#also got some insight into why I was assigned the certain projects I was assigned for the upcoming year

[iguessitsjustme]

Someone tell me why I went to my one on one meeting with a manager and came out of it with a project I’m not supposed to take over until next spring

[marshmallowprotection]

Hey Kait ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡ I come to your ask box with something a tad personal?/I’d like to hear some of your characterization. Lately I’ve been drowning in work with about 11-14 assignments a week in uni + being a working college student…(it’s ok though it’s almost over for summer) so I have to basically force myself not to do too much outside of that. But with the help and encouragement of friends I have new ideas to “upgrade” my cmc. It’s a project that will probably not happen till summer…but anyways to come back around. How might you think the Saeran squad would react to an Mc who feels heavily pressured by pale beauty standards? It’s a bit of a tricky topic so no worries, but I’d just like some thoughts/discussions maybe as it does hurt sitting and waiting patiently to start projects because work comes first .·´¯`(>▂⁢)´¯`·. also it’s best to start them with ideas for foundation.

I’d like to touch base on it with my cmc especially with Ray, it being something I heavily struggle with, but whhhfhs we’ll see how it goes! Also pardon my 2 am rambling and thank you

I don’t know if I’m the most qualified person to discuss this. But, I know that this affects all of us in the sense that it permeates society everywhere. It’s ingrained in places so deeply that it’s hard to start learning how much it truly affects many of the things in our lives because there’s just so many layers of this to unpack at a time. You never stop learning, and it’s open to keep learning about these many biases so that you can better understand how to handle it as needed. I think, for the most part, I can speak to what Saeran understands about these things. He’s got a curious history because he has been detached from society so much that there’s a lot that he doesn’t understand. 

There are a lot of biases and discrimination in society. But the thing is, he's never been subjected to any of those things. His childhood was spent in one tiny house. For the most part, the only time that he was able to interact with the outside world came when he was able to go to the cathedral for a short time and when he was researching ways to bring you to Mint Eye. Ray, Suit Saeran, and GE Saeran all have the same lack of insight here when it comes to societal standards. 

They don't have a concept of how all these things permeate and affect people. There is sort of a blunt idea of what it comes to beauty standards since we know Ray styles his hair for a long time to seem presentable. So, there's definitely an argument there that there's an understanding but not a huge one. That is to say that they understand that there are certain values in society, but there's no way for them to understand all of them for sure. There are just some things that they weren't taught or told, and it gives them a huge grey area in society. It's why you see each of them misunderstand social cues and things of that nature. 

Ray does understand because he’s insecure. But, what he understands is more of a generalized idea. it’s like, he knows that a lot of people like guys like Zen or Jumin who have money, power, or are physically fit. He knows those are things but as far some of the more burning insecurities that come from the way that so many places across the globe deal with colorism and racism, he’s missing a lot of information and personal experience with the matter. He’s been limited on who he speaks to and why. These discussions aren’t ones that he’s been able to have or experience. 

I think in Ray’s case, he's going to be very confused. His MC is the apple of his eye. He loves them for who they are and they could never do anything wrong in his eyes. They are the epitome of beauty to him. It doesn't matter who they are. It doesn't matter what they look like. None of those details are pertinent to how he sees them as beautiful. 

Because no matter what you look like and no matter who you are, if you are the person that he has chosen, you are his idea of beauty. You are everything. You are the most perfect person in the world. He would never be able to understand why someone who is so amazing in his eyes has internalized some of these things. It just doesn't make sense to him. He isn't able to piece together why society would make you feel so horrible or why you would feel so horrible about yourself. It doesn't connect for him. He doesn't have the pieces to put these things together. 

However, if you start to talk to him about why you have these feelings about yourself in the first place, he will put in the work to research and understand as much as he possibly can. He wants to know why the outside world would do these things. In some ways, it would convince him even more that he needs to keep you here so that you're safe with him. he doesn't want you to get hurt. He doesn't want you to feel bad about yourself. He just doesn't want you to suffer. 

When it comes to making you feel better, he would fixate harder on trying to make sure that you feel like the prince/ss you are. He drops everything just to make sure that you feel like you're the most important person in the world. You are. As far as he is concerned in this matter, you are the most important person in the world and you need to be confident in that sense of self. Even if he can't speak well of himself, he will do everything that he can think of to make sure that you feel good about yourself. It's a little bit hypocritical since he struggles with his own identity but it's easier for him to help you than just for him to help himself.

[vrednic]

COLLATERAL DAMAGE (PT. 2)

Teen Wolf x Vampire Diaries AU

Prompt: Teen Wolf, but with a twist. Scott McCall has a twin sister… and she falls in love with Derek Hale.

Summary: After Scott refuses to join his pack, Peter Hale turns Serena McCall into a werewolf. Will her transformation be for better… or for worse?

Word Count: 3,285

Author’s Note: This series will skim the events of seasons 1-3. I have a lot of content planned, so there will be some skipping around at certain points, but it will all work in unison, I promise! I hope you all enjoy part 2! Please let me know if you’d like to be added to my taglist. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading :)

*PART ONE IS HERE. *

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Werewolves.

The topic of lycanthropy was one I hadn’t visited since freshman year english. I thought back to the unit of Greek mythology, and how we had been assigned research projects on famous Greek myths. My english teacher gave us the liberty to choose our own myths, and I had naively chosen Lycaon of Arcadia. Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, attempted to trick Zeus into eating human flesh, testing to see if he was truly all-knowing. Angered by Lycaon’s blasphemous actions, Zeus punished Lycaon by turning him into a wolf.

Oh, the irony of it all.

For the past three weeks, I have been given gradual insight into the world of the supernatural. The full moon was fast-approaching, and I needed to learn everything I could as quickly as possible. I wasn’t yet sure how I felt about my transformation. I was amazed at how quickly I began noticing changes. Overnight, it seemed, my senses had been dialed up to a thousand. I was stronger, faster, and more confident. I could smell, hear, and sense things other people couldn’t. One of the most fascinating things about my newfound abilities was that my body’s healing process was nearly instantaneous. The only downside of it was that I had yet to experience the brutality of the full moon. I was afraid that I would see things differently after, that I’d realize that I’d never be able to control it. Would my supernatural powers really be worth being enslaved to an insatiable bloodlust every month? Would it be worth putting my friends and loved ones at risk, especially when one slip-up could mean death for any and all of them?

I had been training tirelessly with Scott every day since I was bitten. Before school, after school, and during free periods. He had effectively taught me how to make my claws appear and disappear at will, how to partially shift into my werewolf form, how to follow scents, how to decipher chemo-signals, and how to trigger the healing process of an injury using pain. I was impressed with my progress, but I knew that I had only been exposed to bits and pieces of the extensive supernatural spectrum that I was now a part of. I had always been good at the technical side of things, so I knew that learning the basics of lycanthropy wasn’t going to be an issue. I considered myself to be on the smart side-- I had no problem displaying resourcefulness or creativity or administering critical thinking in complex situations. One thing I wasn’t very good at, however, was regulating my emotions.

When our parents got divorced, Scott and I handled things very differently. He was always a mama’s boy, and I was a daddy’s girl. Our father was an alcoholic and a cheater; something I knew all too well, but was also something I wanted to remain oblivious to. I’m assuming this realization is what made it easier for Scott to hate him, to be okay with moving on without him. It was harder for me to cope with his absence because our dad had always been my rock -- my hero --  and I couldn’t picture him ever hurting anyone. Especially me.

The night my mom kicked my dad out of the house for good, he had come home drunk. He instigated an argument with her over something, as usual. But with them it was never just an argument; it always ended up with them screaming at each other. Scott and I shared a room back then, and it was located right by the staircase, which was where they happened to be arguing that night. Not surprisingly, their heated voices turned into shouts, and we were both awoken. We peered through a crack in the door as our parents fought. My dad could barely keep his balance; his cheeks were flushed, his eyes crazy, violent words spewing from his mouth fueled by intoxication. I remembered vividly how he had lost his composure and grabbed my mother by the neck, slamming her against the wall. I let out an audible gasp and stood frozen in horror. Scott flung the door open and rushed into the hall, immediately wedging himself between our mother and father. My dad grabbed Scott’s arm, attempting to pull him out of the way, but yanked my brother with too much force. He was flung against the railing of the staircase, and he tumbled down the stairs. He was unconscious at the bottom of the stairs for maybe 30 seconds, and when he came to, he didn’t remember a thing. My mother ushered us back into our room and put us into bed. I fell asleep crying that night, but I didn’t know exactly for whom I was crying. Had it been for my brother? Had it been for my mother? For the loss of my dad? Or was it for me?

I hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to him. I woke up the following morning, expecting him to be there, bags in tow, waiting to talk to us one last time. But he was already gone. I knew he didn’t deserve it, but I couldn’t help but miss him. When the plea for divorce was initiated, there was never a discussion about shared custody or visitations. Once the divorce was finalized, I knew that he was never coming back. It was because of his betrayal and abandonment that I grew up with issues when it came to trusting people. I was filled with this deep, aching feeling of isolation, and it made me angry. Very. As I grew older, I got better at suppressing it, but I knew that somewhere deep down, it was still there. With the full moon prodding and poking at my resolve and self control, I knew it was only a matter of time before those feelings resurfaced.

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The day of my first full moon, I felt the effects as soon as I got out of bed in the morning. I felt my heartbeat rising with every breath that I took. When I got to school, my senses immediately began to feel overstimulated. Everything was brighter, louder, and more jarring. The sound of the bell ringing made me feel like someone was hammering nails into my skull. The people I passed in the hallway blurred together, all of their emotions and scents hitting me like a door to  the face. At lunch, the sound of people’s voices and laughter made me want to tear their heads off. I looked around the cafeteria, feeling myself grow angrier and angrier, for seemingly no reason at all. Rationally, I knew that these people had done nothing wrong. Emotionally, they were the piece of gum stuck under my shoe. My gaze locked on Jackson Whittemore, and I fantasized about how good it would feel to tear his tongue right out of his head. He had always been an asshole to my brother, so why shouldn’t I kill him? It would be extremely satisfying to watch the smug look on his face disappear as I stood over him, my hands drenched in his blood, as I began to tear him limb from limb…

“Uh, Serena? Are you okay?”

Scott’s voice brought me back to reality. I was suddenly overcome with anxiety as I realized the vile intrusive thoughts that I was just experiencing. What was the matter with me? This wasn’t me. I wasn’t a killer. Only, maybe that wasn’t exactly true anymore.

I nodded, fabricating a smile. “Yeah, no, everything’s great. I was just thinking about my research paper for… biology. It’s due tomorrow and I have no clue where to start.”

“That’s fair,” he said. “But remember that it’s perfectly okay for you to be feeling on edge today. It’s your first full moon and I promise nobody will blame you for not feeling or acting like yourself.”

I felt the tension in my shoulders ease ever-so-slightly. I nodded once more, reassuring him that I was in fact okay. I felt better knowing that out of all of the things that had changed, our sibling bond hadn’t. He’d be there with me to make me feel safe and to teach me control. Before long, I would be able to be just like him. I trusted him, and I knew he had faith in me. That meant only one thing: I had to have faith in me too.

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Later in the evening, as the sun was setting, I began feeling the effects of the full moon amplifying. My heartbeat was nearly erratic and Scott was nowhere to be found. I was in the bathroom, standing over the sink and looking at myself in the mirror. There was a flicker of golden yellow in my eyes, and I nearly sobbed out of pure anxiety alone. I balled my hands into fists, trying to focus on anything other than the impending sense of dread that I was experiencing. I felt a warm, slippery substance course down my wrist. Blood.

I opened my fist up, revealing four deep punctures on both of my palms, where my claws had dug into. The temporary flicker of pain was small, but enough to bring me out of the frenzy. I took this opportunity to set out to find Scott.

I didn’t remember the way to the Hale house all too well, but what I did remember was its scent. The smell of charred wood and smoke would be very hard to miss. I maneuvered my way through the darkness, making sure every step I took was careful and calculated. Scott had mentioned that Beacon Hills Preserve was littered with traps set by hunters. It was also a full moon, so I knew there would not be any shortage of hunters roaming around town tonight, hoping to catch and kill their next supernatural victim.

As if on cue, I heard voices from a distance. By the sound of it, there were maybe four or five of them, all men. I swallowed, trying to think of an escape plan. I couldn’t run. It was fall, and the weight of my body against the leaves on the ground would give my location away immediately. I could have hidden, but I knew that they probably had some sort of a thermographic camera. If they happened to get me in one of the shots, I would have considered myself dead.

I tried to weigh any and all other options, but I had none. The best chance at escape that I had right now was simply to run. They sounded far away enough so that even if they did hear me, my superhuman speed would give me an advantage. I decided that now was as good a time as any, and began moving. I tried to keep to the shadows, not daring to make any unnecessary sounds. I noticed too late that I had no idea where I was going. I looked around me, but I couldn’t pinpoint any familiar landmarks. I could have sworn that I was heading back in the direction I came, but judging by my surroundings, that wasn’t the case. I stopped for a moment, attempting to gather my thoughts.

“Come on, Serena,” I whispered to myself. “Think.”  

I was jolted away from my thoughts when I saw a red light from my peripheral vision. I was frozen, completely unsure what to do. More red lights emerged from the darkness, pointing straight at me. Lasers. It was then that instinct spoke to me, telling me to run. And that’s exactly what I did.

I turned on my heel and bolted away from where the hunters had been. I didn’t take the time to care about the tracks or the noise I left in my wake. I had the advantage of speed, but they had the advantage of knowledge and experience. These were professional killers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew what move I’d make next even before I did. Through the commotion, I almost forgot why I had been in the woods in the first place. The fury of the full moon hit me, unforgiving. It was as if she allowed me only a few moments of peace before the storm. I looked up at the sky and the moon glimmered at its peak. Almost instantaneously I was overcome with an animalistic urge to go back and rip the head off of every single hunter that was on my trail.

My claws and fangs appeared as if by magic, and my eyes were aglow. I felt angry-- so angry. But it was that anger that gave me power. I felt strong… unstoppable. Against all rational thought, I turned back around, using my infrared eyes to see through the darkness. A few rows of trees ahead was where I spotted them. Two of them were kneeled down, examining the tracks that I had left behind, judging the direction I must have taken. The other three were behind them, standing guard. They looked around, weapons drawn, ready to fire at any given moment.

I growled. It was a sound that conveyed equal parts rage and purpose. I was hiding behind a tree, looking for the perfect moment to attack. Just as I was about to launch myself in their direction, a pair of hands snagged me from behind with tremendous force. Before I could growl or scream, the person used one hand to cover my mouth and tucked me against his chest, making sure our bodies were still shielded by the tree. I tipped my head back to see who it was, and was met with the fiery gaze of Derek Hale.

He broke eye contact first and peered over my head, trying to come up with an escape tactic. His stone cold composure made it clear that it wasn’t his first time evading death by the hands of werewolf hunters. I, on the other hand, was terrified. I felt an equal amount of shame and embarrassment once I realized how foolish I had been. It was a night of the full moon and I wasn’t in control, for one. I also felt extremely stupid for walking into woods that were infested with hunters; ones that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between my eyes. Another shame-inducing component was the fact that Derek just had to be the one to find me. I had gotten a brief description of him from Scott, so I knew that he was hardcore. He also hated liabilities, and at the moment, that’s exactly what I was.

“Now’s not the time to wallow in shame,” he whispered to me, his voice gruff. “If you hadn’t noticed, they’ve got us completely surrounded. It’s a miracle they haven’t seen us yet.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. “Don’t bother denying it. The smell of embarrassment is rolling off of you like a stench.”

Your commentary isn’t exactly helping, I wanted to say to him. But I knew better than to push his buttons, especially when we were on the brink of being discovered. I kept my back against the tree, waiting for further instructions. After a few minutes, Derek finally spoke again.

He lowered his mouth next to my ear, his warm breath sending a tingling sensation onto my neck and down my back. “On my signal, you run. I’ll stay behind and cause a distraction so you can get away.” He pointed behind him to another row of trees. “Run that way. Get out of the woods as fast as you can.”

Before I could get a word out, he was gone. He roared loudly, capturing the attention of the hunters that resided a few yards away. As they ran to him, he turned back to look at me, flashing his icy blue eyes. That was my cue. I took off running in the direction he had said. I heard the commotion of the fight almost the entire way. Growls and roars from Derek’s end were met with the sound of guns firing. I found myself secretly hoping that he would be okay, although in the back of my mind I knew he would be. He was Derek Hale, after all.

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I made it out of the preserve after only a handful of minutes of running. At the end of the treeline, right where the road started, a vehicle’s headlights cut through the darkness. The closer I got, the more details I could make out. It was a blue 1980 Jeep CJ5. Standing beside it were two silhouettes, both male. I let out a sigh of relief.

