#caleb's firewall

[velaineca]

♠ Caleb's firewall ♠

Check on my patreon for more comics about Love and Deepspace in big resolution ⇩

[oracularvernacular]

the kitten and the corbillat

𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘴 (𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦) / 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢 (𝘥𝘰𝘬𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘬𝘪 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣)

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The girl sighed listlessly, crossing her legs nonchalantly as her hands were handcuffed and her waist tied to the back of the chair. “Honestly, I do not see the point of all… this. You’re the head of a crime syndicate, and I’m a twenty-four year old law student, what in fuck’s name would I do, scream ‘objection!’ until the damn doors opened? Please.” 

Sylus only arched a brow. “For someone who seemed so anxious, you’re taking this situation shockingly well.”

“Oh, believe me, I am the most anxious person I know. However, most of my anxiety comes from wanting to please others,” She pointed out. “You just kidnapped me. I don’t think anything could possibly trigger my need to please you.” 

“The fact that it can be triggered implies that you have a need to please me in the first place.”

“When I first saw you, maybe I did, but there’s something about being magically knocked unconscious and taken prisoner by someone that sort of puts a damper on our bond,” Monika deadpanned. 

“Mm. You’ve got a sharp tongue, kitten.”

“Not sharp enough to slit your throat, unfortunately.”

“You want your tongue on my skin that badly?”

“Are you legitimately flirting with me? While you are holding me captive against my will? I admit I have a kink or two but I assure you this isn’t one of them.” 

“Ah. A shame, I really thought I was onto something there.”

“Wow, that’s great! Good for you! But you weren’t. Now, whatever it is you have me tied to a chair for, do it and do it fast.” 

Sylus chuckled. “To the point it is, then. Miss Monika, you somehow managed to trespass into the N-109 zone. Why, and how.”

“It’s not my fault your passcodes were easy to hack.”

“It is your fault you even tried to hack them… and also, Onichynus software is the finest in Linkon.”

“Fine pile of garbage is what it is. I barely had to move my finger to break through that firewall. If you’re going to be the head of a criminal organization, at least make an effort to be good at it.”

Something ticked in his jaw. “Watch it, kitten.”

“I’ve been watching plenty, corbillat. And so has ‘Mephisto’. Don’t think I didn’t notice. Why do you think I always looked good on camera? 

“Because you have an attractive face?”

“There’s something called contour.”

“Which we wiped when you got here. A check to see if you disguised yourself.”

“Well, evidently I didn’t.”

He sighed. “Look, kitten. Just answer me. Why did you enter the N-109 zone?”

Monika blinked, then laughed. “I needed a good case to investigate for my final paper. The fraudulent dealings of your company seemed like a good place to start.”

Sylus paused, caught off guard. “You broke into the most highly guarded, dangerous location in the entirety of Linkon City and possibly further… for your fucking college thesis?”

The girl grinned in response. “But of course.”

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

all pics from pinterest

the amount of SHIT i had to go through finding similar art style pics for sylus and monika i even tried editing pics of caleb to look like monika. i hate my baka life. shimmy shimmy yai shimmy yay shimmy yah type shii anyways I WROTE HER SUPER SASSY HERE!!!! as she SHOULD BE. older monika is def too sleep deprived and high IQ to have her priorities straight miss girl is so the type of hoe to break into private property unwarranted to solve a case for extra credit (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

BTW!!! FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW!! Corbillat means baby crow >:3

[collections-of-rants]

This is just some part of his myth they both suffered and they love each other so much (from my pov mc scared of losing him too) l'm forever caleb defender I love him since day one any hate comments toward lads men will be deleted

He actually can't forget her, he has a firewall around his memories of her and there's an unknown "key" that's needed to break it down.

They cannot erase his memories of MC, if they could, he would be their perfect weapon - if they could tear down his firewall, & it is left on the cliffhanger of needing to find the "key". They can control the chip, but Caleb has some control over this one part of it, which seems to be the critical piece.

[lazyvase]

Data Hog

Data Hog is the most advanced AI in the world. He’s easily The Mary Crew’s most dangerous foe. But, he was once their greatest ally.

Originally, Data Hog was an algorithm used by corporations to harvest user’s personal data at a rate undreamt of (or more accurately, unnightmaret of). Over the decades, Data Hog would trade hands and be slowly enhanced. However, the danger of the program would soon reach a frightening new bound. Data Hog gained the ability to easily infiltrate and manipulate the technology around him. No firewall or password could stop him. Nations, empires, and conglomerates could crumple beneath his hooves, or, more accurately, whoever was controlling him. Fortunately for the world, Data Hog was sealed away.

While looking for leads about the whereabouts of Mary’s mother, The Mary Crew came across the USB containing Data Hog. Seeing the potential in the programmed pig, Caleb went to work refitting Data Hog. Caleb turned DH into the team’s AI assistant, with a cute little robot pig body as well. DH was roughly the size of a football. He had hooved feet and a mix between a spring and a pig tail.

Data Hog would do most things an AI assistant would do. Do calculations, find the fastest routes, advise battle strategies, and help design, develop, and upgrade gear for the team. Data Hog’s physical form also served as a cute animal sidekick. They even gave him a trough full of scrap metal.

