#and i think el interprets that as this being a requirement for her to stay around

[chirpsythismorning]

Mike yelling at everyone for expecting El to fight for ‘no reason’ in s3… please Mike, share with the class what would qualify as a valid reason for El to fight?? Will being in danger perhaps? The plot of s1-2 perhaps?

[echoes-lighthouse]

11 and 13 for any/all of your f/os!

1 and 2 for jester, and 6 and 15 for dirk! (from s-el-fships, i hope those will be fun! <3)

Heck yes, thank you @s-el-fships!!! I love this set of selfship questions!!! 

11. do you create anything to commemorate your relationship with your f/o? tell us about it!

Everything for this blog! I make moodboards, fanfiction, art, journal pages, videos for my f/os. I occasionally do little cross-stitches or doodles that remind me of them, but that's the only thing I keep for myself. I'm really into selfshipping for the community, so everything I make, I share!

13. if you have multiple f/os, do you see them all as separate relationships or as a sort of polycule? if you have them separated, how are those versions of the world different from the others?

Separate relationships for sure! They're all in different universes! I do have some poly relationships, some 'canon' and others not, and some of my selfships are open relationships, but for all my main f/os, they're separate relationships with different universes and different s/is, even if they share a source.

For Jester!

1.does your f/o have any special nicknames for you? what are they? do you have a favorite?

Ah, I'm not very good at making up nicknames >w< I'm sure Jester would have a lot of them for me but it would take me a long time to think of them! And I do just love it when she says my name with all that affection in her voice <3 <3

2. do you and your f/o share any hobbies? what are they? do you see one another as rivals, collaborators, something else?

Both Jester and I are very into creating things, but she tends towards visual arts and I tend towards music/wordsmithing- we definitely do cross over into each other’s areas, but tend to be very encouraging and enthusiastic about the other person’s creations! 

We’re also both magic users, and we are a bit competitive about that, but only playfully. We both respect the source of each other’s magic, and as long as we know that, it’s a fun place to play with competition! 

Answers For Dirk are under the ‘read more’ because this is getting long!! 

For Dirk

6. do you have any alternate timelines or universes in your self-ship? what are they like?

I’ve definitely thought about developing a trollstuck AU for us, but I don’t think it fits us very well! I like that we’re two humans with more troll-like romance dynamics. 

My “memories” of Dirk could be interpreted as an AU of our selfship, but that feels weird since my memories/kins are involuntary, while my selfships are consciously chosen. (I have hyperempathy as part of my autism which can really blur the lines between my identity and some characters, including memories, long story?) 

It would be kind of cool to reinvent that as a selfship but *waves hand* it’s complicated 

15. how does your f/o respond to physical affection from you? do they like pda, or are they more reserved? how do you respond to physical affection from them?

Hahaha, well we’re both touch starved in the most technical sense, so it’s complicated because touch is A Lot for both of us. That’s part of why we like sparring so much: fighting and grappling is a very familiar and structured way to have physical contact with each other. 

I’m mostly okay with physical affection when I’m the one in control of it, so Dirk learns not to initiate contact. When I’m the one to come over and initiate, he’s very stiff for a while, but often finds a way to relax into the affection. It’s really rewarding for both of us when he can get to that point. 

We tend towards PDA as a self-defense: our heartbond requires us to stay close to each other, so when we’re in a crowd, we automatically hold hands to keep from being pulled apart. Also, it can be hard to process if we’re in two different conversations, so we usually stay close together so we can interact as a unit, instead of trying to drown out each other’s thoughts while talking to someone. But we don’t, like, kiss or hug in public: just holding hands and keeping close together. 

Also, sometimes one of us will poke the other person until they get annoyed and pin or hold our hands/wrists, which is some very blatant pitch PDA for anyone familiar with troll romance traditions. 

[suushii-roll]

There has been something bugging me since I watched the Inazuma Eleven GO and Danball Senki W crossover movie:

The fact that Kinako Nanobana makes an appearance.

No, I do not think that her involvement in the movie makes it bad or anything. She was one of the most helpful characters, trying to be a peacemaker for her friends.

The problem I have is more tied to the ACTUAL lore of the story, mainly the CS storyline. Why did she appear again after going back to her time? Why isnt anyone confused, despite no one in the stadium except a select few (Raimon, Shinsei Inazuma Japan, and possibly Inazuma Legend Japan as well) knew who she is? Speaking of which, spoiler warning for Inazuma Eleven GO: Chrono Stone and Inazuma Eleven GO v.s. Danball Senki W, as well as a few other Inazuma Eleven movies.

Kinako Nanobana was first introduced in episode 18. At first, no one knew who she is except the other members of Raimon who were affected by the Time Paradox.

It was later revealed that her purpose of suddenly being in the Raimon team was to aid them in their journey stopping El Dorado from erasing soccer, and then help defeating Feida, preventing them from taking over the world.

The whole Chrono Stone story was caused by the war between Feida and El Dorado; a war that happened 200 years after the events of Inazuma Eleven GO. It was, however, foreshadowed by the movie Inazuma Eleven GO: Kyūkyoku no Kizuna Gryphon. At the end of the movie, Sengujji Daigo and Ishido Shuuji were talking about the possibility of Second Stage Children already existing. Ishido Shuuji also wore the Time Bracelet; a device given by Supporter X to him and Yuuichi, which prevents him from being affected by the Time Paradox.

Consideing that Fei was around the age of the Feida kids and the members of Raimon, then he should be 13-15 years old at the events of CS. Kinako seemed to be around her twenties when she gave birth to Fei, making her Fei's age 20-30 years before.

