#((LYU TOO!!!!!))

[ginsoakedgirl80]

Don't worry, Lyu Xian, you are already halfway there.

The third couple fits the "find someone suitable" so well. In the way of marriage of convenience they hit the jackpot.

after all You Fangyin her own family put her through her whole life, he wants to give her what she needs, a safe home and support of her interests.

coming from a business this is super romantic. 🤣

In a way they can thank Mr You's bad business practices since they didn't really think about each other ~that way consciously yet. He pushed them together and I hope they'll survive until the end of the story because they are cute.

And to be clear, it is Lyu Xian who hit the jackpot. He is a shady man and we don't know why he moved to the capital apart from tagging along with Xie Wei and be his personal Qin source. His involvement with Xie Wei could be the reason for You Fangyin having a hard time again.

Last but not least, Lyu Xian's convo with Xie Wei about his marriage to this wonderfully stubborn woman got Xie Wei thinking if you observe his face.

Ending with this because I scrape my bl crumbs from the bottom of the barrel

thumbs up

[kidfoundonstreets]

**CYRING

[almondelle]

appreciation post 4 my pookies ♡

first, I'd like to say thank you to every1 who follows this iconic blog !! 💙💙 I'm super grateful 4 each one of you and I'm glad my moodboards.. are well ... moodboardable if you get what i mean. what I'm trying to say is thank you for liking my mbs, following my blogs and just being super amazing and supportiv !! lyu alllll

my fav people (not in order) : @y-vna @wontree @wonysela @ayatxt @k-aeris @i-kyujin @i-nctkiss @jwennie @urjwon @strawjislov4 @neveism @dreaminju @raeceah @ditzypudding @gun-wook @hyukiio @wonery + sm more im sorry if i didnt tag you 🥺🥺 !!

new blogs you should deff follow : @urjwon @jwennie

- P.S ♡

my instagram : @7.hyein

my discord : @7hyein

2nd blog (WILL POST ON THERE TOO SO GOGOGO) : @7-jennie ♡

[pa1kaa-toto]

My GOTG OC

soooooo… first of all, good any time of the current day, and here I come to introduce you to one of my many OCs, Lyu.

Full Name: Lyubov Balkirev Age: 28 Gender: Female Sexuality: Straight, Demi-AroAce

Attribute: She has a pair of white retractable wings with some dark spots and a tail of the same colors (usually hides the tail, occasionally shows it, like, it can change the size of her tail and wings).

Example:

Likes: The smell of air after rain, listening to music, fruits, photography. Dislikes: does not like injustice and being treated as a foolish person.

Abilities: Flying and running very fast, Atmokinesis and can fly carrying people on her back (as long as they are not TOO heavy), advanced animal communication, versatility in combat and mental resistance.

(For Atmokinesis, she usually has to concentrate all her energy and when she finishes using that power she ends up exhausted)

Weaknesses: High emotional sensitivity, excessive caution, need of lonelines (given her ambivert nature, Lya may need periods of solitude to recharge her emotional energy. During these times, she may be less effective in group situations). Items she has most of the time: A voice recorder, her smartphone, headphones and a polaroid camera. Defense item: A scythe.

She was born on a distant planet called Garmoni, inhabited by people with human characteristics but with bird wings and other characteristics. Specifically she was born in a continent very close to the south pole of the planet, that's why her hair color and feathers and there she grew up normally like any other child, but her parents gave her a lot of freedom, they let her go to run errands alone and that was a mistake, because one day people from another planet kidnapped her and sold her on the black market; but she managed to escape.

After 12 years she was in Contraxia when she met Kraglin in a bar, it was not the best encounter of all but they got to know each other until he introduced her to the crew he belonged to, including Yondu; She did not get along very well with Yondu but in the end she got along with him. She wanted to spend more time with both of them, so she decided to show Yondu her skills and try to convince him to join her to his crew. In the end she managed to convince him and she was part of his crew for quite a while.

After a looong time, when the most of the crew revealed themselves against Yondu she knew it was best to pretend to be on Taserface's side. She helped Yondu get rid of the others. When Yondu died she was devastated for a while until she got over it with difficulty. In the end she stayed with Kraglin, with the Guardians of the Galaxy and there she met Ember (credits to @thirteens-lucky-tardis and thanks for your permission to create an oc that has a relation with your oc) and Lya couldn't believe that she met another individual with wings, they got to know each other and shared a lot of things to finally become friends.

P.D: I based the character on the snow owl

[ask-sarah-and-co]

💌 Hugh and his team + Nate and his team

I think this is going to be awkward for Hugh to see anthro mons for the first time...

It’s actually Nate Hugh would be awkward about! But that’s got a few spoilers for his story, so I’ll put it under cut all the way at the bottom if you want to skip it !

I can see Samurott (very original name, I know) sort of taking Walt under his wing as an apprentice. He’s def the sensei type, if you get what I’m saying lol

Flygon would prob get along very well w Sylvia! I haven’t fully flushed out her character, but she’s the girly type and likes magical girl anime haha

Khione could easily get along with Kita. She def has questions about the whole anthro thing, and would be willing to listen to anything Kita has to say too! From what I saw, Kita also plays a musical instrument, and Khione likes music too :) Also. Khione 🤝 Kita. Staring w k, being lesbian, and also having an eeveelution gf

I can’t tell much about Lyu from his profile, but if he’s more of the silly type like his shirt suggests. He could definitely keep up with Arcanine and Pyroar! Both are a tad silly and a little goofy lmao

One of Hughs ask hints is “do you have any exes” (I think). And he only has one: (this universe’s) Nate. Nate and Hugh dated until they were like 13-14 (right before the prequel fic to this blog), but were also best friends.

