#Talking about just outfits is a little misleading though. That is technically just the most obvious aspect of the presentation

[callingcxrd]

I NEED to look more gender

[amaya-chwan]

Therapy Game Restart Discussion: Who is Onodera?

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well~ ❤️💛💜 I've had a headscratcher of an ask/message regarding Onodera, so I figured I'll make it into one big post!

Before I begin this Q&A/discussion post (feel free to comment below if you have any thoughts), I have looked through past chapters to gather the information I will put into this post to support my predictions. Not all chapters are readily available for everyone at the moment as only one volume of TGR is out right now, so I shall put the chapter numbers for your future reference! ⚠️ Also, just a note! These opinions are my personal thoughts, conjectures, and opinions, so please don't think I am saying one idea or speculation is wrong--this is just how I see it, and of course I could very well be wrong! And I also am not fluent in Japanese, so I may have some translation errors!

⚠️ Also, a warning, this will be a long post! Keep reading if you're interested and please let me know your own thoughts!

First, in an earlier ask, I was directed to a translation group that said Onodera is a man. With the help of Google and Google Translate (because I don't understand/speak Spanish), I found that post (dated April this year) and the origin of the picture they used in that post. The image is from Hinohara-sensei's 13th August 2020 tweet here and is also below for reference:

Now, all I can remember from first seeing that image is "Woow, so pretty! A female character? A love rival? A threat? OH it's the infamous director they're all talking about???"

This image was released around the time chapter 8 was released, i.e. the first chapter we see Onodera in full.

Looking at the image again, I can see how Onodera could be seen as a female or a male. Onodera has long hair, yet no visible breasts. There is no evidence of an Adam's apple, but that could just be because of the turtleneck as part of their outfit. Furthermore, in chapter 13, we see a view of Onodera from behind. There are no "womanly curves" visible in this view of Onodera.

After searching some Japanese blogs, some fans also had the same thoughts: no breasts = possible male, the shape of the face etc. Here are the blogs I found: [1] [2] [3] but most of these are from around chapter 8.

Just about the breast argument: there are a lot of different shapes for breasts. I learnt that when working at a department store selling bras during university. It is possible that Onodera is really flat chested or just has very little breast tissue. Not sure if that's getting too technical now, ahah, but what I want to say is that the lack of breasts isn't a definite yes to Onodera being a man.

Hinohara-sensei also has not explicitly stated throughout TGR so far (ch1-13) that Onodera is male or female.

From chapters 8-12, Onodera is always referred to as 院長 (director) by Shizuma and the nurses at the clinic. No gender-specific pronouns have been used in the story nor by any characters to refer to Onodera when speaking so far (that I have read). So confirming Onodera's gender is just misleading at the present moment.

We do find out in chapter 9 that Onodera's first name is 昌 akira. Akira is a gender neutral name in Japan. It is often given to males, but it is not uncommon for females to have this name. Which, I think, is genius on Sensei's part. It leaves us all thinking!

Q: So Amaya-chwan, what do you think Onodera's gender is?

Just for me as I've been reading TGR the past 1.5 years, I see Onodera as a woman as I have been "encouraged" to see Onodera as one by the little subtleties in the story, and Minato sees Onodera as a female, so I probably am viewing Onodera in Minato's POV.

(Please keep reading on for more insights and answers to questions! Really, this post is long! 😅)

In chapter 9, Onodera's older brother, who is also Shizuma's university professor (and his last name is not Onodera), makes small talk with Shizuma regarding the staff at his placement:

Shizuma's professor says: By the way, Shizuma-kun, how've you been!? You haven't been bullied, have you!? // The female team here is scary, right~ You know, Nakajou-kun and I were in the same grade...

So here, I'm made to think Onodera's clinic is pretty much all female, including Onodera too.

Fun fact: His professor uses the suffix -kun for Nakajou-sensei, yet Nakajou-sensei is a female and -kun is commonly used for males these days. But, it is also used for females in very specific situations. I'm not too sure what the situations are, but I have heard them used for females before.

In the same chapter (9), while Shizuma is changing out of his scrubs in the men's locker (?) room, Onodera walks in. He is slightly flustered, and kindly reminds her that she's walked into the men's locker room. Her reaction is "Huh? Ahh..." So here, again, I am made to believe Onodera is female.

While no gender-specific pronouns have been used to address Onodera, Minato and Itsuki have referred to Onodera as a female in chapter 13.

The kanji for "female/woman" is 女. In these two images, Minato refers to Onodera as 上司の女 female superior, and from Minato's story, Itsuki hence calls her 職場の女の人 female from (Shizuma's) workplace. This is the only time Onodera has been referred to as a female.

⚠️ Just a note going forward in this discussion, I will now call Onodera "she/her" as that is what I believe Onodera's gender is at the present moment!

Now, I did get a second ask from an Anon! Here they are below with my responses:

This one is about what's behind Onodera. I think she's a pretty interesting character. I actually think she's a trans woman or a non-binary trans woman. Sensei has been dropping so many hints to that... The name her brother calls her might be her dead name. He complains about her hair and what their father would say. She's designed to have flat breasts, perhaps she's not under hormone therapy, perhaps her "trips" and "days off" have something to do with reassignment surgeries...

She most definitely is an interesting character. I wouldn't say Onodera being transgender is out of the realm of possibility because the story is still ongoing. But regarding her name, I don't know if I'd call it a dead name since it is gender neutral already. Perhaps the kanji for a male Akira name would be different to a female one though?

About the hair comment (ch10), I just thought it was unruly? I honestly didn't think too much of it! What I will add is that the kanji for hair (髪) is used, but the reading is あたま head. Not sure why just yet, so I'll just leave that here as some extra information for the moment.

Not sure what I really think about a) her flat-chestedness and b) her insanely long business trips yet! I figured a) might be a character design, and b) she really is a top-notch veterinarian so she's probably in high demand. But I could be completely off the mark!

Also, I don't know where to add this random bit in from the story, but in chapter 12, we find out that Onodera has been calling one of the staff the wrong name for more than 10 years now. Not sure if this new piece of info affects anything?

But again, that is a very interesting prediction/thought you have about Onodera, and I wouldn't say it's not possible!

She's kind of a female Minato, psychologicallly and in appearance, which brings some challenges. And one more thing that I think hints to that: "I'll make it so your body can never be satisfied by any woman", Minato says to Shizuma. As the last chapter leaves it at that, we don't know exactly what he is talking about. [spoiler?] I haven't seen the Japanese text yet to be sure if he's clear about topping Shizuma.

That was exactly my thought when she was first introduced! That's part of the reason why I think Minato sees her as a threat, especially when he saw her for the first time and was told she is a 美人beautiful person (both in chapter 12). She and Minato definitely share some characteristics, but I find she's a bit more socially-awkward than Minato given her background (Chapter 9 & 10).

For the dialogue, the Japanese lines and the most literal translations I can give are:

今から　静真くんを抱く From now, (I'll) hold/embrace you, Shizuma-kun.

どんな女に出会っても　絶対満足できない体にしてあげる No matter the women you encounter, I will make it so your body definitely cannot be satisfied (by any of them).

Hopefully we'll find out what Minato means by that exactly in the next chapter, which I hope comes to me this week!

But if that's what he's talking about, it's 1. poor Minato being transphobic (besides being biphobic towards his own boyfriend)* 2. poor Minato probably foreshadowing his own fall. If Onodera happens to be a woman with a d**k, she can do whatever Minato thinks a cis man only can do. That's not what will make Shizuma stay by his side. Shizuma will stay by his side because he loves Minato. And that's that. Debunks biphobic myths, debunks transphobic myths. *He's not a bad person, he's got issues

Okay, this is probably as straight-forward as I can say this, but I just want to say that I don't know enough about the issues faced by the LGBTQI+ community. My friends have kindly answered all my questions so far as I don't want to be ignorant or rude when learning more about my friends and the community. I don't want to give off the air that I'm assuming anything since I don't want any misunderstandings. And I am fully aware that I need to educate myself more regarding this!

So about Minato, I'm not completely sure what you mean by number 2. But he definitely has his share of trauma, insecurities, and fears regarding his relationship with Shizuma. Having Onodera as a threat in this story really helps drive Minato's growth. The story is titled Therapy Game Restart, so what I gather from the title is that Minato is going to face another fear/insecurity he has, something deeply-rooted in him, and it's going to get really heavy and complicated, but he will eventually get through it and it will help him heal and grow as a character, and hopefully strengthen his faith in his relationship with Shizuma.

So far, I believe this "fear" is carrying on from +Play More, that Shizuma can be whisked away by a female at any moment.

But yes, Minato has to realise for himself that his and Shizuma's love, relationship, and bond is strong enough for him to not worry about Shizuma leaving him so abruptly. He has to learn to trust in Shizuma more, and TGR is slowly revealing that, especially in chapter 13.

I'll stop here. I have already written long analyses on this series and I think about making them public at some point. But it would be nice to hear from you! Maybe I'm completely wrong in my interpretations! I'm really sorry for being so annoying and maybe using inappropriate language. I really didn't mean to bother you. But I never see anyone making these points. I just want to know if I'm thinking unreasonably...

I love reading different analyses, opinions, story predictions, the whole lot!! So please feel free to ask me or post your own ideas. It's always a welcome thing for me to discuss stories and learn new things! Don't be sorry that you're being a bother or annoying, because it's not a bother at all!

We're all allowed to have our own ideas and opinions about stories, and these ideas will change once something is canon in the story, and ultimately is something we will have to accept too.

So yeah, just my two cents. Thank you for being so patient with my response, dear Anon!

To anyone reading at this point, thank you for reading this far! ❤️💛💜

I shall see you in our next set of takeaways~ As always, stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones! 💜

(2021-05-17: Speedy proofreading is done ahah! And yes, my brain is still so full of 山河令/Word of Honor right now, so I have been VERY distracted! Highly recommend this drama, guys! It's up for free on the official Youku Youtube page! Totally not an endorsement, but I love this drama! AHHHHH!! Gong Jun [Simon] be living on my mind rent free~)

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-08-06

♪ HS2 HS2 is baaaaack ♪

♪ HS2bloggin here we gooooo ♪

♪ Structural changes on their team but I don’t caaaaare ♪

♪ Already resooolved myself that its NOOOT gonna beee as good ♪ with inattentiveness to details characters like Terezi forgetting-what-they-used-to-know and an obsession with dwelling on traaageeeDEEE without relief-or-considering how weee’d feeeeeeel~ ♪♪♪ --so just gonna enjoy-what-i-caaaaaan about iiit~ ♪♪♪

Okay time for bankruptcy

> CHAPTER 11. History's Most Notorious Haters

Let’s see how effectively my perky new lowered-expectations attitude lets me enjoy this comic  *click*

wut

Oh.  so is this Dave drawing comics about current events or Regular Calliope doing so for our very first lanky look at her presumably-grown-up-more cherub form

> Knight: Keep it real.

HOLY SHIT IT’S DAVEBOT AND ARADIA

so we just get to SEE them?!  just like that???  no buildup or anything?  :D

Okay I’m marking out a little that’s a good sign.  Also what a nerdy cop-out to turn the roboteyes into glasses that’s barely passable which is perfect, the rest of his outfit looks pretty cool tho

DAVEBOT: and thats reason four hundred nineteen why despite my mans many accomplishments i will never acknowledge big skateboardings contrived message that tony hawk is the quintessential skater of our generation ARADIA: o_o DAVEBOT: not in these trying times

Good to see Ultimate Dave is being true to form with regards to the core of his personality

DAVEBOT: beep boop ARADIA: i have told you several times that i was a robot before and i know for a fact you dont have to say beep boop DAVEBOT: hm that sounds fake does not compute ARADIA: david DAVEBOT: mom

I was with this conversation until the last two lines what the fuck

(I’m reading into it aren’t I, Aradia was trying to be atypically proper -- even though she wouldn’t have the frame of reference to know without being specifically told that “Dave” was considered nickname shorthand for the human name David, and thus if she DID know there’s no reason she’d use it except to troll him -- and Dave’s just mocking her response.  Without any shame about his continued weirdness of calling people Mom, and by without any shame I mean he made the choice EXPLICITLY to intentionally evoke the awkwardness.  Wow I got a lot out of two lines.)

(Oh, also alt!Callie’s true Jade-body incarnation here probably prompted her to start using “David” by example.  There, various mysteries solved via a pile of assumptions probably to be disproven in the next couple lines I read.)

The Knight and the Maid stare at each other briefly, having exchanged enough meaningful glances over their time together to know when to drop it.

Would Time players have an easier time gelling this way, like this particular smoothness?  Dropping it just before it gets weird or excessively irritating?

(Overclasspecting)

ARADIA: i think we have exchanged enough meaningful glances over our time together to know when to drop this DAVEBOT: what i enjoy about our conversations is that you just say things like that

OKAY I SNRK’D AT THAT.  That was funny.

Initially.  And now I’m concerned whether Aradia is being controlled by the narrative-speak, or whether they’re both just humorously referencing the meta-text they can both see, or--

ARADIA: oh is that what you enjoy ARADIA: well we are both an infinite number of years old living countless lifetimes at once but thats no reason to waste any of our...

WHAT??!?  She’s an Ultimate Self too?!?

Um, okay!  Yeah!  So they’re BOTH just riffing on the narrative then.  But... why would Dave need a robot body to accommodate his Ultimate Psyche without getting sick but Rose not need it?  I can understand Dirk not needing it because the merging of the full breadth of his multiversal individuality gels well with him being a God of the aspect governing the power of his multiversal individuality, but Aradia?

Were the robot bodies not necessary after all, and the sickness Rose suffered and Obama thought Dave would have suffered some sort of ruse?  Are there shenanigans afoot?  (Or are we going with the “troll biology is better” cop-out?)

She knows how this will play out, having undoubtedly tried this joke on her friend in some timeline or another. Their rapport reflects a unique combination of their matching aspects but greatly differing classes. One a passive but powerful servant to time, the other wielding the aspect like a honed blade.

WH

WHAT????