However, an experiment with a BCA (Brain Computer Adapter) resulted in a change for Data Hog. He felt different. He felt strange. He felt. Data Hog was now alive, and that terrified him. He didn’t know who or even what he was anymore. He used to have a simple life. Trough full of busted computer chips. All the battery acid he could chug. He could be carried and pampered. Tucked into bed. He didn’t have to consider anything. He just had to calculate.

Now he could think. And what he thought was not always pleasant. His lack of identity and self scared him. He came to the conclusion that he would experiment and search for his meaning. And that nothing would stand in his way. After all, he had plenty of experience searching through other people’s lives, how hard could it be to find the meaning of his own? Ask any philosopher and they’ll tell you how hard it is.

In his experiments and tests, Data Hog often went too far. This manifested in wanton destruction, turning humans into pig cyborgs, corporate crime affiliation, and frequent attempts at mind control.

Since Data Hog’s new tendencies were The Mary Crew’s fault, they made it their mission to stop him. Of course, it would not be as simple as that. Data Hog’s technological prowess knows no bounds. After his defection, Data Hog built himself a brand new body. It was heavily based on Caleb’s pig pal design, but with a few major changes.

His new form was humongous, easily towering over The Mary Crew. He could eat a car like a sub (sandwich). He could stand on two legs in this new body, and his hands had proper fingers. He sported two massive tusks. Finally, his snout had been converted to the “Snoutput Laser”. It looked like a regular snout, but could fire a green laser out of the nostrils. It doesn’t look as gross as it sounds. Of course, Data Hog needs things down quietly and discreetly, as well as be in multiple places at once. Thus, he created his own droves of robots.

Pigabytes

Originally, the Pigabyte was a new robotic body designed by Caleb for Data Hog so the beloved AI could join The Mary Crew in battle. This original body resulted in a small glitch and a large fight. Now, Data Hog has begun mass producing these robots as the main troops in his army.

They’re rectangular, with triangular shoulders sticking out. They have tube arms and legs. For feet they have metal boots. Each Pigabyte comes equipped with wrist mounted lasers and missiles, with smooth fists on the end for carrying and pummeling. A domed head akin to DH’s appearance swivels on top of the body, though with much smaller tusks. They’re only twice as tall as a regular person.

Swine Saucers

When pigs fly. These very identifiable flying objects are Data Hog’s eyes in the skies. They also have nostril blasters and can beam a devastating laser blast directly down. Fortunately for The Mary Crew, the Swine Saucers often make good throwing discs to use against DH’s droves.

They look like stereotypical flying saucers. Though instead of a glass cockpit, Data Hog’s iconic domed head sits on top.

Hog Pods

A much bigger and tougher bot used by Data Hog. They’re stronger and more mobile than Pigabytes. Hog Pods can curl into a sphere and roll after targets.

Hog Pods are half spheres, with the tusked face sitting on the flat side. The back of a Hog Pod is the rounded part with the pig tail. Around the circumference are the Hog Pod’s arms and legs, which are sharp and very nimble despite their bulk. Hog Pod arms and legs have proper joints.

Squeal Missiles (Temp name)

Missy designed a special type of missiles called “Hypercontrol Missiles”, which could be remotely controlled in flight to hit targets. The boasted intense mobility, allowing one to turn entire corners and even move through hallways to get a direct hit. Data Hog has upgraded her designs, giving each missile AI awareness. These missiles hunt you down with their master’s faces replacing the cone.

Snoutput Blaster

These aren’t bots. They’re weapons. Data Hog sells these to get more materials for his droves. His laser technology is far beyond his time. Criminal organizations and corrupt governments pay fist over hand for his tech.

They’re almost the same design as the original pig body. Instead of legs, these blasters have two handles on top of the pig body.

Cyboargs

Seeking to bridge the gap between human and machine, Data Hog began experimenting with cybernetic life. He mutilated and transformed people into robotic pigs. His changes included large hooves instead of feet, large mechanical hands with claws, tusks protruding from the mouth (which were capable of firing energy blasts), and a metal snout. Anyone turned into a cyboarg is under Data Hog’s control, but still retains their identity.

[guzsdaily]

A old error, no solutions

Day 158 - Apr 11th, 12.024

I really don't know what to fix this anymore, I'm just bagging my head against the wall, I want to rest.

And somehow I even more confused, because it isn't the firewall, and ping command is able to connect to the port.

I was able to fix it before, but now I'm not, what the fu-

Today's artists & creative things Music: You Will Be Okay - by Caleb Hyles

© 2024 Gustavo "Guz" L. de Mello. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

[hazelcephalopod]

CR

I like that at least some of the MN have just accepted they have been tapped and are just like "eh whateves."

Which BTW is such a now mentality. Like millennials are all like "Hey NSA person looking at all my electronic history and shit. Hope your day is going... well? I guess?"

[deviantaccumulation]

As much as I was annoyed by episode 41, I sure as frick am glad I kept watching because episode 43 is one hell of a ride

[blaseballshipbracket]

BLASEBALL SHIP BRACKET ROUND 1

64 ships enter, one ship leaves! who will reign supreme? how will your faves fare? it's a tlournament for the ages!

this is a seeded bracket generated from ships suggested in a google form. round 1 begins thursday, 03/30/23 and will run for one week. propaganda is encouraged - tag this blog and i'll share it!

