P3 Gekkoukan!Strega AU: New Year, Old Friend

Takes place in April of 2007.

Here’s another write-up of a flashback, this time being Jin’s first year at Gekkoukan (Takes place one month after The Buzz’s Buzz). Jin isn’t looking forward to the new school, not only being known as Tartarus in the Dark Hour, but just the very place of seeing new faces and having new standards to meet. A problem for any teenager. Once he got accustomed to a new classroom for the day, a new student comes into his life, whether he asked for it or not.

Fandom: Persona 3 | Characters: Takaya, Jin, OC, Ikutsuki | Word Count: 5,972 | Relationships: Takaya-Jin-OC (friendship)

Note: I placed “OC” down cuz not many ppl may know who this is, but for those who might, this may come as a nice surprise to the readers :D hope you enjoy~

April has come around for the three siblings along with a new school year. This time of course, Jin will be starting his first year at Gekkoukan High as Takaya will have to retake his second year. It won't be another two years until Chidori would start her first year here, and surely Takaya would be done with high school at the time. At least that's what Jin would think, a strain of doubt in his thoughts thinking otherwise. The two brothers just got off the transit and reached their destination to the campus, Takaya standing right beside Jin as he exclaimed loud enough for him to hear.

“Welcome to Gekkoukan High, dear brother! As you can see, it's a big open campus with lots of flourished plantlife and the bright sun just shining above to greet us all. You'll love it here, I just know it.”

Jin mentally rolls his eyes at his enticing introduction to the school. At least he wasn't downing the school on the first day like he would do himself. Sure, you have some nice sun when being cooped up inside a classroom, but the plants all around sure sound interesting. Now let's just hope he wouldn't embarrass him throughout the school year.

Akihiko, also starting his first year, happened to catch up to the two as he looked at the building in front of them. “So, this is Gekkoukan High.”

“Indeed.” Takaya smiled over to the boxing student, finding his interest suitable for his character. “Are you excited about your start of the year Sanada-kun?”

“You bet I am,” The silver-haired teen flashed a grin. “New school means new challengers to face. Once I get myself into the boxing matches, I'll surely get stronger each and every passing day. Just you watch, I’ll be stronger for our team too.”

“Well of course,” Takaya assumed as much. No wonder he's in such a motivating mood. For Akihiko to be the newest member in their SEES group, he sure knows how to adapt well to the Dark Hour. He then turns to his younger brother, who still showed no interest in joining that organization just yet. “Anything you're looking forward to Jin? I can gladly give you a tour if you like. We have clubs, sports teams… not like you’re interested in any of that I’m sure— oh but committees are required, so that’s something to look into once you get the chance, hmm. Ask me any question, and I’ll gladly answer with full sincerity.”

The young teen with glasses barely made a glance at his older sibling with a shake of his head. “I should find myself around the campus just fine, thanks.”

With that he made his way up the stairs into the main lobby, as Takaya and Akihiko followed along. With the two first years making their way into the building, they go to take in the new area and figure out where to go from here. Jin noticed a group of students standing by the board on the wall, chatting to one another as some departed to the stairs or the hallway nearby. He figured he’d start there, perhaps it’s where the classrooms’ information is posted. Takaya watched standing by, seeing he is more of an individual person who wants to find things out on his own. And he can’t blame him for that, he does have that striving nature after all. All the same he wants to help however he could, as the older brother of the trio. Akihiko followed along with Jin and checked out the postboard himself, seeing a list of student names assigned under which classes. With that he found his name, then turned to Jin.

“Looks like I’m in 1-C under Ms. Hirata. How about you?”

Jin surveyed the list until he found his name under a different class outline. He hummed and answered promptly. “1-D.”

The boxer student followed his gaze to see Jin’s name under the class mentioned, giving a bit of a chuckle finding another familiar name elsewhere. “Ah, and it looks like Mitsuru is in 1-B with… Mr. Chano. And Takaya would be in—!”

“Ms. Ounishi’s class… again,” The long-haired brother sighed in disbelief, but quickly dismissed the topic as he got himself between the two with one arm on Jin’s shoulder. “But I can take what I must. This year will be easier for me due to familiarity with the assignments last year, so it shouldn’t be a problem for dear ol’ me.”

“...And that’s 2-C.” Jin stated as a reminder for him, in case he needed a refresher. Takaya can forget the most basic of information, so he said this just in case “That would mean the second floor, I assume?”

“Hmm, yes,” He nodded his head to the side in response, as he then pointed to the two of them. “But no need to worry where I’ll be at, just worry where your classes will be at. Since the both of you will be heading the same general direction…”

“Will it be down this hall?” Akihiko gestured to the one nearby, still leading to the first floor.

The second-year shook his head before answering gratefully. “That’d be where the school clubs are. It’s actually—!”

“We’d be able to find it ourselves. Shouldn’t be hard to find, let’s look around for a bit.” Jin intervened, taking a step towards the other direction to go look for his classroom. Before anyone had a chance to say otherwise, Akihiko only made a firm nod before following him.

“Alright, hold up a sec there.”

The two go to the other hallway entrance across from where they were at, leaving Takaya behind as he only shook his head once more in amusement. Of course he’ll head off first thing before he would have a chance to help him… but he’ll leave them be. It can be a confusing place for first timers, but they’ll surely get the hang of it in no time once Jin gets the grasp of the campus. All the same, he can’t help but worry for his younger brother.

Both the first-years managed to find their respective classes after navigating each and every floor of the building, learning where certain rooms are such as the auditorium along the way. They were fairly early after all when they arrived, giving them a fair amount of time to find the classes without being late.

The hallway was long but somewhat vacant with only a few students around, chatting with one another with the sun shining through the huge unblinded windows. It’s an opposing idea of being anything crowded, making it feel like an ideal area of space compared to Junior High. Akihiko smiled and then nodded towards Jin before going to his class, taking a few steps back. “Guess it’s about time already. I’ll see you back at the dorms after school yeah?”

Jin nodded back and watched from a distance until he was out of sight. He made no hesitation as he then entered his classroom, where some of the students started taking their seats while others lounge around chatting with their friends. The classroom was just as bright as the hallway, giving it more of an easy feeling and relaxing atmosphere. He made no eye contact with anyone around him, just taking a glance around the place before choosing where he would want to sit. He already made up his mind there, making his way over and passing by the only adult in the room.

"Ah, Shirato-kun, isn't it?”

The teacher's voice was already full of wonder as Jin stopped in his tracks to turn around. Part of him hoped it didn't mean what he thinks it means, but nonetheless didn't want to be rude and ignore his new homeroom teacher. That surely wouldn't make a good first impression.

“I'm Mr. Kojima, your teacher for the year. Ikutsuki told me so much about you. Brother of Takaya, is that right? Well, from what I heard you were top of your class last year.”

“... That's correct.” The male student simply replied, but wasn't fazed by the teacher's acknowledgement towards him. God, Ikutsuki really had to gush about his middle child like that does he? Part of him already felt embarrassed believing that was the case, but he won't be bothered by it and let the professor be with his words of praise.

“Welcome then! I'm looking forward to having you in class. I have great expectations of you.”

Jin didn't say anything in response to that, but instead let out a nod in acknowledgement before taking an empty seat nearby. He went for the one by the window, middle row so he wouldn't be up front and easily noticeable. If there’s one thing he hates it’s being in the center of attention, so hopefully the teacher doesn't make any more praise about him, especially during a class session in front of other students. Part of that thought made him sigh with disbelief, his eyes narrowed down at his bag as he went to open it up to take out any supplies he may need. He hoped his years here wouldn't drag on like it did back in Junior High. He didn't make any friends then, only enemies. He was a young child who only knew how to start and end fights. He only had Takaya during his first year then, and then Chidori during his last year. His socializing needs work, he's aware of that. But right now he just wants to focus on his academics and any chance of a career ahead. That happens to be part of the reason he hasn’t joined SEES at all, despite his father pleading in hopes he would reconsider. He wanted to manage his time accordingly with school and life outside of studies. Simple as that.

It was already half an hour into class, as the professor went on with a lecture while the students listened to it and took notes in peace. Jin jotted down in his notebook as he listened over to the man’s speech, and then noticed the sound of a swinging and closing of a door. He then glanced up in mere curiosity. As the professor continued speaking unwittingly the student who just entered tiptoed across the room, making his way towards the next available desk to take without getting noticed. He wore a broad gray hoodie over the school uniform with the bottom of his slacks being cuffed over his ankles. The male student also has somewhat long, unkempt dark hair that covers his one eye, giving others a possible thought of wondering if he can see where he is going. He doesn’t look to be the type to stay prep and proper by any means, in fact his posture gives out more of a carefree nature than any of the other students Jin has seen since he got here. Regardless, he couldn’t care less. Just as the student passed by a few others venturing close to Jin's direction, the lecture stopped momentarily in a switch of tone.