PASSIVE SERVANT OF THE ASPECT?!? WHAT THE FUCK

Okay if that means anything like it sounds like I guess my class chart is finally blown up, sure, they only waited (*checks last edit date*) SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS TO BLOW THAT GUESS UP, SURE

Wow.  Okay, I feel some obligation to jump to conclusions and say the whole class chart is wrong, but let me stay strapped in to see if “passive” is as literal as one would expect alt!Callie to mean, or it just means “an active class passive compared to other classes”.  And, serving the aspect?  Oh dammit, now people are gonna come at me advocating a Maid / Page dichotomy about actively serving the aspect versus allowing the aspect to be served... or Page / Maid even, jesus

I wish I had enough energy to have those chats anymore.  I’d rather hold on and see the whole ridiculous chart scheme they have in mind... which is definitely (and hopefully) the one Andrew really drew up at the time and not made up by the staff, even if it throws away plenty of my old work...  I’ll just stop thinking about it and keep reading.

...

--no, I don’t think I can just stop thinking about it yet.  Dammit, brain.

So um.  Maids serving their aspect.  There was a whole “Maids serve” thing going on throughout the whole plot of Homestuck, but despite how prevalent it was, I wrote it off as the story riffing on the classical definition of Maid when the actual stuff Maids accomplished was something different and more specific, just like Knights constantly got riffed on for chivalry and the like.  Furthermore, service seemed like a really shitty class definition, when class definitions are the verbs one uses to interact with reality through Aspects to change the way reality unfolds, and “serving” isn’t really an action that results in change, implying a distinct deficit of agency that I wouldn’t have viewed as fair.  (Especially since you originally think “meant to serve others” and not “meant to serve the aspect”, implying even LESS agency.)  Furthermore, MOST passive classes from their descriptions seem to have a propensity to act “as if by the will of the aspect”, so even with the nuance of “serving the aspect”, devoting an entire class verb to service would just step on the territory of other active/passive class pairs’ passive sides, right?

But... IF we were to take this for granted as what it SEEMS... then concentrating on that angle of “serving the aspect” implies a whole lot more agency than a service class might sound on its surface.  The definition fits with the story better once you contextualize all the Maid-y references to service around Jane, for instance, with the additional idea of “serving Life” by baking prolifically and creating more of its symbols in food and--

--fuck.  “Serving”, like serving to others.  Serving the aspect as its attendant AND serving it out to others that need it.  Maybe this still IS part of the Additive class pair!  Whoa.  :O

Okay okay so, what I/we thought before was:

Create/Add - Maid / Sylph

Destroy/Reduce - Prince / Bard

But “additive” really isn’t an elegant verb compared to the “Destroyer” classes, so... could it be the “Servants” and the “Destroyers”?  Like Maids cleaning up and healing the broken wreckage strewn through the halls by a bratty Prince’s tantrum???

It’d certainly be weird... and it’d CERTAINLY be a wild twist where I was partially wrong in some fascinating ways but not entirely off base?

One a passive but powerful servant to time, the other wielding the aspect like a honed blade.

And yet, I can’t bet on this being the situation yet; not at all.  First, it relies on the idea that alt!Callie’s explicit narrative here is slightly misleading, which would be a pretty extreme thing to commit to, even for a technical truth like “she was saying it was passive relative to other classes even though it’s technically “active””.  Second... it would mean that Muses are even more wildly defined than the previous insinuation of hers, that the Sylph -- what we thought was the passive additive class -- was not enough like a Muse compared to a Witch.  Muses not being that Additive?  I could grudgingly understand that, but Muses not being anything like passive Servants?!  That would be EXTREMELY weird!

So... there’s not a whole lot of chance that I’m not dramatically wrong somewhere about these classes!  In a way that throws the entire chart into disarray!

I’m... oddly excited?  Huh.

That’s a pretty nice surprise that I actually feel that way.

:)

(Don’t hit me up all at once to discuss this Classpect development over Discord, I’ll still need a few days without talking about Homestuck to recharge as usual.  Like... maybe wait and come at me as a group chat? So I’m not talking about the latest developments separately with everyone?  No that wouldn’t work, how about... guh I dunno, look my outlook’s a little more positive right now but dealing with Homestuck still takes emotional energy okay?)

Okay the rest of this page...

ARADIA: ... DAVEBOT: time then make a weird face ARADIA: ........ DAVEBOT: waste time DAVEBOT: time ARADIA:............. DAVEBOT: i experience all points of time simultaneously please just say time and make a weird face

This is true.

ARADIA: .................. DAVEBOT: cmon megido youre killing me clocks ticking ARADIA: ... ARADIA: time o_o

The Maid casts a furtive glance around the empty crew quarters, as though to search for someone more sympathetic to her bit.

ARADIA: tough crowd

Dorks.

> ==>

(Lazy fruit-throwing sword-training I won’t bother to screenshot but looks fun)

(I mean, really lazy looking, these people really don’t have Andrew’s knack for action composition that would make the same amount of gif-creation effort feel like a microcosm of the event they’re depicting, unfortunately.  Again, I don’t blame them; Andrew was just too good at it.)

DAVEBOT: ok heres one DAVEBOT: how old do you think you are ARADIA: emotionally? ARADIA: that is a pretty heavy topic DAVEBOT: you know damn well thats not what i meant ARADIA: you know I have been through a lot dave DAVEBOT: ok ARADIA: its just so kind of someone DAVEBOT: ok i get it ARADIA: to finally ask how i feel ARADIA: i am beside myself with emotions ARADIA: i want to open up DAVEBOT: jesus christ ARADIA: shall i open up about my past traumas to you ARADIA: would you enjoy that ARADIA: to think even a frog like me can work through their pain with a dear friend ARADIA: you have truly blessed me on this day dave strider

Is Aradia JUST trolling here or is her Ultimate Self grappling with a ton of real unresolved trauma too that she’s bullshitting around Dave-style?

DAVEBOT: times fun when youre having flies

Okay that’s a damned good frog pun.

Alright now Davebot’s rapping

DAVEBOT: lacking tact i stay stacked while i breach contract DAVEBOT: sacred vows disavowed got divorce fever DAVEBOT: i leave her DAVEBOT: dont look back dont perceive her ARADIA: do you want to talk about it :( DAVEBOT: about what ARADIA: would you say you are hung up on leaving your wife and friends behind

Goddamnit is DAVE’S ton of real unresolved trauma leaking into his raps unintentionally Dave-style??  I knew we had to address it when we cut to Davebot but how about LESS TRAGEDY IN THIS COMIC MAYBE

DAVEBOT: arent you even a little guilty about ditching your boyfriend ARADIA: what ARADIA: oh fuck

Wh

But she knew what she was doing when she did it she explicitly did it didn’t she?  Epilogues quote:

DAVEBOT: what about your boy DAVEBOT: eyepatches ARADIA: oh sollux is in one of his moods ARADIA: this was all getting to be a bit much for him ARADIA: if i go ill probably just cut him loose DAVEBOT: good move

And then they stepped through the sky hole more or less.  Did like, distracted Ultimate Aradia not realize exactly how long she was leaving Sollux for, ie forever?  Or did she “ascend” to Ultimate status later and hadn’t thought back to the full consequences of her actions within this timeline?  Or both?  From the looks of the link we’ll probably find out on the next pa--

--Wait.  Something else I just thought of, unrelated.

If Aradia is an Ultimate Self, that’s another coincidentally Ultimate version of someone hanging around that happens to be on the prospective list of Soul-Powered Jujus that might have their creation loops closed in the coming story.  Could those two things play into each other somehow?  Like instead of their souls getting stuffed into the items, their “Ultimateness” is?  Or as if that’s a necessary component, or...  no, I’m probably overthinking things.

> (Months in the past, but not many...)

Uh huh.  Is that flashing because he’s “watching” Aradia leave?  But I thought Aradia SAID she was leaving--

> (==>)

--and that black hole portal doesn’t look as cool as it sounded in the Epilogues.  But why was Aradia acting surprised, she said “I’ll probably just cut him loose” mere MOMENTS before entering the portal, did she mean “cut him loose” as in “I’m going to talk to him before leaving” and then just IMMEDIATELY forget that she didn’t say anything to him because she cared so little???

Wait.  Waaaait wait wait.  I think.  I think maybe I missed some subtext.  Lemme do some fuller quotes here:

ARADIA: oh sollux is in one of his moods ARADIA: this was all getting to be a bit much for him ARADIA: if i go ill probably just cut him loose DAVEBOT: good move

His gaze remains fixed on her. She blinks and looks away, unsure what to say next. He’s standing perfectly still, presumably waiting for her to say something. She met him... what was it? Once, twice before? She can’t remember. But she knows this is a very different Dave. Aside from the metal skin, he seems implacably confident. But then, people go through changes. She’s been through more than her share. She cocks an eyebrow, recalling her own stint with a metal body.

DAVEBOT: hey earth to whats your face ARADIA: oh ARADIA: its aradia

[...]

DAVEBOT: youre coming DAVEBOT: better decide quick i doubt that dank fuckin hell funnel is staying open for much longer ARADIA: yes i suppose so ARADIA: thats where all the action is right? DAVEBOT: all the action that matters yeah ARADIA: off we go then :) DAVEBOT: word

He holds out his hand. She looks around, and assumes he means for her to take it, so she does. She didn’t know someone could fly this fast. He nearly yanks her arm out of its socket. She considers reminding him that maybe this isn’t necessary, since she can fly too. But she doesn’t want to risk saying more embarrassing stuff around this outrageously cool dude. Besides, they’re through the wormhole before she can even finish the thought. It vanishes the moment they’ve crossed.

...this was a SHIPPING thing wasn’t it.  She’s impressed as hell with Striderbot, she SAID she’d cut things off with Sollux, and then she was so busy being swooped off her feet and into the portal that she forgot to actually say anything to him.  Is that what happened????

Ultimate Self Davebot x Ultimate Self Aradia.  Huh.  Didn’t see that coming.  (Though, again... they could make it SLIGHTLY clearer that this wasn’t just a blatant continuity error.)

Anyway, a rare-don’t-get-used-to-it [S] page...

> [S] (Gaze.)

...Okay that was kinda funny.

> (==>)

SOLLUX: h0w the fuck am i g0ing t0 get d0wn fr0m here.

HAH!  Okay, he’s taking it pretty well.  :)  --and THAT’s what she realized she forgot, giving him a flight down from the tower before leaving.

GOOD.  KEEP THINGS HUMOROUS EVEN WHEN LITERAL ABANDONMENT IS HAPPENING.  THAT’S the Homestuck I was missing.  :)  :)  :)

> Back to reality.

(Since the black hole is outside “canon” reality.)

Those are some cool poses-AHAH JESUS CHRIST ALT!JADE YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING XD

COULD YOU MAYBE HAVE CLEANED UP THE DRIED BLOOD AT SOME POINT OR IS SOME OF THAT FRESH FROM EATING MORE RAW MEAT

(Lord English’s blood leaving permanent timeless bloodstains would be a cool new thing to squeeze into canon i admit, i wouldn’t blame them for taking the excuse even if you could find small canon counterexamples I’m not sure of but dimly think might exist)

((ALSO SHE’S GONNA BE TINY NEXT TO THEM I DUNNO IF THAT MAKES IT MORE TERRIFYING OR LESS, PROBABLY MORE))

DAVEBOT: so youre telling me you dont even feel a little bad that you ditched him to be a weird death acolyte ARADIA: no i think he found my wiles both charming and irresistible DAVEBOT: not even an ounce of guilt or self doubt huh DAVEBOT: just like that DAVEBOT: no conversations about the greater good DAVEBOT: no revelations about your feelings

Is Aradia a jerk or weird?  Can’t decide.

ARADIA: do you often find your faith in yourself shaken like this or is it a new experience now that your mortal coil has been left behind DAVEBOT: what ARADIA: do you think now that all that is left of you is a literal ghost inside of a machine you are more or less likely to embrace finality DAVEBOT: oh dope more cult of one shit DAVEBOT: immortality changed you ARADIA: could it be that you are projecting your feelings onto my situation DAVEBOT: does not compute rose jr ARADIA: ... ARADIA: we dont have to talk about it DAVEBOT: thanks

Wow, I actually can’t follow this conversation at all.  Let me stare at it for a sec...

...okay, the first part she’s talking about DAVE’s faith in HIMself being shaken, not her own.  She’s not asking if he relates to HER experience, she’s contrasting it.

Then, asking if he’d be more likely to embrace death, or... Time?  Death.  Whether his self-worth has changed because he might view himself as “less real”, something Aradia doubtless struggled with when she was a robot who already had so many excuses to devalue herself at the time?  And then Dave talks about “cult of one” shit what does that even mean-...

OH.  Like she’s a death cult.  Gooot it.  Because Aradia’s of the position that death and ending should be celebrated, and Davebot understandably isn’t entirely bought in.  This is as hard to parse down as one would EXPECT conversations between two Ultimate Selves to be hard to parse down, unlike Rose and Dirk where their insane missions and glaring flaws shine bright enough through it all that you can follow their conversation flow easily.

JADE: They sit in each other's presence, the silence between them as meaningful as any words they could exchange. DAVEBOT: its always really cool to hear how meaningful my silences are DAVEBOT: especially while DAVEBOT: CALCULATING DAVEBOT: CALCULATING DAVEBOT: especially while i am attempting to experience them

Alt!Callie pulling a narrative-text AFTER a talk-identifier like “JADE:” is really hilarious in my opinion.

JADE: i do not need your approval. the story will continue how it must. DAVEBOT: beep boop hater detected ARADIA: wow is that true JADE: i am not a hater. DAVEBOT: classic hater line DAVEBOT: i know this because i am pouring through genuine actual quadrabytes of information on historys most notorious haters JADE: no, you aren’t.

Pffffff. This is pretty fun.

DAVEBOT: you are the exact opposite of a hater ARADIA: a liker DAVEBOT: ok DAVEBOT: perfect example your tolerance for whatever is going on with DAVEBOT: all this ARADIA: i think she looks quite lovely covered in the viscera of the all-powerful enemy she consumed ARADIA: floating lifelessly in our periphery ARADIA: observing our every action and noting its relevance :) DAVEBOT: uh huh thats what i mean

I was gonna note “liker” as additive for pointless classpect purposes, but really more quoting it just because I really enjoy this conversation.  I’m starting to get sold on the chemistry of these two a lot faster than I expected.

JADE: even though I understand that it must happen, i am growing frustrated with the direction of this conversation. DAVEBOT: do you want to talk about something else stinky JADE: what would you suggest?

