#meg’s more coherent drawings

[meggie-moo]

read CPC, admittedly taken over my brain :/

#ITS LIKE I GOT POSSESSED #i was fine one day and then the next i had read all chapters and didn’t do anything else for three days #literally all i could think about #and now i have to wait a week for each episode 😔😔 #meg’s incoherent thoughts #cpc #cursed princess club #cpc gwen #cpc prez #cpc frederick #meg’s more coherent drawings

[sscrambledmeggss]

that scene in acitw where they are in the dance class, kurt is like, “they are all looking at me, because i’m still put together :(“ when in actuality, they were probably looking at his loudly cursing, underdressed partner <3

#i hate this drawing btw sebastian’s arm is far too long but my ipad is dead and the charger broke LOL #ANYWAYS HAPPY ACITW DAY #meg’s art #kurt hummel #kurtbastian #sebastian smythe #acitw #meg’s more coherent drawings

[duckapus]

Curtain Call

So the fight against Showtime at the top of the tower isn't exactly going well given how powerful she is, but thanks to the war down on the ground the tides are about to turn, because a stray barrage of Missile Megs from Bowser misses Metal Overlord and hits the tower about halfway up instead, doing enough damage to make everything above start to fall. Everybody realizes that their only chance of maybe surviving is to jump out the window, and, well, Kamek and Cubot are the only ones who can fly and they're obviously not strong enough to carry everyone else, so all they can really do is hope for a miracle (or at least for Meme Energy to decide it'd be funnier for them to survive the fall).

And with a roar and a call of "YYYYEEEHHHHHAAAWWW!" a miracle does arrive, as they all land on something mostly solid far higher up than they expected.

"Need a lift, piss-ants?"

"Anti-Shroomy!?" The 4 then looks down at what exactly their savior rode in on, "you tamed Draco Piranha!?"

"Yep! Turns out he's not so bad once you show him who's boss."

It's at that point that Showtime reminds us that she can just ignore gravity, and she starts throwing attacks at them, prompting a chase down towards the ground.

...okay, I'll level with you, I've got a few small scenes figured out for all this but not a coherent story to stitch them together, and at this point I just want this done so bear with me. Eventually the fight reaches the ground, the group is still on the back foot, the chaos of the battle raging around them is messing with both sides, at some point Ice Melony and Mecha Desmond show up while fighting each other and Showtime gets caught in their crossfire and blasted elsewhere on the battlefield and the main group (plus the rest of the converted crew members who've managed to come over to either help or attack depending on which conversion they have).

At this point Metal Overlord seemingly manages to overpower Castle Bowser and tries to merge with him to become even more powerful...but it takes a lot more willpower than Metal has to overwrite Bowser's, so instead we get Heavy Metal Bowser.

(not my best work or even colored in but this is what you get. junior for scale)

The good new is that now the Robot converted characters are now under Bowser's control and helping the good guys. The bad news is that Showtime had a front row seat for this.

"Well now, there's an idea." she looks over the battlefield and spies a certain royal Siren fending off a frozen king and his army almost single-handedly, and in an outfit that's almost just her style to boot, "Jackpot."

She flies over, sending out a wave of energy that knocks away everyone besides Old King Winter and Sonata. Sonata levels her trident at the newcomer, "Your energy...you're the source of all this madness, aren't you."

She laughs haughtily, "Clever as always, kiddo. Now, both of you hold still." she raises her arms towards the two and they begin to feel something being torn out of them as painfully as possible.

Streams of colored energy pour out of them and into Showtime, gradually causing all three to glow. eventually it gets so bright that they can't be seen at all, and when it dies down only one titanic figure remains.

"Alright! Goodby Queen Cutie and he-llo Empress Sexy~!"

"Two down, five to go. Now, where's the mushroom girl?" She flies off towards Toadstool Tangle.

Meanwhile, the Ice and Undersea converted people start to undergo some rather horrific transformations, with Creep growing out of them at all angles. 4 unfortunately gets a front-row seat when it happens to 3. This continues with the Mushroom conversions (so really just Draco Piranha and the Tangle itself), then the Muppets and soon after the ghosts, and finally everyone gets to witness the battle between Heavy Metal Bowser and an even more powerful version of Fusion Showtime with features added from the other three trigger characters (I unfortunately did not draw the later Fusion Showtime stages. I might in the future but for now you'll just have to use your imaginations). It's a close match, but eventually even Bowser falls, and Wonder Showtime is born while the Group stands alone once again.

It seems as though all hope is lost, especially since most of them quickly get pinned down by the horribly mutated versions of literally everyone, but 4 gets an idea, "Wait, we still have the seeds, right?"

Mario manages to yeet Luigi away and pulls out a few of their collected Wonder Seeds, "Yeah, but they don't exactly do anything besides sit in your inventory."

"Not on their own, but they're part of a meme, right? And they're a new enough one that they've got way more Meme Energy than most things at that scale. Maybe I can turn them into something we can actually use!"

Meggy looks over from where she's trying to get what might be Saiko and Tari off of Ferb, "Can you even get a meme to that kind of power on your own?"

"..." he looks to a particular section of the battlefield, eyes full of determination, "No, No I can't." he runs in the direction he was looking, tackling the mutated Admiral 3 to the ground and pulling a tentacle that used to be an arm into a death grip.

"SMG4, what are you doing!?"

"My...job!" he's assaulted by the all-too-familiar sensation of the Creep burrowing into his body, his brain, along with the horrible memories that come with it, but he holds firm, "3, if there's anything left in there that can hear me, I need you!"

There's a long few seconds where 4 can't help but think he's just thrown his life away for nothing before the seven Wonder Seeds rise up and start to morph into raw Meme Energy spheres, "work...fast...ba...ka"

The two work in tandem to merge the energy into a single sphere, which then transforms into...

A Wonder Flower. Because what else could it possibly be? This one has the strange grey-with-yellow-accents color scheme of the Special World wonder flowers.

"You've got-erhf-one shot! Make it...count!"

Whoever's left of the group nods in understanding and rushes towards the flower in the hopes of reaching it before one of the mutants, and two hands grab its petals at the same time, one gloved, the other not...and something unexpected happens.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

YsOwUiRnEgAyKoIuDrYaOrUmRsEfArSoQmUsIiDdYeOtUoRsEiAdKeIcDoYmOeUoRnEiAtSsQtUiImDeYtOoUgRoE-

wYoAoHmOyOwYoAoHmOyOwYoAoHmOyOwYoAoHmOyO-

waitifyourehereandimherethenwhosflyingthepingaswhatthehellamwetalkingabout

A single figure sits on a rooftop, looking out at the sun setting over a city that no longer exists.

They are alone.

They are together.

A living monument to a bond forged in Ink and Fire.

An experience made flesh.

The moment seems to stretch on forever, as they revel in simply Being...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

But when they open their eyes, not even a second has passed.

"Holy shit."

They look down at the awestruck face (or, well, eyes) of Marcy, discovering that they're now significantly taller than either of them were before.

"I knew something crazy would happen but this..."

They grin, "I know, right? I...we?...Yeah, I feel amazing! Like I could do anything! Like-"

The earth shakes, and they look up to find that Showtime's definitely noticed the commotion, "-Liiike I'm wasting time. Let's-a go!"

They run towards the titanic villain, soon discovering that their fusion was only part of the Wonder Effect as an obstacle course of combined Super Mario and Splatoon elements springs up around them, forming a path up to their target. Obviously Showtime doesn't just sit and wait for them, attacking with everything she's got, but they tackle any challenge that comes their way with a combination of Meggy's athletics and skill and Mario's platforming prowess and Avatar powers, as well as some of the greatest reoccurring memes of both (of particular note is when they weaponize Meggy's poor cooking skills to turn an oven they found into a rocket to help them reach a higher level).

Soon enough, they reach the top of what's left of the Tower, nearly at eye level with Wonder Showtime. She leers down at them.

"And just what are you supposed to be, you little freak?"

"It's-a me, Marggy, and I'm not 'supposed' to be anything. But as long as we're both here, I guess I'll be the one to take you down."

She laughs at this, then gives them a sharklike grin, "Real cute, kids. But it's gonna take a lot more than two midgets in a trenchcoat to beat a goddess."

Marggy shrugs, "I dunno, eight on two seems like pretty good odds to me."

More laughter as she brings up her ice-covered arm, "Okay, okay. Now you die."

A blast of ice the width of an ocean liner barrels towards them, but rather than show any fear they simply activate a certain something they grabbed on their way up here: a Killer Wail Canned Special.

"NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINTENDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The beam of sound and ink cuts through the ice magic like it's nothing, badly cracking the ice arm and, after she moves it out of the way in pain, continuing on to blast a hole in the eye on her chest. They waste no time after that, continuing along the Wonder Effect's path towards the prone titan.

She can tell what they're doing, but at her size with her injuries doesn't have the speed or strength to get away in time. Instead, she directs every last one of her mutated minions, Creep tentacles, shadow arms, and whatever else she can muster at them, "JUST DIE ALREADY!!!"

Marggy continues to be able to outrun and outfight everything thrown at them, eventually diving into the hole they made and finding themselves in a massive chamber made of creep. And right in front of them is a face they've been hoping to see all day.

She's beat up, covered in Creep, her dress ripped to shreds and crown nowhere to be seen, and just barely conscious, but when she looks up at them her eyes are as bright as ever, and she doesn't look the least bit surprised to see them, "Hey honey. How was your trip?"

The bravado Marggy's been keeping up crumbles away, and they start to tear up, "Mom..." They run towards her, pulling her into a hug as best they can given her bindings.

They stay that way for a short while, then it's back to business, "Okay, Let's finish this." they look around the room, which seems to be slowly becoming active, for some kind of weak point, eventually spotting yet another massive eye directly above Emulator, "That looks about right."

