#I just think it’s more on the scale of the. general mischaracterization that comes with a fandom of this size

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Do you think you could do like a characterization of the Familers?

Everytime I try to think about their personalities and how they would interact with each other, or M6, or Mc I just feel like I don't get it right. Like I've got like the very basics but that's like it

Malak is a crazy

Chandra is spoiled

Faust is a wildcard

Ianna is protective

Pepi is energetic

Idk Lucio’s familars ( i cant spell one of their names) but they are kinda like wild dogs, they do whatever they want

EVEN THEN, I still feel like some of these are wrong or don't cover most of their character or I'm mischaracterizing them on accident.

Could you maybe do some more Familers mini headcannons?

Like what do the Familers do when M6 is sad?

What do they do when Mc is sad?

How do they interact with each other on a day to day bases?

( I think you might have done one of these actually )

But I have more

What do they do when M6 or/and MC gets hurt?

What do they typically do during the day and/or What do they do when they aren't with M6?

How would they respond if M6/Mc was in a dangerous situation/attacked | How are they when M6/Mc is ill?

Some of these are probably answers in their routes but it's hard to remember/recall. I do wish they were in their respective routes just a little bit more than they are so I could get a could grasp of their personalities.

What I really want is just like a written out basis of what they are like? I don't even need the Mini headcannons ( but I do like them) Their personalities is just what I have a hard time grasping because it not like right in front of me or I'm not constantly reminded of it like the Li’s that I just forget or mischaracterize them.

So if you ever have the time and or patience, I would love if you could just write about their personalities or just more about them in general. They are right hand to the Li’s and I love them so much and I tried using the wiki but I don't trust it because apparently some of the info is just flat-out wrong. I love reading you headcannons and mini headcannons because I feel like you do the Li’s justice and this account is keeping the Arcana fandom alive. I'm very sorry that this is a really long ask and my grammar my be wrong in some areas.

I'd like to thank you if you've read through everything. I hope you keep making Arcana content in the future as me and many others really do enjoy your content and takes on the characters.

-🃏

Hi friend!! I hope you're ready for the full scale essay under the cut XD

(also, you are more than welcome to request some mini-hcs with the M6's familiars - please feel free to submit them individually so I can sort and try to answer them ^.^)

The devs don't go hugely into detail about how familiars work, exactly, but here's what we know: First, how in-tune to magic you are does affect how involved your bond is, but people still have familiars whether or not they have a lot of magical ability. Second, the bond makes the most sense if you think of it as being similar to a "soulmates AU" setup. The person and animal involved have a natural connection with the potential for a full-fledged familiar bond, but how that manifests changes depending on the effort and type of bonding that happens.

There's also a consistent pattern when it comes to vibes and personality, with the familiars being very similar to their respective humans. I'll go familiar by familiar from here ^.^

Malak:

Julian and Malak are (unfortunately) not very in touch with each other. Julian doesn't speak of him much beyond referring to him as "the raven", and while it's clear that they're more in sync than the average human and animal would be, Julian tends to find it more uncanny than comforting. Malak, in turn, tends to get quickly annoyed by this when his genuine attempts to help and protect and connect get consistently thwarted. He shares Julian's values and habits, constantly keeping watch (anxiously or otherwise) over his person and the people important to him, and often flying beak-first into situations that seem out of control with little regard for his own well being. Malak and Julian have the capacity to cover each other's blind spots. Julian is quicker at analyzing and navigating social situations that sometimes send the bird into a frenzy, while Malak is aware of magical happenings that Julian is completely blind to.

The two of them share an anxiety about the world being a constantly dangerous place and noble mindset focused around doing the right thing and protecting the people they love. The big difference is that Malak doesn't doubt his own abilities - as generally anxious as he acts with all his ruffling feathers and screeches, the raven doesn't hold himself back because he thinks someone else could do better. If anything, he's often pushing Julian to get over the self-deprecation and join him already. Unfortunately, neither of them has figured out how to listen to each other yet, which means more often than not they just get on each other's nerves. Given MC's ability to help Julian navigate things of a magical nature, they could very easily become the communication bridge between the two.

Faust

It's pretty heavily implied (if not canon) that Faust is the child of Asra's parents' familiars, Chimes and Flamel. She was given to Asra as an egg and hatched on one of their birthdays, and the two have been inseparable ever since. They have an incredibly strong bond, enough for them to send memories to each other, have conversations, communicate across long distances, and even share emotions. Faust loves Asra, herself, and MC almost equally, and in Asra's route she happily becomes MC's companion when Asra isn't around to do so. She also appears to have her own capacity for magic, frequently blipping from one realm to another as she pleases.

The best way (in my head) of describing her vibes are that one honorary younger sibling who is also the instigator best friend. While she's borne witness to Asra's toughest moments, she's received such excellent care and attention that she doesn't seem to have nearly the same levels of trauma - or maturity. Reading about her feels a lot like what I imagine reading about a teenaged Asra with a much kinder life would feel like - whimsical, mischievous, creative, impulsive, unpredictable, and carefree to the point of recklessness. She's still learning what it means to have limits (re: going off on an unannounced adventure, only to be caught and held hostage by the Devil) but when push comes to shove she's suprisingly dependable (re: sabotaging the ritual, right under the Devil's nose).

Due to her being so accessible to MC's character, she has a level of plot influence and general content that comes closer to a main character than the other familiars. It gives fan work more content to work with, but also less space to take its own creative liberty.

Chandra

Chandra is always hovering, and yet rarely directly involved. We know that Nadia used to be able to speak with her similarly to how Asra speaks with Faust, but she doesn't remember how. There's a wall between the two of them that they both seem to want to breach, but given the circumstances, they just haven't found the time and resources to do it yet. However, it's clear that they know how important they are to each other - Chandra seems to live at Nadia's beck and call, despite seeming so distant, and Nadia dedicates much of her personal time and interests to caring for her. They rely heavily on each other as allies in uncertain times (re: Nadia trusting Chandra in multiple routes to be her eyes and ears and carry her most important messages).

Chandra certainly has Nadia's independence, initiative, and desire for companionship. She's often seen on alert on the fringes and ready to step in and help take control of chaotic situations. However, where Nadia responds to a desire for companionship by initiating connection, Chandra is more reserved. She's present, she's paying attention, but she's not actively connecting until she's invited. She, like Nadia, has become accustomed to living in a Palace filled with with intrigue and uncertain loyalties, and it plays out in her reticence. She's much more likely to communicate interest by watching intently from a distance than by approaching and interacting. Over time, if MC is able to help Nadia find the way to communicate with Chandra again, they'll likely become her confidante in her efforts to be a good familiar.

Inanna

The best way to describe her and Muriel is trauma bonded. (Which, given Muriel's past, is arguably the bond that lets him receive the support he needs from her best.) They're both loners, both uninterested in connection until it's proven to be worthwhile, and both deeply distrusting of other people's motives. Inanna is Muriel's breaking point twice. First, when he's expected to kill her in the Coliseum (how they met), and second, when she's horribly injured trying to protect the heart of the forest. Both of those moments with her push Muriel to recognize his priorities and actually act on them. As a result, they have a deep mutual respect for each other - and a stubborn emphasis on still being their own people (or wolf). Muriel refers to her as his friend more easily than as his familiar.

Inanna as a character, however, seems to hold onto some of the traits that Muriel has buried under his trauma. She's more adaptable than he is, quicker to accept change, and considerably more hopeful and optimistic. She's faster to act (often the one prompting Muriel to follow through, when he'd rather continue thinking), and she's nosier. Where Muriel analyzes and then quietly judges while respecting someone's decision, Inanna analyzes and then does her best to assist any kind of good change. Whether that's leading MC to Muriel when he's injured and would rather be left alone, or expressing the affection towards them that he's still trying to hide, she acts like a big sister. Independent, a bit of a bully, fiercely protective, and loyal beyond measurement. She doesn't need to bond with MC through Muriel, she can do that herself.

Pepi

Portia met Pepi on Mazelinka's ship, as she was on her way to hunt down her older brother and beat some sense into him. The two of them bonded instantly, and when the time came for Portia and Mazelinka to part ways, Pepi gave up the life of a ship cat to stay by Portia's side. Portia doesn't seem to be fully aware of Pepi being her familiar and sees her as more of an uncannily well-bonded pet. At least, until her own route, where Pepi learns how to speak. Up until that point Portia just seems to see Pepi more as an unusually intelligent cat that she likes to talk to. The two of them are each other's family, Pepi always ready to lend a helping paw with unruly birds, and Portia always happy to spoil her with snuggles and treats.

Pepi has Portia's optimism, love of mischief, and dauntless attitude. However, they differ somewhat in how they view themselves. While Portia struggles to see herself as the main character of her own story, often fading into the background in order to support someone else, Pepi is more than happy to take center stage. This cat can and will prioritize her own needs and preferences if she thinks nobody else is going to do it, and it often lands her in trouble (re: stealing your heartsong festival gift, seeking out nap places that give her access to forbidden fishies, etc). She's quick to make her own friendships, and when you and Portia start your new life together, she'll consider you one of her family as well. Thanks to her retained ability to speak (upright ending) you'll never have to go without a conversation partner again.

Mercedes & Melchior

Lucio, unfortunately, didn't realize these two were his familiars until after he'd met you. While a large part of his menagerie building was his search for a familiar, he failed to notice how those two in particular were so attached to them. Thankfully, they're never on their own given how closely they stick to each other. Their lack of a strongly developed magical connection with Lucio doesn't really stop them from being able to communicate. They vibe with him on a similar act-first-think-later wavelength, having such little interest in impulse control that it's impossible not to know what they want. All you know is that they're hellbent on accomplishing it and on getting out of whatever consequences they invite with a pair of large, shining puppy eyes.

Besides their impulsiveness and chaotic nature, Mercedes and Melchior share Lucio's tendency to live in the moment and focus on life's pleasures. However, they also have the emotional intelligence and undying loyalty all good dogs do. When Lucio was "dead" they spent three years guarding his wing and trying to find help for him, and when you join him in his search for answers, they'll remain with you and empathize with you regardless of the dangers involved (re: one of them going with Lucio to get help, the other staying next to you and whining when Valdemar has you strapped to a gurney). They instinctively track your emotional state and are often the reason Lucio notices how you're doing as quickly as he does. For all their bratty behavior, their doggy bodies are overflowing with love for the people they care about and nothing makes them happier than being with them. Don't mistake love for respect, though - they take orders from nobody.

[paragonrobits]

so for a while I've had a recurring on again-off again concept for a group of antagonistic characters based on the worst aspects of the powerscaling community; the general concept being a team (at least 5 members, with each having their own combat forces or territory, given the focus on empire building and large scale conflict in my story ideas) of extremely powerful, ruthless and smug powerhouses whose abilities are usually based on a mix of characters overhyped by powerscalers (SPECIFICALLY to the extent of badly mischaracterizing them), the worst extremes of the 'isekai power fantasy' self insert protagonist

and very crucially, the attitudes of the people who make these arguments so unbearable; the One Piece fans who endlessly complain about Luffy's devil fruit being silly and not badass, that constantly argue against a series they hate and only want curbstomp attacks and not clever strategies, as an example, or the Dragon Ball fans that depict Goku as a bloodthirsty brute who kills everyone he encounters for the sheer joy of feeling them die

But i've never really gone anywhere with it for two reasons; firstly, I tend to base these character concepts on deliberately edgy vibes, and that winds up giving them a surprising charm. I really value sincerity, lack of irony and genuine enthusiasm, so characters that are unironically sincere about their aesthetics and tone, even if they're malicious and deliberately edgy about it, feel GENUINE. The second is that my main characters tend to occupy somewhat similar grounds; their aesthetics are heavily inspired by heavy metal and punk sub-cultures, and they're usually contrasted against more prim and proper or cutesy and innocent groups as the 'tough and scary weirdos from the Garbage Realms', because of their monstrous powers and often brutal fights, but they're just so GOOFY and cheerfully weird that there's very little actual spookiness about them.

And since 'deliberately edgy', with the visual aesthetics that implies (so things like Overwatch's Reaper , in the sense of a massively over the top edgelord who treats his visual design with absolute seriousness), that makes them quite close to my characters, and they come off not as much as foils as I might like in this case.

So, as I was doing some creative thoughts earlier, I had an epiphany. The main issue is that my examples and inspirations are actually pretty bland and I don't really have that much to work with. On a certain level this could be a good thing and allow me to make these antagonists a fundamentally shallow group of recurring antagonists who are deliberately lacking in character, but I don't know if I find that appealing. But it made me think about a possible missing piece.