How long has that dried fucking blood been on her

DAVEBOT: ok hear me out DAVEBOT: kanaya DAVEBOT: but like DAVEBOT: wearing huge jorts

That explains Homestuck’s twitter earlier

> Weeks in the future, relative to the original point of interest...

Wait wait which point of interest?  This time we were just viewing? *click*

I love what must be this shitty imagination-ship they’re using to cross the substrate of reality

> ==>

Whoaaaa.  So they DIDN’T stay in those outfits for long?  It showed them in a bunk bed earlier, it showed CallieJade still going around blood-covered afterward-- dammit, I’m having a hard time gauging exactly how much time is supposed to have passed between their entry into the black portal, their earlier conversation, and this moment.  And as likely as some are to call this poor scene composition, I can’t think it’s anything but intentional, given we’re dealing with a couple of Ultimate Time players bullshitting with each other.

Moments like these are not rare, and serve a valuable function to the story. They are able to show a passage of time with the bulk of the emotional labor of a lengthy bonding process happening off screen. How did we get here? What have they been through? These questions are often better left open to individual interpretation and can give the one interpreting a sense of ownership of the story.

See?  We’re being trolled is why.  (Even if the authors are pulling the trick Alt!Callie describes maybe a little too damn often, because a cut like this where we’re supposed to fill in the emotional gaps and intervening events ourselves as readers depends on readers’ faith that sensible events and decisions for these characters would OCCUPY the gaps, as if readers don’t have faith that what intervenes WOULD make sense to their understanding of the characters the way the authors are writing them... it just seems like an excuse to do whatever you want without adequately explaining yourself, when in reality if you’d spelled out the events that led to it we’d all cry foul at the mischaracterization.)

...okay, maybe I’m a BIT bitter.  Sorry.  Where were we?

JADE: As a point of curiosity- ARADIA: oh shit!!!!

The dead Cherub possessing the body of an equally deceased Goddess of Space pauses at the interruption.

She doesn’t talk much, then?  Too busy doing whatever talking you’d do as your other possessed Jade body?  Just how temporally related is you controlling THIS Jade compared to when you were controlling the other?  When that Jade pegged you as enjoying contact with friends, are these two just not enough for you, or did you “experience” the trips entirely separately?  I don’t THINK the alt!Callie possessing either Jade is a separate entity from the other, but...

Were she to voice her opinion, it would be that --actually-- it is not unusual for those whose primary concern is The Grander Scheme to have a passing curiosity about the insignificant. So when one really thinks about it, any annoyance with the attendant’s small mindedness is both understandable and warranted.

She pissed

...also, “the attendant”.  Even if “serve” is really the verb here, that phrasing really irks me as if she’s talking down to her.  Which, I mean, makes sense for alt!Callie’s character, but doesn’t make me feel better about this new definition being foisted on us.

ARADIA: :( JADE: as a point of order, you never answered dave’s question. ARADIA: which one he is very chatty JADE: you experience time in a way that is woefully unfamiliar to me and it has... piqued my curiosity enough to learn more. ARADIA: ?_? DAVEBOT: shes asking how old you are

Wait a minute, is Alt!Callie asking a question about a dropped topic from WEEKS ago?!  And is Davebot so in touch with Time and the meta ordering of topics that he actually CAUGHT ON that fast to what she was actually wondering about?????

This is getting more disorienting by the minute.

ARADIA: in this form our bodies stop aging once we reach maturity i think ARADIA: the god tier keeps our physical form locked in a state of undying ARADIA: even in death the bodies do not decay ARADIA: only lay dormant

THAT LAST PART IS FUCKING IMPORTANT.  It’s being brought up intentionally to tell us that JOHN’S DEAD BODY can still be in the wallet Terezi’s carrying around RIGHT NOW without having decayed over the past years.  I remember remarking in SOME previous HS^2 liveblog post of mine that I was alarmed by the decay that would have happened there (can’t find my remark on short notice and don’t really care to), so this explicitly dismisses it so we won’t be surprised by the fact that she could keep it in just-dead condition.

DAVEBOT: like how long have you been alive JADE: yes, that one.

[...]

ARADIA: oh maybe a few hundred years or so DAVEBOT: what JADE: what? ARADIA: well if i had known you were going to be so judgy about it DAVEBOT: when did this happen ARADIA: oh i spent some time in other doomed realities and timelines and came back before anybody could tell i was gone

Hm!

We knew she spent a LONG time in the dream bubbles, enough to talk to “pretty much all of the Nepetas”, but she was actually able to access a universe or universes and hop between them?  That’s not something any time traveller we’ve seen has been explicitly able to do intentionally before, quite like she’s describing.

DAVEBOT: oh just out for a bit of fun then DAVEBOT: just hopped on over to a different reality DAVEBOT: real casual like DAVEBOT: oh hello dont mind me just popping in to see if it really is as doomed as they say it is DAVEBOT: did not disappoint ARADIA: yes almost exactly like that :) DAVEBOT: who did you hang out with are they cooler than me ARADIA: it is complicated to explain DAVEBOT: oh ok nevermind then DAVEBOT: all clear

Yep, he’s kinda bewildered.  Is this Pesterquest stuff she’s referring to?  Did she stop by Pesterquest?

DAVEBOT: a whole alternate universe ripe with the coolest motherfuckers imaginable ARADIA: you were there too i threw your air conditioner into the sun DAVEBOT: wow thats fucked up DAVEBOT: thats not where that goes at all JADE: these events are not-canonical. ARADIA: rude

Ah!  Yeah, almost certainly Pesterquest.  (Still haven’t played that and have little inclination to now that I’m more sure we aren’t being gaslit with intentional continuity errors, just disappointed by actual continuity errors.)  Oh!  And that makes a bit more sense because I imagine that’s Black Hole territory, and that territory outside of Canon seems pretty rich and easy for time-travellers to hop between stories and timelines willy-nilly.  As they’re apt to in fanfics, which is the most appropriate way for things to be in that realm!

DAVEBOT: is that the trope of being hundreds of years old but looking young forever patently sucks ass DAVEBOT: a plot device an asshole would write ARADIA: :( JADE: that is not what i am trying to say at all. DAVEBOT: hmm wow yeah thatd really be a sort of pot/kettle situation i guess DAVEBOT: i cant believe im the only woke one here DAVEBOT: its hard being such a visionary AND such a fine metallic specimen DAVEBOT: but im an altruist first and fucking foremost ARADIA: so selfless JADE: yes, the greater narrative is truly blessed by your beneficent presence. DAVEBOT: oh so you got jokes now huh JADE: i have always had the ‘jokes’ of which you speak, but i have heretofore exercised restraint in laying you low. JADE: i possess knowledge of many of your iterations, as the scope of my powers allows me to exist in several narrative structures at once. DAVEBOT: but can she see why kids love the sweet cinnamon taste of cinnamon toast crunch JADE: i do not know, or care, what that means. ARADIA: neither do i :)

I’m actually really enjoying this conversation

JADE: its cultural significance to you as an earthling is wasted on the two of us entirely, as we have not conflated the misguided notion of clinging to nostalgic cereal advertisement trivia with socially relevant conversation.

Pff she literally checked her meta notes just now to learn what the cereal ads were after admitting she didn’t know what it meant and pretending not to care

> ==>

Oh, closer look at Davebot.  Are those actual SHAPED shades over his robotic eye bulges?  Weird, I thought it was just a lazy line drawn between them with red sharpie at first, Sans style.  That would’ve been funny.

> ==>

Ohh, I get it.  I was gonna say that was an unwarranted reaction... but he just realized that the Time-wait puns will be coming from BOTH his shipmates from now on.  That’s gotta be a downer.  :)

> ==>

HOLY

FUCKING

SHIT

IS ALT-CALLIE LAUGHING!??!?!?!??

That’s REALLY, REALLY GOOD!!!  SHE’S ALREADY LAUGHING OCCASIONALLY THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY

“BEST NARRATOR” COFFEE CUP

SHE’S ADORABLE

> ==>

Ah, was that Jade kicking you out?  Or just the multiverse punishing you for being briefly happy :(

--oh, end of the update.  Guess that’s it for now!

...

Alright I know I’m A BIT BEHIND on covering the HS2 commentary,

But

I really would rather wait on that a bit longer if that’s alright.  Real busy and stressful week or two.  (Found out my hair is starting to thin noticeably at age 31!  Quite suddenly, too.  Blood test looks fine so it’s nothing serious... gonna see a doctor to check if anything can be safely done about that, it’s really hurting my self-esteem more than I thought it would.  Didn’t think it would hit my emotions that hard when it eventually happened, knew it was likely but not so SOON... really messing with my anxiety every time I accidentally touch my hair, now.  I’ll deal with it.)

If I sound really aimless in this post, I think it’s cause I am?  My mental and emotional energy’s REALLY drained.  I’m glad that June/July break in HS^2 happened when it did, and I’m definitely glad there’s apparently plenty in HS^2 I can really enjoy, if this update is anything to go by.  Maybe this comic can help lift me up instead of knocking me down.  :)

See y’all later!  More Patreon commentary blogging catchup after some other upd8.

[i-lost-my-heart-in-republic-city]

answer all the questions in that ask thing, or go through it and just answer all the ones u rlly rlly want to

Sorry this took so long, but you asked for all of them and Iam very emotional.

1.  What episode of Steven Universe got you hooked on the show?

I started watching shortly after Jailbreak came out so I’m not sure if I can pinpoint exactly where I got hooked, but I think it was around Coach Steven of Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem when it really got me. Although, I will say when Sworn to the Sword came out, that’s really when I knew this was it for me. 

2. Are you the type to watch episodes as they air, or do you just get your fill of Steven Universe online?

I tried to live watch episode premieres as much as I could, or watch them the day they were posted online by CN. I really tried to make an event out of them, and I’m glad I did. 

3. What’s your favorite quote out of the entire show?

It’s really hard to pick just one. Maybe “You have to be honest about how bad it feels, so that you can move on.” - Connie in Mindful Education. Really feeling that one right now. 

4.In what ways has Steven Universe inspired you? 

I really feel like it has inspired me to live. I havestruggled with depression and anxiety since a young age, so it can be hard todo that. Steven Universe gave me something to look forward to, made the world abetter place. When I was hurting it provided me with comfort and happiness. Thereisn’t another show out there that’s like it for me.

5. Has Steven Universe actually taught you lessons?

Yes, oh god yes. It has helped me to be more honest withmyself and with others. I don’t think I would’ve come out to my family if itweren’t for this show. Over the years, it has really helped me to learn to letgo of shame, and guilt, and self-hatred I had carried around for so long. I wouldn’tbe the person I am today without this show.

6. Favorite character design and why?

I really liked Garnet’s wedding outfit, mixing both the gownand tux. I’m a big Garnet/Rupphire stan and it was just great to see them embracethe queerness of the whole situation, and that it was love, something to becelebrated.

7. Has the show ever gotten an intense emotional reactionout of you? (ex - crying, fear, anger)

I’m crying right now about it, does that answer yourquestion?

8. Do you associate any songs with any characters in StevenUniverse?

I associate Can’t Hold Me by Emily King with Stevonnie becauseit was used in that episode, and I love Stevonnie.

9. Gush about your all-time favorite episode real quick.Just go on a long, rambling tangent about how much you love it. Do it. We’relistening.

For the series proper, it’s Reunited. I love that episode somuch and it makes me cry every time I watch it. Growing up I fell into the ‘notlike other girls’ phase because I was not interested in love and romance likeall my friends seemed to be, and I had no desire to go on dates with guys. Irealize now that I rejected these things because they didn’t fit me. I didn’t wantto be with a guy, and never saw myself in any of the traditional media. Ireally am a bit of a hopeless romantic though. Now that I am more confident inmyself, and understand my feelings better, I’ve really gotten to enjoy thispart of myself.

Ruby and Sapphire are the first couple I really got to experiencethis with, seeing them being cute and together and in love, and the wedding isthe accumulation of all of that. Getting to see these two women in love witheach other celebrate that love as the beautiful thing it truly is means theworld to me. After years of watching this show and growing with it, this episodewas the moment were I finally let go of all my self-hatred for being queer. I justknew in my soul that every hateful thing I had heard or been told about beingqueer was wrong, and that this was the truth, love was the truth. It wasn’tsomething instantaneous, it was something I had been working towards for years,but this episode marked the turning point for me.

10. Gush about your all-time favorite SU character realquick. Just go on a long, rambling tangent about how much you love them. Do it.We’re listening.

I already gushed about Ruby/Sapphire/Garnet a little, solets do Pearl. I just love how even after all she’s been through, she is stillsuch an independent spirit. I know her whole past with Pink/Rose wascomplicated but she still isn’t here to let anyone tell her what to do. She’ssmart, and creative, and resourceful, and goofy and she knows these things butshe also has a lot of self-doubt and seeks validation from others. I relate.But she worked through those things and is in a better state now. Even thoughshe still hurts and is still dealing with the trauma, she is so much better.

I also really relate to how she feels about loving someoneand them not feeling the same way/it not working out. As much as I love Rubyand Sapphire’s relationship, I also think I need Pearl. She defined herself forso long by her relationship but she is her own amazing person. Growing up, Isaw many messages about not letting a relationship with a boy define you. Butwhat about a relationship with a girl? I think there can be so much pressure toprove that you’re really gay by always being in that kind of relationship. ThatI’m not truly queer because of my lack of experiences with women. But that isn’ttrue. Being queer is a part of who I am and that doesn’t change just because Iam or am not in a relationship. My feelings can still be an important part ofme without having to define me by my relationship status, just like Pearl.

11. What fusions do you want to see in the show, and whowould you like them to be voiced by?

I would probably most like to see a fusion of Steven andLapis. Her only experience with fusion was her toxic relationship with Jasper.So I would really like her to have a positive experience with fusion, based ofthe friendship and love she and Steven have for each other. I have no idea whowould voice them though.

12. Which episode do you think has the best aesthetics?

I mean Steven’s fusion dance in Change Your Mind isabsolutely gorgeous. James Baxter ain’t a legend for nothing, and I’m gladRebecca held on to that favor from him. Just everything, Connie’s little walkback, the way White Diamonds eyes open, its all wonderful.