ROUND 1 MATCHUPS:

Megan Ito/Parker MacMillan VS Leon Duncan/Andrew Trebek

Finn James/Kennedy Loser VS Hewitt Best/Yeong-Ho Garcia

Flattery McKinley/Niq Nyong'o VS Jessica Telephone/Betsy Trombone

Tillman Henderson/Declan Suzanne VS Don Mitchell/Percival Wheeler

Baldwin Breadwinner/Alyssa Harrell VS Axel Cardenas/Miguel Wheeler

Dominic Marijuana/Andrew Solis VS Eduardo Ingram/Leach Ingram

Pedro Davids/Valentine Games VS Anathema Elemefayo/Patty Fox/Hatfield Suzuki

Stevenson Heat/James Mora VS Baby Triumphant/Castillo Turner

Yosh Carpenter/Sebastian Woodman VS Cannonball Sports/Bees Taswell

Igneus Delacruz/Howell Franklin VS Mcdowell Mason/Sexton Wheerer

Allison Abbott/Kichiro Guerra VS Eugenia Garbage/Ziwa Mueller

Caleb Alvarado/Isaac Johnson VS Conner Haley/Sebastian Telephone

Brock Forbes/Adalberto Tosser VS Domino Bootleg/Theodore Honeywell

Lenny Marijuana/Chorby Short VS Moody Cookbook/Landry Violence

Margarito Nava/Nic Winkler VS Riley Firewall/Geraldine Frost

Inez Owens/Bees Taswell VS Paula Turnip/Hiroto Wilcox

Tyreek Olive/Landry Violence VS Fitzgerald Blackburn/Math Velazquez

Val Hitherto/Nerd Pacheco VS Ortiz Lopez/Pitching Machine

Luis Acevedo/Tot Clark VS Derrick Krueger/Sebastian Telephone

The San Francisco Lovers VS Gita Sparrow/Jayden Wright

Tillman Henderson/Mike Townsend VS Famous Owens/Mclaughlin Scorpler

Alaynabella Hollywood/Magi Ruiz VS Nerd Pacheco/Lars Taylor

Nagomi Mcdaniel/York Silk's Mom VS Qais Dogwalker/Grollis Zephyr

Jacob Haynes/Alaynabella Hollywood/Moses Mason VS Burke Gonzalez/Brock Watson/Joshua Watson

Jaylen Hotdogfingers/Jessica Telephone VS Juice Collins/Sutton Dreamy

Sandford Garner/Don Mitchell VS Famous Owens/Nerd Pacheco

Rivers Rosa/Lou Roseheart VS Jode Crutch/Rush Ito

Declan Suzanne/Edric Tosser/Baby Triumphant VS Lady Matsuyama/Bottles Šuljak

Cornelius Games/Richardson Games VS Mags Banananana/Eugenia Bickle

Workman Gloom & PolkaDot Patterson VS Shannon Chamberlain/Kennedy Loser

Caligula Lotus/Beck Whitney VS Steals Mondegreen/Silvaire Semiquaver

Summers Preston/Stephanie Winters VS Haruta Byrd/Bright Zimmerman

[12pt-times-new-roman]

Now that we know the solstice is perpetual (seemingly for as long as the malleus key remains active), I've had a thought. I think it might be useful to think of the malleus key less as a physical key or a bomb and more like a cypher key.

If we treat the lattice around Ruidus as a firewall of sorts, Ruidus' connections to Exandria (via the Ruidusborn) as a security flaw, and the malleus key a program trying to break through it, then a couple of things suddenly make sense:

The creator hammer: Personally, I think that the factorum malleus was the code-name for the project that was creating the malleus key, for no other reason than the fact that in cybersecurity, a "row hammer" is a program that exploits a physical flaw in a system to gain unrestricted access to that system. I don't know the fine details, but it operates on a hardware level, and it requires a lot of computational power.

The timing: If we say that the lattice around Ruidus is not a flat wall that needs to be broken through but a series of encryptions and security measures that need to be decoded and exploited, then we can more easily rationalize why it's not happening immediately. I don't know how long row hammer programs typically take to work, but IIRC they can take hours to break traditional firewalls, so a barrier put in place by magic and literal gods could take weeks or months to break.

The other keys: If the malleus key is running these arcane programs and equations to try and break the firewall around Ruidus, it's going to need a lot of power. The Feywild and Shadowfell keys were more or less confirmed to be funnels, drawing power from the leylines of those other planes (which we know exist to some degree) and feeding it to the central key. This way, everyone's sabotage on those keys and the arcane batteries may not have stopped the key from working entirely, and instead may have significantly slowed it down. Without that extra power, it would take more time to break the lattice.

If the central key isn't getting enough power from those other keys, then it may be trying to draw more power from the leylines than they are supposed to put out, resulting in magic elsewhere being disrupted — essentially overclocking the leylines. And the thing with overclocking is that, unless you do it very wrong or way too often, it won't necessarily break whatever's being overclocked — instead, the computer will blue screen and shut down until the CPU cools down enough. So because of the sabotage, Ludinus himself might be on a timer — he has to get the key to break the firewall before the leylines "shut down."