They pull out Mario's Code Bow, which apparently merged with Meggy's Splattershot so become a futuristic Tri-Stringer, and aim it up at the eye. It's at this point that Showtime starts fighting back again, lashing out from the walls with more tendrils, but it's too late, and an inky, binary-covered arrow flies straight and true clean through the eye's pupil, and the entire room becomes enveloped in blinding blue light as Showtime screams in agony.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back outside, Showtime's outer shell is glowing just as much as the rest of her, and a shockwave of Wonder Power blasts out from her, destroying any Creep it touches and transforming the Mushroom Kingdom and its people back into their original selves. Everyone present begins to celebrate the fact that it's finally, finally over.

In the meantime, the Crew and the airship group all do their best to get their bearings and start heading towards the now rapidly shrinking glow. Which, of course, leads them right back to the old castle grounds.

Before anyone gets there, a small shape falls out of the sky and lands with a comical squeaky toy sound in the grass, standing up to reveal that it's Old Man Hobo back to his usual self "Does anyone know where I li-"

*WHAM*

Suddenly, Bowser crashes shell-first on top of him, clutching Lily to his chest. When the trigger characters had reformed up in the air, he'd made sure to grab onto her so he could break her fall. Giant superpowered turtles can handle falling from the sky, human children usually can't.

Next to land is Kermit, who hits the ground with a splat before immediately standing up, "Well. That was traumatic. Goodbye everyone, don't bother inviting me to the next arc." With that, he walks off with that G-Mod "Move doll up and down" walk that most characters use.

Peach, Floyd and Metal Sonic can all just float down, so they do so.

And finally, there's Marggy and Emulator, who use the last of the Wonder Flower's power to gently touch down right on the moat bridge, with her leaning on them once they're on solid ground and gravity takes effect.

After this there'd probably be an actual reunion scene and maybe an epilogue (plus the scene about Showtime's fate that I detailed in this post) but I am done with this arc. Duck is out, peace!

#smg4 ocs #what a wonderful game au #the wonder arc #showtime #smg4 anti shroomy #smg4 #bowser #metal sonic #metal overlord #lily #queen sonata #old man hobo #mario #meggy spletzer #forum #smg3 #marggy #marcy bobowski #emulator #kermit the frog #princess peach #floyd floyener #probably the weakest of all the parts in terms of writing but i do not care #i just want to show off the cool mario and meggy fusion and move on with my life

[authorofemotion]

Ooooh, please tell me ALL about your WIP??

:DDDDDD Okay SO I hope this is at least slightly coherent

It takes place in your typical medieval fantasy world (which I have a map for somewhere), and magic is forbidden in the kingdom we start off in. I do have worldbuilding reasons as to why but that’s a long explanation and not strictly necessary and I already know this is going to be so long. BUT! The neighboring kingdom practices magic! DUN DUN DUNNNNN

And the main character (Lillian) lives in a small village/commune off of a reasonably sized town near the border, which means that sometimes travelers will come and tell stories of magic that don’t paint it as evil. So she still has a very child-like view of magic and spends all of her free time wandering in the woods daydreaming like the absolute nerd she is.

Okay here’s where the actual plot starts:

Lillian is having on-going fighting with her family because of their differing views on magic, so when she finds a boy (named Alastor)hiding in the woods who can do magic, she hides him out of rebellion.

He offers to teach HER to do magic (because anyone can) so, being an idealistic teenager, she accepts (no hate on her I would too). EXCEPT that he starts manipulating her and drawing her further and further away from her family! He tries to convince her to stage a coup with him to return magic to the kingdom and she’s trapped in this choice between him and her family. The obvious choice is her family, so why does she seem to keep choosing him?

From here I’m going to try and simplify the events a little in hopes that if I ever actually manage to publish this it won’t be completely spoiled (I’m on my third draft and it’s 78,000 words!) Also I should mention that his magic takes the form of ice and hers takes the form of fire, and you can form a bond with another person who does magic where you can speak inside each other’s heads for a while. But you can ONLY DO THAT if you tangle yourself magics together. They have to collide and combine.

She ends up moving to the capital city with Alastor and her younger sister Meg. Meg is angry and done with Lillian’s crap so they have a big falling-out and she leaves to go live with a family friend. That completely isolates Lillian with Alastor and his manipulation EXCEPT that she meets the youngest prince, Prince Emory, who loves to write and tell stories (and his sarcastic manservant Hector, who is actually one of a group of secret magic users in the castle who are trying to protect the royal family)

But if Emory finds out she can do magic then she’ll be executed.

I know this all sounds really cliche but I promise there’s a lot of other really interesting stuff going on. There are magical murders going on that Alastor is framing the royal family for and using that to gain a following of communists who he’s going to use in his uprising, and Meg joins them but then her friend gets murdered and she recognizes Alastor and then SHE almost gets murdered but she’s saved by Hector and he asks for her help in saving Lillian from Alastor and she has to confront her personal biases about magic and *deeep breath* a lot of other stuff

In the end Lillian confesses her magic to Emory and chooses him, and he’s cool with it. Cause he’s a cool guy. Then she goes back to confront Alastor and he’s NOT cool with it (though he does start throwing ice at her so idk maybe he is). She tries to fight back but remember how if their magics collide then they’re bonded for a bit? That happens. But Alastor presses his advantage and uses that in to take full control of her. Like, possesses her. Then, because she’s close to the prince, he makes her go try to murder him.

Meg found out about it along with the castle mages, so they’re letting things proceed as normal so they can use the royal family as bait and stop Lillian before she does anything. Meg thinks that’s unfair so she goes and tells Emory what’s going on, and the idiot RUNS T O W A R D S Lillian and almost dies because of it. The mages try to stop her without hurting her, but some of them are trying to save the prince with no regard to her safety so they’re fighting among themselves, and Emory is refusing to fight back.

Finally he manages to get through to her and she gets in control enough to tell him that Alastor is far enough inside her mind that if she were to die, he would die too. Emory is like, “absolutely not. next” but then the royal guards get there and see a girl with a knife attacking the prince so before anyone can stop them one of them stabs her!!

And Emory discovers his magic just in time to save her life but Alastor gets away

I have the plot planned out for two more books and I feel like this is such a bad representation of the plot but here you go!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING <3333

#new friends #claire gets an ask #my wip #my wip stuff

[mocacheezy]

Transforms: War For Cybertron

EARTHRISE: Ep. 1

(more coherent thoughts coming in future, this is what my brain was screaming while I was watching)

⚠️Swearing⚠️

ARENA

FUCKING SHIT

ELITA BABY YOU LET THEM GO?!

Would love if the intro didn't glitch

Megs.... Baby. To who are you speaking?

BABY

BABYYYYYYY

Death surrounded you before

MAGNUS. HOLY FUCK MEGSIE HOLY FUCK

Alas poor Magnus, I knew him well (this will be the first thing I draw for WFC... This. When shocked, shitpost)

Speaking of SHOCKWAVE YOU CRAZY SONUVAGUN!

MEGSIE IS SO TIRED

Shockwave you are a manipulative bastard

Yes Megs you tell him

He won't listen tho

Nice flag btw

E1: Why are the Cons imprisoning their own?

JETFIRE YOU ARE SHIT

ELITA 1 BABY I LOVE YOU

Steeljaw is in this? The furry wolf?

Elita I love you so much

WHAT THE FUCK NO

Detention centers vs Prison camps...

Oh my goth, Megs went to sector 12... They are so happy to see him oh my goth no,

Megsie what are you gonna do?

Chromia is bitter as hell

Megs is not pleased, and these bots only know him from he was back in his Champion days.

Fuck... This is gonna br painful. Their idol is no more dammit.

FUCK YOU SHOCKWAVE

Infirmary?

ELITA BABY!

Debilitated? What is that word?

JETFIRE YOU BASTARD! YOU CRAVE BLOODSHED

RedAlert X Jetfire angst fanfiction, one sided feelings, writers pls gimme.

HE HATES DOING THIS! HE ACTUALLY HATES DOING THIS I FEEL SO SORRY FOR YOU MEGS

SHOCKWAVE YOU ARE NOT LOGICAL.

I love how manipulative Shockwave is.

Scream still seeks praise.

Wife and Husband spitting insults at eachother, I love that.

HE IS SO BITTER, HE REALLY WAS FORCED INTO THE CORNER, YEAH HE COULD SAY NO, HE COULD DO IT, BUT (and I hope all this energon isn't just for Nemesis Prime becaise if it is then Megs I will be VERY DISSAPOINTED):

HE HAS A CHOICE OF SACRIFICING THOSE HE CAN'T HELP SO OTHERS CAN SURVIVE

OR SLOWLY LETTING EVERYONE STARVE TO DEATH

The situation is bleak and damn. Damn, I love he has emotions. I love how his calm and collected and confident facade from Siege is cracking.

Earthrise Megs is not at his limit yet. But damn. Damn. He will break. We will see him fully break.

This show is amazing.

#moca watches #transformers earthrise #Transformers #transformers wfc #wfc earthrise #Wfc #Holy shit I love this show #Moca screeches

[shirtlesssammy]

15x13: Destiny’s Child

Welcome to our last new recap for a while (frowny face). We’ve got a couple requests that we’re going to work on in the next couple weeks, and then chip away at all the episodes we have yet to do while we not-so-patiently wait for more episodes. If you have requests, don’t hesitate to ask! 

Then:

Cas loves one (1) pizza man.

Now:

Late night study sesh in the bunker is interrupted when Sam and Dean hear a weird noise down the hall. They take off for the armory, only to find a Fiat and ---SAM AND DEAN?! (And while I guess it’s not, I’m just rolling with the idea that Savage Garden is blasting from that little clown car. I mean, really, what a perfect song and one I never thought would EVER pop up on this show --okay, or any show, it’s been like 20 years since I’ve heard that song, lol.)

The rift flickers and Alt!Sam and Dean disappear. 

They tell Cas about what happened. Billie pops up to tell them that Chuck is almost done destroying all the other worlds. They have to be ready --and by that, she means, it’s time for the next step in Jack’s training. He needs to find the Occultum. Sam helpfully translates that as “hidden.” It is hidden --lost for centuries. 

