#dan slott hate train

[theforswornelite]

Dan has so many add-ons to his OC, he's gonna be shocked if this guy gets Poochie'd.

[dilfdoctordoom]

👀 give me all your thoughts I know you have them

Bette Kane

How I feel about this character: She is my everything. I love nobody as much as I love her. I am at all times thinking about Bette Kane

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Dawn, Hank, Charley, Barbara, Helena, Artemis, Donna & I think she & Luke Fox dated for a little bit in high school before deciding to be just friends

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Gar!!! Her & Gar are best friends & they shouldn’t be romantic

My unpopular opinion about this character: Don’t know if she’s known enough to have any unpopular opinions, but bitchy Bette Kane should be brought back. They defanged her a lot & I don’t like it, let her be the worst it was really funny

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I really wish that in the N52 Batwoman series, the Kate&Bette dynamic was changed so while Kate had all her military training & was older, Bette had more vigilante experience & they had to learn to work together & learn from each other

my OTP: Hank/Dawn/Bette has a special place in my heart, I’m an eternal sucker for ArtyBette, but when it comes down to it... Bettenelli is simply superior

my cross over ship: *looking pointedly at my drafts* well gee I guess I think her & Danny Rand would have a fun dynamic. Also, Betty Brant for that good ole hero/reporter dynamic

a headcanon fact: she’s bisexual, she is, it’s a fact

Danny Rand

How I feel about this character: I’ve only recently gotten into Iron Fist comics but listen. LISTEN. He’s the love of my life, okay? Got it? I would die for this dumbass idiot disaster man

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Luke, Luke&Jess, Misty, Brenda because I thought they were just funny, Matt, I read a surprisingly good Peter fic so hm. Something there

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Colleen. I know they’re the main romance of the Netflix series, I know they had a thing for a little bit in the comics, but shut up, she’s his exhausted best friend

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s not annoying. After Netflix, I think that’s an unpopular opinion

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish his TV show didn’t suck balls. I wish that The Living Weapon wasn’t canon (but Pei & Brenda stick around). I wish Marvel would pull the trigger & admit that he & Luke are in love

my OTP: Danny/Misty because they’re cute okay shut up Danny really loves her!!! & obviously Jess/Luke/Danny but in that specific order. Jess & Danny are both dating Luke but they aren’t dating each other, they’re just bffs

my cross over ship: The one mentioned above but also, in whatever universe where DC & Marvel are co-existing, I think he had a fling with Oliver Queen before Ollie went to the island

a headcanon fact: He’s Asian-American. Fuck Marvel

Felicia Hardy

How I feel about this character: My mean wife. I would let her murder me without any hesitation she’s so pretty

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Peter, MJ & Cindy. Matt is allowed but only if it’s a disaster. Danny Rand has a crush on her which she thinks is adorable

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Johnny!!!! They’re funny little shits & they should be allowed to get in more hijinks together. All the Marvel Divas, I like Felicia having friends

My unpopular opinion about this character: Plot twist assholes she was in love with Peter Parker the entire goddamn time re: everyone who keeps trying to insist that Felicia has only ever loved Spider-Man. Shut up, they’re the same goddamn person & Felicia loves him 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Dan Slott had never come anywhere near her

my OTP: PeterFelicia is cute, okay. SilkCat is where it’s at though. Cindy & Felicia... soulmates

my cross over ship: Jessica Cruz or Dick Grayson because she likes dorks but only if they’re pretty

a headcanon fact: I was gonna put that she’s bi, but that is canon & Marvel has just ignored it so. Hm. Dan Slott never happened to her, this lady was never the queen pin of crime

MJ Watson

How I feel about this character: I love her so much... angel... sweetie... darling...