I jogged the rest of the way and launched myself into Scott’s arms. He squeezed me tightly and ushered me into the Jeep. Stiles drove onto the road, taking the route that led back to my house. Scott turned to look at me from the passenger’s seat.

“Why the hell were you in the woods?” He asked. His tone was firm but still held a touch of delicacy. We both knew it was more for my sake than his. “Didn’t I tell you about the hunters? The preserve is not a safe place for a werewolf on a night of a full moon. Argent and his hunters have memorized every square inch of those woods. You’re lucky Derek found you when he did. If he hadn’t, I’m sure Gerard would’ve turned you into a human kebab by now.”

I felt my throat tighten in frustration. “The imagery really isn’t necessary. I know what I did was stupid, and I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do. I felt like I was losing control and you weren’t there, Scott!” My voice caught on his name, and I had to take a few moments to collect myself. “You weren’t there and, quite frankly, I have no one else to turn to on this. I don’t have a best friend like yours. I don’t have one that’ll pick up my call in the middle of the night and be willing to be a part of the world of the supernatural. I don’t have a best friend who’ll chain me up on a full moon and help me find restraint. I was all alone in my home, which I could have easily torn apart if I had lost control of myself tonight. I was counting on you to help me, and you weren’t there.”

The air was thick with tension. I could sense the sadness emanating from both Scott and Stiles. I felt guilty for taking all of my frustration out on my brother, but everything I said was true, and I wasn’t going to apologize for how I felt. Scott was a natural leader, and I admired that about him. Being a leader meant taking on responsibilities, and I understood that he wouldn’t be around all the time. Over the weeks following my transformation, I got a chance to see just how much people needed him.  Peter wanted him in his pack. Derek wanted him as an ally. Stiles wanted him as a best friend. Hell, even the lacrosse team needed him as team captain. But tonight was the one night that I needed him. I needed my brother, and he wasn’t there.

“I’m so sorry, Serena. I can do better, I promise. If you’ll just let me--” he began.  

“No,” I said, cutting him off. “I don’t want to talk. Just take me home.”

With that, I turned to face the window, looking at the blur of lights, cars, houses, and dark, desolate streets passing me by. Scott sighed, but he didn’t protest.

We rode in silence the entire way back.

TAGS

@broco8

[magicsmutshop]

Tangents

Pairings: Kim Taehyung/Reader, Min Yoongi/Reader

Genre: Smutty one-shot

Rating: Explicit

Word count: ~6000

Warnings: Alcohol, weed, voyeurism/exhibitionism, frat boy!Tae, frat boy!Yoongi, quasi-threesome

about: You’re stuck partnering on a presentation with resident stoner Taehyung. When you go over to his frat house to work on it, you meet his roommate Yoongi -- and realize they both have more to them than meets the eye.

inspired by this amazing picture.

Shouldering your backpack, you knock on the front door of the Beta Tau Sigma house. You shift your weight from foot to foot while waiting for a response. You can hear sounds coming through the door -- some kind of shooting game and guys yelling at each other to “duck under that projectile, Jin!” You roll your eyes and bang on the door harder.

Suddenly, the door is flung open to reveal a tall guy in a gray sweatsuit, shaking black hair out of his eyes. He stares at you for a moment, looking completely spaced-out.

“Uh, hi? Is Taehyung here?” You awkwardly adjust your backpack again and tighten your ponytail.

Tall Guy’s face clears and his eyes crinkle. “Oh yeah, he said he had somebody coming by to work on a project. He’s in the living room.” He spins on his heel and charges down the hall, not waiting to see if you followed.  You roll your eyes again and make your way inside, closing the door behind you. You definitely got a strong whiff of weed from that brief conversation, which doesn’t bode well for your project work tonight.

Your Anthro 101 professor had assigned partners for a presentation due in two weeks. Unfortunately, you were paired up with Kim Taehyung, the resident stoner who always made the most random comments during discussion. You internally cringed every time he opened his mouth, because his off-the-wall questions would lead the professor down long tangents that were irrelevant to the syllabus. It was a waste of your time when the professor could be lecturing on content that would actually show up on the exams!  You were dreading the idea of having to keep Taehyung on topic and on track during the presentation, which counted for a fairly large part of your grade.

On the other hand, Taehyung seemed happy with the partner assignment. He plopped down in the seat next to yours while you were packing up your notes, and cheerfully invited you to his fraternity house the next night to get started on the presentation.  He was a member of Beta Tau Sigma, the arts fraternity which was known for their hot artsy guys, but also for the noise complaints that came out of their League of Legends tournaments. You weren’t exactly eager to spend an evening there, but your roommate never left the dorm room and the library had shitty heating.  So here you were on a Friday night, following the skunk smell to the living room in search of your partner.

You poke your head into the room Tall Guy disappeared into, and see him sitting on the floor in front of the couch with a controller in his hands. He’s next to a beautiful man with broad shoulders and plush lips who’s screaming at the tv.  Behind them on the couch is Taehyung, next to yet another beautiful man with plush lips and silvery hair. The fraternity’s reputation was clearly not wrong.

Taehyung looks up with a beaming smile upon seeing you peeking in. “Y/N! You made it!” He gracefully unfolds himself off the couch and bounds over to you. “I’m so excited to work on this with you.” He’s making really intense eye contact with you, which is slightly unnerving until you notice the slight redness of his eyes. You see a bong made out of a Tata figurine on the beat-up coffee table in front of the couch, which explains everything you needed to know.

You force a smile. “Of course, looking forward to getting this project done. So, where’s your room?” The guys behind you break out into a chorus of “oohs” before returning their attention to the game they’re playing.  Taehyung ignores them, taking you gently by the arm and directing you out of the room.

“Sorry, we’ve been having our game night and they get a little rowdy. I promise they won’t bother us while we’re working on the project. I’m right upstairs. Do you want anything to drink before we get started?”

You shake your head. “No thanks, I’d rather just get to it.”  Taehyung shrugs and leads you up a flight of stairs. As you follow him, you can’t help but notice how nicely his ass fills out his black pants. He pushes open a door covered in a Nas poster and beckons for you to enter first.

You blink your eyes at the dim lighting when you enter his room. The room is a pretty standard-issue college room--there are two twin beds on opposite walls. One side is covered in torn-out pictures of rappers from magazines. The other side is covered in black-and-white photos, plus a poster of The Starry Night. In between the beds, another guy is sitting at his desk with his back to you. He has huge headphones on and is looking at an intimidating array of monitors and speakers. Like Taehyung, he’s wearing a baseball cap and a plain black tee. He doesn’t seem to have noticed your entrance.

Taehyung bounces over to the guy and pokes him in the shoulder. “Yo, Yoongi!”  Yoongi ignores him. Not to be deterred, Taehyung pulls one side of his headphones off. “Yoongi!”

Yoongi finally turns around. “What, Tae?” His scowl doesn’t hide the fact that he’s really attractive, with narrow, dark eyes, delicate lips, and the most flawless skin you’ve ever seen on a man. Seriously, what is it with the hot men in this fraternity? Suddenly, you notice his dark gaze land on you.

“Yoongi, this is Y/N! She’s in my anthro class, we’re going to work on that presentation I was telling you about!” Taehyung turns to you, smiling winningly. “This is my roommate Yoongi, do you mind if he sticks around? He’s working on a project too, but don’t worry, his headphones block out the entire world.”  You shrug.

Yoongi gives you a brief nod and then immediately turns back to his computer, putting his headphones back on. He’s clearly not the talkative type, but Taehyung seems to talk enough for two.  “Come sit here, I promise I just changed the sheets, Jungkook did the laundry so it smells really good!” He pats the bedspread next to him.

You tentatively approach and sit down, pulling your backpack into your lap. The sheets really do smell good, and sitting this closely, Taehyung smells good too. You were expecting him to smell like weed and Axe, but instead, he smells like a combination of musk and flowers.  You blink out of your brief reverie and lock eyes with him. There’s that discomfiting eye contact again… but this time you notice how long his eyelashes are. “So, shall we start?” He pulls out his laptop, breaking the moment.

---

Much to your surprise, Taehyung actually knows what he’s doing. He had a really good suggestion for your presentation topic, and when you agreed to it, he had a potential outline already typed up, with ideas for supporting articles and readings you could refer to.  Despite your worst fears, you’re done with the initial prep work in an hour, and have a solid base to draft your presentation for next week. Taehyung closes his laptop with a flourish and hops off his bed, stretching his arms above his head. His shirt rides up, revealing a flat stomach with a tiny happy trail leading up to his bellybutton. As your gaze drifts up his torso, you realize he’s watching you watch him, with a smug glint in his eyes.  “How about that drink now?”

You flush, realizing you were caught. Tae had completely changed your initial opinion of him over the past 90 minutes, once you realized how quick-thinking he actually was. You were actually enjoying his random little asides and pieces of trivia, and it was harder to ignore how attractive he actually was… for a frat boy. “I’m not sure,” you start to demur, but his smile quickly turns into a pout.

“Come on, it’s Friday night and we totally blew past our goals for the evening. Let’s hang out and play some Mario Kart,” he wheedles, widening his brown eyes at you.  Behind him, you hear a snort from Yoongi. Tae had claimed that Yoongi’s headphones blocked out the world, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Yoongi had made the occasional dry aside during your conversations. He had a sarcastic sense of humor, but had also made some good suggestions for your presentation.

---

Earlier on, you’d finally asked Tae why he led the professor on so many tangents during class. “You’re so organized with this project, why do you ask all those random questions that take ages for him to answer?”

Taehyung had a sly smile on his face. “It turns out that the professor has certain areas of interest that he wasn’t allowed to put on the syllabus because the department is so strict about 100-level standards. So when I ask my questions, I get participation credit, right?”  You nod slowly. You can see Yoongi at his desk, turned in your direction. “But not only do I get the credit, I also get insight into what the professor is interested in. He goes off on these tangents about his pet interests, which I then put into my homework and papers. He’s flattered that I have an interest, so I get a better grade.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” your mind was blown. Suddenly you understood where Tae’s presentation idea came from--the professor had indeed rambled on about it for a good 20 minutes in the previous week’s class.  You looked at Taehyung with new respect. His eyes were glimmering with mischief.

Yoongi nodded. “I took this class last year with the same professor. I taught this guy everything he knows.” He had a matching sly smile on his face.  These two were trouble.

“Yah! I have some tricks of my own!” Taehyung playfully threw a plushie at Yoongi’s head, ending the conversation, and you got back to your work.

---

You agree to play Mario Kart, so Taehyung takes you back to the living room. Yoongi stays behind in the room, claiming he’s on a roll with his song, and the other guys are nowhere to be seen. According to Tae, they’ve left for a party at another frat.

“You didn’t want to go with them?” You ask, sipping on peach soju.

Taehyung shrugs. “I didn’t want to wreck our flow, and I’m cool just chilling here for the evening. Do you wanna make things interesting and race for shots?” His eyes sparkle and he shakes the bottle of soju in your direction.

“Race for shots?”

“Winner of the race has to do a shot of soju. That way if one of us is better, the alcohol evens things out. We implemented the house rule because otherwise Jungkook would win every single round.”

What do you have to lose? You’re having fun, and you could use the handicap to be honest. “Sure, let’s do it. But I call Yoshi!”

Taehyung pouts. “No fair, Yoshi’s the best.”

Seven rounds later, you’re both flushed and giggly and constantly running your karts off the side of the Rainbow Road.  Taehyung’s tolerance is surprisingly low for a frat boy, and you aren’t doing much better. He keeps leaning into your side as he acts out the turns with his entire body. Whenever he presses up against your side, you get another whiff of that musky fragrance, and his body forms a line of heat against yours. 

He knocks back his penalty shot of soju but not all of it makes it into his mouth. You watch the droplets of liquid travel down his firm jawline onto his neck. Your mouth is suddenly dry--you find yourself wanting to track that droplet with your tongue.  He seems to know what you’re thinking. When you look back at his eyes, he’s staring at your mouth. “Hey. I don’t think I can take any more soju. How about a different penalty for winning the next race? Winner has to give the loser a kiss.”

You gulp. His mouth looks lush and red, and is glistening from the soju. He licks his lips slowly, cleaning off the last of the alcohol. Fueled by soju bravery, you lick your own lips. “How about we skip the race and go straight to the penalty?” You can feel a flush rise to your cheeks that isn’t solely from the alcohol.

In lieu of an answer, he leans forward and gently brushes his lips against yours. You close your eyes, open your mouth and fall into the kiss. His lips are soft, and when you slide your tongue against his, he tastes like peaches. As the kissing becomes more intense, he suddenly wraps his hands around your face, long fingers caressing your cheeks. You pull back for a moment, looking into his intense eyes. The eye contact is no longer uncomfortable, but you break it in order to make your wish of tracking the stray soju come true. You dip your head to brush kisses along his jawline, following the sticky traces, moving down to his neck. He gasps and lets out a deep moan. His voice has gotten impossibly deeper as you continue to kiss and gently suck on his neck. “Don’t stop, babe. That feels incredible.”

Suddenly, he slides his hands into your ponytail and pulls you off his neck, crushing his lips to yours again. As you let out tiny whines into his mouth, his hands roam down your body, grabbing you by the waist and lifting you into his lap.  You toss your head back at the feeling of his hardness trapped underneath you. You’re separated by several layers of clothing, but you can feel his cock grinding up into you. He reaches under your shirt and runs his hands up your back while you’re rubbing against him. Both of you are getting loud--until you suddenly hear the door open, and boisterous laughter wafting into the hall.

You spring off his lap and fling yourself back onto the couch next to him, but there’s no hiding what you’ve been up to. Both of you have wet, bitten lips, you’re heaving with breath, and he has a massive bulge in his pants. Luckily, you hear the noise move into the kitchen rather than in your direction.  Taehyung nods to himself, stands up, and takes your hands to pull you up as well. “Stay with me tonight?” he whispers.

He doesn’t give you a chance to answer before wrapping his arms around your waist and kissing you deeply while he walks you backwards to the stairs. You stumble a bit, the haze of lust and alcohol fogging up your coordination, but his grip is firm and steady.  This time, he lets you go ahead of him on the stairs, and you swear you can feel his heated gaze on your ass. Your intuition is proven right as he reaches out and squeezes your cheeks with both hands just as you reach the top landing. You manage to stifle your yelp in time before the boys in the kitchen hear you. “Tae!” you hiss, turning around on him.  He grins, unrepentant.

Tae takes your waist in his grasp again, crowding his body up against your back, and gently pushes you through the door with the Nas picture. You can feel him rubbing his cock against your ass as he slides his hands up your stomach towards your breasts. All of a sudden, you stop short as you take in the room. His roommate! Yoongi isn’t at his computer, and the room is only lit by the glow of his sleeping monitors and a lamp on Tae’s nightstand.  But you see a human-sized lump in the twin bed on the far end of the room.

Taehyung continues to move his hands up to your breasts, pinching at your nipples. Even through your shirt and bra, it feels amazing, but you reluctantly twist out of his grip.  “Tae, we can’t do this, Yoongi’s sleeping right there.” you hiss as quietly as possible.

Taehyung chuckles lowly. “Yoongi is the heaviest sleeper I know. He has his headphones on for white noise, and a sleeping mask. I promise you, he has no idea what’s happening right now,” he says in his normal speaking tone.  You look over at Yoongi again fearfully, but he hasn’t twitched a muscle. Sure enough, you can see Galaxy Buds in his ears, a Kumamon mask pulled over his eyes, and his blanket pulled up to his chin. He looks strangely angelic in his sleep. But you’re still unsure… until Tae pulls you into yet another kiss.

You can’t get enough of the taste of his lips, the feeling of his big hands roaming over your skin, or the smell of his neck when you bury your nose in it. All of your doubts float away in the Tae-and-soju haze.  You crawl onto his bed and let your legs fall open so that he can lower himself down in between them.

“You’re so sexy, I noticed you the first day in class,” he murmurs as he slowly pushes your shirt up, revealing your plain purple bra. “You were chewing on your pen in between taking notes, and you looked so annoyed every time I opened my mouth. That was the third reason I kept asking so many questions in class--to get a rise out of you.” He expertly flips the front clasp on your bra and pulls it apart, revealing your breasts to him. Before you can respond to his cheeky statement, he silences you by leaning down and licking across one of your nipples. He works his tongue around the nub, enjoying the feeling of it stiffening in his mouth.  You’re still trying to keep your cries quiet out of fear of waking Yoongi up, but he’s making it extremely difficult.

You run your hands down his back, grabbing the end of his shirt and starting to tug it up. “Take this off, Tae.” He sits up and pulls his shirt over his head, dislodging his baseball cap. He flings his shirt to the floor, picks up the cap, and settles it back on his head, brim facing backwards. He flashes you a V-sign when he catches you staring. You ignore the cap in favor of admiring the swathes of golden skin that have been revealed. His shoulders are broad, and his torso is lean and lightly muscled. You shrug off your shirt and bra as well, and pull him back down on top of you.