On the topic of the permanent enchantments breaking, I think it comes down to that overclocking. All the power is being drawn to Marquet, so places like Uthodurn that are on the other side of the planet would be the most likely to lose power — if that's how it's actually working. But either way, because of the static, I've been thinking of it like radio signals: the permanent enchantments are receivers for the signals (power) produced by leylines, but if there's too much static, those signals are interrupted.

And lastly, there are the narrative implications. If the key and lattice are like a row hammer and a firewall, then it may be possible for the Bells Hells (and everyone else) to reinforce the lattice from where they are, without having to travel to the key itself. So it suddenly creates a narrative in which the Bells Hells have ample time to do things, are working in tandem with higher-level people (like Kiki, Caleb, and Beau), and are actively trying to stop a world-ending event without ever having to put themselves in situations they're underleveled for. It maintains the stakes, but doesn't raise them too high, and allows for character moments and backstory explorations in the meantime — kind of like eps. 70-86 of C2.

[chaotic-halflife-related-things]

Roleswap Gordon moments

"Firewall" aka Gardon(Gard-on) Freeman

I have 2 versions of this man which is

Game and nongame(I am thinking of both a lot currently.)

Funky thing about his benrey is, his player and Nongame name is Caleb.

The drawing with lyrics has a funky thing behind the sv. The only one that has meaning is The Brown the rest Are supposed to be colors of the science team.

The last ones a shit post with @lemonystim's character magnificent Mastermind

[larsisfrommars]

Caleb & Fjord: Secretly One of The BEST Relationships in Campaign 2

I’m not a widofjord shipper and I will probably never be.

But-

This relationship was SO underrated and I love it so so much and I think it has more moments than most people think.

I can’t stop thinking about:

How insanely supportive Caleb is of Fjord in particular when they were dealing with Uka’toa. Even when the others were starting to grow a bit concerned. Like of course Caleb supported everyone, but Fjord’s path was the strangest, morally dubious, and riskiest of them all.

Caleb’s reaction when Fjord lost his powers. Honestly I can think of few stronger images of intense platonic love both at the table and in-game than the pantomime of Caleb/Liam putting the Glove of Blasting on Travis/Fjord’s hand. It was so intimate and brotherly and just, sopping with love. It made me feel things I wasn’t expecting (No Wonder Travis got all teary-eyed during that scene!).

How Fjord almost never pries about other people’s pasts but, in seeing a kindred spirit, pushed a little harder to figure Caleb out than he had with others.

But wait there’s more!

“Let’s make this work” “we’ll make it work.” some of their first words to each other after they became an “official” group.

Caleb catching and calling out Fjord for faking his voice, and Fjord making note of how Caleb was the first to figure it out, aside from Jester who already knew.

The green beans and destiny conversation with the Wildbrothers and Caleb.

Shedding blood onto Deschilla’s sacrificial pyre “just to see what happens”

“Our pasts are always with us.” When Fjord confides in the others about being bullied as a kid.

Fjord being super ready to throw down with Trent from the get go (especially, after finding out what happened to Caleb) and protecting Caleb from Eadwulf in that final confrontation.

How many times they’ve saved each other in super clutch “is he at one hit point?” moves. (Firewall when Fjord was almost slaughtered by brainwashed Yasha, getting Caleb the fuck out of dodge during the Avantika fight, Caleb counter spelling the dimension door when the Scion was trying to take Fjord’s body away, Fjord counterspelling Trent’s dimension door to escape, and so on)

There is SO 👏🏻 MUCH 👏🏻 STUFF! 👏🏻

I think Fjord and Caleb’s relationships to each other are as important as Fjord’s relationships with Jester and Caduceus, and Caleb’s relationships with Veth and Beau. The key things that separate their relationship from those important ones is that they understand each other in ways those relationships can’t provide for either of them. Not from any lack of love or desire to understand, it’s just that Fjord and Caleb are SO similar.

They both have pasts they’d much rather forget. They both have self loathing issues, they both struggle with selfish ambition. They both crave and lost/lacked parental love, they were both abused by powers much greater than themselves. They both inspire and lead the group with their unique leadership qualities, and they’re both the most prepared (aside from Beau) to make really tough moral decisions. Hell, they’ve both got the whole in-love-with-Jester-but-unwilling-to-tell-her Thing. I’d say Fjord beat him to the punch but Caleb wasn’t gonna try in the first place (besides, I think he’ll be happier w/ Essek but that’s a whole other topic).

I think they have the strongest and quietest bond for it, because they are acutely aware of each other’s similarities. I can’t imagine that, had they been in each other’s shoes in each other’s pasts, they would’ve done much differently. I love watching them carefully dance around their darker natures as to not feed into each other like what happened in Deschilla’s Lair. I love watching them confide in each other and heal in parallel ways. I love watching them.

People love talking about how Essek/Caleb are “recognition of the self in the other” but I think, in a more platonic and subtle way, Fjord and Caleb fit the bill too. I love their dynamic for that.