Once Billie takes off, Sam sets to learning more about the Occultum. There isn’t much. Dean ponders the futility of killing God. Doesn’t Jack need to kill Amara too? Cas gets a lead on the Occultum from Sergei. Dean and Cas flirt unnecessarily. Cas is so patient with all of Dean’s ideas, I can’t help but think that this is a common thing with these two.

Anyway, the Occultum was owned by the Jacobson family for a long time, until they used it as payment to heal their son. The healer was “attractive, and she healed the child by laying on hands which glowed.” I don’t know if there’s been an unattractive person in this universe, so good luck finding the healer! 

Lol, j/k, there’s only one angel healer that’s attractive out there! Sam and Dean find Anael and want her help with killing God. She thinks it’s wiser to stay on the side of the all-powerful being. When the brothers flash their angel blades (eerrr…), Anael confesses that the Occultum is really with Ruby. (I was one of the many rage viewers with this, but well, we’ve been rage watching these writers for so long, and we’ve had to handwave SO much over the years. What’s another plot point that we can easily headcanon at this point? Sigh.)

We get a flashback of Ruby and Anael negotiating the sale of the Occultum. Anael then tells them that the Occultum was never actually sold because they ganked Ruby before she could do anything with it. It’s now safely hidden in Hell. 

Jack, meanwhile, is busy getting back to life. 

Cas finds him in the kitchen eating EVERYTHING. Jack notes that coming back alive really makes you pay attention to what life is. “Hot, cold, sweet, spicy, funny, scary.” (Kind of like Sam when he was soulless, Jack is describing sensations, and not feelings, emotions, not really getting at what life really is.) They talk about Jack’s soul and what he felt when he had one.

Jack admits that he understands that he hurt Sam and Dean, and wonders if Dean will ever forgive him for what he did to Mary. “Dean, he feels things, more acutely than any human I’ve ever known. So, it’s possible he could work through this. One day, he may explode, and let it all out, and breathe deeply and move on.” 

Okayokayokayokay. Jack wants to know how long that’ll take and Cas admits that he doesn’t know, and I’M FEELING about how this ageless, ancient being is just WAITING for Dean to do this very thing. He has all the time in the world from his perspective. He knows Dean --really knows him, and it doesn’t matter how long for him because time doesn’t really matter for Cas (I mean, I think being close to humanity and all it probably means more than it used to but...I’m just rambling about my feelings right now. This is Boris --Natasha is far more coherent and eloquent with her thoughts, lol.)

The brothers make it back to the bunker, planning on heading to Hell. Cas leads them to a room where Alt!Sam and Dean are stuck between the worlds. Dean doesn’t care at this moment --he wants to get the Occultum. They tell Cas their plan and he thinks they’re crazy. They could be searching forever down there. (UH, they’re LITERALLY BFFs with the Queen of Hell.) 

Anyway, Dean and Sam head south while Cas babysits the spell. 

Cas still doesn’t like this plan and hatches a plan with Jack so he can talk with Ruby in the Empty. 

(I know, you just have to roll with Buckleming episodes, etc., but their insistence on making it beyond easy to jump from realm to realm is MADDENING.) 

We get a mention of Cas’s deal with the Empty, so that really is still a thing. Cas is “far from happy”, so we’re good!

His plan is for Jack to “draw out most of [his] lifeforce” and store it in a flask. What’s his “lifeforce”? His grace? Something more? Something else? How does he die without his grace? How is he just mostly dead but still able to go to the Empty? 

We’re also giving this exchange: “If I screw up?” “Well, then I’ll be lost forever.” WHOA. What kind of fucked up parenting are you writing, Buckleming? Good thing Jack doesn’t have a soul, because that’ll mess with a child forever.

Also, why can Jack use his powers now? 

Sam and Dean are ambushed in Hell. Anael wanted them dead apparently and made a deal with some demons (ONCE AGAIN, like Rowena would allow this to happen!?!??) They’re Sam and Dean Winchester though and easily dispatch the demons. 

Cas stalks through the Empty calling for Ruby. “Hello, Clarence,” a familiar voice says and Cas turns to find Meg reclining on a throne. He looks sweetly surprised to see her before his face falls as he realizes she’s the Shadow from the Empty. 

The Shadow may be allied with Billie, but they’re definitely not good buds with Cas. Nevertheless, “Go get her, pizza man,” Shadow!Meg says and a ball of flame swirls towards Cas and turns into Ruby. 

Cas asks about the Occultum, and Ruby asks after Sam. Cas refuses to answer and, since I’ve been stress re-reading some regency romances lately, I’m gonna go ahead and say he acts like an affronted chaperone. 

For Gratuitous Cas Science:

We see another flashback of Ruby and Sister Jo’s wild adventures, only this time Jo is the one who invited Ruby to talk to her. Jo tries to tempt Ruby into hiding from the apocalypse in the Occultum. It turns out it’s a place AND a thing. A whatever, if you will. Ruby cut a deal with Jo, hid the object, and then died her noble death. 

Ruby promises to help Cas as long as he can get her out of the Empty. You see, instead of lullabies and sweet dreams, or even quiet and no dreams, the Empty is nothing but endless reels of regrets playing over and over for every angel and demon trapped there. “Yeah, I know,” Cas says quietly and we all break a little bit thinking about how he swore it was nothingness instead of constant emotional torture. (That’s SO on brand.) Cas promises to try to free Ruby in exchange for her intel.

The Winchesters return to find Jack babysitting the spell alongside a MOSTLY DEAD Cas. Despite Jack’s (actually really terrible) explanation, Dean and Sam demand that Jack bring Cas back right away. Jack unscrews the flask.

Cas isn’t getting out of this so easily, though. The Shadow smirks and clenches Shadow!Meg’s fist, sending Cas to the ground in pain. The Shadow still is no fan of Cas, and is only willing to uphold deals with Billie, who promised to send the Shadow back to a lovely snooze if they cooperate. 

The Shadow ruminates on the fact that Billie has never mentioned Cas as being essential to her plan. This makes Cas expendable. 

Cas sputters to life suddenly, only to face Dean’s angry-worried greeting. “You’re an idiot, by the way!” Apparently still in pain or just suffering from almost-not-quite-dead-and-now-actually-quite-alive syndrome, Cas hauls himself up slowly and explains that he now has all the info they need to find the Occultum. “Am I still an idiot?” Listen, boys. Kiss and make up, mmkay?

They’re off to tackle the Occultum quest, but before they go they need to set out some decoys to throw Chuck off their scent if he tries to spy on the bunker. Dean suggests pulling AU Dean and Sam out of the void and setting them up as fake Sam and Dean. He flippantly suggests using Cas’s grace to power the rift this time and FOR THE LOVE OF PIZZA DEAN it’s called body autonomy. 

Cut to the Winchesters Set One and Set Two seated at the map table with beers all around. We learn:

Alt Winchesters are also hunters

Their dad is alive (but still SUPER controlling)

They don’t drink beer or watch porn

Private planes fly them all over the world to fight monsters

Their AU could be a middling CW pilot about wealthy monster hunters called “Hunter Corp”

I have a greater appreciation of our flannel-clad boys

Dean and Sam clumsily explain their ploy and their relationship with God and it’s not weird at all! 

Later, Team Free Will 2.0 heads to a small church. It’s guarded by a hellhound, which makes Dean SUPER happy and comfortable in his skin. They break into the church and look for clues about where the treasure is hiding. The clue is that the top of a cross points to the treasure. Moonlight streams conveniently through the window and at JUST the right angle to cast a cross of light on the floor. They pull out a little velvet bag from the floorboards.

Cas reads Enochian on the little golden snitch-style ball. “In order to be in the Occultum, the Occultum must be in you.” 

Back at the bunker, Alt!Dean and Sam enjoy their new rugged life. Sam watches kitten videos, and we continue to identify very strongly with him, indeed. Alt!Dean finds porn on Dean’s computer and I continue to ask WHY WHY we have to constantly cycle back to Busty Asian Beauties. Porn isn’t objectionable, but that SPECIFIC porn franchise should have died a swift death back in season two. (Boris: AMEN)

Jack swallows the Occultum, as one does. “Spit it out,” Dean demands. But Jack disappears into a flare of light. He wakes up in a garden. 

No, he wakes up in THE Garden. He’s greeted by a young girl who tells him that humans are prohibited. A snake confronts Jack. “Who are you really? Who are you meant to be?” Jack flashes through his good and bad memories and suffers an epiphany. 

He flutters back into the church like Tinkerbell in a ball of light before zapping back into reality. His reappearance burns away the two hellhounds. 

Back at the bunker, Dean sends the Alt Winchesters off to Brazil to enjoy the beach. He’s a little uncomfortable around them until he learns that the Alt Winchesters drove Baby. Then they get shoved out of the bunker just as fast as you please.

Once they’re gone, Cas tells Sam and Dean that Jack has returned changed. He leads them to Jack who hunches over the kitchen table. Jack is crying. He apologizes for killing Mary. He has his soul back!

“Please forgive me,” Jack whispers, and a symphonic line carries us into the black.

Overall Surprisingly Enjoyable Quotes:

The healthcare system sucks so I pick up the slack

Cas, you know what’s good about being dead?

I’m far from happy, so I should be fine

We had a good thing until he killed me

You’re gonna have to lose the man bun

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

#spn recap #spn 15x13 #destiny's child #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #jack kline #anael #ruby #the shadow #meg masters #supernatural season 15

[ladyherenya]

Books read in April

I probably spent more time reading but I also read a handful of novellas and a couple of children’s novels, which means I read more books than usual.

Many of these were, if not outright retellings, than heading close to that sort of territory: faeries and fairytales, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen, and Norse gods...

Favourite cover: Masque, maybe.

Reread: Nothing, too busy reading new things...

Still reading: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

Next up: There’s a new Murderbot novel out in early May!!!

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing and Dreamwidth.)