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Peter, Felicia & Gwen, some goddamn respect

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Harry

My unpopular opinion about this character: All opinions about MJ are inherently unpopular (as she would want) but Marvel should stop moving her away from the arts re: her being a reporter in PS4, that weird nightclub thing, etc. I’d say TAMJ was a step in the right direction except I hate that book so :/

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she was still married to Peter. Also, that she’d get her own MJ-As-Spider-Woman AU. Or MJ as a superhero in general

my OTP: GwenMJ & PeterMJ & especially PeterGwenMJ

my cross over ship: MJ Waston date Koriand’r challenge

a headcanon fact: She is not straight. Or cis, for that matter

Peter Parker

How I feel about this character: Look at the little bastard man off to do his little bastard things... will he make good choices? No! Will I continue to support him regardless? Yes!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Okay, here we go, damn: Johnny, MJ, Gwen, Harry, Flash, Ned in the MCU shut up we all know why it isn’t popular (see: racism), he’s definitely at least made out with Bobby, more that I can’t think of right now, Felicia Hardy

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Matt Murdock. No, shut up, their friendship is important to me specifically, they just love each other a lot, okay? And it’s unconditional &nstupid & they’re dumb & I love them. Jessica Jones, too, because I think the idea of her having a crush on him in high school & local hoe Peter Parker not noticing is funny

My unpopular opinion about this character: The only consistently good Spider-Man series in the past, like, decade is FNSM

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: In a very specific thing, I wish that Peter had picked up the phone & called Matt in the Sins Rising arc because Daredevil was such an important part of that original arc & I dunno, it just doesn’t work & it would’ve been really interesting to put Matt back in the role he played in the original story especially with where Matt is in her own series, ya know?

my OTP: SpideyTorch & PeterMJ

my cross over ship: okay, concept here: Kyle Rayner & Peter Parker

a headcanon fact: bider-man, bider-man, does whatever a bi spider can...

Elektra Natchios

How I feel about this character: Murder wife, has never done anything wrong in her entire life

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Matt & Nat

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Logan!!! They’re best friends

My unpopular opinion about this character: @ Daredevil tv series fans please just say you’re racist & leave

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she never met Frank Castle. I wish she had female friends for a change

my OTP: Nat/Elektra. Love Matt but he & Elektra aren’t endgame even though it kills me violently to admit that

my cross over ship: Talia Al Ghul. I will not elaborate

a headcanon fact: aside from the obvious ‘she’s bi’, I think Elektra has a dog

Matt Murdock

How I feel about this character: Himbo idiot love of my life make a good decision I love you

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Elektra, Foggy, Danny, Luke, Kirsten & Mila

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Peter (see: above), Luke, Nat, Jessica, I think it’s very funny when you put him in the same room as Moon Knight & Felicia

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s disabled, you idiots, that actually does affect his day-to-day life

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish he’d go to therapy, no, Matthew, confession does not count

my OTP: Matt/Elektra, Matt/Foggy & Matt/Kirsten

my cross over ship: I wanna say Hal Jordan... specifically after the Spectre I think that’d be funny, if Hal just casually drops that literal, actual god was basically his boss for a while

a headcanon fact: he gets mistaken for Scott Summers a lot

[veryvincible]

The Shitstorm That Is TS:IM and IM2020: The Allegory of Nothing

4 / 4. We’re here.

The writers don’t know what artificial intelligence is.

1 2 3

Let’s go back to the beginning. Jocasta is the robotics ethicist of Stark Unlimited. The company has adopted a system wherein the automated employees are in a non-hierarchical environment. Tasks are “suggested, not ordered.”

And guess what that does? Well, when these employees are needed, this happens:

The majority of them are non-compliant. And what’s the solution to this?

Apparently, give them a phat beat for Tony to kick Fin Fang Foom’s ass to. That’s what Andy Bhang decided to do, but only after following the “proper ethical protocol” when speaking to Jocasta. Which is... saying “please.”

Because, you know, saying things like, “Hey, I need you to do [whatever the fuck]” when a giant dragon is laying siege to your city is... oppressive, I guess. It doesn’t matter that that’s how humans tend to talk to other humans in emergencies, because Jocasta’s a robot ethicist and a functioning AI, and this "proper ethical protocol” is to slow things down with formalities instead of allowing everyone to treat each other like individuals.