Nate wanted to travel the world and battle all the leagues, and wasn’t fully committed to the Team Plasma thing like Hugh was (the team weren’t very open about their plans and stuff at the time, so it’s kinda not rlly his fault. Hugh was just hyperfixated on it.)

One day, Nate just disappeared. He left Rosa (his sister) and Hugh notes and left to travel the world. So yes. They broke up by note.

Hugh still deeply cares about Nate (which is why he caught a braviary) but that affection is why he was so torn up about it, and generally mad during the whole b2w2 thing.

Sarah is sort of a rebound for him, since she annd Nate are a bit similar personality wise. But the main difference is that Hugh and Sarah saved purrloin and stopped team plasma together, so she essentially did what Nate couldn’t and is better in his eyes.

Around the other universe’s Nate, he would probably be awkward and hide behind Sarah if she was there. Imagine lots of nervous laughter lol

[sassyshin]

Okay about the 8th reinforcement in the anni. i’m sorry if I get any card wrong though  sometimes I do mix those

-

4* Saber. God I really hope its Gawain. There are pretty good chances of being him considering he’s gonna be an event servant. If they do a rank up quest for him because of the event later I wont mind tho but I’m not counting with that so I really hope its Gawain. This man deserves it at this point

3* Lancer: God theres so many possibilities here to me. Like I dont think any AOE 3* Laner is doing very hot atm. I would really like Taiga to get something this time though. She’s still got a 10t skill cooldown that isnt really worth it. I wouldnt mind another buff for Diarmuid tho

And here’s probably one that might be even controversial but Hozouin because his skills do very very little to him. I think he could use some help

-

5* Lancer: Karna. Yeah this is me being bias. Give it to my boy. Thats all

3* Archer: Oh please buff Billy. Like if its William Tell its fine to me because I feel theres so little reason to use him over Robin but Billy is so... Outdated. He doesnt even have an atk up or np up for fuck sake

-

5* Berserker: Xiang Yu. Like straight up. He’s not even bad but out of all the 5* Zerks he’s the one that could use something more the most

2* Caster: WAIT. IS THIS SHAKESPEARE??????

FINALLY?????????????????????????

SHAKESPEARE BUFF INCOMING?

THE ONLY OTHER 2* CASTER IS CHEN GONG AND I DONT THINK THEY’RE GONNA BUFF THAT

OH MY GOD

-

5* Lancer. Lartoria. Thats all again lmao. I know I said the same to Karna but yeah. I want both of them buffed. Her last buff was so meh

4* Assassin:  May i have another Yan Qing buff pls, mistah shroom? :3

Uhhh i’d like Carmilla to get a buff. All the Lizzies got one so why was he left aside. I know she’s not bad but yeah

Kerry too though. If this buff is for Kerry I’m gonna be happy

-

5* Caster: God... Is this a Tam or Merlin buff............ Please tell me its not. I mean if its a Tam buff its whatever... But godd they might be going for Merlin here

Oh my godd

In a good timeline it would be Anastasia... But is this a good timeline?

We will see

4* Lancer: I have no idea. Would they be blasphemous enough to Buff Summer Kiyohime before the berserk one? Idk. Qiang Lyu could still something more tho i guess

-

5* Foreigner. This is gonna be Summer Abby wont it. Like people already thought it would be her last time. Whatever bruh

3* Rider. Hopefully it is Red Hare. I feel like he’s the one that needs it the most. However I wouldnt complain if it was Rick because its not like he was ever buffed

-

5* Archer: This probably should be Artemis tbh. However just like Rick if they wanted to give a np upgrade to Moriarty I would be like “sure why not”

4* Saber: Saber Alter. I want both Gawain and Saber Alter to get something

[milkstoner]

OKAYYOKOKAYY- i just thought of something else for this. (be prepared its damn angsty)

as it's been hinted silver is probably cursed to have a death like sleep just like aurora. now just imagine that this does happen in CH7 where presumably after the battle with malleus, silver falls into that state where he isn't dead but he may as well be. he's put into the same glass coffin from snow white and the coffin located right next to the house he was raised in. malleus ofc is sad his lover died but this time true love's kiss won't awake silver, instead since silver is technically still alive, unable to overblot because of his constant sleeping (and not able to age too), his conscience is stronger than ever. mallesil's happy ending here is that silver is always waiting for malleus in their sanctuary and he'll always be there because he doesn't have to worry about death and anymore, only thing that matters to him is his father's well being and malleus.

LYU YOUR SCENARIOS ARE DESTROYING ME this has been haunting me for a full day and I’m still as speechless… good thing silvers and malleus’ dreams are lucid, right… good thing it feels just like real life, and not like a haze… RIGHT? RIGHT?

i think malleus would become very depressed irl, daydreaming and such… he’d sleep longer, more often so he can see silver.., this makes me think of honeymoon by lana del rey… dreaming away your life… dreaming away your life… dreaming away your life… itd be so bittersweet bc i imagine malleus would visit silvers body every day and watch over him and wish he had the guts to break the coffin and embrace silvers body for real… only to see silver in his dreams again and everything is perfect until he wakes up

And I cant imagine silvers loneliness… when everybody is awake, he’s all alone… he waits all day for malleus… and malleus disappears suddenly when he wakes up…

but also malleus would be determined to find a cure, I’m sure of it ok. (leona is an expert on ancient curses so that is an interesting collab!)