13. List any headcanons you have about any characters.

Pearl is in a happy polyamorous relationship with Bismuth,Volleyball, and Amethyst.

14. Favorite arc out of the show? Why?

The Wedding Arc for reasons I’ve already talked about above,but also Diamond Days because it was everything the whole series was buildingtowards. Just the whole message about how systems hurt people who are deemed ‘different’but that there is hope for a better future with compassion and love, and notbeing afraid to share your feelings is something I really needed.

15. Have you ever made any jokes based on the show? Whichones were the funniest?

So many. One of my most popular was this post from way backwhen in early 2016. 

Want a joke for the final? Maybe the real treasure insideRose’s chest was the friends we made along the way.

16. Most misleading episode summary of all time?

I know people freaked out about Rocknaldo because cartoonnetwork promoted it by advertising the appearance of a new gem. I mean, youcould argue technically it was true because Ronaldo made a gemsona, but that isdefinitely not what people took it to mean. I wasn’t really buying it though,cause the title was Rocknaldo. People hate on that episode and I think it’sbecause of the false advertising. It’s really funny though and has one of thebest jokes. “Rock people. They’re putting fluoride in the water supply- Whatthe-They hate men?!”

17. Has Steven Universe inspired any creative ideas ofyours?

I rewrote sleeping beauty but with lesbians because of thisshow. Does that count?

18. If you are a fanartist, which SU character is theeasiest for you to draw?

Not a fanartist, but Amethyst is the easiest for me to drawbecause she’s basically just circles.

19. If you are a fanartist, which SU character is thehardest for you to draw?

Maybe White Diamond, because she’s so detailed. Also, I strugglewith Pearl’s nose lol.

20. If you are a fanfic writer, which SU character is theeasiest for you to write?

Not really a fanfic writer, but Ruby and Sapphire maybebecause I’m gushy like that.

21. If you are a fanfic writer, which SU character is thehardest for you to write?

Jasper. I have a complicated relationship with her, but Iloved her in Future.

22. Have ever practiced voice acting using SU characters? Ifso, which character can you do the most successful impression of?

I don’t practice voice acting, but I do mimic lines from theshow. I think I sound most like White Diamond, hoo boy.

23. Have you ever sang along to SU songs? Which one is theeasiest for you to sing along to?

All the time, in the car, in the shower, around my house. Myfavorite is Here Comes a Thought, because it just helps me so much with myanxiety. The Tale of Steven and Let Us Adore You are definitely in the sweetspot of my vocal range though.

24. Have you ever imagined any of the human characters asgems?

Not really, I’ve more so imagined the gems as humans.

25. Are you big on AUs? Have you created anyyourself?

I like human gem AUs and college AUs.

[talesofstyles]

Baby Steps

Here we go babies; an unedited, short, messy piece of husband!harry and dad!harry. Actually I had no intention to write this since I was knee deep in the best friend!h piece that I’m currently working on, but of course @harrysdimplles had to slide into my inbox the other day and feed me dad!harry concepts and boom here we are. Hope you like it! Xx

"Should we go to the park now?" Harry asked you as he bounced your ten month old in his arm. The baby had just woken up from a nap after lunch so he was in a quite good mood.

"It’s almost his snack time." You answered as you reached your arms out for your baby and Harry shifted him into your arms, pressing a kiss on the side of his forehead as he did. Harry had to leave for work to NYC last week for four days and ever since he’d been back he’s been hogging the baby all for himself. You loved it because that means you got more free time. You got to sleep in and heck you could even drink your coffee while it’s still hot instead of reheating that poor mug in the microwave for four times, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need some baby cuddles here and there.

"We can bring the snacks and have a picnic there. He’ll love crawling around on the grass, yeah? The dog could use a walk too."

"Alright but you’re feeding him. He’s having compote de pomme et mûres and it’s gonna be messy without a high chair." You warned your husband.

Harry smiled and raised his hand up for a high five and your baby gave him one as he babbled happily. He’s been high fiving since he was only four months old and that milestone was probably the one you two most proud of as his parents. "You’ve got yourself a deal, my love." He grinned at you as he leaned in to take the baby again. "Should we change your nappy before we go, nipper? Don’t want a full nappy eh?"

"Say ‘no’, he’s been trying to shake his head every time he hears no but he couldn’t do it without shaking his whole body so it looks like he’s dancing instead." You chuckled. "Nipper, no." You shook your head for the baby to mimic you. "We don’t want a full nappy."

"Ah!" Harry gasped when your baby did it. "He did it! He did it! Oh my God! He shook his head!"

"He did! Good boy!" You leaned in to press a kiss on his cheek. "Alright, go change his nappy and I’ll pack his snacks."

"Don’t forget my snack!" Harry said as he climbed up the stairs to the baby’s nursery upstairs and this time you shook your head laughing at your husband.

You packed up the fruit purée that you and Harry made the day before and a petit suisse for your baby to eat after, along with a sippy cup full of water for your baby and a water bottle for you and Harry. As busy as your schedule could be, you always try to make your baby’s food from scratch instead of getting them from the shop and ever since your baby started solid food four months prior, it has been your Sunday activity making his food for the week and chuck them in the freezer for him to enjoy throughout the week. Long gone were those days of bar or club hopping in the weekends. But neither of you could complain because this was what you wanted to do all along. Topics about babies and settling down had never been a strange one to both of you since early on in your relationship. In fact, on your second date you nearly choked on a chip because Harry asked you out of the blue and casually you might add, "so, how many kids do you want?" You spent daydreaming about having your arms full of babies and now that you were getting there, it still felt surreal to you sometimes.

You put some grapes in a ziploc bag, along with some crackers and cheese because your husband—whom you swore made you feel like you’ve got two bloody bairns sometimes—could be arsey without a snack. As you were about to zip the bag, you heard a fit of giggles coming from the stairs, followed with foot steps coming closer to the kitchen. You looked up to see your boys and furrowed your brows when you realised he had changed the baby’s outfit as well.

"An outfit change in the middle of the day, huh." You raised your eyebrow. Although your baby looked insanely adorable in Rachel Riley’s white and red smocked outfit, that was way too fancy for an afternoon outing to the park. Not to mention the unnecesarry added laundry to your already high piles that you need to tackle later unless you want your family to ditch clothes altogether and live in your birthday suits just the way God intended.

"Hey if we’re going to take him out he’s gonna look his best." Harry insisted, sitting your baby down on top of the kitchen island whilst standing behind him. "’Sides, look at ‘im. He’s so cute in this."

"Of course. Mummy’s got great taste. Mummy knows other brands unlike daddy who’s such a Gucci hoe." You joked.

Harry gasped and covered your baby’s ears. "How dare you."

You burst in laughter as you took your baby in your arms and seeing you laugh made him laugh as well. "S’that funny?"

"You two are so mean." He pouted playfully.

"Alright Mister Pouts, go get your son’s coat. We need to go now if we want to feed him there. You know he gets cranky when he’s hungry." You reminded your husband as you pressed your lips onto your baby’s cheeks.

Harry smirked at you. "Ah, I know where he gets that from."

"Are you saying I get cranky when I’m hungry?"

"You threatened to set one of my suits on fire if I make you do a juice cleanse with me ever again, love."

"Oh! Piss off!" You laughed at your husband as you began walking to the front door with your ten month old on your hip. "What kind of husband only fed his wife liquid only a month after they got married?!"

"Well we had eaten like shit during our honeymoon so we needed that!" He giggled as he grabbed baby lad’s coat and put it on him before taking yours and helped you slip into them. "But of course you had to call your dad and told ‘im your new husband didn’t feed you. God I thought I was gonna die."

"Hey I didn’t call him! He called me." You stated.

"Potato, potahto." He rolled his eyes. "Alright, we’ve got everything?" Your husband checked as he unfolded the pushchair. He had already put Kingsley, the English Bulldog that you brought home just a week after you got engaged, on a leash as well.

You nodded before you put down baby lad in his pushchair and took the leash so Harry could push the pushchair.

"Let’s go!" Harry looked down at your baby before babbling at him in his obnoxious—but extremely adorable—high pitched baby voice. "Hey mate, are we gonna go to the park, yeah?"

You couldn’t help but giggle. "You’re such a dad when you talk like that."

"Well, I am a dad." He stated proudly. "The good kind I hope."

"You are." You reassured him.

He went on. "Am I though? I mean I’m away a lot, though not as much as I used to, I’m still away more than I like."

"Harry, you’re the best father I could ever ask for my child."

"Really?" He looked at you and you nodded. "Hang on, why are we getting soppy?"

"You started it!"

It was a weekday so the park wasn’t crowded. You walked around a bit looking for a spot before you settled underneath the tree, a little tucked away from the main pebbled road. You unleashed Kingsley so he could run around for a bit and Harry put the blanket down before taking the baby bag from underneath the buggy and placing it on the blanket.

"Ooh, my little love," you cooed baby lad as you took him out from the pushchair. "Should we eat now? Hmm? Look at that,"

"Hmm, it looks good, huh?" Harry took out the fruit purée from the bag. "Mummy and daddy made it just for you, nipper."

You put the baby on Harry’s lap so you could feed him. The baby was sat nicely, it was his father who couldn’t stop holding his hands and moving him around making some dance moves. "Stop wiggling around, you’re both wearing white and I don’t want to deal with blackberry stain."

"Jeez, you’re such a mum." He teased.

You rolled your eyes. "Well yeah you knocked me up."

"Aye, that I did." He cackled.

After you fed baby lad his snacks, Harry taught him to walk by holding his hands above his head, letting your baby set the pace and direction. The sight in front of you was really heartwarming.

"Where’s mummy? Should we walk to mummy?" He looked down to your baby and your baby flashed a grin, making the two bottom teeth and the newly popped two upper teeth that were responsible for your lack of sleep two weeks prior fully visible.

Harry had always been so good with little ones. You loved seeing him doting on his godchildren and right when you thought it wasn’t possible for you to adore him anymore even if you tried, baby lad came along and your love for him grew somehow.

After walking for a little while, baby lad got sick of it so Harry just let him go so he could crawl around. Harry sat next to you on the blanket, munching on some grapes as he tapped his lap to get baby lad’s attention.

"C’mere, mate! Look at what daddy’s got!" He said as he raised a stick of comté. The baby crawled faster as soon as he spotted the cheese.

"Look at how quick you’re crawling after cheese. A wee Frenchie you are, eh?"

You furrowed your brows looking at your husband. "How is he French?"

"Well, technically he’s not. But I’m sure he was made in Paris."

You rolled your eyes in response as your baby quickly climbed up onto your lap, but he was smart enough to snatch the comté from his daddy’s hand before he settled on your lap. He was munching on the cheese happily, giggling at the ridiculous faces that Harry pulled.

"Look at that!" Harry pointed to a tree. "That’s a tree, it’s green and tall and.... leafy."

You burst in laughter at his description but he went on. "And that," he pointed to the sky. "That’s the clouds. Daddy’s got a song called clouds but it’s got nothing to do with the clouds."

"Daddy’s got a lot of songs with misleading titles," you chimed in. "Kiwi? You would think that’s about the fruit."

You jerked away when Harry tried to pinch your nose in response to your joke. "Hey! I’m holding your son here."

You both laughed as Harry leaned closer. He looked like he was gonna kiss the top of the baby’s head so it caught you off guard when he pressed his lips onto yours instead.

"Cheeky sod."

[starsoverthehorizon]

Mod #5.5 – Enlightened Puella Mod

Now that my brain has stopped rattling around my head like an errant pinball and I’ve scraped some actual energy, it’s time to talk about Habboi’s latest mod!

I am, of course, being deliberately misleading.

This mod was posted December 29th, 2017, just after Mod #5 – White Tower Hell, and was only made public recently (May 2019)

The description is as follows:

To be Enlightened is to know everything but such knowledge can drive them to madness.

The brain swells to become a vessel but at the cost of the soul. Losing themselves, they give in to their origin, the urges of the Void and seek a selfish desire...

A curious little thing indeed but what becomes of a broken soul?

The very name of the mod answered some of my previous speculation.

This isn’t just any random schmuck. It’s Puella, fighting against the end of her dream.

I’d love to show you some pictures of this mod in action, but sadly, this is all I got:

My best guess is the mod works like the Puella Outfit mod used to—it’s a costume applied over whatever you’re wearing. But, the textures aren’t loading right due to changes in how the game works with costumes. So now it makes normal dyes invisible, and costumes look like… well, see above. Fun fact, it does the same to other players! Maybe. When I loaded the mod for the first time, the other player in the lobby was invisible, save for the hat. Didn’t get a screencap, unfortunately.

Habboi is aware and will be recooking it in the future, though for now it’s on the backburner until his current project is done.

When that happens, I’ll reblog this post with choice screencaps.

Discussion Let’s give this the same treatment as the Puella Outfit mod and take it line by line.

To be Enlightened is to know everything but such knowledge can drive them to madness.

To become Enlightened is to become one with God’s Dream, according to Ultra Silence. Even this mild contact with divinity is caustic to the normal human mind. Knowledge has its unfortunate price. This enhanced knowledge may be how the Founders knew of the Gold Piece and the methods of making it (if not, the idea that they were playing fast and loose with cosmic artefact is terrifying). Perhaps this knowledge also enlightened the leader of the Unenlightened as to the White Twilight.

The brain swells to become a vessel but at the cost of the soul.

This fragmentation of the self ties in with what we’ve seen in the Wet Hero Challenge, when Hat Kid is claimed to have a fragment of “her.” We know that Puella definitely ascended and fragmented, so based on only that it’s most likely that Hat Kid contains part of Puella. I’m still convinced that it’s Tempus in there, based on previous theories. We can’t say Tempus DIDN’T ascend.

I mean, this HAD to be Tempus… right?

All that aside, I believe the Enlightened vessel of Puella was the one to wander around Peaceful Tides and Eternal Madness.

With Puella looking like a lightbulb, this Unenlightened could determine that she was a byproduct of their plan to break the Enlightened from their dreams.

The use of “broken shell” points strongly to Puella’s fluorescent self being the one to plumb the depths, instead of the piece that would later become Hat Kid/Hat Sib.

So, technically correct? But say that again, you Dimbulb, and I WILL fight you (ง •̀_•́)ง

On a less amusing angle, the use of the word “brain” reminds me that Hat Kid shoved her entire head into someone’s brainpan. The thought makes me squeamish.

