#more rambles

A new tool lets artists add invisible changes to the pixels in their art before they upload it online so that if it’s scraped into an AI training set, it can cause the resulting model to break in chaotic and unpredictable ways. 

The tool, called Nightshade, is intended as a way to fight back against AI companies that use artists’ work to train their models without the creator’s permission. Using it to “poison” this training data could damage future iterations of image-generating AI models, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, by rendering some of their outputs useless—dogs become cats, cars become cows, and so forth. MIT Technology Review got an exclusive preview of the research, which has been submitted for peer review at computer security conference Usenix.   

AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Stability AI are facing a slew of lawsuits from artists who claim that their copyrighted material and personal information was scraped without consent or compensation. Ben Zhao, a professor at the University of Chicago, who led the team that created Nightshade, says the hope is that it will help tip the power balance back from AI companies towards artists, by creating a powerful deterrent against disrespecting artists’ copyright and intellectual property. Meta, Google, Stability AI, and OpenAI did not respond to MIT Technology Review’s request for comment on how they might respond. 

Zhao’s team also developed Glaze, a tool that allows artists to “mask” their own personal style to prevent it from being scraped by AI companies. It works in a similar way to Nightshade: by changing the pixels of images in subtle ways that are invisible to the human eye but manipulate machine-learning models to interpret the image as something different from what it actually shows. 

Genuinely might be one of my favorite artworks in games, and it's so simple! (SPOILERS, obviously) (Discussing secret boss and end)

I love how the secret boss mirrors Kris and the soul, I think Kris and Pink should talk more about it. It's crazy cuz this could be the second time Mew Mew represents Kris' split life (if Kris ends up being the Cyan soul in some form) via Mew Mew's switch fight. Just gives me more reasons to love and draw Mew Mew/ Pink more!

I think Chapter 5 is my favorite after Chapter 1 (hard to outdo clicking a random download one morning and surprise! it's a whole new game to obsess over!). TBH I was a little worried how I would react to this chapter. It was always clear the 6 souls would make an appearance at some point in this game and I thought I might get, like, jealous or competitive or defeated. But they're all fun and different from my TSWFBY comic interpretation, and I think that's good. It's fun (most) of them are named after their colors- makes them even easier to remember, doesn't it? I relate to Seth's gender in particular (I'm not exactly a chef, lol), and to an extent Pink's split confusion over dating and not dating also makes me seen in ways no other game character has before.

I love the farewell to the flowers toward the end, although they live on, it mirrors their deaths in Undertale and really hits home (Also with Asgore disregarding them, yet in denial about caring for them- 'someone has to care for these flowers' MY HEART). It was a good call to give them so many interchangeable interactions, yet make this (likely) their only appearance.

Part 2 of this >> post + sketches

I imagine that there wasn't an immediate cheering once they defeated unicron. How could they celebrate when they see Megatron desperately clawing at the god's dead carcass. They had to call on Soundwave to pull him back and get his injuries fixed (no one dared mention the fresh wounds on his hands)

A lot of mechs told Megatron that messing with Unicron's corpse could have dire consequences considering that it's still flowing with dark energon. But he knows that it didn't matter if the Chaos bringer would curse him in death, or if Primus never welcomes him to the well of all sparks. He ignored their pleas and continued to dig for any remains of him. Megatron knew he was already a dead-man walking ever since his own spark was poisoned by Unicron's blood. It didn't matter. He already loved him to the point of damnation

After several months (I'm just going to use Earth time cause it's easier) of tearing apart the dead god's corpse, he finally found him. Extremely wounded with his spark barely beating, but alive.

Honestly though, I don't think Optimus would die so easily considering he has the matrix attached to him and despite what he says about his sacrifice being necessary, he doesn't want to die, its just that, in his opinion, if someone had to carry the burden of death it should be him. Empathy has always been his greatest strength and weakness.

And remember how I hc the matrix healing his wounds quicker (albeit painfully), I like to imagine the process similar to Kintsugi (fixing broken pottery with gold). After he was scavenged out of Unicron's corpse, he looked...pretty torn. Like his entire body was shattered into multiple pieces and was barely held together. This leads to the daily occurrence of mechs averting their eyes when they see him and hesitant to speak with him regarding his current state. Op knows they're only doing it out of respect for him but he couldn't help but feel uneasy (it felt like going through the aftermath of his facial scar all over again)

Thankfully, he doesn't have to go through it alone. Enter Megatron staying by his side (he was always hovering over the prime for a good few weeks after he was retrieved) and acting body guard, which wasn't too hard since he IS lord high protector, for the duration of his healing period.