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Danmachi 18

Author: Fujino Omori

Illustrator: Suzuhito Yasuda

Label: GA Bunko

Release Date: 21 January 2023

My Score: 5/5

English Release: Yen-press is currently releasing this series in English under the title of Is it Wrong to try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?.

Long-time readers of this blog might remember that I loved Danmachi volume 6. It was the volume that really got me into this series. Before that, I was enjoying myself but I didn’t see why it was so popular. But volume 6 was so exciting and I loved the idea of the War Game and it really made me excited to read more. Since then, I’ve waited for another War Game volume and it’s finally arrived! At the end of volume 17, Freya challenged the Hestia Familia to a War Game with Bell on the line. This volume deals with the fallout of that as people have remembered all about Bell and know what Freya did to their minds and are pissed about it and are joining the Hestia Familia in the War Game to take the Freya Familia down. But the prospects of winning this game aren’t very good. The Loki Familia are forbidden from participating by the guild who worry about the top two Familia destroying each other if they were to participate. Ganesha and Hermes Familia are also not able to participate for their own reasons. But pretty much all of the other Familia in Orario are participating to help Bell. Also, Bell is now a level 5 adventurer so that will help but, even then, his chances of beating Ottarl remain slim at best.

In order to try to level out the playing field, this War Game is one of Hide and Seek. The gods will hide and place a flower on their chests. If their flower is knocked off by an adventurer, that god and their Familia will be forced to leave the field. If Freya’s flower is knocked off, her Familia loses, but the Freya Familia will have to find all of the opponent gods in order to win. As Ganesha says, even this handicap will not be enough to truly level things out.

Lili has taken command and has formulated a plan thanks to Finn telling her everything he knows about the members of Freya Familia as a way to help without directly participating in the battle. But of course, Lili is up against top strategist Hedin so things aren’t going to go smoothly...

This is a good showcase of not only how far our heroes have come but also how far they have to go. Lili is now able to accept help and advice from others which boosts her abilities as a strategist and as a leader. Welf puts aside his hatred of his blood to create magic swords for everyone to use. Haruhime has more confidence. Cassandra no longer loses hope over her dreams. (Sorry, Mikoto fans, but she doesn’t get much to do here, I’m afraid.) Bell’s grown to Level 5 and trains with Tiona and Tione... but it’s still not enough. Freya Familia is just too good. And Hestia Familia is going to need nothing short of a miracle to win this one.

Lyu has this epic moment here that made me glad that I had read Astrea Record and watched Season IV of the anime. Having those events fresh in my mind made it all have more impact than I think it would have otherwise. While Astrea Record isn’t necessary to read to understand this volume, it does provide context of some things with Lyu and Ottarl and it does give some of those scenes more weight.

This volume was amazing and well worth the wait. There’s not a whole lot more that I can say without spoiling it but it’s a very satisfying conclusion to this arc. The volume is long but it’s so engaging that I didn’t really feel the length of it. The War Game was awesome and I loved seeing that character development for everyone. It surpassed all of my expectations and I loved it.

And thus this arc comes to a close and I’m interested to see what’s going to happen next. Judging by what was said in the afterword, I suspect the next arc will be shorter and hopefully more lighthearted. I think Lili will definitely get a level up next volume and I suspect Haruhime and/or Welf might as well. Mikoto didn’t get much of a chance to shine in this volume so I doubt she will. For now though, I have the two new volumes of Sword Oratoria waiting for me to get to and I’m really looking forward to reading them.

[vyricial]

i lyu

awhh tru thas so cute!!! i lov u too <3<33

[lobster-tales]

Beat the Daylight

Sequel to Face the Noise, an Arcane Rock Band AU

Rating: M

Chapter 9: The Music Room

Summary: Lux finds out

This work is available here on AO3. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

When Jinx got back to the hotel, instead of going straight to her room, she went to Viktor’s. The desk clerk gave her the floor and number without a fight: the Shimmer Hotel staff knew better than to cross the heiress when she was in one of her moods.

She didn’t even knock, just swiped her skeleton key that Silco made for her. She burst into Viktor’s room, and he jerked back into his desk chair.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK.” She paced around the small area, hands to the side of her head as she processed everything. “Goddammit.”

“... Hi,” said Viktor. His surprise passed, replaced by the usual easygoing interest. He also had just arrived, and reached down to take off his other shoe. “What’s new with you?”

“Ugh, I fucked it up, Vik!” She only tossed a cursory glance towards his belongings: lots of papers, some books. Pretty much what she expected. “I fucked everything up. Vi saw me.”

“Yes, I know,” he said. “She saw me too, onstage.”

“No, she saw me backstage. Visiting Lux.”

“Ah.” Viktor still seemed confused. “So what’s the problem?”

“She called me Powder! That’s the fucking problem!” Jinx sank onto his bed in exasperation. “And they live together, Vik! If Vi doesn’t explain what’s going on, then Caitlyn will.”

“Maybe.” His answer was a shrug, like always. He went to the fridge, removing a bottle. Jinx watched him pour a glass of vodka.

“... Can I have some?” she asked.

“Sure. When you’re twenty-one.”

“Newsflash,” she rolled her eyes. “The drinking age for rockstars is sixteen.”

He considered it for a moment, then said, “You can have one. Exactly one.”

She scoffed but otherwise accepted.

Viktor toasted her, murmuring, “Za lyubov.”

Jinx attempted to repeat the phrase, “Za lu-byov.”

“No, lyu-bov.”

“Lyubov.” She sipped at her vodka, and sighed. “Fuck, man. What’s going to happen when Lux finds out?”

Viktor made an ‘I don’t know’ noise. “What do you think is going to happen?”