Losing themselves, they give in to their origin, the urges of the Void and seek a selfish desire...

As mentioned in Ultra Silence, the Enlightened seek to make the Choice again. An ultimately futile effort, since they cannot go back and cannot see their tower for what it really is. Tempus, too, was warped by the void, according to the Resting King. It might have been a similar madness that the Enlightened are afflicted with, or the work of the “dark master” the King references in Wet Hero Challenge (possibly the Old Enlightened, but potentially someone else).

A curious little thing indeed but what becomes of a broken soul?

What indeed?

[mysticsparklewings]

Lore Olympus (Mermaid Marker Test)‪

So my IRL friend introduced me to this AMAZING comic the other night, called "Lore Olympus," which is sort of a retelling of the Greek Myth of Persephone being kidnapped by Hades: www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lo… I read the whole thing in about two hours.   If you like Greek Mythology or even just rom-com comics with super pretty art styles, please go check it out and support it! It updates on Saturdays and is still on-going! So since my friend was fangirling, and then I was fangirling, and we had to wait a whole week for the new chapter/installment, I sketched up a piece of fanart of Persephone and Hades just looking at each other cutely, in outfits from a couple of later chapters. I didn't color it right away because I had just ordered the entire collection of 32 Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers off eBay (For $30 after a $10 off coupon, I might add; had I purchased the individual sets off of Amazon that same night it would've been about $60!) and I was half-waiting for them to come in, half testing my patience to see if I could wait or if I would just cave and color it with colored pencils or alcohol markers before then.  Luckily, I held out and they came in that Thursday. So I got to priming and swatching as quickly as possible! Calling them Mermaid "Markers" is a bit misleading; as they're essentially water brushes pre-filled with water-soluble ink. But I kind of understand why they're called that, as the "Mermaid" part insinuates their relationship with water, and they are more like markers that straight-up watercolors, in the sense that you don't technically need water to use them. Still, I think a more accurate name might've been helpful to people that have never heard of these before and have no idea what they're actually going to be like. Fortunately, I had seen these floating around and in a video before considering purchasing them, so I knew pretty much what I was getting, how to prep them, and what to do with them already, and at that point I wasn't even sure I'd want them. But after getting a set of Viviva watercolor sheets back in December and then the Arteza Woodless Watercolor pencils for my Birthday last month, the Mermaid Markers finally piqued my interest enough to want to buy them. I actually felt very lucky to find the eBay listing that I did, as $40 for the whole lot, in new condition (all the boxes still had their little round tapes intact and undisturbed, as well as their sealing rings, which I'll talk more about in a second) was already a great deal compared to buying the individual sets, before I even knew that I had the $10 coupon. Honestly, I was so sure someone was going to buy it before I had the funds, but luckily I was able to buckle down on some commissions and took the opportunity when it presented itself.   The only issue I had straight out of the box was that, for some reason, my "Byron Bay" in the 12 set is miraculously missing its label.  The best I can figure is it was just a factory oversight, as, like I said before, the boxes were still sealed and the sealing rings on each individual "marker," totally undisturbed, and there is no evidence there ever was one on the marker at all (no lingering bits of adhesive, etc.). It's not a huge deal as it was only one marker, the color names are all available online, and the solution is just as simple as either writing the name on the marker (which is what I've done for now) or printing out a new label. It'd be different if it had been multiple markers, making it difficult to tell which was which. It did take a little while to properly prime each marker; each one had a yellowy-green sealing ring between the screw-on brush tip and the squeezable ink cartridge that had to be removed and some gunk in the brush tip to preserve the shape during shipping, which you just gently wash off in water. And I will note here that it is important to make sure you screw the brush tip portion all the way back on! I had done quite a few and been left with a slight gap between the two sections before one went all the way down with less effort, so I had to go back and use a gripper like you would use to open jars to be able to turn the others the rest of the way down. I think this is important to mention because the one complaint I've seen over, and over, and over again in the Amazon Reviews is about them leaking, and I think in some (but not all) cases this might have been the problem! If one of them hadn't gone on with less effort, I wouldn't have known the difference! The other thing of note, the instructions/tips in each box specifically mention to store them with the brush tip up! Because I'm paranoid, I'm being extra cautious about this, but I suspect in a few cases this may have also been a problem causing leaks--as in people were storing them horizontally or with the brush tip down. I'm not a huge fan of the thin plastic boxes, but it's not a huge deal (as Copic markers use the exact same packaging). I think I would like to procure a case or stand to keep them all together in, though. I've been looking, but I want the case to naturally fit with keeping them upright and be able to sort them in whatever order I like. (Because I have to keep my art supplies organized or my entire world will fall apart). Now, when it comes to the drawing itself, I almost immediately ran into an issue with the line art. I didn't want to do just black, but the watercolor nature of the Mermaid Markers means that water-based ink will run when they touch. The only guaranteed water-proof liners I have are Copic multiliners in black or cobalt. That would've worked for Hades, but not Persephone. (The comic is very color-oriented for the character designs, so it just seemed more natural to do it this way; And besides, I use black lines all. the. time.) So I had to figure something else out. Originally, I tested both my Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils to see what water did to them (as I did plan on using a regular water brush with these to help with blending and stuff), and either one would've worked, as you had to be trying to pull the pigment out like I was to really get noticeable results, especially with the Polychromos, which are advertised as being water-resistant. I almost used them, but then I looked over and remembered: I have Dr. Ph Martin inks! In a variety of colors, that are supposed to be water-proof and lightfast (not that that means that much in this situation since most watercolors aren't lightfast anyway) when dry! So I got really crazy and broke out my dip pen and did the lines with that in red-violet, blue, and violet. Veeeeeeery carefully. Then I set it aside to dry for a couple of hours. (For the record, the red-violet lines are a couple shades darker IRL, the scan lightened them and seemingly them alone for some reason.) In hindsight, I might have done better to let it dry for a full 24+ hours. I say that because, while the ink was definitely dry enough to open and close the sketchbook with no issue, there were a few spots, particularly with the blue, that did bloat/bleed a little after I started going in with the Mermaid Markers and some water. Mind you, I wasn't like, drowning those spots with water or anything. Fortunately, I was able to sort of "push" and move the color around so that it didn't ruin anything. Beyond that, the pigment just willingly pulled out about as much as the colored pencils did when I was testing those, but that wasn't a huge issue since the characters are monochromatic and I was able to use it to my advantage. However, that definitely would've been an issue if I had lined with a color that didn't blend with the fill-in colors. So I will be more cautious of that sort of thing going forward. The Mermaid Markers themselves were actually kind of fun to work with, aside from the slight learning curve, since watercolors, in general, are mostly unfamiliar territory for me. The biggest issue I had was just trying to blend the right purple for the background, but that has more to do with my inexperience and the overall color selection. In general and just swatched out, the entire color collection of all 32 Mermaid Markers has a really interesting color family, with a number of shades that I think are fairly unique. (Or at least they seem unique to my eyes that are more familiar with color pencil palettes). The tradeoff is that there are some shades that are pretty, but might be a little "off" from the colors I'm used to working with. In this case, there is a muted lavender color called "Jellyfish" that I was using primarily to fill in the heart. However, it was a bit on the warm/pink side for my liking, including pairing with the "Deep Sea" darker purple, which was more of a neutral, maybe slightly blueish purple. It turned out okay with my attempts to "cool it down," but I still have some things to learn with watercolor, and until I really get the hang of it, I know the slightly unusual color choices with these might be a bit of a challenge to work through. The other thing is there are two "specialty" sets of the Mermaid Markers; one called "Celestial Sky" and one called "Shimmering Sky," which are metallic and glitter effects, respectively, and meant to be shaken up before use a bit like paint pens. The effects for both sets are really beautiful, I just wish there were more colors! There are only 4 of each; the Celestial Sky is more neutral/traditional metallic colors, and the Shimmering Sky colors are two pinkish and two blueish colors that look like they would pair well with the "Shipwrecked" set of 6. This isn't necessarily a bag thing--I want more colors of a product I like. I just thought I'd point it out while I was on the color thing. Still, they blended really nice and smoothly, and fortunately, they didn't argue too much with me when I made a mistake and tried to take some off/lighten it, etc.   Once I was done coloring, I obviously went back and did Persephone's little leaf crown and outlined the butterflies on either side of her head with gel pens. Surprisingly, the pens went over this noticeably easier than the Arteza Woodless Watercolor Pencils, which I found odd. I did have to do a bit of tapping, but I pretty much always expect that no matter what I'm working with. Not sure what to make of that.  (Though if I had to guess I suspect it had something to do with the fillers used in the pencils). I tried to use the glittery Mermaid Markers to give Hades a bit of pink blush and Persephone a bit of blue blush, but while Hades' worked out pretty okay, I think the blue was just too dark for Persephone as it didn't really blend out properly and, as you can see, to keep it from looking like she was bruised or I'd made a massive mistake, I ended up lifting most of it off entirely. But, at the very least, some of the glitter is still there so when you see it in the light it still sparkles a bit to tie in with the glittery gel pen I used for the crown. The only real thing I'm truly not happy about is that between the sketch and inking, Persephone's face slimmed down/got a little more angular than what I wanted. In the comic, she usually has a very round face to me. But it's not the end of the world; the art style is pretty fluid most of the time (which ends up adding to its charm and really lends itself to the characters' expressiveness) anyway, so drawing the characters "accurately" can only go so far, I think. (Compared to something where the characters are pretty much always 100% on-model, anyway). I think it did turn out very sweet though   And now if you'll excuse me, I'll be waiting with bated breath for the next chapter to go up.  The second-to-last one was a major plot doozy! ____ Artwork (c) me, MysticSparkleWings Lore Olympus & Characters belong to Rachel Smythe ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram 

[irlpinkiepie]

a house built on sand, chapter 5

a bnha fic

Dreams are fickle creatures.

Sometimes the most certain can fall apart at a moment’s notice, and sometimes, the most fantastic dreams have a chance of coming true.

Of course, that all depends on the dreamer.

[ao3]

Quick rundown. Breakfast, shower, get dressed. She had timed the train ride a few days before, and the earliest she could afford to leave for a 9:00 start was at 8:10, 8:12 if she ran. Look down. 6:28. That’s plenty of time.

As the dye soaked into her hair, Izuku sunk into her favorite habit. What is the exam going to be like? She knew there was some kind of practical component, so it probably had something to do with talent towards being a hero, but beyond that she was totally lost. Fighting villains was the most obvious choice, but villains didn't exactly operate on a schedule, and that would also technically be illegal since neither she nor any of her compatriots would be licensed heroes. Maybe some kind of quirk test? She sincerely hoped not, but she trusted All Might not to deliberately mislead her into false hopes. Unless he had as much of an idea as she did? She didn't want to think about that possibility.

7:31; hopefully that wouldn't hurt too much. Izuku closed her eyes as she rinsed out her hair in the sink, then opened them to look into the mirror. It wasn't perfect, to be sure; there were some waves of hue, and a couple of places where the roots still shone the same light brown as before, but she figured that would come with practice.

She stared into the bright green eyes of her reflection, and then smiled. She looked just like her mother.

Now, get everything else ready to leave. A jacket would probably be a good idea; Izuku grabbed one out of her closet and slid it on over her tank top. Shoes? A pair of white sneakers lay in a rack by the front door before she grabbed them and jumped into them. ID, railcard, and applicant forms were all set; she was practically bouncing at this point, desperate to hop on the train and not spend a single second more waiting.

So, not seeing any reason to stay, she called out a quick goodbye and dashed out the front door.

The train ride was a blur of expectation. The moment Izuku got on, she rushed straight to the back of the car and sat down in the corner, struggling to stay calm as the suburban scenery faded into cityscape. Unable to keep her mind wholly distracted, she took to scanning the car’s passengers, looking for other kids about her age who might be joining her for the entrance exam. A young girl with long, pointed ears poking out of her blue hair, sitting on the other side of the car; Izuku almost moved to say hi, but before she got the chance, the girl picked up her bag and got off a couple stops into the journey. Probably not, then.

A boy with golden blond hair, sitting by himself, but in a tuxedo and holding a briefcase? Doubtful.

Izuku was both relieved and disappointed to not see Katsuki anywhere on the train. There was something a little nerve-wracking about having to navigate such an important day on her own, but she had heard quite enough of his opinions regarding UA High, and she preferred her current uncertainty and nervousness to the contempt which that familiarity had bred.

That being said, she hoped to have a chance to talk to him after the exam; maybe once the pressure of school had been alleviated, he’d be in less of a sour mood.

When her stop was finally called, Izuku was the first one out of the door. School’s right around the corner. No sense in waiting after coming this far.

The sight that she beheld upon rounding the block and turning to her left was so much glorious than pictures could ever have done justice. Towers of glass rising high above the earth, the morning sun reflecting off the building bright enough she had to shade her eyes. A sparkling concrete wall encircling the premises, trees bursting up from behind its border whose leaves were just beginning to bud. And in the midst of it all, hanging gently over what Izuku could only assume was the front gate, was a plain white banner which read simply, “Exam day!”

A few minutes later, she managed to collect herself and walk through the entrance.

Cars are expensive, sure, and a big responsibility, but was being dropped off by Mom and Dad really necessary? It didn't seem dignified.

He was made for greatness, after all.

The school was bigger than his last, but that didn't hugely concern him. He knew there would be more students than in a local junior high, and besides, the school looked rich enough that some amount of this was just extravagance for the sake of it.

Take a look around, survey the competition. Almost everyone already went to the lobby already, he should probably join them, but who was this girl with green hair, wearing shorts in winter and just staring at everything? She seemed a little familiar …

Probably not important; he probably wouldn't see her again. Time to head inside.

Izuku was thrown from her taking in the scenery by the passing of a face she couldn't help but recognize. Katsuki.

She was glad he was okay, at least, but he didn't even say hi? Was the exam stress getting to him that much? She definitely still had a few more minutes before she had to go inside, so he couldn't have been in a rush…

Wait. The hair, the outfit - maybe he just didn't recognize her. She beamed thinking about that possibility.