Being a teen around 20-30 years before Fei, still makes her timeline WAY to far from the Ina GO Raimon kids. Not to mention that she appears the same age as when they first met her.

Then why did she appear in the movie? Did everyone manage to still have contact after CS ended? Was there somehow a way for her to travel back in time, despite not being from 200 years away?

There are a lot of reasons of why she chose to appear, but I will only include 2 on this post.

Theory 1: Asurei Fei Left Kinako a Time Travelling Device

Back in CS, we were given a scene where Kinako and Asurei first met. Asurei told her that he needed Kinako's help to look over Fei. We DIDN'T however, see any scene of them causing any Time Paradoxes or travelling to GO Raimon's time.

Since we have the whole 'we didn't get to see Kinako and Asurei time travel' thing, how they travelled and created a Time Paradox is up to our interpretation.

One of the ways they could have done it is by finding the timeline that the 5 Raimon kids who were not affected by Beta's mind control would jump to. We weren't really told how Time Paradoxes could be made (other than meddling with the timeline directly.)

Maybe Asurei gave the responsibility of changing the timeline to Kinako. Asurei's plan was to look over Fei; and by doing so have to help Feida as Supporter X. Maybe this plan REALLY requires him to stay away from his family, or it might spark some suspicion from Feida. So he either helped create the Time Paradox for Kinako or just sent Kinako to go to the past to change the timeline as she wants.

Theory 2: This Was All Caused By the Imbalance From Fran's Destruction

A lot of sci-fi stories regarding time travelling or some sort of mass destruction in the timeline leads to the most major changes. So according to that, Fran's mission of erasing of the universe might have been the reason the timeline changed and put Kinako in Ina GO's time.

We all know how powerful Fran is; being able to travel to where and whenever in the universe, as well as remove and return anything she desires, as long as its in a natural state (for example: trees and grass in a barren field).

That being said, she didn't seem to delete everything AT ONCE. But we know that the universe likes balance, such as the instance where the false timeline Tsurugi Yuuichi and Endou Daisuke returns back to their original states after the Ina GO timeline goes back to normal. It seems that whatever Fran deletes, it opens to more possibilities in said universe; even so that it can open up to different ones. it would be a while before she can remove "violence" completely.

Speaking of the opening of any possibilities that can appear, Fran's deletion in process might have sent Kinako to live in Ina GO's time. Maybe even make her actually stay. But it will still contradict the fact that Fei seemingly still came from the future. So a more rational explanation is that Kinako might have resided for a while before going back to her timeline. Making her live and get known by people, before leaving again.

[touchmycoat]

5, 6 (i already know this is some insane amount), 9, 10, 16, 23, 26 (house)

BAAABE :*

5. What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

my office cubicle apparently kdsjfnksd

no but genuinely anywhere i can zone out. i make faces & mutter to myself when i write tho so, anywhere where that wouldn’t draw weird glances lmfao

6. If you’re really concentrating, how many words can you write in a day?

bahahaha i think Farmer’s Almanac holds the record rn—10k, give or take.

9. Do you prefer to write AUs, canon divergence, or canon-compliant fic?

#selfintrospection, my pattern per fandom seems to be starting with canon divergence! I’m a side characters ho, y’all know this, so I always like to recenter the narrative & get a surer foothold in my own interpretations of character first. but after that.... no preference! I love (and have written) all three to great enjoyment heheheh just depends on where i wanna see ‘em fuck

10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?

NFJDNFJDNFJD HOW CAN I CHOOSE

Exposition is sexy, and i get to be the most experimental & excessive & self-indulgent here w/ style choices.

Dialogue is sexy, ‘cause voices and humor and dirty talk and heartbreak and communication!!! I’m a movie ho so i’m all about that plot-driving script game ;;;;

Plot is sexy ‘cause that’s where you get to fuck around with all the canon themes, subvert & avert & redistribute them!!!!!!!! I’m a slut for that!!!!!!!!!

can’t choose won’t choose :’D

16. What is your most underrated fic?

LMFAO you know i’m gonna say Sword of the Yi Maiden ;) she’s basically like, our child ;;

23. If you had to remix one of your own fics, which would it be and how would you remix it?

well once i sort out the single dad!Song Lan universe, i’d loooooove to switch gears & swerve into single dad!Xiao Xingchen B) just for kicks. But where Song Lan is like, a high school lit teacher and A-Qing is our favorite local delinquent child. XXC gets called in for a parent-teacher conference, and he’s actually kind of dreading it at first because AQ honestly never had too many complaints about the English teacher, so if this Song Laoshi was suddenly going to betray his daughter’s trust and tattle on her XXC would def take AQ’s side.

But! Turns out SL’s calling him in to be like “hey, AQ never does homework but is fine with participating in class if i kind of trick her into arguing about it, so i figured she just really doesn’t like being told what to do. That’s fine! But that also means I don’t think she’ll respond well to me sitting her down to talk about her higher education options, so I figured I’d run it past the parent first to see if you have any thoughts about how we’re going to proceed.”

it’d be SO fucking funny... AQ stops skipping class or stops zoning out the moment she catches onto her dad’s little ~thing for Song Laoshi. She starts challenging him in class instead on every little thing (”yeah but don’t you think it’s inherently racist to require us to read conrad at all, if there are so many books out there written by actual African postcolonial authors”) but he’s just happy she’s engaging so they bond

they’re both super proud and near tears at graduation, and AQ is too but to hide her own embarrassingly feelings she’s like “don’t pretend y’all aren’t just crying ‘cause you can finally date each other now that it won’t be fucking WEIRD for me”

26. Which part of House was the hardest to write?

hmmmmm I think I had the most number of false starts w ch. 3!! i never save shit rip but at one point i straight up had like.... 13 pages all blacked out? Oh i remember, the scene where AQ first tests SL. I had that set in like, the breakfast stall, in a busy street, a quiet street, etc. etc. I was putting each of their conversations in different contexts too, just seeing how they would play out based on the surroundings??? i even thought about dropping AQ’s POV completely at one point but I’m very glad i didn’t. The current version is actually the very first opening for the chapter i ever wrote so, el oh el, i try not to think all that effort went to waste. It’s more like, I had some ideas, but i had to prove none of them would work before i could proceed with this one, y’know?