“... I don’t think she’ll like me anymore.” She fell back on the bed, nearly spilling her drink.

“Okay. Her loss.”

How could he be so casual, when Jinx felt like her world was falling apart? “Guess I wouldn’t blame her,” Jinx muttered sourly. “Not when I’ve been such a shithead.”

“Eh, were you really a,” he sounded out the word, “‘shit head’, or were you just a teenager?”

She sat upright again, her elbows resting on her knees, nose twisted into a grimace. “Both.”

“Come now, pupsik, she was going to find out sooner or later. If you’re really that worried about it, then just tell her yourself.”

“No!” The word was like a punch, and Viktor even flinched. “No, I can’t tell her, I can’t tell her what I did, I…” The shadows in the room seemed to deepen.

“Then you have to accept that one of them will.”

Doubts clawed their way along her brain. “But what if they leave things out? What if they don’t remember or… fuck, I don’t even know if I remember everything. Or what if they do remember things and they’re so much worse than I thought they were-” Fishbones was grumbling in her mind now, echoing every word. “What if Vi’s still angry and she lies about something? Or what if she does tell the truth but there’s something I didn’t even know-”

A strange sensation slowed her descent. Jinx stared down at Viktor’s hand, tapping her knee rapidly. “What-what are you doing?”

“Comforting you,” Viktor said, uncertain.

“You’re… slapping me.”

“I’m not!” His pace slowed, though the intensity didn’t let up. “I’m patting you. Don’t you feel better?”

“No,” she said, choking on a laugh. “No, I don’t.”

Viktor changed tactics, now rubbing her knee the way one would rub two sticks together to light a fire. “How about this? Is this working?”

“Stop, you’re gonna scrape my skin off!” She jerked away, unable to hold back the grin on her face. He was just so absurd.

“Ah ha!” he said, triumphant. “You’re smiling, it did work.”

“It didn’t,” she lied. As her chuckles dissipated, so did the fear. The day’s events weighed on her, and she realized how exhausted she was. Jinx sighed, shoulders drooping as she swirled the last bit of vodka in her glass.

“... For the record,” Viktor began, his tone more gentle now. “And I don’t know how reassuring you’ll find this, but… I never heard your side. I only ever heard it from Caitlyn and Ekko. I felt like their summation was… fair, but of course there will always be bias. Taking that into consideration, and considering everything I know about your past… Well, I- I still like you.”

His sincerity startled her, but when he saw her expression, he quickly raised his hands. “Not in a weird way, though. I‘m ten years your senior and violently homosexual.”

A giggle escaped her throat.

Viktor’s mouth twitched into a half grin. “I can’t speak for Lux. How she reacts is up to her. But regardless of how she takes it, I just want you to know that I’ll… still be here.” Tears flooded Jinx’s eyes, and Viktor panicked. “What-what did I do now? Did I say something wrong? Was that the wrong thing to say?”

“No,” she snuffled, wiping her nose on her fingerless glove. “No, you’re um… Thanks, Vik.” She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she knew he wasn’t as comfortable with physical affection. So instead, she settled for grasping his forearm. He returned the gesture, much more at ease.

They locked arms for a long moment, before she pulled away and mumbled, “Fuck, I’m tired.”

“You want me to walk you back to your room?”

“... What are you doing the rest of the day?”

He shrugged, surveying his papers. “Eh, probably just research. I’ve been really into electroencephalography.”

She didn’t even stutter. “Oh, like recording brain activity?”

His nonchalance melted into adoration. He beamed at her as if she had reminded him of a fond memory. But he kept his voice even. “Exactly. Why do you ask?”

Jinx took in a sharp breath, uncertain if she was crossing a line. “Is it cool if I just like… sleep? While you’re working? I just… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“... of course.” He took her empty glass while she snuggled under the covers. “Do you need anything? Any water?”

“I’m good.”

“Alright. Well, Sladkih snov, pupsik.”

She repeated the phrase in a hushed murmur, even though he wouldn’t be dreaming with her. “Sladkih snov, Vik…”

Within minutes, he was already lost in his research again. And Jinx slept, better than she had in days.

                                                       ☆ ☆ ☆                                                        

Progress Day already planned on taking the next day off, regardless of whether it would be in celebration or disappointment.

Usually on their days off, the Kiramman mansion residents would at least have a cup of coffee together, if not an entire breakfast. But today, Mrs. Kiramman had borrowed Caitlyn’s time with an offer she couldn’t refuse: the range. Caitlyn hesitated before she left, checking in with Vi, trying to get a gauge on her feelings about the day before. But Vi didn’t want her to worry, so she faked a smile and told her to have fun.

With Caitlyn gone, Vi spent her morning in the home gym. Her fists flew against the sandbag, numbing the thoughts in her mind. Sleep had reset her emotions, but the more she remembered from yesterday, the more frustrated she became. The poor sandbag stood no chance as she pummeled it, unleashing her confusion and anger. So intense was her workout that even Tobias decided to keep his distance today.

The workout helped, though, gave her an outlet to channel her feelings. After her shower, she only had enough energy to wander the mansion, a ghost in the echoing hallways. She kept the hood of her Hextech hoodie up, like she was on the street. Vi had explored the mansion a few times, Caitlyn giving her the tour, Tobias giving her several. She was quietly disgusted at first, how shiny and clean everything was, but she was even more disgusted at how used to it she’d become after living here for a few weeks.