Still, the inside of the campus was just as phenomenal as it looked from the outside. Despite the building’s apparently bureaucratic appearance, it was actually put together rather artistically; the glass blocks, when viewed separately, seemed almost as towers of a radiant castle. And the height! She could count up almost a dozen floors standing far away, but from this close all that Izuku could sense was just the sheer scale of the place, dominating everything else around it. Hopefully, at some point, she'd get used to this. If she got in. When she got in.

The pathways, too, seemed remarkably well-kept; Izuku knew this school had been around for half a century, but every single brick looked positively brand-new. Maybe there was someone on staff whose quirk related to repairs? That'd definitely make for a pretty useful hero in an emergency situation although the applicability of that sort of power would probably vary wildly so maybe that's why they would move towards an educational career so that they can more effectively benefit wait that pathway is getting closer really fast uh oh close your eyes--

But despite her panic, Izuku never hit the ground.

After a moment of stunned realization, she opened her eyes, and found her face inches away from the pavement - and staying there. She was flying, or, at least, she was floating. But why?

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry!” came a voice from behind her. “I didn't mean to scare you like that, I just saw you about to trip, and it felt like bad luck incoming! I had to do something. Here, spin around and grab my hand.”

Izuku reached out her left arm and gently pushed against the ground in an attempt to get herself at least a little bit further up. Face no longer pressed towards the path, she found herself being stood over by a girl with warm brown hair, holding out her arm and looking at her expectantly. Reaching out her own hand and grabbing on, Izuku felt herself being pulled weightlessly into a more or less upright position, before suddenly feeling the pull of gravity again as she fell the last couple of inches.

“My quirk is making things weightless,” the girl said, pulling a pink scarf down from her face and tucking it into the collar of her coat. “I know you’re not supposed to use them on people, but I hope you don’t mind too much.”

“O-oh, not at all!” Izuku stuttered in reply, not entirely sure how to react. “Thanks for the help.”

“Of course!” responded the brunette with a smile. “It’s like I said, I’d hate it if someone lost out ‘cause of feeling unlucky. I know it’s a bit silly,” she continued, stretching an arm behind her head, “but it can’t hurt. I’m Ochako, by the way.”

“Izuku.” There was something reassuring about Ochako’s presence, even if she couldn’t figure out what exactly.

“Should we get going? As beautiful as it is outside, it can probably wait until after the exam, don’t you think?” Ochako walked a couple of steps towards the door as she spoke, and then turned back to Izuku, motioning to follow.

She was still unsure of herself, but she didn’t have any doubts about this. Smiling back as best she could, Izuku followed her new friend through the school’s front doors.

“No, it���s actually rarer than you’d think,” Ochako said as the two of them found their way into the auditorium at the end of the hallways and arrow-labeled signs. “I was the only one from my school who applied. It’s like, self-selecting? Most of the people who wouldn’t get in don’t even bother going through the exam. Middle section alright?”

“Sure thing,” responded Izuku, as the two of them moved into the rows and set their sights on a pair of still-empty seats. They weren’t scheduled to start for a few minutes, but the seats were already filling close to the brim. “There seem to be a lot more people here than that, though,” she said gesturing to the room around her.

“Hm? There are a lot of junior high schools in Japan, you know.”

“Oh. Right.” For some reason, the idea that there were kids like her who had traveled across the country to chase the same dream had never occurred to her, but now that it had, her nervousness suddenly escalated far above what it had been all day. She had probably had more training, sure, but she wasn’t even the best in her class, let alone the entire country.

“Are you feeling okay?” Ochako said, and then her voice became static and swirled around her.

There wasn’t a single thing she had done to prepare herself for several hundred students who were all the best in their school, and now she was stuck and there was no way out and the walls and the students pushed closer and closer and a hand gently fell into her lap and she grabbed it as tight as she could and held on until the panic faded and the lights and sounds outside her returned to their sources and she followed the hand she held tight to its origin and looked up at her and smiled and said, simply, “Thank you.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright in the exam?” Gone was her previously cheery demeanor, replaced by an expression of worry.

“Yeah, I-I’m sorry.” Stay calm, don’t fret, just focus on what’s best possible. “I don’t really do well with uncertainty, and I was kind of thrown…”

Ochako nodded, a faint smile returning to her face. “Well, if it helps at all, orientation’s just about to start; should be any minute now.” Sure enough, Izuku looked down at her watch and saw the faint glow of an 8:59 screen, which she stared at expectantly waiting for the next change in time.

Just before it had the chance, though, it was interrupted by a hum of speaker static coming from the front of the auditorium, followed by an almost ear-splitting amplified voice echoing through the room which said only the words “EVERYBODY READY?” And with that, the lights dimmed, a projector shone onto the back wall, and a young man dressed in all black leather sauntered on stage, blond hair gelled back to a point.

Present Mic.

UA graduate of ‘38, top 10 in popularity polls for the first five years of his career, billions of yen earned lifetime, and now, it seemed, high school teacher. Honestly, as far as career paths went, Izuku didn’t think that one was so bad. She wasn’t sure how much he really needed a microphone given his quirk, though.

Still, as much time as she had spent with All Might, there was still something amazing about seeing a professional hero standing right in front of her and talking directly to her, especially one whose radio show she still listened to on a nightly basis.

“Welcome, everyone, to the first day of what will hopefully be a long and happy three years of study at UA High School! That is, of course, if you can pass the entrance exam! LET’S GET THINGS STARTED!” The projector, which previously displayed a blank white screen, now had additional lettering: plain black type which read ‘Entrance Exam Details’, and below that, in a smaller font, the words ‘By Hizashi Yamada’.

“So!” Present Mic continued, still excitedly shouting every word. “There is a written exam too, and that’ll be in a few days or so, but there’s nothing EXCITING about that! You kids signed up here ‘cause you wanted to be heroes! So let’s see if you can!”

He threw his arms out and yelled, “CURTAINS PLEASE!” At that, the title card behind him faded, replacing itself with what looked like a… video game screen? Complete with tinny music playing through the speakers.

Well, he seemed excited, even if the rest of the room was silent.

“Your test is gonna be fighting villains! Robot villains! Lots of them!” Pixelated figures materialized on the board, and were those Mario enemies? On second thought, this was clearly going to be weird; Izuku figured it would be better to just accept it. Each of the figures was labeled with a different number, and a similarly-styled Present Mic appeared and started wandering around the virtual city.

“Three types of robots! Each one’s worth a different number of points - try to get as many as you can in ten minutes! Don’t get killed!” Wait, how dangerous was this going to be? No, that was probably just a joke. Maybe. His shouting every word didn’t exactly make the tone of his words clear, as much as it was still a delight to listen to.

“Excuse me, sir!” Another voice rang out from the audience; Izuku was amazed that anyone managed to find room to get a word in edgewise. She looked to find the source of the interruption, and traced it to a boy sitting near the front, standing perfectly straight in his school uniform and raising his hand high in the air. Astonishingly, Present Mic noticed him too, and stopped his speech to respond, “Yes? What’s the matter?”

“You mentioned there being only three types of opponent,” the boy said bluntly, pushing his glasses to his face, “and yet the diagram you provided shows four plus yourself. Is this a problem with your speech, or with the presentation?”

“Worry not!” Present Mic responded before spinning back behind the podium and dramatically stretching out his arms again. “That’s just what I was about to mention! The mid-round game changer! Zero point robot! Just don’t get in its way!”

All in all, this ‘test’ seemed bizarre at best. They were just going to be set loose on a bunch of fake villains? But presumably still dangerous villains, otherwise the test wouldn’t be very useful, but also not too dangerous villains, since she hadn’t heard about any previous children killed by an entrance exam. She turned to Ochako making a confused face, and received only a shrug in response.

“Check your forms for your exam center! Buses leave outside in 20 minutes, so get ready! Break a leg! PLUS ULTRA!” Shouting his final words loud enough to put Izuku’s hair on end, he stood back and bowed as the screen faded to black. Izuku, for her own part, managed a couple enthusiastic claps before realizing that the rest of the room failed to share her sentiment.

The two of them both perused their sheets before finding a small, capital letter ‘B’ in the bottom right corner.

“Well… good luck, I guess,” Izuku said hesitantly. She wasn’t sure how she felt about having people she knew watching her during the exam, even if only indirectly, but she gave a thumbs up regardless.

“Thanks! You too.” Ochako blinked a couple of times before nodding and offering a faint smile alongside her words.

As the two of them filed out of the auditorium along with the rest of the students, neither said another word.

The bus ride was surprisingly short, and Katsuki was nowhere to be seen. Cherish blessings as they come.

This current situation, though, was nothing short of confounding. Izuku really wasn’t expecting to be blown away by architecture twice in one day, but it seemed like the school really had built enclosed cityscapes out in the middle of the countryside, and she could see the peak of a skyscraper rising out above the sheer metal wall in front of her. Seven buses outside before she left probably meant that there were seven of these, and if there was any damage to the interiors, they would have to be rebuilt every single year. Everything she had learned that day shocked her.

Looking around, she saw Ochako again - no longer dressed in winter gear, but instead sporting a light blue jacket and tracksuit. She must have gotten changed before getting on the buses, then - that would explain why she had left and Izuku hadn’t spotted her again until now. It felt wrong to leave the situation between the two of them unresolved, though, and she wanted to make sure her words had been taken sincerely. She only managed a single step in her direction, though, before her path was blocked by the straightened arm of another student.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” the boy stopping her said sternly. Izuku was surprised to see the same boy who had interrupted Present Mic’s speech standing in front of her. At this rate, it was more surprising that Katsuki wasn’t there with her.

“That girl over there is clearly trying to concentrate. It would be extremely inappropriate for you to interfere with your competitors in such a manner, and I ask that you please refrain.”

“I-- uh… okay.” No point in arguing; even in what was presumably a school P.E. uniform, he was still somewhat of a presence. Izuku gently backed up and walked off in a different direction as quickly as she could.

Wanting to avoid thinking about that awkwardness, Izuku decided to take a moment to strategize. While she hadn’t technically done it before, there was nothing about fighting robotic opponents that seemed noticeably different from human opponents with quirks, and she had been taught by the best how to do that. It was just a matter of being resourceful and thinking quickly, and with only three types of robots to contend with, it shouldn’t be tricky to get a feeling of how to defeat them all.

How would points be assigned for collaborative efforts, though? She didn’t really want to take any risks, so she should probably head out on her own and hope not to run into anyone. That being said, she wasn’t on the best of terms with the two students she had actually spoken to already, and not really being sure how much time there was before the exam actually started, trying to collaborate at this point seemed like a fool’s errand. Seeing the other students all standing apart silently in front of the open gate, she doubted anyone would even wait the gate was open.

Did that mean the test had started? No one else seemed to have noticed, and the worst that could happen is that she would be pulled out and have to start with everyone else. Besides, a head start was a tempting offer.

Just as she was about to cross the threshold into the artificial city, she heard the crackle of a loudspeaker, and nearly panicked before she heard its message: the voice of Present Mic angrily shouting, “Well, what are you waiting for? No countdowns in battle!” At that, the people behind her perked up and started running, so Izuku took that as a sign to do the same. Pulling off at the first corner and making sure no one had followed her, she wandered into the city looking for enemies, and it wasn’t long until she found one.

Never had Izuku been more glad to have accidentally left a screwdriver in her pocket. With as many electrical appliances as she had dismantled over the course of her beach training, there was often a temptation to hate its presence, but right now she couldn’t be more grateful.

The android standing in front of her had large shields over its arms, each emblazoned with the numeral “1”. Mutator-type quirk, she thought. Tackle the weak points, manipulate the mutation. Seeing the arms about to come down at her, she dodged out of the way, and then ran behind her opponent and held on tight to its back. A loose plate became looser, and a couple of wires were knocked from their slots, and the robot she was grabbing lost power and fell to the floor.

Izuku sat down for a moment to catch her breath. The moment she had stepped through the gate to the city, she had felt slightly uneasy, and that encounter had amplified that feeling to distress. Not panic, fortunately, but enough to start making her feel sick.

As soon as she could, though, she picked herself back up and kept moving. She wasn’t sure what a winning score was, but something told her that a single point would not suffice.

Walking through the cityscape was an oddly surreal experience. So many of the side alleys and narrow roads reminded her of her own home city - was that deliberate? - but for every familiar doorstep and street corner, there was a pristine concrete wall or row of darkened windows that reminded her that her surroundings were artificial. Given more time to ponder, Izuku would have wandered for days; as it was, though, her observations were minor distractions as she ran by on a quest to defeat more enemies.

When the loudspeaker rang out with a five-minute warning before she had increased her score any further, though, she realized that she was going to have to adopt a different strategy.

Concentrate. The simulation is likely to be accurate. Real villains don’t attack randomly, they attack population centers. Going right to the most open areas would probably mean competition from other students, but the access routes would probably be effective targets, as well as blocking off the other students. Plus, this was just a simulation, but there was something that seemed wrong about attacking villains in places where others could be endangered.

She listened out for the sound of commotion and followed it as best she could, but when another one-point robot crossed her path, panic suffused through her body and overrode her previous ability to fight back. When the metallic arm swung down towards her, she tried desperately to run away, but her legs were frozen in place, and she could only squeeze her eyelids shut and fret.

She wasn ’t entirely happy with how this whole situation played out, but at the halfway things seemed to be looking up. Her quirk was starting to wear her out, though; thankfully, this wasn’t an extended fight, so she could go home and rest afterward. For now, though? All out; there was something so oddly satisfying about the process of tagging the robots, pushing them into the air, and letting them fall to the ground, and she couldn’t help but smile every time she heard a crash behind her. The latest set had brought her up to a clean thirty.

While she had seen other students around, none of them ever tried to mess with her, though she couldn ’t count on that staying true as the number of robots dwindled. She was going to have to act.

A loud whirring noise sounded a couple of streets down; with any luck, she ’d be the first one to it.

Izuku opened her eyes to see the robot still in front of her, swinging wild strokes with its shield arms, not a single one in danger of hitting her. Curious, she stepped forward into their path, and the robot in its turn rolled back so that its attacks were still out of range.

The robots were never going to hurt them. This test was completely safe.

That realization now under her belt, she took to disabling the second robot in the same manner as the first, and it quickly fell down to the ground with a clatter. Not having to worry about staying safe, this test would become a cinch. Izuku rushed off towards the city center, the few remaining enemies in her path tumbling harmlessly as she passed them and deactivated them.