“Uchitani, you're late!” Kojima’s voice boomed throughout the classroom that could've startled a few students upon those not paying attention. The man had a clipboard on him with the list of students' names to see which one was marked absent. If anything, that was a lucky guess for the first day. The tardy student froze and let out an awkward chuckle and a cheesy smile towards the teacher's direction.

“Ah, yes! Sorry about that teach. Man, traffic was pretty crazy today, huh, a-am I right…?”

The classroom was left silent with either a sense of judgement or puzzlement. Perhaps both. The student looked around awkwardly before taking a seat right behind Jin, clearing his throat and keeping quiet for the teacher to continue. The chair the young man sat on squeaked quietly, not bothering Jin so much so long as he could hear the professor speaking just fine. He minds his own business as such, only hearing mild rustling of what could be his bag or jacket judging by his ears alone. It wasn’t until he felt a light touch of his shoulder he then looked over behind him. The dark-haired student let out another awkward smile and a small wave.

“Sorry for asking, but by any chance I could borrow a pencil?” He spoke in a soft voice, trying to avoid making a disturbance in tone while the professor continued going over his lecture. “… And uh, perhaps some paper too? I left my notebook back at home, apparently, so uh...”

Jin only groaned under his breath. Who in their right mind ends up leaving something as simple as paper and pencil back at home!? And on his first day too! This man definitely doesn’t have any tendency to leave a good first impression if he could try. He doesn’t argue, as he got out a pencil and slowly tore up a sheet from his notebook to pass it over to him. He hands it over from behind, keeping his posture forward and tapping them against the student’s leg to notify him to take it from there. The student smiled and gladly took the requested materials. “Thanks man! I totally owe ya one, you’re the best—!”

“Is that side talking I hear?” Kojima let out a stern look matching his tone, catching the tardy student off guard before continuing. “You all better be paying attention, this may be on the test for all you know, so listen real well if you want to make a passing grade.”

The Ushitani student waited until the professor went back to his lecture to finish what he was saying, although quite unnecessary at this point. “Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it.” He muttered without a second beat, really hoping he doesn’t continue bothering him for the remainder of the class. He has his head resting on his palm, continuing taking notes as the student from behind smiled towards him before going on with his note taking task. The indolent student doesn’t mind his cold demeanor one bit. In fact, he kind of admires it, oddly enough.

The first day was about over, as the afternoon class had just ended for the students to leave and go home. The first day wasn’t bad from Jin's perspective, but it wasn’t anything special either. After gathering his belongings from his locker, he makes his way outside to wait for Takaya to head home together. Perhaps Akihiko and Mitsuru may join along as well, if they happen to be on their way out too. He doesn’t care either way, but he’ll be patient enough to wait for his brother. Maybe, to say… ten minutes tops.

“Hey!”

Jin then heard a yell from a distance and instinctively turned his head towards the direction of the sound. Of course, it could be all possible it would be a student calling for someone else. He barely recognized the voice, but definitely noticed who the person calling for him was. The Ushitani student from class, with his hair still covering most of his eyes and having that big grin on his face. Jin isn’t entirely enthused to see this kid again, but all the same there’s no use avoiding him. Since they share the same class now there will always be a point in time of seeing one another at least twice a day, but so far he was already feeling bothered running into this student again. Nonetheless, he stayed where he was until the kid caught up to him, holding out that bright smile throughout with a jovial nature in his voice and posture.

He gave out a fun, lighthearted tone. “Finally found ya. Hey look— thanks again for earlier, I really appreciate you helping me out there! And uh… oh, here! I should at least give this back, this is yours after all.”

The student pulled out the pencil Jin had him borrow earlier, the tip is precisely dull and rounded along with the eraser end, but otherwise still in fairly good shape. He handed it over, but with that Jin waved it off dismissively with a simple shake of his head.

“Keep it. It’s yours now, that way you’d have no excuse to ask for another one. As long as you don't lose it.”

“Haha, wow!” He gave what seems to be a grateful response, but also a hint that he may have been blown away by his attitude, which he still isn't bothered by. “Alright, thanks. Man, you really are the stern type aren't ya? You must be taking school pretty seriously, with you and all your stuff— ready to go on your first day.”

Jin made a ‘humph’ on that response, seeing he seems to be the opposite of a serious type. “I guess that makes you the slacker type, coming to campus unprepared and having to request for the basics of supplies such as lined paper. I could only assume being here would be one of the last places you'd rather be.”

“Well, ouch…” The kid chuckled on that, rubbing the back of his head with a weakened smile. “You got me there. I mean, school is never the kind of place to have fun anyway, wouldn't you agree?”

Jin gave a moment of thought. “I could. Perhaps with a different reason.”

The student hummed on that. Jin averted his gaze and looked around where students were walking by. Jin was never the type to keep a conversation with a fellow stranger, unless it would be a heated debate over something. Such as agreeing with him despite not knowing that reason he may have, he also looked around at the other students walking by. “Yeah… that’s something I can relate to as well. Whenever I’m working part time— retail, ya know. ‘It’s not just the job that you are doing, but it’s the other people around you.’ It’s the ones like customers and students that can make it where a day can be really good or sucky as hell.”

With that, the blue-haired student looked over to the other first-year. His brow raised with a sign of surprise like they were on the same page. He didn’t have to say anything, but somehow this kid knew it. Maybe that was intentional? Who knows. Even with the side by side comparison he made, perhaps it was just how he felt too. “You know you can be quite keen for a slacker.”

“Who? Me?” The Ushitani student raised his eyebrows in surprise, not even taking offense at the given status. “Nah, I just have a knack for being relatable is all. I get it though, it’s not real easy getting along with everyone. That’s just something I tried to do: Make someone’s day, you know?”

He hummed. He seems to be the opposite of him, but also quite similar. There was something that was on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t quite make it out. But he reminds him of something, of someone. Similar to Takaya in a way. This thought of his won’t come to resolve itself anytime soon, as he then checked his cell phone at the time. Six minutes has passed since he started waiting for his brother, so he’s in no hurry. Pocketing his cell phone, he looked around for any sign of him. Ushitani still standed next to him, not making any indication of leaving soon.

“Oh, you waiting for a friend?”

“… Yeah,” He didn’t bother correcting him, his response was more sincere than usual. “Just a few more minutes before I go and head off without him. I’m not the type to wait around forever for someone who would take their sweetass time.”

“Ha. Cold.” The student was amused, but not surprised one bit. “But no, I get it— hey, now that we got to know a bit about each other, mind if I ask for your name? Just who I call you by.”

Jin shifted his stance, as if debating whether to tell him his first or just his last name. Though, there is no reason to be hesitant. Since he does know the kid’s surname, it would be all the fairness to tell him his name at most. He then readjusted his shoulder bag on the side.

“The name’s Shirato Jin. I’m just another first-year in this damned school like you are.”

“Shirato…” The student said out loud, as he then blinked on the first name before repeating himself. “Wait, Jin? As in, like, the Jin from the orphanage!?”

The young man with specs was taken aback by his sudden burst of a response. How the hell does he know him? He could barely recall anyone from his past, the orphanage was just a foggy sense of memories to him.

“Hang on, how do you… Do I know you from there? Who are you?”

The student only laughed, still bewildered he would find him in the very same school he went to. “Jin, it’s me! I know it’s been many years but…!”

The student then brushed his bangs aside to fully reveal his face to him. His eyes were more tinted than his sable brown hair, with a very noticeable scar across his left eye which may explain why he has his hair covering that part up. It was then he became more recognizable. “…Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already!”

Jin’s eyes darted around his facial features with a sudden feeling of nostalgia in his mind. It has been many years indeed, they were both kids when they last saw one another. Ever since he was taken in, he never got a chance to meet him again, at least until now. His own expression softened. “… Izumi?”

The student nodded and placed his hand on his shoulder, his smile opened even wider. “I knew you would remember! Man, and I thought I’d never see you again!”

“It’s been a long time!” Jin managed a smile towards the student as he nudged him against his arm. For him, who hasn’t been feeling this content in a long time, it was definitely a start of showing a more lax nature. “Where have you been? Last I stopped by to see you the adults said you were gone! Hell, they made it sound like you were dead!”