There's a kind of person in paleoart communities, I hear, called awesomebros; they're the sort of people who get really hateful and intense about discoveries and theories about dinosaurs that seem to soften them or 'de-badass'-ify them. The ones who complain REALLY loudly about theropods in general being feathered, birds being surviving dinosaurs (they're the ones that make rants about 'HOW ARE BIRDS SUPPOSED TO BE SCARY') or having evidence of complex social structures; in short, people who resent dinosaurs for apparently not being 'badass' or mindlessly violent movie monsters, but actual animals.

There's a big focus on visual design above all else, a contempt for anything except superficial badass-ness, or acting as if scientific investigation is a personal blight on their childhoods, and this synchs up well enough with certain aspects of powerscaling to give me an idea.

Specifically, this antagonist group being mirrored by both awesomebros and the worst of powerscalers; for the latter, SPECIFICALLY the ones that don't want clever fights or complex characters, they just want a continuous series of brutal curbstomps and painfully one sided fights. They want their favorites to be limitlessly powerful destroyers with no real character, just a vessel of destructive power. So combine that with the awesomebro fixation on badass designs and ferocity over anything else, with a bias against anything soft or complex (both politically and in terms of their actual goals), and you have a possible idea for a group of antagonists.

So, based on this, this suggests a group of antagonists and violently minded conquerors, who excel at combat and mainly use overwhelming power and incredibly brutal attacks, and they just want to win fights as brutally and ferociously as possible, always outdoing their previous records. (So a bit of speedrunner aspects in there, possibly with a similar sense of elitism you can see from time to time.)

They don't conquer territory because they actually want it; some of the other factions may be trying to rebuild civilization after a great collapse, unite existing societies together, or build a home for themselves, but these guys have no real interest in it. They conquer so they have a reason to crush and kill, and they pay very little attention to the results, with their subordinates (less powerful but more world wise) doing the actual management. As such they often serve as antagonists because they want to fight and a given situation and provide that fight, regardless of context; they're powerful and not to be underestimated, but their hostility towards clever plans means that basic strategies are effective against them, and they do HORRIBLY against characters with 'puzzle boss' mechanics or loopholes that must be exploited to penetrate their defenses. All they want is overwhelming power and to make a spectacle of applying it, so a situation where it is inapplicable completely leaves them useless.

They also have a fixation on awesome; baroque designs, monstrous appearances, powerful military capability, and a deliberate emphasis on coolness always gets their respect, even if the recipient isn't happy about it.

They may also be virtual ghosts of a kind; the ones you see when fighting them aren't the 'real' ones; all the members of this team have a power or technique of some kind that allows them to astrally project, manifest an avatar to act through, generate a secondary body through ambient energies, and otherwise their real bodies are somewhere else, directing the ones you see as a very literal metaphor about being shallow characters. (This may also indicate a weakness as well as indicating that this group of characters are entitled bullies who don't have the stomach for actual risk or injury; their projections are functionally balloons. They hit hard and they're tough, but are relatively easy to pop once you get past their defenses, and they REALLY hate this, having frail egos.)

As my main character squad are heavily depicted as incredibly stubborn who have a lot of powers based around increasingly high returns for greater effort and weaponizing injuries to motivate them to pull off victories they objectively shouldn't get, it also makes them an excellent contrast.

[sa7abnews]

Opinion: California must not fall for tech industry’s false choices about AI

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/06/opinion-california-must-not-fall-for-tech-industrys-false-choices-about-ai/

Opinion: California must not fall for tech industry’s false choices about AI

If you’ve encountered headlines about California’s proposed legislation to establish safety guardrails around artificial intelligence, you might think this is a debate between Big Tech and “slow” government. You might think this is a debate between those who would protect technological innovation and those who would regulate it away. Or you might think this is a debate that decides if AI development will stay or leave California. These arguments could not be more wrong. Let me be clear: Senate Bill 1047 is about ensuring that the most powerful AI models — those with the potential to cause catastrophic harm — are developed responsibly. We’re talking about AI systems that could potentially create bioweapons, crash critical infrastructure or engineer damage on a societal scale. These aren’t science fiction scenarios. They’re real possibilities that demand immediate attention. In fact, the bill has been endorsed by many of the scientists who invented the field decades ago, including Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called “godfathers of AI.” Critics, particularly from Silicon Valley, argue that any regulation will drive innovation out of California. This argument is not just misleading — it’s dangerous. The bill only applies to companies spending hundreds of millions on the most advanced AI models. For most startups and researchers, it’s business as usual. They will feel no impact from this bill. Fearmongering is nothing new. We’ve seen this kind of pushback many times before. But this time, major tech companies like Google and Meta have already made grand promises about AI safety on the global stage. Now that they are finally facing a bill that would codify those verbal commitments, they are showing their hand by lobbying against common sense safety requirements and crying wolf about startups leaving the state. Some of the most vehement opposition comes from the “effective accelerationist” wing of Silicon Valley. These tech zealots dream of a world where AI develops unchecked, regardless of the consequences. They list concepts like sustainability, social responsibility and ethics as enemies to be vanquished. They feverishly dream of a world where technology replaces humans, ushering in “the next evolution of consciousness, creating unthinkable next-generation lifeforms and silicon-based awareness.” We’ve seen this kind of polarization play out before, albeit less intensely. Social media companies promised to connect the world, but their unregulated growth led to mental health crises, election interference and the erosion of privacy. We can’t afford to repeat these mistakes with AI. The stakes are simply too high. Californians understand this. Recent polling shows that 66% of voters don’t trust tech companies to prioritize AI safety on their own. Nearly 9 in 10 say it’s important for California to develop AI safety regulations, and 82% support the core provisions captured in SB 1047. The public overwhelmingly supports policies like SB 1047 — it is just the loud voices of Big Tech attempting to drown out the opinions of most Californians. As a young person, I often feel as though I get mischaracterized as being anti-technology — for being this century’s Luddites. I reject that completely. I’m a digital native that sees AI’s immense potential to solve global challenges. I am deeply optimistic about the future of technology. But I also understand the need for guardrails. Related Articles

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My generation is the one that will inherit the world shaped by today’s decisions. We deserve a say in how this technology develops. For lawmakers and ultimately Gov. Gavin Newsom, the choice isn’t between innovation and safety. It’s between a future where AI’s benefits are shared widely and one where its harms fall disproportionately on the shoulders of vulnerable groups and young people like me. SB 1047 is a step towards the former, a future where California leads not just in technological innovation but in ethical innovation. Sunny Gandhi is the vice president of political affairs at Encode Justice. Gandhi wrote this column for CalMatters. 

[innocet]

Ughhhhhhhhhh

[faelapis]

@babybeetlebongos asked me whether i thought more “forgiving media” like SU will not be looked fondly upon by history because it’s not as “violent” as your spops or your gravity falls, and i had a lot of thoughts about that. tw for discussion of real-life politics, hopefully with enough sensitivity to explain where i’m coming from without being extremely tacky. i’ll probably fail, and i’m very open to criticism here, but i’ll try.

many people conflate healing with violence, and change with punishment. i don’t think they’re right about that, i think some people mischaracterize where SU would fall within “the politics of the moment” in the short term, even though SU takes the much more long-term, “cultures actually need to change over time, and there’s reasons people are the way they are that are bigger than the individual, and nobody will change if you don’t give them reasons to think that the future includes them rather than punishes them for sociological phenomenon outside any individual’s control”.

because the thing is, systemic change and “punishing the bad guys” aren’t actually the same thing. they’re sometimes related, but they don’t have to be. i think the “peaceful vs violent protest” debate has obscured another debate altogether - which is individualism vs structuralism.

individualism posits that, infamously, there’s “no such thing as society”, we are all individuals and we are all accountable for our actions. we have perfectly free will, so therefore, anything we do can and should be used against us. 

structuralism posits that actually, we Do live in a society, and what we can and cannot do is extremely limited to our environments. everyone are shaped by their upbringings, socioeconomic status, culture, social norms, et cetera, and therefore, it’s more important to change society than to punish/reward individuals. our responsibility is collective, not just to ourselves. the point isn’t who is “bad”, the point is that society is the reason why many internalize bad beliefs, and that’s what we need to work on - it’s a collective failing that we haven’t, and we all need to take responsibility for *each other*.

and i think a lot of people who pretend to be for systemic change would settle for punishing their abusers, when it should really be the other way around. i really hate “individualistic leftism”, as a structural leftist myself.

to take the current political example, which, yes, i know is tacky and not the point, but it was what prompted the discussion so i think i have no choice but to address what the discussion actually became - defund the police is more important, imo, than punishing individual officers. one is transformational change on a large scale that actually makes life better for people. the other... is really just venting / individualizing things, as if it would fix anything. to me, the fix is not about punishing the bad guys, it’s changing the system as a whole.

i understand the idea of "why not both", i'm not against that, but i try to be consistently against individualistic framing. thinking punishing individuals fixes systems is equally a shitty liberal mindset as thinking that things will go “back to normal” once trump is out of office. it just has an edgier, more violent spin. 

and that’s what bothers me about the framing of media like spop or gravity falls as the “good, revolutionary” media to SU’s “bad, reformist :(” media lens. it’s really reductive, and it makes that key prioritization that “punishment > change”, which is a very conservative mindset. 

SU actually changes the system. the diamonds are no longer in power, and there is no hierarchy. everyone are slowly changing to find themselves in a world where everyone equally has the chance to do so. gravity falls and spop gets rid of the bad guy on top and thinks that fixes everything. to those latter shows, the status quo was actually fine, we just needed to get rid of the bad people. to SU, it’s the opposite - we can’t expect getting rid of the “bad guys” to “fix everything” (that’s what rose tried to do w/pink), because the sociological cultural norms of gemkind means that they’re taught to love the diamonds. so if you just kill them, you become their bad guys (the way everyone reacted to “killing” pink). you have to have the compassion to understand that to these people, this idolization is normal, and dismantle that normal without condemning the people as a whole. 

but that’s not as sexy as “valid to kill anyone who does The Bad Things. having revenge fantasies about punishing your abusers = good leftist praxis. we fix things by punishing individuals for social issues beyond their control”.

and what’s sad about that mindset is that it often, actually, doesn’t think things can truly get better. nothing that happened in spop stops more shadow weavers from popping up, because the sociological conditions that lead to abuse haven’t been dealt with. it doesn’t seem to think it CAN be proactively prevented, only punished once the children are already scarred.

SU is a lot more... hopeful yet deterministic, in a way? as in, it thinks about (and cares about) how we are influenced by each other. it wants to achieve social equality so that those power relationships don’t exist to influence us in negative ways anymore. with the understanding that nobody is above those influences (not even the “good” privileged people like steven*). whereas spop - and gravity falls - are very much not that. they are individualistic. you kill the bad guys on top and that solves eeeeverything. no cultures need to change. they just need to be intimidated into knowing the “good” people are on top now and obeying them.