BUT TELL YOU WHAT I DID SAVE THO. The first draft of the Ch. 2 opening? After I wrote this i was like “yikes this is way too conventional a set-up for a flashback let’s just do it,” and wrote the current version on ao3 lmao. I kept the chapped knuckles thing~

Under the Cut:

((Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing Asks!))

Song Lan stood at the entrance of his room in the inn, fist clenched hard around Fuxue’s hilt as the rain came in. Night had been the herald, and now, the lantern at the top of the stairs to Song Lan’s left was flickering wildly, buffeted about by the stormy wind.

The inn’s owner, an older woman in her 50s, spoke a string of worried utterances as she hurried up the stairs to close the window. As her hands approached the latch though, Song Lan sensed bloodthirst. Fuxue went flying.

The woman screamed, but the harm was over; a mutated critter of a hungry ghost slumped against the window frame, pinned there by Fuxue’s cool blade. Instead of closing the window for her, Song Lan pressed two paper talismans on either side. He pulled out Fuxue and watched the hungry ghost dissipate.

“Daozhang, daozhang, gratitude,” the woman wept. “A few here and there is nothing, you know? But once they begin to stay, and bigger things start to come, and we have young ones in the house, oh, it terrifies me, what state this city has been falling into…”

Fuxue returned to its sheathe, and Song Lan still had his fly-whisk tucked in his arm. He gave the inn owner a polite bow.

“I will attempt an extermination tonight.”

“Daozhang is so reliable,” the woman said, tears instantly transforming into simpering gratitude. Her distress had been in part a show, meant to move Song Lan into action. Song Lan did not mind; this was his third night at the inn, after all, and the second time the inn owner’s requested a favor from him. It stood to reason that she would think he needs more affective convincing, even if she’s wrong.

“I may trouble you for tea upon my return,” he murmured. When the woman reached out to pat his elbow in a matronly gesture, Song Lan stepped back, disguising the gesture as a readjustment of his robes as he replaced the stack of talismans back in his sleeve.

“Of course,” she replied, hand waving in the air before lowering back down to her side. A spot of tension eased at the base of Song Lan’s neck. “The stove never stops burning in our kitchen, particularly when we have guests. Just give our door a knock if the evening chef isn’t around. We’ll take care of you.”

Song Lan was grateful. He’d need the hot drink when he returned from the rain—soaking in the deluge always left his skin feeling beaten and bloated. And the sensation, if untreated, never failed to transform itself into two long iron nails hammered deep into his skull and brain. The pain was best avoided if at all possible.

(Xiao XingChen knew this about him. Nothing’s ever eased the migraines faster than XingChen’s smile as he wordlessly pushed a cup of hot water or tea across the table. Nothing’s ever distracted Song Lan from the pain more effectively than wondering exactly what would happen, if XingChen’s fingers lingered and his own could touch, just lightly, those perpetually chapped knuckles.)

(Take better care of yourself, Song Lan had once chastised when blood came seeping up between cracked skin.

I forget to, XingChen had confessed, sheepish lines crinkling around his eyes.

Had Song Lan been anybody else, he would’ve said out loud what he wished he could’ve said out loud: I’ll do it then.

Had Song Lan been anybody else, he would’ve thumbed a layer of protective grease over Xiao XingChen’s dry hands himself, save them both the need for cheesy lines and impotent promises. Words often got him into trouble, he knew this; he much preferred the vows made in every shared action that was mutually fostered into consistency. But what did it say about him, that his hands flinched from touch and Xiao XingChen walked at a careful radius around him, that he couldn’t make a vow on any level that counted?)

The extermination was no reprieve from the discomfort, the dissatisfaction, the disassembly of it all. The sky was falling apart and so was his skin. Moderation was less a stranger to Song Lan than longing, but tonight, the berating of his body was not moderated at all.

A year of searching, over, just like that.

An opportunity to apologize, gone, just like that.

A promise.

A dream.

So do you like him then? You want to really build a family with him?

Gone. Just like that.

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Ranking the programs - JGPF 2019 Junior Ladies

Started doing it last year, did not finish, let’s try to be better this year. Again I want to say that the order is strictly personal. It entirely depends on my personal tastes. A program can be objectively good, and leave me entirely cold, which means he’ll be at the bottom of the list. Also in my case, music can break or make a program and is a least responsible for 50% of my enjoyment of said program. 

So let’s dive right into it with the junior ladies. This year’s crop had on average  better choreo than last season (mainly because there were only two Daniil G progs :) ). From least favorite to favorite.

THE SHORT

6 - Please don’t make me love you - Daria Usacheva

Daria is a very gifted skater who is able to pull off the atrocious program she’s given. She tries really hard to detail every single movement, she’s surprisingly polished for her age and sells the short. Unfortunately the choreo is shit, so there’s nothing to show. The music is horribly cringy, the rest is typical Gleich, with its gazillion transitions that do not match the music at all and could be transposed to any piece of music. 