*the cracks did eventually heal, but it took about at least 2 years before they started fading.

I think the intimacy between Dick and Jason can't be overstated, regardless of if you ship them or not. Excluding Bruce and Barbara, these two have known each other the longest in the Batfam. More importantly, they've seen sides of each other that subsequent kids haven't. Going back to the OG timeline, Jason had met Dick as Robin, and then witnessed him retire and ultimately become Nightwing. On the flipside, Dick met Jason as a kid, gave him the costume, and then had to mourn him. None of the others got this side of them: even by the time Tim joins, Dick's identity as Nightwing and as a mentor/big brother figure had already solidified, and Jason comes back as a vengeful Red Hood, and it's just like that from that point on.

So I imagine that when Dick looks at Jason, he sees the eager thirteen year old trying so hard to be just like him. Jason looks at Dick and sees this cool older guy who believes in him for some strange reason. And there's just. So much fondness in that. (And guilt for my fellow angst lovers, hehehe.)

So hang onto that for this next part.

When Melinda debuted, I wrote a post about how she was potentially a character against the Forgers because Anya hadn't met her (we gain insight into characters via our deus ex machina Anya meeting them and reading their minds). Anya has met her now and the narrative has established that she genuinely cares for Damian (even if she's still a mysterious character).

After a long time, Demetrius is finally here. He's still mysterious, but not antagonistic to his brother and still cares for him. Like I said in a previous post, Demetrius subverts what I said above because Anya cannot read him fully even if she's met him. But regardless, Demetrius is here, we've seen him, all four Desmonds have finally debuted. And in my mind, I can vaguely connect them to the Forger-Briar extended family:

Anya - Damian: The kids aiming for stella stars and seeking parental approval. Attached to their dogs. Occasionally heroic (dodgeball, handkerchief, bus hijacking), but ultimately silly kids dragged into "adult" political matters (Anya with more awareness than Damian).

Loid - Donovan: Standing in for WISE vs war, one of the central conflicts. They are fathers and authority figures. Loid, faking a job as a psychiatrist, seeks to understand people (as a fake job, but he also does this as a spy). Donovan famously declared that people would never truly sympathize with each other. A good, attentive father and a neglectful father.

Yor - Melinda: The mothers, the narrative kind of puts them in the background compared to their husbands, but we know they have plot behind them. Yor's job as an assassin is unknown to her family (sans Anya). Melinda has struggles of her own when it comes to parenting her kids / being married to Donovan.

Demetrius - Yuri: Bit of a stretch, but they're both characterized as genius brothers and on the side compared to the main father-mother-child trios. Yuri works for the SSS, in direct opposition to Loid. Demetrius is a middle schooler?? He’s a child so he’s probably not that involved in the main plot, and if he is, it’s not willingly / he was brought up that way. They're both younger (and less experienced) compared to the adults- Demetrius is still a child and Yuri is 20. Yuri's affection for Yor is overflowing and the Briar siblings are very supportive of each other. In contrast, Demetrius is passive and apathetic, but not uncaring.

Anya has met everyone except for Donovan. Anya thinks both Melinda and Demetrius are weird. And Anya thinks of Donovan as the evil super boss. To her, the Desmonds are "weird". "All of Sy-on boy's relatives are such weirdos" - not sure if it's just the translation, but this line seems to imply Anya thinks Damian is exempt to the weirdness of his family. After all, unlike Demetrius, she can read Damian's thoughts normally. And unlike Melinda (and Yuri, and Fiona), she usually doesn't get bombarded with an overwhelming wave of intense thoughts when she reads Damian's mind.

And that brings us to the next point - Damian's time in Eden and the positive influences he receives (away from his family). Damian and Anya are better friends now. E&E's loyalty and affection for him have been established countless times. Becky congratulates Damian this chapter. Despite Damian thinking people suck up to him to get close to his father, he has a group of friends who do care about him (including Becky who doesn't suck up to him). Outside of what we see from Anya's pov, Damian has teachers and his dorm mother (Jeeves too) who care for him. Damian isn't alone.