(*future is basically saying there’s no good diamond to replace the bad ones, and nobody should be "on top”. it hurts everyone - the same way the expectations of patriarchy hurts everyone. we’ve molded the ones on top into thinking they must and should take responsibility for everything, when that is neither good nor realistic. we’re all, collectively, responsible for healing the traumatized & creating equal relationships. and we can’t do that by individual reward & punishment. as much as that would validate some people’s anger.)

and those people? they’re ultimately just venting their feelings. which is fine. many have been told that their personal anger is something to be demonized, so they vent by engaging in these validation circle-jerks about how good and important it is to be angry. and then many think they’re woke leftists FOR being angry, rather than anger being a personal emotion without inherent good or evil.

many of them have people who’ve hurt them personally that they want to hurt back, or they just wanna make sure to condemn the Bad People so nobody will think they side with or excuse the bad people. the idea is that somebody needs to hurt. so we just gotta make sure it’s the “right” people.

maybe one day, they will realize that actually, social issues are bigger than individuals - and this goes both ways. it can’t just mean “and so we can’t blame the poor, disadvantaged for not being A+ students”, it must also mean “and so dismantling cishet privilege is more important than punishing individual, ignorant cishet people”. that’s the only way to be consistently sociological in your framing.

we don’t decide our upbringings, social norms, who are demonized/deified by society, or who has unjust amounts of power. we’re shaped by our environments, and so, it’s more important to change those environments (and undo those power structures) than to kill individuals we consider particularly heinous. punishing those individuals will not lead to social change. it never has. people generally don’t think they have to change because others were made “examples” of. they revel in being in a “battle”. people like having a fixed bad guy to fight. cops like the power & sympathy it gives them.

the current protests... aren’t even “violent”, in the spop or gravity falls sense. they’re just... property damage and collective direct action, which is much more targeted at dismantling the system than to punish individuals. they’re not really violent. people aren’t killing individual cops, they’re demanding that THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE change. its cop culture that’s bad, it doesn’t matter if the individual cop is good or bad. ACAB because the system sucks. even if you try to be a “good” cop, you’re likely to be fired for speaking up, because the whole culture is awful.

this is kinda similar to something SU is saying - changing the system is more important than figuring out who “the bad people” are and killing them. people think they’re doing the right thing, but ultimately, the structures around them are making them think the hierarchies they’re in are just. it’s the whole of cop culture that needs to change, and maybe the idea of cops in general is a bad one. the system is the problem, and it’s bigger than any individual... which in turn means, or SHOULD mean, that the system can be destroyed and the individuals within it can change, because they’re not really “the problem”. the idea of putting the individual responsible offers behind bars is a fine one, but... it’s more symbolic than truly transformational. the true transformation would be to defund the police. 

i know these media comparisons are inherently tacky. they are. anyone who thinks that is more important than what’s going on irl is being shitty about it. you should be donating, protesting, doing a million more important irl things.

but these tacky comparisons ARE happening, and some people do think “liking the right media” is praxis, so... if you really wanna fit gravity falls or spop into this, the analogy would be more akin to like. defeating the biggest, scariest cop, and thinking that’s somehow gonna change policing as an institution. or thinking that someone killing trump will make all the police & right-wingers go away.

basically, it’s conflating your vengeance with true change. it’s spitting on the leftist value of universal compassion in the face of the sociological nature of reality, in which Everyone are influenced by their privileges and lack thereof in ways that are bigger than individual circumstances (and thus can’t be undone by individual punishment), and so we’re all responsible. but you’d rather not be - because you’d rather see the right people burn than focus your anger at the world and at challenging yourself and your own privileges. 

[cutepresea]

XD0-4 Gjallarhorn Prologue: Miku’s Battle

Sorry again for the spam.

If you want to blacklist these, you can use either the tag #gjallarhorn prologue or #xdu scripts

Reminder that these are copied straight from XD Unlimited itself, so any grammatical weirdness, mistranslations, and/or mischaracterizations are not my doing.

Miku Kohinata: "Aww..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "What's wrong, Miku?"

Miku Kohinata: "I'm just worried about everyone."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oh really? You don't need to worry!"

Miku Kohinata: "But nobody came back yesterday..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "It was a Gjallarhorn alert. That stuff usually takes longer than a day to take care of."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Don't worry, I know everyone's going to be just fine!"

Miku Kohinata: "Yeah... You're right."

Hibiki Tachibana: (Yeah, they're all...)

Miku Kohinata: "What's wrong? Is something on your mind, too, Hibiki?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh? M-Me? It's nothing. Ahahaha..."

Miku Kohinata: "Liar."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Um... Well..."

Miku Kohinata: "Is it something you don't want to tell me?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "I'm sorry, Miku."

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's... Well, I'm actually worried about you."

Miku Kohinata: "About me?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah, what with you starting to fight with us and all."

Miku Kohinata: "It's okay. I can fight too, you know?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "With Shenshoujing..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "But it's just that you aren't used to fighting, so I'm a little worried."

Miku Kohinata: "You're such a worrywart, Hibiki. Nobody has ever gotten used to anything by not doing it, right?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Well... I mean, that's true, but..."

Miku Kohinata: "And what about all the training I've done?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah, of course, I know that."

Hibiki Tachibana: "But..."

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki... To be honest, I'm really happy."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh?"

Miku Kohinata: "Before, I always had to stay behind and wait, but now I get to go fight by your side."

Miku Kohianta: "It was always you protecting me, and you always getting hurt."

Miku Kohinata: "It was hard not being able to do anything."

Miku Kohinata: "So for once, can you let me protect you a little?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "But... Uh..."

Hibiki Tachibana: (I'm really happy she's thinking of me, but I just can't accept this. I just can't.)

Miku Kohinata: "Everyone's contributing in their own way. Plus, I even have a Gear now."

Miku Kohinata: "So from now on, I want you to let me protect you."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Then, I'll protect you--"

Miku Kohinata: "No. That's not how this is going to work."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku?"

Miku Kohinata: "I want you to protect everyone."

Miku Kohinata: "Not just me, but everyone else you want to keep safe."

Miku Kohinata: "I'm bound to have my hands full just protecting you."

Miku Kohinata: "But you, Hibiki, you'll be able to protect so many more people."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku..."

Miku Kohinata: "Being able to be right there helping you while you're doing that is like a dream come true for me."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Okay, I understand."

Hibiki Tachibana: "We'll make a good team."

Miku Kohinata: "Yeah. Thanks, Hibiki."

Miku Kohinata: "Oh, a call from S.O.N.G."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Hello, this is Hibiki."

Genjuro Kazanari: "I've got some bad news. Another Karma Noise has appeared in this world."

Hibiki Tachibana: "So there were more of them."

Genjuro Kazanari: "I hate to admit it, but that appears to be the case. Anyway, we need you on site immediately!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Roger that!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Okay, Miku! I'll be back later!"

Miku Kohinata: "I'm going too, remember?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oh, right."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Okay, Miku! Let's go!"

Miku Kohinata: "Yeah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Take it slow, Miku."

Miku Kohinata: "I'll be fine as long as you're with me."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Okay! Then I'm moving in!"

Miku Kohinata: "I'll cover you!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Hyaaah!"

Miku Kohinata: "A counterattack? Not on my watch!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Now!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Raaaaaaaagh!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku!"

Miku Kohinata: "Yeah!"

Miku Kohinata: "I'll stop its regeneration!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "The Karma Noise signal is decaying rapidly!"

Elfnein: "Incredible. Miku-san is performing far better than expected relative to her battle experience."

Aoi Tomosato: "Their compatibility rivals that of Shul Shagana and Igalima!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Their faith in each other makes them the perfect team."

Hibiki Tachibana: (What is this? Just having Miku by my side makes me feel stronger!"

Miku Kohinata: (I'm doing so much better than I did in training. Is it because Hibiki is here with me?)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku, I'm going in!"

Miku Kohinata: "Okay, I got your back!"

Hibiki & Miku: "Hyaaaaah!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "The Karma Noise signal... It vanished completely!"

Aoi Tomosato: "So this is what they can do together?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "It's not that I was expecting them to lose, but this is just unreal!"

Elfnein: "Yes, they really do make a great team."

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's all thanks to you, Miku!"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki, you were incredible!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Ehehehe... You're making me blush!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "The sky. It's..."

Miku Kohinata: "H-Hibiki, look at that!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh? Is that... a crack in the sky?!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What happened?!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "G-Gjallarhorn has sounded an alert of unprecedented scale!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "These energy readings are off the charts!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What?! Where the hell is it coming from?"

Elfnein: "Please give me a moment. The current Coordinates are--"

Elfnein: "Wh-What?! It's coming from our world!"

Aoi Tomosato: "Commander! Look!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What is that?! Is it a crack in the sky?"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "We're getting massive energy signals!"

Elfnein: "Something's coming."

Hibiki Tachibana: "What... is that?"

Miku Kohinata: "It's like a huge shadow blocking out the sun."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Is it a giant monster?"

Miku Kohinata: "Is it a dragon? No, it's more like a snake..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's descending really slowly."

Miku Kohinata: "What's that? It looks like it's releasing some kind of black smoke."

Hibiki Tachibana: "That black smoke... It's miasma! And lots of it!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's gathering up into... No way!"

Miku Kohinata: "This can't be real! Two more Karma Noise?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Could that thing be creating the Karma Noise?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "We need to do something!"

Miku Kohinata: "But what can we do against something that big?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "All we can do is try! We need to act fast before it makes more Karma Noise!"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki, wait!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "If we take that one down, we can take our time with the others!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Get out of my way!"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki, watch out!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Thanks, Miku!"

Miku Kohinata: "Wait, Hibiki! There's one more behind you!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Aaagh!"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Sorry, I got a little careless..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "I guess fighting two Karma Noise at once would be a little too much for us."

Miku Kohinata: "Wouldn't it be safer if we took one the Karma Noise one at a time?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah, you're right."

Miku Kohinata: "Huh?! Look! The monster is releasing more miasma!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "What? More Karma Noise?! We have to stop it before it's too late!"

Miku Kohinata: "I should be able to do some damage from afar with Shenshoujing."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Graaah!"

Miku Kohinata: "I hit it!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku! The Karma Noise!"

Miku Kohinata: "Aaaack!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Miku?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: (The miasma is gathering in its mouth.)

Miku Kohinata: "Huh..."

Hibiki Tachibana: (It's aiming at Miku?!)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Look out!"

Miku Kohinata: "Huh?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Aaaaah!"

Miku Kohinata: "H-Hibiki?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "M-Miku... Are you okay?"

Miku Kohinata: "I-I'm fine. But you're--"

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's nothing... Everything's gonna be... just fine..."

Miku Kohinata: "Hibikiii!"

Miku Kohinata: "No, Hibiki, wake up!"

Miku Kohinata: (I promised I would protect her.)

Miku Kohinata: (So why am I the one being protected?!)

Miku Kohinata: "The Karma Noise..."

Miku Kohinata: (I said I'd help her...)

Miku Kohinata: (But I'm too scared to move... Why?)

Miku Kohinata: (I'm sorry, Hibiki.)

???: "Eat this!"

Chris Yukine: "You two all right?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Chris?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Sorry we're late!"

Miku Kohinata: "I'm okay, but Hibiki..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Don't worry, she's just been knocked out. If we can get out of here and get her treated, she'll be fine."

Maria: "Now, then..."

Maria: "Karma Noise are one thing, but what on earth is that?"

Kirika Akatsuki: "It looks like some kind of monster."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "It's so big, maybe even bigger than Nephilim."

Miku Kohinata: "It suddenly appeared in the sky after Hibiki and I defeated the first Karma Noise."

Miku Kohinata: "These new Karma Noise came out of the miasma it released." Tsubasa Kazanari: "What?! Are you serious?"

Maria: "So that thing is giving birth to Karma Noise?"

Chris Yukine: "Then it's simple. All we have to do is beat that thing!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Wait, Yukine! It's reckless rushing the castle first!"

Maria: "She's right. If you want to take down the general, you first shoot his horse, right?"

Miku Kohinata: "That was the mistake me and Hibiki made."

Chris Yukine: "That's so lame! What if it just keeps making Karma Noise in the meantime?"

Kirika Akatsuki: "That's fine! If we work together, two, three, even four Karma Noise won't be a problem!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Kiri-chan, we need to be careful."

Chris Yukine: "So we basically have to get rid of the Karma Noise first, yeah?"

Maria: "Yaaaah!"

Maria: "It can't move now! Finish it!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Leave it to us!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Prepare to be torn to shreds!"

Chris Yukine: "We'll attack one after the other!"

Miku Kohinata: "Y-Yeah!"

Chris Yukine: "Let's make mincemeat of this thing!"

Miku Kohinata: (We missed?!)

Chris Yukine: "We're not done yet! It's wide open!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I've got it now!"

Chris Yukine: "Yes! That's the last of the Karma Noise!"

Maria: "It seems we managed to finish them off before any more appeared."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yeah. All that's left now is to storm the castle."

Miku Kohinata: (They're amazing... They took down two Karma Noise in the blink of an eye.)

Miku Kohinata: (And look at me, I didn't help at all...)

Chris Yukine: "Don't space out in the middle of the fight! Stay focused!"

Miku Kohinata: "Oh... Sorry."

Miku Kohinata: (She's right. I need to stay focused.)

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Watch out!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "It's coming this way!"

Miku Kohinata: (I promised Hibiki. I promised that I was going to protect  her!)

[funkzpiel]

so what are your thoughts of FB2 after reading the screenplay?? i'm curious!!

Ooooh goodness – the short version of it is that I feel that the writing was messy and lazy, and that the characterizations and development was either non-existent or didn’t make sense most of the time. All in all, a hot mess that I found little to no entertainment out of – though it’s worth saying that I am sure the acting, music and visual effects of the actual movie would likely help at least make the story somewhat enjoyable.