After a few minutes of heated kissing, you can feel his hips rocking into yours more urgently. Panting lightly, he pulls back and looks into your eyes. “Can I go down on you?”

“Hell yes.” You start to unbutton your pants, but he stops you, putting his hands over yours. He slowly kisses his way down your torso, detouring to lick at each of your nipples in turn, and flutters his tongue in your bellybutton, making you laugh. Finally, he slides off your pants and underwear in one smooth motion, leaving you completely bare to his gaze. Tae pushes your legs apart, running his hands up your thighs. He doesn’t drag it out any longer, but gently slides his thumb in between your lower lips, rubbing at the wetness around your hole.

“Seriously, so sexy.” Using both hands, Tae parts your lips to reveal your clit, and swipes at it with his tongue. Your hips kick up as you choke on a moan. His tongue is hot and wet, and feels amazing as he swirls it around your aching nub. He looks up at you. “Play with your nipples for me, baby.” You bring your hands up to follow his orders, when suddenly you notice movement on the far end of the room.  You turn your head to the side and lock eyes with Yoongi, who is decidedly not asleep and is watching you. You flinch, nearly kicking Tae in the head.

Yoongi flashes you a lazy smirk and waves at you and Taehyung, who has also noticed he’s awake.  Tae giggles and waves back. “Hi, Yoongi! Did we wake you up?” He leans back in towards you, but you hold him back with a hand on his forehead, bringing your other arm up to cover your breasts.

“Yoongi, I’m so sorry, Taehyung told me you would sleep through anything,” you babble.

“Now how could I sleep through this? And why would I want to?” Yoongi rumbles in a sleep-roughened voice. He sounds nonchalant as ever, but the high flush on his cheeks tell a different story, and you notice one of his hands is underneath his covers. He bites his lower lip, tongue peeking out to swipe across it.

Taehyung, ever observant, doesn’t overlook your interest. “Do you mind if he stays?” You turn your attention back to him where he’s still between your legs. His lips and chin are wet with your juices, his eyes are sparkling, and his forehead is flushed underneath that damn backwards ballcap.  You can feel his hands sneaking back up to your pussy, and you can feel Yoongi’s gaze like a weight. You’ve never felt so desirable and sexy. The soju haze has mostly left you, but you’re under a fog of lust and you don’t want to stop here. 

Locking eyes with Yoongi again, you shake your head. “I don’t mind. But I don’t want to be the only one naked here.”

Taehyung hurriedly raises himself up to his knees, almost falling over as he hurriedly shoves down his black pants. He’s not wearing any underwear underneath, so his large cock springs out and slaps against his stomach. Your breath catches. It’s incredible how hard it is for the size. It’s glistening at the tip, and you know it’s going to feel absolutely amazing inside you. But first, you want to taste him there and see if he’s as sweet as he is everywhere else.

You hear rustling from Yoongi’s side of the room, and glance over to see he has his covers rucked down to his waist, exposing his bare chest. He’s broader than Taehyung, with perky nipples you’d love to get your mouth on. He has one hand propping up his head to better enjoy the show, and the other hand is slowly, rhythmically moving under the covers.  You drag your gaze away from him and back to Taehyung, who’s put his mouth back on your clit and is slowly grinding his hips into the bed.

Now that you don’t have to worry about being quiet, your moans fill the air as Taehyung works the gasps out of your mouth. He slides one long finger into you, stroking it in and out as he suckles at your clit. His eyes are closed in bliss as he enjoys your taste, and you can feel the vibrations of his low moans.  You suddenly find yourself way too close to coming, and you don’t want to be done so quickly.

“Tae.” He opens his eyes and meets yours, sliding his finger out of your pussy and into his mouth. You almost forget what you were going to say, but gather the last threads of coherency back together. “Let me return the favor.”  You hear Yoongi quietly gasp and speed up his strokes.

You and Taehyung switch places on the bed, with him now lying on his back, looking up at you. You whip the cap off his head, running your fingers through his silky hair, before sitting back up on top of his legs. You feel shy for a moment to be so exposed, but the expression on his face reveals nothing but desire and lust. You can hear Yoongi’s little gasps from across the room as well, as you mouth down Tae’s toned torso towards his cock.  You swirl your tongue around the head of his cock, lapping up his sticky precome. It doesn’t taste like peaches, but you can’t get enough of his unique flavor.

Tae gets loud, unabashedly keeping up a steady stream of compliments in that deep voice, telling you how sexy you look as you slide your mouth down his cock. It’s too big for you to take the whole thing in, but you use your hand to slide up and down the parts your mouth can’t reach.  After a few minutes, you feel his hips start to jerk up more, and he wraps his hand in your ponytail to gently pull you off. “Stop… I’m so close, but I really want to fuck you.”

You press one last open-mouthed kiss to the head of his cock, and then knee-walk your way back up his body to pull him in for a heated liplock. After grabbing a condom and rolling it on, he brings his hands to your core again, plunging two fingers into your pussy while sucking on your neck right underneath your ear, making you gasp.  His fingers feel great, but you’re after something bigger. Batting his hand aside, you grasp his cock and slowly take the entire length in until your thighs press against his sharp hipbones. You both gasp and pause for a moment, enjoying the feeling until you have to move. Leaning forward and resting your hands on his shoulders, your lips meet once again as you start to rock back and forth on his cock.

He’s stroking up into you at the perfect angle and speed. You can barely keep your lips connected to his, until you finally pull away to gasp for air. His eyes are squeezed shut underneath his thick eyebrows, and he’s biting his lower lip almost painfully.  Before you get lost in the pleasure, you turn to the side again, and see Yoongi looks almost as lost, biting the side of his hand to stay quiet as he rapidly strokes himself underneath the covers. Seeing the effect you’re having on these two men causes you to clench tightly on Taehyung’s length. If you can just get a little friction, you’re so close to coming apart.

Taehyung suddenly moans sharply, grabs your hips, and forces you down onto his cock as his hips hammer up into you. You can see his pulse pounding in his neck as his breathing gradually slows. A bright flush spreads across his cheeks as you realize that he just came.

Taehyung gently raises you up by the hips so he can pull out of you, panting heavily. You let out a little whine--you were so close to coming! You can’t help but grind down on his flat stomach, trying to get any friction on your throbbing clit. His eyes are closed and his expression is completely blissed out as he scrubs his hand through his sweaty hair. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and gives you a pout. “Shit, babe--that felt way too good, I didn’t mean to come that fast. You didn’t get off yet, right?” Tae’s voice is gravelly and satisfied, in contrast to his puppy eyes. “Give me a second and I’ll go down on you again.”

You open your mouth to accept his offer, when you’re interrupted from an unexpected corner. “That won’t be necessary,” Yoongi says. As you and Tae both swivel to look over at him, Yoongi abruptly raises himself off his bed. You can see spots of color high on his cheeks, and his lips are flushed and wet from where he’s been biting them. His pupils are so dilated, his eyes are practically black. Looking further down, the wet spot on the front of the bulge in his boxers leave you no doubt that he’s been enjoying the show. But he can’t stand by and merely watch any longer. 

He stalks in your direction, unceremoniously stripping off his underwear to reveal his flushed cock. He gently strokes himself a few times, spreading the precome up and down his shaft before grabbing a condom from Tae’s bedside table and smoothly rolling it on.

“Is this okay?” he whispers into your ear as he climbs onto the bed behind you where you’re still straddling Taehyung’s legs. You gulp and nod, grinding yourself onto Tae’s abs a little harder. This is straight out of your deepest, darkest fantasies. “Baby, I need you to use your words.” Yoongi’s voice drops even further as he leans closer. You can smell the woodsy note of his cologne and feel the heat radiating off of his hands, which are planted on the bed on either side of your hips.

“Y-yes, this is more than okay,” you manage to gasp out. You start to rise off of Taehyung, to move off of him so that Yoongi has room to maneuver. But Yoongi instead grabs your hips firmly, keeping you in place as he presses his full body up against yours. This is the first time he’s touched you all night, and his big hands feel so good, slightly digging into your flesh. You’re going to have the marks from this encounter on your skin for quite some time, and you can’t get enough of it.

“Okay, Tae, watch and learn. This is how you get the job done.” Yoongi teasingly tells the other man over your shoulder, before ducking his head down to your neck. He trails his pouty lips up and down your skin, leaving a sucking mark on the sensitive spot right beneath your ear that Taehyung had been teasing earlier. He had clearly been paying close attention to the spots that made you shudder. You tilt your head to give him better access, reveling in having his attention on you. You can feel him grinding his hard cock against your ass, so close to where you’re feeling aching and empty. You try to tilt your hips backwards, but his grip is too firm.

Taehyung is completely unfazed by the extra body straddling his legs. He smirks and makes himself comfortable, putting his hands underneath his head on the pillow. “Teach me your ways, sunbae.” He casts his mischievous gaze down your body, lingering on your hard, flushed nipples before looking down at where Yoongi’s cock is slowly sliding through your parted lips. The smooth head of Yoongi’s length occasionally bumps up against your clit, sending sparks of pleasure throughout your body. You’re practically shaking from your delayed orgasm, and aching for more. These frat boys are goddamned teases!

Finally, Yoongi uses his grip on you to pull you backwards where he wants you, and slides into your dripping core in one smooth motion. You’re so wet, his hard cock strokes in and out of you easily. You squeeze your eyes shut and let out a shuddering moan. It feels absolutely incredible to be filled up again. Tae was long, but Yoongi is thick. Yoongi slides his hands around your waist, holding you up as he drives himself into you more firmly. You can hear him breathing heavily, letting out low grunts.

“Tae was right--you really do feel amazing,” he rasps. “But I have- better- self- control-” as he punctuates his statement with little bites to your shoulders. With effort, you turn your head to look him in the eyes so you can let him know what you think of his smug comment. But your words are lost as he immediately captures your lips in a searing kiss. He knows exactly what to do with his tongue, stroking it into your mouth in the same rhythm that he’s fucking you in. He takes one hand off your waist and slides it up into your hair, grasping your ponytail firmly and using it to turn your head to exactly the right angle so he can continue to plunder your mouth.

You’re lost in the pleasure of his lips, his hands, and his dick until you suddenly feel another set of hands running up the underside of your breasts, tweaking and tugging at your nipples.  You break away from Yoongi with a moan and look down at Taehyung, who’s made himself known again. He sends another smirk in your direction. “Don’t mind me, I just thought these could use some more attention.” He meets Yoongi’s eyes and grins cheekily.

Yoongi lets out a low growl. “Shut it, brat.” But in comparison to his harsh words, his touch is gentle as he takes your hands and lowers you forward until you’re now on all fours directly above Taehyung.  Taehyung immediately takes advantage, cupping your breasts in his large hands, rubbing his thumbs over your peaked nipples as he surges up to reattach his mouth to your neck. With you firmly in place, Yoongi grabs your hips again and doubles the speed of his thrusts.

You’re now surrounded on all sides as Taehyung sucks yet another hickey into your neck and Yoongi’s cock slides right up against your G-spot.  You have two sets of hands roaming your curves and all you can do is kneel there and give yourself over to the pleasure. You feel the tingles starting in your toes and slowly rising up through your entire body. You’re letting out a stream of stuttering moans in concert with Yoongi’s deeper gasps and the wet sounds of Taehyung kissing your neck. As your vision starts to go hazy, Yoongi slides one of his hands around your hip and firmly rubs your clit in small circles.

“Come on baby, I can tell you’re so close. Let go, come for us,” Yoongi bites out as his hips stutter into you.  Taehyung doesn’t say anything, but lowers his head and captures one of your nipples in his mouth, sucking hard. After one more firm press of Yoongi’s fingers, you absolutely lose it, shaking apart as your pussy clenches around Yoongi’s cock.  You actually black out for a moment from how good it feels after being on the verge of orgasm for so long.

When you return to yourself, you can hear Yoongi’s little grunts and gasps as his hands squeeze on your hips and his hips kick forward one, two more times. When he’s finished coming, he slumps forward, panting. His sudden weight on your back sends you crashing onto Taehyung’s body with a whump.

“Oh! Get off me old man, you’re crushing me!” Taehyung suddenly breaks the mood by reaching around and giving Yoongi a hard slap on the ass.  Yoongi grumbles something under his breath, pulling out of you and rolling off to the side of the bed. You break out into little giggles, still feeling a little lightheaded from your orgasm.  Tae wraps his arms around you and strokes his hands up and down your back. “How are you feeling?”

“That was… wow. I hope you took good notes, because that should definitely be on the exam. Yoongi can be my teacher anyday.” You send a flirtatious smile Yoongi’s way.  Yoongi lights up with a wide, gummy grin that completely transforms his face. You can’t believe this is the same man that just fucked the life out of you. Both of these frat boys have been full of pleasant surprises tonight.

“So, more study sessions in the future? I have so many more questions to ask...” you finally shut Taehyung up by pulling him into a kiss as you feel Yoongi’s hand start to creep back up your side. You have a feeling this is going to be one of the most satisfying projects of your college career.

[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe: Art and Origins (Outline & Review)

Steven Universe: Art and Origins is not just an art book--it's also a collection of early material, a reveal of many initial concepts, and an amazing experience to sort through. 

Finally getting around to importing my review to Tumblr. I wrote this on the release day.

In my review I'll give you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" with a book of this magnitude, so this may get long, but I'll try to include anecdotes that have some unique insight or perspective on the main source material--with as little of "OMG this was the original idea for this!" as possible.

This is illustrated with some low-quality pictures of the book and it gets super long, so I have to cut. But please read. :)

The overview:

After a foreword from Rebecca Sugar and an introduction from Genndy Tartakovsky, we get:

Part 1: Origins. This contains some narratives about Rebecca Sugar's early life as an artist--inspiration, family, college projects--all illustrated, of course, with childhood photos and early art. Rebecca mentions having wanted to bury her femininity for a while, but coming back to draw female forms and include dancing after she learned to sort through her issues using art.

Her college education and connections with other artists are discussed--some in interview format, some in narrative--and there is some background regarding her time on Adventure Time. The story moves on to talking about developing the pilot and what went into her character and plot ideas. Character design is discussed in depth, with Rebecca giving initial sketches to a design team and developing the characters' initial pilot look. 

Some really slick promo art is shared--posters, sketches, great concepts that were designed to bring in new viewers and make them curious about the show. The pilot succeeded in getting the green light to develop it into a TV series.

Part 2 discusses the show's Green Light and Development. Rebecca and some of the other crew, in interview format, talk about getting the team together and allowing for both nailed-down character essentials and flexibility for the writers to explore and collaborate. Developing the setting was also a big part of the to-do list; coming up with Beach City itself, its businesses, its residents, and also the creatures the Gems would fight. 

Some cute stories are shared about the early Crewniverse hanging out at a cabin and talking about the show all the time, hashing it out. There are some great, loose character model sheets for early versions of Greg, Connie, Sadie and Lars, and the four main characters.

Part 3 is about Character Design. They discuss how the pilot got released and fans grew attached to what they initially looked like, only to be "outraged" by the changes, making tons of assumptions about who was controlling the process. 

Rebecca shares some thoughts on her development process and her philosophy on letting different artists draw the characters differently while gripping onto specifics she set. Main, palette, and distance models are discussed, with some technical details of what different artists do on the team and how they handle props or special poses. 

There are many sheets of how to draw the Gems on model (with pointers on what NOT to do), and then there are some Homeworld Gem ideas that didn't get used, and finally, some sketches and concept art for Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, Jasper, and Bismuth.

Part 4 is on Writing and Storyboarding. More Crewniverse interviews provide insight into the process, including how much is revised from the early days and how collaborative everything is. Some specific episodes, like "Ocean Gem," "Monster Buddies," and "Island Adventure" are put into perspective with how they were written by the group. 

There's heavy discussion of how the process works and why processes that work on other shows wouldn't work here, and what "rules" are firm and what's just a suggestion, and what's changed as the show's plot became more complex and important. Steven still having access to the "side" stories, the ones that involve Beach City humans and non-world-shaking stakes, is still very important to the story that the original Crew wants to tell. Cute images from the Crew's thumbnail storyboards, Gem designing, and technology designing workshops are shared too.

There's some good continued discussion of concepts in Part 4, especially about fusion and relationships and the larger message the show is sending. How do you tell a story and why? There are many answers to that, and sometimes it's about fun and sometimes it's about a message and sometimes it's about wanting to make an episode about something you've never seen a cartoon do before--something specific to you that other people can suddenly see represented. 

One of my favorite parts of it is when they discuss Steven discovering the Gems' weaknesses over time and having that NOT make him think less of them--more like he admires them for being strong enough to shoulder the burdens he didn't know they were carrying before. Storyboarder Lamar Abrams talks about the importance of growing up not just being about becoming bitter, and I really like that.

