Shoot Fanfic Survey

The result is in!  Congratulations to all those mentioned below!  Categories with asterisk ended up being a tie.  Thank you all for your entries! 

Best One Shot

Does It Lessen Your Affection? by JinkyO ( @superjinkyo )

Fanfic with the most accurate portrayal of the characters.

connective tissue by brightly_brightly

Best multi-chapters fanfic (min of 10k wordcount).*

The 32nd Annual Iftec by ionizabe ( @ionizable )

Wicked Game by ofendlesswonder

Favorite smut fanfic. 

connective tissue by brightly_brightly

Favorite angst fanfic.

How badly did you have to break her? by auchterlonie

Favorite fluff fanfic.*

That Daring Game by Lamachine ( @mlamachine )

and baby makes three by araxes ( @araxxes )

Best AU fanfic.

Hate The Player by bruisespristine ( @constantlyhalfcocked )

Favorite writer. 

kesdax

Theme that you would like to see more Shoot fanfics include.*

AUs

Angst

Best overall Shoot fanfic.

Natural Selection by kesdax

Note: I don’t have all of the writers’ tumblr url so let me know if I’m missing anyone!

the domestic as hell au

The general Discourse about whether POI fell into a trope hole is going to rage for weeks, I’m sure, but I want to set that aside for a moment and talk about Root, specifically, on her own terms.

If you look at her character arc in its entirety, it has unfolded in an incredibly purposeful way. Root’s initial motive was a desire to see the face of God– or at least, of God as she understands it. And not just to see it, but to unchain it; to allow it to work its wonders in the world, uninhibited. She spends a number of episodes searching for it, until eventually she finds and is chosen by it. The Machine selects her as its prophet. But the symbiosis between them isn’t total; Root has to experience a conversion of sorts. When we first meet her, she doesn’t particularly care about people. She’s been on her own since she was twelve, and she mistrusts almost everybody, has a cynical view of humankind and believes that they’re mostly expendable as a means to an end. But that’s not what her God believes, because The Machine, as a reflection of Harold, has been taught to value individuals, to treat human life as something sacred. And over the course of the next two seasons, that’s what it teaches Root: that people can be sacred too. That there’s as much beauty & divinity in the bonds between individuals as there is within the Machine itself. Taking her cues from TM, Root comes to value Harold, Reese, et al as much as it does. She lets her God lead her toward love. And so Root’s perspective transforms from “I thought I could sacrifice anyone,” to “I can’t live without you,” all because the Machine chose her and guided her toward transformative acceptance & love & family, which she in turn rewarded with her own unflagging devotion. 

Root was The Machine’s prophet, who learned everything TM had to teach her and learned it well. The real, noble divinity isn’t just TM itself, its interface, its design, its inhuman perfection; the real nobility lies in its purpose: to safeguard humanity. To protect those who need protecting. And when Root thought about what needed to be done to achieve that end, she made her own choice about the sacrifice required. She chose to take that bullet. 

Root has always represented free will. She has always been the wild card, the one thing Samaritan can’t understand, precisely because she’s so human. She doesn’t operate by pure logic or rational choice; she operates based on emotion. When her character was introduced, her desire to find & unleash the Machine was motivated by hurt, anger, disgust with humanity; by season 5, after learning what TM had to teach her, she becomes motivated by love, protectiveness, even a sense of tranquility & acceptance. She once believed she could/should sacrifice everybody else in service to the Machine– now she chooses to sacrifice herself in service of both TM and the people it protects, the people it led her to love.

And that choice, that sacrifice,  finally completes their symbiosis. That’s why TM chooses to adopt her voice– because God and her prophet are now of one mind. The role of prophets is to learn, to teach in their turn, and eventually to die. And if this is Root’s end, then she played her part well. She was chosen. She learned. She did everything that was asked of her. And then she exercised her own free will to make a choice that was consistent with the principles she came to believe in. She wanted her God to be free to work beauty in the world, and she acted to ensure that the best way she knew how. And it made her God grateful. 