Izumi, who was also an orphan around the same time Jin was, cracked another grin towards his reunited friend. “Ha! Dead? Nah man, I ran away— got out of that sad excuse of a shelter! Found myself on the streets, then… into a home.” His tone became more genuine and sincere. It brought a shiver of thoughts thinking back then. “It just wasn’t a good place for me anymore, you know? Ever since you guys were taken in, it wasn’t the same… everyone started picking on me again. Everyday just got worse and worse until I realized: I don’t have to stay here anymore. I can find my own family, my own place to live. And so… that’s what I did.”

Jin watched him as he told his story, his mind wondering how successful an idea like that would be for being so young, and perhaps naive to think it would get him anywhere. From what he can tell, he surely made it to where he is now. And because of that, the two now got to see each other again after many years. Silence was between them while he had that going through his mind, until he had something to say about it. “Well, you did seem like a runaway type.”

The childhood friend chuckled at that. “Yeah? Maybe that’s good for something, isn’t it? I’d hate to stay there and not be able to have a better life for myself. Now it’s just uh… a mother and a daughter, you see. She’s a nurse, funny enough. The first thing she wanted to do when she first found me was to take care of me!”

“Really now?” Jin didn’t have a doubt that it happened, but he was bewildered nonetheless.

“It was crazy, I know! Of course I was more than happy to have her take me in, even at the time she already had her hands full with a toddler. I couldn’t help but feel honored, heck, I even took her last name since I could barely remember mine. But… yeah, she just… treated me like I was her own, and now— now, her little girl just calls me ‘Pops!’, like, it’s that something?”

Izumi rubbed the back of his neck in thought of that, emitting a goofy grin which shortly faded upon seeing Jin’s expression. The student with specs had his brows furrowed like he was deep in thought. Perhaps just taking this tale piece by piece in gathering his life story so far. Izumi felt uneasy by his silent response, giving a sort of soft tone to get his attention. “Hey uh, did I… say something? Just so you know she doesn’t actually believe I’m her dad… at least I don’t think so— like her actual dad is long gone and everything, so she may see me as uhhh a replacement sort of deal. Does that make sense? Hey…!”

His small thorough rambles finally had Jin snap out of it before shaking his head in reassurance. “Hm? Yeah, sorry about that. So it’s just you, the mom and the daughter together now, am I correct?”

Izumi went to answer that for him, given seeing him spacing out like that did have him worried a little. But then someone’s voice came into their presence, that being Takaya finally making his way out of the building. He was astounded to see Jin with someone else right next to him. Whose this? A friend? …Already?

The young man smiled regardless, making his way up to Jin to speak with him. “Looks like you waited for me after all, I feel so honored dear brother. But tell me: How was your first day so far?”

The dark-haired student saw the man coming up before him, finding his look oddly familiar. Perhaps more familiar than how he could describe Jin upon seeing him after many years. The silver hair, the bright yellow eyes…

He gasped. No! He couldn’t believe it. “Huh… Takaya? Is that really you?”

The man then hummed in question and looked over to him in a puzzled expression, seeing his messy hair and the big gray hoodie over his uniform. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Takaya, this is Izumi!” Jin placed his hand on the student’s shoulder and shook him gently with a tone of delight, displaying a type of mood the brother doesn’t hear often from him. “The one back from the orphanage.”

“... Hold on,” He then took a step closer, even reaching up to pull his hair back and seeing the scar across his left eye. He then cupped his chin, already moving his head left to right to get a better image of the boy. Suddenly he remembered, his soft yet rigid face said it all. “Well I’ll be damned. It is you!”

Izumi smiled once more, getting a chance to pull Takaya in for an embrace. “Haha, come here you!”

The young man squawked immensely from the sudden hug the student gave him. This student may be shorter by a couple inches and be just as thin, but boy was he strong!? It was such a surprise, but all the same overwhelming as is. Takaya despised being touched like this without prior notice, even if it’s from a friend from many years back. “UGH! … Let… go… please!”

“Oh, sorry.” Noticing his strain of words, the student then let go of him and gave an awkward smile. “I-I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“Oh no no, not at all…” Takaya then straightened himself and adjusted his shirt and cuffed sleeves, showing little trouble towards the friend. He did feel a bit fragile under his strength nonetheless. “I just can’t tolerate coming into contact like that. No offense to you or anything, perhaps the more we get to know one another again the more natural I’ll feel around you.”

“Not a problem then! I’m just glad it was nothing personal.” Izumi then made a dismissive wave to show no offense given. “Anywho, how’ve you guys been? How has the adoption life been treating ya?”

“Hmph… can’t complain too much.” Jin made a shrug on that one. At this point it feels about right to go astray from any of the supernatural topics the brothers have knowledge about, for the sake of keeping the conversation at normality. “Our legal guardian has been doing his best with keeping all of us in line so far, taking his parental role seriously if you ask me.”

Takaya made a click of his tongue underneath that thin line of a smile. Really now? He shouldn't be surprised at this point, but sometimes he wondered what his brother’s deal was in refusing to call him by an actual parental name. Like for example…

“That’s fairly true. You see, our father hasn’t just adopted one, nor two— but instead, actually three under his care. You can say we have a younger sister within the family.”

“A sister you say?” Izumi raised a brow in interest, finding the fact of three children adopted all at once astonishing. “Well sheesh, what is he? Rich?”

“That we cannot say,” The oldest scratched the side of his chin in thought. “Honestly I don’t think either of us have paid any attention to our father’s expenses or income. But not like that’s any of our business anyway.”

Slapping the side of Izumi’s shoulder gently with the back of his hand, Takaya then made a step forward in a gesture of an invitation. “Would you like to come over sometime? We all would love to play catch up with you if you’re up for it.”

“Oh heck yeah! For real?” Izumi was practically bouncing on his feet in excitement already, possibly wanting to come over right on the clock. “If anything, maybe we can do so now while we’re at it?”

“Why of course!” Takaya smiled with glee. “The sooner the better.”

Wait, now? Sure Jin is ecstatic to see Izumi again, and also wondering what he is up to lately. But offering such a sudden invitation, without prior permission from their parental guardian in fact, seems a bit rash of a decision. No way their father would be enthused having them bring a stranger over on the first day, dropping by unannounced.

“Hang on,” Jin put the brake on the subject while turning toward Takaya with a firm statement. “Should this be something to get permission from Shuji first? He may not be fond of the idea if we just have a friend drop by unannounced after school.”

Takaya rolled his eyes at that, showing he is, in fact, not particularly fond of Jin’s pessimistic nature. “Jin, come on now. Why would father say no to inviting a friend over at the last minute? Besides, it’s rather easier to ask for forgiveness than getting permission. So no harm no foul.”

“No harm—? Are you…?”

“Hey look,” Izumi made a soft tone and a wave to get the brothers’ attention. “If we can’t do it today that’s cool too. Uhh… I may not know much about your pops or whoever, so if he’s that strict of a guy…”

“Oh no, he’s not strict by any means,” Takaya came to reassure him. “In fact, he’s a doting character. He loves meeting new people.”

“I still believe we should let him know ahead of time regardless. I’m not having us get in trouble for something like this.” Jin again pampered on the idea, as Takaya hummed on that thought.

“Hmm, well, then I suppose you can call our father on our way there to let him know then. There, problem solved.”

Jin only gave a soft glare in response, surely informing the brother he’s not very enthused by that answer. If anything, Takaya is the one who opened up to the invitation idea. Takaya then sighed vocally with a sign of distress and defeat.

“Ok, fine! I’ll call him. Sheesh, and I have to do the basic task…”

“It’s your idea after all, so it’s only fair you call.” As harsh that may be, Jin really shouldn't feel like the responsible one out of the two. With Takaya older and usually the kind to have such odd ideas, he should’ve expected him to take up the more prominent role at least.

While they got approval from Ikutsuki via phone call, they made their way over to their dorms, with Izumi already notifying his adoptive mother about his whereabouts so he doesn’t worry her. While he would get a chance to meet Ikutsuki and a couple others that reside in the dorms, it’ll be some other time before getting to meet their sister.

“Oh, and this must be the friend.” Ikutsuki saw the three entering through the door as he got up to introduce himself, who then looked over to his two sons in wonder who would be introducing the friend to him. However this would be played, it clearly doesn’t matter. “And this is?”

Takaya smiled fondly as he placed a hand on the friend’s shoulder. “This is Izumi Ushitani, he’s a childhood friend of ours back at the orphanage. Perhaps you may recall us talking about him before.”

Izumi gave a bit of a smile of his own as he gave a bow of respect to the chairman. “It’s an honor sir. I never thought I’d see these guys again, but honestly, I’m glad to see them lively and well. I can tell you took great care of them.”