*

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (narrated by the author): Adams’ descriptions are clever and unexpected, and he strings together a series of events even more bizarre and unexpected than his descriptions. Sometimes I felt exhausted on behalf of his poor protagonists, bounced from one mishap to another, but I was impressed by Adams’ ability to turn this madness into such a coherent story.

Flamebringer by Elle Katharine White: A solid, tense conclusion to Heartstone and Dragonshadow. However, I suspect it would have made more of an impact had I read the first two books recently. It assumes that the reader remembers more worldbuilding details -- about history and family connections and magical folk -- than I did. And because I found such details confusing, I didn’t pay close attention to some of the history and politics revealed in this book, and those things turned out to be unexpectedly important. A trilogy in much need of a glossary.

Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher): A very amusing take on ‘Sleeping Beauty’. Upon learning of her curse, Harriet accurately concludes that she must be invincible until it strikes -- and when the time arrives, she’s determined to avoid falling into an enchanted sleep. This is heavily-illustrated. The pictures are great, but were often awkwardly displayed in the Libby e-book. 

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas: More of a heist story than a murder mystery, which may explain why I found it less compelling than The Hollow of Fear, although admittedly, it has its suspenseful sequences. Thomas does some interesting things in expanding her portrayal of the era as well as Mrs Watson’s story, taking Charlotte Holmes and her trusted associates to France on a mission along with someone from Mrs Watson’s past. I liked that Livia gets to play a more active role in those adventures. But I expected to like this more.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn: Meg is desperate for inspiration and company. She comes up with a project, looking for hand-lettered signs around New York, and invites along a former client -- who has turned up to question Meg about the hidden message in the wedding program she designed for him and his ex. A story about signs, secrets and the importance of having difficult conversations. I liked how those themes are explored in different areas of Meg’s life: making an effort to get to know Reid, setting boundaries with a new client, and trying to stop her best friend from drifting away.

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris (narrated by Carrington MacDuffie): Christian was brought up in a cave by Edric the troll, who discovered Chris hiding in the forest. Now Chris is in love with the princess Marigold, with whom he has exchanged letters carried by pigeon but has never met.  If I had discovered this in 2002 when it was first published, I suspect I’d have been delighted by its gentle, whimsical, almost-fairytale-ness. These days I tend to want more complexity and more emotion and, often, more critical engagement with the genre’s tropes. But this was still pleasant company while I did a few hours of housework.

The Shards of a Broken Sword novella trilogy by W.R. Gingell: 

Twelve Days of Faery: King Markon’s son appears to be afflicted by a strange curse, because accidents and misadventure befalls any girl the prince flirts with. When an enchantress offers to deal with the curse in exchange for the expected reward of the prince’s hand in marriage, Markon gets swept up in her investigation. This is so much fun. I liked the way it focuses on a middle-aged father, rather than any of the more usual candidates for this sort of story, like his son or any of the young women affected by the curse. And I enjoyed Althea’s confidence and practical competence.

Fire in the Blood: Another story interested in twisting fairytale tropes. A prince sets out to rescue a princess from a tower, but neither of them are the protagonist -- that’s Rafiq, the prince’s enslaved dragon, forced into human-form. Rafiq has been dragged along on this quest and quietly hopes that his vicious master will fail to unravel the tower keep’s protections. I enjoyed this. The tower keep, with its magical puzzles, was an intriguing setting, and it was rather satisfying to see Rafiq and the princess’s serving girl subtly undermine the prince’s efforts without drawing his ire.

The First Chill of Autumn: The first two standalone and take place over a few days. This does not. It begins with Princess Dion’s childhood. At seventeen, Dion is sent on a tour of her country and discovers the truth about the Fae’s influence. She ends up joining forces with characters from the previous books. I liked each of these sections. However, this could easily have been expanded into something novel-length and been stronger for it. If more time had been given to Dion’s relationships -- with her sister, Barric and Padraig, and maybe her parents -- the ending would have made more of an emotional impact.

“A Tale of Carmine and Fancy”: This short story takes place during The First Chill of Autumn. I didn’t care about Carmine one way or another when he turned up in the trilogy, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith (narrated by Emma Galvin): Sixteen year old Rhis is one of many princesses invited to attend festivities held in honour of a crown prince. My first impression -- a nice-but-unremarkable story with an irritating audiobook narrator -- quickly changed. I got used to the narrator’s voice. I really appreciate Smith’s portrayal of social interactions and of group dynamics from the perspective of someone who is trying to understand why others are competing for attention. And once the plot took off, I was hooked. I have mixed feelings about the very end but that didn’t change how much I liked the rest of the story.

The Two Monarchies sequence by W.R. Gingell:

Clockwork Magician: Several years after Blackfoot, Peter starts at university. Because Peter ends up messing around with time-travel, there are scenes from his future in the previous books. It’s interesting getting those moments from Peter’s perspective and fitting the puzzle pieces of his story together. I also felt invested in Peter’s journey even though he spends a lot of time being arrogant and oblivious, because I knew that there must be a significant change up ahead. The way his dawning realisation is handled was unexpectedly satisfying. I also enjoyed seeing more of Poly and Luck, and getting to know Glenna.

Masque: A murder mystery which turns into a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Lady Isabella Farrah is determined to investigate after a friend is killed at the Ambassador’s Grand Ball, even if doing so annoys the official investigator, the masked Lord Pecus. Isabella is excellent company. She’s quick-witted, resourceful and uncowed. I really enjoyed watching her banter and meddle. The Beauty and the Beast elements are cleverly woven into the story, and even without the murder investigation, there’s enough to make it a unique take on an old tale. A delightful standalone companion to this series.

Frankly in Love by David Yoon: Frank Li has watched his parents react to his older sister’s choices and he knows they will never accept him dating anyone who isn’t Korean. So he and a family friend, Joy Song, pretend to date. Fake-dating is one of my most favourite romance tropes but I’m not a fan when it’s a cover for actually dating someone else -- I don’t like others getting hurt by the deception. Despite that, I found this YA novel engaging and unexpectedly moving. And an absolutely fascinating look at being the child of immigrants.

The Night Country by Melissa Albert: The Hazel Wood was excellent, sharp and compelling, but I didn’t enjoy the sequel much at all. In the first book there’s a much stronger thread of hope running through the darkness.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: The letters exchanged between Red and Blue, two agents on opposing sides of a time war, are vibrant and memorable, playful and poignant. I particularly enjoyed their different names for each other. (“Dearest Blue-da-ba-dee”, “My Dear Mood Indigo”, “Dearest 0000FF” -- that one made me laugh, “Dear Red Sky at Morning”...) The scenes in between leave many questions unanswered about the war being fought. I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that if I actually understood what was going on, I wouldn’t like the characters. Nevertheless the letters are brilliant, and I can deal with uncertainty for the space of a novella.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark (narrated by Suehyla El-Attar): This novelette is too brief to involve what I enjoy most about murder mysteries, like carefully prying into people’s motives or characters forming supportive relationships in the face of an atmosphere of suspicion and unease. It is possible I’d like this worldbuilding in a different story, and that I would care more about Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha'arawi if I spent more time with her.

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn: Rachel and Liam, a doctor and an actor-turned-academic, are sent back to 1815 to befriend Jane Austen and uncover an unpublished novel. Time travel allows for portraying Austen’s world with historical accuracy from the perspective of a woman with contemporary attitudes, and creates interesting challenges and anxieties. There’s a high degree of wish fulfilment in meeting Austen, but also realistic complications and consequences. This book impressed me even though -- or perhaps because -- it wasn’t always comfortable or to my taste. I’d have adored it, had things been slightly different, yet it’s nevertheless gripping and thought-provoking storytelling. I respect that.

#Herenya reviews books #W.R. Gingell #Ursula Vernon #Sherwood Smith #Kate Clayborn #Elle Katharine White #Sherry Thomas #Douglas Adams #Jean Ferris #David Yoon #Melissa Albert #Amal El Mohtar #Max Gladstone #P. Djèlí Clark #Kathleen A. Flynn

[meggie-moo]

drawing these two instead of doing homework

#meg’s incoherent thoughts #meg’s more coherent drawings #inuyasha #anime #kagome #kagome higurashi #inukag #fueling my childhood self LMAO

[sscrambledmeggss]

How I imagine Sebastian after every interaction with Kurt in the lima bean

#meg’s incoherent thoughts #meg’s art #this is very much a shitpost and I think it’s funny 💔 #OKAY ALSO i have a vivid memory of a tumblr post using someone distraught looking in the bathroom mirror #and I wanted to use it but I could not find it 🤨 #so I made this instead LMAO #kurt hummel #kurtbastian #sebastian smythe #meg’s more coherent drawings

[itspileofgoodthings]

Have you seen the new Little Women and if so what did you think of it??

I’ve been waiting to answer this until I had!!! I saw it yesterday. :)

UGHHH IT WAS SO GOOD

I feel like I cannot put it into words and will butcher it by trying but I really thought it was perfect. And I cried. Oh my gosh I cried so much.

Like—first of all this movie made me remember how much this book is a part of me in ways I had forgotten. I read that book so much, over and over and over, when I was younger but I haven’t thought about it in a while and watching this movie I KNEW ANd recognized so many exact lines and moments and the overall feeling of it and so the whole time I was having this visceral flashback to my childhood that was beautiful and also hurt like hell???

Second of all I forgot what is GOOD about little women and like tbh the book is very, very flawed and so in some ways this movie is actually better than the book but that’s a separate convo and I forgot ????? How much ????? I love Beth!!!!??? And how much I cry when she dies. And I FORGOT about the fact that it’s about sisters and writing and the end of childhood and the transition of childhood relationships into adulthood and that all those things are good and wonderful and all those things are ME and all of those things are everything I’m struggling with NOW. So when Jo begged Meg not to leave her and get married, and Amy hugged Jo when she cut off all her hair, and when Jo told Beth she had to fight, and when Beth told Jo she had to keep writing, and when Amy is scared Jo will be mad at her, I just literally sat there and cried and cried and cried because I FORGOt About this book and I also forgot that this story always resonated with me so deeply because of my sisters, because I grew up in a house like that in that it was full of female chaotic energy and we were always each other’s everything even though we didn’t always understand each other and did sometimes hurt each other like Amy and Jo hurt each other and I forgot that this movie would remind me that that is changing right now for me, that my oldest sister is probably literally going to get married soon and nothing will ever be the same again and when Jo said “i can’t believe our childhood is over” I am not exaggerating when i say I wanted to die.