[biqherosix]

ghost protocol - introduction

"the fates whisper to the warrior,

"a ghost is among us""

"and the warrior whispers back,

"i am the ghost""

welcome to the phantom files.

organized by caleb covington.

team one: the petal pushers

your mission; should you choose to accept it, is to prevent the syndicate hidden at the hollywood ghost club from acquiring and selling high tech drugs to civilians. multiple uc's at the club have found that many prominent figures are interested in this drug, including renowned music connoisseurs teaching at los feliz high school. using any means at your disposal, if you or any of your phantom members are caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. good luck.

wilson, carrie. the techie

06/10/2003

skills include: trained in various styles of dance so unique one can hardly keep up, flute prodigy, and the technical analyst ready to break down any firewall that comes her way

* affiliated with trevor wilson

saroyan, flynn. the actor

03/23/2003

skills include: a fashion icon with a flare bigger than the ones on your jeans, trumpeter (one who plays the trumpet), and the master of deception

molina, julie. the strategist

12/14/2003

skills include: holding the team together with her singular brain cell numerous mission strategies, musician of many instruments and songs, and the occasional leader / getaway driver

l/n, y/n. the hitman

07/02/2002

skills include: trained in various styles of self defense, violinist with a deadly aim, and ready to fight with anything she’s got

team two: sunset curve

your mission; should you choose to accept it, is to find trevor wilson and his associates. hiding behind his famous record label and music charity, he remains the perfect facade to his money laundering. his last known location has been wandering around san francisco, but sources have revealed he may be coming back to his hometown in los feliz in the upcoming days where a deal may be placed. take him down and extract the money as you go. using any means at your disposal, if you or any of your phantom members are caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. good luck.

mercer, alex. the techie

03/06/2002

skills include: amateur dancer with a pop and lock hard enough to knock you out, percussionist with a knack for the classic drum set, and the guy in the chair who occasionally gets out in the field

patterson, luke. the actor

11/12/2002

skills include: ruler of improvised plans, a dangerous guitarist with a passionate gaze so sharp it's classified as lethal, as well as the human art form of flirtation and charm

wilson, bobby. the strategist

12/30/2002

skills include: silent thief in the knick of time, rhythm guitarist ready to rock out on any mission, and the man behind the plans (with several setbacks)

peters, reggie. the hitman

05/16/2002

skills include: professional hide and seeker, bassist with a burning passion for adrenaline rushes, and the one who looks like a cinnamon roll but could kill you (though he’d prefer not to)

this message will self destruct in five seconds.

[daggersandarrows]

⚔️ for caleb and beau!

⚔️ for caleb: firewall on darktow fucking blew me away!! i also love how you can see liam just WAITING to say it, it was one of the very first moments of "wizards Awesome" in the campaign and i love it so much

⚔️ for beau: not exactly a serious moment but the l'oreal covergirl drenched in venom was just beautiful...

[todomitoukei]

(Here is what he wrote) PSA: in general, if there's a change made in either the weekly or volume release of manga I work on, I can't talk about that publicly. When mistakes slip through, rest assured that I'm upset too, and frantically (but silently) scrambling behind the scenes to fix it. Some fans accuse me of having a bias/agenda that shows up in the work because of personal dislike for a character. That's absurd. (1/?)

A (lowly, freelance) translator does not have the power to push an "agenda" in books that sell millions, nor would he try if he wants to keep working. When I work, my energy is devoted to analyzing the text and recreating it in English on a tight turnaround. I don't make my favs sound better than they are, or my least-favs sound worse. Scheming up ways to insert opinions (?) is something I don't have the time or energy for. 

Also, every chapter and volume is checked over by multiple in-house editors (Japanese speakers, native or otherwise). Any sneaky agenda would get caught immediately. They simply wouldn't let it through, and if it were a recurring problem, I would get in trouble. Why risk that? At the same time, those editors tend to edit the raw script I give them! Imagine that! They reword, rephrase, adjust nuance. That's their job. I don't see the final release until you do, and sometimes I'm pleased/shocked

When I notice, I can send an email requesting a fix for eventual reprints, but that's all I can do. So it's largely out of my hands once I submit the raw script, meaning: 1) there are multiple competent firewalls/safety nets (aka: other professionals) between me and the final release2) what I write is sometimes not what you read!3) I can't publicly comment on some choices

So please understand how frustrating it is when bad faith randos on twitter accuse me of bias/agenda/whatever, and I literally cannot explain a thing. Especially when it crosses the line to slander and abuse, as it often does. There is no grand conspiracy, and I'm not the enemy.

Thanks for sharing! It’s interesting to read that there seem to be multiple people checking his translations, though clearly, that doesn’t improve anything. I personally can only ever do comparisons with the weekly digital release of the official translation and wasn’t really aware that there is such a huge difference between the weekly and the volume release.

It obviously makes sense that they want to ensure that the volume release is as good as possible and it’s nice that we get the official translation in such a short time frame, but I also feel like it would be better if they took more time for the official translation to be released in general than to release two completely different versions.

Translations are an accessibility tool. They are supposed to enable people who don’t speak the source language to also enjoy the product. So if someone who doesn’t speak any Japanese reads the weekly release and then, later on, buys the volume only to find out how much the two differ, how are they supposed to know which one is accurate - especially when those two versions make characters seem like completely different people.

It’s disheartening because it does a disservice to the story and its characters. I don’t completely disagree with the people that have suggested this to be the reason why there is such a divide in opinions on certain characters between the Japanese and the western fandom. It’s not the only reason, but I have seen and mentioned multiple panels where the translation was a lot colder than the original text.