She heard the distant strains of a guitar, and found herself following the sound, like a ship to a lighthouse. The sound led her to the Kiramman music room, which was mostly unused since they had the studio now. Lux was there, though, legs folded on the floor, tuning the acoustic guitar in her lap. She acknowledged Vi with a tiny nod before returning her focus to the strings.

Vi leaned against the doorframe. She hadn’t meant to avoid Lux, it just kind of… happened. She was just so confused, but hadn’t come up with a way to address it with her. But she deserved an explanation: they both did. “You know it’s our day off, right?” she asked.

“I don’t want to lose again.” Realizing her bluntness, Lux softened it with, “... I’m sorry about Ezreal. I really didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“Oh. Yeah, um, it’s- it’s okay.” In truth, the social media post was far on the back burner of her thoughts. She was still annoyed with Ez, sure, but her priorities were somewhere else. “Lux, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“... Why was Jinx in our dressing room?”

Lux’s fingers hovered over the fret. Her expression was one of guilt, though Vi didn’t know why she would feel guilty. Yet. “Well… I… Remember how I said I crossed paths with her at that party?”

“Yeah,” Vi said.

“That wasn’t exactly… the whole story. We’re like, friends. I guess.”

Frustration frothed in Vi’s stomach, but she pushed it aside. Lux didn’t know how unfair it was, how could she? Obviously, Jinx hadn’t told her anything, and so far Vi had been keeping secrets too.

Lux asked, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Who’s Powder?”

Vi sighed, her shoulders deflating as she did so. “Long story.”

“We have time,” Lux prompted, gently.

Honestly, Vi had expected Caitlyn to say something to Lux first, since they were so close, maybe even explain the situation to her the night before. But apparently not. Caitlyn knew better than anyone that this was Vi’s story to tell, her family’s history. And Vi appreciated that of her.

But Vi had never told the story before. The grief seemed so insurmountable, so impossible to express. And to be honest, part of her was ashamed. Ashamed that she never saw the signs, that she was too lovestruck to protect her sister.

Lux didn’t push her, though, just let her process for a moment. Whether Vi liked it or not, Lux was involved now. The secret wouldn’t stay buried forever, and it would be better for Vi to tell her rather than find out from some exploitative exposé. That, and she sensed that somehow, Lux deserved to know.

So Vi took a seat on the piano bench, and told Powder’s story. She explained how their parents died and how Vander took them in, how they grew up as outcasts and were bullied by their peers. She didn’t go into detail about the car accident: in fact, she kept Mylo and Claggor’s names out. That would be a different story, for a different time.

When she brought up the pub performance, Vi’s voice wavered. But Lux was patient, her silence encouraging her to continue. And Vi managed to make it through. She told her about the nights Powder and Ekko spent partying with Silco. And the night Powder did Shimmer for the first time. And their fight in the living room. Powder’s disappearance. Vander’s court summons. And the final seal of her fate, the name written there: Jinx.

Lux’s jaw dropped at the amount of information, but she kept herself from speaking, let Vi finish. And when she did, Lux joined her on the piano bench, hugging her tightly.

Only then did Vi feel the prick of tears, as a reaction to Lux’s sympathy. Though, she was surprised at how much the grief had dulled: of course, it was still there, it always would be. But it was no longer a bleeding wound, now just an ache in her heart.

The pain was fresh for Lux, though, even being so far removed from everything. “I’m so sorry, Vi.” Lux’s words were intercut with sniffles, the choke of tears thick in her throat. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. To both of you.”

“It’s cool.” It wasn’t. “It is what it is.” 'It' being a shit situation.

Lux had a few more gentle questions that she murmured into Vi’s shoulder, but her tone was free of judgment. She only sought to understand, not to form opinions. When she pulled away, her face was resolute. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe it’s just been a misunderstanding. She might listen to me, it might not be too late.”

“That’s the thing, Lux,” Vi’s voice was low. “I think it is.”

The early afternoon light streamed in through the tall windows. The room was so clean compared to their studio, which had become cluttered with effort. In this room, Lux’s guitar was the only instrument that had been held recently, the others leaning in their display stands.

“Look,” Vi said, wiping her hoodie sleeve against her wet eyes. “Whoever you hang out with is your business. But as someone who knows her… well, who knew her, at least, just… be careful.”

Lux answered in a small voice, “... Okay.”

                                                       ☆ ☆ ☆                                                        

Jinx’s phone rang again. And again she didn’t answer.

She wanted to, she really did. Days had passed since she saw Lux, and she really did want to hear her voice. But fear paralyzed her. Her anxious mind had calculated every possible situation, every path the conversation could follow. She had to be prepared, just in case.

Jinx was alone on her bed, knees drawn to her chest. Fishbones had been growling all day, voice blending into an eerie combination of Silco and Lux. Every time she felt like she was ready, another doubt would flare up. Until a voice, clear and unfiltered, said in a Russian accent, You’re never going to be truly prepared, pupsik. Just call her.

Lux answered instantly, breathless, “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“... Sorry it’s been a few days,” Lux said. “We've been practicing a lot harder.”

“Makes sense.”

“So um…” Lux picked her words carefully. “I have some news. The good news is, you have a sister.” Then, weakly, “Wooo, it’s a girl. But uh… the bad news is that you two are estranged, apparently. And she’s in the rival band. And she’s my roommate.”

Jinx’s heart pounded in her chest, mind racing as she tried to predict what Lux would say next. When Lux didn’t continue, Jinx muttered, “She told you, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The fear returned. Echoes of Lux’s voice played in her mind, shouting at her, criticizing her, judging her. All these scenarios led to the same place: “Let me guess,” Jinx said sourly. She had to protect herself. She had to attack first. “You’ve realized what a shitty person I am.”