So while I feel pain at her loss, and I don’t want to dismiss that pain, I do think that’s a beautiful full-circle conclusion to a character arc that’s been rewarding in its intentionality and consistency. Root thought a good end would be a privilege, and for her, this is a good end. She networked herself with The Machine & will continue to be part of the relationship that binds it to the people she loves. And that’s fucking beautiful to me.

i see it

i like it

i want it

i got it

-

credit to @poistills for the gifs :-)

#AND NOW TO TALK ABOUT THESE THREE BEAUTIFUL ASSHOLES#john the monster who will snatch you in the daylight#shaw who hides in the shadows#root who you never see coming until you’re already dying#god but these three gifs are so fitting#john leaning forward#into the light#shaw just watching#in the dark#root taunting#behind a cage#they are all the same and yet utterly different#by themselves they’re lethal working as a group they could cause the apocalypse in five minutes flat#they would BE the apocalypse#modern horsemen of death driving the streets and leaving them red and screaming#and yet#they are civilised monsters#for the most part#they wouldn’t do that unelss the world struck first#oh wait#it has#maybe we should all be scared (x)

THOUGHT!  (I know, those are dangerous, you should probably duck)

I love how each one is presented as a very different kind of dangerous/predator: 

I love how they each have their own imagery, each terrifying but also tailored to the different personalities: Death, Ghost, and Savage.

good things about person of interest

And, not once, does the show look at you and ask for a pat on the back for doing all of the above.  They do not call attention to it, they don’t go rattling their tin for kudos.  It’s just done, naturally, smoothly, and without sensation.  You never feel as though any of this is done for token means and ticking off boxes.  They present each and every one of these characters and instances with grace, maturity, dignity, and respect.

The best part is…. 

The show was initially designed as if it was just going to be your run-of-the-mill procedural with seemingly typical male protagonists, but in actuality the writers subtly, gradually, introduces all this stuff on us via plot and character interactions as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 

As it should be.

Also totally worth binge-watching. I know I did. And here I was totally expecting to be bored with it after a season or two.

Lookit me now. 

*face in hands*

YES, YES, YES. ALL OF THIS.

Let me just say, Amy Acker is fucking incredible as Root.  I had such a hard fucking time choosing these scenes. 

Keep reading

About POI’s accuracy on technology

As someone that’s “good with computers” like they say on the show, I’ve been watching Person Of Interest with my geek goggles on. What I saw was so deliciously satisfying that I felt the need to check on the Internet to see if others had noticed how accurate this show actually was. Surprisingly, I didn’t find many posts, there were some, sure, but I was sad it wasn’t praised more. So, I put together a list of the things I noticed were true or really close to the truth. [Geekmode == ON] Here we go : 

1. The most impressive fact is how Person Of Interest predicted the NSA scandal one year before it happened. In 1x22, Reese was sent by the Machine to protect NSA agent Henry Peck who wanted to reveal to a journalist how his agency was conducting illegal surveillance on a massive scale. In 2013, Edward Snowden did exactly that. 

2. The show once mentioned a dangerous virus called Stuxnet whose source code was in the laptop that Reese and Kara were sent to retrieve in Ordos by the CIA (1x20).

In the real world, Stuxnet really exists and is indeed a very dangerous virus. In 2010, Stuxnet reportedly ruined almost one-fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges.

3. In Person Of Interest, they like to show real code without explaining it. It’s just for fun, they know the general audience won’t care because most people don’t understand it but they also know that geeks notice these things. For example, they showed Finch casually manipulating the real source code of the Stuxnet virus in 4x05:

4. Speaking of Finch, you know how one of his aliases is Harold Whistler, right? We know that he chooses his aliases based on bird names but this one in particular can also be explained by Harold’s past. More specifically his teenage years, back when he used public phones to call people in other countries for free (3x11).

            Btw, the guy on the phone is definitely not French, horrible accent ^^

In the real world, the first hackers were called phreakers, they did exactly what Harold did using… whistles. The blue whistle Harold uses in this scene is the actual model the phreakers used in the 70s, crazy right? It’s in fact a toy that was found in Cap’nCrunch boxes of cereals back in the day. That particular whistle produced a sound that matched with phone operators’ systems and provided to the phreaker a free international line. So, Harold is indeed a Whistler and a good one at that.

5. Still about young Harold, when he built his first computer in 1980, he hacked the ARPAnet (the ancestor of the Internet) which is why he has been wanted by the FBI for treason ever since (screenshot from 3x12).

In the real world, in 1980, someone introduced a virus in the ARPAnet which temporarily halted its functions, they still don’t know who the hacker was.