“Oh please,” Ikutuki made a delighted smile with a simple wave. He was very humble by the response. “No need to be so formal about it. I’m just glad my sons were able to find a very good friend to bond with, old or new. Oh, come, sit! We should definitely discuss over a nice hot beverage. Would you like some tea? I got some jasmine, I got earl gray… oh and dragon pearl! I also have green and black if you prefer…”

While Izumi walked alongside Ikutsuki to answer his ongoing question, Takaya slowed his pace to be right next to Jin. “Do you think father is getting ecstatic over our friend here? I’ve never seen him this excited with a guest brought over before.”

He can see what he meant by that, as Jin tilted his head watching the two coming over to the kitchen with their heightened personality flourishing with one another. The brothers then slowly reached the lounge area by the time he figured it out. This hasn’t been something they’ve done before, realizing neither of the two, or even Chidori in fact, had any actual bonded friends in school since they were taken in. He let out a hum in the thought of it, only backtracking so far until he spilled it to Takaya.

“That’s because we didn’t have a friend to bring over before.”

With the fact out in the open, the older brother nodded and smiled that maybe this is a destined encounter to change things up for the better. With the Dark Hour and the tedious tasks of life being thrown at them, it hasn’t been a very fun life for a while. But even then, they try to make the most out of the depressing moments by being a family as they truly are. Now with another person back into their lives, things may be just a little brighter as they hoped. It was then Jin realized: Gekkoukan may not be such a dreadful place after all.

My favourite things about Persuasion (but specifically the movie adaptation of 2007)

I don't remember how they are in the book, because I haven't read it in a few years (and also, I'm a bit wine drunk as I write these and my “A” key is not working)

Anne's family being, like "Anne who?" and every other person ever going  "Anne 😍😍😍"

"Is she married Mr Shepperd?"

People being like, Frederick was briefly engaged to a girl in Kensington eight years ago and Anne and Frederick knew each other when Marry was at school (eight years ago) and we think Lady Russel persuaded  Anne to not marry Carles and Frederick did a whole speech about not letting one being led to not do something because they are too weak whiled and STILL not connecting the dots

"Now they were as strangers, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted."

Frederick lifting Anne like she weighs nothing more than a couple of grapes

The boys hugging

Frederick introducing everyone and saying, "Miss... Eliot" to what Harville then asks "Miss... Anne Elliot?" with a knowing look

"And yet were they not all written by men?"  (the book line is much more complete, but this one does the trick)

"(...) is that we love longest when all hope is gone." (plus that shared look  across a table of mostly blissfully unaware people)

Just Harville, who loves his stupid dumb friends most dearly

"Time is a great healer, or so I'm told."

Every time Frederick looks at Anne and looks away the moment she looks back, stupid, I love them

That face Frederick makes when Mr Elliot's gaze lingers on Anne

"Who is that gentleman?"

"(...) There is no one so proper, so capable. Louisa needs no other."

Frederick remembering she loathes Bath and looking down kind of disappointed because she is going to move there (then she mentions Lady Russel)

That whole Harville and Frederick scene, where they go on about Frederick accidentally creating an understanding with Louisa, because he was trying to show Anne he was over it (he was not) and having to hide out in his brother's house (who thinks he is a fool)

"Perhaps she is not the only widow in Bath with little to live and no surname of dignity." THE SICKEST BURN IN THIS WHOLE ENTIRE THING

Frederick raving about her and finishing it with "I have never loved any but her"

That whole agonizing moment when the Crofts visit Camden Place and Anne thinks Louisa and Frederick are engaged (they had us in the first half, not gonna lie)

The soft little "Oh" when she learns he is in Bath

Meeting by chance... soft song... soft looks... soft talking, I'm weak

Talking about Harville's sister, but clearly also about Anne (then Mr Elliot enters the room)

Getting this close to pressing his face against the window to watch her go (with some other man)

Anne beelining to him in Pumps Room ("Shall you be staying long in Bath?" "I don't know. That is to say I am not certain... it all depends...")

"There will soon be another marriage in that family if I'm any judge." "Certainly, if the rumours re to be believed." (Frederick proceeds to storm out before the musicians even begging)

Anne running after him ("This first half, at least, not worth staying for?" "No. There is nothing here worth me stying for. Goodnight.")

admiral Croft sending poor Frederick to ask Anne if she needs Kellynch back because she is marrying Mr Elliot, it is killing him and he thinks it's his fault for not coming clean about his feelings sooner

That look he gives her when she informs him that they are utterly misinformed ("Misinformed? Utterly?", the exact opposite of "you can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half")

“Do you remember Lady Russel?” “How could I forget?”

RUNNING TROUGH BaTH

The Note™️: "You pierce my soul. I'm half agony, half hope." "With a heart, even more, your own than when you almost broke it eight years ago." "Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever."

Just barely missing Frederick

Charles babbling fading into the background as they gaze longingly into each other's eyes

That tear before they kiss

Honourable mentions:

"I don't blame you, or myself for having been led by you."

Lady Russel's unimpressed "Wow."

Charles wanting to stay by Anne after she fell

"Dead... quite dead."

Giving Anne a double-take and not giving a single fuck bout Elizabeth

Mr Elliot has no rights, but he has TASTE

That "Of course..." Lady Russel gives Anne when she shares the Louisa x Frederick news

Elizabeth face (😮) when Mr Elliot kisses Anne's hand on the Pumps Rooms(?)

Anne not meeting with Lady Darrimple to meet with Harriet Smith

"As it happens I'm going to Bath tomorrow, perhaps now you'd care to join me." with them laughing and hugging

"I'm no matchmaker, as you well know."

Asking someone's hand in marriage by saying you don't want their name to change is... certainly something (he KNOWS he would be MOST FORTUNaTE IF SHE SaID YES OK)

"Good heavens, its Marry."

"His admiration for you is sincere, as far as it goes." even this awful manipulative man, who thinks of no one but himself, knows Anne is the best and has genuine feelings for her, ugh

HaRVILLE

UMD Video: A History of film on the PSP

The 1990s through to the early 2000s was a frantic time in the development of portable media devices, from mini TVs to CD and cassette players, and of course phones, MP3 players, and video game consoles. By 2010, consumers could take entire libraries of media content wherever they went. Movies and TV shows, however, were relatively late to the party, limited by large file sizes and the bulkiness of laptops and portable DVD players at the time.

Various attempts were made in the late-nineties and early-noughties to bring affordable video-playing devices to the market, including the VideoNow unit that would play kids TV shows in black-and-white. In 2004 Nintendo entered the market in collaboration with 4Kids Entertainment in the form of GBA Video: cartridges that stored episodes from children's shows and even a few movies for playback on the Game Boy Advance. The quality of the footage wasn't great, however, with GBA Video playing in 240x160 resolution—and with a chugging frame rate. Sales weren't great and the format didn't catch on.

Nevertheless, GBA Video did prove that distributors could use the existing install-base of portable game consoles to sell more than just games. Console manufacturers were beginning to realise this too—Nokia's N-Gage was a phone/game console cross-over that could also play video and music, while Nintendo's DS line of devices were marketed as digital planners and cognitive training tools as well as gaming units. Sony, meanwhile, had experience in the multimedia game with their PlayStation 2 home console. The inclusion of the ability to read DVDs was a major coup, giving Sony a big edge over competitors like Sega's Dreamcast.

With the success of the PS2, it was perhaps only natural that Sony would try to replicate this multimedia magic when they entered the portable console space with their PlayStation Portable, launched in December 2004 in Japan, March 2005 in North America, and September 2005 in Europe. Of course, a properly portable device was never going to be big enough to support DVDs, so they had to develop a brand new format that was up to the task. Sony's solution? The Universal Media Disc, or UMD.

***

UMD is a proprietary miniature optical disc format that can hold 1.8GB of data. It came encased in a plastic shield to protect it from knocks and scratches, and was only ever used for the PSP. When the PSP was revealed during Sony's press conference at E3 2004, Kaz Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, stressed that Sony saw this console as a multimedia platform, and that the UMD would support full-length films, branded as UMD Video, as well as games. Trailers for Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy XII: Advent Children were shown playing on a PSP unit, and when the US launch date came, the first 1 million PSP Value Packs (priced at $250) contained a Spider-Man 2 UMD. Masa Chatani, Chief Technology Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, expressed great enthusiasm in media interviews, saying: 'In the U.S. We have already met with the major studios. They pretty much love the PSP and the quality of the UMD.'