By all means, continue to buffer the solution so everyone can say “please.” It’s only Tony who’s out there fighting a giant monster.

I actually like Jocasta. I think she’s a good character in most of the media she appears in. But here? Well, here, everyone is shitty.

It’s glaringly obvious that the goal here isn’t robot... equality. These sentient machines are just free rein. Sure, they work for Stark Unlimited. Sure, they’re employees... but they actually don’t have to do any work, like, ever, unless they want to.

So, they’re obviously not being treated like human beings. They’re practically high-tech babies, which is exactly how you want to present your oppressed group in your revolution plotline. Especially in this political climate! Hierarchy is most certainly oppressive! These robots can’t handle having real human jobs! They’re just so innocent and flawless.

...

And out of place.

Here’s the thing. Dan Slott... doesn’t really know what AI is. These little nano-suits that are coming in to help save the day have no reason to be sentient. Sure, they might be artificially intelligent, but sentient? No.

Artificial Intelligence refers to a computer science field that focuses on learning and problem-solving machines. These machines gather data and use this data later on in order to make decisions. If you use email, your spam filter is a result of AI. Our phones learn how we respond to certain messages (and pick up our diction even out of context) as a result of AI and machine learning.

Chatbots simulate human speech, often by using messages compiled from other humans. The more you talk to them, the more organically they’ll seem to respond. They recycle human messages and send them back.

Deep learning is a more specialized form of learning that more closely resembles how the human brain functions by organizing information in a non-linear fashion with interconnected neuron nodes. This is what leads to the sentience that’s seen in characters such as FRIDAY, and it’s very obviously not present in every machine with AI capabilities. In essence, artificial intelligence is not synonymous with sentience.

So... Why does TS:IM treat these concepts like they’re interchangeable? Why is it that the featured AI revolution is so dependent on the feelings of machines that have no chance of becoming sentient? Again, Tony’s nano-suits could be just that: nano-suits. There’s nothing saying that these suits have to be sentient. In fact, it’s worse if you consider them to be.

If all it takes for a machine to be considered a part of this AI revolution is some problem-solving, wouldn’t Tony’s actual suits also be considered AI? They have autopilot, don’t they? They avoid obstacles. The HUD provides useful information regardless of whether or not a character AI is residing in the suit. 

For example, here’s a scene wherein some researchers are doing a robot stability test with one of these lovable dog-like machines.

Now, I cringe when I see the poor guy get pushed down. But you know who doesn’t cringe? The dog-like robot, because the dog-like robot feels nothing. It’s a learning machine, but it is not a sentient being. Not even a loving heart emoji directed toward its robot savior.

Another example?

This right here.

From combat drones to... coffee makers? Coffee makers are supposed to be oppressed here? What’s a Keurig going to do with sentience anyway? How’s it going to get to the fight? It doesn’t have legs. This machine doesn’t have legs. Or wheels. Or anything.

Because it’s a coffeemaker, not a member of society. And this dilution of meaning with regards to sentient beings also dilutes the message of the AI revolution. It’s not pointed out in-universe how fucking crazy it is for all of these machines to be considered oppressed when they don’t even have the mental capacity to think past prompting “French press or Espresso?” on a touch screen.

There’s also a serious question asked here: What would a sentient machine think about being a sentient machine?

And we have gotten some pretty thoughtful answers out of this. For example, Jocasta thinks she has a soul. And Tony, despite his flesh and blood, is still in existential limbo because of the idea that he might be artificial intelligence after all.

And... the depth ends there, because all sentient machines in this universe want to do is... be human.

Like, really. They want to be human.

The reality of what it would mean to exist solely in one form without ever experiencing what it’s like to be in another is completely swept away here. There’s very little differentiation between robots who want to be humans and robots who want to be robots with rights. Also, there’s very little differentiation between robots who want to be robots with rights and Keurigs.