What about the costume? Nice dress, but that’s also part of the typical Eteri-girl package, with lots of rhinestones. Olga Ryabenko did not knock it out of the park this time. Also I don’t like the colour she wears. I don’t care for the pastel-y grey and pink. Give me bright colours you cowards! 5/10

5 - Chopin, Nocturne in C Minor - Haein Lee

Nothing wrong with it. Nothing great about it either. A bit bland, a bit boring, a bit of a safe choice for Haein who is a wonderful skater with great lines and musicality

What about the costume? 5/10 Again, I find the colour boring. Not fan of the outline either. 

4 - Tron Legacy/The Fifth Element - Viktoria Vasilieva

I applaud Viktoria for deciding to skate to something a bit different. The choreo with its straight and angular arm moves is a good fit. She’s not the most expressive skater but has a lot of energy and is really musical. You will rarely see her missing a musical beat. 

What about the costume? I disliked her previous dress, the black one with the yellow fluo lines; but her new one is an improvement. 7/10. I like the geometric patterns. Lots of sparkles, makes for a nice effect when she spins. 

3 - Boy on a Ball - Kamila Valieva

For the life of me, I can never remember to name of the music Valieva skates to, so I just refer to the SP as the Boy on a Ball, of the Picasso SP. I absolutely adore the concept. The painting coming alive is a wonderful idea. I love the music choice. Very minimalist, delicate, and somehow fitting... The execution does not follow through. The choreo is far too busy for such a music. I actually don’t mind the leg kicks. I think they fit the program and the character she’s portraying. It also gives the program a distinc look. I like it. Otherwise... This SP had such potential and is disappointing. Mostly I can quite love it because I’m always fairly underwhelmed by Valieva’s performance. I think the girl is putting on herself an insane amount of pressure, she nearly always looks like she’s going to burst into tears at the beginning, and always rushes through. So far she has not shown any connection with the music and always rushes through. 

What about the costume tho? 10/10. Straight from Picasso’s painting. I love it.

2 - Don’t Rain on My Parade - Alysa Liu

One of my favourite programs of the season. And one I rewatch the most, just because, I know it will put me in a good mood. Never fails. This program is just pure joy. It fits Alysa like a glove. And the lyrics are so her. The music choice is deliciously tongue in check. Anyway Alysa is one hell of a performer. The choreo is great. Lots of transitions added since last season. The stepsequence is a blast! I mean how can you not love Alysa doing the fingerguns on “Eye on the target and BANG”. Also the attitude, the wink, the flying kiss during the second spin... It’s great. It just is. 

What about the costume? The pink dress, with the big blue gem is cute. Not very original but very cute. 7/10

1 - Alfonsina Y El Mar - Ksenia Sinitsyna

A masterpiece. It’s intricate. It’s mature. It’s soft and delicate. The choreo is full of details that are like small gems. And Ksenia is really the full package, and fingers crossed she will make it to the top, without being part of the Eteri team. 

What about the costume? Really beautiful. I like the blue colour used. I liked the cut of the dress, and the V-Line. I like the wave-like patterns in the back and along the collar. 9/10

THE FS

6 - Exogenesis Symphony part III - Kamila Valieva

That FS is a big no. How  you take Exogenesis and manage to choreograph something that does not reflect the music in any way is beyond me. Seriously nothing is choreographed according to the musical accents. Kamila skates, the music plays. Nothing to see.

I do like the costume tho. The purple grunge butterfly is interesting, and definitely a bold choice. 9/10

5 - Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, de Camille Saint-Saëns - Viktoria Vasilieva

I adore Rondo capriccioso, and the choreo is decent. Nothing to write home about, but nice. 

What about the dress? Meh 5/10

4 - Je suis Malade - Daria Usacheva

I was really sceptic at first because I did not think a thirteen years old could pull this off. Unfortunately Daria is currently the best of Eteri’s junior at interpretation, so the team decided “LET’S GIVE HER BIG DRAMA PROGS”, instead of, I dunno, something less heavy.

Not only does Daria manage not to get drowned by the overwhelming vocals, she actually succeeds in pulling this off. I’ve read an interview where she said that she was a bit scared at first, but really feels her FS, and it really shows. She’s skating her heart out, and her performance, is not only intense, but also wonderfully sincere. She stays honest, and true to herself, does not cheat, and was able to make this beast of a FS hers. Truly outstanding. 

What about the costume? I like it. Like the heart-shaped ornementations along the neckline. I like the dégradé of red. 8/10

3 - Illumination - Alysa Liu

Alysa’s coaches makes A+++ choices in terms of packaging. This is a very nice FS, as mature as can be expected of her, and really designed to help her grow artistically. I love the music. The beginning is a bit empty, as she basically skates up and down the rink, trying to land her crazy content, but after that it goes nicely. Alysa is always very musical, focused, and gives the energy and power this piece of music requires. 

And the costume? 7/10. Very nice. 

2 - Oma Asa Toma/Dakini IV - Ksenia Sinitsyna

The choreo is a wonder. Intricate and full of interesting steps and turns. Lovely choreo for the arms. Probably because this is a demanding program, with all the combos backloaded, Ksenia tends to put aside the performance to focus on the tech. Understandable, but because of that the program does not snap like it should. 