Sony announced an initial UMD price range of $19.95 to $28.95, with the lower range applying to movies previously released on DVD, and the higher range for new films launching on UMD and DVD at the same time. Each UMD would contain the full-length movie encoded in 720x480, the same as an average DVD, but this would be scaled down to 480x272 when playing on the PSP's screen. Due to storage constraints (the average DVD could hold 4.7GB of data to the UMD's 1.8GB), special features such as deleted scenes and 'making of' reels would often be completely absent. And unlike PSP games, UMD Videos were region-locked.

Despite these limitations, early signs were encouraging for UMD Video. Within a few months the format could boast 70 available titles in the US and over 500,000 overall sales. Available titles grew to over 200 within half a year, including pornographic titles in Japan, encouraged by the PSP's own strong sales. Two movies released by Sony Pictures, Resident Evil 2 and House of Flying Daggers, passed 100,000 sales within a month—whereas the first DVD to pass that mark, Air Force One, took 9 months. Sony UK chief Ray Maguire said in October 2006 that Sony was 'pretty pleased with UMD,' commenting that it had 'a fantastic attachment rate'.

***

It wasn't long before cracks began to show, however: and that isn't just a reference to the UMD casing's tendency to break, rendering the disc unusable. Film studios and retailers started to express concerns about the format's long-term sales performance. In the US, Wal-Mart and Target had already begun pulling away from UMD Video in early 2006, while anonymous executives from Universal Studios Home Entertainment told the Hollywood Reporter in March 2006: 'It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb, like Blu-ray.' An executive from Paramount similarly said of UMD: 'No one's even breaking even on them.' In response to such criticism, Benjamin Feingold of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment blamed the disappointing sales on people ripping DVDs and then playing them on PSP via the SD card slot.

Sony began teasing an adapter to play UMD on television, and the company continued to show public optimism about the format even as major studios and retailers pulled the plug entirely. PSP senior marketing manager John Koller told Pocket Gamer in June 2007 that: 'The future of movies on UMD is great. We saw a 35 per cent growth year-on-year from 2005 to 2006, which clearly demonstrates a growing interest.' Significantly, sales in Japan had jumped tenfold following major price-cuts. Koller said this was also the result of movie distributors 'calibrating' their UMD offerings to target the PSP's primary user base: males under the age of 25. This helps explain the composition of UMD Video's library, which is heavily weighted towards action, sci-fi, and comedy films.

Despite the positive signals coming from Sony, from 2007 things started to get quieter on the UMD Video front. In part this was down to the industry's growing focus on digital distribution, and while Koller insisted that the digital pivot did not spell the end for UMD, in 2009 Sony launched the digital-only PSP Go model. And, of course, the company scrapped UMD support altogether for its next portable console, the PlayStation Vita.

Nevertheless, the UMD Video library continued to grow steadily. The most complete list online counts over 650 video discs, but the list is missing many known entries, and the real figure may be more in the region of 800. When compared to the 36 cartridges released for GBA Video, UMD Video looks like a runaway success, with far greater support from third parties and a much more diverse library including action films, comedies, TV shows, anime, live music concerts, cinema classics, Chinese hits, horrors, and yes, adult films. All three Matrix films and all eight Harry Potter films were released as UMDs, along with numerous Batman movies, Academy Award-winning masterpieces like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and episodes of popular TV shows such as Doctor Who. ***

Sony Pictures released its last UMD Video discs in 2010, and the final releases overall came from Warner Home Video in 2011 with a full 8-UMD Harry Potter box-set. And with that, so ended the last major attempt at a game console-specific proprietary video format. With so many easy ways to watch video content in our hands today, it is very unlikely that we will see anything like it again.

These discs haven't yet become a major focus in the collecting world, but there are reasons to believe that might change. In 2018 UMD Video entered into the top-10 most-contributed formats on Filmogs. And as the noughties become more distant and the PSP becomes a 'retro' console, I suspect UMD Video will take its proper place as both an interesting oddity and a genuinely intriguing piece of media history.

I have once more (and a very long time ago) been challenged by Ian Sales to join him in our un-named war to come up with the best arbitrary list of films within an equally arbitrarily selected category. You can find previous iterations of this absurdity here, here, here, here, and here. We have, alas, not done this in a long while, which we can both blame on being busy with many other things.

But in the interest of rekindling silliness, I have been loosely challenged by Ian to come up with a list of 10 underrated SF/F films from the last 20 years, which is a direct response to this ScreenRant list. Since this list is in response to a link with a remarkably open prompt, I’ve opted to stick to the 10 item list format. Future challenges will go back to our favorite number:  5.

Ian, of course, has already dropped his list. Go check it out!

With that in mind, the following list of 10 films represent my attempt to put together films that I consider to be overrated. My criteria is fairly simple:

It must be a SF/F film released since 1999.

It must be underrated in the sense that it is underappreciated by the SF/F community or has largely been forgotten. Box office numbers may be part of the equation, but mostly I will go on my own interactions with the SF/F community and sadly arbitrary interpretations of what has been “lost” to everyday discourse.

I literally don’t care if the movies I pick are considered “good” by other people, and so I’ve picked films that I think are interesting for some reason or another. This inevitably means that you will hate my list and wish me to fall into a pit of endless fire.

So, without further adieu, here’s my list:

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)(dir. Makoto Shinkai)

One of my first academic essay publications focused on this film, which should tell you how much I enjoy it. Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho is, in my opinion, Makoto Shinkai’s magnum opus. A story of friendship, betrayal, and love. A story of the Cold War, imperial control, and out of control technology. Shinkai’s method of storytelling is remarkable:  low key and vibrant, emotionally tense and freeing. In a world where Hayao Miyazaki is considered the King of Japanese Animation, Shinkai’s work has sadly not received the appreciation it deserves — Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho especially.

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)(dir. David Twohy)

I strongly considered putting 2000’s Pitch Black here instead, but I think that film, while perhaps a bit underrated today, has received considerable praise. Its sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, however, has often been derided for one reason or another. Unfairly, in my opinion. From its Gothic (with a side of emo) aesthetic to its expansion of the Riddick universe into a sprawling space opera to its total commitment to the gritty, morally ambiguous treasure trove of dirty, grungy themes, places, and characters, The Chronicles of Riddick is easily one of my favorite science fiction films of the last 20-ish years. Plus, the cast is fantastic. This is a hill I’m willing to die on. (Also:  I look forward to checking out Furya and Merc City in the near future!)

Night Watch and Day Watch (2004 and 2006)(dir. Timur Bekmambetov)

I’m counting these as one because it’s my list and I can do what I want. This Russian duology is based on Sergey Lukyanenko urban fantasy novels about the conflict between two supernatural factions who monitor the actions of one another as part of an uneasy truce. Part detective thriller and part dark fantasy, the films pack quite a punch. However, outside of the circuit of foreign film lovers within SF/F, they’ve largely flown under the radar, this despite starring well known Russian actor Konstantin Khabensky. If you’ve never seen these films, you owe it to yourself to watch them, even if for no other reason than to watch someone drive a sports car across the face of an apartment complex!

Sunshine (2007)(dir. Danny Boyle)

I considered putting Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later here instead, but I don’t think that film is actually all that underrated even if it doesn’t get as much play today as it did a decade ago. Sunshine, however, has spent most of its existence floating between general praise for its visuals and premise and general dislike for its second act. And, yes, it is a spectacularly gorgeous film, but that second act is, in my opinion, far more interesting than most people are willing to admit. Turning a space thriller into a horror film as a commentary on the paradoxical frailty and strength of the human spirit is, in my opinion, a gutsy move. For me, that move pays off, and it’s one of the reasons I think this film has remained underrated. It doesn’t follow the pattern these stories usually follow. It’s basically Armageddon if that film took itself seriously and Rockhound actually went insane. And that makes it an infinitely more interesting film.

Upgrade (2018)(dir. Leigh Whannell)

If you didn’t get a chance to see Upgrade, you’re missing out. This sleeper scifi action thriller had some of the most compelling fight choreography and shot compositions of 2018, and yet it flew under the radar. I had the good fortune to see the film in theaters; the experience did not disappoint. Much of the fight choreography relied on some impressive camera trickery to follow the lead actor’s movements, giving the entire film a robotic and wonky feel. It’s truly exciting to watch, and I wish more people had had the opportunity to do so in an actual theater. Because it’s gorgeous on the big screen!

Push (2009)(dir. Paul McGuigan)

I will watch almost anything with Djimon Hounsou in it. Push is one of those forgotten little films that takes a less in-your-face approach to the whole super powers concept. In this world, people with powers are test subjects or hidden in plain sight, monitored by a nefarious organization with equally nefarious intents. By comparison to the typical superhero film we have today, Push is quite restrained, relishing in the quirks and trickery of its list of powers and giving actors like Dakota Fanning the space to place (watching her drunkenly stumble around is kinda fun). It’s an imperfect film to be sure, but one that I still love.