But really, this is also kind of frustrating. Sure, it could be a nod to certain feelings of oppressed groups who don’t fit in. It could be a clever bit of characterization akin to that of a young Asian-American girl wanting to be white so she doesn’t get bullied in school, or a gay person who’s always wished they could be straight.

Except it’s not, because nothing in this run feels like it’s been thought through to that extent.

Instead, what we have is a confusing mess. Most of these robots (with the exception of some) want to be treated exactly like humans, whether it’s actually better for them as a species (?) or not.

For example:

What makes an AI feel “cooped up?” FRIDAY, from what we’ve been shown, was usually given free rein of the tower. The same way our phones respond when we say, “Hey Siri!” or “Okay, Google!”, FRIDAY responded when she was called on. No matter where Tony was in the tower, she could be there, too.

And also, she was in the suit.

There is no reason that any AI should have to be restricted to one specific place or another, and yet throughout the entirety of the run, AIs are only allowed to be in one place at any given time. Why is that?

Sure, it’s nice to have a body. And if they want a body to go out and interact with the world, more power to them. The body is the least of my concerns.

I just hate that any AI is considered to be a “helpless passenger” at all, when machines the likes of these should be more than capable of not only going wherever they’d like to go within their allowed boundaries (which, again, should be and has been shown to be much larger than “just the suit”), but also going wherever they’d like to go at any time. They can be in two places at once. Presumably, if they’re complex enough to seriously contemplate the philosophy of being, they’ve got the processing power to be on multiple simpler trains of thought at once, and they’ve got the ability to control multiple bodies or project in multiple locations at once.

And even if this were a total retcon, and it turned out that actually, the capability for AIs to be in multiple places at once was never a thing before now...

It’s specifically stated on the exact same page that this is possible.

It’s truly dumbfounding.

And perhaps the worst offender of all: the complete disregard for any kind of philosophy or conversation about what it means to be an entity.

So, we’re all aware of 616 Tony’s current story if we’re reading this. Multiple times in his life, he’s been replaced by backup copies of himself, mostly holographic or otherwise exclusively digital.

And Jocasta treats him like Tony. Or, well, she treats him like a version of Tony. Whatever the case, she’s never shown any hostility toward him whatsoever for being a fleshy backup. This never made him any less valuable.

But... She’d rather let FRIDAY die for good than be given a second chance at life, because if they loaded up the backup, she’d be... missing a week of memories.

A week of memories that made her “a completely different entity.”

Now, I’m not here to lecture anyone on what it means to be yourself. I’m really not.

But the main difference between the original Tony and this current Tony (if we’re working off the assumption that he’s not supposed to have a totally different and fucked up personality) is the “memory loss,” or rather, lack of available data. Functionally, it’s amnesia.

And you know what? The original Tony has this too. There are already things that Tony doesn’t remember because of his time spent as an AI. Essentially, every single Tony that could possibly exist in 616 canon right now (even TonAI, our lovable blue friend with a control freak streak) is just as Tony as all the other Tonys, because they all have the memories of their developmental stages and quite a bit of the time spent with the Avengers, and they all have missing information.

So, if FRIDAY’s one-week-ago backup were to be loaded up, what would happen? Would she be completely different?

No. She would have every single memory that FRIDAY had originally, with the exception of whatever memories she saved in the last week of her life. And yet, because of the lack of critical thinking that went into the writing process, Jocasta decided that a dead FRIDAY was better than a FRIDAY with memory loss.

The writing is lazy. The thinking involved in this entire plotline is little to none. Coffeemakers are not oppressed, and a friend waking up from a comatose state with a few memories missing is better than that friend dying. Not every AI is sentient.

And to top it all off, after arguing for 20 or so issues that AIs are people, too, and every life- even the life of a Keurig or a stability testing machine- is valuable...