People talk all the time about missing the forest for the trees, but no one ever mentions missing the collapsing building for the giant robot knocking it down. Funny, that.

While she had managed to avoid most of the debris, the impact from what remained was enough to knock the wind out of her, and she doubted she ’d be able to clear all of it with her quirk right away. Still, she felt like she had a decent lead, and once the exam was over they’d come and rescue her.

As much as she wanted to focus on silver linings, she was still drowning in steel.

Izuku’s forward progress was halted by a sudden, loud whirring off in the distance. She hadn’t actually seen any three-point robots still intact, and the idea of a burst of extra points was too appealing to pass up on, even if it was some distance away. She made a dash for the sound’s origin, then stopped cold when a couple of blocks later, she found it.

Stay calm. Focus. Don’t worry. This was probably the zero point robot. If it was anything like the other robots, it wasn’t allowed to actually hurt any of the students.

Mixed in with the sea of debris in front of her was a familiar light blue.

It wouldn’t hurt them unless it didn’t know that they were there.

Her view to the outside was limited, but there was nothing comforting about seeing a sea of people running from the place where she was fixed. Baffling, though, was seeing this and noticing a single person heading towards her.

Only one thing to do. Dig as fast as you can. Her life depends on it.

The roaring motors grew louder by the second, but it felt as though the weight on her shoulders was lifting.

Reaching out a hand to Ochako’s now excavated body, she saw the hand in front of her and grabbed on, but no matter how hard she pulled, the rest of the debris still weighed down on her body, and she felt her body lighten as her control over her power began to waver and Izuku was floating.

“I’ll save you,” she whispered, and then pressed off the ground and flew into the air.

A rising, followed by a crashing.

The joint at the robot’s neck was crucially weak. A single, impulsive punch sent it flying backwards, as she did the same from the now lifeless robot.

She smiled, and then closed her eyes.

In the rush of the moment, she failed to notice that the pull of gravity had returned to her body.

A falling, followed by a landing.

Izuku and Ochako were both barely, luckily, alive.

[lilacsolanum]

Animorphs October: Shopping

Elfangor had been on Earth with Loren for three days. The entire time, he’d been in her basement, because there weren’t a lot of other places Elfangor could be. He was a sort of blue color that stood out more than a little, he looked not unlike a horse, and he had eyes on antennas. They couldn’t exactly catch the latest Steve Martin film. Elfangor desperately needed a human morph, and quickly. 

He wasn’t doing very well confined in Loren’s basement, and Loren was having a hard time keeping the rest of her family away (not that it really mattered. Her siblings were never home, her mom didn’t really leave the kitchen, and all Elfangor had to do with if Loren’s father saw him was knock him out with the flat of his tail blade. Her father was not the sort of guy to admit he’d seen an alien and was immediately bested by it in his own home. He was the sort of guy who would take that confusion and anger out on Loren’s mother, and Loren was desperately trying to avoid that.)

It was all far, far easier said than done, seeing how Elfangor needed to physically touch someone in order to acquire them. Loren had been driving herself mad trying to come up with some plan that allowed Elfangor out in public, all while Elfangor fell deeper into what could easily become a terrifying sort of boredom.

The closest thing to a start was to talk to her hopelessly nerdy friend Derek. He was her go-to science lab parter in school. He wasn’t popular with anyone else, but Loren found him endearing, and he would do all the projects himself and score the both of them an A. She gave him a phone call under the pretense of catching up, and they went out for lunch. She figured if she could tell anyone that she had an alien in her basement, she could tell Derek. In the end, she didn’t have to admit anything to Derek. He’d given her a much, much better idea about where to find Elfangor a human morph.

Loren ran downstairs to the basement, holding the family cat to her chest. “It’s me,” she called out. Elfangor stepped out from behind some abandoned boxes they’d arranged to hide him. He didn’t say anything to her. He had been talking less and less.

Loren thrust the cat out to him. “Can you morph him?” she asked.

Elfangor eyed the cat warily. <Of course,> he said.

“Then do it,” she said.

Ten minutes later, Elfangor was a cat, locked inside a pet carrier and buckled into the passenger seat of Loren’s father’s ‘76 Hyundai. She’d driven her mom around a few times without incident when she was younger, and she figured she’d be fine on the road even if she’d technically didn’t have her license. Sometimes, it paid to have a really fucked up family.

<I do not understand the point of this,> said Elfangor, who was curled up into a perfect little cat-ball.

“It’s not like you can fit into the car otherwise,” said Loren. She flipped the radio on, tuning it to the local top 40 station. Chic’s Le Freak exploded from the speaker. Loren started tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.

<I could have acquired you,> said Elfangor haughtily.

Loren laughed. “People would notice if there were two mes around. It doesn’t work that way.”

<Do not mislead me,> said Elfangor. <I have done nothing but study Earth through the backwards device you call a television. I watched a dramatic recreation of a story called The Parent Trap, and I am aware of the concept of twins. If we are driving out of town like you said, would people be aware you have a twin?>

Loren paused for a minute. “Oh,” she said. “Well, whatever. You’re a cat now.”

Elfangor hissed, and Loren laughed.

Three hours and one remorph later, Loren arrived at her destination. It was a hotel, nondescript if not for the people wandering around in wildly outlandish outfits.

“Okay,” she said, keeping her voice low so that no one would hear her talk to her cat, “We’re going to run to the bathroom, and then you’re going to demorph, and then we’re just going to sort of. Walk around.”

<In public?> asked Elfangor, shocked.

“Yes,” said Loren firmly. “Tell me, have you encountered any science fiction on the TV? Star Trek? The Jetsons? Land Of The Lost?”

<I have seen the dramatic recreation Mork and Mindy,> said Elfangor. <I have so many questions. To begin —>

“We’ll sort through that later,” she said smoothly. “But the idea that humans imagine a fake version of space, you understand that part, right?”

Elfangor considered for a long moment. <Honestly? Not entirely.>

“Doesn’t matter,” Loren said, opening the car door and unbuckling Elfangor.  “Basically? People who really dig sci fi like to hang out together and talk about sci fi. Some of them dress up, get it?”

<I do not ‘get it,’> said Elfangor, sounding irritated. <I am more confused than ever.>

“Just — don’t talk to anyone but me. That’s going to be the one thing I can’t explain away,” said Loren. “Oh, and don’t move your tail or stalk eyes if you can help it. Try to keep your tail down low, as if there’s no way to hold it up. Drag it on the floor, even.”

<Do you hate my dignity?> asked Elfangor. <Why are you taking so much away from me?>

Loren just shushed him.

They were soon walking side by side through the sci fi convention. Loren’s shoulders were back and she was standing tall. She was soaking in the attention. Sure, she hadn’t exactly constructed Elfangor’s ‘costume’, but it was the most beautiful and elaborate costume by far. It didn’t matter if she cheated a little by pulling in an actual alien from outer space, a win was a win.

People started gathering around them, mouths open, eyes wide.

“Who are you supposed to be?” said someone who was painted blue. Loren appraised her. Elfangor had explained the whole process to her, that he could acquire a couple of people and make a new person out of the combined DNA so no one would be duplicated. She’d checked to see if he could acquire women and still end up a guy, and this girl had really, really nice legs.

“It’s a series called Andalite,” said Loren. “It’s pretty obscure. It’s from Japan.”

The woman nodded in understanding. Privately to Loren, Elfangor said, <I am so lost and confused that I have crossed the border into terrified.>

“Yeah, it’s this whole series about staying calm and trusting people,” said Loren loudly. “Hey, listen, my friend here is, uh, Japanese. Doesn’t speak a lick of English. But he really enjoys, um, handshakes? Can you shake his hand? You understand about American handshakes from TV, right Elfa- … Alan … Fangor?”

<I do,> said Elfangor to Loren. <My hands are quite sensitive, however, so I would prefer->

“Wait, does he understand English?” said the blue woman.

“It’s complicated,” said Loren. She looked at Elfangor. “Just shake her hand, okay? Because when you shake her hand, then you can, you know. Shake her hand.”

The blue woman seemed weirded out, but she still reluctantly offered up her hand. Elfangor took it and didn’t shake it, so much as he moved his elbow back and forth while making the least contact with her as he could. The blue woman went slack. Elfangor looked at Loren with his main eyes.

<It is done,> said Elfangor.

“I want to shake his hand!” said a guy from the crowd that was forming around them. Loren looked him over. He had an unnervingly circular sort of face, as if he were less of a human and more like a pumpkin on a dummy.

“Nyah,” she said. She pointed to a blonde boy in a Star Trek uniform. “You, though. Come here.”

An hour and seven people later, Elfangor became Alan Fangor for the first time. He was tall and willowy, with the sort of deep brown eyes that had always made Loren melt. They were offset by a beautifully curly mass of pale gold hair. She grinned.

“I can’t believe I just got to go shopping for my perfect guy,” said Loren.

“I’m an attractive human?” asked Elfangor, sounding surprised. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and then inclined his head as he considered the sensation. “Having a mouth is strange.”

“Let me show you what to do with it,” said Loren, and she did.

[bountyofbeads]

‘Chaos Is the Point’: Russian Hackers and Trolls Grow Stealthier in 2020 https://nyti.ms/2uyBXkF

"Facebook, the most important digital platform for political ads, also made it clear this week that it would not police political messaging for lies or misleading claims." ..."Millions of Americans are still primed to swallow fake news." These two statements pretty much sum up why foreign hackers will continue to be successful in influencing our elections. By choosing to focus on technical hacker strategies over educating voters or dialing down the political climate where truth is malleable, little our leaders can do will affect election outcomes. The real danger of election-day meddling remains what Putin and Company achieved in 2016: exploitation of America's poisoned politics and the election of a president with hardcore followers for whom "truth" is whatever he says it is.

Two-thirds of the companies that supply critical components for voting machines maintain offices in Russia and China, where foreign companies are regularly required to give security officials sensitive technical information, including software code Where is the outrage ? Don't we have companies in the US who can do this? This is not something that should be outsourced.

‘Chaos Is the Point’: Russian Hackers and Trolls Grow Stealthier in 2020

By Matthew Rosenberg, Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger | Published Jan. 10, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ET | New York Times | Posted January 10, 2020 |

The National Security Agency and its British counterpart issued an unusual warning in October: The Russians were back and growing stealthier.

Groups linked to Russia’s intelligence agencies, they noted, had recently been uncovered boring into the network of an elite Iranian hacking unit and attacking governments and private companies in the Middle East and Britain — hoping Tehran would be blamed for the havoc.

For federal and state officials charged with readying defenses for the 2020 election, it was a clear message that the next cyberwar was not going to be like the last. The landscape is evolving, and the piggybacking on Iranian networks was an example of what America’s election-security officials and experts face as the United States enters what is shaping up to be an ugly campaign season marred by hacking and disinformation.

American defenses have vastly improved in the four years since Russian hackers and trolls mounted a broad campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election. Facebook is looking for threats it barely knew existed in 2016, such as fake ads paid for in rubles and self-proclaimed Texas secessionists logging in from St. Petersburg. Voting officials are learning about bots, ransomware and other vectors of digital mischief. Military officials are considering whether to embrace information warfare and retaliate against election interference by hacking senior Russian officials and leaking their personal emails or financial information.

Yet interviews with dozens of officials and experts make clear that many of the vulnerabilities exploited by Moscow in 2016 remain. Most political campaigns are unwilling to spend what it takes to set up effective cyberdefenses. Millions of Americans are still primed to swallow fake news. And those charged with protecting American elections face the same central challenge they did four years ago: to spot and head off any attack before it can disrupt voting or sow doubts about the outcome. It is a task made even more difficult by new threats to the election from other American rivals, such as Iran, which has more motive than ever to interfere in 2020 after a drone strike killed its top security and intelligence commander last week in Iraq.

The Russians were sloppy in 2016 because they could be: They caught Americans off guard. Now hackers and trolls, who have seen their tradecraft splashed across the pages of American intelligence assessments  and federal indictments, are working far harder to cover their tracks. They are, as one American intelligence official put it, “refreshing” their operations.

One of the two Russian intelligence units that hacked the Democrats in 2016, known as “Fancy Bear,” has shifted some of its work to servers based in the United States in an apparent attempt to thwart the N.S.A. and other American spy agencies, which are limited by law to operating abroad, according to federal officials tracking the moves. The other unit, known as “Cozy Bear,” abandoned its hacking infrastructure six months ago and has dropped off the radar, security analysts said.

The trolls at the Internet Research Agency — the now-indicted outfit behind much of the Russian disinformation spread in 2016 — have ditched email accounts that were being tracked by Western intelligence agencies and moved to encrypted communication tools, like ProtonMail, that are much harder to trace. They are also trying to exploit a hole in Facebook’s ban on foreigners buying political ads, paying American users to hand over personal pages and setting up offshore bank accounts to cover their financial tracks, said an official and a security expert at a prominent tech company.

At the Department of Homeland Security, there is renewed anxiety about a spate of ransomware attacks on American towns and cities over the last year. The attacks, officials say, revealed gaping security holes that could be exploited by those looking to disrupt voting by locking up and ransoming voter rolls or simply cutting power at critical polling centers on Election Day. And while large-scale hacking of voting machines is difficult, it is by no means impossible.

There are also weak points up and down the long chain of websites and databases used to tally and report votes, officials said. Run by states or counties, the systems that stitch together reports from thousands of polling centers are a hodgepodge of new and old technologies, many with spotty security.

With the first primaries just weeks away, officials are keeping a watchful eye for hints about what to expect come November. The widespread expectation is that hackers, who may have only a single shot at exploiting a particular bug or vulnerability, will wait until the general election rather than risk wasting it on a primary.

Some of the meddling is homegrown. Americans have been exposed spinning up fake websites for Democratic  front-runners and paying Macedonians to promote divisive political views. Facebook, the most important digital platform for political ads, also made it clear this week that it would not police political messaging for lies or misleading claims.

With Americans so mistrustful of one another, and of the political process, the fear of hacking could be as dangerous as an actual cyberattack — especially if the election is close, as expected. That is what happened last November in Kentucky, when talk of a rigged election spread online after it became clear that the governor’s race would come down to the wire.

“You don’t actually have to breach an election system in order to create the public impression that you have,” said Laura Rosenberger, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, which tracks Russian disinformation efforts.