Lux did a good job of pretending she was surprised. “Wh-what?”

“You called me to tell me that you hate me-”

“What? No, Jinx-”

But Jinx was on a roll, the storm overtaking her. “And you don’t want to be friends anymore.”

“Jinx, stop.” Lux didn’t yell, just kept her tone even and firm. “Please don’t put words in my mouth.”

Damn if she wasn’t convincing. “You’re just mad because I’m right, aren’t you? That’s what you were going to say anyway.”

“No, I wasn’t, I was going to say-”

“What? That you think I’m a-”

Now Lux raised her voice, but just barely. “Please let me speak!”

Jinx forced her mouth shut, narrowing her focus, ignoring the overlapping echoes.

Lux said softly, “I don’t… I don’t think anything, Jinx. Based on what Vi told me, it seems like there’s… a lot more to unpack. The only reason I brought it up is because I want to be transparent with you. To be honest, I’m kind of hurt that you lied to me. I understand why you did, but it still hurts. I don’t want to lie to you, I don’t want to pretend like I don’t know this stuff even though I do. I just… want you to know. That I know. That’s all.”

Her confusion cut a line through the fear. It was the last thing Jinx had expected, and she didn’t have time to prepare herself. There’s no way this was real. This had to be a trick. “You’re not mad? I mean, you have to admit it was a shitty thing to do.”

“Frankly, it’s none of my business.” Lux’s voice was near to a whisper now. “And besides, I haven’t even heard your side of the story yet. I’m in no position to judge you.”

Jinx’s words were trapped in her throat, scrambled, wanting to lash out but unsure how.

“The only impression I got,” Lux murmured. “Is that you seem like you may be in a lot of pain. And I just wanted to ask, if you feel comfortable, do you want to talk about it?”

“I can’t,” Jinx said quickly. “I won't.”

“Okay, okay.” She was so gentle. Why was she being gentle? “If you change your mind, just know I’m here.”

Jinx wished she could respond. She wished she could tell Lux that she appreciated her, or even that she understood her. But the fear kept her silent. Fishbones was still chomp, chomp, chomping away at her brain, promising betrayal, wrath.

Lux asked, “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

“... Your day.”

She could hear the smile in Lux’s voice as she began orating. It didn’t take her long to get started, and she maintained the ramble, refocusing Jinx’s attention.

As Lux went on, reality began to sink in. She really wasn’t angry. She wasn’t going to yell, or sob, or accuse her. She just… accepted her. And as she continued talking, Jinx began to feel, for the first time, that faint flutter of hope. First Viktor, and now Lux: both of them knew the depth of her darkness, and both of them still stuck around. Maybe she hadn’t gone too far. Maybe she did have a choice in her future. Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright.

She knew better than to get her hopes too far up, though. For now, all she wanted was to listen to the girl that still liked her. Despite everything, Lux was still here. And that was enough.

[chaikathink]

Arifureta Zero Volume 6

The finale for Miledi and the Liberators. It's unfair, it's awful, the world ends. We knew this would happen but it's still a shock. Reading these alternating with the main series has certainly been the way to go, each volume ties in with something either mentioned in the previous or following main series. The cast of characters were all charming, Lyu felt the least developed and while her forestization move was cool and she really is key to the party being the buffs, she felt underutilized and in the end Sharm was the one who defended the forest in her absence. Laus was a very tragic character but still entertaining.

I'm glad Naiz ended up with the little girl Yunfa even if Susha couldn't make it. I think they ended up being the ancestors of the guy in the main series who comes in to take over for the pope? Simon Levellair? Maybe? Which makes sense because he showed up one volume and was saying like "my family says follow your heart" or some shit and seemed real important but hasn't done much but be a good guy.

I liked the vampire king he was funny and honestly all the side characters were good even if there were way too many. Some stand outs were Sui, Alfard (the vampire), Badd, and the demon lord.

Oscar kind of faded into the background for this volume, he did a lot of synthesizing, but it really was Miledi's time to shine, as well as covering all the people dying and fighting.

Very cool set up and worldbuilding for Tortus and the main series, which is good because the main series really doesn't have that worldbuilding that I think it needs. Zero provides that for it.

Good series, read if you like the first 7 volumes of Arifureta and think you'll read all of the series eventually, really fleshes out the main series. I'll get started on the final volume of the main series right away.

[jcmarchi]

Study: New Deepfake Detector Designed to be Less Biased - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/study-new-deepfake-detector-designed-to-be-less-biased-technology-org/

Study: New Deepfake Detector Designed to be Less Biased - Technology Org

With facial recognition performing worse on certain races and genders, algorithms developed at UB close the gap.

The image spoke for itself. 

University at Buffalo computer scientist and deepfake expert Siwei Lyu created a photo collage out of the hundreds of real faces that his detection algorithms had misclassified as fake — and the new composition clearly had a predominantly darker skin tone.

Deepfake detection algorithms often perform differently across races and genders, including a higher false positive rate on Black men than on white women. New algorithms developed at the University at Buffalo are designed to reduce such gaps. Image credit: Siwei Lyu/UB

“A detection algorithm’s accuracy should be statistically independent from factors like race,” Lyu says, “but obviously many existing algorithms, including our own, inherit a bias.”

Lyu, PhD, co-director of the UB Center for Information Integrity, and his team have now developed what they believe are the first-ever deepfake detection algorithms specifically designed to be less biased.

Their two machine learning methods — one which makes algorithms aware of demographics and one that leaves them blind to them — reduced disparities in accuracy across races and genders, while, in some cases, still improving overall accuracy.