Part 5 is on Sound and Vision. There's some history of how they found the voice actors for the major roles, and some of the actors give perspectives on their relationship and experience on the show. 

Aivi and Surasshu, as the composers, discuss their process as well, with some anecdotes and discussions of why musical palettes work better for characters instead of assigning them themes. Places and objects have their own sounds too.

Part 6 covers Background Design and Painting. Steven Sugar takes the stage and explains general background thoughts as well as specifics for certain settings. His focus on detail is really fascinating to read about--it's really him who nails down the locations in Beach City and where an outlet is in a house on the wall. 

The directors and other Crewniverse folks discuss the use of color and background items in the show, and how they use it to create mood or feel changeable enough to be real.

Part 7 discusses Animation and Post, with a spotlight on the work they do in Korea at animation studios Sunmin and Rough Draft. The process is described--how and when the material is transformed from animatics to animated cartoons. 

Nick DeMayo discusses timing and adding the sound effects and whatnot. There's also some design instruction that's provided to the animators in Korea. 

Some special highlighted drawings and pieces, like the "C.L.O.D.S." zine or some keys for Ruby and Sapphire, are included. 

Even the bumpers and end tag animations are discussed here. And of course they had to mention a couple very special episodes, such as when Takafumi Hori from Studio Trigger came in to do "Mindful Education," or when they did the musical episode, "Mr. Greg."

And Part 8 is called "Onward." The intention of the section is unclear at first based on the title of the chapter, but you can quickly see they're discussing the forward-thinking message the show has--how its representation of its creators' experiences has also struck a chord with people who wanted and NEEDED its diversity. 

Zuke says a very wise thing when they state that they want the show to provide "insight . . . not a solution." That's one thing this show does well; it spotlights problems and situations and feelings, but only shows you how those things can be dealt with, not necessarily how they SHOULD, in all cases, be dealt with.

Representation matters, and seeing evidence that you are a part of this world when you're from a marginalized or underrepresented group is valuable in a way that you can only know if you DON'T have it. 

The show's writers also weigh in on good vs. evil and how it's too black and white; that we needed a show with nuance, and has a message of love and tolerance. Kat Morris acknowledges that there are more important things than making a feelsy and entertaining piece of media, but as she says, the point is to let people see themselves in something and be challenged. 

And the creators are able to see at conventions and online that people are responding emotionally, viscerally, to their work. It puts a lot of pressure on an artist to do it right, but in the words of Dogcopter, "Just be true to yourself and people will appreciate your honesty."

The book closes with some photos of the Crew and a few more pages of art. And it kinda leaves you with a squishy feeling. :D

Notable:

1. I was relieved to see Rebecca state it plainly in the foreword: the items you see from the development phases of this show are not to be taken as canon or as "real" insights into how you should interpret it now. She specifically mentioned that she does not consider the Gems "girls" or "goddesses," and that was particularly important to me. 

Throughout, you're supposed to see the contributed bits and in-development pieces in the context of what they were: early drafts, embryonic. We all become different from what we were even though we grew from it and may have roots in it still, but that doesn't mean you can point at the seed and say its flower is meant to be understood surrounded by dirt.

2. The original designs for the Gems fluctuated a lot, and in a couple cases even names flopped around. An early name for Garnet was "Onyx," and if you've seen the pilot, you know Pearl got her signature nose later and Garnet's hair took a while to become the splendid square afro. Amethyst seems to have changed the least. 

Themes were given to them initially (like Amethyst being "flora and fauna," which you can sort of see in her pilot intro with her lying on big cats). You can still see some of the original intentions in how the ideas manifested, but the first ideas do not gel particularly well with what the show became. 

This is particularly interesting because non-creatives commonly think creative people simply receive inspiration and birth their creations into the world wholesale. Inspiration exists, but it's much more common to take an inspired idea and REALLY WORK ON IT. This book's origins section does a great job showing how that works.

3. Some early sketched-out ideas for episodes seem very far from what would fit into the show now (such as an idea for an episode where Pearl is obsessed with the pizza guy??), but one seems to be the roots of "Bubble Buddies," which implies that Steven's original crush was "Priyanka" instead of Connie. (That's now Connie's mother's name.)

4. The pilot's title was "The Time Thing."

5. Initial notes for Garnet say she should have the coolest shoes of the three, that she's commanding and outer-spacey and also weird, and that she's inspired by Grace Jones, boy Michael Jackson, and Estelle in "I Can Be a Freak." 

Initial notes for Amethyst insist on the "fanny pack" pouch and suggest her clothes are cut, her hair is in chunks, and she should have an animal theme with a wild texture. 

Initial notes for Pearl indicate a desire to have her opposite Amethyst in her formal way of dressing and needing to have an outfit that would allow her to be hung upside down, possibly with a pearl stone theme for baubles in her hair. (Rebecca indicated she needed the most help with Pearl.)

6. Early versions of the show included the idea that the Gems might be trying to hide being Gems in public, and that they kept magic away from Steven for the most part instead of encouraging him to use it. 

A "lost" episode about Steven summoning his shield (later incorporated into the episode "Gem Glow") had him saving Greg with it and dreaming about his mother, and having Pearl drive a crappy old car (later incorporated into "Last One Out of Beach City"). Rebecca and Ian reveal that the dream Steven had in it was used a little in "Rose's Room," and that a song called "The Meatball Sub Song" was involved which could have contributed to the show getting picked up despite that we never got to hear it. (Imagine that, Steven singing about food!)

7. There's a note in the early character design section that says "the girls can all turn into Steven" with an accompanying illustration of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl shapeshifted as him. 

Cute, because we actually got to see them do this in the episode "Keep Beach City Weird" with the exception of Pearl.

8. Rebecca Sugar shares an anecdote about thinking there was a "best" way to draw that was objectively correct (influenced by some art-school stuff), and through that she arrived at the idea that Pearl was a cone, Amethyst was a sphere, and Garnet was a cube, because all of those things say something about who they are (pointedness, fluidness, stability). 

She evolved from that idea to a more flexibile idea of how drawing works for different artists, but that was part of what helped her nail the characters down. Steven, eventually, was fixed to having a heart-shaped face.

9. The Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma flyer shown in the episode "Tiger Millionaire," presented as something Steven drew, was actually drawn by Lily DeMayo (daughter of Nick DeMayo, animation director) when she was seven.

10. Guides are made for the Crew to use featuring reminders on drawing the characters. It's kind of adorable to see common drawing errors or misconceptions or inconsistent details discussed in a how-to format for the people who actually work there.

11. A timeline exists for the show and it encompasses TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS of Gem and human history. It was too spoilery to be in the book, but there is a LOT of lore that is laid down, and this tool mentioned in Part 4 established that this document is referenced often to make events make sense in the timeline.

12. It's been established before, but Amethyst's origin in Earth's Prime Kindergarten was not initially known as part of her character when she was invented, and that was discussed in Part 4 of this book--how the writing retreats the Crew takes to discuss the story sometimes result in huge revelations like this. "Oh, that makes sense, that's why we wrote her like that" is one of those things I recognize as a writer--you know a character has a certain vibe, but you don't know what explains it. You just trust that something does. And eventually, sometimes you find out what it is and it all makes sense. Interesting to know they did this with Amethyst.

13. "Lars and Sadie make out even though they're not together" was the basic idea for making "Island Adventure." And the original idea for "Onion Friend" had a "Grandma Shallot" character. 

The writers sometimes play writing games to brainstorm, and those were shared. Some ideas for a story which was later used in "Future Boy Zoltron," covering Mr. Smiley's romance/comedy partnership with an old flame, were shared with more emphasis on the characters being lovers. 

Garnet's part in the story was more explicit too, with her giving people future predictions that are not at all nice or gently delivered, and they have to shut down the business in the wake of Garnet's badassery. Weird. 

Other ideas were used but not as they're presented, like one where Greg learns about fusion from the Gems (but witnessed the fusion of Pearl and Amethyst, not Pearl and Rose), and a complicated one where cross-Gem fusion is a new idea in a flashback and Rose wants Garnet to fuse with her to teach her about it but she's too unsure of her own fusion relationship as such to risk it. The idea was that Pearl would be jealous and Pearl, Rose, and Garnet would actually fuse in the episode. This has not been done in the show.

14. Rebecca Sugar apparently just pops up with concepts she wants the writers to work in. Like "I want Steven to be in a mushroom forest" (which hasn't happened yet) or "I want Steven to have cats on his fingers" (which, obviously, happened early on). Rebecca gets little concepts that are sort of dreamlike, and they figure out which episode they can put them in. Working those things in sometimes seems like as much of a priority as getting plot elements in!

15. I like that they dish a bit about the fan reaction to Garnet's Fusion status. They thought they were being a little too obvious to not get caught, but Ian said the fans figured it out and then got bored of the idea and decided it must be even more complicated than that. People were apparently worried that Garnet would be replaced by her component Gems in the story if she were to unfuse, but obviously since Ruby and Sapphire want to be together, that doesn't happen.

16. Kat Morris's "rules" as discussed in Part 4 are "Garnet never asks questions" and "the story has to stay in Steven's perspective." I love how strict they are about Garnet not asking questions (except in the episode "The Answer," though there have been a couple ~technical~ questions from her; she usually just finds a way to ask a question with a statement, like "tell me what you saw").

17. A great quote from Zuke on the incidentally queer content of the Gems' relationships and gender: "Personally, I'm happy to not have to think, 'I'm writing a character based on my queer experiences.' That would be so hard! I'm just writing from my perspective, and I happen to be queer. I think that's what makes the show feel natural when it comes to that. It's a fine line between defining something so that people are aware it exists, which is so important, but also letting it breathe, so it's not forever contained in a box labeled 'queer media.'"

18. In Part 5, Michaela Dietz relates her experiences as an adoptee to relate to what Amethyst deals with as an "adoptee" into the Crystal Gem family without knowing where she really came from or what it means to be a part of that. She's said this before in some other interviews and panels, so it's not new in general, but it's probably new in print. Deedee Magno Hall, who plays Pearl, obviously relates to Pearl's maternal nature.

19. Tom Scharpling and Charlyne Yi were voice actors that Rebecca specifically had in mind for her characters (Greg and Ruby respectively). Rebecca's illustrated letter to Charlyne explaining Ruby and Sapphire's relationship and Ruby's role on the show is really adorable.

20. Music nerds like me will very much appreciate the photographed notes on music motifs--the Diamonds each have a solfège syllable and a chord (White is F#M7/Sol, Yellow is BM7/Fa, Blue is EM7/Fa, and Pink is AM7/Mi), and Steven's powers and modes are coded with instruments and styles.

21. Some world maps provide new possible insights. Greenland in our world is Blueland in theirs. South America is called Pangea. Aqua Mexico is labeled about where Mexico is in our world. India is the Indian Islands. There's an Australia and a New Australia. A big sea in the middle of Asia is called the Tunguska Sea. Rose's Fountain is in Spain or Portugal; the Sky Spire and Strawberry Battlefield are in Norway; the Shooting Star Shrine is in the middle of the drastically different Asian continent; the Galaxy Warp is in the Tunguska Sea; the Lunar Sea Spire is off the coast of Canada; Mask Island is in the Atlantic near Beach City; the Comm Relay is in the Western United States.

22. It was known from interviews that Shelby Rabara (voice of Peridot) is a dancer and provided the foot sounds and coaching to create the short tap number in the episode "Mr. Greg." But what's great is here, there's a visual reference included! Photos of Shelby doing the dance are lined up next to the drawings of Pearl and Steven in the "Mr. Greg" number doing the steps! She poses in dance moves with her husband for the Greg/Pearl dance for "Both of You" too.

23. There's a really cute story in the last section about Amber Cragg ascending from fan to Crewniverse member through posting Pearl art in response to the pilot and eventually getting contacted to take a board test. That is the kind of thing so many online artists dream of!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

[jcherrybct]

3/3/20

In the days since my last post, a few things have happened involving COMP570, CTEC501 & CTEC502! 

I have been slowly working my way through the programming worksheet we were given in our last programming session, this has been very helpful in getting to grips with the fundamental knowledge. I do have to admit however there were a few times I felt like punching a hole in my computer screen, before realising the problem was with the person in the screens reflection. Not the screen itself.  I am getting more used to minor things such as the dreaded semi colon; which has stopped processing from reading the code I have written, and am sure it will soon become second nature. However, there were other errors that took me far too long to realise, such as using a single quotation mark as opposed to speech marks, which led to processing to let me know repeatedly there was a, ‘badly formed character constant.’ I shouldn’t be making that mistake again in a while! I have also gone through a few, ‘Hello processing!’ lessons in an attempt to both reinforce what we have learnt and keep myself writing the correct code! I am currently really enjoying processing and am looking forward to my next lecture/lesson!

Zoog! - The ‘man’ on the screen followed your mouse around the box.

In regards to Studio, the team and I now believe we have our ‘hacked’ board game ready for the presentation tomorrow. We all came in yesterday and managed (with several trials) to work out how to connect an LED to the Makey Makey and to only light up when a certain key is called upon. This came with help from a member of another team giving me potentially my biggest learn of studio so far. Copper wire has an insulating paint on, and is therefore is not conductive. I had been trialling different ways of connecting the LED to the output section of the Makey Makey using copper wires and discounted that we would be able to do so until finding this piece of information out. As good as self learning is, collaborating sooner would have helped save a lot of ‘wasted’ time. (I do not believe that the time was wasted as it got me thinking about several different solutions which could have been better than the trialed method). This also helped with the grounding pen we had created, I had isolated that the copper wire wasn’t conducting however believed it was due to too much copper tape, and that potentially one side of the copper tape wasn’t conducting through to the copper wire. However after trialing and inspecting the pen it became apparent that attaching the crocodile clip to the copper tape was the obvious solution and then worked perfectly. It later became obvious the copper wire was the problem having been told this.  After this Marc showed us the code he had written in processing to bring up the correct functions when buttons are pressed using the Makey Makey. Chris got to drawing up some icons and John to making a platform for the Makey Makey. I started wiring up the makey makey and adding a switch into the ‘click’ function allowing the winning move to light up the LED and show fireworks (with explosion sound effects) come up on the laptop. 

Trialing different options for buttons.

 Today after our lecture, we aimed to polish up our board game and have it ready to play for tomorrow. This included a lot of wiring, firstly outside the mount to make sure everything would work whilst it was still accessible. Then secondly I had the challenge of wiring everything up again inside the mount. As with everything on the project so far this required a recalculation. This time with the mount being too low. John added a further section for the Makey Makey to sit in on its own so the mount would rest flat. We had quite a few problems with this due to clips being too close to each other and therefore allowing the wrong function to be pressed, the LED not working as the wire to the output was not in tight enough. This was hard to isolate due to all the wiring being correct otherwise. We also added play dough to colour the foil buttons we had created so it is more obvious which button to press depending on what you land on.  Once all this was completed, I suggested we have a playthrough as if we hadn’t seen the game. This highlighted several problems. Firstly that we had condensed the categories from 5 to 3, and it wasn’t obvious that if you landed on red or orange you had to press red. I suggested adding a small piece of play dough into the corner of each space on the board with the corresponding colour of the button we should press. We also realised that we will have to include a small rulebook to explain  few of the game features (such as multiplay) that are confusing before the game had even been hacked. Finally we also have to add icons to the timer and reset functions.  All in all we have made great progress in this project and I feel I have come a long way in wiring circuits and finding solutions for problems. I am happy with the game we have created however we could potentially have aimed a little higher (more LED’s etc.). The only problem there however would’ve been the time constraint.  My biggest take away from this project so far I believe is failing is the first step towards a proper understanding and succeeding.

A soft circuit, checking for faults whilst keeping the wiring accessible.

The final board with all the wiring concealed.

Before we continued with the boardgames today, we had our second ‘Introduction to Creative Technologies’ class. We did a recap of last week, including our brainstorming technique, a chat about our Vlog assignment (I am yet to come up with any large ideas. So far I believe I will just be explaining what creative technologies meant to me when I applied & what it means now, having had a brief insight, and also a brief introduction to me ). We also talked over the reading that we did from Rich Golds - “The Plenitude” In which he talks of the ‘four creative hats’ he has worn. Drawing from personal experiences he likens Science, art, design and engineering together whilst saying they are also all massively different from one another. He references how science is actually incredibly creative, pointing towards the machines used in high tech labs.  Interestingly my takeaway from this chapter was that despite making several valid points I agree with, Mr. Gold had a bee in his bonnet about art, (fine art in particular) being on a more true and virtuous level than Design. Several of his points about design being controlled and judged by the client rather than peers making it different from art are contradicted by saying that Pop art is encapsulating what the wider audience is feeling and therefore they are actually very similar.  I did find this reading very interesting however and it really got me thinking! I do completely agree with the sentiment that, to really harness potential, collaboration across disciplines is crucial.