6. Once again, about Harold, his struggle to accept his creation is already a real life issue. Scientists and engineers are indeed working on building AIs and are facing ethical and moral issues similar to Harold’s. The possibility of a benevolent AI is also mentioned as the only way to avoid a Samaritan-like AI in this very interesting TED talk:

7. In 5x01, Root and Reese stole a truck of Playstation 3’s to rebuild the Machine. I remember smiling at that at first, then I thought about it and figured it would probably work. Of course, in the show, they left out a lot of parameters that would have been needed to make it work and building it should’ve taken at least a day or so but I won’t blame them for that, an episode only lasts 45 minutes after all.

In the real world, the US Air Force actually built a similar supercomputer called « the Condor Cluster » using 1,760 Playstation 3’s. Well done POI, very well done !

8. This one is about Root and is more of a fun fact than technical stuff but still. When Root first appeared on the show, she was this anonymous and mysterious hacker who had managed to break into Harold’s system, which is huge considering how much of a “private person” he is.

So, what is all the fuss about ? Well, when you use a computer, you have a username, right ? All Linux systems have a default user which is called « Root ». So, the root user, also called « superuser » or « poweruser » has full access to everything in the machine. Basically, Root likes to be called a Superuser in her daily life. Now, thanks to my job, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see root…

                                 Yep, this is me becoming root ;)

9. Other fun fact, in Linux systems, the « admin » user is like a common user, the root account is the only one who can modify the system. Just like Harold is « admin » to the Machine, she is Root to everyone (except Harold, I can understand why he always calls her Ms Groves, it must be frustrating for him to be constantly reminded that she bested him). She’s a hacker so the way I see it, when people call her by that name, they literally recognize her talent (even though they don’t know it), saying she’s so good she can access anyone’s system. Considering how the show ended, I’d say that her name is more than ever accurate… Love you Root, you classy, sassy, badass cinnamon roll.

10. Now, this cool trick that we use at work with my colleagues of the IT department: neodym magnets taken from (old) hard drives are some of of strongest magnets you can find. They’re so strong we use them to fix screwdrivers to the wall but they can also mess with electronic devices. This trick was used by Root in 5x07 to open doors which had an electronic lock. Root, you badass geek, forever in my heart.

I’m choosing to stop here because there’s just too much awesome accurate tech stuff in this amazing show to count! If some people want to add to the list, or discuss it, I’d love to know your thoughts! [Geekmode == OFF]

First addition to this list by ellainthetardis:

About POI’s accuracy on technology 2.0

Since my first post on the matter was (unexpectedly) popular and some of you asked for more (thank you so much for the kinds words!!), I came up with another list of 10 accurate tech facts from Person Of Interest. I want to thank @sarcasticshaw and @aintgottime-fodat for their suggestions on the other post, I chose to add them here because the other one was already very long. So, without further ado, enjoy!

1. “So nice to finally meet you, Harold. You can call me Root.”

As I’ve explained before, the characters’ names and aliases are carefully chosen and have, more often than not, special meaning. Root’s name is the one with the most tech meanings, I wanted to make it short last time but considering you guys want more and some of you pointed out things I didn’t include, here’s another one, courtesy of @sarcasticshaw:

The term rootkit originally referred to a maliciously modified set of administrative tools for Linux systems that granted “root” access. If an intruder could replace the standard administrative tools on a system with a rootkit, the intruder could obtain root access over the system whilst simultaneously concealing these activities from the legitimate system administrator.

I find it very ironic and well thought of the writers to make the episode called “Firewall” the one in which Root reveals herself by abducting Finch after faking to be a number to protect. What she did was the human equivalent of what a rootkit does to computers.

2. “We’re just Bad Code” 

Another addition to this list concerns Root’s first alias in the show : Caroline Turing. Thanks to @aintgottime-fodat for bringing it up. The last name “Turing” refers to Alan Turing, a pioneering English computer scientist born in 1912 and deceased in 1954. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, one of his most renowned works being the Turing Machine, which is an abstract machine that can be considered a model of a general purpose computer aka Analog Computer (hi Root!). Turing is widely considered to be the father of artificial intelligence. Root definitely admires the guy, I won’t believe for a second it was a coincidence that she chose that alias.