Hulk (2003)(dir. Ang Lee)

I’m going to catch hell for this, but Ang Lee’s Hulk is one of my favorite superhero movies to date. I even prefer it to that other Hulk film by a long mile. Lee does give us some of the stuff you expect from a superhero film (big fight scenes and visual spectacle), but I particularly love the softer focus on Banner and his mental state. It feels more like a film that is trying to say something about human nature than a film stuck in an endless action sequence or caught up in villainy for the sake of villainy. For me, that means the film takes more chances with its performance and themes. And I’m always more compelled by the film that tries to do something interesting and failed than I am by the alternative.

Another Earth (2011)(dir. Mike Cahill)

Independent cinema has a tendency to produce some truly introspective and powerful films. Another Earth is no exception. A film about loss, guilty, love, and second chances, Another Earth‘s science fiction premise (a mirror Earth) is really just background, offering an opportunity in the conclusion and lending weight to the central thematic of loss and guilt as the romance between the protagonists comes head-to-head with a secret that threatens to tear them apart. The narrative is at times quite haunting, but it also commands us to think more deeply about what it means to seek forgiveness, to seek second chances, to live with loss, and so on. And if you like this one, Sound of My Voice (2011) is a far creepier film about cults that also stars Brit Marling!

Dredd (2012)(dir. Pete Travis)

We will never get an adaptation of Judge Dredd that is as good as 2012’s Dredd. A vicious, unrelenting and dark film, Dredd is one of those films that desperately deserves more credit than it has thus far received. Karl Urban’s performance is textbook perfection, and Travis’ direction gives this a brutally honest tone. And unlike its predecessor adaptation, Dredd isn’t endlessly mockable; instead, it is a visually arresting satire that makes most action thrillers look tame. There are few films on this list that I would say are perfect. Dredd is one of them.

The Cat Returns (2002)(dir. Hiroyuki Morita)

Studio Ghibli gets a lot of well-deserved love for its many Hayao Miyazaki films (my favorite Miyazaki is actually Mononoke Hime / Princess Mononoke). But one film the studio doesn’t get enough credit for is the utterly delightful Neko no Ongaeshi / The Cat Returns (or The Cat’s Repayment). It’s an Alice in Wonderland type tale (or tail, heh) about a young girl who gets sucked into the secret world of cats. Calling this film delightful is an understatement. It is downright adorable, and it has been sadly overshadowed by Ghibli’s many other exceptional productions. But if you’re looking for a cute (and sometimes hilarious) fantasy adventure involving talking cats, The Cat Returns is the film for you.

And that’s it. That’s my list. I could add many other films here, but I’ve limited myself to ten.

Now for a challenge to Ian and anyone else who wants to take it:  pick your five favorite films featuring talking animals! Go!

It's time for another #FilmChallenge. @ian_sales challenged me to come up with 10 underrated SF/F films released between 1999 and 2019. So here's my list! :D I have once more (and a very long time ago) been challenged by Ian Sales to join him in our un-named war to come up with the best arbitrary list of films within an equally arbitrarily selected category.

The Book No One Read

Why Stanislaw Lem’s futurism deserves attention.

I remember well the first time my certainty of a bright future evaporated, when my confidence in the panacea of technological progress was shaken. It was in 2007, on a warm September evening in San Francisco, where I was relaxing in a cheap motel room after two days covering The Singularity Summit, an annual gathering of scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs discussing the future obsolescence of human beings.            

                   In math, a “singularity” is a function that takes on an infinite value, usually to the detriment of an equation’s sense and sensibility. In physics, the term usually refers to a region of infinite density and infinitely curved space, something thought to exist inside black holes and at the very beginning of the Big Bang. In the rather different parlance of Silicon Valley, “The Singularity” is an inexorably-approaching event in which humans ride an accelerating wave of technological progress to somehow create superior artificial intellects—intellects which with predictable unpredictability then explosively make further disruptive innovations so powerful and profound that our civilization, our species, and perhaps even our entire planet are rapidly transformed into some scarcely imaginable state. Not long after The Singularity’s arrival, argue its proponents, humanity’s dominion over the Earth will come to an end.            

                   I had encountered a wide spectrum of thought in and around the conference. Some attendees overflowed with exuberance, awaiting the arrival of machines of loving grace to watch over them in a paradisiacal post-scarcity utopia, while others, more mindful of history, dreaded the possible demons new technologies could unleash. Even the self-professed skeptics in attendance sensed the world was poised on the cusp of some massive technology-driven transition. A typical conversation at the conference would refer at least once to some exotic concept like whole-brain emulation, cognitive enhancement, artificial life, virtual reality, or molecular nanotechnology, and many carried a cynical sheen of eschatological hucksterism: Climb aboard, don’t delay, invest right now, and you, too, may be among the chosen who rise to power from the ashes of the former world!            

                   Over vegetarian hors d’oeuvres and red wine at a Bay Area villa, I had chatted with the billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who planned to adopt an “aggressive” strategy for investing in a “positive” Singularity, which would be “the biggest boom ever,” if it doesn’t first “blow up the whole world.” I had talked with the autodidactic artificial-intelligence researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky about his fears that artificial minds might, once created, rapidly destroy the planet. At one point, the inventor-turned-proselytizer
 Ray Kurzweil teleconferenced in to discuss,
among other things, his plans for becoming transhuman, transcending his own biology to 
achieve some sort of
 eternal life. Kurzweil
 believes this is possible, 
even probable, provided he can just live to see
 The Singularity’s dawn, 
which he has pegged at 
sometime in the middle of the 21st century. To this end, he reportedly consumes some 150 vitamin supplements a day.                           

                   Returning to my motel room exhausted each night, I unwound by reading excerpts from an old book, Summa Technologiae. The late Polish author Stanislaw Lem had written it in the early 1960s, setting himself the lofty goal of forging a secular counterpart to the 13th-century Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas’s landmark compendium exploring the foundations and limits of Christian theology. Where Aquinas argued for the certainty of a Creator, an immortal soul, and eternal salvation as based on scripture, Lem concerned himself with the uncertain future of intelligence and technology throughout the universe, guided by the tenets of modern science.            

                   To paraphrase Lem himself, the book was an investigation of the thorns of technological roses that had yet to bloom. And yet, despite Lem’s later observation that “nothing ages as fast as the future,” to my surprise most of the book’s nearly half-century-old prognostications concerned the very same topics I had encountered during my days at the conference, and felt just as fresh. Most surprising of all, in subsequent conversations I confirmed my suspicions that among the masters of our technological universe gathered there in San Francisco to forge a transhuman future, very few were familiar with the book or, for that matter, with Lem. I felt like a passenger in a car who discovers a blindspot in the central focus of the driver’s view.            

                   Such blindness was, perhaps, understandable. In 2007, only fragments of Summa Technologiae had appeared in English, via partial translations undertaken independently by the literary scholar Peter Swirski and a German software developer named Frank Prengel. These fragments were what I read in the motel. The first complete English translation, by the media researcher Joanna Zylinska, only appeared in 2013. By Lem’s own admission, from the start the book was a commercial and a critical failure that “sank without a trace” upon its first appearance in print. Lem’s terminology and dense, baroque style is partially to blame—many of his finest points were made in digressive parables, allegories, and footnotes, and he coined his own neologisms for what were, at the time, distinctly over-the-horizon fields. In Lem’s lexicon, virtual reality was “phantomatics,” molecular nanotechnology was “molectronics,” cognitive enhancement was “cerebromatics,” and biomimicry and the creation of artificial life was “imitology.” He had even coined a term for search-engine optimization, a la Google: “ariadnology.” The path to advanced artificial intelligence he called the “technoevolution” of “intellectronics.”            

                   Even now, if Lem is known at all to the vast majority of the English-speaking world, it is chiefly for his authorship of Solaris, a popular 1961 science-fiction novel that spawned two critically acclaimed film adaptations, one by Andrei Tarkovsky and another by Steven Soderbergh. Yet to say the prolific author only wrote science fiction would be foolishly dismissive. That so much of his output can be classified as such is because so many of his intellectual wanderings took him to the outer frontiers of knowledge.            

                   Lem was a polymath, a voracious reader who devoured not only the classic literary canon, but also a plethora of research journals, scientific periodicals, and popular books by leading researchers. His genius was in standing on the shoulders of scientific giants to distill the essence of their work, flavored with bittersweet insights and thought experiments that linked their mathematical abstractions to deep existential mysteries and the nature of the human condition. For this reason alone, reading Lem is an education, wherein one may learn the deep ramifications of breakthroughs such as Claude Shannon’s development of information theory, Alan Turing’s work on computation, and John von Neumann’s exploration of game theory. Much of his best work entailed constructing analyses based on logic with which anyone would agree, then showing how these eminently reasonable premises lead to astonishing conclusions. And the fundamental urtext for all of it, the wellspring from which the remainder of his output flowed, is Summa Technologiae.            