I have more coherent thoughts, I know I do, on Greta’s amazing directing and how she understands and records the beauty of female energy without trying to make that energy male, and the beautiful performances, especially Amy and Jo, but also the surprises like Laurie and Meg, and the way it really did solve (for me) a lot of what I think the book actually does very badly and the way the out of order timeline actually draws it all together in a way that makes it so poignant and a better story but I just can’t say them right now because i’m still really raw.

It’s—yeah. I wish I had more to say Besides just screaming at you! But this is what I’ve got right now.

It was everything; it was beautiful; it hurt me so much.

#collegefangirl3791 #little women #little women 2019

[dustedmagazine]

Steve Gunn—The Unseen in Between (Matador)

Over the last several albums, Steve Gunn has transformed himself from a guitar slinger to a more multifaceted singer, musician and songwriter. The Unseen in Between, his latest album, continues that evolution with his strongest set of songs yet. The guitar work remains effortless and radiant, but it is no longer the dominant thing. Instead the songs, bolstered by strings and vocal harmonies, take precedence. There’s an easy, lovely coherence to this record.

Gunn worked with James Elkington on The Unseen in Between, a producer and artist who is, himself, no stranger to working dense instrumental textures into music without overweighting it. Even the most lavish cuts, where multiple guitars—slide, acoustic and electric— go at it and string orchestras tilt at windmills, have a gorgeous transparency, a fundamental simplicity.

“Vagabond,” for instance, swells with giddy layers of guitar, a whine of slide cresting over a bubbling flow acoustic jangle, and yet there’s a clarity to it, an offhand precision. The melody is one of Gunn’s most memorable ever, and it doesn’t hurt that Meg Baird slips in to sing harmonies. Lyrics are typically elliptical, and though the notes tie them to the Agnes Varda film of the same name, you can draw your own parallels to the itinerant life of a musician (“You’re a vagabond, suitcase is packed, and you’ll move along”).

The disc is strong all the way through, but “Vagabond” and “Stonehurst Cowboy” are the two highlights. This second cut has a dark, mystical folky tone, perhaps bearing the mark from Gunn’s two album collaboration with Michael Chapman. Lyrically, it’s the most personal of these songs, as Gunn reflects on his father’s death. I also lost my father fairly recently, and maybe that’s why it speaks to me. There’s a stunned quality to it that resonates, a view of familiar home-like places now turned empty and meaningless, a roving, restless flow of imagery as he tries to make sense of his memories. The line, “Dear old house on 69th streets looks the same/trees are strong, faces are gone/background still the same,” feels exactly like I felt home again for the funeral in the house I grew up, with everything recognizable but weirdly different.

These songs have weight and density. There are more instruments layered into them, marshalled into great glowing climaxes of guitars and voices and strings and keyboards. “Paranoid,” near the album’s end, has a sweeping momentum that sounds, already, like a lost 1960s classic. It gathers itself and takes a leap. And yet, simultaneously, there’s a purity like clear water. It’s hard to say whether Gunn is paring back or building out. He’s getting better at constructing songs that are as easy and as complicated as life itself.

Jennifer Kelly  

#steve gunn #the unseen in between #matador #albumreview #jennifer kelly #dusted magazine #folk #rock #indie #agnes varda #james elkington #meg baird

[neighbourart]

KÁRMÁN ORSI - ékszertervező/jewelry designer

Elsőként saját magán teszteli legújabb alkotásait, kedvenc budapesti pillanata, az első babakocsis séta a kislányunkkal, Johannával, folyton kísérletezik, örökös újító, általában éjszaka dolgozik, szereti San Franciscót és a könnyű ételeket.

She tests her newest creations on herself, her favorite Budapest moment is the first walk with her daughter, Johanna in a baby stroller, she experiments all the time,  she is an innovator, she usually works during the night, she likes San Francisco and light dishes.

Orsi asztala/Orsi’s table

Milyen típusú emlékek inspirálnak jobban: a jók vagy a rosszak?/What kind of memories inspire you the most: good or bad ones? Mindkettő nagy hatással van rám. Rajz, grafika vagy illusztráció esetében mozgat mindkettő, de ha ékszertervezésről van szó - ami egy sokkal egzaktabb műfaj - akkor a teljes kiegyensúlyozottság állapotára és pozitív energiákra van szükségem. Számomra boldogság az alkotás, abban találom meg magam. Elvonulok a saját kis képzeletbeli világomba.

Both have a big impact on me. In case of drawing and graphic design I’m inspired by both, but when it comes to jewelry design -which is a more specific/exact genre- then I need total balance and positive energies around. To me happiness is creation, I find myself within. I can retreat to my imaginary world.

Ha újjászülethetnél egy ma élő vagy már halott művész személyében, kit választanál?/If you could reincarnate as someone else, who would you choose to be? Nincs egy konkrét ikon, akiről azt tudom mondani, hogy szeretnék vagy szerettem volna a helyében lenni. Hiszen vagy az ember és életútja, vagy az alkotásain keresztül az önkifejezési formája ragad meg. Mindenképpen olyan alkotó ember, aki kíváncsi, mindig az újat keresi, látszik a fejlődés, de ugyanakkor koherens és felismerhető saját stílussal rendelkezik.

There is no specific icon I would be or would have liked to be.  Either the person and their life path are interesting to me or their self-explanation through their art.  It would be a person of creation, someone curious, searching for their path, you can see development, but has a coherent and recognizable style.

Hogyan lendülsz túl az időszakos alkotói válságon?/How do you come over an artistic crisis? Az alkotói válság pillanataiban általában kicsit kivárok, sokszor egy-két nap alatt leülepszik bennem mit és hogyan szeretnék. Próbálom más nézőpontból ugyanazt a problémát körbejárni, ez is segít és nagyon hasznos. Ékszertervezőként a papírra vetett ötletek önmagukban nem elegendőek, meg kell hogy állják a helyüket funkciójukban is, éppen ezért attól függően hol akadtam el - technikai, anyagminőség, kivitelezés, formai problémák igyekszem megoldani a képletet.

In moments of artistic crisis I usually wait out a little, often, in a few days things clear up and I know how and what I want to do. I try to have a different perspective about the same issue, this also helps and I find it very useful. Being a jewelry designer having ideas on paper is not enough, the ideas have to be functional. This makes a situation of crisis dependent on technical, material quality, execution and form issues and I am trying to solve the problem accordingly.

Kinek mutatod meg először az új munkádat/alkotásodat?/Who sees your work first? Elsősorban én magam vagyok a teszt alany, felpróbálom, viselem, figyelem a funkciót, hordhatóságot, arányokat. Egyébként Apunak és Tesómnak is el szoktam küldeni, velük tudok szakmai kérdésekről diskurálni. Néha egy-egy első próbadarabot felteszek az Instára vagy az FB-re, tökéletesen lehet követni a nagyközönség reakcióját.

I am my own first test subject, I try it on, I wear it, I observe the function, wearability, and proportions. Besides that I show it to Dad and my brother, I can discuss professional matters with them.  Sometimes I also share a first test piece on Facebook or Instagram,  so I can follow the reactions of a wider audience.

Mi a legkedvesebb gyerekkori emléked?/What is your favorite childhood memory? Egészen elképesztő módon nem tudok visszaemlékezni konkrét eseményekre, érzéseim, pillanatnyi villanások vannak, minimális konkrétumokkal. A nagyon jó és a nagyon rossz emlékek, vagyis a szélsőségek maradnak meg hosszú távon bennem. Ellenben hihetetlen fotografikus memóriám van.

Egy kedves emlék: Az ovim udvarát és szüleim munkahelyét egyetlen téglafal választotta el egymástól. A falon sikerült egy titkos lyukat találni, amin keresztül ebédszünetben és a játékidőben Anyuval mindig cinkos kis kukucskálásokat és eszmecseréket tartottunk. Igyekeztünk titokban, nehogy a többi gyereket elszomorítsuk a játékunkkal. Imádtam ezeket a pillanatokat, utólag már szimbolikusnak is érzem hogy épp erre emlékszem vissza. Minket semmi sem választhat el és akadályozhat meg abban, hogy “kommunikálni” tudjunk. Édesanyám már tíz éve nincs köztünk.

Unbelievably I cannot recall specific happenings, I remember emotions, moments with very little specifics. Only the very good and very bad memories, the extremities are the ones that stay with me for a long time. However, I have a photographic memory.

A nice memory: My kindergarten and the workplace of my parents was only separated by a brick wall. We managed to find a secret hole in the wall through which we could secretly talk an see each other with my mom during lunch time. We were trying hard to keep it as a secret not to hurt the feelings or upset the other children with our little game. I loved these moments, today I find it symbolic that I remember this. We cannot be separated by anything regarding our communication. My mother has been gone in the past 10 years.

Mit érzel, amikor egy másik művész a tiédhez hasonló munkát készít?/How do you feel when a fellow artist does something similar to your work? “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.“

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.“

Mit szeretnél, hogy miről emlékezzenek majd rád?/What would you like to be remembered by? Szakmai oldalról nézve, nem kell, hogy egy konkrét dolog legyen, ha már emlékeznek az jó, akkor valami maradandód sikerült alkotnom. Talán ezek a jellemzők jól esnének: tudatos, koherens, precíz, kísérletező, szerethető. Emberileg pedig, hogy jó szülő, társ, barát.

