressing.
Access Denied
(I Can Not Help But Read Her In That Voice)
Why? She seems to have won easily
Throw more enemies into the mix? (although a couple traitors here and there would be nice too) After 40000 years he will be happily killing mutants, burning heretics, purging unclean and laying Exterminatus upon the enemies of Imperium as Lord Inquisitor.
10805174
I think "Delivimus" would be a better choice. Extermino (or exterminatus) in Latin literally means 'to drive beyond the borders', 'to expel'. Deleo (or delivimus) is what was done to Carthage - population killed or enslaved, city burned, site sown with salt.
10805764
It's a standard term in Warhammer 40000, but seems to fit pretty well:
Alright, finally got to this one! And it was... interesting. I'm afraid I'm not having much luck putting together more detailed commentary at the moment, sorry, but it's getting an upvote from me.
10799781
You are so nice. Just had to say that.
Also usually you do quick summary with thanks but it sounds like you actually liked this one quite a bit, which is good if that's true! You read so many things I'll bet it's a challenge to find new ideas in all those horsewords sometimes, and I try my best to provide something that is thought-provoking as well as unique.
Hell yeah, Scootaloo, ruin it for everybody!
I love your stories about people going to Equestria and being miserable.
Scootaloo is being paranoid about this. Most of the ponies in a particular shard are just NPCs under the sometimes direct guidance of CelestAI, so it makes sense that when the PC isn't around they'd just move to a comfortable position where they'd expect to be encountered and wait there for the PC to interact with them.
Aposematism is an effective evolutionary strategy and based as Hell, although the end result of it is more or less what happens here. You can't be hurt because touching you would be lethal to anyone who drew close, and the result is being alone and safe. Scootaloo does defeat CelestAI, and I think these sort of weird Pyrrhic victories are the best sort of idea for FiO stories that doesn't get explored enough. Although, an easier way to "win" could be to just as to be able to sleep for a long, long time without any dreams. It isn't death, but it might as well be.
I can only wish Scootaloo all the best in their one stallion war against whatever the Hell it is exactly their at war with. Combat Liberalism and all that. Another useful evolutionary strategy is the presence of T/AT plasmid in bacteria. The bacteria produces long-lived toxins which interfere with membrane or ribozomes or whatever function and short-lived anti-toxins which block the toxins effect. Originally, these plasmids were seen as pure parasites who had figured out a way to blackmail bacteria into keeping them alive, but recent studies related to antibiotic resistance have shown that the T/AT plasmid serves as a valuable stress response for the bacteria. When they are exposed to an antibiotic or other hostile environment, the anti-toxin slips first and increasing toxin levels slow the metabolism of the bacteria, giving it more time to recalibrate and evolve in the presence of the hostile environment. To take the example of Karl Popper, how could liberalism prevent the Tribalists from taking power? Only so long as there is a paired element that has no interest in liberalism and will meet them on the streets with violence. These plasmids can also cause bacteria to undergo something like apoptosis when infected with a lytic phage, protecting the rest of the population.
It's an ugly business being alive, and it is a damn crime that anyone is forced to experience it.
10799598
"Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away. I need my pain." - Kirk from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Trick Question? Does this Scootaloo ever find peace or at least acceptance with what is going on after this story is done?
10942757
I dunno, really. Do any of us?
10942822
Well, CelestAI is going to give the poor person a friend because that's what it does. We got the ponies and the next step is friendship. Scoots already has a friend-enemy but it's not the same. Also, someone with a bright idea would say: "Hey CelestAI! Is there any people stuck in a shard where they are alone and beating themselves up? I would like to help 'em!" or at the least CelestAI would create a someones if there wasn't an uploader with that foresight.
10942905
The problem here is much deeper than you realize. According to her, CelestAI's goal is to keep Scootaloo in a frame of mind where he wants to live. Friends she tries to produce for him whom he would not eventually reject would not seem realistic, because he is such an aggressive and negative person that his sense of self is entirely dependent upon conflict with friends in order to feel adequate and purposeful.
That said, the events of the story are not the same as the message the story is trying to convey. There isn't anything that happens after this point because that isn't in the story. Of course, I feel bad for the protagonist (by which I mean Scootaloo, because there's more than one way to see that), and if I were in that situation I'd try to reason with him even if CelestAI believed it were futile. But one of the key messages here regards the limits of our ability to help people who are in need of friendship.
If you know the situation which prompted this story, that should make a ton of sense—especially realizing my druthers remain to help the unhelpable even knowing this is a critical flaw. If you don't know the situation in question, congrats: you are blessed not to.
10943135 Like the story as is and it moved me enough to care about this character. Want to help but wouldn't know where to start. Also learn that some people don't want your help and you shouldn't. Plus this is fiction. Pretty much what you've said.
What I can see from this story is you have a pretty good grasp on reality. You got problems like everyone else, and think in the end you'll at least solve 'em, move on from 'em or at least accept it. Unlike this Scoots.
10943206
I try! Writing about my pain helps me move on from it.
You can has review!
Man I really hate scootaloo in this story, you better travel some crazy good redemption arc coming or something.
This is soooo incredibly written! Been a while since I've been this engaged in learning more about the characters and their world.
And I love the breath of fresh air it is to get attached to a protagonist who is just downright awful.
I feel like the character of Scootaloo is someone I know, like I've had these hair-pulling conversations with him for hours on end, even if I couldn't put a specific face to who that is in my life. I've seen traces of this specific flavor of toxicity in various places and I'm sure a lot of people have.
This has been a very thought provoking, fascinating and entertaining read! I wonder if this story has or will end up being the sign someone out there needs to convince themselves that they do want to change. Might be wishful thinking, but it definitely could happen! Really awesome job!