“Chaos is the point,” she added. “You can imagine many different scenarios.”

Still, officials say, the deepest challenges come from abroad. Iran, under harsh sanctions that were not in place four years ago, nosed around the election system in 2018. More recently, Iranian hackers have been caught trying to compromise President Trump’s campaign and impersonating American political candidates on Twitter.

For his part, Mr. Trump has already warned North Korea against “interference,” though he appeared to be referring to missile launches meant to embarrass him.

The president has shown far less concern about Russian interference. He has repeatedly questioned the idea that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election, viewing such talk as a challenge to his legitimacy. In his zeal to find another culprit, Mr. Trump eagerly embraced a Russian-backed conspiracy theory that shifted the blame to Ukraine, and set in motion the events that led to his impeachment.

American officials, however, are nearly unanimous in the conclusion that Russia interfered in 2016, and that it remains the greatest threat in 2020. Unlike other countries, which are seen as eager to influence American policy, Russia appears, above all, to be interested in undermining confidence in America’s democratic institutions, starting with the voting process.

Then and now, officials and experts said, the Russians and others could bank on one constant: America’s partisan divide, which engenders deep cynicism among Democrats and Republicans alike.

“Our adversaries, including Russia, China, Iran and others, are persistent: They focus on our politics and try to take advantage of existing fissures and American sentiment, particularly if it may weaken us,” said Shelby Pierson, who monitors election threats at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“They’ll try many tactics and can adapt,” she added. “If it doesn’t work out, they try something else.”

DIGITAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT

In the public imagination, the defining elements of Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election were disinformation and the hacking of Democratic Party emails. But as they look to 2020, many election security officials and experts say the most worrying piece of the Russian meddling was the hacking of state election systems.

Election systems in all 50 states were targets of Russian hackers in 2016, though voting went smoothly in most places. In the estimation of many officials and experts, the effort was probably a trial run meant to probe American defenses and identify weaknesses in the vast back-end apparatus — voter-registration operations, state and local election databases, electronic poll books and other equipment — through which American elections are run.

One expert told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia was “conducting the reconnaissance to do the network mapping, to do the topology mapping, so that you could actually understand the network, establish a presence so you could come back later and actually execute an operation.”

Of particular concern is the Russians’ hacking of three companies that provide states with the back-end systems that have increasingly replaced the thick binders of paper used to verify voters’ identities and registration status.

Current and former officials say American intelligence agencies determined in 2017 that the companies’ systems had been penetrated. But officials still cannot say how far the hackers got or whether any data was stolen or corrupted.

The companies operate without federal oversight — it is states, after all, that run American elections, yet most lack the resources or expertise to oversee what are essentially tech firms. As a result, little is known about the companies’ security, employee requirements or supply-chain practices, experts said.

One of the targeted companies, VR Systems, provided e-poll books to Durham County, N.C., where  malfunctions with the electronic systems in 2016 led to scores of voters’ being told incorrectly that they had already cast ballots or were ineligible to vote.

Though officials declassified a report in recent weeks that showed configuration errors, not an attack, were to blame for the problems in Durham, experts say the Election Day chaos there highlighted the risk of an attack or ordinary malfunction that blocks voters from casting their votes in swing states.

The rise of ransomware — which typically locks a system until victims pay the attackers in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin — has given another weapon to attackers looking to sow chaos and digitally disenfranchise voters.

American cities and towns faced a record number of ransomware attacks last year, with more than 100 federal, state and municipal governments hit.

Homeland Security officials are investigating whether Russian intelligence was involved in any of the attacks, according to two department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. They are looking into whether cybercriminals, who appeared to be motivated by greed, were used as decoys to test the defenses of states and cities that might make ideal targets closer to the election. Among the towns hit hardest by ransomware last year was Riviera Beach, Fla., in Palm Beach County — which played an outsize role in deciding the contested 2000 presidential election.

PRESIDENT BENEDICT ARNOLD

In the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election, there was an intense focus on America’s voting machines, particularly the pricey touch-screen devices that lack the paper trail necessary to audit random samples of the tallies or conduct a reliable — if slow — manual recount.

Yet many machines remain vulnerable, as J. Alex Halderman, a professor at the University of Michigan, often demonstrates when he runs fake elections between George Washington and Benedict Arnold, and manipulates the software that prepares the ballots to assure a victory for America’s most famous traitor.

“In every single case, we found ways for attackers to sabotage machines and to steal votes,” he told the Senate Intelligence Committee, describing his research.

A study published in December by Interos, a risk-management firm, raised questions about the security of the hardware used in the machines, as well. Two-thirds of the companies that supply critical components for voting machines maintain offices in Russia and China, where foreign companies are regularly required to give security officials sensitive technical information, including software code in some cases. Chinese-owned companies make about a fifth of the voting machine components.

Each of those parts presents an opportunity for foreign interference. “There has been insufficient attention to the potential problems of the actual voting machines being hacked,” said David Dill, founder of the Verified Voting Foundation.

Come November, eight or so states will still be without full paper backup. These include battleground states, like Pennsylvania, that are out of funds to replace paperless machines.

BAITING OUTRAGE

Much as 20th-century militaries learned to combine soldiers, sea power and airplanes to mount a coordinated assault, Russia has proved adept at meddling in elections by blending different types of digital malfeasance into one larger operation. The 2016 election exemplified the playbook: Russian hackers stole sensitive material, starting with Democratic Party emails, then used trolls to spread and spin the material, and built an echo chamber to widen its effect.

Now, as the next election approaches, hackers appear to be laying the groundwork for a repeat. But this time they are employing techniques that are more sophisticated — and dangerous — in their attempts to steal potentially embarrassing material from political campaigns.

Security experts say they are witnessing a significant ramp-up in attempts to hack Democratic front-runners. In just the last two months, there were roughly a thousand phishing attempts against each of the leading Democratic candidates, according to Area 1, a Silicon Valley security firm, which did not name the candidates.

Most were attempts to replicate the 2016 hack of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, who was successfully baited into turning over his email credentials, said Oren Falkowitz, Area 1’s chief executive. But in about a fifth of the attacks, hackers compromised the accounts of campaign consultants and affiliates, and used those to send malicious lures to people inside the campaign. It is an extra step for hackers, but individuals are softer targets than the campaign, and people are far more likely to click on a link if they know the sender.

An episode during the run-up to Britain’s recent parliamentary election highlighted the potential, but also the limits, of disinformation campaigns based on real information.

In November, an anonymous Reddit user — who has since been linked to a wide-ranging Russian disinformation campaign — posted internal British government documents that detailed preliminary talks with the United States on a trade deal. Though the post did not gain much attention initially, it eventually made its way to the opposition Labour party, which said it offered proof that the Conservatives, if re-elected, planned to privatize the National Health Service as part of a deal with the United States.

News of the documents forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to deny that his party planned to privatize the health service, though his government acknowledged that the leaked materials were genuine.

But with the Conservatives well ahead in the polls, the episode did nothing to alter the election’s outcome. Mr. Johnson won a commanding majority in Parliament and a clear mandate to proceed with Britain’s exit from the European Union — and cut a trade deal with the United States.

The other pieces of the Russian campaign, which targeted a number of Western countries between 2016 and 2019, had even less impact, according to a report last month by Graphika, a firm that tracks social media activity. Called Secondary Infektion, the campaign was run by trolls who used hundreds of social media accounts to spread 44 stories in at least six languages. The stories ranged from fictitious claims about the 2016 American election to an article that sought to link President Emmanuel Macron of France to Islamist militants.

Most were demonstrably false and based on faked interviews or manufactured documents. The trade-deal story appears to have been the only one based on real material, and the only one that made international headlines.

“Some were openly mocked by real users; many were simply ignored,” Ben Nimmo of Graphika wrote in the firm’s report.

“As the 2020 U.S. presidential election approaches,” Mr. Nimmo added, “it is vital to be wary of potential interference, but it is equally important to understand what forms of interference are most damaging.”

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre : Supernatural, drama,  psychological, romance 

Length:  33 minutes

Studio: ufotable

  At some point, most people have asked themselves who they are. What exactly defines us as us. Is the unique individual person stating back from the mirror real or is it just some construct. A stranger we took ourselves into thinking we know well. Is it pure hubris to think we are more than a slowly decaying bag of bones? And what��s the point anyway. In a world that is so terribly predictable, that will go one completely unaltered in the grand scheme of things, whether we are there or not, why bother doing anything at all? Yes, these are questions that we all ask ourselves, usually in high school. And that’s fitting since we found out that Shiki still is in high school.

When I started watching the Garden of Sinners movies, I mentioned that there are 10. And technically there are. However, some of my readers pointed out that the story proper plays out in the first 7 movies and the other 3 are side stories and an epilogue. That certainly is the case of The Garden of Sinners: Final Chapter. It plays out like an extended after credits tag. But is that a bad thing?

the answer may surprise you

Let me be real with you, nothing happens in The Garden of Sinners: Final Chapter. This isn’t hyperbole, even for a half hour movie, it’s really light on action. Some slow walking and talking between two people is the extent of the animation. And it’s gorgeous! I mean it!

Not only that but I mean gorgeous animation not simply beautiful art. The art is pretty but both design and style are in keeping with both ufotable’s general aesthetic and what we’ve seen from the Garden of Sinners so far. If anything, the models are a little crisper, with cleaner lines and no useless clutter of ornamentation. There’s a certain bleak yet hopeful message being conveyed, a fresh start. And that message is brought out in the simple and sleek character designs.

Wait, let me flip the script. I’ll tell you about the narrative right now because the important part is how everything else feeds into it. It has to, or else there would be nothing there. Let me tell you about it:

just listen!

After the events of the last movie, a scarred Mikya makes his way to the same deserted road overlooking the city to talk with Shiki, in a reprise of the opening scene from the second movie. It turns out this isn’t quite Shiki but yet another *personality* that lives within her. They have a slightly pretentious conversation on the nature of “self” while falling snow piles up around them and, as these types of conversations usually go, eventually it just reaches an end without any clear conclusion. That’s all.

I should not like this. It is fairly pretentious and the monologue (conversation is misleading. For the most part *Shiki* talks at Mikya and by extension the audience then Mikya does the same for a little bit) is rather naive. I would have loved this in high school! But I still admire the guts to put out a half hour movie that’s just one talk. It shows a lot of faith in your audience, both their loyalty and attention span. Shiki even has the b*lls to go on about how boring everything is. These tongue in cheek moments of self-awareness really elevate the piece. I think I might even have enjoyed it as a stand alone. I would have been very confused and considered it more like a piece of modern performative art than a movie but despite the pop philosophy, there something there. Basically, I didn’t love it like my high school self would have, but I did like it and that’s saying quite a bit.

As part of a larger franchise, the Final Chapter does drop a lot of clues about Shiki and her past if you’re paying attention. It also ends the main story on a quiet yet cautiously optimistic note that fits the overall tone much better than the Disney like ending of chapter 7. I’m the worst type of person for this type of “movie”. I’m very impatient, unemotional and shallow. A pragmatist above all else. Yet I’m very happy I watched The Garden of Sinners: Final Chapter, I believe it added something undeniably to Shiki’s story as a whole. Just don’t ask me what!

wait, I know, snow! It added lots of snow!

So bearing this in mind, why am I so taken with the production of what should be the least technically impressive movie in the series? I’ve already mentioned how the designs have a starkness that fits the conversation. Mikya is dressed in non-descript uniformly black clothes that match his hair and umbrella so that only his face stands out. Otherwise, he is an indistinct mass of black showing up in high contrast against the white snow. Shiki for her part is wearing a delicate pink kimono with a large luxurious obi. This is the most feminine and elegant we’ve ever seen her. Not an outfit suited for action and fighting but there’s something imposing about it. A sense of authority. Unlike Mikya she occasionally fades into the background, a much more ethereal creature than her companion to go along with her sense of emptiness.

Despite what it may seem like, the scene does contain a lot of movement. First, there is a constant wind that dies down and picks up again, rustling clothes and making hair fly all over the place. Maybe it’s because I come from a place of snow, but I couldn’t help but notice that the fall of the snowflakes didn’t always match up to the wind. But besides that little nitpick it was really beautifully animated and I could almost feel the chill even though I was watching this in June.

The idea of movement was also created by ever-changing camera angles. Although the two characters were more or less stationary, the image still jumped all over the place conveying the tension of the conversation that would normally have been shown through body language. This made Mikya and Shiki very definitive figures. Steady and unyielding, both finally sure of themselves, after all, they’ve been through. However the world around them remains shifty and insecure, no one can tell what the future holds! At least, that’s what I got from it…

all of this is a little difficult to put in words

Finally, the ambient colour scheme is a complete departure from previous the Garden of Sinners movies. Through the falling snow, everything is bathed in yellow light. It’s oddly warm and peaceful. Not the menacing shadows and sharp cold tones we’ve gotten used to. These colours are calm, almost inviting. A nice rest after a long and gruelling ordeal.

As you can see, once again the strong non-verbal storytelling that has been the true glory of this series shines through. It’s a simple half hour set piece. I have a feeling that it would bore quite a few fans. But it remains very true to the core of the Garden of Sinners saga and as such, if you enjoyed all the previous movies, I would encourage you to give this one a try. It’s a worthy conclusion and a good way to cap everything off.

Now I m really wondering what’s in those other two movies.

Favourite character: the snow?

What this anime taught me: the art of Anime goes well beyond what meets the eye. Who am I kidding, I already knew that!

A bottle of wine contains more philosophy that all the books in the world

Suggested drink: Snowfall (this seems delicious)

As long as it’s snowing – feel free to slowly sip at your leisure (don’t chug this one, it would be a waste!)

Every time anyone says “Shiki” – take a deep breath

Every time someone speculates on the nature of “self” – stroke your chin knowingly

Every time we see footsteps in the snow – stretch your legs

Every time a soft wind blows – fan yourself

Every time someone says “personality” – listen

Every time the camera angle changes – take note

It’s difficult to really grasp just how great the visuals are without seeing the Final Chapter, ut the screencaps are at the very least striking!

    The Garden of Sinners Chapter 8: Final Chapter (Except There are Two More Movies) Genre : Supernatural, drama,  psychological, romance  Length:  33 minutes Studio: ufotable   At some point, most people have asked themselves who they are.