Tony devalued his own, concluding the worst AI-centric plotline I’ve ever read.

Whoopsie.

[imperiuswrecked]

#Dan Slott: A single writer can't ruin your favorite character#These two bitches: Are you sure about that? via @esteicy-blog in reference to:

[ID] Dan Slott: It's impossible to ruin/destroy a longstanding legacy character. If an iconic character's been around for 50+ years, they're indestructible. Whatever current aspect/storyline displeases you as a fan can be hand-waved away down the road. The character you love will be fine. [/END ID]

I want Dan Slott to read this post. I want him to eat his words. I want to actually live in the reality he's living in and be as delusional as he is.

Grant Morrison and Steve Englehart have earned my eternal hatred as comic writers ❤

[gaerynn-blog]

Strips and bubbles: comic pulls of the week n°1

I love comic books. I have since I was a child. In France, we call them Bandes Dessinées. For “comic strips”, you know.  I read dozens of comics and manga every week. Here are my first “pulls of the week”. I’ll try my best to keep it balancd between DC Comics and Marvel. No hard feelings, no hate. In the end, we all love superheroes. 

DC Comics - Doomsday Clock n°5

Doomsday Clock, the culmination of DC Rebirth by AAA-Golden-Premium-Allstar duo Geoff Johns (story) and Gary Frank (holy f*ck this man can draw), took its time to get going. But now, all the pieces are in place and the hype train is at full speed. Between Watchmen and DC characters, it was already chaotic enough. but add the Joker to the mix? I can’t wait to see more of it. 

Marvel - Amazing Spider-Man n°800

800 issues of Spider-Man (mind the hyphen). That’s a lot. And we’re not even counting the the Spectacular Spider-Man series! Dan Slott ends his 10-plus-year run with the bombastic climax of the Red Goblin saga. Action, emotion; now this was quite the read. And look at this Alex Ross cover. OMG.

[gokinjeespot]

Monday, September 18, 2017

 I have recurring back pain that's a pain in the back and it hit so hard yesterday I could barely walk. It's better today but I sure am glad that I don't have to work so that I can recover some more. I want to make sure that I'm well enough to attend the book launch of "The Wind In His Heart" by Charles de Lint tomorrow. Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1663452530396893/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&pnref=story

 Fishing season is winding down even though the weather has been sunny and warm recently here in Ottawa. David and I only caught 3 fish yesterday in the 3 hours we were out. My fishing buddies are like me and just appreciate being out on the water for some time away from the city. We don't need to catch fish to enjoy our time out there.

 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #28 - Robert Venditti (writer) Rafa Sandoval (pencils) Jordi Tarragona (inks) Tomeu Morey (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). A great art team can elevate an average book to an outstanding one. The artists they get make a huge difference to my enjoyment of this book.

 Ms. Marvel #22 - G. Willow Wilson (writer) Marco Failla (art) Ian Herring (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I love this story about tolerance and equality. It affected Kamala deeply. It made her think about her city and her neighbours and that will colour her actions from now on.

 All-New Wolverine #24 - Tom Taylor (writer) Leonard Kirk (art) Michael Garland & Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Another infestation of Brood is wiped out and the galaxy is saved yet again. I liked the guest appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially Rocket Racoon. Looking forward to a new story starting next issue.

 Weapon X #8 - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers) Marc Borstel & Ibraim Roberson (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The team continues to pursue Weapon H, AKA Hulkverine (I like that) and more is revealed about the big gray galoot's alter ego. I cheered when I saw the reinforcement that the good guys call in.

 Runaways #1 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The gang isn't all here as this team makes it back to the racks but that's okay because this first issue did a very good job of introducing Nico Minoru, the spell caster, and Chase Stein, the screw up gadget guy to readers old and new. Kris's art has gotten better since I first noticed his name in the credits of an X-Men book. This debut was good enough to make me stick around until my favourite Runaway shows up.