Professionally, it doesn’t have to be something specific if people remember that’s good enough because I managed to create something permanent. Probably these characteristics about me would feel nice: conscious, coherent, precise, experimenting, loveable. As a person, I would like to be remembered by being a good parent and partner.

Kedvenc budapesti pillanat?/Favorite Budapest moment? Kislányunkkal, Johannával való legelső babakocsis séta a városban.

The very first walk with my baby daughter, Johanna, in a stroller in the city.

Mi volt a legnagyobb őrültség, amit eddig csináltál?/What was the craziest thing you have ever done? Nem emlékszem kimagasló őrültségre. Elég normális voltam-vagyok :)

I cannot recall an extreme crazy thing. I was, and still am pretty normal. :)

Van-e napi rutinod?/Do you have a daily routine? Jojo megszületése óta nagyon is van napi rutin, bár ez nekem mindig is fontos volt. Most fegyelmezettebben, az időnkkel jobban gazdálkodva telnek a napjaink.

Since the birth of Jojo we have a daily routine alright, however, it was always important for me to have one. Now our days are spent orderly, and we manage our time way better.

Kedvenc tárgyad?/Favorite object? Anyukámtól kapott fából készült kis víziló szobor, amihez egy megható történet kapcsolódik. Ez a mi kettőnk titka.

A small, wooden hippo statue that I got from my mother, it also has a very touching story attached to it, but that is our secret.

Hogyan fogsz neki egy új munkának?/How do you get started on a new project? Folyton kísérletezek, örökös újító vagyok. Nem szeretem, ha a munkáim akár az előző kollekcióimra hasonlítanak. Teljesen új utakat, anyagokat, kivitelezési technikákat keresek. Vagy a forma, vagy a matéria van meg, a többi a velük való “játék”. Többnyire egy-egy művészettörténeti korszak vagy egy konkrét alkotó munkássága inspirál. Általában háttéranyag-gyűjtéssel kezdek, anyaghasználat, formavilág, színvilág feltérképezésével. Ezeket újrafogalmazva alakítok ki egy-egy új ékszervonal.

I am constantly experimenting, I am an innovator. I don’t like it when my creations are similar to my previous collections. I am searching for brand new ways, materials and execution techniques. I either have the shape or the material, the rest is “playing”. Mostly, I am inspired by an art-historical era or the works of a specific creator. I usually start by researching and collecting background material, and to map out the use of material, form and color palette. By redefining these I am creating a new line of jewelry.

Van egy jól körülhatárolható hangulat, amikor könnyebb számodra az alkotás?/Is there a particular mood that makes creating and working easier for you? Általában éjszaka dolgozom, ami nyugalmas, csendes és elmélyült alkotói folyamatot eredményez. Még zenét sem hallgatok, mert megzavar. Fókuszálás, közben pedig minden szanaszét, egyre nagyobb kupacban a skiccek és az alapanyagok. Élvezem, ahogy körülöttem hevernek és minden a pillanatnyi hangulatomtól függ. Amint kialakul az irány, elkezdek teljesen precízen gondolkozni és igyekszem mindent letisztázni. Onnantól pedig kezdetét veszi a tűpontos kivitelezés. Nálam kollekciótó függő a tervezési folyamat, mert vagy az anyag visz és eközben a káoszból és kísérletezésből születik egy új technika (Bloom Sense kollekció), vagy a formából indulok ki és konkrét precíz grafikákkal, körvonalakkal dolgozom (Evoke, Deco).

I usually work during the night, which is calm and quiet and it leads to a deeper state of the creational process.  I don’t even listen to music because it distracts me.  I'm focusing, and everything is all over the place, base materials and sketches are piling up around me. I enjoy them laying around and that everything depends on my mood. As soon as the direction evolves, I start to think precisely and clear up everything. This is the point where precise execution begins. For me, the design process depends on the collection because either the material drags me and out of chaos and experimenting a new technique is born (Bloom Sense collection), or I start off with the form/shape and I work with specific, precise graphics and outlines (Evoke, Deco).

Sör vagy bor?/Beer or wine? Egyik sem, Bacardi Cola.

Neither, Bacardi-coke.

Kutya vagy macska?/Dog or cat? Macska. Otthon három cicánk volt, felnőtt koromban két saját. Jól ismerem őket, hű társak és vicces barátok. Sokkal szegényebb lennék, ha nem tapasztaltam volna meg, milyen ezekkel a kis élőlényekkel együtt létezni, mennyire lehet szeretni őket.

Cat. We had three cats at home, and I had two as an adult. I know them very well, they are loyal partners and funny friends. It would be my loss if I didn’t have the chance to experience what it is like to coexist with these creatures, how much one can love them.

Mit szeretnél kifejezni az alkotásaidon keresztül?/What would you like to express through your artwork? Az ékszertervezés egy egzakt műfaj. Teljesen más kifejezési forma, mint amikor grafikai munkákkal foglalkozom, bár abban is többrétegű a megfogalmazás. Vannak elvontabb és konkrétabb inspirációk. Jelenleg az ékszertervezésen van a fókusz, a forma és a funkció egységén. Egyre inkább foglalkoztat a vizuális kommunikáció egésze. Látvány, asszociáció, szubjektivitás. A saját megfogalmazás és önálló kifejezési forma számomra a legfontosabb.

Jewelry design is an exact genre. It is a completely different method of self-expression than graphic design, however, that is also layered. There are abstract and specific inspirations.  My focus is on jewelry design at the moment, on the unity of form and function. I am more and more intrigued by the whole of visual communication.  Visual, association, subjectivity.  My own phrasing and unique expression is the most important to me.

Milyen a stílusod?/What is your style like? Markáns, letisztult, karakteres, nőies.

Craggy, clean, characteristic, feminine.

Mi az, ami a leginkább feltölt?/What can recharge you the most? Ha a családommal lehetek!

If I can be with my family.

Kedvenc város?/Favorite city? San Francisco. Fél évet éltünk ott, ami a mai napig meghatározó élmény. Olyan lüktetése, töltete és hangulata van, amit nem is lehet elmesélni. Szakmai szempontból is fantasztikusan inspiráló, szabad szellemiségű, kreatív város.

San Francisco. We lived there for 6 months and it is still a very distinctive experience for me. It has such a throbbing,  a charge and such an atmosphere that cannot be described. From a professional point of view, it is very inspiring, free-spirited, and a creative city.

Hol leszel 10 év múlva?/Where will you be in 10 years? Másfél éve költöztünk el Bécsbe, ami minden szempontból egy nagy váltás volt. Szakmailag örök kíváncsiság és nyughatatlanság van bennem. Fejlődni, utazni, kísérletezni, alkotni szeretnék. Tervek vannak, boldogság lenne, ha teljesülnének.

We moved to Vienna one and a half years ago, which was a huge change in every aspect. Professionally I am constantly curious and restless. I would like to develop, travel and create. I have plans, and I would be very happy if they worked out.

Kedvenc étel?/Favorite food or dish? Konkrét nincs, szeretem a vietnami és thai konyhát. Friss alapanyagokat, könnyű ételeket.

I don’t have a specific one, I like Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. Fresh produce, light dishes.

Kedvenc évszak?/Favorite season? Egyértelműen a tavasz. Újrakezdés, frissesség, élet, napsugarak, energia…

Spring, of course. New beginnings, freshness, life, sunshine, energy...

Mi a legrosszabb tulajdonságod?/What is your worst characteristic? A halogatás.

Procrastination.

Melyik korban élnél szívesen?/In which era would you prefer to live in? Vonz a 20-30-as évek, az art deco korszak. A stílus, ami használati tárgyaktól kezdve, az építészeten keresztül, a festészeten át, a divat világában is maradandód alkotott. Újító, modern, letisztult, geometrikus, markáns stílus, ami nagyon közel áll hozzám. Alkotó emberként ennél izgalmasabb korszakban el sem tudnám magam képzelni.

I am drawn to the 20’s- 30’s, the era of art deco. The style, from objects through architecture, painting and to the world of fashion it created something permanent. It’s an innovative, modern, clean, geometrical, craggy style which I am very fond of.  As a creating person, I couldn’t imagine myself in a more exciting era.

Van visszatérő álmod? Miről szól? Esetleg megjelenítetted már valamelyik alkotásodban?/Do you have a reoccurring dream? What is it about? Have you ever realized them in your artwork? Nem igazán álmodok. Ha mégis, nincs történet. Az álmaimat talán egy-egy grafikában vagy illusztrációban tudnám jobban megjeleníteni. Kompozíciókban, erőteljes színekkel és formákkal. De talán egyszer lesz majd egy ékszerkollekció, amit az álmok inspirálnak. Csodás ötlet!

I don’t really dream. Even if I do, there is no story. I think I could realize my dreams better in graphics or illustration. In composition with vigorous colors and forms.  But maybe one day there will be a jewelry collection inspired by dreams. What a wonderful idea!

Ha egyetlen tanácsot kellene adni más, esetleg még kezdő tehetségeknek, mi lenne az?/If you could give one piece of advice to someone else, maybe to a beginner talent, what would it be? Kitartás, szorgalom, szakmai alázat, célok, egyedi hang.

Persistence, diligence, professional humbleness, goals, uniqie voice.

-------------------------------------- NÉVJEGY - Kármán Orsi:

Kármán Orsi a budapesti MOME - Moholy-Nagy Művészeti Egyetem vizuális kommunikáció tanszékén diplomázott, alkalmazott grafika szakirányon. Számos arculattervezési munka, album, borító, bélyeg, kiadványterv fűződik nevéhez. A sikeres önálló tervezői karrier után a reklámszakma felé orientálódott, művészeti vezetőként dolgozott magyar és nemzetközi reklámügynökségeken. Az itt eltöltött több mint tíz évet image kommunikációk, komplex kampányok, reklámfilmek, art direkciója határozta meg.

Stílusérzéke és divathoz való vonzódása mentén egy újabb önkifejezési forma érett meg, ami a kiegészítők tervezésében és a Karman Jewelry létrejöttében realizálódott. A síkban való gondolkozást és tervezési folyamatot, a kézzelfogható anyagokkal történő kísérletezés és a 3 dimenziós tárgyalkotás váltotta fel.