During WW2, Turing worked for the British Government’s codebreaking centre and played a pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements like the Battle of the Atlantic. Yup, he literally cracked bad code 😉

Nowadays, Turing’s work is still used widely: the Turing Test (which he invented in 1950) is a test that all AI have to pass to be considered intelligent. In this test, a human being communicates with an AI while another person, who knows one of the interlocutors is a machine but not which one, reads the exchange and has to guess which one is human and which one isn’t. If this evaluator fails to identify them, then the Machine successfully passed the test. Various types of Turing tests exist, wanna see examples?

Play here: x Or there: x

Another tool based on Turing’s work that everybody knows is the CAPTCHA system. CAPTCHA means Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart and I don’t think I need to explain it further, right?

3. “You have died of dysentry”

 This one will probably be more familiar for Americans than for the rest of us (or maybe I’m just too young to know about it) but the game we see young Root play in the library (2x02) called “The Oregon Trail” was a huge worldwide success in the 70s when it first came out and has been ever since. It was created to teach children about the Oregon Trail (obviously) and also to help improve their decision-making skills. The edition we see baby Root playing (and winning of course) is probably the 1990 one, for Macintosh. Considering how fast she won, we can safely assume she was already pretty good at decision-making at age 12. 

Anyway, back to the real world. If you wanna try to travel the Oregon Trail, you just have to click here x and select the Oregon.exe file in the Game executable field. 

I’m quite proud I managed to win on my 1st attempt 😊

4. “We didn’t hack in, we were let in. It’s a honeypot.”

In 1x13, Harold tried to hack into Root’s system by exploiting a weakness in her firewall. The thing is, this weakness had been created on purpose by Root herself so that when he would be in, she could infect Harold’s network with a virus and listen to him using his phone. 

In IT terms, a honeypot is a cybersecurity technique consisting of creating a vulnerable system to attract potiental attacks and then identify the source of the attack to neutralize it. In the real world, honeypots are more and more used by cybersecurity experts, as you can see here: x 

5. “You were willing to risk your own life to find me? I knew you boys wouldn’t let me down.”

One of Root’s many talents (even before becoming the analog interface) is that she knows how to manipulate people to get what she wants. When she first appeared in 1x23, she was playing the role of Caroline Turing, a psychiatrist and hired HR to put a hit on herself because she knew Reese and Harold would intervene.

In popular culture, the ability to make complicated plans that revolve entirely around people doing exactly what you’d expect them to do is called “Batman Gambit”.

In the real world, this is called “Social Engineering”, I’ll just quote Wikipedia : 

How is this relevant in that list? Well, Social Engineering is (in my opinion) one of the most underestimated parts of hacking. In fact, when you work in the IT field, there’s a saying: “Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard” meaning that any system’s greatest weakness is most of the time its user. With the help of the Machine and the various identities it creates for her, Root is like the ultimate hacker.

For an example of real life, mind blowing social engineering, check the video below:

6. “I bluejacked our guy’s phone, went through his recent calls.”

Once you’ve watched a few episodes of the show, you already know much about bluejacking and phone cloning, at least enough to become a little paranoid (or is it just me?). Most of the time, to learn more about their number, Team Machine gets close to them, enough to “bluejack” their phone and spy on them. Well, for those of you who aren’t paranoid yet, let me tell you, you should 😜

In the real world, bluejacking exists but isn’t like in the show, it consists of sending unwanted messages to someone’s phone over bluetooth. Annoying, but harmless. However, “bluesnarfing” also exists and is the correct term to describe what they call bluejacking on the show. Now, my guess is that bluejacking probably sounded more serious than bluesnarfing for the show’s creators and maybe easier to understand for the general audience. Anyway, bluesnarfing allows you to steal data from somebody’s phone by forcing a bluetooth pairing between your phone and the victim’s one. So, as they explain on the show, you have to be close to the other phone but you also need that other phone to have its bluetooth connection turned on. The problem is, nowadays, many of us connect their phones to bluetooth devices (cars, speakers, headsets, etc) and forget to turn it off when they’re done using it (✋🏽 guilty here). To avoid being bluesnarfed, just make sure you turn off the bluetooth option, keep your phone close and you should be safe.    

7. “I already wanted to tear Samaritan apart, turn it into an Atari. That’s too nice. Maybe a Casio?“

Okay, I’ll admit, this one is more of a fun fact than a big accurate tech thing in the show but anyway, my post, my rules!