Damian is shown to be disconnected from his family for whatever reason. His parents didn't come to his orientation. Damian says he doesn't see his parents often. Melinda cares for Damian but isn't allowed to see him often / afraid to be seen with him (?). Damian has called Demetrius before but this is the first time we see him meet Demetrius in person. And we all know about Damian's goal of impressing his father. Damian seems to believe Demetrius and Donovan when close when they were younger (when Demetrius was slightly older than Damian’s age), but Damian receives no such attention. Despite this, Damian still manages to have a fairly happy school life with his friends and supportive adult figures.

I think Damian's growing friendship with Anya and the recent complete reveal of the Desmond family will push Anya into thinking Damian is not like his weird family. If anything, Damian is more like Anya and her associates. Post bus-hijacking, Damian from Anya's POV is seen as more likeable / sympathetic, even more so now that we know about his mother and brother.

Anya is a child who is exposed to some of the darkness in Melinda / Demetrius' heads (trauma from being close to Donovan?), and she doesn't really understand them. Melinda / Demetrius seem off to outsiders (we saw Yor’s reaction, Becky thinks Demetrius is creepy) but it’s only Anya who’s capable of reading their minds and knowing how weird their thoughts are. But Anya has a much better understanding of Damian, the youngest Desmond, who is a kid like her with understandable motivations (getting stars, impressing his dad) similar to Anya's own motivations.

Interesting to note that Demetrius, while at Eden, seems rather lonely and disconnected even within his peer group. When he walks down the stairs, the panel frames it as him being alone, while Damian has four friends with him. When Damian and Anya get their stars, their classmates are shown to be smiling / impressed. When Demetrius gets his stars, we see two of his peers sweatdropping, almost looking wary, while a blushing girl has her hands to her mouth. The story doesn't show Demetrius' peers celebrating his success. It feels like Demetrius' peers are used to him getting good grades but still in awe of how good he is, but... they're not really close to him. Demetrius is not social and says he doesn't understand people, and maybe he doesn't interact much with his peers.

This chapter also reveals Demetrius is not in regular contact with Donovan anymore, contrary to what Damian believed. So Demetrius seems removed from the Desmond family sphere, but also isn't super integrated into the Eden sphere (in contrast to his 6yo brother and his friends). We can believe Demetrius isn’t close to Donovan because he is annoyed (and triggered?) by the mere mention of his father. Clearly Donovan has done something scarring to both Melinda and Demetrius and their thoughts look weird to Anya. Damian, despite craving for his father's attention and being stressed about it, is still relatively unaffected.

From now on, I think we'll slowly get more information about the Desmonds while Damian remains separated from them in the narrative. Damian is introduced as a vital part of Plan B due to his connection with his father, but even Damian himself admits there's not much of a connection. Plan B is working (sort of) because Damianya are friends, but that doesn't mean it's easier for Anya to meet Donovan. I think the narrative has been pushing Damian away from being a plot device for Plan B to being Anya's genuine friend and a victim of the Desmond parenting. At this point, Damian is not really useful to the main plot and there's not much mystery to this 6yo child.

Damian still thinks of himself as a scion of the Desmonds and he’s desperately trying to get his father’s attention. But his dad doesn’t really care, his mom loves him but doesn’t want him to be near Donovan, his brother is similar and also seemingly doesn’t want anything to do with Donovan. Meanwhile, the story establishes him as a boy with a crush on Anya, a boy with friends who will readily sacrifice themselves for him, a boy who’s willing to protect his classmates. All around Damain, his peers, associates, and the story itself has long been defining Damian as someone outside of being the Desmond family. But Damian naturally holds onto it.

Damian isn’t mysterious to Anya because she can read him. Okay, she still thinks he’s a brat sometimes, but that’s Damain being Damian, not Damian being a Desmond. But everyone else in the family is mysterious and it makes Anya feel at least vaguely uncomfortable.

The Desmonds are probably connected to Project Apple, and with the recent hints of Anya’s backstory, we might get some of that. But Damian is framed as almost completely separate to whatever went on, while Melinda and Demetrius are portrayed as victims of Donovan, mysterious and a bit weird but still sympathetic.

And that’s why I think it’s coming together— hints of Anya’s backstory, Damianya becoming better friends, the Desmonds all here. We’ve scratched the surface off and we’re hopefully going to see more.