Orsi munkáit a nemzetközi divatvilágban is számon tartják. Alkotásait többek között láthattuk a British VOGUE lapjain, a Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week kifutóin és számos hazai magazin divatanyagában. 2016-ban a Glamour Women of The Year kiegészítő-tervező kategória jelöltje volt. Ugyanebben az évben a Highlights of Hungary Bloom Sense kollekcióját jelölte.

A londoni Not Just a Label (NJAL) vezető online dizájner platform megkülönböztetett kategóriában tartja számon ékszertervezői munkásságát.

A márka másfél éve Bécsbe költözött, ahol újabb izgalmas lehetőségek és kreatív kihívások inspirálják a tervezőt.

Kármán Orsi got her diploma at Moholy-Nagy Művészeti Egyetem (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design) at the Visual Communication department as a graphic design major.  She has done many corporate identity designs, album, cover, stamp, and publication designs. Her orientation towards advertising began after being a successful, independent designer, and she worked as an art director at Hungarian and International advertising agencies. Those ten years spent here were defined by the art directing of image communication, complex campaigns, and commercials.

Her sense of style and her attraction towards fashion lead to a new form of self-expression, which was later realized in the design of accessories and the foundation of Karman Jewelry.  The horizontal thinking and design processes were exchanged with experimentation with touchable materials and the creation of 3-dimensional objects.

Orsi’s work is also recognized in the international world of fashion as well. Her works were displayed in the British VOGUE, on the runways at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and in many Hungarian fashion magazines.  She was nominated for the Glamour Women of The Year award in the accessory designer category in 2016. In the same year, the Highlights of Hungary nominated her Bloom Sense collection.

The Not Just a Label (NJAL) from London, a leading designer platform, considers her work as a jewelry designer marked.

The brand moved to Vienna one and a half years ago, where the designer is inspired by new, exciting opportunities and creative challenges.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ORSI MUNKÁI ITT TEKINTHETŐK MEG/CHECK OUT ORSI’S WORK HERE: Weboldal Facebook Instagram Shop

#neighbourart #hungarianart #artanddesk #karmanjewelry #orsikarman #jewelrydesigner

[toomuchtimenerd]

Review for ‘The Unhoneymooners’ by Christina Lauren

Admittedly I ended up reading this book much quicker than I expected. Perhaps it was the fact that I was desperate to make myself forget I had ever read The Cruel Prince, or maybe I just needed some light reading to make myself feel like I was 15 years old again and reading my very first book on kindle: On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves. Perhaps a bit of both. Regardless, The Unhoneymooners was a delightful book that flew by so quickly despite being around 400 pages. I think I needed something super lighthearted and contemporary to temporarily draw my mind away from high fantasy. I love fantasy, I really do and my entire folder of drafts for fantasy stories that I’ve brainstormed over the last several years is proof of my love for fantasy. But sometimes it’s still nice to get away and read something about nonmagical people in a nonmagical world surrounded by nonmagical things. This book did just that for me, and the fact that it’s mostly set in Maui pulls at my heartstrings a little because my first vacation with my boyfriend was actually in Maui too. What a happy coincidence.

Even though this book didn’t stir a lot of great, wild emotions within me the same way a lot of YA fantasy tends to, I’d still like to comment on some parts that I liked (which was a lot) and a few parts that were kinda ‘meh’ with me. This review is probably going to be a lot shorter than what I’ve written before, but that’s okay. 

The Unhoneymooners is about a 30-something-year-old Latina named Olive who narrates the entire story with the exception of the epilogue (which is narrated by the male love interest). Some background on Olive: she’s supposedly incredibly unlucky and unfortunate in life... almost like somehow all her luck has been sucked dry by her twin sister Ami. Ami’s the one who wins all the jackpots for random stuff in life, so much so that she managed to snag enough jackpots to plan a dream wedding and a free honeymoon for the price of only around $1000. As someone who also proclaims herself to be somewhat pretty unlucky in life, I relate to Olive pretty hard. I used to not be a pessimist, but whenever I look back on some of the stuff that has happened in my life that were TOTALLY out of my control I can’t help but chuckle and be like “wow my life is pretty darn unlucky sometimes”. Now it’s just easier for me to deal with certain things if I don’t get my hopes too high up beforehand. But enough about me. 

The story starts with Ami’s wedding, and unfortunately the jackpot she won for a free luxury shellfish catering at her wedding goes completely awry and almost everyone gets serious food poisoning. All except for our lovely heroine and of course, the love interest. The male lead is Ethan, the older brother of Ami’s new husband and also a guy that Olive does not really like at first. They met about 2-3 years ago, when Ami and Ethan’s brother (Dane) first started going out, and because Olive misinterpreted Ethan’s facial reaction at her eating cheese curds she forever believed that he didn’t like her and she wrote him off as a fat-shamer or something of the sort. Kind of weird, but okay I guess. Ethan’s your typical hottie, also 30-something years old and apparently has the looks of a frat boy (like Dane) but the personality of a homebody semi-dork (unlike Dane). Ethan does something math-related for a living and loves staying at home. He also has a lucky penny. How cute. 

So when everyone’s yacking and having explosive diarrhea all over the place, Olive and Ethan decide to make good use of the free honeymoon to Maui and make an agreement to tolerate each other for the length of their trip. The book very quickly gets juicy, considering a series of events happens and they are essentially forced to put on a constant charade of pretending to be newlyweds. All this pretending wears and tears down their emotional barriers with one another, and next thing you know they’re sharing feels and kisses and tongue action together. We find out that they both shared mutual feelings of attraction when they first met, but Dane had actually warned Ethan to not get involved with Olive due to her penchant for negativity (which stems from the fact that she’s so unlucky in life all the time). At one point at a baseball game or something, Olive goes to get cheese curds and as she’s enjoying her food she stumbles into Ethan who apparently makes a weird face at her and she gets incredibly insecure and feels like he was fat-shaming her. Turns out (and I can’t believe this took over 2 years to reconciliate) he was trying to mask his attraction towards her and avoid her out of respect for Dane. But Olive just assumed the worst, thinking Ethan did not like her and decided to return the feelings with mutual dislike. This alienated Ethan, and obviously who’s going to pursue a girl who’s giving you the vibes that scream ‘stay away from me!! i dont like u!!!’? Not any normal, sane, decent guy. 

Personally, I felt like this backstory between Olive and Ethan was super weird and not the most well fleshed out or even something that remotely makes much sense. I get feeling insecure and I understand not liking someone simply on the basis that you think they don’t like you. But I don’t understand how someone completely misinterprets a facial expression THAT much and then holds it against the other person for THAT long. Heck, I’m absolutely one to hold grudges against people but even I don’t think I’d hold a grudge for that long over something like that. But hey, this whole book is meant to be comedy fluff so I ain’t too bothered by this nonsense backstory. 

I’d say about 70-80% of the book is literally just about the relationship build-up between Olive and Ethan, and the rest is about the shitshow that is Ami and Dane, specifically just Dane. Turns out he’s been cheating on her for the majority of their 3-year relationship, and tbh Ami’s initial reaction to Olive informing her of Dane’s unfaithfulness kind of pissed me off. It’s one thing to not want to believe it, but it’s another to completely disregard it and turn it back on your sister by claiming they’re just trying to sabotage you or something. Thankfully, this whole issue is resolved pretty quickly and Ami’s way of finding the truth out herself was simply magnificent. She texted each of her husband’s side-chicks through his phone, pretending to be him, and had them all come by their house at the same time on the same day just so she can confront Dane and all his flings about his faithfulness. So beautifully done, it almost brings a tear to my eye. 

So in conclusion, The Unhoneymooners was a lighthearted and enjoyable read that truly had me either smiling or silently laughing for maybe a third of the book. The language was great, the chemistry between Olive and Ethan was oh so ooh la la, and way Lauren weaved in the love and support of a big close-knitted (and very dramatic) family was heartwarming. I may try to search for more books like these since light fluff is always much needed to help treat my seasonal depression (thanks January). But I’m always worried about shelling money over a book that ends up reading a little too much like corny fanfiction. For example, I absolutely adored Meg Cabot books when I was in middle school, but now that I’m in my 20s I really don’t think I could read any of her books for more than half an hour. If I tried, I would end up rolling my eyes out of their sockets. Books about a contemporary romance between teenagers seemingly always end up becoming so dramatic, but then again it’s probably because teenagers are incredibly dramatic. I should know this, after all, I definitely was a dramatic teenager. I wish I were being sarcastic. I’m just going to sprinkle some of my favorite quotes from The Unhoneymooners so I can help myself forget about how unnecessarily dramatic I was as a teen.

“I want to say something sassy, but the only coherent thought that comes to mind is how insulting it is that eyelashes like his were wasted on Satan’s Errand Boy...” (Lauren, 2019, Ch.2) 

- TELL ME WHY IS THAT QUOTE SO RELATABLE? WHY ARE BEAUTIFUL LASHES ALWAYS WASTED ON MEN?? MY BOYFRIEND HAS THE MOST STUNNING LASHES EVER MEANWHILE I NEED TO GLUE FALSIES ON MY DAMN EYELIDS JUST TO ACHIEVE HALF OF WHAT HE’S GOT

“I can appreciate my body in a bikini and still want to set fire to the patriarchy.” (Lauren, 2019, Ch.7)

- All I can say is yas preach 

“I am a homebody, through and through, and there’s nothing like being at home.” (Lauren, 2019, Ch.15)

- Also too relatable. I enjoy traveling, I enjoy vacations, I enjoy spending a night out with friends, and I enjoy a good party. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing I enjoy more than my own bed

#the unhoneymooners #book review #christina lauren #contemporary romance

[denial-island-spn]

[Raphael’s World]

??? Days

*Megs paces inside her cell, unable to sit still after Castiel’s recent session in her mind.  Whatever he’s doing is working.  Each time she’s in the chair, she loses another piece of herself, replaced with whatever it is they’re trying to build within her.  It’s becoming harder to keep track of what her memories are hers and what’s been left behind.  (Human) Gabe has been taken again, and without him to ground her, she does the only thing she can think of and prays to every angel she can think of who might be able to help, though one in particular continues to draw her ire*

Megs: *praying* You’re a coward.  You know this is wrong.  You know you can stop this.  Or maybe you’re just afraid of standing up to someone more powerful than you.  He’s probably smarter, since he’s the one in charge here.  I know what you could be.  You could be someone who goes toe to toe with Lucifer.  I’ve seen you stand up to your brothers and a nephilim for what’s right.  It’s too bad that everything remotely divine here is a set of sacless --

*The door opens and Megs freezes as three figures enter the room, their faces familiar yet foreign, their resting state showing their detachedness in a way that makes her immediately uneasy.  It slowly changes, though what to she has no idea, but as Gadreel, Balthazar, and Samandriel make their way to the front of her cell and simply stare for a moment, surprise might be a close guess.