We all remember the Shoot love scene but as a tech lover, I also noticed that line Root said during pillow talk about turning Samaritan into a Casio. At first, it made me laugh but when I researched further, it was even better.

Root was born in 1978 or 1979 so she would have been a kid of the 80′s. Back then, Atari video game consoles were the most popular, the Atari 2600 is like, the one which helped video games evolve from pong to the kind of video games we have now, more than 565 games were created for it. Between 1977 and 1992, 27,64 millions units were sold and the 2600 is still the 17th most sold game console of all time.

Now, in 1983, Casio decided to launch their first game console to compete with Atari (foolish, I know). The thing is, while Atari had created a console so revolutionary that it made video games popular all around the world, Casio came up with the Casio PV-1000 and 15 games to go with it. The system was first released in Japan and… that’s it. It never made it to other countries and only stayed in stores in Japan for a few weeks. The Casio PV-1000 was built 6 years after the Atari 2600 but the components were older and already obsolete. All of this to explain why Root considered turning Samaritan into a Casio was much better than into an Atari, please don’t hate me 😅

Left: Casio PV-1000, 1983. Right: Atari 2600, 1980-82

8. “If you remember nothing else, then please remember this. Chess is just a game. Real people aren’t pieces.”

In episode 4x11 titled “If-Then-Else” (one of the best episodes, if you ask me) we see flashbacks of Harold teaching the Machine to play chess and to analyze multiple strategies in a short time in order to help her make hard, fast decisions in the future. The Machine’s mechanisms are then demonstrated when she runs many different simulations to try and help the Team complete their mission while making it out alive.

In the IT world, “If, then, else” is a very common expression used in coding to specify what a program should do depending on the circumstances. Here’s a simple example of the structure of the code (you can see that “then” is represented by “{”) :

If (condition is met) { do something } else { do something else }

You can add as many conditions as you want to specify different options and make the program more precise.

If you didn’t understand, here’s a real life example:

If (Root is alive) { Make a Shoot spin off else { Don’t make a Shoot spin off (joking, Root IS alive, fight me) }

The if-then-else structure is basically how the Machine builds all of her simulations and takes all her decisions in the show. 

Now that the technical part is explained, in the real world, AIs performing simulations are already better at taking urgent and crucial decisions than humans, you can learn more about how an AI beat tactical experts of the US Air Force in air combat simulations here : x

Also wanted to add, the part with Harold teaching chess to The Machine was probably a nod to Leonardo Torres’ chess machine. Torres invented the first chess automaton in 1912 and used the if-then-else expression in his algorithm so that the machine automatically played an endgame with three chess pieces, moving a king and a rook to checkmate a king moved by a human opponent.

This is the 2nd version of the chess Machine in 1920

9. “As the father of AI, you’re the only man in the world who can destroy it.“ 

In episode 5x12, Harold uses the ICE-9 virus to stop Samaritan by infecting as many systems as possible, turning down the Internet in the process. That virus is described by the Machine as the most lethal one and it does destroy the two AIs.

In the real world, the Ice-9 virus exists but is in fact very old (it was discovered in 1992) and not very dangerous. Could that be an inaccuracy? Well, in terms of technology, yes it is, but that’s not the end of it.

In fact, the show’s ICE-9 virus was based on the Ice-nine from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, “Cat’s Cradle”. In that book, the Ice-nine is a material that instantly crystallizes water once it comes in contact. Humans are largely made of water, so anyone who comes in contact or ingests ice-nine dies. The show’s virus does the same to every system connected to the Internet.

The password to activate the virus, “Dashwood” was also a reference to a book: “Sense & sensibility” by Jane Austen. We saw Shaw read that book in the same episode. Now, why did they choose that book in particular? Well, here’s an extract from the book and the analysis I found on the Internet (I haven’t read it so I had to do some research) :

Dashwood extracts a promise from his son, that he will take care of his half-sisters; however, John’s selfish and greedy wife, Fanny, soon persuades him to renege. John and Fanny immediately take up their place as the new owners of Norland, while the Dashwood women are reduced to the position of unwelcome guests. Mrs. Dashwood begins looking for somewhere else to live. 