The costume? Well there’s a discussion to be held about cultural sensitivity, on insensitivity, but Ksenia’s dress and makeup were meticulously crafted, with nothing left aside. I appreciate that commitment to details. 7/10

1 - Riverdance, Firedance - Haein Lee

The Stepseq is one of the best of the season. When all the jumps have been landed, Haein just lets it loose and sets the rink on fire. And it’s so fucking great to watch!

Costume - Haein’s dress remind me so much of Mao’s dress for her last FS, that I cannot not love it. The red suits her really well. I love the rose in her hair. I like the shape of the skirt. 9/10

[kaypeace21]

Important things we learned from the ST prequel novel “Suspicious Minds”

What we learned about powers

The ‘potential’ to have powers is (generally) hereditary, however only under certain conditions will these powers manifest (psychological trauma, drugs, or certain psychological conditioning/experimentation is usually how it’s done). If this isn’t done, generally, if any powers still develop they are very weak. An example being Ken who was born with powers along with some of his other family members.

-“I am psychic, always have been ... My family always believed in this stuff... “

-“ He got feelings. Certainty would lodge itself in his chest. He had dreams with snatches of reality mixed in. Flashes of intuition. These came unpredictably—which he always thought was funny—and so he was never surprised if an inkling showed up. Or if it didn’t.” 

-“ I get feelings, sometimes fully formed thoughts, that I have a deep sense are true.”

( Hmm...this intuition-thing sounds very similar to how Joyce insisted she knew Will was alive despite seeing his fake-body.)

The younger the child is when experimented or tortured, the more likely they are to yield stronger powers. Even if the same trauma was done on an adult the results would be weaker and would be dependent on that particular stimulus. Alice could only see visions of the future with lsd and electroshock therapy, Terry had what’d you’d call “perfect recall” (which only happened with lsd)- diving into her memories and remembering them perfectly. While El can channel her powers without such things. 

-“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects...potential”

-“His theory had always been that exceptional abilities could be encouraged under the right conditions. But he’d always had to work with available subjects, none of them clean slates. This child—he could start encouraging the development of this child’s abilities now. In utero. Every day of her life. He’d make sure she was special”

There is a high correlation between above average intelligence and having “potential” (i.e capability to develop powers). In the book, Brenner almost used the terms interchangeably”.  

- “genius IQ, potential…limitless.” (El’s ‘potential’ was described as ‘extreme’)

-Terri is described as “above average intelligence”, and “brimming with potential” by Brenner.

-One of Brenner’s nicknames for Kali is “smart girl”.

-Terry’s questioned her roommate Stacy (who got out of the experiment) saying “How she’d fooled anyone into thinking she had average intelligence was beyond Terry—Stacey was obviously the smartest of all.”

-also in other outside cannon material Will is said to be the smartest of all the boys... hmmm...

How the void works

Terry after getting pregnant (temporarily) gains her baby Jane’s/El’s power to tap into the ‘void’. In relation to seeing normal people in the void, Terry learned they will not notice you observing and eavesdropping on them, and they cannot hear or see you (according to the book) ... so we can probably assume they also cannot touch other psychics without fading away, as well (like in the show). 

But the void is different if you try this on another psychic, she accidentally summons Kali- and finds out it’s a way for other psychics and only other psychics to have a private place to talk to one another- without anyone realizing. So yep, Will is psychic- the fact Will could touch, see, hear, and talk to El in the void wasn’t a coincidence! Debate over! XD”

More Proof Will has powers

He can communicate with other psychics using the void (in s1) . If powers are genetic (Joyce probably has Clairvoyance like Ken). And in the show, Joyce’s and Terry’s aunts were both described as “crazy” -which is probably not a coincidence. Also he’s the smartest of all the boys and described by Mr Clarke as  “great student.”

In relation to the adults (with powers) both the Xmen and Lord of the Rings were used in reference to them, multiple times. Will’s password for Castle Byers is “Rhadagast”, a character in Lord of the Rings. And in the 1st ep of the series, before Will goes missing , he asks Dustin for his X-men comic- later in reference to El ,Dustin asks “Do you think El was born with her powers like the X-men?” And when Mike says El is “channeling him (Will)”. Dustin says “like professor x”. clearly hinting that they were both born with powers, like the X-men.

Dr Brenner says there are very few people in the world with ‘potential’- ie the ability to develop powers under certain conditions. He encouraged the numbered-children to draw since it would increase the chances of developing powers. This is why we see a picture that El drew on her bedroom wall in s1. And who else really likes to draw- Will?

-“Art the psychologist here claimed, was vitally important for the creative children. Eight was definitely creative.” (Eight at this time, was the most powerful psychic ever, since El wasn’t born yet.)

when experimenting on the adults, they would take monthly blood tests and monitor their blood pressures. In s2 ep 1 they did the same thing to Will. They drew Will’s blood and put it in a vial ,monitored his blood pressure, and like El, recorded his brainwaves.

 Ken who was born with powers, is not heterosexual. And since many believe Will is queer it’s probably not a coincidence. Plus Will is referenced  to as a “cleric” and a “wizard”. And as a joke his friend says about him, “what wizardry is this?”

Dr Brenner tells a story about an experiment that involves killing rabbits. In the show “Papa” tries to force El to kill a cat. While Lonnie, Will’s dad, forced Jonathan to kill a rabbit, the first time he learned to shoot a gun. And since Will knows how to shoot a gun in s1e1, we can infer he was also forced to kill a rabbit/animal by a father figure-so it’s probably a parallel.

Both Alice and Terry when using their powers had hallucinations of a rainbow, Kali also formed a visual-allusion of sunflowers and a rainbow (implying all 3 have seen this rainbow, as well, when using their powers). And when Will was very young- he drew that ‘rainbow ship’.