The researchDownload pdf was presented at the Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV), held Jan. 4-8, and was supported in part by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

Lyu, the study’s senior author, collaborated with his former student, Shu Hu, PhD, now an assistant professor of computer and information technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, as well as George Chen, PhD, assistant professor of information systems at Carnegie Mellon University. Other contributors include Yan Ju, a PhD student in Lyu’s Media Forensic Lab at UB, and postdoctoral researcher Shan Jia.

Ju, the study’s first author, says detection tools are often less scrutinized than the artificial intelligence tools they keep in check, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be held accountable, too. 

“Deepfakes have been so disruptive to society that the research community was in a hurry to find a solution,” she says, “but even though these algorithms were made for a good cause, we still need to be aware of their collateral consequences.”

Demographic aware vs. demographic agnostic

Recent studies have found large disparities in deepfake detection algorithms’ error rates — up to a 10.7% difference in one study — among different races. In particular, it’s been shown that some are better at guessing the authenticity of lighter-skinned subjects than darker-skinned ones.

This can result in certain groups being more at risk of having their real image pegged as a fake, or perhaps even more damaging, a doctored image of them pegged as real. 

The problem is not necessarily the algorithms themselves, but the data they’ve been trained on. Middle-aged white men are often overly represented in such photo and video datasets, so the algorithms are better at analyzing them than they are underrepresented groups, says Lyu, SUNY Empire Professor in the UB Department of Computer Science and Engineering, within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

“Say one demographic group has 10,000 samples in the dataset and the other only has 100. The algorithm will sacrifice accuracy on the smaller group in order to minimize errors on the larger group,” he adds. “So it reduces overall errors, but at the expense of the smaller group.”

While other studies have attempted to make databases more demographically balanced — a time-consuming process — Lyu says his team’s study is the first attempt to actually improve the fairness of the algorithms themselves.

To explain their method, Lyu uses an analogy of a teacher being evaluated by student test scores. 

“If a teacher has 80 students do well and 20 students do poorly, they’ll still end up with a pretty good average,” he says. “So instead we want to give a weighted average to the students around the middle, forcing them to focus more on everyone instead of the dominating group.”

First, their demographic-aware method supplied algorithms with datasets that labeled subjects’ gender — male or female — and race — white, Black, Asian or other — and instructed it to minimize errors on the less represented groups.

“We’re essentially telling the algorithms that we care about overall performance, but we also want to guarantee that the performance of every group meets certain thresholds, or at least is only so much below the overall performance,” Lyu says.

However, datasets typically aren’t labeled for race and gender. Thus, the team’s demographic-agnostic method classifies deepfake videos not based on the subjects’ demographics — but on features in the video not immediately visible to the human eye.

“Maybe a group of videos in the dataset corresponds to a particular demographic group or maybe it corresponds with some other feature of the video, but we don’t need demographic information to identify them,” Lyu says. “This way, we do not have to handpick which groups should be emphasized. It’s all automated based on which groups make up that middle slice of data.”

Improving fairness — and accuracy

The team tested their methods using the popular FaceForensic++ dataset and state-of-the-art Xception detection algorithm. This improved all of the algorithm’s fairness metrics, such as equal false positive rate among races, with the demographic-aware method performing best of all.

Most importantly, Lyu says, their methods actually increased the overall detection accuracy of the algorithm — from 91.49% to as high as 94.17%.

However, when using the Xception algorithm with different datasets and the FF+ dataset with different algorithms, the methods — while still improving most fairness metrics — slightly reduced overall detection accuracy.

“There can be a small tradeoff between performance and fairness, but we can guarantee that the performance degradation is limited,” Lyu says. “Of course, the fundamental solution to the bias problem is improving the quality of the datasets, but for now, we should incorporate fairness into the algorithms themselves.”

Source: State University of New York at Buffalo

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.

[tastydregs]

DeSantis ad uses fake AI images of Trump hugging and kissing Fauci, experts say

Enlarge / Screenshot from Ron DeSantis ad shows a collage of real and fake images.

A Ron DeSantis presidential campaign video shows three pictures of Donald Trump hugging and kissing Anthony Fauci, all of which seem to be fake images generated by artificial intelligence. One professor told Ars today that there is "no doubt" the ad uses fake AI images.

As reported by AFP yesterday, media forensics experts say the images, which the DeSantis ad passed off as photographs taken during Trump's presidency, have telltale signs of AI. Even non-experts may notice oddities such as incomprehensible text on a sign that should say "White House" and "Washington."

Of course, another giveaway is that then-President Trump and Fauci weren't really on hugging and kissing terms. Trump repeatedly attacked Fauci and resisted measures to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DeSantis video advertisement released Monday slams Trump for not firing Fauci. About halfway through, there is a collage of six images (seen at the top of this article) of Trump and Fauci.

“No doubt in my mind” that they’re fake

"There is no doubt in my mind that the top-left and bottom-middle pictures are fakes," V.S. Subrahmanian, an AI researcher and professor of computer science at Northwestern University, told Ars today. "As pointed out in the AFP piece, the top-left image shows incorrect lettering on the picture of the White House. The bottom-middle image shows a number of weird white streaks between the stars in the US flag."

As some people pointed out, Trump's hair looks unnatural in the images. Ars Technica AI and Machine Learning Reporter Benj Edwards told me today that he noticed, among other problems, a "lack of detail in the hair. AI synthesis models are still bad at rendering accurate details and better at getting general things approximately correct."

We contacted the DeSantis campaign today and will update this article if we get a response.