                   The core of the book is a heady mix of evolutionary biology, thermodynamics—the study of energy flowing through a system—and cybernetics, a diffuse field pioneered in the 1940s by Norbert Wiener studying how feedback loops can automatically regulate the behavior of machines and organisms. Considering a planetary civilization this way, Lem posits a set of feedbacks between the stability of a society and its degree of technological development. In its early stages, Lem writes, the development of technology is a self-reinforcing process that promotes homeostasis, the ability to maintain stability in the face of continual change and increasing disorder. That is, incremental advances in technology tend to progressively increase a society’s resilience against disruptive environmental forces such as pandemics, famines, earthquakes, and asteroid strikes. More advances lead to more protection, which promotes more advances still.                           

                   And yet, Lem argues, that same technology-driven positive feedback loop is also an Achilles heel for planetary civilizations, at least for ours here on Earth. As advances in science and technology accrue and the pace of discovery continues its acceleration, our society will approach an “information barrier” beyond which our brains—organs blindly, stochastically shaped by evolution for vastly different purposes—can no longer efficiently interpret and act on the deluge of information.            

                   Past this point, our civilization should reach the end of what has been a period of exponential growth in science and technology. Homeostasis will break down, and without some major intervention, we will collapse into a “developmental crisis” from which we may never fully recover. Attempts to simply muddle through, Lem writes, would only lead to a vicious circle of boom-and-bust economic bubbles as society meanders blindly down a random, path-dependent route of scientific discovery and technological development. “Victories, that is, suddenly appearing domains of some new wonderful activity,” he writes, “will engulf us in their sheer size, thus preventing us from noticing some other opportunities—which may turn out to be even more valuable in the long run.”            

                   Lem thus concludes that if our technological civilization is to avoid falling into decay, human obsolescence in one form or another is unavoidable. The sole remaining option for continued progress would then be the “automatization of cognitive processes” through development of algorithmic “information farms” and superhuman artificial intelligences. This would occur via a sophisticated plagiarism, the virtual simulation of the mindless, brute-force natural selection we see acting in biological evolution, which, Lem dryly notes, is the only technique known in the universe to construct philosophers, rather than mere philosophies.            

The result is a disconcerting paradox, which Lem expresses early in the book: To maintain control of our own fate, we must yield our
agency to minds exponentially more powerful than our own, created through processes we cannot entirely understand, and hence potentially unknowable to us. This is the basis for Lem’s explorations of The Singularity, and in describing its consequences he reaches many conclusions that most of its present-day acolytes would share. But there is a difference between the typical modern approach and Lem’s, not in degree, but in kind.

                   Unlike the commodified futurism now so common in the bubble-worlds of Silicon Valley billionaires, Lem’s forecasts weren’t really about seeking personal enrichment from market fluctuations, shiny new gadgets, or simplistic ideologies of “disruptive innovation.” In Summa Technologiae and much of his subsequent work, Lem instead sought to map out the plausible answers to questions that today are too often passed over in silence, perhaps because they fail to neatly fit into any TED Talk or startup business plan: Does technology control humanity, or does humanity control technology? Where are the absolute limits for our knowledge and our achievement, and will these boundaries be formed by the fundamental laws of nature or by the inherent limitations of our psyche? If given the ability to satisfy nearly any material desire, what is it that we actually would want?            

                   Lem’s explorations of these questions are dominated by his obsession with chance, the probabilistic tension between chaos and order as an arbiter of human destiny. He had a deep appreciation for entropy, the capacity for disorder to naturally, spontaneously arise and spread, cursing some while sparing others. It was an appreciation born from his experience as a young man in Poland before, during, and after World War II, where he saw chance’s role in the destruction of countless dreams, and where, perhaps by pure chance alone, his Jewish heritage did not result in his death. “We were like ants bustling in an anthill over which the heel of a boot is raised,” he wrote in Highcastle, an autobiographical memoir. “Some saw its shadow, or thought they did, but everyone, the uneasy included, ran about their usual business until the very last minute, ran with enthusiasm, devotion—to secure, to appease, to tame the future.” From the accumulated weight of those experiences, Lem wrote in the New Yorker in 1986, he had “come to understand the fragility that all systems have in common,” and “how human beings behave under extreme conditions—how their behavior when they are under enormous pressure is almost impossible to predict.”            

                   To Lem (and, to their credit, a sizeable number of modern thinkers), the Singularity is less an opportunity than a question mark, a multidimensional crucible in which humanity’s future will be forged.            

                   I couldn’t help thinking of Lem’s question mark that summer in 2007. Within and around the gardens surrounding the neoclassical Palace of Fine Arts Theater where the Singularity Summit was taking place, dark and disruptive shadows seemed to loom over the plans and aspirations of the gathered well-to-do. But they had precious little to do with malevolent superintelligences or runaway nanotechnology. Between my motel and the venue, panhandlers rested along the sidewalk, or stood with empty cups at busy intersections, almost invisible to everyone. Walking outside during one break between sessions, I stumbled across a homeless man defecating between two well-manicured bushes. Even within the context of the conference, hints of desperation sometimes tinged the not-infrequent conversations about raising capital; the subprime mortgage crisis was already unfolding that would, a year later, spark the near-collapse of the world’s financial system. While our society’s titans of technology were angling for advantages to create what they hoped would be the best of all possible futures, the world outside reminded those who would listen that we are barely in control even today.                         

                   I attended two more Singularity Summits, in 2008 and 2009, and during that three-year period, all the much-vaunted performance gains in various technologies seemed paltry against a more obvious yet less-discussed pattern of accelerating change: the rapid, incessant growth in global ecological degradation, economic inequality, and societal instability. Here, forecasts tend to be far less rosy than those for our future capabilities in information technology. They suggest, with some confidence, that when and if we ever breathe souls into our machines, most of humanity will not be dreaming of transcending their biology, but of fresh water, a full belly, and a warm, safe bed. How useful would a superintelligent computer be if it was submerged by storm surges from rising seas or dis- connected from a steady supply of electricity? Would biotech-boosted personal longevity be worthwhile in a world ravaged by armed, angry mobs of starving, displaced people? More than once I have wondered why so many high technologists are more concerned by as- yet-nonexistent threats than the much more mundane and all-too-real ones literally right before their eyes.            

                   Lem was able to speak to my experience of the world outside the windows of the Singularity conference. A thread of humanistic humility runs through his work, a hard-gained certainty that technological development too often takes place only in service of our most primal urges, rewarding individual greed over the common good. He saw our world as exceedingly fragile, contingent upon a truly astronomical number of coincidences, where the vagaries of the human spirit had become the most volatile variables of all.            

                   It is here that we find Lem’s key strength as a futurist. He refused to discount human nature’s influence on transhuman possibilities, and believed that the still-incomplete task of understanding our strengths and weaknesses as human beings was a crucial prerequisite for all speculative pathways to any post-Singularity future. Yet this strength also leads to what may be Lem’s great weakness, one which he shares with today’s hopeful transhumanists: an all-too-human optimism that shines through an otherwise-dispassionate darkness, a fervent faith that, when faced with the challenge of a transhuman future, we will heroically plunge headlong into its depths. In Lem’s view, humans, as imperfect as we are, shall always strive to progress and improve, seeking out all that is beautiful and possible rather than what may be merely convenient and profitable, and through this we may find salvation. That we might instead succumb to complacency, stagnation, regression, and extinction is something he acknowledges but can scarcely countenance. In the end, Lem, too, was seduced—though not by quasi-religious notions of personal immortality, endless growth, or cosmic teleology, but instead by the notion of an indomitable human spirit.            

                   Like many other ideas from Summa Technologiae, this one finds its best expression in one of Lem’s works of fiction, his 1981 novella Golem XIV, in which a self-programming military supercomputer that has bootstrapped itself into sentience delivers a series of lectures critiquing evolution and humanity. Some would say it is foolish to seek truth in fiction, or to draw equivalence between an imaginary character’s thoughts and an author’s genuine beliefs, but for me the conclusion is inescapable. When the novella’s artificial philosopher makes its pronouncements through a connected vocoder, it is the human voice of Lem that emerges, uttering a prophecy of transcendence that is at once his most hopeful—and perhaps, in light of trends today, his most erroneous:            

                   “I feel that you are entering an age of metamorphosis; that you will decide to cast aside your entire history, your entire heritage and all that remains of natural humanity—whose image, magnified into beautiful tragedy, is the focus of the mirrors of your beliefs; that you will advance (for there is no other way), and in this, which for you is now only a leap into the abyss, you will find a challenge, if not a beauty; and that you will proceed in your own way after all, since in casting off man, man will save himself.”            