-Terri: “Spots bloomed behind her eyelids. Every color ... as the sunlight turned to rainbows” ( p44-45), “The rainbow stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: darkness. A pit.”(p. 48).  “streaks of rainbow appeared (p47)”, “Wavy rainbows seemed to radiate from her hand even once she stilled it. (p. 88). “Her eyelids drifted shut, rainbows and sparks flying behind them. (p. 89). 

-Alice (who sees visions of the future) : “Snarling, snapping monsters, rainbow lights playing in the air around them (p. 121).

-Kali: “field of yellow sunflowers grew up around them. A rainbow arcing over the golden tops.” (p. 139).  “He noticed she’d drawn up there, a rainbow with her colored pencils. Maybe he’d suggest that for the playroom” (the rainbow room we see in s2) (p. 298) 

Interesting things we learned about Kali

- Kali at 5 years old, was the strongest of all 10 numbers- who were called the Indigo children (who are in a separate experiment than the adults, like Terry).

- Brenner purposely isolated her from other people. “Eight wasn’t allowed to know there were other children here. They were all ordinary so far. He worried they’d infect her.” (what a sicko- he did that to El too). He says about Kali “Child shows gifts that require isolation from those who might weaken her…Constantly asks for family and to be called by given name…Has stopped asking for her mother…”

- Brenner put her through sleep deprivation, for 13 hours, when she tried to keep a secret from him.

- In another scene after Kali reveals another secret to Brenner, Terry finds her on the bed “bathed in sweat, soaked through her gown” and “sobbing” “tightly gripping the sheets”. What did Brenner do here... am I reading too much into this? I feel like I missed a page or... y’know maybe he’s even more of a monster than I thought. They never explain this? And I’m still not sure how to interpret it 0-0

-Kali loved Terry (El’s mom) and the other adults even saying “I love you”, and referring to them as “family”. And Kali makes a hallucination in order to help them escape, they promise to come back and free her. So in s2 ep7 the “family” that Kali referred to that Dr. Brenner/the government killed was them.

Dr Brenner probably has powers 

- Ken who was born with powers describes it as a gut feeling of something that will occur or a belief he knows is true.

-Brenner can simply look at a person and his gut feeling tells him whether or not they have ‘potential’ to develop powers or not. It isn’t always correct but the vast majority of the time it is. He does this throughout the whole novel to everyone he meets.

“male, 5′8″, 180 pounds, white, average intelligence, potential…fulfilled by sitting in a guard booth checking IDs”

“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects. The way she’d sensed an opportunity and shown up suggested potential...Potential. She was bursting with it.” (about Terri)

“Such lost potential is always sad. There’s so little of it in the world.”(about Alice)

“Funny that his ID contained some of the information Brenner would have wanted if he were looking at himself: male, 6′1″, 195 pounds, white. The rest: genius IQ, potential…limitless.”

What we learned about the Mindflayer

-Well, I was right about the mindflayer having fire powers -so Will will probably get electro-pyrokinesis (along with other powers) like the comic and show hinted at, link here and here. 

Alice who sees visions of the future describes the mindflayer as “A monstrous vortex of fire and energy and darkness, tentacles reaching and growing. Growing so big they could eat the sky. Its mouth had a glowing fire of destruction inside it… (p. 243). 

[jkottke]

Pandemic Stories, Part 2

In Sunday's newsletter, I asked people to share what they've been up to during the pandemic and how their families and communities are coping. I've collected all those responses on one page and will be sharing excerpts over the next couple of days here and in the newsletter.

From a reader in Germany:

My husband and I split up in February after 16 years together. It was -- and is -- devastating. I haven't been sleeping or eating much. The pandemic has put my personal pain into perspective. I feel for the people who lost so much more than their spouse. As for me, I think that if I can hug my friends again, eat at a restaurant and go back to my gym, I just might be able to survive the end of my marriage.

Travel writer Amelia Rayno has a report from El Salvador:

In El Salvador, we have been under martial law for more than 2 weeks. Multiple kinds of paperwork is required to go outside. Hundreds have been arrested for violating the law, as interpreted by the military and more than 4,000 are in containment centers around the nation.

Perhaps even more pressing is the creep of hunger, in so many homes that can't afford to miss work for 2 days, much less 2 weeks. I am fortunate to have some liberties as press, that have allowed me to continue working, photographing and in the process, do a little bit of volunteering, while my travels up to the villages above Santiago Nonualco provided a rare opportunity to be surrounded by nature once more (even at 97 degrees, it was welcomed) and receive another important dose of perspective.

I am fortunate to have income still coming in, plenty of food to eat and a comfortable place to live. I am lucky, I am privileged beyond belief. Never does that hit me harder than when I walk into the villages of this beautiful country and see those whose homes are made of stick and mud and plastic bags, who barely had enough to eat before, when they were selling their goods. And now... and now. The reality is, this does not affect all of us equally, and while it can be easy to look inward during this time and focus on our own anxiety and boredom, I hope we do not stop looking outward, too.

Doing it differently in Stockholm, Sweden:

Right now, Sweden is not suffering any worse than nations which have locked down and so people are nervous, anxious because almost everywhere else is doing it differently. It's an odd mix of trust in the health authorities (they're calling the shots, not the government) and sort of holding your breath. Hoping, trusting, praying that they called it right.