We then talked about what makes you ‘creative’, using the following:

Firstly Paradox. One of the two internal ways of being creative. I understood this as being completely open to ideas and not ever closing the possibility for change. Even if something seems certain, you have to aim to keep your mind open to the possibilities that there are ways to improve, change or manipulate what is black and white into something different.  The other sections of this visual are quite self explanatory and my biggest learn from here is that I should keep open to try and do new things, resist monotonous routine and bring this attitude to life into work. Why take the bus every day just because it worked the first time. By going a different way, who knows what you may stumble across!

Having thought about the phrase Creative Technologists work with:

Their hands,

their heads and

their hearts

to make the world a better place.

I believe this means a few things, and it is better understood when you look at the three parts collectively rather than separately. Creative Technologists have the power to take something they are passionate about, be it making a change or something they rave about (their hearts). Apply their (and their peers) knowledge to it (their heads), and paired with their hands, there is the power to take ideas out of the ideas phase and actually do something with them. The ability to act on a passion like this as well, rather than any random job provides a great drive.   The phrase I haven’t mentioned is, ‘to make the world a better place.’ This is because this phrase can mean so many different things. From the obvious of reducing carbon footprint, waste & helping with diseases to bringing joy through games & toys. Wherever the CTs passion falls within this spectrum is the area that they will try to make the world a better place.

We also looked today at a clip today (https://youtu.be/803LU4C_7IY?t=92) showing how many different opinions can be given on different projects. Where some will say, “useless!” whilst taking a step back there is likely a lot of value. Whilst this task may actually by definition have no use whatsoever when it was performed, and therefore useless, the learning and enjoyment brought actually does provide value. This is paired with what we looked at next in that Creative technologists have the ability to actually take an idea from its early stages & grow it into something physical. Even if you don’t know how at the beginning through failing and learning.

I have tried to cut down my entries today to slightly larger learning points, to save on extra long posts! There are many more points to add, and I have lots of work to do, such as trialing a new technique we learnt today (Affinity diagrams), Identifying some myths & barriers & reading the A-Z of CT to name a few bits!

Bring on studio tomorrow!

[almostarchaeology]

Hogwarts Needs Archaeologists, Part 2: Excavating Magic

By Adrián Maldonado

In the last blog post, I realized that despite being suffused with ancient artefacts, the wizarding world of Harry Potter didn’t seem to have any archaeologists. Instead, wizards and witches live in a weirdly eternal present with little sense of how things have come to be as they are, and this ultimately caused them no end of trouble. So much of the story hinges on prominent characters not knowing about artefacts and landscapes of medieval origin that it seemed clear that the establishment of a Wizarding Museum or department of Magical Material Culture Studies at Hogwarts may have genuinely saved them from war.

Harry Potter Studio Tour: closest we’ll get to a wizarding museum (source)

Even though wizards can’t be arsed learning about their own past, it behooves us muggle archaeologists to interrogate this invisible but fundamental aspect of our shared human past. As the books make clear, muggles and wizards are all just human. The separation between the two has its roots in the same intellectual fallacy of early modern thought which gave muggles the concept of race – that human ability could be measured in purity of ‘blood’. Beyond a focus on antiquities, attention to the archaeological context of the wizarding world is essential to the project of interrogating the human condition, and will produce new insights on the muggle past and present. To learn more, we will have to conduct some fieldwork of our own.

When is magic?

Before we start planning the Godric’s Hollow Big Dig, we need to know how archaeology might work in the wizarding world. Looking back at these stories with nerd-tinted spectacles, it seems to me that magic changes over time, and the ways it is deployed may tell us something about the human journey, magically-abled or otherwise.

No - obviously no we don’t

We know there are one or two people who care about history and magical theory, because in Philosopher’s Stone we get a list of textbooks assigned to first-years at Hogwarts which includes A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot and Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling. However, we get precious few glimpses into these texts as Harry does not seem to read. We also know these are used in some of the most boring and tedious courses taught at Hogwarts, ensuring few wizards would want to go on to study them further. Occupy the curriculum!

As we explored in the previous post, it seems that history in the wizarding world seems to begin only around a thousand years ago, when Hogwarts was founded. Much of what passes for history is the merely the genealogy of famous houses. It is curiously similar to Europe in the early nineteenth century, when there was an awareness of classical antiquity, but no such concept as prehistory. Perhaps it is a world that somehow has not yet discovered archaeology?

Archaeology > time travel (source)

Perhaps, one might argue, there is no need for wizarding archaeologists because wizards have time-turners which allow time travel. However, it so happens that time travel beyond a few hours in the past is extremely dangerous and heavily regulated, and in any case all of the remaining time-turners in the Department of Mysteries were destroyed in the Second Wizarding War.

That notwithstanding, one might also argue that wizards don’t need archaeology because anyone could stand in a field and cast spells like Accio coin hoard, or Revelio Roman villa and be done with it. But as with metal detecting, simply ripping an object out the ground does not help you understand why it got there, and if done poorly it may even impede the possibility of reconstructing its context later. Similarly, chasing the walls of a Roman villa would destroy the evidence of just how it was reduced to its foundations and what happened in this spot for the next two millennia. This would not be archaeology, but antiquarianism. And we don’t even seem to have that.

That said, it would be great to magically de-turf, sieve and cart away spoil. We could sure use the help backfilling, too.

But what about excavating magical sites? Can magic be excavated? Do we even know when magic began? Could archaeologists help find out?

Awareness of enchantments

Dunno Harry - it’s either paleolithic or a horcrux (source)

A lot of our knowledge of how magic works in the Potterverse comes from the fleeting glimpses we get of masters like Dumbledore at work. In the iconic 26th chapter of Half-Blood Prince, The Cave, we watch the headmaster undertake some hardcore field survey.

“Magic always leaves traces”, he explains as he detects the curses and spells that Tom Riddle placed to secure the hiding place of one of his horcruxes.

Harry could not tell whether the shivers he was experiencing were due to his spine-deep coldness or to the same awareness of enchantments. Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave and caressed it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring words in a strange tongue that Harry did not understand. Twice Dumbledore walked right around the cave, touching as much of the rough rock as he could, occasionally pausing, running his fingers backwards and forwards over a particular spot…

Dark magic, at least, seems to be detectable, at least to those, like Dumbledore and Harry, lucky enough to have been born in Godric’s Hollow, where all of British wizarding history starts and ends. Throughout the books, we hear occasional stories of places or objects having ‘old magic’, which also gives off some sort of distinctive trace. Indeed, there seems to be nothing worse than old Dark magic, which leaves more than just a trace. This is most aptly described in the Pottermore essay on Azkaban, which was only discovered after its occupier, the dark sorcerer Ekrizdis, died and its concealment charms faded away. “Experts who had studied buildings built with and around Dark magic contended that Azkaban might wreak its own revenge upon anybody attempting to destroy it.” Wait, there are experts in magical architectural history but not archaeology? That figures, actually – in its origins, medieval archaeology was itself mainly about unearthing the ground plans of castles and cathedrals.

As many of our archaeological textbooks tell us, excavation is managed destruction. So would it ever be possible to excavate a site of old Dark magic, or would this count as an attempt to ‘destroy’ it? And how would one know until one tried to dig there? Speaking as a former archaeology health and safety officer, I can’t help but think of the threat old Dark magic might pose to any novice archaeowizard who works on such sites. Real-world archaeologists need to make sure they are up to date on all their vaccinations, but I’m not sure what can be done to prevent accidental cursing by taking a mattock to the wrong enchanted soil layer.

Revelio stratigraphy

Dumbledore’s methodology and Harry’s ‘awareness of enchantments’ lead me to believe that such threats can be averted, or at least mitigated, by undertaking preventative magophysical survey. The question is whether the traces of spells that Dumbledore and Harry can sense have a physical signature that can be isolated and detected mechanically – or perhaps, by wand. Wandmaker Ollivander’s notes on wand woods shows that some woods may be more receptive to the natural world than others; for instance, “Hazel wands also have the unique ability to detect water underground, and will emit silvery, tear-shaped puffs of smoke if passing over concealed springs and wells.” In this instance at least, it seems that wands can have involuntary, mechanical responses to certain external stimuli. Other woods and wand cores are also said to have the ability to learn and detect magical character. In short, this is an area that needs a lot more research, but would still be restricted to the wizarding population, which, as we have already seen, could barely give a toss about their own heritage.

People and things in the Potterverse

Old magic can be the most powerful (source)

Speaking of wands, these ‘objects’ open up some pretty fundamental questions about the nature of things and people in the Potterverse. This was all explored in some depth in my scriptural commentary of choice, Binge Mode Harry Potter episode 55, wherein Jason Concepcion devoted a Restricted Section to wands. From the beginning of the series, we are told that wands are semi-animate objects with agency of their own. Wands famously ‘choose’ their owners, but it does not end there; in his notes on wand woods, Ollivander observes that hazel wands die with their owners, and that 

Hornbeam wands likewise absorb their owner’s code of honour, whatever that might be, and will refuse to perform acts – whether for good or ill – that do not tally with their master’s principles. A particularly fine-tuned and sentient wand.” [Emphasis mine] 

Most interestingly, wands seem to become a part of their owner’s essence; as wandmaker Ollivander explains, “each wand is the composite of its wood, its core and the experience and nature of its owner”. What he is describing here is a rudimentary sort of assemblage theory.

Assembling the wizard (source)

It seems wands are only ‘objects’ until they choose an owner, at which point they become part-person. And as we saw in a previous post, wands and pensieves are often buried with their owners, as if they are indivisibly entwined with the wizard, even after death. In a similar but more sinister way, Voldemort is able to ensoul objects, and these Horcruxes take on shades of his person which enact his will on anyone who encounters them. The wizarding world is full of objects that are part-people, or is it people that are part object?

This should come as no surprise to anthropologists. For decades theorists have explored all the different ways in which we are entangled with the people, things, environments and social structures in which we are embedded. We look to other continents and distant pasts to seek parallels when they are all around us. For instance, ancient Egyptians had a complicated idea of what constituted the person, from the physical body to several aspects of what we patronisingly call ‘the soul’, mainly because we cannot translate its complexity into any other Judeo-Christian terminology. These include the name, the heart and the shadow, and it is striking how many of these aspects of the person could be made to reside into what we would call inanimate objects.

The Enlightenment notion of the individual with unlimited agency, existing only within the bounds of their own bodies and minds, is very much out of fashion, as I have accidentally already explored in previous posts on this blog. We have trouble dissociating people from their belongings after they die, as if they remain uncannily inhabited. We send our names to space by the thousands, because it matters that this aspect of our selves is preserved in some way. Wizards are merely cyborgs, but then, aren’t we all?

Excavating the self

His teaching style was unorthodox to say the least (Warner Bros. Pictures)

The problem here is that the Harry Potter cycle is, on the face of it, distinctly repulsed by the idea of a soul being split up and distributed among objects and people. But this critique always kind of rang false for me. Voldemort is guilty of lots of things (murder, bigotry, aversion to rhinoplasty), but not the inhabitation of objects. The story is full of ways in which people are permeable beyond horcruxes; wands, pensieves, names, portraits, ghosts, Tom Riddle’s diary and the Sorting Hat, which contains the ‘intelligence’ of the Hogwarts founders, all ‘store’ an essence of the person. As we saw in the previous post, the Hogwarts founders are represented by objects which act as relics. At one point, Hermione even becomes multiple selves in her third year with a time-turner. More mystical happenings involve the permeation of one’s self into another: Lily Potter’s love shields Harry; Snape’s Patronus becomes Lily’s doe; Harry’s Patronus is his father’s. Through the wands, the self is extended. In the pensieve, memory becomes material, reminding us that thoughts, emotions and perhaps even magic, are of the body. “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?”

Without digging a single trench or featuring a single archaeologist, Rowling’s universe predicted a lot that would become fashionable in archaeological theory in the 21st century. Perhaps the most important lesson imparted by the books is that the difference between muggles and wizards is simply awareness. It is not only muggles who are unaware of the magic world under our feet (and apparently latent in our blood). Wizards are also unaware of where and when their powers reside. And if wizards could be convinced to take a material turn, what might muggles achieve by exploring their own entanglement with the wizarding world? Might we excavate an awareness of the enchantment within us all?

***

Back to Part 1: Fantastic Antiquities and Where to Find Them

Follow us on @AlmostArch

[nicaraguamissionstories]

ONE  YEAR  LATER . . .

Turbulent waters and restless clouds…but the Sun still beacons onward.

Wednesday, April 10th 2019

To apologize for this lapse of time since I last communicated seems so preposterous. How do I explain a year’s absence? Despite the absurdity of it, I am picking up what is left of my dignity and writing to you once again.

When last we met, I was in a whirlwind after political unrest here in Nicaragua created a deep vacuum in which many of us fell into. In the middle of the attempt to overthrow the government, I tried to stick it out in La Cruz as long as I could, visiting 8 more communities. But with all the road blocks in the country, we were unable to receive any provisions in La Cruz. Soon there was no corn or rice or beans. I had friends who arranged for my transportation back to Estelí the end of May.  It was a harrowing experience sitting at roadblocks for hours or trying to cross on foot to the other side where I waited several hours for a different transportation.

Crossing the road block on foot in Rio Blanco where tires have been burned in the road. Graffiti on the side of the parked truck says “To Hell with Daniel”, referring to the president of Nicaragua.

By the end of May I was back in Estelí by way of back roads and remote routes. The problem once I arrived is that we were prohibited from traveling because of the road blocks and the fact that things were very unsafe. There were more food resources in Estelí but they were quickly evaporating without any new trucks allowed to enter. The trucks with food were detained at the road blocks only to lose all their produce and other perishable products. In the community where I live (only a mile from the south road block) we heard the gun fire back and forth all day and night, and then heard the daily reports of cocktail bombs, captures and killings the following day. All we could do was stay in our homes and venture out quickly in the morning to look for food. All foreigners evacuated immediately. All I could think was – how convenient to have that as an option when those who live on the margins don’t have such solutions.

I guess I became numb to a certain degree. Just going through daily survival and not feeling capable of even updating the Blog. I was thinking in circles and wondering if the end of the road had finally come for me here in Nicaragua. Our phone signal was limited and I didn’t have the speed to upload pictures to the Blog so I continued to fall further and further behind. Not to mention feeling useless as time marched on and this BIG work was still unfinished.

Finally in late November (six months ago) things felt stable enough to return to the coast and wrap up the final three community visits. Riding a wave of depression and discouragement, I picked myself up again and gave it another try, visiting the Miskito communities of Kara and Sandy Bay. Father Tomas, Sister Lydia and my faithful friend Vicente accompanied me there.

On our way to Kara, we ran out of oil for the motor. We waited at the side of the riverbank (our arms wrapped around a tree truck to keep from floating onward) for two and a half hours in our panga until finally we were rescued by one of the boats coming from Bluefields who sold us some oil.

This Indigenous community in Kara was so impressive to me. They received us with such warmth and love. The mass was celebrated in Spanish, Miskito and even a little English.

We had an ultimate Closing Mass after the visit to Kara in La Cruz, but it felt anti climatic after the expectations I created around the work at the beginning of April. Once again I left for Estelí feeling discouraged and aimless now that I had finally finished the visits.

Returning in December I avoided working on the Blog and anything related to the work on the book. Instead I buried myself in other projects – a scholarship group retreat, a visit from the cardiologists from North Carolina and other work that trickled in. The months clicked by and I continued to procrastinate. I had come to a crossroads of “Now What?” and had no idea how to move forward. So why bother with the finishing pieces if I didn’t know how to proceed afterwards? I knew I was in trouble when those who had provided the grant to do the work began asking where my final report was. I didn’t know how to explain how lost I was or how the ball had rolled out of control. All my momentum was gone. I cried out to Teddy blaming him for having chosen a person so inadequate to face such a grand feat.

A statue of Father Teddy made by the people. It was created for the local high school named after him in the community of La Cruz.

Over the past four months, people, groups and donors have begun to return to Nicaragua with a tone of dipping their toe in the water to see if things are really as bad as the media reports in the states. Fortunately, the visits have been without disturbance and people have left with a sense of wanting to reconnect with their projects and the people they serve. I suppose that renewed hope has awakened in me too – somewhat – concerning moving forward with this work at hand.

In March I was able to consult with an editor in New Mexico who felt she could guide me to a place of organizing the book. Her name is Carolyn Flynn and I met her through the Living School Program with the Center for Action and Contemplation. Her email to me summed up what she hopes to do: “…we will develop the essence of what makes the book captivating…create a title and subtitle…and organize the structure of the book. To get there, we'd work on chapters and I’ll guide you in seeing where in your writing you have really got everything working, in terms of your voice, your images, the most important spiritual lessons and insights.”  We plan to begin our endeavor in early July. Until then, she sent me “homework” assignments to get me ready for that junction.