Freelance writer Lee Billings is the author of Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars.  

 https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-book-no-one-read       

Summa Technologiae  https://publicityreform.github.io/findbyimage/readings/lem.pdf

New federal food guide may be 'out of reach' for most Canadians: report

The fruit-and-vegetable-heavy fare touted in the new federal food guide may be too expensive -- or perhaps just not enticing enough -- to easily form the basis of most Canadians' diets, a new report suggests.

Researchers at Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph found over 52 per cent of consumers surveyed said they face barriers in adopting the guide's recommendations.

More than 26 per cent of people cited affordability, with others blaming taste preferences, lack of free time, dietary and cultural restrictions and a lack of availability in their area.

The survey generally found a lack of reliance on Canada's Food Guide for advice, though 74 per cent of respondents were aware of its 2019 upgrade.

The guide ranked as the sixth most popular source of nutrition information among respondents, following friends and family, social media, magazines and cookbooks.

"I would say that many Canadians are struggling with the concept of how the food guide, the plate they see on the pamphlet, connects with their own reality and frankly, Canadian agriculture," said Sylvain Charlebois, a food researcher at Dalhousie and lead author on the report.

"It's great to celebrate this ideal but if it's out of reach, if many Canadians feel it's out of reach, how good is it?"

Using a series of test plates, researchers found that switching from the 2007 food guide to the 2019 upgrade would save an average Canadian family of four 6.8 per cent on annual food costs.

But that number is not predicted to stay stable.

The report cautioned that Canadians' rapidly changing diets, fluctuating food costs and availability of produce could make the new recommendations less affordable over the next few years.

The number of vegans, vegetarians and "flexitarians" -- people consciously eating less meat -- is on the rise in Canada, now totalling at around 6.5 million people, a group roughly the same size as the population of the Greater Toronto Area.

The report detailed how fruit and vegetable prices are increasing faster than the price of meats.

If the trend continues as more people cut meat from their diets and turn to plant-based proteins, demand for and price of fruits and vegetables could increase further. That could price people out of the food guide's suggested diet.

While a lot can change in the world economy over two years, Charlebois said the projections spell trouble for future food security in Canada, where most produce is imported and prices fluctuate.

"Over time, we do believe that there's going to be an increasing number of Canadian households that will become food insecure, if they are to follow the new food guide," Charlebois said.

Health Canada said the department welcomes the researchers' study and is currently reviewing it.

It said Canadians had complained they had trouble following the recommended servings and sizes in the previous guide, and that the cost of food was considered in the revision.

"This is why the new Food Guide is less prescriptive -- talking about proportions rather than portions -- and its recommendations can be adapted to different dietary preferences," it said in a statement.

It also noted the guide is just one of many components of approaching healthy eating.

"The findings of the study could potentially help inform our efforts to promote broad awareness and use of the Food Guide among Canadians," it said.

Charlebois said the science-based guide should be reviewed more frequently, drawing from the expertise of economists, sociologists and historians to better reflect the realities people face when building their diets.

Working with the agriculture sector is also important, Charlebois said, in order to assess whether Canada's production capacity lines up with what the food guide recommends people eat.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/2TS4iNM

THE CLIMATE This week ahead of preparations for the World Cup Sampaoli has released a preliminary squad of 35 players. As is our custom in the football world, the players he has chosen and those he has omitted have generated a lot of opinions from fans and pundits alike. But I would like to explore the climate the national team finds itself in first before jumping into that. The atmosphere around the players is crucial before this tournament. Our victories and failures in Russia will go a long way in reshaping  the team’s image, or furthering its reputation of being “pecho frios.” We’ve seen how discord within a squad has imploded before in the form of France in 2010. They had arguably some of the best talents football had to offer that year. On paper they could have easily topped their group, or finish second at least. Instead, they finished 4th with just one point, behind South Africa, the host nation, and suffered a humiliating early exit from the tournament. We aren’t used to that.Things are always different for us. Morale is usually high before a World Cup for Argentina, but as I mentioned in my previous article, expectations are at an all time low for the albicelestes. It isn't simply because we lost three finals in a row either. We've lost consecutive Copa America finals to Brazil in 2004 and 2007; we still went to South Africa in 2010 with an attitude, as if we were going to school everyone and lift the trophy. Our slogan was “Last stop:Glory.” the prospect of Maradona on the sideline as our coach, coupled with Messi’s genius on the pitch gave all of us wet dreams of 2 international icons coming together to gift their homeland another accolade. Nothing could stop us from dreaming, not even the dreadful memory of losing to Brazil. I wouldn't dare blame it on a difficult qualifying campaign either. In 2009 it took a last minute goal from Palermo to keep our hopes alive in qualifying, and still, as previously mentioned, we went to South Africa as if we would school everyone. Whether it was just confidence oozing out of our pores, wishful thinking, or a complete lack of humility, Argentina is usually confident that the trophy will be theirs when it’s all said and done regardless of what their form was in qualifying. It is quite ironic though that such confidence has eroded us while we still have arguably the greatest player of all times captaining the squad. How do we not feel invincible with Messi on our side? Many have already blamed him for the trophy drought that becomes a little more unbearable year after year, but the truth is we are unsuccessful in spite of what he brings to the team, not because he fails to give his best in every game as some would suggest. In my opinion, it would be ridiculous and almost criminal to blame him for our hopes and dreams being so limited ahead of the tournament this time around. We even experienced a bit of magic with la pulga in qualifying last year that would have fueled our arrogance  under normal circumstances. He gave us life, he made us scream at the top of our lungs when it mattered most, and he made us feel that everything was going to be okay when all hope seemed to have been lost heading into our last qualifying game on our way to Russia. Ecuador was our last game, our must win. We had exhausted every chance of qualifying early. We couldn’t afford any more excuses, yet 40 seconds into the match we had already conceded a goal. It was an assault on our already frail spirits; we were all dreading that the remaining 89 minutes would be spent in agony, but thanks to Messi this wasn’t the case. La pulga answered with a hattrick. Each goal was a carbon copy of its predecessor. They all started with his tiny boots spriting rapidly pass the defense at the top of the box, tapping into the ball every other millisecond to help it glide on a poorly maintained pitch, and before you could catch your breath from the magic of seeing the ball stick to his boot practically like a siamese twin, he’d let it fly into a top corner just to taunt the goalkeeper. He couldn’t be responsible for our failure, he’s part of the solution, he’s our only giant killer. Controversy surrounding the players is certainly a factor one would consider. Rumors that Icardi would not be called up were put to rest as he was named among the strikers for this preliminary squad. many were and are still offended by his history with his ex-teammate's wife.  Suspicions also linked his absence in the national team with a lack of chemistry and friendship with Messi. Perhaps our captain was worried about the sanctity and security of his own marriage, but even Maradona’s doping scandal in 1994 could not bring down the AFA’s prestigious institution, so really the reason for such a hectic climate is down to us finally accepting reality. Why were we always such hot favorites every World Cup year despite not lifting the title since ‘86? In comparison, many won’t even speculate if we will make it passed the group stage this year when we were finalists in the very last edition. Is it our way of thinking that has changed? Getting trashed by spain 6-1 in a friendly  was perhaps the wake up call we needed to finally accept that reality and ditch our overconfidence for more practical reasoning. We did the same things over and over again, expecting different results, and still remained cocky after falling short of our goals. That's the attitude that saw a player like Riquelme not lift a major trophy with Argentina. Our current climate is that of uncertainty and hope. It is us crossing all of our fingers and toes for a chance to see Messi finally accomplish what some considered destiny ever since his debut on the world stage. It’s a climate that finally recognizes that we aren’t invincible. The digital world has changed everything. The narrative about just any subject shifts in as short a time period as our attention span in the current world. The pressure grows with every tweet, every reblog of all our short comings, and every satirical video of us bottling finals. Our expectations are no longer built on a mountain with reputation as the only valid argument at its core. All albiceleste fans can finally express their opinions at the same time, and not just be silenced or abandoned for a media narrative. And if you ask me, that is a good thing for Argentina, Sampaoli, and Messi. We no longer have to operate from the point of view that we are the greatest. We can finally humble ourselves and admit that our old formula is failing. We have been slacking and it is time we reclaim our greatness by adapting to reality and changing accordingly.