For the long, savage version, look below the cut:

Honestly, where to fucking start…

NEWT SCAMANDER 

Personally I thought Newt Scamander was incredibly out of character. Now I say this from a motivational stand point rather than acting, because I adore Eddie and I’m sure that if nothing else, he probably did a phenomenal job. However, I’m still hella caught on the following:

Newt won’t go to Paris for Credence. When the Ministry of Magic meets with him and basically tells him “Either you work for us or we’re going to send this lunatic to go kill him”, I honestly can’t believe that Newt said no. Now I get that he said no because he obviously doesn’t want to kill Credence, but you cannot convince me that Newt wouldn’t have a.) seen the opportunity to have his travel visa back and b.) seen the opportunity to use his position to safely fake Credence’s death or something and help him disappear. This is the boy he tried to save, who he thought dead, who “died” of the same thing that left him obviously emotionally traumatized in the first film after he couldn’t help save the girl in Sudan. And JK wants me to believe he was like naw, I’m cool, that guy can go kill him, peace. NO.

Newt won’t go to Paris for Dumbledore. Less of a stretch, considering what he could lose: his life, his freedom, the safety of his beasts. In fact, this makes sense. What pisses me off about this is that he said no to Dumbledore, but he instead GOES TO PARIS TO BONE TINA. So now, onto my third point…

NEWT FINALLY DECIDES TO RISK HIS FREEDOM AND THE SAFETY OF HIS FUCKING BEASTS, WHO WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY SUFFER IF THEY WERE CONFISCATED BY THE MINISTRY, JUST SO THAT HE COULD SEE TINA, WHICH WHEN HE SEES HER, HE IS THEN MYSTIFIED ABOUT WHY SHE’S UPSET EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW HE INSULTED HER IN A LETTER AND QUEENIE TOLD HIM THAT SHE HAD READ A TABLOID – WHICH DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE FACT THAT TINA, CLEVER TINA, FELL FOR A FUCKING TABLOID AND THEN NEVER EVEN BOTHERED TO LIKE CLARIFY WITH NEWT – AND ALL OF THIS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPT TAKES PLACE A YEAR AFTER THE EVENTS IN THE FIRST FILM. DURING THIS TIME THEY’VE WRITTEN LETTERS BUT NOT DATED, SO THIS MAN IS SOMEHOW SO FUCKING HUNG UP ON HER HE’D RISK HIS LIFE AND HIS CREATURES TO THEN BARELY DO ANYTHING TO RECTIFY ANYTHING WHEN HE FINALLY FOUND HER. HE COULD HAVE DONE THAT AT ANY POINT MIND YOU. IF THAT’S HIS FUCKING MOTIVATION, HE COULD HAVE JUST BROKE THE LAW WHENEVER TO SEE HER. OR YOU KNOW, TALK VIA FIRE. LETTERS. GOD ANY FUCKING COMMUNICATION THAT DOESN’T LEAD TO DEATH. NOT TO MENTION THAT ‘MISCOMMUNICATION’ IS THE SLOPPIEST MOTIVATION FOR STORYTELLING, DEAR GOD. BUT NO – HE DIDN’T GO TO PARIS FOR CREDENCE. HE DIDN’T RISK HIS LIFE FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT REASON. HE WENT SO HE COULD BONE TINA. AND TELL HER THAT SHE HAD FUCKING SALAMANDER EYES.

Further more with the mischaracterization of Newt, in the script the Zouwu was described to have burst from a box that was on fire, incredibly malnourish, scarred and abused. You want me to believe that a.) an abused animal would have fucking done a 180 on the terrified scale for a fucking bird toy and b.) NEWT WOULDN’T HAVE REACTED AT ALL TO THE FACT THAT THIS WAS AN ABUSED ANIMAL THAT NEEDED CAREFUL HANDLING?! Qed pointed out that the neglect wasn’t obvious in the film, so I’ll give it that – but this is the way it’s written and it’s so fucking sloppy. Like the scene when he saves this cat could have been amazing. It could have showcased that Newt does something truly special and unique. Could have shown us HOW he calms beasts rather than turned it into comedic relief (which would have been fine if it wasn’t an abuse case), AND it could have been a moment for Tina to be reminded of why she is attracted to Newt instead of us being forced to believe these two stupid assholes have been pining for no real reason for each other for a year. NOT TO MENTION that this could have then led into an actual motivation for Newt to fight or be involved in Paris because you can’t tell me that Newt fucking Scamander wouldn’t want to find the asshole who abused that cat, save any other involved creatures and kill that man.

Also he trained the Niffler. His motto in the first film is that he doesn’t keep his creatures. Now at Zoos there’s a level of training wild animals to safely get them here and there, and interact with them. Newt trained the Niffler extensively. That isn’t the behavior of a man rehabilitating an animal for the wild. 

And then there’s the scene with Theseus chasing down Newt and Tina and they’re mad that he’s chasing them? And say he’s over reacting? OK BUT HAVE YOU TOLD HIM ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING?! NO. All he knows is that his brother just broke the fucking law on a critical degree and to make matters more stinging, is using his own fucking face to do it. The scene is written so you’re rooting for Tina and Newt (specifically Newt) and if it weren’t for the fact that Newt is only there to bone Tina, maybe I would, but damn if I wasn’t livid and rooting for Theseus tbh.

QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN

What. The ever living fuck. Did she do. To. Queenie. This film had a prime opportunity to continue on the foundation of the first film and really build Queenie into something great. In the first film we see Queenie as a young woman who doesn’t think much of herself. She kind of infers that she knows she’s really only useful for looking pretty and fetching coffee when she tells Newt and Jacob that “Teenie’s the working gal”. But by the end of the film, Queenie has saved the gang once or twice, managed to bust through the security of the office of the Director of Magical Security, thought quick on her feet, leveraged people and in general just be a subtle badass. And she learned to love and to let go – and then when to fight for what she believes in when she came back for Jacob.

But the second film has turned her identity into “I NEED TO BE MARRIED”. That’s not a healthy relationship for one. She and Jacob have talked about this. Jacob never said they needed to split. But he did say he was afraid of pursuing marriage for her safety – for both their safety, honestly – because what fucking good is a fucking piece of paper that honestly means nothing but “says” they’re married if they’re fucking dead? But what did Queenie do? SHE USED MAGIC TO MAKE HIM ACT AGAINST HIS WILL. That’s just – I can’t even begin to talk about the level of fucked up that. And god, how disparaging to that character too, Queenie is so much more than that! She could be so much more than that! Instead she’s made to look crazy. She could have gone into politics to fight for Muggle/Wizard relationships – but no. Honestly there’s so many more interesting avenues to explore with this character. Or if you wanted to send her to Grindelwald, more interesting ways to do it! Maybe Grindelwald is the only one (in her mind) who knows how to undo an obliviation because it’s in fact dark magic to manipulate the mind on the level it would take to undo it! Maybe she’s in Paris trying to figure that out and Grindelwald lies and says he knows how to do it. I’d be more interested in Queenie working to restore Jacob rather than control him. And she’s obsessed! Her entire character has been so heavily warped into “I WANT TO BE MARRIED” that she disregards all the fucking destruction she first hand knows Grindelwald has done and in the script is literally says that “she is his, heart and soul”. THAT LEVEL OF DEDICATION. For no more that a fucking fluttering second of “Muggles are basically live stock, but I know some of you love them, we don’t have to kill them all.” SHE JUST IGNORES LIKE ALL THE REST OF IT. I just… she’s such a fucking hollow, messy sham of a character and it’s truly sad, because she could have been perfect example of “woman who thought she was only what society told her she was – pretty, someone who needed to get married, etc. – and realized she’s so much more than that. She’s a PERSON. Someone who is powerful and can truly make a difference. And that she can love, but she can also be QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN who happens to be in love rather than QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN WHO IS ONLY AS GOOD AS WHO SHE LOVES AND IF SHE MARRIES THEM.

TINA GOLDSTEIN

Tina doesn’t act angry around Newt at all in the beginning. She’s described to be walking with an “inner sadness” (because bright, clever AUROR TRAINED Tina fell for a tabloid). And yet half way through the film we find out she and Newt had a falling out via letter. And she only at that moment reacts to it. I want Tina giving Newt the cold fucking shoulder about that. Not to mention that the whole “you’re engaged” thing is stupid and shouldn’t even be included because literally all she needed to do was investigate a little or send a letter with the article included like “Congrats!” and he’d be like “Oh, no, I’m the best man, papers are dumb”. Give me Tina who’s actually upset about what Newt said about Aurors. Give me a Tina who slowly warms back up to Newt. Give me a relationship that makes sense and actually needs work and repair and communication damn it.

JACOB

They fucking reduced him to one motivation: “When can I eat next?” I cannot tell you how many times he’s literally used as comedic relief as the “fat guy” and just blurts out “I’m looking for food” in any tense or awkward situation. He is a war vet. He is a man in love with a society forbidden to his kind. He is potentially in the middle of a war and he sees visions of a war to come. He is more than his weight or his appetite. He also should be a little more savvy at this point. And he just magically remembers because he only had good memories??? Fine, but weak as fuck.

GELLERT GRINDELWALD

JK wants me to believe that the man who couldn’t dodge a fucking glorified stick-hand-throw-toy creature was able to apparate onto a moving vehicle in bad weather above water. A magical move that is supposed to be hard even on stable, non-moving terrain. A magical move that can splinch and maim. HE COULDN’T DODGE NEWT, BUT HE CAN APPARATE ONTO A MOVING, UNSTEADY VEHICLE AT NIGHT. He’s supposed to be powerful – fuck yeah, I’m onboard – but damn, you certainly didn’t MAKE HIM POWERFUL IN THE FIRST FILM WHEN HE WASN’T BEING TORTURED FOR A YEAR BY MACUSA. I would have been more impressed and more keen to believe him escaping from inside the carriage that doing that OP move. The fight scene in 1 is so anti-climatic and here he is at the top of 2, exhausted hobo-mage doing an epic, unbelievably unrealistic fight scene.

Also fuck Abernathy. Fucking why. Blah. 

And then he throws that gremlin thing out the window. For no reason. What, to show us he’s cruel even though they’re building a morally grey narrative for him? Certainly doesn’t help endear me to him when the whole point of the film is he is charismatic and endearing and able to convince people that the world is grey and that the forces of good are not actually good for the people at all. Of which – so heavy handed about abuse of power. They cut his TONGUE out. Lovely. “AMERICA IS FULL OF BARBARIANS”, cool thanks got it. They have like magic to silence him, but they cut out his tongue. Wizards don’t believe in punching, but they cut out his tongue.

“He’s the hero of his own story, he’s morally grey, he’s doing it for the greater good, he’s charismatic and charming!”

Grindelwald: kills a family for their home, including their child (who honestly, based off his dialogue, I thought he was going to enslave and then he killed him. Has a whole bit about how they’re livestock and don’t need to all die, and then he kills all of them).

“He’s charismatic and easy to follow and has a point I swear!”

He just… He’s so boring. He could have been so interesting, so layered, and instead he’s contradictory and nonsensical and honestly I didn’t find him charismatic either – like what the fuck, I wanted so much more.

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Actually he’s precisely the dick I expected based off the books. So not much to say about him, tbh, I think he was nailed down right. He’s manipulative to a disgusting degree and it shows. I’ve always had a love, hate relationship with Dumbledore and that definitely continued in this – so I don’t have much to say about him here. He was well done.

CREDENCE

What. The. Fuck. Now here’s what I’m pissed about with Credence. When we first see him, he’s basically BUSTING OUT OF PRISON (the Carnival). AWESOME. I AM ON BOARD. Where the fuck is this character development?! It feels like we were flung into the ending of another fucking movie. I’m so proud of him for stepping up, for making a relationship with another person, and for fighting for his safety and to escape. But JESUS YOU NEED TO SHOW ME HOW WE WENT FROM THE SNIVELING, TERRIFIED BOY WHO COULDN’T CONTROL HIMSELF TO THE HARD YOUNG MAN WHO FUCKING BROKE HIMSELF AND ANOTHER PERSON OUT OF A BAD, ABUSIVE SITUATION. How the fuck did he even get there? How did he and Nagini build a relationship so strong that once free she FOLLOWED HIM?! Like this is a powerful result of character building that we NEVER SEE FOR NO FUCKING REASON.