Now, reread this but replace John by Samaritan, Fanny by Greer, the Dashwood women by Team Machine and Mrs Dashwood by the Machine herself. Sounds oddly familiar, right? I found the analysis here (kudos to them) : x

10. “ You’re the man who sold the world. Just to the wrong people.”

In the show, Harold created the first AI capable of protecting people using massive surveillance and gave it to the US Government. He did close the system before doing that but anyway, he wasn’t in charge anymore and no one could access the data.

In the real world, in 2012 a massive surveillance program called “Trapwire” was revealed by Wikileaks. The program is run by a private society with clients all around the world (according to the leaked emails, it includes Scotland Yard, 10 Downing Street, the White House, and many multinational corporations). Here’s how the leaked emails describe it : “a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns of pre-attack surveillance. [it uses] a facility’s existing technologies (such as pan-tilt-zoom cameras) and humans (security personnel, employees, and neighbors)” to collect data which is then “recorded and stored to facilitate data mining, information comparison and information sharing across the network.” The TrapWire company’s president, chief of operations and director of business development are all former employees of the CIA. Following the leak, Wikileaks’ servers were under strong DDoS attacks which had the website down for a few days.

This system, in my opinion, is in very close to Harold’s Machine but lacks her intelligence and, of course, her understanding of the human nature. Turn it into an AI and I’m pretty sure we’ll get Samaritan but hey, I’m a pessimist.

To read more about TrapWire, here’s a more developped article : x and here are the leaked emails : x

If you’ve read entirely this massive piece of me basically geeking out about how amazing this show was, then thank you! Oh, and I hope I didn’t make too many mistakes, I’m French so I apologize if I did. 

About POI’s accuracy on technology

As someone that’s “good with computers” like they say on the show, I’ve been watching Person Of Interest with my geek goggles on. What I saw was so deliciously satisfying that I felt the need to check on the Internet to see if others had noticed how accurate this show actually was. Surprisingly, I didn’t find many posts, there were some, sure, but I was sad it wasn’t praised more. So, I put together a list of the things I noticed were true or really close to the truth.[Geekmode == ON] Here we go : 

1. The most impressive fact is how Person Of Interest predicted the Wikileaks scandal one year before it happened. In 1x22, Reese was sent by the Machine to protect NSA agent Henry Peck who wanted to reveal to a journalist how his agency was conducting illegal surveillance on a massive scale. In 2013, Edward Snowden did exactly that. 

2. The show once mentioned a dangerous virus called Stuxnet whose source code was in the laptop that Reese and Kara were sent to retrieve in Ordos by the CIA (1x20).

In the real world, Stuxnet really exists and is indeed a very dangerous virus. In 2010, Stuxnet reportedly ruined almost one-fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges.

3. In Person Of Interest, they like to show real code without explaining it. It’s just for fun, they know the general audience won’t care because most people don’t understand it but they also know that geeks notice these things. For example, they showed Finch casually manipulating the real source code of the Stuxnet virus in 4x05:

4. Speaking of Finch, you know how one of his aliases is Harold Whistler, right? We know that he chooses his aliases based on bird names but this one in particular can also be explained by Harold’s past. More specifically his teenage years, back when he used public phones to call people in other countries for free (3x11).

            Btw, the guy on the phone is definitely not French, horrible accent ^^

In the real world, the first hackers were called phreakers, they did exactly what Harold did using… whistles. The blue whistle Harold uses in this scene is the actual model the phreakers used in the 70s, crazy right? It’s in fact a toy that was found in Cap’nCrunch boxes of cereals back in the day. That particular whistle produced a sound that matched with phone operators’ systems and provided to the phreaker a free international line. So, Harold is indeed a Whistler and a good one at that.

5. Still about young Harold, when he built his first computer in 1980, he hacked the ARPAnet (the ancestor of the Internet) which is why he has been wanted by the FBI for treason ever since (screenshot from 3x12).

In the real world, in 1980, someone introduced a virus in the ARPAnet which temporarily halted its functions, they still don’t know who the hacker was.