 Wonder Woman #30 - Shea Fontana (writer) David Messina (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Both the writing and art for this issue was very stiff. I feel like I've been beaten over the head with the not too subtle "women are strong" message. I'm hanging around until artist Emanuela Lupacchino starts to draw this book and I hope the writing improves then too.

 American Gods #7 - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). I would still enjoy this, being a fan of Neil Gaiman and Scott Hampton, even without the benefit of having already read the novel but I wonder if other comic book fans would think this is way too weird. Shadow's story about his adventures with gods old and new isn't for everybody but if you stick with it I think you'll find the payoff to be worth your time.

 Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell #1 - Margaret Stohl (writer) Brent Schoonover (art) Jordan Boyd (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I felt like this was written by a tweener for tweeners. If this is an indication of what to expect in Carol's solo book (Mighty Captain Marvel) then it's much too unsophisticated for this old coot.

 Detective Comics #964 - James Tynion IV & Christopher Sebela (writers) Carmen Carnero (art) Ulises Arreola (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). This is it. You all saw it coming. The cover even gives it away. Clayface has reformed, or so it seemed. This issue was so well done I wasn't even disappointed in the outcome. If that's not enough, the Anarky and Spoiler story continues with a solid mystery to keep me engrossed.

 Mech Cadet Yu #2 - Greg Pak (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Triona Farrell (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). The new cadets start basic training with their Mechs. I like how the robos and cadets are paired up like in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series of fantasy novels. I also like the conflict between the lower class janitor's son Yu and the upper class general's daughter Park. I am drawn to good stories about underdogs.

 Star Wars #36 - Jason Aaron (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Hooray, it's R2-D2 to the rescue. Poetic ain't I?

 Dark Nights Metal #2 - Scott Snyder (writer) Greg Capullo (pencils) Jonathan Glapion (inks) FCO Plascencia (colours). Whoever did the lettering did a great job. The gateway opens and evil arrives. Meet the Jaundiced League. Darkseid is a baby now? I have so many questions. This is one of those instances where I have enough of an interest in the big picture that I will accept stuff I don't know about the DC multiverse and keep on reading.

 Kill or be Killed #12 - Ed Brubaker (writer) Sean Phillips (art) Elizabeth Breitweiser (colours). I like how the character of Dylan has grown over the course of this series. He started out full of fear and uncertainty and now can control his fear and plan ahead to what he needs to do to stay alive. It makes him more relatable.

 Hulk #10 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Julian Lopez & Francesco Gaston (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's a fricking big monster fight issue. Jen subdues Oliver but she comes close to losing control of herself as the Hulk. I wonder if she shops at Target to save money on clothes. You'll notice a change in art styles about halfway through. I would be a very happy fan if Julian Lopez was the regular artist for this book even though I like Francesco Gaston's art just fine.

 Action Comics #987 - Dan Jurgens (writer) Viktor Bogdanovic (pencils) Jonathan Glapion, Jay Leisten & Viktor Bogdanovic (inks) Mike Spicer (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). "The Oz Effect" starts here. I'm glad that the villain's identity isn't being teased for a bunch of issues just to keep us reading. Who Oz is will shock fans and it will make it harder for Superman to fight him. I still think it's all a ruse so I'm going to keep reading to see if I'm right in the end.

 The Defenders #5 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) David Marquez (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). They're going to get hate mail for this issue. When you get to the end you'll know why.

 Amazing Spider-Man #32 - Dan Slott (writer) Greg Smallwood (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Greg fixed Norman's face for this new Green Goblin origin story. I forgot that Norman can't change into the Green Goblin now. Something is going to trigger the transformation and I am waiting to see what that is.

[imperiuswrecked]

But it does add fuel to the belief that Slott is blackmailing someone at Marvel so he could drag Spider-Man through the mud one more time.

another superior spider-man series is not going to help my "superior spider-man is the point where spider-man as a series went straight off a cliff and ALSO made a large part of the fanbase unbearable" belief.