Also you expect me to believe that he – without once fucking bringing it up – fucking trusts and believes and willingly goes with Grindelwald? The man who stole another man’s identity, led him on a ruse, manipulated his emotions and then BURNED THAT RELATIONSHIP TO THE GROUND?! I get that he has information, but in my mind I think Credence could’ve have focused on a lot of different avenues before he ever came close to willingly going to Grindelwald. If Grindelwald were like snuffing multiple attempts at information at every turn (rather than just one attempt) - sure. But like… this man… AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID… I need MORE to make me believe Credence would have gone with him. God, I would have believed Credence fighting and pursuing him to find Mr. Graves. OR Grindelwald using Rossier to provide information through a face Credence could ‘trust’ and reveal at the end it was him all along. Perhaps Rossier gives him the information and then says, “I know someone who can help you avenge the life that was stolen from you. I know someone who can help you change the world, Credence. No more abuse. No more looked over children. No more pain. He’s speaking tonight in the cemetery. You should come with me.” And Credence goes and it’s Grindelwald – and his speech is a balm he didn’t know he needed, and finally he draws Credence up and says, “Look how I’ve paved the way for you, the lengths I’ve gone to, all for you. I want to rectify my mistakes, Credence. I want to help you. Let me help you.” There were just MORE BELIEVABLE WAYS, JESUS.

LETA 

…why the fuck did she walk into the fire? I know why she did, but on a writing stand point it was just to make the scene flashy, tbh. There were other fucking options. I just fucking can’t. I will say, I like the development in Leta. I like seeing the beast of burden on her shoulders. She still felt a bit hollow and like… unnecessary, tbh, and I hate that her and Theseus being together was only for drama that never gets talked about or fucking resolved. I feel a lot was missing for her – and for her relationships. Honestly I don’t care for her or Credence being involved. I’d much rather see Newt, Tina and the gang struggling to figure out how to battle discontent, fear and propaganda. This feels needlessly convoluted on an M.Night scale. She’s just there (narratively) to hurt Newt and Theseus. She didn’t have her own purpose for existence. 

PLOT HOLES

Film 1: NOTHING CAN SAVE A CHILD WITH AN OBSCURUS.

Film 2: THE LOVE OF A SIBLING CAN SAVE CREDENCE, PROBABLY, EVEN THOUGH HE’S HONESTLY DOING JUST FINE.

What a clean, one dialogue line fix to what was a HUGE PROBLEM in the last film across not only Credence’s timeline, but Newt’s with the girl from Sudan.

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC IN FRANCE IS CALLED THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF MAGIC, WHAT THE FUCK. Like the FRENCH WOMAN who was working reception called it that. They don’t have their own unique name for their government. They were like “oh, guess we’ll just be the French version of the Ministry of Magic.” I’d get it if she’d been like, hello, welcome to [enter very beautiful french name here] and tina was like “what now?” and the woman rolled her eyes and said, “The French Ministry of Magic” like ‘let me spell it out for you, jesus’. But no. THEY MULTIPLE TIMES JUST REFER TO IT THAT WAY. I will never believe it wouldn’t have it’s own unique name. What the fuck. Like MACUSA isn’t the “American Ministry of Magic”.

Harry Potter Books: THE KILLING CURSE IS A POWERFUL, DARK AND ILLEGAL THING. YOU HAVE TO WANT TO KILL. IT’S SIGNIFICANT AND RARE.

Fantastic Beasts 2: Killing Curses everywhere. Just willy knilly. Everyone, even Aurors, casting killing curses. 

Queenie stuck at Grindelwald’s hideout because Rossier wants her to meet Grindelwald is quickly followed by Grindelwald basically saying “Join me” and then “You’re an innocent, leave this place.” The whole thing makes no damn sense, but cool, cool.

Also can we talk about JK just fucking regurgitating themes like a broken fucking record? TWO FATED BABIES, BOTH WHO END UP ORPHANS (well in this case one died) but like, TRAGIC SONS. Young boy who is abused in his foster care system but is SPECIAL ™. YER A WIZARD, CREDENCE. A FATED, TRAGIC BOY AND YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KILL X PERSON. 

It’s just a hot fucking sloppy mess of a story on a writing perspective, and I expected more.

[jojotier]

No One’s Character Is Getting Flanderized

Frankly, to bring up the argument that an author is mischaracterizing their own characters is a hefty one- unlike certain elements of plot and setting, which usually can be fact checked or analyzed as flowing naturally from one event to the next, characterization is something that has a slight element of surprise- the surprise being, characters can act or present themselves in certain ways that don’t make sense until something later on comes up that expands upon the characterization. Generally, authors have their own plans for how a character is going to be that we aren’t privy to- to argue for inconsistent characterization means to prove the disconnect between how a character is before and after a certain point, or if the change is more gradual, why that progression isn’t natural.

The argument seems to be that the progression of Koito’s character in Golden Kamuy is unnatural- that he doesn’t seem to be the same character after a certain point in time.

I would be a little more understanding if the mischaracterization was taken to a great extreme, but that just simply isn’t the case in Golden Kamuy.

This little meta is, of course, in regards to the Karafuto Arc. It could be argued that characters such as Koito and Tsukishima are deviating too heavily from their original portrayal, but the way I see it, to say that is to overlook a fair bit of nuance. 

Perhaps my biggest issue with the initial meta brought up is the idea that two identities cannot exist in the same person simultaneously. There’s an assertion that Koito is incredibly competent in the chapters before Abashiri, but is portrayed as more of a rich, spoiled brat after- and in some ways, that is true! Koito is, as a character, an extremely competent fighter and isn’t at all afraid to do what needs to be done, whether that be murder or fighting on an airship. He’s quick thinking- he finds out the man who’s pretending to be Inodou is an impostor within the span of a few sentences, for instance. After Abashiri, there are a lot of jokes made about his inexperience. 

The fact of the matter is, though, is that someone can be a rich, spoiled brat and still be incredibly competent at the same time. In fact, I’d even say that his competence is still on display, in many ways, during the Karafuto arc, and to ignore them is to reduce his character post-Abashiri down to a joke. Take for instance, the circus arc.

Behold! Incompetence. 

This arc, for all it’s flaws (and I will admit, circus arc was certainly one of the weaker arcs that Noda has put forward so far) also yields some of the best of Koito- before the entire fiasco with the photograph, at least. It even holds one of my favorite Koito lines to date, when he speaks to Sugimoto about his act. 

While it’s true that it might have been easier for Koito to half ass his own performance, and likely damage some of the goodwill he and the others have with the Yamada Troupe, he gives this line instead- and while it may be parsed in a somewhat arrogant way, there’s no denying that Koito has good intentions with this line. He shows a clear understanding that to make an act work, you have to live and breathe it- it’s one of the rules of acting proper. Take it from someone who’s had some experience acting.

During the stenka arc, the story is much the same- while there are moments he looks to others (like when Sugimoto goes absolutely berserk), he’s still fairly useful. He participates in the stenka and fights extremely well, interrogates the owner of the bar effectively and efficiently- and the plot moves forward.

Another little place that looked a lot like “incompetence” in the Karafuto Arc that was played off a bit as a joke was Koito in the lighthouse- namely, he stands in front of the light and Tsukishima warns him that he’ll block out the light. However, it’s that very same flickering that signals to Sugimoto and Tanigaki that the light isn’t from the moon, and helps bring them back. While it’s not stated directly, this seems like quite a deliberate action.

Then, to scale it back to Before Abashiri- Koito is, essentially, still a spoiled brat back then. It’s just that due to his role in the plot at the time, it was supposed to be something that was read between the lines- here’s Koito, the son of a well respected military officer who is able to entrust him directly to Tsurumi. Excelled in the military academy, with a perfectionist streak- likely due to an educated upbringing. Even the mere fact that he has no qualms about warfare or the value of human life is a pretty good indicator that there’s a strong disconnect between himself and most people.

The thing that bothers me most about the idea of Koito being “”radically”” different during the Karafuto arc is because, honestly, Karafuto arc and pre-Abashiri are very different environments. Not only setting-wise, but narratively. 

Pre-Abashiri: The 7th Division has more action scenes and more scenes wherein the members are doing something plot important. Koito has less character building scenes pre-Abashiri than the other members, like Tsukishima and Nikaidou. The setting is, generally, indoors, or in places where Koito expects to be. Tsurumi and Tsukishima act as an anchor of sorts.

Karafuto: While Sugimoto’s gang is searching for Asirpa, there aren’t really as many action scenes. Their biggest enemy appears in the circus arc and stenka, and then from then on out it’s just the elements they have to contend with. Koito doesn’t expect anything, and is severely out of his element. Koito tries to anchor himself first to Sugimoto (”he has a plan, right? right?!?!”) and then to Tsukishima, who is slightly out of his element as well, but not as much as Koito.

In a lot of ways, it’s like comparing apples to crabapples- still fruit, still an apple, but different flavors. Before Abashiri, Koito showed more of his competent side because more scenes allowed him to do so- during Karafuto, his inexperienced side is on display, because being out in the wilderness for an extended period of time isn’t what he’s used to.

It’s said that the different environments and circumstances don’t excuse the shift because other characters treat Koito in a mean-spirited way. While it’s true that they can be a little mean at times, it’s certainly nothing that’s out of place in the manga- just look at the early chapters and how Sugimoto and Asirpa “joke” with Shiraishi. And last I checked, whenever Shiraishi got bit by an animal or did something stupid, he usually also got hit upside the head. A lot of the more “mean-spirited” jokes are directed at the victim only when they do something stupid, or else Koito had done something mean spirited in turn (like making fun of Ogata for being a prostitute’s kid- harsh much?)

So what’s the long-term ramifications for what I’ve discussed thus far?

I believe that Karafuto arc is going a long way towards Koito receiving a character arc. Once he and the rest get to Akou Prison, it’s likely we’ll see Koito getting right back into the fray and fighting with that characteristic skill of his, and as he has more experience in the wilderness the jokes at his expense will be less. It may also go into the fact that Koito depends a little too much on others for guidance- especially Tsurumi- and that he needs to work towards reaching his goals without the crutch of someone else giving him a goal to aspire to. 

More importantly, though, I do believe he’ll become a better person. People just need to take it easy and let Noda’s story flow- whether or not it’s planned beforehand is, honestly, irrelevant. Some writing styles work better with it planned, some work better when there’s character driven interactions driving the plot, and I believe that Noda, at the very least, knows what his plan is for the characters.

It remains to be seen what that means for the story overall.

EDIT: expanded a bit on the point of it being “arrogant”, because it isn’t arrogant to criticize a piece of media- however, I still stand by all my earlier points that Koito’s characterization in the Karafuto Arc is a natural outgrowth from his characterization pre-Abashiri

[tediousreviews]

Analog (July/August 1998)

Another double issue, and this time I didn't take a break. Umm... obviously I efficiently used the extra time from the second week I used for the Amazon issue to get ahead on Analog. Yeah. That's the ticket. I certainly wasn't just wasting my time and dragging my feet with that issue.

This time we're wrapping up our serial, we've got two novellas, a novelette, and four short stories.

Serial

The Children Star (Conclusion), Joan Slonczewski

The previous episodes of this serial established a setting that's something of a fractal of suck. A sucky empire, with sucky corporations that own sucky worlds, filled with sucky people, who are now filled with sucky microorganisms who are also people. And those people suck.

Thankfully there's a gorilla-human hybrid woman for our viewpoint character to have sex with, because as far as I can tell that somehow resolved everything.

I'm joking. Sort of. Maybe like 10% joking.

Novellas

The Ice Dragon's Song, Bud Sparhawk

When you're being trained to handle hazardous materials, one of the things that comes up fairly often in a fair variety of ways is 'Don't give the responders more work just because you think you have to do something.'. Which isn't to say that you should do nothing, but whatever incapacitated your friend has a good chance of doing the same to you if you act without thinking.

To me, it seems like a no-brainer that the protagonists choice to go tearing off across an unstable ice field to get off a message that rescue is needed was a bad choice. But then I think I'm rejecting out of hand the teenager's assumption that that it's even plausible the rescuers wouldn't have known they were needed.

I was gratified that his trip was pointless. But realistically, there were even odds that not only would he have gotten himself killed but he'd have gotten at least one more person killed when they tried to save him.

Slow Drowning, Daniel Hatch

If you're in the mood for a cautionary global warming tale that's seasoned with inter-generational conflict and only gets the sea level rise due to the loss of the East Atlantic Ice Sheet wrong by a single order of magnitude, this is your story.

Particularly realistic is the way the Boomer who is arguably most responsible for nothing being done in time manages to completely deflect blame onto other lesser Boomers and Gen-X and the Millennials at large (Asshole). And the Post-Millennial use of flash mobs for get out the vote programs is ahead of its time (its time being never).

Novelette

A life on Mars, G. David Nordley

There's a lot of talk about ethics in this story. And yes, I generally agree that it's a good idea to save your ex's life if you can. But not by putting your minor daughter on the first full scale test flight of a new spacecraft propulsion system so she can be an organ donor for an operation with a less than even chance of success.

Why the hell don't these assholes have cloned organs yet?

Yes yes, beamed propulsion is cool and reasonably plausible. You still get a disapproving harrumph for the rest of the story though.