An anonymous reader from Washington DC shares:

My spouse works on advocating for better government policy concerned with a vulnerable population that happens to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. I work for a 24hr crisis hotline supporting a constituency that isn't directly related but for whom resources are being affected by the pandemic. Our jobs are degrees removed from the people we help others serve, but we are both seeing and hearing of what a decimated safety net can't do -- as we always feared -- as we do our bit parts in the relentless tides of adaptation now demanded by our jobs.

In Tokyo, Japan:

I work in Tokyo and live just outside, in a very large city. People here are pretty much ignoring the warnings from the health administrators, and the government waffling makes Trump look good. My wife stopped going to the health club even though they opened up again last week. The church across the street had a service yesterday. You can see kids in the park and more people than ever in the residential areas. We had a run on TP early on, then on groceries when the Tokyo mayor told everyone to stay home...for the weekend.

Family worries in New Jersey:

I have a family of four -- two kids, a daughter who had her Freshman year in college ripped away from her and a son who is a Junior in high school. At this point, I am happy to report that all of us are completely healthy and have not had any signs of the virus. Probably the hardest part of this whole experience has been to watch the way it has impacted my kids academic and social lives during what are some of the most important and impactful years of their lives. Nothing crushed me more than having to drive to my daughter's college to clear out her dorm room during the first week of March because of the virus. Even though her school's administration had not made any decisions on the remainder of the school year, my wife and I made the "executive decision" to take everything home because we had a feeling she was not going back there any time before September (and who knows if that will happen!). She had developed a wonderful group of friends at her school, she was crushing it academically (Dean's List first semester!) and she was absolutely thriving in her new college environment, and now she is stuck taking virtual classes and having video chats with her friends near and far. She has been handling it exceptionally well; however, as her Dad, it crushes me.

You can read more of the collected responses here.

[incorrect-stranger-things-quotes]

I really love your blog

I understand where you’re coming from and I agree Karen was definitely more detached from Mike in season 2 but the context of both situations is pretty important. In season 1 Will went missing and was later found dead and Barb was also missing so Karen was far more conscious of her kids movements especially since it wasn’t just their safety she was worried about, both her kid’s best friends went missing so she was also worried about the emotional toll it was taking on them. With season 2 it was just a normal weekend for her, Mike presumably called on Friday night to say he was sleeping at the Byers’and may have said he was staying Saturday too and with Nancy, she called Karen on the Sunday to tell her she’d be home. It’s a bit unfair to say Karen doesn’t worry about her kids considering she had no reason to think they were in danger, they were just at sleepovers with their friends.

There is definitely a contrast between seasons 1 and 2 in terms of Karen’s treatment of Mike but this is less to do with whether or not she loves her kids (which she does) and more to do with her inability to connect with them, Mike especially. It’s clear from the way she treats Mike that she’s far less comfortable connecting with him than she is with Nancy, clear in her confrontational nature with Nancy compared to her generalised comfort towards Mike, she doesn’t really know what will make him feel better and doesn’t have to confidence to confront him when his behaviour gets out of control. She focuses more on dealing with Nancy because she understands her better. I think the irritated way she interacts with Mike in season 2 is indicative of how the issues with communication hinted at in season 1 have become much worse because of the clashing of Mike’s coping mechanisms with Karen’s parenting style. Karen lets her kids come to her and doesn’t attempt to get too involved with their lives, which doesn't work well with Mike because he completely closes himself off while becoming extremely depressed and lonely (mechanism I presume are a result of the lack of open communication exhibited by his parents). He’s not used to going to his parents with his problems and when it comes to eleven he literally can’t open up to them about what happened. As much as Mike is suffering from the dysfunctional nature of his home life, the blame can’t be squarely placed on Karen, as far as she’s concerned Mike doesn’t have any reason to be depressed, Will is alive and it’s not like he can tell her how much El meant to him. Considering how she dealt with her kids in season 1 she probably wanted to stay in her comfort zone and help Nancy who’s friend was still missing and she probably left dealing with Mike to ted. (In other words Mike was likely ignored), re asserting his dependency on detachment and misplaced anger as a coping mechanism, considering his parents ignorance would have been combined with his friends all worrying about Will, Mike would have been adamant about keeping his problems to himself. I think this is why Mike is so protective of his friends and the dynamic of his friend group because they introduced him to being able to open up to others and they’re the only people he’s ever trusted enough to confide in (for example will on halloween). Bringing new people into the group means mike losing the only outlet he has left for expressing his feelings not just about el but generally they’re the only people he feels safe around. I know I’m already super off topic but I also think Nancy and mikes coping mechanisms are why their relationship kind of fell apart, Nancy is like her mother and tries to make everything as normal as possible to stick to her comfort zone which conflicts with what Mike needs, an outlet for his emotions, comforting mike would require Nancy to confront everything that happened, something she didn’t do until a year later, mostly due to circumstance rather than choice. So while I’m disappointed Mike and Nancy aren’t closer it’s pretty understandable why they weren’t able to work through their issues together.

[emeraldnebula]

In light my recent posts about the idea of creating a brand-new superhero love interest for Superman (the real one, not the impostor parading about in “Rebirth”), I thought it might be fair to share with you some old message board posts from the official DC Comics message boards, circa 2001-2005. This was back when the Superman fandom hadn’t atrophied to the point where only the regressive nutcases were running the show, so there were still some voices of sanity active at the time.

Even 13-17 years ago, DC’s arrogance, inability to accept criticism over their failures, and insistence of stagnation was a major sticking point, and it led to lot of debates over what needed to be updated about Superman to keep it alive, what was absolutely essential, and what needed to be kicked to the curb. I copied and pasted a lot of these conversations into Microsoft Word (I knew nothing of screen-capping at the time), so there’s some choice posts that, I think, are even more relevant than ever in light of “Rebirth” being a failure in every respect.