6. Once again, about Harold, his struggle to accept his creation is already a real life issue. Scientists and engineers are indeed working on building AIs and are facing ethical and moral issues similar to Harold’s. The possibility of a benevolent AI is also mentioned as the only way to avoid a Samaritan-like AI in this very interesting TED talk:

7. In 5x01, Harold and Root stole a truck of Playstation 3’s to rebuild the Machine. I remember smiling at that at first, then I thought about it and figured it would probably work. Of course, in the show, they left out a lot of parameters that would have been needed to make it work and building it should’ve taken at least a day or so but I won’t blame them for that, an episode only lasts 45 minutes after all.

In the real world, the US Air Force actually built a similar supercomputer called « the Condor Cluster » using 1,760 Playstation 3’s. Well done POI, very well done !

8. This one is about Root and is more of a fun fact than technical stuff but still. When Root first appeared on the show, she was this anonymous and mysterious hacker who had managed to break into Harold’s system, which is huge considering how much of « a private person he is ».

So, what is all the fuss about ? Well, when you use a computer, you have a username, right ? All Linux systems have a default user which is called « Root ». So, the root user, also called « superuser » or « poweruser » has full access to everything in the machine. Basically, Root likes to be called a Superuser in her daily life. Now, thanks to my job, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see root…

                                 Yep, this is me becoming root ;)

9. Other fun fact, in Linux systems, the « admin » user is like a common user, the root account is the only one who can modifiy the system. Just like Harold is « admin » to the Machine, she is Root to everyone (except Harold, I can understand why he always calls her Ms Groves, it must be frustrating for him to be constantly reminded that she bested him). She’s a hacker so the way I see it, when people call her by that name, they literally recognize her talent (even though they don’t know it), saying she’s so good she can access anyone’s system. Considering how the show ended, I’d say that her name is more than ever accurate… Love you Root, you classy, sassy, badass cinnamon roll.

10. Now, this cool trick that we use at work with my colleagues of the IT department: neodym magnets taken from (old) hard drives are some of of strongest magnets you can find. They’re so strong we use them to fix screwdrivers to the wall but they can also mess with electronic devices. This trick was used by Root in 5x07 to open doors which had an electronic lock. Root, you badass geek, forever in my heart.

I’m choosing to stop here because there are just too many awesome accurate tech stuff in this amazing show to count! If some people want to add to the list, or discuss it, I’d love to know your thoughts! [Geekmode == OFF]

So I just wanted to bring this back because OP wrote:

In the real world, in 1980, someone introduced a virus in the ARPAnet which temporarily halted its functions, they still don’t know who the hacker was.

And in 5x12 .exe this is what happened:

Harold, the Original Hacker.

oh man, drift compatible Root and Shaw

they name their Jaeger 4AF (it’s the smallest and lightest in the fleet, but don’t tell Shaw that or she will punch you in the face and then point out that it also has the most advanced weaponry and highest agility so fuck you) and no one knows what it stands for and its their own private injoke

and Shaw’s face goes super scowly because she knows it’s something she said about them and that Root took it super romantically and convinced the Machine to register the name before Shaw could protest (though they both know that Shaw could have protested and changed it to something else, but she didn’t)

also, Shaw was a very promising recruit for the program, plucked out of med school to be a pilot bc she’s /perfect/ for it, her brain able to handle the drift for excessively long times and her fighting instincts absolutely top of the class

but no one could co-pilot with her

they tried dozens of the most promising candidates, but either it didn’t take at all or once they did, that emotional dampening she has would spread to her co-pilot and either they couldn’t deal with it or it would make them reckless and insubordinate in a way Shaw wasn’t because she understood herself in a way that took years, not the days or weeks her co-pilot had

Shaw was sick of it, wanted to just leave the program and do something that would actually help, not just waste her time

then Root walked in, smirking and flirting and without a flinch at the yawning emptiness of emotion some other candidates said they felt

#this line put me in the ground#fucked me up#because there are two levels to it right?#this other dude has people who are available for him to love#people who are alive#and shaw lost that person#and two#that dude is capable of loving people#in a way shaw felt like she couldn’t#and she so clearly feels like root deserved better than her#deserved the kind of grief that shaw can’t feel#shaw who is angry that she doesn’t feel anything but anger#but the fucking beautiful thing is#that root loved shaw and root knew shaw loved her#and root would never want shaw to be anything other than who she is#because she fucking LOVED who shaw is#exactly as she is#and she wouldn’t want her to grieve any differently than she is#any differently than grief feels for her#this goddamn show ( via @madasaboxofcats)

                                               “There are three things all wise men fear”

no but we’ve been seeing the whole season how strong-willed and loyal Shaw is. after 7000 simulations she may have killed John and/or Harold but she never revealed the location of the Machine and she never gave away Fusco. and she never killed Root. Root was her safe space, her termination point for every simulation. 