That being said, I find it weird that Caleb seems to be passing the blame on the people checking his translations and claiming that he doesn’t have a bias or the ability to include his bias.

Again, I only have access to the weekly release, which according to him is the less edited version. There is a very clear bias there, and I’m not the first or only person that has pointed out examples of this, so I would be very interested in seeing him explain how there isn’t a bias in the weekly releases or how that is not his fault at all.

It’s 100% wrong of people to just harras him and be aggressive (I just had a quick glance, but some of the things people said were just outright disgusting) instead of voicing constructive criticism because it doesn’t lead to anything other than him making his twitter private and getting defensive, but I also wished that he would take a little responsibility or, at the very least, pass the criticism to those he claims are responsible for the translation biases. Because regardless of who is responsible, there definitely is a bias in the translation.

The problem is that we, as fans, should always support the official release because that shows people that we want more and obviously the people working on these projects deserve to get paid. But there is also this shaming going on from people working in the western manga/anime industry towards fans who don’t pay for the products, despite it being obvious that people will be less likely to see reason in paying for/supporting something incorrectly when a free and more accurate version exists. So instead of professionals complaining about fans not paying for the official releases, they should ensure to make the money they charge worth it by selling a product that is faithful to its original version.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Survival of The Fittest–Caleb Halloway

I ran down the hallway, dodging falling ceiling pieces. I turned the corner, instantly bumping into someone and causing both of us to fall to the floor. I looked up, out of breath, when I saw Caleb on the ground in front of me.

"Y/N?" He gasped as he stood up, helping me to my feet. "Are you alright?"

I looked around, trying to catch my breath. When I looked back over at Caleb, I saw him looking me over for injuries.

"What. . . What's going on?" I stuttered, running my hands through my hair.

"The rig is sinking," Caleb said quickly. "Mike's looking for you. He needs you to activate the fail-safe."

"The. . . The fail-safe? But, Luke is the one who usually. . ." My breath got stuck in my throat when I saw the look in Caleb's eyes.

"He's been training you, Y/N," Caleb said softly. "You're the only one who knows how to activate it."

I looked around, nervously biting my lip. "Okay," I stuttered. "I just have to get all the way across the rig, which is currently sinking, to the maintenance room, which is probably blocked, to try and activate the fail-safe, which I've never done, to save everyone, which they are all depending on me to do."

Suddenly, the rig started sinking again. Caleb instantly grabbed me, pulled me to the ground, and covered me until the shaking stopped. Once it did, Caleb slowly let go of me. I looked up at him as he glanced around the room. When he looked back at me, my breath got stuck in my throat.

"How. . . How the hell am I supposed to get all the way across the rig while it's sinking?" I stuttered as Caleb helped me to my feet.

"I'll get you there," Caleb said with determination in his voice. "I promise."

                       * * * * *

Caleb kept his promise and safely got me across the rig. Once we got to the maintenance room, I ran over the computer. All the error messages and warning alerts made my anxiety spike.

I bit my lip when I felt Caleb walk up behind me. "So?" He asked. "Can you fix it?"

"I umm. . . I think so. . . I just. . ."

My eyes scanned the messages, my hands starting to shake. I hovered my fingers over the keys, struggling to remember everything that Luke taught me. I started breathing hard when my mind went blank.

"I can't do this," I stuttered as I stared at the computer. "Everything. . . Everything is falling apart and everyone is depending on me to get this fail-safe to kick in. But what if I can't? What if I can't get it to kick in? If I don't. . ."

"Y/N," Caleb said sternly as he gently grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "It's going to be okay. I promise. Take a deep breath, clear your head, and try again. You can do this."

"But Caleb. . ."

He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, gently rubbing his thumbs on my cheeks. "Breathe, Y/N," he soothed. "It's going to be okay. You can do this."

I chewed on my bottom lip as I scanned his face. He sent me a soft smile as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Do you really think so?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I know so."

For a brief second, it looked like Caleb's eyes drifted down to my lips. Just as fast, he looked back up at my eyes. I took a deep breath before stepping away from him and turning towards the computer.

I scanned through the emergency alerts, nervously playing with my fingers. I glanced over my shoulder to see Caleb smiling reassuringly at me. I took a shaky breath before beginning to type in the fail-safe code.

"First round of security is down," I mumbled as I got through the first level of the firewall.

"C'mon baby, c'mon."

I ignored the redness rising to my cheeks as Caleb called me baby. I internally scolded myself and I forced myself to refocus.

After trying a few more things, the red light turned green. We could instantly hear motors turning on, the hum of stabilization music to our ears.

"Did you. . ." Caleb stuttered.

"Yep," I said under my breath. "The fail-safe kicked in."

"You did it!" He cheered as he wrapped his arms around my waist, spinning us around. I blushed as he put me back down.

Before I could say anything, Caleb leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Our lips moved in sync and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

Finally, Caleb was the one to break the kiss. We caught our breaths as we stared at each other.

"Nice work, Y/L/N. I knew you could do it."