Balthazar: *eyes her curiously* Well isn’t that intriguing.  

Samandriel: What is she?

Gadreel: *tilts his head, a pensive look on his face*  Trouble would be my guess.

Balthazar: Of course she’s trouble.  No one’s allowed to see her save the Tin Man, the Flying Monkey and her dog, Toto, she’s dragged along with her.  

Megs: *glares* I’m standing right here.  

Balthazar: And she’s still coherent after how many treatments now?  That might be even more impressive than… *his eyes trail down the front of her*  

Megs: *folds her arms over her chest* What do you want?

Balthazar: *eyes snap back up and he gives her a false smile*  Heard a little gnat buzzing around my head this morning.  Thought I’d come see whether it was really as annoying as it seemed.  

Samandriel: She doesn’t belong here…

*Balthazar and Gadreel exchange a heavily shrouded look*

Gadreel: Watch your tongue, brother, before Raphael thinks the same of you.  

*Samandriel drops his gaze, and the other two begin to stare at her in a way Megs cannot read*

Megs: *Pushes back against her rising nerves* What does he want?

Balthazar: *looks surprised by the question* You think we *gestures between the three of them* have any idea what the Grand Poobah has planned when we had to sneak our way in here to begin with?  *tsks*  Maybe that brain of yours is soupier than it seems.  

Megs: What is he doing to me?  

*Balthazar smiles in a way that has the skin at the back of her neck prickling*

Balthazar: You really don’t want to know, my dear.  *the cavalier air surrounding him falters*  Though I really do wish something like you the best of luck.

*The angels turn and head back toward the door.*

Megs:  Wait - please… *her desperation grows as they ignore her*  Please at least tell me what it is you think I am…

*Having let the other two leave first, Balthazar pauses in the threshold, his hand on the doorknob as he looks one last time back at her*

Balthazar: Like my brother said, you are something that does not belong here.  

#Megs

[thisdaynews]

Democrats face internal rancor over deep fakes, disinformation

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/democrats-face-internal-rancor-over-deep-fakes-disinformation/

Democrats face internal rancor over deep fakes, disinformation

Former Vice President Joe Biden was the first in the 2020 field to pledge not to take part in destructive tactics over social media. | Meg Kinnard/AP Photo

2020 elections

Pressure is mounting on the national party to adopt an official stand on the use of deceptive tactics.

Democrats are at war over disinformation.

As illegitimate tactics like manipulated videos, troll farms, and fake social media accounts spread, state Democratic officials are demanding an official policy disavowing disinformation warfare.

Story Continued Below

But the Democratic National Committee so far is refusing to go along.

Earlierthis year, all Democratic state party chairs sought to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans by backing a pledge to rule out the use of such tactics. Supporters viewed it as a basic first step to shape the tone of political discourse in the primary and guard against manipulation and online disinformation.

But party leaders did not bring the proposal to a vote at a meeting of the full DNC in San Francisco late last month, despite the pleas of the state chairs. Among the sprawling Democratic presidential field, only frontrunner Joe Biden has signed the pledge. The pact also calls on campaigns to publicly implore their supporters not to use disinformation and call them out if necessary.

“I haven’t the faintest idea” why it wasn’t taken up, said Tina Podlodowski, chairwoman of Washington state’s Democratic Party. “I’m kind of banging my head against this wall that has three letters — DNC — on it.”

The DNC did not say whether it plans to adopt or implement the proposal crafted by the state party chairs. It was passed unanimously by the Association of State Democratic Committees in June ahead of the DNC’s August meeting.

“In our communications, we discourage the use of inauthentic content and actors,” said DNC spokesman Daniel Wessel, referring to informal correspondence with state parties and campaigns. “Those are tactics used against Americans, not ones Americans should use against each other. While we know this is a tactic that is not being used by our Democratic candidates, including our Democratic presidential candidates, unfortunately the same cannot be said of the Republican ecosystem.”

The debate over disinformation comes amid growing concern that both political parties are ill-prepared for proliferating disinformation schemes in the aftermath of Russian hacking and interference in the 2016 election. The DNC recently shut down “virtual” caucuses in Iowa and Nevada — which would have allowed people to register their presidential preferences without spending hours at a caucus location — because of concerns they would be vulnerable to hacks. Multiple Democratic Party officials and cybersecurity experts said the decision should have been made months ago.

And on Tuesday, the campaign manager for presidential candidate Beto O’Rourkeannouncedthat a fake Twitter account had successfully spread a lie that the alleged shooter in Odessa, Texas’ recent mass killing had an O’Rourke sticker on his car. The DNC helped O’Rourke’s campaign identify that it was the victim of a disinformation campaign being spread by the fraudulent right-wing account.

“We are so unprepared for the massive misinformation that is happening, that has happened and that will happen,” said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “We need our [DNC] leadership, including state party chairs, to get into a room create a policy for our candidates, campaigns, state parties and then hire a team to implement those policies.”

Though Kleeb said she’s not too worried about Democrats using fake social media posts or hiring troll farms, she said the official party needs to have a codified policy.

“Unless it’s written [down],” she said, “we can’t cut a candidate off from the voter file if they’re breaking that policy.”

Meanwhile, Russians and other foreign state actors appear willing to use counterfeit measures to influence American elections. And the Republican Party has refused to officially disavow the deceptive campaign tactics, even after President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Guliani drew fire in May for retweeting a doctored video, known as a deep fake, making House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sound discombobulated.

Trump has long dismissed the cyber and disinformation threat, even attempting to sow doubt about Russian interference in 2016. The president retweeted a spliced-up video about Pelosiearlier this yearand has repeatedly retweeted accounts that appeared to be fake. One of Trump’s reelection consultantspublishedfake websites disguised as official platforms for Democratic candidates. And Trump’s campaign usedstock footageof overseas models from places like France and Brazil claiming to be Americans from states like Texas in social ads.

The recent O’Rourke episode is indicative of the Wild West online environment campaigns are confronting. And the lack of a clear guidelines or principles by big digital platforms and the party committees is glaring, critics say.

On Friday, O’Rourke’s campaign sent letters to Facebook, Google and Twitter pressing them to develop specific steps to stop the spread of misinformation. Additionally, Jen O’Malley Dillion, O’Rourke’s campaign manager urged Democratic presidential candidates to join them.

“This week it’s us, but every candidate is at risk of disinformation campaigns,” O’Malley Dillon tweeted. “So today, we are calling on everyone in this race to stand with us in demanding Facebook, Google, and Twitter do better.”

In the absence of a coherent plan by tech giants, the party committees present a potential line of defense for candidates and their state party operations.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is proposing a bill that would change campaign finance law to make it easier for national party committees to send more money to state parties, candidates and campaigns for cybersecurity tools.

But in the interim, Democratic state party chairs and some outside groups are clamoring for the national party to take a clear stand.

“The DNC certainly has a responsibility, as well as the presidential candidates, to condemn these types of tactics to make sure that we are protecting people’s data privacy,” said Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and president of the state Democratic committees.

In June,Biden was the first in the 2020 field to pledgenot to take part in destructive tactics over social media, including banning the use of synthetic social media accounts and bot networks to attack opponents.

In a New York City speech in July, Biden called on his competitors to do the same.

“We asked candidates across Europe and North America to sign a pledge, committing to transparency in campaign finances and to reject the use of fabricated or hacked materials,” Biden said, referencing a Trans-Atlantic Commission on Election Integrity. “Now that I am a candidate for office, I have signed that pledge, and I urge everyone running for president to do the same.”

The DNC’s position on the official pledge is expected to come up at an executive meeting of the state Democratic committees in New Hampshire this weekend. It’s happening alongside the state’s Democratic convention, which all the major Democratic presidential candidates are set to attend.

The DNC hosts regular training and produces a bi-weekly newsletter on cybersecurity and how to combat disinformation. But it did not answer whether it would vote to adopt the resolution crafted by state party chairs.

POLITICO asked all six national political committees and campaign arms from both parties whether they had a codified policy in place on disinformation.

The Republican National Committee repeatedly refused to say it would not use such tactics, even as it answered other inquiries about its cybersecurity efforts. The RNC encourages its employees, state parties and staff to stay alert on all platforms and notify the RNC to suspicious activity taken against their campaigns.

The National Republican Senate Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not respond. The National Republican Congressional Committee refused to answer, despite referring POLITICO to reporting on its newly launched cybersecurity program. The NRCC has also refused to sign onto a pledge circulated by Democrats to not used hacked materials against each other.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pledged not to use hacked information against Republican House candidates. And committee staff is dedicated to combating the influence of disinformation tactics, not promoting it, according to a DCCC aide.

“The DCCC takes the threat of cyber-attack very seriously and continues to work in concert with outside experts and dedicate in-house staff to combatting attacks on the DCCC,” said committee spokesman Cole Leiter, “as well as the distribution of disinformation in the 2020 election cycle.”

Natasha Korecki contributed to this report.

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