The three real photos in the collage show Trump and Fauci sitting or standing near each other. One of the real pictures can be found on Getty Images, another is on the National Institutes of Health website, and the third is from Reuters.

Though DeSantis is slamming Trump for not firing Fauci, DeSantis himself reportedly praised Fauci on March 25, 2020, as "really doing a good job" in a "tough, tough situation."

Sneaky intermixing of real and fake images

"It was sneaky to intermix what appears to be authentic photos with fake photos, but these three images are almost certainly AI-generated," University of California, Berkeley Professor Hany Farid told AFP. Farid's research focuses on areas including digital forensics, misinformation, image analysis, and human perception. Problems in the bottom-right image include "differences in the shape of Trump's ear as compared to stock photos," Farid said.

The three suspicious images "contain many signs indicating that they were AI-generated," AFP was told by Matthew Stamm, a Drexel University professor and expert on detecting falsified images and videos.

"For example, if you look closely at Donald Trump's hair in the top-left, bottom-middle, and bottom-right images, you can see that it contains inconsistent textures and is significantly blurrier than other nearby content such as his ears or other regions of his face," Stamm told AFP.

University of Buffalo Professor Siwei Lyu, director of the school's Media Forensic Lab, "told AFP the [top-left] image also portrays Trump's right arm in an abnormal position, with it appearing to extend too far as it wraps fully around Fauci's body," the news organization reported. In the lower-middle picture, Trump's right hand is "clearly generated with the thumb in an unnatural position," Lyu told AFP.

"At the same time, Stamm noted that Trump's left hand does not appear to have a thumb in the image, instead blending into his right hand," AFP wrote.

The DeSantis campaign ad is not the first to use AI. In April, the GOP released an anti-Biden ad that used AI-generated images.

[batteredwarriorstillstanding]

If someone wants to lie to you, what in the fuck are you gonna do? Fine.....you felt nothing....you feel nothibg. Those weren't your blogs, you didn't wait years for a chance redemtion, you weren't metely convinced that I dod not love you and attempt to save face. You didn't allow someone with no fucking business ordering any decision from anyone to force one of your most consequential.....you never spent years wondering if what I had said was actually real. You didn't react strongly to me for the past several months, I must gave neen lyu g when i told you it didn't matter that you had gained weight, or looked different, I am absolutely going to put mysekf in a position like this again, after 7 plus months of consistent effort, it didn't both er me in the slightest for you to react strongly, positiveky, then, ultimately allow some fucking charlaatan to decide my fate for you. I don't care that you run around all over them claim with a straight face that you are too tired, too shy, too anxious etc to m.eet with me....Actually no....hete's the truth. I DO live you. I always will. Get a good laugh or practical joke in, maybe fuck some dork under my nose and get off, because love sometimes is defeated. This is one of those times. We are done. Not for tonight. Forever. I hope you nade the right decision.

[hollymbryan]

Blog Tour + #Review: I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN by Sarah Lyu! #tbrbeyondtours

Welcome to Book-Keeping! I’m so happy today to be hosting a spot on the TBR and Beyond Tours blog tour for the incredible contemporary YA novel from Sarah Lyu, I Will Find You Again, which released yesterday! I’ve got all the details for you below, along with my review.

About the Book

title: I Will Find You Again author: Sarah Lyu publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR release date: 14 March 2023

All the Bright Places meets Ace of Spades in this smart, twisty teen thriller about a girl who can’t stop pushing herself to be the best—even after losing her best friend and the love of her life.

Welcome to Meadowlark, Long Island—expensive homes and good schools, ambition and loneliness. Meet Chase Ohara and Lia Vestiano: the driven overachiever and the impulsive wanderer, the future CEO and the free spirit. Best friends for years—weekend trips to Montauk, sleepovers on a yacht—and then, first love. True love.

But when Lia disappears, Chase’s life turns into a series of grim snapshots. Anger. Grief. Running. Pink pills in an Altoids tin. A cheating ring at school. Heartbreak and lies. A catastrophic secret.

And the shocking truth that will change everything about the way Chase sees Lia—and herself.

Content Warning: drug use, suicide, discussions of depression & anxiety

Add to Goodreads: I Will Find You Again Purchase the Book: Amazon | B&N | TBD | IndieBound

About the Author

Sarah Lyu grew up outside of Atlanta, GA, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She loves a good hike and can often be found with a paintbrush in one hand and a cup of milky tea in the other. She is the author of I Will Find You Again and The Best Lies.

Connect with Sarah: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Facebook | TikTok

My 5-Star Review

Ohhh, this book, y’all. This. Book. I felt pain in my heart and a rising sense of dread in my stomach the whole time I was reading. This story is heartbreaking and devastating, but ultimately hopeful and liberating in the best way. I felt *all* the emotions while reading this, and the way Sarah Lyu gently unfolds Chase and Lia’s story for us is so unexpected and darn near perfect. This is the best contemporary YA I’ve read in a long time, despite the heaviness of the subject matter; the ultimate conclusion or moral of the story is such a necessary one for today’s teens that I want to press this into the hands of every young person I know. Please do pick up this novel (if you can handle the subject matter), and do let me know what you think if you read it. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Rating: 5 stars!

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher for purposes of this blog tour. Thank you to the publisher, TBR and Beyond Tours, and the author for letting me take part.

Check out the Bookstagram tour too! You can find my post here, and the full schedule is here.

[wyrmmaster]

I was waiting for this scene in particular because Haruhime’s asshole fox brain is immediately like “aight how do I get around that” but also doesn’t allow for weighing the consequences of doing it in front of Hestia right after she gave the order