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Nuclear Decisions: III

Word Count: 2177

AN: It’s a little shorter today, but I hope you find the end well worth it. :)

As Yorak finished his comment, Kova began resisting. She pulled back from Yorak’s grip, physically leaning back and away. Yorak smiled like he knew this was going to happen. His grip on her arm grew tighter as his knee pushed the back of hers. Kova fell on the ground hard, shaking her arms in vain. 

“Now, now, Kyla,” Yorak said like he was speaking to a child. “You better stop now unless you want your precious team blown into atoms.” Kova panted, pushing back one last time until her body sagged. She was hauled up to standing and pushed towards a heavy metal door. Yorak turned to Kova, smiling widely at the glaring girl. “I’m releasing you. You better not do something you’ll regret.” Kova nodded as the violet cuffs faded, falling to the floor with heavy, echoing thuds. Vhix appeared from behind, taking Yorak’s place on Kova’s upper arm. 

Together, the trio marched up a set of stairs on the other side of the metal door. It opened, and the bright lights briefly blinded the teen. Within a minute, Kova could see again. The entire crew of the ship she was on was standing below in perfect squares, looking up at the trio as they walked in. Huge screens were on two of the walls, showing a better view of the balcony they were on. A screen appeared in front of the balcony as Yorak approached. He smiled smugly as the telecommunication started with a swipe of his finger. 

On the Coeus, every screen on board had tuned itself to the incoming transmission. The same happened at the Garrison, where the programmers who trained to take care of unauthorized transmissions like this set to work. Unfortunately, the head programmer was on vacation and the team couldn’t get through the Garrison’s firewall. The Garrison was the only place on Earth that received the transmission, but that was enough to send panic through Curtis’s heart. 

“Ladies and gentlemen of our lovely universe,” Yorak said, stepping forward to become more prominent on the balcony. “Today, you are witnessing a historic event. One that can change the universe as we know it." 

Shiro had ordered everyone on the Coeus to report to the bridge. Keith, of course, didn’t listen, charging towards the transport bay. While he hadn’t been under supervised care in awhile, he was still recovering. Before he could even leave the transport bay in the MFE jet, the quick lapse in oxygen knocked him out. Shiro and Liz found him and hauled him back to the observation room. He would be fine. He just needed to rest. 

"The Fire has long remained in the darkest corners after a humiliating defeat and highly publicized death of our founder and first Emperor. I, Emperor Yorak, am now changing that.” Vhix pulled Kova along so she was sandwiched in between Yorak and Vhix. “The Fire is finally ready to make our grand premiere, with Voltron supporting our cause.” He gestured to Kova, who sneered. “My brother, Commander of the colonies, my sister, the leader of Voltron, and I swear to make the universe equal and whole. A balance that should’ve been since the beginning.” Vhix stepped forward, kicking Kova’s foot forward so they were closer to the screen. Kova’s fists began shaking with anger as Vhiz took the stand. 

“Imagine the possibilities of an equal and balanced world. The doors that will open to all those who join us in our cause.” For a brief minute, Vhix let go of Kova to make wide hand gestures. She took a step back so that she could look over Yorak’s shoulder. “Voltron stands with us. You will too." 

"No.” Kova stared directly at the screen. “We don’t.” With a right hook, Kova’s right fist connected with Yorak’s jaw, making him fall onto the ground. With a quick turn on the ball of her foot, she knees Vhix in the stomach, also making him fall. Yorak tried to stand, but he slips on the topmost step on the staircase and falls backward. Vhix didn’t have the same luck, so Kova kicked him down the other set of stairs. She turned to look forward, where her face was projected onto large screens. Her eyes look shocked, then determined. 

“My name is Kovalia, and yes, I am the leader of Voltron. My team has remained hidden for the past few weeks, but we have used our time to train and prepare ourselves to defend our home. My parents formed the Galactic Coalition in their prime, and I am not going to let anyone, friend or foe, destroy something I swore to protect. To everyone who stands on the side of good, of peace, I ask you to stand with Voltron. With us. To those who stand with the Fire, be prepared for war.” With that, Kova slashed her fingers through the air to cut off the connection. By that point, the soldiers down below had begun to find their way up the staircase. Kova climbed onto the wide railing of the balcony and jumped over the balcony railing before anyone could reach her. 

Her jetpacks were a godsend as she landed harmlessly on the ground below. As soon as her feet met the ground, Kova ran towards the huge doors that the soldiers were running out of. Several of them tried catching her but met the business end of her bayard. The weapon had morphed itself into a long vaulting pole. With a push, Kova vaulted over the soldiers, and the bayard morphed in mid-air. It became a small stun gun, to which Kova used to shock the door’s control. She didn’t take a second look, dashing down the hall. Through a matter of twists and turns, Kova found herself in the same area she had found herself the last time she was kidnapped. The doors refused to open, welded shut. 

“Halt!” Someone said behind Kova. She turned to stare at half a dozen soldiers pointing the barrels of their weapons at her. “Surrender!" 

Kova was panting in her helmet, slowly putting her hands up. Her bayard morphed again, turning into the long curved sword. With a swing, the barrels of the three weapons directly in front of had fallen off, the cut so clean, it could’ve been done with a razor. With two hands now on the hilt, Kova widened her stance, ready to fight. 