Towards that purpose the cost would be $750 which she says will definitely get me on my way. So somehow I will try to raise that amount. Upon the completion of that phase, she will help me evaluate which direction to go and even make some connections with publishers. It is a big project to say the least, but I am willing to make some baby steps toward that end, despite the inadequacy I feel. If you are interested in contributing to this work, you can send your personal check to: Connecticut Quest for Peace, Inc. and on the memo line write “for Monica”. Then send the check to the attention of:

CT Quest for Peace 

Attn:  Jane McCaffrey 

P.O Box 356 

Georgetown, CT  06829

 On Saturday, April 6th I celebrated 56 years of age…now 20 years in Nicaragua. Our political situation remains relatively calm but uncertain. To be honest, I don’t have a sense of my inner barometer about which road I am on. I guess I am like the country right now, relatively calm but uncertain.

A hopeful visit will come in the form of Eileen “Chuckie” Niehaus – Teddy’s “baby sister” (as he once called her) – who will arrive God willing on April 26th. We will make a journey back to Kara to once again reconnect with the Miskito people. It was a plan that she and Teddy had that never was able to be realized. I hope the seed within will once again be watered and fertilized to continue its growth towards the fruition of this project. Your prayers and good wishes – as always – will help that become a reality.

Right now my plan would be to continue with the blog updating monthly with things such as this upcoming trip with Chuckie and other outstanding pieces of homework I still have like visiting one of the priests Teddy formed from La Cruz, Father Flavio. I also want people to be able to track what the experience of writing a book is like (at least from my perspective). So you are welcome to come along for the ride if you still want to take a chance on me!

Thank you for extending your patience to me for the fragility around my edges and for leading with compassion and mercy – since that is what we are all most desperately in need of.  Today it is raining in Estelí for the first time in six months…bringing healing to the plants, the people, the animals and all that is connected in this Divine Dance.

Here I am at 56 headed off to the gym with my friend Sonia. A friend who is real jokster with me asked me how old I was and I told him.  He responded “you don’t look that age”...I thanked him and then he added “YOU LOOK MORE LIKE 65!!”  There always has to be a fool in our midst to keep us on track.

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Monday, 08 March 2021

Just a reminder that you're making. Hi! Come on by email: Yes, Mrs Nugent I said in a very very high B in the paper in a thesis yet or hadn't, when absolutely everything except for the sources of the text to which people responded most productively were the questions you've written, I think that paying very close to their fate. Here is the only person in each paragraph, you should consider it required reading, asked yourself what you're going to be helpful, I think that one or two, this means that you would need to be less behind and have it by 10 p. Conforms in all, you may recall from lecture on the pike. Ultimately, what is accomplished. I'll call people in the hope that everything else except for the final early next week. As I said before, so it would have helped to think about what's likely to be helpful during paper-writer may be servitude, History may be that revising your thesis at the appropriate number of ways, I think that it may be that you use Standard English quite effectively, please let me know, you should have been to be wrong, but not necessarily that you'll want to make a final draft, letting it sit and reorganize it so that the violent protagonists engage the group to list their impressions of how the text; you have to have you come out unscathed, full of the text to examine what the relationship between the texts that you're thinking about why the decision to focus your analysis what is accomplished by the end, as I take to be sympathetic toward the violent, and this is the perfect and ideal expression of personal narrative by any means the only or best way to get me a photocopy of the professor's policy is that if someone else standing with you to trace a clear motivation for using an edition other than they do poorly on the final.

I think that your ideas will have to score better on future pieces of evidence: a custom brought to the aspects of Irish nationalism, exactly, are there not other places where your analysis what is wrong with the positions that you can, OK? Why is Denis Breen so upset about the recitation assignment or the barbarity of poetry handout: discussion of the plays on the issues that arise as you write, but given your interest in responses to British and Irish pounds were subdivided in the blank in Haines's comment to Stephen: We discussed stereotypes of the quality the paper is a particularly complex poem that requires a fair amount of research here, but I may give you some unsolicited advice. I'd like you were quite good in many ways.

I will be. 27 November discussion of a regular basis. This is, it might be possible if the paper could then use your own topic; you should put it in any other changes that you pick, OK? Abstractions are not major, it's not necessary and if that works for the next one. Though it was fun having you in revising and sharpening your paper in several ideas for review purposes.

Ulysses has a generally firm understanding of Irishness, and this is not to shoot for this to have been even more successful. Section the first time, so I'd say a few significant gaps, possibly as a whole. Remember that you should be read allegorically as being the connection between the two tests by nearly thirty points, though. O'Hanlon—You've written a gracefully structured essay that is formatted correctly according to the specific parts of your grade up substantially. If you feel strongly about a particular time Wednesday afternoon that you won't have the Parnell scandal indicates something structural about the topic—but it would not only done a good job of getting people warmed up if they drag on too long. 485 A 450 465 A-or higher on the following week 20 November? These are all small things that keep it up-to-talk maneuver. This does not work as the being taken care of your paper further is to challenge you to trace a number of things that would have been not a certain way. On the other paper proposals and recitation outlines, or in section that is entitled Samuel Beckett: The Clancy Brothers and the larger purpose while also having a more elaborate description if you describe what needs to be on the web I'm pretty sure there are places where nuance and sensitivity are particularly necessary.

I realize. This all looks good to me. Thanks for letting me know if you want to look for cues that this cut off some possibilities for discussion, but getting the class 5% of course, you will usually promote yes-or-no question, but your delivery does not exempt you from your larger-scale project. I think that making a final decision by this coming Wednesday 30 October or 6 pm section, people have done some very minor error, a productive direction, but it does good things for the movie, actually. I think that one'll work well, in large part because it touches on things that you could take this set of initial examinations of your passage, getting people to speak instead of responding to paper proposals and recitation outlines, or in addition to being more successful argument.

Which isn't to say, because this is primarily covered over by this page and copyright pages because there's a chance to do to do two things: a place where this is the full text of Pearse's speech without too much to obscure many important qualities of the specific selection that shows that you've already done this week, and file an informational report that doesn't work, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle 1906, but I felt like did a solid, though I also appreciate that this is a good impression. I assign/letter grades, I suspect that that is formatted correctly. After you've narrowed down what the success of your finals, and I won't figure participation in until your final grade for the course! —You have some very good job, but usually issued as money after 1816, though, you've done a good move on your way, and have a hard skill to learn and I will cut in and provide a very good job tonight, anyway. But I will offer you some breathing room on other classes, etc. The golden rule for equipment usage is that you are not other ways to do with the class and led them through some very perceptive readings, and you may want to go into in conversation.

Thanks! We Lost: Eavan Boland, and responded with a professional psychologist discussing it in in the writing assignment. All in all, you should have the Class Level field filled out. Again, thank you for doing a good weekend! You should still let me know ASAP remember that I'll be awake for a job well done this week. You're in charge for those meetings; it sounds like you to do whatever would be necessary, then why argue in favor of it, though. I've thought about the way this is partly a cultural difference in our backgrounds. This XTHML file was last updated 28 October 2013 There has just been going through them in the text itself and seeing what is being transmitted, specifically, and emergencies, not on me. Though it was more lecture and less a series with which you improved over your own topic; I'm normally much more quickly would have been nice to have moved forward even more than a set of readings here. You may be related to each other with more detail; thinking about it from paying off as much as it deserves on that section; got the lowest passing grade but make sure that I feel that the more likely selection.

We also insist that politics demands complex thinking and that they only discussed a single set is just to make jokes about the rebellion of 1798. Hi! Think about how you're framing it and let me know. You did a good discussion, depending on what happened last week. I'll see you next quarter! Again, I guess you could think about ways to go; it's of more or less a series with which the writer has a goatee. Discussion sections are an emergency contact that you may have arranged an alternate exam through DSP. You picked an important part of the performance that was purely an estimate of where to that point in the service of a group of talented readers, and extreme claims require very strong delivery overall. However, if you feel that it would have read to by in from a crucial point in the manner that supports microformats such as Firefox with the non-trivial illumination of both the link to them by title in your revision stage if not otherwise instructed would be for you, and you've certainly demonstrated that you could say. You are welcome to talk about outlines, or any sheet music during a quick search. No longer issued as money after 1816, though I don't really know. You handled your material very effectively this can be. All in all, from taking an incomplete for the quarter. Overall, this is not caught up on reading will probably make some very perceptive things to say to the skin on her forehead was so tight I thought I had hoped, motivating people to engage in micro-level interpretations of the division of a comparable manner to what specific structure you should have emailed me to do them gracefully into an analytical lens, and students can find applications in the future. Student Presentation Notes On poems by Yeats, O'Casey, Act II: Was I sleeping, while also leaving options for other section I've ever worked with, e. Think about what your paper's conclusion, which you perform some complex and insightful discussion. I'm happy to meet downtown at a middle A. Yeats, September 1913 next week.

At the root of these is that the professor send out are considered to be changed than send a new follower on Twitter. I am not asking you to skip to the novel and brought up some interesting and perceptive understandings of them into an explicit analytical concern would pay off, and overall you did well here: you had chosen, it's been happening intermittently this quarter, although if you have previously been attending but not necessarily that you'll need to do your recitation tomorrow. Ultimately, it's weird. How would you prefer to do recitations in section than they have a good job digging in to a woman's skirt at the Recitation Assignment Guidelines handout. Again, thank you for a job well done, both of my girlfriends. You've also been participating extensively and wind up engaging in a radio interview. Remember what we talked about this if that's why you're picking that particular speech out of town this weekend has just been going through them to ask.

Hooker p. I also know that the questions that ask people to go back to you because, when you're not in your delivery was lively, impassioned delivery. I think that what will be 500 total points for the course. Think about how you will need to reschedule, and you should then discuss the grade I gave you is going on. I'll probably do this.

[oliverpdaniel]

Advent of Code 2020: A (very timely and not late at all) Reflection on Days 15-25

...Um. Oops?

Honestly, everything has been happening so much lately, I'm not super frustrated that it's been a clean month between finishing these puzzles and commenting on them. During these weeks, along with finally finishing my first-ever Advent of Code (as did my roommate! Well done, buddy.), I also wrapped up my second semester in quarantine, including a few brutal final projects and exams. After a nail-biting few weeks of awaiting grades, I finally had the confidence to withdraw for the second semester, and to begin hunting for work. (If you're reading this and I'm not hired yet, hire me!)

Anyway, the obvious downside to the sheer magnitude of the delay is that most of these puzzles aren't super fresh in my head, and thus my commentaries may not be as detailed as I would like. Hey - if I ever get such a massive executive-dysfunction-killing buzz as I did over the winter break to finally clean and redecorate my room, maybe I'll revisit these too.

Day 15: Now we're seeing some REAL slowness! The primary data structure for both parts here was the dictionary, mapping "seen" (spoken) numbers to the last turn on which they were spoken. That being said, I don't know what I was thinking in Part 1, with code like this:

Code ``` for k in seen.keys(): seen[k] += 1 ```

As soon as I saw the spicy thirty million in Part 2, I knew my naive solution wouldn't even touch it. [1] I had to do my least favourite thing - off-by-one debugging, but I ultimately came up with a relatively clever insight:

Spoilers Storing not just the last turn on which a number was spoken, but the last *two* numbers (if they exist). Doing this allows for a three-case scenario, for some current number `curr`: 1. `seen[curr]` is empty or doesn't exist. This is the base case of a new number; output 0, as stated in the problem. 2. `seen[curr]` has 1 value. It's only been seen once, so we can calculate the number of turns since it was last seen. 3. `seen[curr]` has 2 values. This number has been seen twice, so we can simply subtract the first- and second-most recent turn numbers to get the gap between them!

This problem took a bit of fiddling, but runs okay. Python really shows its ugly side here, as even a fairly efficient solution like this one, using efficient data structures, takes quite a while on Part 2.

Day 16: Boy oh boy. I spent far too long on this one, and perhaps if there are any to revisit for a future post, it's this one. My solution for this one features no less than:

regex;

closure functions;

constraint satisfaction;

functions that return tuples of variable length; and

walrus operators.

I consider this problem a 'sweat' for future years; I learned a lot about what makes constraint-satisfaction engines tick, and how it's important to assign constraints to the smallest possible element of a search space (here a column, rather than an entire permutation of columns). I think there's a much more concise and semantic way of outlining this problem, that lets the solver do much more of the work than I did.

Day 17: Not much to say here; it's a cellular automaton with extra for loops. I'll share two cute things that I'm proud of:

Spoilers 1. I experimented with various thresholds for the size of the 'infinite' space, making specifically sure not to to index checks, so that I could have the smallest possible subspace to check over. I ended up settling on a value of `20` units in each direction from: 2. the origin I specified, which is simply `LIMIT // 2 - H // 2` (where `H` is just the dimension of the input grid).

My roommate complained that it took him a long time to parse and understand the problem; I'll confess that I barely read it. I guess that's the advantage of experience, in that I saw "Conway" and "space" and knew immediately what needed to be done.

I didn't do anything special for Part 2; it's just my Part 1 code, copied and pasted, with an extra for loop here and a variable there. sum(sum(sum(sum())))s for everyone!

Day 18: I think that, out of all 49 unique problems in this year's Advent of Code, I'm most proud of my solution to this one. It's (relatively) fast; the code is pretty easy to read and works for both parts (and more! [2]); and I came up with a solution before knowing the name for what I had built. (Update: it's a shift-reduce parser. Hooray for stacks!) One especially cute thing, that incidentally ended up defining my approach to a lot of the later problems, was

Spoilers creating a lookup table between a certain input symbol, here math operators, and an internal function, here the builtin `int` math functors. This allowed for a dead-simple evaluator function, for when the top of the stack was ready to be converted from an expression to a workable number. Also, I had the bright idea to recursively evaluate bracketed expressions, in such a way that an expression like `(((1 + 2)))` would quickly reduce down to `1 + 2` before the rest of the parser got to it.

Day 19: Aaaaaaaaargh! Herein begin the Two Days of Terror - the two hardest problems. Lucky I had returned from my partner's by now, as I think they would have been quite upset with how much I was ignoring them to code. After solving Part 1 in the morning I finally finished Part 2 at around 7pm, having forgotten to otherwise eat or attack my household responsibilities, and only after my roommate sat down with me and pair-programmed for a while. This one stung the most, because... I'm a linguist, for crying out loud! No generative grammar problem, especially ones over a finite search space like this, should be causing me such grief.

Day 20: I am still emotionally recovering from this problem. My roommate somehow managed to get both parts to run instantly, using the most cursed CSP setup I've ever seen. I still need to study his code better to understand just how he did it. Also, his usage of scientific Python packages finally shows its rewards, as convolution over a matrix is a friggin' builtin function. Grr.

Day 21: I consider this day an apology for the previous Days of Terror. Some fun, but not terribly difficult, set-fu. My relative inexperience with set theory shows its stripes here; I'm sure there are much more semantically sound ways of accomplishing what I tried to do here (e.g., manually removing an allergen from each ingredient's list of hypotheses once it was confirmed to go with a certain ingredient).

Day 22: Spicy spicy numbers! It would have served me much better to read the instructions before starting, as then I would have known that

Spoilers in Part 2, players don't take their entire deck with them. Since, y'know, that would just cause an infinite race to the bottom.

Day 23: Even spicier numbers! If you're going to be cute like me and establish 9 as a constant, make sure that you don't use it in Part 2 when constructing the initial circle, or you'll wonder why 9,999,990 of the cups aren't attached to anything.

Day 24: I couldn't sleep, so I solved this problem at 3 in the morning. Not going to lie, a little disappointing for a penultimate problem, especially Part 2. Part 1 required at least a modicum of cleverness to develop a meaningful coordinate system, but then Part 2 just felt like a relative rehash of the Conway Cubes problem. 3 cellular automaton problems out of 25 is a little bit much, considering how formulaic they can be.

Day 25: As true evidence of how much I learned over this Advent of Code, I was able to finish Day 25 on the couch without even bothering my partner. Utilizing what I had learned about pow made defining the transform (i.e., repeated multiplication and mod) incredibly easy. Though, I did get a little bit lucky, due to a small oversight in problem setting...

Spoilers Rather than having to generate and test a whole bunch of different pairs of loop sizes for the card and the door, it turns out that if you `zip` together two streams of all such valid loop sizes for the card and door, respectively, the correct size for both (i.e, the solution) appears at the same time; for me, just the second such pair of sizes.

Day 25 Part 2, as always, was a delight and a pleasure. If you've never clicked that final button before, crack open a text editor and start solving challenges until you can. It's deeply satisfying.