Short Stories

Moon-Calf, Stephen Baxter

An Apollo astronaut took up geology instead of religion, until a trip to a church made him kinda sorta believe in aliens and ancient Chinese astronauts. Because of rocks.

Friggin’ geologists. Why do they even want to go to the moon? It's not like they can lick the rocks through their helmets.

The Long Way Home, Shane Tourtellotte

The trouble with slower than light travel to other stars is that it's possible for people to just wait until they have faster engines and then beat you there, or at least beat you back. But with enough blind focus on the race, they might just leave you the chance to grab a few of your own firsts after all.

I can't quite stop laughing at the idea that the UN nations would bankrupt themselves for the prestige of sending interstellar ships on pointless flyby missions. I mean yes, that's a way to mischaracterize the moon race. But still...

In Space, No One Can Hear, Michael A. Burstein

Sign language in space, with a few mentions of the existence of deaf culture. The bit where the deaf brother gets the job in space that he's ridiculously overqualified for because his hilariously under-qualified brother refused it is maybe a bit too on point. Or maybe not a bit too on point enough.

Effacing the Truth, Arian Andrews

There is no way I can describe this story without spoiling the one reason to read it.

This was one of those 'oh yeah that used to be a thing' stories.

Final Thoughts

I think I liked this issue. It's so hard to tell sometimes.

[do-you-have-a-flag]

most LGBT/non-white fans aren't happy with how there was still no LGBT representation canonically and how they reduced poe to stereotypical latino tropes, made finn's arc the same as tfa basically (and sidelined him in for adam driver which is just racism lmao) and how underused and underwritten a lot of the characters were/how they mischracterized rey/how they REALLY mischaracterized luke and like the overall pacing was p bad, so white ppl liked it and dumbass kylo stans did too but that it

first off, why u anon, i’m not mean to people who message me generally and i won’t send followers after you because that’s a shitty thing to do, now i have to make a big long response publicly instead of using the messenger app, sorry everyone, long post incoming:I WANT LGBT representation to be canon in star wars but i know that they’re not gonna do it and it’s frustrating but not unexpected. Big budget genre FILMS (tv is different) are so lacking in LGBT content, it’s frustrating that off the top of my head the only example i can think of where it’s not sub-textualised via aliens is Sulu in the Star Trek reboot universe.

but let’s look honestly at how the people who run star wars and the actors responded to questions about LGBT content in interviews: there is spoilers blackout aversion, and actors explicitly supporting fans for their interpretations of characters but at no point was there a promise to show that sort of representation.

Disney has shown before that if they’re going to include LGBT content in their big films they do address it directly, much was made of Lefou in beauty and the beast and there was backlash because the actual content was so minor and still fairly subtextual. 

With the Last Jedi no promises were maid so not getting LGBT content is frustrating for me and others but I can’t fault the film for it only the creators and a criticism of studios and directors and writers does not mean the movie itself is flawed for that specific reason. At least in my view. It’s blaming an absence of a feature that was never promised. would it be better with that feature? YES! but i also think it would have been better for various writing changes but the writing choices that were made are what we have to assess it on.

As to Poe being stereotypically Latino, I don’t live in a country with enough of a latino population to have much insight on that but I will say that I don’t understand this argument. 

my PERSONAL view of Poe in this film is that last time we didn’t get any depth to his character outside of friendly heroic pilot, this time we are starting to be introduced to his flaws, that being his inability to see the big picture, he always makes good strategies and plans and is a great leader and has a sense of humour, these are good qualities, and when he is called impulsive it’s by generals who have the experience to think about the bigger picture where he goes for the most damage on a small scale, Poe has a very complimentary arc to Fin in that they both have to shift their thinking when the resistance is weakened because saving people becomes more important than always beating the bad guys.

so from that understanding of his character I don’t understand what stereotypes are being used here? genuinely please let me know because is it that he’s “hot-headed”? it’s a war and they are losing and because of that he makes the wrong decision and lashes out when he is restricted and believes his superior is making the wrong choice so all the “hot-headed” stuff is really just character complexity and his prominence in the plot is the reason why it’s only applied to him. IDK what other stereotypes there are i legit haven’t seen that criticism actually explained in detail yet so if any latinx fans can let me know i’d be glad

Fin’s arc isn’t the same, yes he’s been sidelined and its annoying because I hate the thing they sidelined him for too but when we do focus on his character they evolve his problems from TFA: running away out of fear and self loathing becomes running from one responsibility because he believes they’re a lost cause in the moment and wants to protect Rey, which becomes planning to sacrifice himself to lash out at first order  in a way that mirror’s Poe’s journey because they both have to think better than that about who they’re fighting for. 

There are so many characters to juggle in the film and by partnering Finn up with Rose they do detract from his character development but only to allow her to help him and introduce her to the stage at the same time as moving the plot along and setting up things for the next movie thematically.  Finn was underserved but it was due to a writing puzzle of balancing an ensemble cast and ultimately at this point his story is supportive of the main plot but not directly a part of it and they could have done that differently but again that’s a writing flaw but not what I would call the worst part of the film i think people took it too hard and would like to hear a response to my reading of Finn’s place in the story in some detail too.

 Also I love Rose and her dynamic with Finn was my fav and desperately needed because they keep having Finn Poe and Rey be separated in these films and we needed that friendly banter and mutual support space filled and Rose is honestly the heart and soul of the resistance even if the casino sequence was written in a very on the nose blatant way these films are for a very broad audience and some people need that stuff spelled out for them. (i’ve seen TLJ twice and both times i think most people in the audience missed the kid using the force at the end which i thought was wonderfully subtle before his posing became blatant visually with the broom)

underuse and underwriting are both side effects of the ensemble cast and i’m willing to forgive the clumsiness of it generally but you’re correct about Rey’s writing, I’ve said it before but everything about her and kylo and snoke and Luke contained in the scenes between the second force skype conversation and Kylo waking up on the floor is the characters making bad choices, that’s why it feels out of character. the rest of the film even when characters make mistakes everyone is behaving consistently and there’s a balance but in that entire segment of the film all four characters make the wrong decisions. the results of these scenes afterwards is fine but i wish they hadn’t decided to have rey trust kylo so readily, considering her character history as a scavenger you know she’d be more skeptical than that.  And with Luke his reticence to tell her the truth is frustrating because that’s what happened to him regarding his father and he should know better, I think the moment of weakness misread as utter betrayal was interesting, not a great choice on the writing side but i’m willing to deal with it. outside of those scenes though it’s like the competent writing suddenly returned! 

Bad pacing? yeah, but it’s the middle film in a trilogy there was a lot of ground to cover.

also listen there’s nothing wrong with being a fan of villians in a work of fiction and personally i loved watching hux suffer and kylo get the door slammed in his face and just because i find his character entertaining doesn’t mean i wanted the rey/kylo romance teasing that happened. I have to accept that the writers are going for redemption arc stuff here but honestly give me complex pathetic villain who dies dramatically at the end and i’ll be happy, 

I wrote out all these paragraphs because you made a whoooole lot of generalisations and i wanted to respond with personal thoughts and specificity,\

 I can’t speak for groups i’m not a part of but i can give my personal reasons for liking the film. at the end of the day it’s not the worst star wars film and of my expectations of the franchise some flaws are a part of it. I LIKE goofiness intentional or not in my genre fiction.

 Representation-wise the LGBT stuff would have been wonderfull but as of right now it wasn’t something i felt should be expected but instead it is something I think should be pressured onto the creators to include canonically because there’s literally no reason not to include it that isn’t getting money from garbage people who hate diversity. 

On a casting level i love the inclusivity of race in the cast, not just with Finn, Poe, and Rose being the majority of our new young heroes, but also of background characters because that sort of understated representation is important too. Do i think the writing could be better? sure, but as far as stereotyping goes i don’t believe there’s deliberate and malicious intent there, any flaws are unintentional on the writers side and their personal biases, but personally I still don’t see the specific problem you’re citing here and would like to hear more about it because I don’t get it.

also pls chill with the “white people and kylo stans” attitude here because i get why people don’t like adam driver, but you’re being deliberately escalating in your language and i’m not okay with that, it’s a false equivalence of the concepts of white complacency when it comes to representation with….. people who like the main villain. 

He’s the main bad guy. he’s played by an actor cast with his looks in mind because he’s one of the few villains who doesn’t spend the whole film behind a mask or with cgi or makeup effects obscuring him, he’s placed in a position of power and given sympathetic elements because a complex villain is more interesting than, oh, say, every simple evil marvel villain who wants to destroy the earth (and I say that as someone who likes marvel films) they knew they couldn’t recapture the appeal of darth vader so they aimed for audience enjoyment in a different way and it worked and it’s pointless to be mad at fans of star wars for liking it’s main villain?

 I’m not saying fans who take it too far by going “he did nothing wrong”/”his victimisation excuses his actions” or who woobie-fy him or who shit on other characters are in the right here, they’re not, and it is frustrating when there’s so many good characters that others lose screen time and complexity to focus on him when he’s a shitty fascist who wants power for himself. 

just like, de-escalate your aggression here because i’m talkative as hell and I also want better representation but I’m also one hundo percent about viewing media and people complexly and in terms of the fiction i thought it was a good film and in terms of the choices by the creators in how they crafted that film i thought they did okay but could have done waaay better and that’s what fans want. 

i’m not gonna speak for most LGBT/non white fans because I’m only a part of one of those categories personally but i’m SURE a chunk of the audience responses in those reviews trashing the movie are from straight white cis dudes who are mad about all the POC in the film or goofy writing choices they feel undermines their view of the movie and they’re objectively wrong about a lot of things but their opinions are still added to that review percentage and the only way to know who thought what from what background and coming from what perspective is to go through every review and make a chart and that sort of research isn’t something i’ve done and you probably haven’t done it either so we can only speak from our view from discussing with friends and online and on tumblr i have seen some lgbt and poc  responses and most of them are positive, a couple of people aren’t and that’s only my dashboard but i can’t assume it represents the communities as a whole

so anyone seeing this long ass post who hasn’t unfollowed me: what’s your opinion?

[workingontruth]

A Simulation and a Gross Misunderstanding of Consciousness

April 2, 2019

On a recent flight, my brother, Randy, pulled the Popular Science magazine from the seatback in front of him. 

While I would sooner pay for peanuts, a soft drink and then experience a crash landing than read a Popular Science edition, Randy is one of those dudes I admire because of his continuing interest in “what’s on the horizon,” if even in the form of this thoroughly secular publication. In his words, that stuff “still fascinates me.” Agreed - me too...just educate me with a verbal synopsis, please. 

“...there's a real possibility ‘the universe is a simulation.’ “

He told me there was an article that started with a pointedly side comment (added as if everyone knows this by now) that there's a real possibility "the universe is a simulation." 

Given our Christian world view, this caught his eye. In Randy’s words, the whole concept is a great “example of how scientists and philosophers keep bumping into the likelihood of a supernatural reality, unwittingly describing that reality while using acceptable non-’religious’ terms.”

This simulation theory is popping up a lot now, and maybe you’ve been privy to it. Here’s a link to an article that touts Elon Musk’s views on the idea - which automatically makes it interesting to mellennials and people in general in this decade. 

In the article about Musk’s views, there were a couple of things that stuck out to me...

According to this week’s New Yorker profile of Y Combinator venture capitalist Sam Altman, there are two tech billionaires secretly engaging scientists to work on breaking us out of the simulation.

Umm...yeah, he’s right about one thing. There will be a “breakout” from “the simulation” alright! You can read about it in the Revelation of John - in the last book of the Bible. We already know “the rest of the story.” 

[And, as a side note, what Satan, the adversary and enemy of the created human soul, continues to desire most is to mischaracterize God as nothing more than a judgmental, envious, jealous and needy superpower who has only damnation on his mind. Never mind that He came into our world as one of us in Jesus - to bear his own wrath for our sin nature - that we may be joined to Him in our joyfilled purpose, both for this life and the one to come into eternity!] 

But it’s somewhat comical - that what secular scientists continue to attempt to understand while approaching the world from a “no God of the Bible” presupposition, is already known to mankind. Things like how it/we all started are found in Genesis 1-3. Everything from how our universe began to why there is pain and suffering in this world is found right there...in the words of God to us, his most prized of all creation as the only ones created in his image, and with a conscience and ability to reason and live other than instinctually. 

And then there is this sad misunderstanding of human consciousness from the same article... 