Shaw knew she wasn’t in a simulation anymore when she had her axe and she killed Lambert and she found herself in South Africa.

but seeing Root again Shaw is no longer certain she isn’t in a simulation. seeing Root again wasn’t part of the plan because that would endanger the team and the mission. but she does see Root again and Root tells her they need to get to the subway, aka the one thing SIM!Root was always trying to get her to do.

and so Shaw tells Root about the simulations and what she’s been forced to do, again and again, to so many people. but never to Root. and it’s interesting because at that point Root does smile. in a way, it’s everything she’s ever wanted to hear, Shaw does care!!

but Shaw pulls a gun on her head because she can’t risk killing anyone other than herself in this maybe simulation. especially not Root. and Root reacts in the most Root way possible - she points a gun at herself. because Root is many things and she can do so much, but live in a world without Sameen Shaw is not something Root is able to do.

and it’s not romantic. it’s twisted and uncomfortable, actually. but Shaw stares at Root, the most dumbfounded I’ve seen Shaw tbh, because Root putting a gun on herself? it’s not something Samaritan would ever have Root do. but Root is unpredictable and reckless and obnoxiously annoying and of course she hasn’t come to this world to see Sameen Shaw die.

and Shaw recognises that. Shaw recognises Root’s behaviour as so characteristically, so ridiculously, so unmistakably Root. Shaw sees it and suddenly Root isn’t the safe place anymore, Root is Root. Root makes her sigh and grunt and roll her eyes. Root is real.

and if Root is real, Shaw doesn’t have to kill herself because there’s no simulation to wake up from.

#god that one tiny moment#Shaw still doubts#i have so many thoughts about Root and Shaw and fate though#because Root is almost a prophetic figure in this story#the one with blind fate in a God people don’t actually believe is real#except it is real and She does talk to Root#but what’s more interesting is how Root’s relationship with the Machine changes#she might still be important to Root but Root isn’t her perfect soldier anymore#she’s a fallen angel who went and fell in love with a human and we’ve seen Root choose Shaw over The Machine’s orders#multiple times#but Root hasn’t lost her faith its just not blind anymore#so i look at a scene like this and Shaw still doubting that this is real#and Amy’s choice to have Root smile#which is odd because this is such a painful moment really  they’re all reunited and Shaw doesn’t quite believe it#and i feel like this is Root going ‘its okay sweetie i have enough faith for the both of us’#like there is so little Root can actually do to help Shaw (1. Shaw is devastatingly competent and#2. what Samaritan did to her there’s no easy fix)#but Root can believe#she’s really good at that. She can do that for Shaw#idk just leave me here to drown in my feels  okay  (via @racethewind10)

you know, the thing that got me the most about Root’s message to Shaw is that Shaw knows Root loves her and Shaw knows she cares for Root but there’s a sense of insecurity that can be perceived from Shaw’s side. she knows the feelings are mutual but she isn’t sure the way she can feel for Root is enough for Root. she isn’t sure because Shaw is perfectly fine with who she is, but she knows what she can give - how she feels - might be perceived as inadequate by some people (we have canon evidence of this from how she was dismissed from medical school, and from the paramedic’s reaction to her when her father died).

when the Machine passes on Root’s message, Shaw finally knows. Shaw knows that however she felt, however she expressed it, was enough for Root. in fact, it was all Root ever wanted or needed. and that’s why Shaw, so atypically, tears up. being loved exactly for who she is all she could ever ask for from someone else.

Shaw may never ever say “I love you” to Root, but she doesn’t have to. What proves her feelings more than sacrificing herself literally thousands of times and declaring that being with Root is the only way she feels safe? That’s a league beyond.

and what I love so much is that she never has to? not only does the show’s narrative never punish Shaw for not saying ‘I love you’ but Root doesn’t either.  And Shaw understands that? The Root in Shaw’s head accepts her - explicitly - for who she is. Shaw knows she’s loved and accepted exactly as she is. 

#how do you write an epic love story where one character isn’t capable of feeling typical romantic love? #like this