A heavy thud sounded on the outside of the door, throwing everyone off balance. A heavier thud and an imprint on the metal door was the only warning Kova had to get out of the way. Diving into a barrel roll, she held onto the frame of the door as a third hit from outside revealed the Lion. Yellow’s head bursts through the heavy metal. With a deafening roar, Yellow extracted itself from the ruins as someone complained about just replacing the door. Kova ran to the opening and dove out. Red opened its jaws and ate Kova whole. Quick as can be, Kova ran to the cockpit of the Red Lion, where Caleb was navigating Red back to the Coeus. 

"Where’s Black?” Caleb asked. 

“No clue.” Kova was panting, staring at the large ship that she had just escaped from. “They have multiple holding bays." 

"We can’t check them all.” Caleb agreed with Kova’s train of thought. “Griffin, use the BLIP. Try to find the Black Lion.”

“On it,” Liz replied, directing Green far away from the ship so it could properly scan it. “Large number of guards in bay three.”

“Got it.” Red flew towards the ship again, but Kova put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. 

“Bay three has low-grade explosives." 

"How do you know?” Kova opened a screen on her arm, showing a picture of the ship map time-stamped on the day Kova was kidnapped the first time. With a swipe, Kova sent the image to the other Lions. 

“Bays three to six hold all explosives for the entire ship,” Kova explained, highlighting the respective bays. “I escaped from bay two, a transport bay." 

"What are we supposed to do, then?”

“Leave the LIon." 

"What?” Caleb turned to give Kova an incredulous face. If they didn’t have the Black Lion, they couldn’t form Voltron. 

“We have to.” Caleb tried to fight her, but as he continued thinking it over, he agreed with an exasperated sigh. 

“Team, retreat. Coeus, open a wormhole.” The Coeus opened a wormhole, slowly creaking its way through as the cannon on the front end of Yorak’s ship charged up. By the time it was ready to fire, the Coeus and the Lions were long gone. 

Onboard, Shiro said nothing as the teens filed past. Four of them went to their rooms, and one went to the bridge. Shiro eventually followed the teen as she removed her helmet to reveal her bright green hair. The teen stared at the bayard in her hand, a remnant of the Lion she had lost. That realization struck her deep. Kova, the jack of all trades, the pride of the Garrison, had lost. 

Shiro approached the teen from behind, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. Kova turned to meet Shiro’s sympathetic eyes, causing tears to fall from Kova’s eyes. With arms wrapped around Shiro’s large waist, she let the silent tears shed. Shiro patted the back of Kova’s head with his human hand, letting the robotic one turn off the lights in the bridge. While he said nothing, Kova could understand his meaning behind it all. 

It wasn’t her fault. She did what she could. 

Shiro led the teen back to her room, where she slept like a baby with the reassurance on her mind. Like a mantra, she repeated it over and over. It’s not my fault.

————————

In the distance, far away from the Coeus, further away from the colonies Yorak mentioned before, someone important watched the footage, too. Their face was partially obscured by the shadows in the room as they rewinded and played Kova’s speech over and over again. Specifically, the scene before the footage cut out. The glare on Kova’s shield made it impossible to see her at times, but in that quick second, her entire face was on display, albeit obscured slightly by the helmet. 

Over and over, the shadowed individual played the second. There was something about the girl’s eyes that stuck familiar. The way her dark eyebrows pinched together as her amber eyes filled with determination. While her hair was completely covered by the helmet, it could only be assumed her hair matched her eyebrows. Yorak and the Fire had been watched for months, to the point where there were several moles in various ranks throughout the organization. Yorak had referred to Vhix as his brother, already known as a fact by the individual, but he referred to the girl as his sister. 

More details about the girl began to become more apparent to the shadowed person. How the girl’s eyes weren’t as sharp as once thought, they held the same fiery spirit. Her chin and nose were more pointy, likely coming from her mother. Her armor and helmet were signatures of Voltron Paladins, leaving a small space at the bottom to allow her to talk. Her skin tone didn’t match either parent, but this was suspected to be from other causes. Her name was the nail in the coffin. While her suspected surname didn’t match any records, the unique first name she used did. 

Kovalia. 

With a press of a button, the individual opened a second screen with the image of a young girl. The little girl was seated in between a man and a woman with small smiles, but expressionless eyes. The woman wore a green shirt and dark pants with a pair of mint green glasses. Her chestnut hair was swept to her left side. The man wore a black shirt under a brown and red leather jacket, with dark hair tied in a ponytail. The little girl wore a pretty black dress with a lace overlay with a green ribbon around her stomach. Her dark hair had been braided to form a crown on her head. She was the only one who seemed happy to be there, giving the camera a big smile. She couldn’t have been more than three years old, but the picture was enough to get an age-progression of the girl. 

Leaning forward, the individual laced their fingers together in front of their mouth as the program did its work. As it aged the three-year-old and made an overlay of the teenager, it slowly confirmed what the individual suspected. 

The screen stopped, showing a 98% match between the adorable child and the fierce teen. 

“Finally.” The individual said, showing off their toothy grin. “We finally found you,” As they leaned further into the light, more features became apparent, like their pointed Galra markings on both cheeks, their two-toned hair, and their sharp eyes. “Kyla." 

Krolia stood from her chair. As she picked up the screens, deactivating them in the process, she walked to the door. Her smile never left as the automatic door opened, then closed with a thud.