If we believe that there is nothing supernatural about what causes consciousness and it’s merely the product of a very complex architecture in the human brain, we’ll be able to reproduce it. “Soon there will be nothing technical standing in the way to making machines that have their own consciousness,” said Rich Terrile, a scientist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“If we believe that there is nothing supernatural about what causes consciousness...” There’s the admission. It’s kinda funny were it not so sad. “If we believe...” as if what we want to believe and deny creates our reality on this planet. In this case, this denial of what is true of mankind and how the unique human consciousness came to be is disheartening. Genesis 2:7 gives us the insight into our absolute uniqueness amongst all of God’s creation on planet Earth. 

7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 

Nowhere else does God tell us that He himself “breathed life into” anything other than mankind. It was this very plan to make mankind in his own image and with a very consciousness that would allow him to possess an independent awareness and intellectual and soulish perception of his surroundings that differentiates you and me from any other creature or any mere processing software program - built upon little more than logical if/thens. Our consciousness is breathed into us uniquely by God. It’s what makes us human. 

One more very intersting observation in the Popular Science article is as follows...

"[our life on this planet]...appears to be a simulation... because it's so perfectly situated for our existence."

Um, that's what Christian scientific apologists have been saying for ages. It's old news! 

And it’s TOTALLY like the famous, awesome quote you may have read before yourself, 

"For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."  - Jastrow

And as Randy pointed out in our interactions, I'd also add that none of what they’ve been seeking was hidden...Jeremiah 29:13; Proverbs 8:17; Matthew 7:8. 

Here’s the predicament of those who have become rediculous fools, though claiming to be wise. And it all begins with the wrong presupposition that, as Darwin admitted himself, we must, above all things, begin the discussion with the idea that there is no Creator God as characterized in the Bible. 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. - Romans 1:18-22

[simplystefanie-rae]

Marichat isn’t the only problem in the love square

Yeah, seriously. It’s not. 

I consistently fail to understand why marichat specifically is the ship of the love square that always called out as portraying them as being out of character, as if these fanon traits don’t extend to any of the other corners. Frankly, I’m getting annoyed now at the comments I’ll see here and there throwing that ship under the bus, as if there isn’t a problem with Marinette and Adrien’s character portrayal in general all across the board. 

People’s problem with Marichat is usually centered around two things, the first being is that it’s apparently over sexualized. I say ‘apparently’ because, with the exception of a few fics that are specifically meant to be smut, there’s barely anything to be found beyond some kissing action. The ‘sin’ title it has is either a joke or an exaggeration. People complain that they would be the friends dynamic and be teasing towards each other, and that there isn’t enough of that. Guess what? That is practically all there is when it comes to marichat. Those two being dorks and falling in love. Can the romance move fast? Yes, but usually those fics are short, or oneshots where there’s already an established dynamic bordering on romance. The longer fics tend to take time with it. You can take my word for it because guess what else, I actually read marichat fics. I find that a lot of the ones who call marichat out for having a bad fanon dynamic are also the ones who tend to not actually bother reading it.

The other problem people have with Marichat is that a lot people who support this side of the love square think that it’s the truest corner of it, and I agree 100% that this just isn’t accurate. Except, getting to my point made earlier, this problem is not a Marichat problem and we really need to stop pretending that only this ship has this dynamic. 

It’s not even a ship dynamic problem. It comes down to mischaracterization.

Marinette is written as an insecure girl who thinks she’s unworthy of being Ladybug in nearly everything I have ever read. Seriously, the ‘I’m just plain, clumsy Marinette’ line should be a bingo piece because of how often it’s used. The interpretation of her is basically considered canon at this point and is particularly prevalent in reveal scenarios. Marinette will freak out at the reveal, thinking Chat won’t like her because she’s ‘not really Ladybug, just Marinette’. 

Adrien is written as a boy who thinks he’s truly free and truly himself as Chat Noir, while everything else about him is fake, though it’s less common than Marinette’s mischaracterization. Then there’s the added insecurities that comes with Adrien being given an eating disorder he doesn’t actually have, and because it’s a wildly popular fanon theory, the self loathing in Adrien is usually very prevalent. 

Because both characters are often written as wearing this metaphorical mask hiding the real deal, naturally every ship dynamic is going to reflect that. And they do. Ladynoir is not innocent of this, nor Ladrien, nor Adrienette. I’ve read it all, and I can say without a doubt that Marichat is not the only dynamic that likes to delve into these characters having massive insecurities and identity issues. Why fandom acts like it is, I have no idea. Because some big names of the fandom said so?

Also, Marichat is not the only ship to have it’s own particular brand of fanon.

Ladrien? Overly sexualized. Want to talk about OOC, explain to me why Ladybug is suddenly turned into a dominatrix when she and Adrien can barely say a sentence without blushing and getting very shy. I’m not saying this happens all the time, but it’s become a bit of a trope. 

Ladynoir? Ladybug can be written as a real bitch to Chat a lot of the time in these fics. A bitch, or just standoffish and protective of herself. She’s shown none of this resistance in the actual show, but it’s a staple of Ladynoir fics to have Ladybug keep these walls up around herself. Rarely do I see this being called out. 

Can 2017 be the year where we stop pretending Marichat is the only aspect of the love square with a wrong fanon dynamic? There is a ton of stuff in this fandom that has it’s issues, and we really need to start paying more attention to Adrien and Marinette’s character on a broader scale than just one side of the love square if we want to see better canon portrayals all around.

[hindu-unmuted-blog]

Hindu American Advocacy: Why it Matters

Sabari Surendran

We’re often the most blissfully oblivious group of people when it comes to identifying with our faith and our history. Growing up and living in an insulated Malayalee household meant that we could always find ways to detach ourselves conveniently from advocating for social issues and injustices happening around us at our convenience. Perhaps one of the hardest fought battles for acceptance, social reformation and equality in human history took place right in our home country and in our home state— the struggle for the lower caste believers of the Sanathana Dharma to be accepted and integrated into the general society, educational institutions and even places of worship. And yet, the far-reaching implications and consequences of this struggle, and the immense contributions our spiritual trailblazers like Sree Narayana Guru and Chattambi Swami made towards helping us overcome these barriers and come together as a unified faith as our scriptures intended, remain relatively obscure to a large majority of Malayalee Hindu youth.

Our easiest excuse for this is often blaming the lack of exposure to these socio-cultural realities that our community is still trying to overcome back home. 

When we are faced with the question of reacting to the various societal issues happening around us like the systemic oppression of colored minorities or the post-9/11 increase of targeted hate crimes against Muslim and Sikh Americans, we choose the luxury of not having to react since we fall into the Hindu Malayali demographic, one of the most successful and affluent groups among the Indian diaspora known for their drive to integrate no matter where in the world they end up. In other words, we often choose to ‘turn on and off’ our affiliation to faith and culture in accordance to our convenience, moving in and out of comfort bubbles in order to avoid having to react.

But over the past few weeks, things have changed. Our prospects of getting to stay silent don’t look as rosy anymore. In ways more than one, we’re not able to stay in our bubbles of ignorant bliss in peace as of late. Just over the past three weeks, there have been 4 violent attacks against Indian Americans in American soil. And nearly all of them have involved Hindu Americans being directly targeted. And two of these incidents involved lives being lost. The first incident involved two young Hindu American IT professionals named Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, who were shot at a bar outside Kansas City by a man named Adam W Purington, someone with a history of serving in the armed forces. After approaching the two men who were out enjoying their Wednesday evening, Purington asked them if they were “in the country legally” and if they had their “papers on them”. He then left the bar and came back with a fully loaded gun and shot at the two young men nine times, asking them to “go back to [their] country”. Ian Grillot, a man who tried to stop the shooter, took a gunshot to his arm, the bullet barely missing his carotid artery and fracturing one of the vertebrae in his neck. 

Srinivas Kuchibhotla passed away at the site, while Alok Madasani, his friend, was rushed to the hospital with severe gunshot wounds.

Barely a week later, a Sikh American man named Deep Rai was shot in Kent, Washington outside his home on his driveway. He was also called racial slurs and told to “go back to [his] country”. A few days later, Harnish Patel, an Indian American who has lived in the US with his family for over a decade, was shot and killed outside of his home late Thursday night in Lancaster, South Carolina. And most recently, last night, a 64-year-old Florida man named Richard Lloyd tried to set fire to an entire convenience store with its employees inside them. 

He told deputies when he was caught that he was trying to “do his part” to “run the Arabs out of our country”.

Before anyone tries to make the argument that these crimes had nothing to do with faith, reflect on this— nearly every single one of the senseless acts of violence described above were based exclusively on the perceived religious identities of these men. Kuchibhotla and Madasani were shot because they looked like “Iranian Muslims” to the attacker. Deep Rai was shot because the shooter somehow deduced his turban to be a sign of terror. And last night, an entire store was almost burned to the ground because one man wanted to “do his part” to cleanse this country. Now we do have the choice of sitting back and waiting for higher authorities of our government to do the responding. The White House, however, is yet to release any official statements regarding the Washington, South Carolina and Florida shootings. Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s initial and only response regarding any of these acts of violence came when he vehemently rejected any link between America’s recent foreign policy changes and the attacks:

“Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like,

to suggest that there’s any correlation I think that is a bit absurd.”                    

                                     After nearly a week of being criticized for his silence regarding Kuchibhotla’s death, President Trump condemned it when addressing the nation. While it is questionable that a man who found the time to tweet outrage merely hours after a fashion retail outlet dropped his daughter’s products had to wait a week to condemn a religious hate crime, we’ll leave politics to the sidelines. What is increasingly clear here, whether you’re a liberal or a conservative, is one simple fact: No one will speak or express outrage on our behalf if we don’t take the initiative to speak and advocate for ourselves. There won’t be any hashtags or considerable noise condemning these hate crimes if we don’t start the conversation by speaking up against it.

We have to work proactively as a community to condemn senseless hatred and mischaracterization of our faith. If we don’t take the time and effort to make others aware of what our faith and identity truly represents and stands for, it only builds a platform for large-scale fear mongering and misinformation among the general public. 

What if, like all other times, we sit back and let other people clear the air regarding what our Dharma stands for?

What results are shows like Reza Aslan’s Believer series depicting Hindus as savage cannibals drinking their own urine. Five days after a Hindu American and Sikh American lost their lives to religious hatred, CNN aired a promo piece for the Believer episode on Hindus with a blaring banner headline “CANNIBALS” rolling across the screen, with the visual of a Sadhu flinging urine. The episode featured the stereotyped image of a naked Aghori sadhu, sitting up drinking alcohol from a human skull, and literally eating human flesh. He then takes Reza on as his disciple, threatening to behead him if he talks anymore, and proceeds to throw freshly excreted urine at him, all of it unedited and broadcasted on national television. At one point during the episode, Aslan turns to the camera and proclaims, “You want to know what putting your faith into practice looks like? This is what it looks like”. While much of the airtime on the show is devoted to show Aghoris, who are an extremely small group of erratic sanyasis who engage in practices variant from the overwhelming majority of everyday Hindus, not a single minute is dedicated to show our acharyas like Shankaracharya, Sree Narayana Guru, Melpathur, or any of the hundreds of spiritual visionaries who decoded and made the immense knowledge of our scriptures accessible to people of any caste, creed or conduct.

The PEW Survey on Religious Knowledge conducted in 2013 found that less than 36% of the American population had any baseline knowledge regarding Hinduism and what it entails. What will an average American who watches Reza Aslan’s show featuring urine flinging sadhus who threaten to behead their disciples take away about Hinduism’s message or content? This wasn’t content aired in some alt-right YouTube channel, it was a full feature show validated by the FCC aired in one of the most watched news networks in the nation. This is the kind of misinformation that breeds hate and ignorance. This, aired less than a week after two Americans belonging to religious minorities were killed, will only further insinuate and exacerbate religious hate and extremism.

Although expecting our community of Hindu youth to initiate advocacy overnight is unrealistic, we can at least start the conversation on an individual basis. When we see our faith being misrepresented among our larger communities and/or in the media, we can speak up and dispel the exoticization surrounding Hindu beliefs and rituals. From a political advocacy standpoint, it is true that the Hindu voice still needs strength. But one of the organizations currently working to ensure this is the Hindu American Foundation (www.hafsite.org), who has a fully dedicated office operating out of Washington D.C, helping keep our legislative body aware of the issues affecting our community. The simplest and most intuitive resource we can use to help a fellow friend, colleague or neighbor understand more about our faith is the Hinduism 101 module created by HAF, which will help them understand the basic tenets and principles that guide our faith (Link: https://www.hafsite.org/resources/hinduism101).