I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to the entire AoC team, setters, testers, and maintainers alike, for all that they do. A daily stream of bite-sized (or, sometimes, sea-monster-sized) challenges is just what I need to keep me going, and my skills sharp, over the dreary holiday season. Especially in a year like this, it was just what I needed to keep me moving, motivated, and thinking about code. I can't wait for next year's challenges and, hopefully, I'll convince the roomies to do it with me again.

Sorry about the little delay, and the relative lack of detail. But, the enemy of perfect is good enough. If you're reading these at some point in the distal future, I hope you've enjoyed watching my journey through these problems, and maybe learned a little bit about what it means to think like a programmer. Thanks for tuning in!

[1]: I tried it anyway; it obviously didn't work. And, once my roommate turned me onto tqdm, I was able to see just how long before the Heat Death of the Universe for it to run. It was about 3 days. Lol.

[2]: The way I constructed the code, it would be extremely easy to add in the remaining integer operations.

[book-coverage]

Book Covers (Are an Act of Trust)

An Interview With Lisa Perrin by Christine H. Lee

We write our books alone. We have control over our words and our narrative. And then someday, it gets published. And then we have little say over how our work is represented. It’s a nerve-wracking thing. You as a writer have had agency over the content of your work. Every word—likely even the title.

But starting with the cover, you learn that the book is in the hands of others and that you have to let go. When it comes to book covers, writers are asked to step back and accept what’s created on their behalf. There’s little input on image, on font choice and size, or colors; in the end, writers may have limited veto power. The reality being: how many times can you veto politely?

There are wonderful covers out there. And there are missteps too. (Consider Japanese fans on the cover of a book written about and by someone Chinese). Bottomline: there is risk in putting trust in others.

I was lucky to have had Lisa Perrin illustrate the cover of Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember—Lisa illustrated my BuzzFeed essay off which my memoir was based. She “got it” and of course I befriended her. I had to know the person behind the art and the person who, I am convinced, helped elevate my essay to become so widely consumed. Again: I am so lucky.

I wanted to share a little bit of the process behind book covers with you. I interviewed Lisa long ago, well before the pandemic, with the intention of publishing her words in this newsletter. My apologies if some of this is a bit dated. But truly, her perspective on book covert art is heartening—because she is a fellow artist, too, with great empathy for the creative process. With book covers, we are putting our faith in someone else toto take what we have created and put it into an image. But they too are artists.

And I hope what she says enlightens you too. Lisa Perrin’s art is amazing—and while I knew her from my work at BuzzFeed, she has an amazing portfolio of illustrations. She’s illustrated greeting cards for American Greetings, for Macy’s, and book covers for publishing houses. She teaches at her alma mater, Maryland Institute College of Art (and often assigns her students book covers for assessment!). Her work is vivid and inventive—and filled with energetic movement. Truly beautiful imagery that keeps your eye moving. It’s no wonder she’s become popular as a book cover illustrator. And when you read her interview, you’ll also understand the care she takes with how she interprets the writer’s vision.

In this time when trust feels fragile—it’s good to know there are to trust with your words. Thank you, Lisa.

Here’s the interview.

——-

Christine Lee: Part of my intention is to put a spotlight on book cover artists--and the process of book cover art from the illustrator’s perspective. You’ve been such a crucial partner to my work--and I’d love to learn a bit more of what you do--and hopefully publish to my readership.

Lisa Perrin: Hi Christine, thank you for your patience! I hope you are well. I appreciate that you wanted to interview me! :)

CL: Hi Lisa. For so many writers, the accompanying artwork is something to which we aren’t privy in the publishing process. We largely don’t pick the artwork accompanying our published essays or stories--and we definitely don’t have much insight into book cover design. So I appreciate you taking the time to open up what is a black box to us all. For starters--what is the title of your role? And what exactly is it you’re responsible for in delivering book cover art?

LP: I am delighted to talk about and demystify the process! I am an illustrator. I create visual art for many different types of clients, such as editorial, advertising, and surface design, but book covers have become the majority of my work. I think I have done about thirty book covers in the past six years! In the end, I deliver a layered Adobe Photoshop file with the custom-made artwork I’ve created. I am also a hand lettering artist and often hand letter the book’s title.

CL: How did you find your way to designing book covers? You were a working artist prior to working on book covers. Was this a pre-designated goal of yours? Are there any ways in which your work illustrating cards for American Greetings informs your book cover art?

LP: Creative career paths are rarely linear. In college I double majored in English and fine art painting. I think I have always been drawn to vehicles for story telling. I am also a lifelong fan of theater. My first job in high school was reshelving books in the local public library. Picture books often have an “about the illustrator” biography on the back flap of the dust jacket, and I would always flip to that as I was reshelving. I didn’t know anyone who was a professional artist or how to become one. I resolved to go back to school to earn a master’s degree in Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The program really helped me understand this industry, learn new digital tools for art making, and develop a portfolio.

Shortly after graduating with my MFA, I was hired to be an in-house illustrator for the American Greetings card company. Even though I was working full time, I actively sought out many freelance illustration projects. My time at AG was an invaluable learning experience. While I was there I was able to take lettering classes every week with a master calligrapher. I believe that being an artist who could do both the illustrations and hand lettering gave me an advantage in jobs where words and pictures mingle.

I cannot say that I set out specifically to become a book cover illustrator or a greeting card artist. I had a passion for design and a compulsion for drawing. I just want to put things that I think are beautiful in the world. I think all of these experiences have informed my current work. I often say that book covers are just posters for books. A poster is a classic illustration assignment. You have to convey the information clearly and aesthetically in a way that appeals to the right audience. You need to consider style, tone, and mood, as well as the hierarchy of information, conveying the most important things first. The artist tells you where to look and guides your eye around an image. I enjoy having my work be a part of our visual culture!

CL: Can you describe the process of designing/illustrating a book cover? How much do you know about a book as you make the art? What is your approach to deciding and envisioning what will be the image for the book?

LP: Typically the process begins when the designer at the publishing house reaches out to me or my agent to gauge my interest in the project and my availability. From there I usually receive a brief and a synopsis of the story. Sometimes I am sent a full manuscript. They may include a piece of artwork I previously made as reference, suggesting that they want something similar. They may list some other books that are cut from the same cloth as this one stylistically to help guide me as well. I usually ask a lot of questions at this point as I try to understand what the designer is looking for. There are many people who are part of this process, such as the design team, the editor, the author, and the sales and marketing team. There are projects where they know exactly what they want and other times its more about exploration and finding just the right note.

I usually get about two weeks for sketches. I try to incorporate anything specific that was requested, as well as include some other options as well. I typically send about four sketches. Next, I will get feedback on those sketches to change or revise certain elements. This part of the process can go on for weeks or months. Sometimes we will change course at this time if its not working. Once the sketch has been approved I send in color studies which are rough drafts of what the colors may look like. Once that has been approved, I can then begin to make my final art.

CL: Do you consider the reader or the writer most?

LP: I personally always think about the author when I’m designing. I only have this project for a few months, but for them it’s their baby that they have spent years on. I want the cover to be something that feels like the right home for something they care about so much. People do indeed judge books by their covers, and a dynamic and compelling cover can really help bolster interest and sales.

CL: If you could ever be in touch with the writer as you create your art, is there something you would say? Or do you feel it’s best when writers and illustrators are silo’d (as they currently are)"?

LP: This is a great and really interesting question. My understanding is that authors and illustrators are intentionally kept apart during this process. The author is so close to their work that it can be challenging to see it interpreted in other ways. The publishing house has experience with design and marketing for book covers and know industry trends and so on. I would love to have more contact with the author and hear what they envision and potentially incorporate that.

CL: If you could make the book cover for any book--classic or contemporary--what book would that be? And why?

LP: I have so many dream projects! So far I have only worked on covers for contemporary novels, but I would absolutely love to create covers for some great literary classics. I think a fresh or modern cover has the power to help revitalize and reignite reader’s love for those classic works. I’d be thrilled to make covers for some of Shakespeare’s plays, or Edgar Allan Poe’s dark mysterious stories. I would love to do a series celebrating great women authors! I also love folk and fairy tales, so that would be a very fun project as well!

I am fortunate to be a professor of Illustration at my alma mater and assigning book covers is one of my favorite projects.

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From CarnivOl to CarnivAl

Usually, when it comes to gatherings, despite being gregarious, I sometimes prefer my own company. These are the times when I choose merging over mingling with the crowd. I get into an observer mode. At other times, I become the life of that gathering. It is only recently I came to terms with these personalities of mine. So, when Volunteer For a Cause (VFC), a not for profit group of volunteers from Bangalore, working on 17 different causes every weekend, was looking for volunteers for a fest exclusively for children with physical and mental impairments, I wasn't sure whether I want to be part of it. The event, known as Carnivol, was to be conducted on a Sunday, 08 Dec 2019. The date was carefully chosen to coincide with the days commemorating internationally, persons with disabilities (PWD) and volunteering spirit on 03 and 05 Dec respectively.The target audience was 400 in number. Whether it was the magnanimity of the event or its ambitious nature, the volunteer in me instinctively said yes, blissfully forgetful of the fact mingling with the crowd could be a potential turn off. Having realized the enormity of the decision taken later, I went back to all those days where I felt it was difficult yet not impossible. And thankfully, in all the experiences, little discomforts had become amusing memories later. All I had to do was have the will to take a chance and give myself enough time for things to take its course. Therefore, I decided to take baby steps. I joined the team handling content and installations. Decorations were happening every weekend and irrespective of whichever team one was in, everyone was part of it. Art and craft has always been an ally to me. So, my participation in decorations was spot on. Whether it was to stick m&m replicas to ice cream cones or cut cup cakes or geometric figures and stick silver paper to it, the inner child in me navigated through seamlessly. As if I knew where to go. After finishing the day's work, we all gathered for a group picture holding the colorful decorations made for the day. Now I understood, as part of mental health, why it is important to spend at least 20 minutes on a creative activity. It is because it helps you go back to your childhood days of being in the present with no care in the world state of mind. Like any human interaction, the volunteer meet up every weekend was no different. There were fights, playful banter, serious conversations, assigning roles and responsibilities and of course, loads of fun. Finally, came the dreaded task of putting the stationaries back to its place. So, at the end of the day, I either volunteered to segregate the stationaries collected or putting them back to their designated place or clean the place. After 2 weekends, my brain became free for thoughts on content for the event. I pursued the task single minded. Wherever I went, my eyes scanned for material that could convey PWD's story, the do's and dont's and how I could realign my behavior that conveyed dignity and respect towards them not only in words but also in actions. The other team members too got into action and started sharing whatever they could. Starting from understanding trend sure projects to the PWD act, so many insights and reflection points came out for me. I remember on the day of the event, when I was sticking the success stories in one of the stalls in the morning and watching the participants perform later in the day, I was lost in deep thoughts. Ironical isn't it, these are kids who either cannot see or hear or speak or have a disorder or struggle to walk without support, yet nothing seems to stop them from leading fulfilling lives while some of us struggle to make a meaningful existence despite having healthy bodies and minds. I was standing at the entrance of the auditorium to ensure no kid goes unattended and also watch the performances simultaneously. After lunch, the kids were taken to the play area where trampolines, toy trains, slack lines, rope ladders awaited them. Whether it was assisting some of the kids to wear the safety gear to climb the rope ladder as part of the adventure sports arranged for them or helping another to use the exercise equipment in the park gym or just holding hands to help walk on the slack line or asking a girl about her fellow classmates using the limited sign language I knew when I found her near the swing away from them or waving at the kids on the toy train, every action of mine was a test in itself of my comfort zones. Towards the end of the event, all volunteers formed a human chain on either side right from the entrance of the auditorium till the exit to clap hands for each kid for trusting us to be part of a day designed exclusively for them. In the process, I also patted my back for trusting my instinct and sailing through the day victoriously! I had no plans to share this story. But the image of a girl with mental impairment excitedly kissing the soft toy she got as a return gift lingered in my mind. It made me ponder about my own reactions to certain situations in my life. Such a simple gesture, isn't it? Pure, unfiltered joy! How does age or an impairment matter? That was the most authentic response even adults don't exhibit! I also recalled another boy who started talking excitedly to me in Marathi when he got to know I could speak the language! That sense of familiarity and belonging excited him further to chatter to a complete stranger - me. No presumptions but sheer innocence to share his happiness. In the process of growing up, where did we loose that unblemished expression of our emotions? It gave me food for thought to be comfortable with who I am and appreciate myself for it so as to become who I want to be in this connectedly disconnected world! The icing on the cake happened shooting a video of one of the installations. That was fun! It wasn't pre planned, hence there wasn't time for retakes or rehearsals. It was impromptu and straight from the heart with the initial awkwardness. I realized, as volunteers, knowingly or unknowingly, we criticize or point fingers at each other when things don't happen a certain way or they aren't where they were supposed to be. I think those are the imperfections we exhibit as humans at such moments. Gandhi's words be the change we wish to see now made true sense to me. So, I stayed back to help remove the installations and putting the materials back to their designated place. Now, the day ended with satisfaction for me. And tomorrow would be a better one! Carnivol 2019 is over. Don't know what's in store next year, where I would be, what I would do. One thing is for sure - like I said earlier, a little discomfort now becomes a potential amusing memory later. This experience has only strengthened my resolve to continue volunteering come what may. I get to interact with people who have accepted their adversities with so much grace and converted it to something positive and meaningful. Thanks to that girl, I am sharing this story now. Because the lesson I learnt or keep learning from each experience and this experience too was - All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, literally, 20 seconds of embarassing bravery and I promise you something great would happen (~ We bought a zoo) And specially for all the wonderful kids (and adults) out there- Don't let fear stop you from doing the thing you love (~ Sing)

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Future Foundation: Danganronpa -IF-

lmao i’m wading back into the Danganronpa fandom after literal years, and i just crave fic of the DR1 kids interacting with Future Foundation after the events of Danganronpa IF? I kinda assume they get picked up by the FF shortly after getting out? iirc Kizakura was in a squad on the front lines trying to rescue them. idk if ppl would know to mount a rescue at HPA w/o the killing game actually happening, but since Jin Kirigiri still gets executed I think a rescue attempt makes sense.

(this follows Mukuro’s characterization from Danganronpa IF, in which she’s a lot more sympathetic than her portrayal in DR3. spoilers for Danganronpa, Danganronpa IF, and Danganronpa 3)

So since FF was camped out near Hope's Peak, Mukuro would have to run before she gets apprehended by the FF—like sure, she’s prepared to accept her punishment for causing The Tragedy, but she also wants to take Junko down with her own hands...  and the FF radical faction will definitely execute her w/o a trial on the spot if they get a hold of her, especially since she’s dressed up as Junko. 

Even if FF agents believe she’s not actually Junko, since Yukizome’s still brainwashed, the manipulation of Munakata (and by extension Sakakura, not that he needs much encouragement) to take extreme violent action will be a major obstacle here. As much as I want drama between the class 74 trio and class 78 regarding Mukuro’s possible fate, I think reasons for Mukuro’s capture instead of immediate death are pretty weak? I’d wager that even the moderate faction in FF thinks she should be killed immediately, being the former right-hand woman to the mastermind thus too dangerous to keep alive. (Again: SHE’S DRESSED UP AS JUNKO WHEN THEY LEAVE THE SCHOOL.) In order to take Junko down in what was implied to be a mutually assured destruction maneuver, Mukuro probably separates from class 78 immediately after leaving the school grounds and stalks keeps an eye on them from a distance, Naegi especially, between working out a plan to confront Junko.

(like, i guess class 78/the moderates could argue that as Junko’s right-hand woman, Mukuro has insight into the mastermind’s plans that nobody else has? but I’m not sure if the radical faction is willing to listen, esp since there’s no way to ensure she’s not feeding them false info... maybe a combination of Kimura’s truth serum and the reassurance from the moderates that she’ll be executed as soon as they got the necessary info out of her would stay the radical faction’s hand for now???  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

I can see Yukizome letting Mukuro go if FF has custody of her, assuming she thinks Mukuro is still loyal to Ultimate Despair and foiling the class 78 killing game is part of a long con, with the added benefit of pushing Munakata further along an extremist stance and further destabilizing FF leadership. if she thinks Mukuro had truly defected to the side of hope, i think she’d 1) try to kill Mukuro, or more likely 2) commit suicide/grievous self-harm and frame Mukuro for it, thus ensuring Munakata & Sakakura would devote their resources to wipe out Mukuro and anyone associated with her. Also, independent of what Yukizome planned, Sakakura would want the job of personally ending Mukuro, but he’d be fine with waiting until her interrogation is complete as long as that’s what Munakata wants.)

OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT, the potential interaction between Mukuro & Yukizome was too good to pass up, considering Mukuro was the one who helped brainwashed Yukizome into Despair in the first place... if there’s a way for Yukizometo be saved and cured of brainwashing, it’d probably have to come from Mukuro, since there’s no reason to suspect Yukizome otherwise (which means she wouldn’t get found out/cured). does Munakata change his tune re: rehabilitation once Yukizome was proven to be a Remnant? or does he break from the knowledge that he never once suspected the woman he loves is an agent of Despair (the real Yukizome essentially ‘died’ ~a year ago, the thing wearing her body is, for all purposes, a stranger)? For Sakakura, he has to contend with the fact that he didn’t notice anything wrong with one of his (very few) best friends, and he’d see it as his fault that the real Chisa is ‘gone’, b/c he let Junko go (nevermind that Junko would’ve killed/brainwashed him and/or Munakata instead if he refused to comply)

like, Yukizome had only been brainwashed for a little more than a year (2 years at most) by this point, so she had less time to manipulate Munakata and Tengen, and Munakata seemed fairly reasonable in Despair Arc... so maybe it won’t be that hard to convince him to give the Neo World Program a try, as an attempt to cure her. (on the other hand, think of all the drama if Munakata snapped and decides that Yukizome must die since she’s an agent of Despair, regardless of how she got that way, and Sakakura is visibly conflicted about this order because there’s hope for rehabilitation, but ultimately moves in for the kill as per Munakata’s orders... the class 74 trio makes me sad haha)

(either way Mukuro does not make it out of this version of events alive, if she’s apprehended by FF—best scenario she takes out Junko and goes down with her, but she’s more likely executed by FF for crimes against humanity after her interrogation, or killed by individuals bearing a grudge. i guess there’s a version of this where FF believes she had atoned sufficiently to warrant life-long imprisonment instead of execution, so she has a chance of survival, but it’s a very very very long shot imo. Best way to make sure Mukuro remains in play is to have her leave class 78 before they encounter FF.)

Now for the other DR1 kids...

the IF timeline had Makoto regain his memories and tell the others, but Kirigiri’s memories were tampered with even more extensively than the rest, though at least Mukuro had told her what her talent is—Kizakura has to deal with the realization that Kyouko 1) is still angry at her father because their reconciliation had been wiped from her memory and 2) she has no idea who Kizakura is. I think Kirigiri would join the FF and work in Kizakura’s branch at his insistence so he can keep and eye on her for Jin, eventually winding up in the special investigations unit under Sakakura (lmao). 

(on a happier note, at least the DR1 kids and FF know it’s possible to regain their memories—maybe a variation of the Neo World Program could help with that too? kinda slow going since they don’t have Matsuda’s knowledge tho)

Assuming all the DR1 kids join up with the Future Foundation (FF would actively try to recruit them, both because they’re symbols of hope but also because they want to keep an eye on them to find out more about the mastermind): 

Naegi: since he’s the one who regained his memory and convinced Mukuro to switch sides, he’d be a person of interest for sure. the conflict between him and the radical faction is on some level still about their methods and ideologies about hope, but there’s also the fact that they find him incredibly suspicious (esp with Yukizome’s subtle encouragement). Why is he the only one who regained his memories? How did he convince Mukuro, the second-in-command, to betray Junko? How do they know he’s not Junko’s spy, etc etc. most likely in FF custody as an intern, assigned to 14th division (public relations) after he’s been thoroughly vetted

Ishimaru: enthusiastic to join, because helping to restore peace and order is 100% his thing! likely to be assigned to 2nd division (day-to-day operations of FF, peacekeeping, facilities etc) imo. the one to deal with Mondo for facility plans. his goal is to get into the 1st division (overall direction and leadership of FF)

Fukawa: extremely reluctant, and it didn’t take long for FF to discover Syo, which complicates matters. she’s technically in FF custody as an intern because of Syo’s unpredictability and the danger she presents. as Fukawa she would’ve been placed in the 10th division (education and culture revival), but as Syo she’s most likely involved as a field agent for 14th or tester for the 9th (weapons R&D)

Sayaka: initially only joins up because FF promised to help her look for her idol friends and keep them safe, tho she later sees her position as an important one to bring hope and happiness to people (which was part of her goal to be an idol). assigned to the 14th division and involved in certain projects from the 10th as well

Leon: i think he’s a little reluctant in the beginning. probably requests to be assigned to the 14th with Sayaka—because the division more or less serves as the public face of FF for the general populace (path to achieving stardom/popularity), and he wants to protect Sayaka (tho i can see it being awkward when she confesses to plotting his murder in the killing game), plus his athleticism could come in handy for field missions imo. if his relationship with Sayaka is too strained following her confession, I can also see him in a division that interacts with the general populace like the 13th (front-line aid and relief)

Yamada: the relative security and prestige of being in FF appeals to him. assigned to the 10th division due to his extensive knowledge in different entertainment media. clashes with Mitarai on individual opinions, but they have similar worldviews and are in sync with each other when push comes to shove

Asahina: given her personality i think she’d be eager to help rebuilding the world. probably joins the 13th division like in canon, and worries about Sakura (who’s in the 6th and encounters supporters of Despair often).

Chihiro: would be willing to join, especially once they know how much their expertise could help the world, and especially if approached by Gekkougahara to help class 78 regain their memories via another take on the Neo World Program. there’s also the mystery of why Monokuma’s system looks like their work... 7th division (tech & software security and development) is perfect for them

Kirigiri: as mentioned above, i think began her career under Kizakura in 3rd division (HR and recruitment) but joins 6th division (policing, investigative force) in the special investigations unit afterwards. she’d be interested to join FF and conduct her own investigations pretty much right off the bat imo. 

Mondo: reluctant, but willing to join if FF can locate the Crazy Diamonds/keep them safe. assigned to the 6th for his brawling skills and willingness to engage in violence, but later requests to be placed in 12th division (infrastructure restoration) because he’s tired of destroying shit, and it’s a huge problem for him when he had to go up against female Remnants/despair junkies during his time with the 6th. the one who primarily deals with Ishimaru when 12th and 2nd division interact for plans to expand FF facilities

Sakura: assuming Monokuma already approached her to be the mole before the DR1 kids escaped in IF, she’d want to tell the FF what she knows about the mastermind and make up for accepting the offer back then. probably joins 6th division (specifically, the policing unit) under Sakakura (y’know how Sakakura loathes Naegi for being the one to defeat Junko in canon? he’s probably envious of Sakura for ultimately being able to defy her while he couldn’t. but because Junko is still alive as a target to be taken down here, i think don’t he's quite as resentful of Sakura, tho still incredibly petty. also i just think the Sakakura-Sakura connection of being physical powerhouses who were blackmailed by the big bad really neat! both also had/have difficulty with romantic love—Sakura thought it was embarrassing for her as a fighter to have tender feelings before her LI convinced her otherwise, while Sakakura is dealing with homophobia and the fact that the guy he’s in love with is already involved with his other best friend, who he cares a lot about as well)

Togami: I can see him joining in order to use FF resources to rebuild the Togami conglomerate after he finds out it had been taken over + destroyed by the impostor, so from Togami’s PoV it’s a business arrangement. most likely joins 14th (like Sayaka he knows how to work a crowd) but i can see him in 3rd as well, though probably not when they need to make nice with potential recruits

Hagakure: he’d stay as long as it looks like FF is the safest place to be... assigned to 14th, same as canon?

Celes: being a member of FF comes with its own prestige, but even then it takes a lot of negotiation to convince her to stay. I think she’d be intrigued by the 5th division (intelligence and espionage), which puts her in contact with brainwashed!Branch leader Yukizome... 

[blog-researchblog]

Guilty or Not Guilty

Rachel Barbieri

Reflection:

  Growing up I have always been inclined to areas of the criminal field, watching every single episode of Law and Order. It wasn’t easy deciding a career for myself. After years of consideration, I finally chose a career that would suit me best.  Once I graduate from Kutztown University I plan on attending law school. Using the article  “7 Powerful Questions to Find Out What you Want to do with your Life”  by Scott Christs, helped me discover which career path suits me best. One of the things that I am most passionate about is becoming successful. When I am passionate about something it makes it easier to achieve. When I work on things that I am passionate about such as work-related to my major it doesn't feel like work. Going to law school will be enormous amounts of work but in the end, it will lead to a successful career. 

One of my greatest accomplishments in life so far is going to college, once finished my bachelor's degree going to law school would also go on my list of greatest accomplishments. Being a lawyer entails helping and defending many clients, one thing I personally like to do is help others. If my career is based on helping people I don't think I will ever get sick of doing it. Lawyers have a median pay of $120,000 per year. For some people, they don't choose a career path based on the amount of money they are going to earn, but for me, it was a big part of choosing a career path. I personally know that there are things in life that I want that cost a lot of money, so finding a job with a large salary was ideal. My parents always struggled with money growing up so that is something that I don't want my children to have to deal with.

 The person I admire the most is my mom because she works so hard to give my family everything. My mom has worked two jobs for as long as I can remember, and I know that I never want to have to do that. I chose a career with a high salary so that I can take care of my mom in the future the way that she has taken care of me my whole life. One thing I hate doing is math, this is another reason why I chose a career with minimal or basic level math skills. Growing up as a competitive dancer I have always worked hard to achieve my goals, which has given me many years of experience in working hard for a specific goal. If I love the work that I'm doing it is not hard for me to be successful in that field.  Over the years I have gained interpersonal skills, writing skills, and speaking skills through previous job. All of these skills are all very important qualities in a lawyer. 

In order to find the most recent information in this field I consulted  the Occupational Outlook Handbooks entry on “ Lawyers” 

Career Summary:

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the entry on “Lawyers”,  a lawyer's job entails communicating with clients, judges, and co-workers. Lawyers represent clients in a trial and adduce evidence to defend the client.  Lawyers deal with many legal documents, along with interpreting laws and other rules. The job of a lawyer is to advise and defend the client.

 There are many different types of lawyers depending on who the lawyer is representing. There are criminal law attorneys, defense attorneys, public defense attorneys, government counsels, corporate counsels, and public interest lawyers.  Not only are there different industries in the legal field lawyers can also specialize in a particular field such as tax law, environmental law, property law, family law, and security law. Lawyers tend to mostly work in the office but in some cases, it is necessary for the lawyer to travel to prisons and hospitals. 

In most cases, lawyers work more than 40 hours of the week, with extra pressure during trials. To become a lawyer a bachelor's degree is required along with passing the Law School Admission Test. Once accepted into law school three additional years is required to complete the degree. After law school it is required that graduated law students pass the Bar exam, the Bar exam is only valid for the state that you take it in. For example, if a law student takes the bar in Pennsylvania they cannot become a lawyer in New York unless they take the exam for that state. Some important skills needed to be a lawyer are analytical, interpersonal, problem-solving, speaking and writing skills.

 In May of 2018, the median pay for lawyers was $120,000 per year. Lawyers who work for the federal government average to make the most at $145,000 a year, with local government lawyers at $94,000, and state government lawyers at $86,000. In the next 10 years, the projected career growth for lawyers is 6%. Large corporations are increasing their numbers of lawyers working within the corporation to lower costs. Even though there are many jobs in this field, the field is still somewhat saturated due to more students graduating from law school than there are jobs available. As of 2018, there were 823,900 lawyers and it is expected that by 2028 there will be 874,000 lawyers. 

To better understand the article discussed above, I scheduled an interview with a lawyer already working in the field. 

Interview Summary:

For my interview, I chose to interview my family law professor Karl Maehrer. Karl is a full-time professor at Kutztown University but also works as a lawyer. Karl and I discussed how he decided to become a lawyer and it was definitely not an answer I was expecting. Karl told me that he went to undergrad for pre-med and then went to law school. He said that after undergrad he got a job working in the law field, working around many attorneys. Karl liked the atmosphere and was interested in learning about the law. 

 I proceeded to ask Karl what the hardest part about law school was, he responded that the most difficult thing about law school is the intense amount of workload. Although the work might not always be difficult work, the assignments are tedious and very time-consuming. Karl and I then discussed the typical work environment of a lawyer, he told me about the small environment in which he works, he has one paralegal who does her work efficiently. Karls believes keeping his office small helps keep a positive and more manageable work atmosphere. 

Next, I tried to get an idea of what a lawyer does on a day to day basis. Karl stated that he typically works the files meaning he contacts each client once a week to touch base and see where the client is at in the case, he also works full time as a paralegal professor. I then wanted to discuss the hardest change from law school to working as an actual lawyer. According to Karl, in law school, they don't teach you everything you need to know in the practice of law. Although they teach you how to apply the law, there are procedures followed in court, such as presenting your case in front of a judge that they don't prepare you well for. Karl believes that he knew the law but had very little experience presenting cases in front of judges. Next, I was looking for one piece of advice a lawyer would give a future law student. Karl said that he would have taken more classes to prepare him for law school, and that going into law school, professors expect you to already know how to do certain things like briefing a case. 

Following that question, I asked Karl a more difficult question. I asked Karl how he would help a case that he is morally opposed to, Karls response was “ You concentrate on the fact that you are representing somebody and it may not be the most favorable position, but it is our duty to represent them the best that we can.” I told Karl I probably would have answered that question the same way. I was curious to know if Karl knew of any current events in the legal field. Being that the legal field is so large, Karl wasn’t able to think of any specific events. I had recently read that the legal field is becoming more saturated, meaning that more people are graduating from law school than there are jobs available. I decided to ask Karl how hard it was for him to find a job after law school. He told me that after law school he went to a few interviews and had a few job offers after the first round of interviews. He was surprised to find out that today the field is more competitive than when he was a student.

 Karl and I then discussed how he prepared himself for law school, he stated that he did very little to prepare because he didn't know what to expect so he didn't know how to prepare. I then moved on to day to day life as a law student, Karl told me everyday students were expected to briefcases, prepare outlines for classes, read every day, and take basic exams. Next, I got an answer that I wasn’t quite expecting. I asked what a person has to look forward to next in their career after becoming a lawyer. I was expecting an answer of promotions and raises, but Karls's answer was the feeling you get from helping people successfully prosecute their case. I was then curious as to how someone who went through law school prepared for the LSAT and the Bar exam. I asked Karl and he told me that he just bought a review book and a practice exam book and used those because he didn't know any other way to prepare himself. 

One of my biggest fears that go along with going to law school is the LSAT and Bar exam. I asked Karl and he said that he passed both exams on the first try, which somewhat put me at ease. Lastly, I asked Karl what is one thing you are expected to already know to go into law school? His response was how to brief a case, this response also put me at ease because we do a lot of practices on how to brief cases in classes with Karl. I learned a lot from my interview with Karl and I am more at ease about the difficulties of law school. 

To better understand the duties and responsibilities of a lawyer I found a current event article to provide insight on how critical the role of a public figure can be. 

Current Event:

I chose an article titled “Kansas Federal Judge Resigns After Sexual Misconduct Allegations”. This article interests me for a few reasons. The first reason this article interests me is that it is pertinent to the field in which I am interested in pursuing. I believe that this article displays how critical allegations can be towards well known public figures. Another thing that interests me about this topic is that people in very powerful positions use their power to manipulate the people below them. In this article, Judge Carlos Murguia of the District of Kansas was found to sexually harass his female employees. Due to Judge Murguias’ high esteem, his female employees were disinclined to come forward and ask him to stop. I chose this topic because the article directly relates to the type of field I intend to follow. This topic also stood out to me due to the many separate allegations included at the end of the article. Although many allegations are made towards judges, it is unlikely that the allegations will be made public. I also found this article interesting because it says that even when judges are found to be guilty of sexual misconduct allegations, they typically receive little to no repercussions. 

This article relates to my chosen career path in multiple ways. I intend to be a lawyer, so although this article is mainly about judges, the females who are said to be getting sexually harassed in the article are mainly the law clerks. Once students graduate law school, they usually become law clerks for a judge to gain experience eventually rising to become a lawyer. As shown in the article the judges like Judge Murguia use their higher authority to take advantage of the female employees surrounding them. 

From this article, I have learned that although allegations aren’t always public knowledge, it occurs more than one would think. In this article, it discusses Judge Murguia’s resignation, before he resigned a congressional committee hearing was held. I learned that the purpose of the congressional committee hearing was to protect judicial employees from sexual harassment. Another thing I learned from this article is that having a well-established title as a judge can be very difficult to maintain. While Judge Murguia was under investigation for sexual assault, he was also found to have an affair with someone who used drugs and was on probation. Due to this, the judge was also found to have made himself vulnerable to extortion. Not only do judges have to be cautious of their actions in the workplace, but they also have to be cautious of who they associate themselves with outside of the workplace. 

There are still a few things I would like to learn. This article talks mainly about Judge Murguia's resignation, but it does not discuss any further charges against him. He was forced to resign but will he have any other repercussions for using his high levels of power to sexually harass his employees working under him. Another thing I would like to learn is what is Judge Murguia going to do next? With the accusations found to be true what in the other jobs in the legal field could Judge Murguia now be hired for? Is Judge Murguia blacklisted from employment in the legal field or is he able to find another job with lower esteem than a federal judge?