It’s time for us to start educating ourselves and others regarding our faith and the issues affecting us. It’s about time that we un-muted our collective voices and spoke out against injustices taking place around us and back home. This upcoming convention, while spending time catching up with our friends and family, lets also find the time to start the conversation regarding advocacy. 

Let’s take steps to ensure that the lives that were lost weren’t lost in vain. Let’s all come together and ensure that the rampant ignorance and mischaracterization of our tradition and our culture sees its end.

[democratsunited-blog]

Democrats surging on eve of pivotal special election

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=7407

Democrats surging on eve of pivotal special election

WESTERVILLE, OHIO — The entire Republican Party machinery has converged on this suburban Columbus district for a furious eleventh-hour campaign aimed at saving a conservative House seat and averting another special election disaster.

But in the final days ahead of Tuesday’s election, signs were everywhere that Democrats are surging — from recent polling to the private and public statements of many Republicans, including the GOP candidate himself. The district has been reliably red for more than three decades, but the sheer size of the Republican cavalry made clear how worried the party is about losing it.

Story Continued Below

At a Saturday evening rally, President Donald Trump tried to juice conservative excitement for mild-mannered Republican candidate Troy Balderson while foisting a Trumpian nickname upon 31-year-old Democratic hopeful Danny O’Connor: “Danny boy.” Earlier in the week, Vice President Mike Pence made the trek, while Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. recorded a robocall, and Gov. John Kasich endorsed Balderson in a TV ad.

The Republican National Committee has opened two offices in the district, launched a $500,000-plus get-out-the-vote effort, and dispatched one of its top officials, Bob Paduchik, who ran Trump’s 2016 Ohio campaign. And outside conservative groups, led by a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, have dumped more than $3.5 million onto the TV airwaves, far outpacing Democrats.

The all-out push underscores the GOP’s trepidation about the final special election before the midterms. A loss, following startling Republican defeats in Pennsylvania and Alabama, would offer more evidence that a blue wave is on the horizon. And it would further fuel fears of what’s becoming evident: that Democrats are simply more amped up, even in areas that have long been safely Republican.

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As he addressed volunteers gathered in a campaign office on Friday afternoon, Balderson, a 56-year-old state legislator, hinted at the enthusiasm deficit that was plaguing his party. A Monmouth University poll last week had him ahead of O’Connor by a single percentage point, 44 to 43.

“You all know, it’s a tight race. And everybody wants to know, why is it tight? Why is it tight?” he said. “Because this race is all about turnout.”

With Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Paduchik at his side, Balderson told the volunteers that “there’s been some talk about us not really getting out there and not working,” though he assured them their efforts were not being overlooked.

“We know what you’re doing, we know the doors you’re hitting, we know the phone calls you’re making,” he said.

Republicans contend that their mobilization headaches are being compounded by the unusual timing of the race. Many voters are on vacation or going about their summers and unaware of the special election.

With that in mind, White House officials, who have been watching the contest with growing worry, dispatched Trump to the district in the hope he can fire up conservatives who might stay home on Tuesday. The president, who advisers said was eager to jump into the special election, lavished praise on Balderson while also offering up a greatest-hits like collection of attacks on the media, political rivals and the Russia investigation.

“I think what it does, perhaps most importantly, is it raises the profile of the race,” said Portman, who bemoaned the timing of the August election. “If you were to walk over to the Kroger here and ask people, ‘Is there a race? You know, is there a congressional race going on?’ Ninety percent of them would say, ‘What are you talking about?’”

The event was also designed to unify Republicans around Balderson, who narrowly survived a bruising primary fight against Melanie Leneghan, a Trump-aligned local official. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a conservative House Freedom Caucus member and Leneghan backer, was in attendance, and the rally was held in Delaware County, where Leneghan is from.

Yet the president’s fly-in carried considerable risk. Like dozens of other suburban districts around the country, Ohio’s 12th is filled with higher-income and upper-educated voters who have soured on the president, and some party officials are worried that the boisterous rally could turn those voters away from Balderson. The Monmouth poll showed Trump’s approval rating in the district at just 46 percent. Trump received 52 percent of the vote in the district in 2016.

Those worries intensified on Saturday morning when, just hours before the rally, Trump took to Twitter to attack NBA legend LeBron James, an Ohio favorite son who recently opened a public school in Akron for at-risk youth.

Fearful of losing critical suburban voters turned off by the president’s rhetoric, Balderson has worked to cultivate the support of Kasich, a moderate figure and fierce Trump critic seen as a potential 2020 primary challenger to the president. During a recent phone call aimed at securing Kasich’s endorsement, Balderson assured the governor that he shared his opposition to Trump’s tariffs and family separations at the border, and told him that he’d be willing to buck leadership, said a person familiar with the conversation.

Unlike many other Republicans running this year, Balderson has avoided mentioning the president in general election TV ads; he has, however, highlighted work he’s done with Kasich. The governor, who formerly held the House seat, did not attend the Trump rally.

Jay Hottinger, a friend of Balderson’s who serves alongside him in the state Senate, described Trump as “one of the most divisive presidents and political figures we’ve ever had” but said his visit was crucial for generating conservative interest in the contest.

“What we are seeing in polling, both nationally and in the 12th Congressional District, is that Democrats are more motivated to go out and vote,” he added.

In the minds of many Republicans, Tuesday’s contest has emerged as a critical test of whether they can win over Trump supporters while keeping moderates in the fold — and whether Democrats can succeed in the type of suburban districts they need to win the House.

“Up until now, these special elections have been highly overhyped. This special [election] is different, it’s truly an accurate reflection of where both parties’ bases are, as we leave the calm and head into the general election storm,” said Nick Everhart, an Ohio-based GOP strategist who is working on races across the country but is not involved in this one. “This election outcome is not overhyped, and it matters maybe more than the hype.”

O’Connor, the Franklin County recorder, is casting himself as an above-the-fray, middle-of-the-road figure. He has mostly avoided going after the president and instead focused on issues like entitlements, warning that Balderson wants to scale back Social Security benefits.

Campaigning with his parents at a Delaware street festival on Friday, O’Connor was asked by a supporter about Trump’s alleged extramarital affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. The candidate changed the subject.

“It’s not a big deal to folks,” O’Connor said, when asked how voters in the district feel about the president. “People care more about the bread-and-butter stuff that keeps them up.”

But as the commander in chief prepared to venture to central Ohio, O’Connor couldn’t help but revel in his newfound momentum. At one point, he was stopped by a friend who congratulated him and told him that Republicans were “nervous.”

The fact that Trump was coming, O’Connor said, was proof that “Troy Balderson needs D.C. to bail him out.”

CORRECTION: The original version of this article mischaracterized the type of school LeBron James opened. It is a public school, not a charter school.

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[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/fact-checking-donald-trumps-perfect-10-hurricanes/

Fact checking Donald Trump's perfect 10 on hurricanes

Donald Trump rated himself a perfect "10" despite the facts and what many Puerto Ricans have said about his response to their hurricane-ravaged island. President Donald Trump gave himself a “10” on Thursday for his response to the widespread devastation Puerto Rico suffered after back-to-back hurricanes created a situation that the island’s governor described as “catastrophic” as he met with Trump at the White House. More than 80 percent of households in Puerto Rico remain without electricity about a month after Hurricane Maria, the second storm, dealt the island a severe blow. Asked when the 3.4 million U.S. citizens living there could expect power to be fully restored, Trump replied: “It’s a very, very good question, actually.” Trump said it will take “a while” to build a new power plant or substantially renovate what was damaged by the storms. The president said most of the power that exists is being supplied by the “massive numbers” of generators he sent to the island. “There’s never been a case where power plants were gone,” Trump said, seated alongside Gov. Ricardo Rossello in the Oval Office. “So it’s going to be a period of time before the electric is restored.” Trump was also asked by a reporter to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, the White House response to Puerto Rico. “I’d say it was a 10,” Trump said. “I’d say it was probably the most difficult -- when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved, you look at the number -- I mean, this was -- I think it was worse than Katrina, it was, in many ways, worse than anything people have ever seen.” Trump said the administration had personnel nearby before the storm hit, ready to go afterward, and that a “fantastic job” was done under the circumstances. “I would give a 10,” he repeated. During a visit to Puerto Rico earlier this month to survey the damage, Trump compared what happened there to a “real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, killing hundreds when levees broke and flooded the city. Trump’s comment was interpreted by some as minimizing Puerto Rico’s suffering at a time when residents were struggling to get food and clean drinking water, and coping without electricity. Seated beside Trump, Rossello tried to strike an upbeat note despite saying “it’s a catastrophic situation” in Puerto Rico. But he said, “We are going to beat this. We know we’re going to build better than before,” he said. Trump asked, “Did we do a good job?” Rossello replied, “You responded immediately, sir.” The two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico last month — first Irma then Maria — were “in many ways worse than anything people have ever seen,” Trump said. Rossello has been supportive of Trump, saying again Thursday that every request he’s made of the president has been answered. The governor, who also met with key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, said Trump “has been clear that no U.S. citizen will be left behind.” Members of Congress from both parties have criticized the response to Puerto Rico as lackluster compared to the administration’s reaction after hurricanes in Houston and parts of Louisiana, and later in Florida. The mayor of San Juan has also been a vocal critic of the response and of some of Trump’s comments on Twitter. Trump said he had given his “blessing” to Congress for a funding plan to help the debt-ridden island pay for the new power station. The electrical grid was in poor shape long before the storm hit. The president also sought to clarify a tweet from earlier this month that seemed to suggest he was ready to cut off federal assistance to the U.S. territory, saying FEMA, the military, and first responders can’t stay “in P.R. forever!” Trump said Thursday that “at a certain point,” FEMA and other agencies have to leave the locations where the U.S. goes to help. “I think the governor understands that FEMA, the military, the first responders cannot be there forever,” he said. “And no matter where you go, they cannot be there forever.” Responding to upbeat comments from Trump’s acting Homeland Security secretary, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said, “This is not a good news story, this is a people are dying story.” Nearly a month after Maria made landfall, only 22 percent of the island’s 3.4 million residents have electricity, and 72 percent have access to clean water. But about 78 percent of the hospitals are open, although electric service is still unreliable. Trump said despite the efforts of emergency personnel, getting help to the residents was a logistical nightmare because the storm wrecked infrastructure and many of the roads were blocked with debris from the storm. Remarking on Puerto Rico’s $74 billion in debt, Trump said the government would work out a plan for it to pay back any loans during the rebuilding process. “I will say that I have given my blessing to Congress and Congress is working with you and your representatives on coming up with a plan and a payment plan and how it’s all going to be funded,” he said. The Senate is considering giving Puerto Rico $4.9 billion in loans as part of a hurricane and wildfire relief bill. President Donald Trump won’t let go of the false claim that Puerto Rico was hit by a Category 5 hurricane. He also errs in citing praise from a Clinton-era official for the way he’s responded to the island’s plight. TRUMP: “They got hit dead center — if you look at those maps — by a Category 5. Nobody’s ever heard of a 5 hitting land. Usually by that time it’s dissipated. It hit right through — and kept to a 5 — it hit right through the middle of the island, right through the middle of Puerto Rico. There’s never been anything like that.” — comments Thursday after a White House meeting with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello THE FACTS: That account is wrong. Maria made landfall on Puerto as a Category 4 storm at 6:35 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, with winds of 155 mph (249 kph), just short of the 157 mph (253 kph) of a 5. Nor did it rake across the island as a Category 5. It weakened and left the island some seven hours later as barely a Category 3. The fact Maria fell just short of a 5 is of no comfort to people on the devastated island, but Trump is distorting the historical record with his persistent mischaracterization. Past hurricanes, such as Andrew in 1992, have sometimes been upgraded from Category 4 to 5 after further review of damage on the ground, but as of now, the National Hurricane Center lists Maria as an upper limit Category 4. TRUMP: “We keep being given credit. You know, it’s very nice that the gentleman who worked for Bill Clinton, when he was president, gave us an A-plus. And that included Puerto Rico. Gave us an A-plus. And I thought that was really very nice. And I think — I really believe he’s correct. We have done a really great job.” — comments after Rossello meeting THE FACTS: James Lee Witt, the Clinton administration emergency chief cited by Trump, says he never gave Trump an A-plus for his Puerto Rico efforts because it is too early to judge them. Trump might be forgiven for thinking he got that praise from Witt because published reports suggested he did. But Witt said in an media interview and in a statement that his praise regarded hurricanes Harvey and Irma only. He thought the Trump administration responded effectively to them. But Maria? “Even today it is yet to be determined whether the ultimate response to that hurricane will get an A, C or F or something else,” he said. “As time goes by that will become apparent.”

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