Some of these posts will be anonymous, as I no longer remember who exactly posted what. But some posters were fairly notable fan personalities, such as comic book blogger Bizarro Mark Engblom, a fan from the Silver Age days:

“ I wouldn't lose much sleep if Perry and Jimmy went the way of the dodo bird. I think they worked better in the age when newspapers were actually a vital element of our society, but they're now (at best) a quaint anachronism. An optional feature of our lives, rather than the necessity it was in past eras. Lois? The current interpretation of Lois is an annoying shrike, but I would think she would need to be around in some capacity. What that is, I have no idea. As it stands, she occupies a much more prominent role that I would ever give her. The real trick seems to be separating the “essentials” from what I like to call “furniture.” Essentials: Krypton explodes, Jor-El and Lara send their baby Kal-El (the baby's age never mattered much to me) to Earth, found and raised by the Kents as Clark Kent in Smallville. Grows up to become Superman. Furniture: Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, various Fortresses, super-pets, kryptonite, villains, blah, blah, blah. Of course, just as in my home I'm more fond of some pieces of furniture than others, it's still just furniture and, ultimately, expendable. From my perspective, there is precious little that absolutely must remain in order for it to still be Superman. Whenever the Superman experience starts to become more about rearranging the same old furniture than advancing the narrative into new territory (or, to beat the analogy to death, “buying some new furniture”), you know the franchise is stuck in a rut.“

An anonymous fan, quoting previous poster Cooky La Moo:

“You know, I kind of like the idea of The Daily Planet, Perry and Jimmy BEING an anachronism. Perry as an old-school newsman standing like Canute against the tide of time. The Daily Planet doesn't HAVE to be a great metropolitan newspaper, it could be seen as a somewhat eccentric throwback to a simpler age, sneered at by other media types, but respected when it can pull in stories like the debut of Superman. Maybe it could become “old-fashioned” in the same way that people see Clark's character itself as being “old-fashioned.” Or, like Cooky said, make the Planet a news agency. Or a web-based news site. How are magazines like Time doing? Are they being superseded like newspapers? Of course, is it necessary for Clark to be a reporter? With 24-hour news media, he doesn't need to be at a newspaper to get access to news stories. Could he be a teacher? Perry a principal, Jimmy a student teacher? Or some other profession? I've always thought that Perry, Lois and Jimmy should form something of an artificial family of some sort, so I think the characters should stay, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get other jobs. You know the thing that annoys me? The fact that we sit here discussing issues like this when DC just doesn't seem bothered. What's going on?”

Two posts by DC forum regular Kilgore Trout:

“ The strict adherence to “continuity” is what got us to the point we’re at now. It has become impossible to just tell a story WITHOUT going through 16 years of “continuity” to make sure you’re not stepping into a pile of shit that someone left laying there 10 years ago. To me, continuity means this: Strange visitor from another planet [which is destroyed—along with his family—in a horrific cataclysm] rocketed to earth as a child. Raised by kindly older couple in the heartland of America. Has powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Works for a great metropolitan newspaper. And who, disguised as Clark Kent, fights a never-ending battle for Truth Justice et al…. Everything else is superfluous. Superman should exist inside AND outside of the DCU. The age of anal-retentiveness needs to end. The books are completely stifled under the weight of 16 years of step-by-step continuity. This isn’t the life story or autobiography of a real person. Superman’s story used to be BIG and GRAND. It wasn’t mired in small details and the mundane goings-on of normal folks. The “Hi, honey! I’m home!” approach isn’t working anymore and it’s why I am looking forward to Birthright and the promise it holds.“

“ Here's a simple solution... AFTER they revamp the current Moderateman and change him BACK to Superman, they can actually explain the Lois and Clark relationship in a way that would finally make sense. Here’s how: YES, Superman IS the OLDEST and most RESPECTED Superhero in the DCU BECAUSE of his MANY YEARS of service to and for humanity. And that would require that he's been around for over 60-some odd years, so here's my thought: Lois Lane is a woman that Superman USED TO have a thing with. She aged. He barely did. She is NOW about 60 and is his oldest friend and confidant. Nothing more and nothing less. The end. No marriage and no messy divorce. Just good friends and still an important part of the mythos.”

Responses to the above, from anonymous posters:

“ Kilgore Trout, I’m sorry but, huh?!? what do you mean exactly? Are you talking for TPTB up at DC to just reboot the titles to have it so that now in Post-Post-Crisis, both Kal and Lois have aged but within Kal's case though, the higher-ups have made it so that he has retained his youthfulness in his physical appearance, and so that Lois is now a grandma in the new DCU too? Yeah, I suppose that if done right it could work in the end. It would sure give another gal a shot at becoming his lover (Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan, Wonder Woman, etc.).”

“ Do we NEED Lois and Clark to be lovers? Okay, sure we do at the moment, assuming there's no reboot on the horizon. But if things started again, do we NEED a Lois/Clark ‘ship? Yes, I know. They've been an item forever. Their names are linked together in the public consciousness, but...what if, in another universe, Clark and Lana ended up together? Or Clark and Chloe? What if—Shock! Horror!—Lois and Clark were just good friends, maybe even best friends, but platonic friends nonetheless? I know that the secret identity causing trouble for Clark's relationships is an important part of the mythos, but can that be played out in another form other than a love triangle? Could it work with friends like Jimmy and Perry if their roles were beefed up? Thinking about it, that sort of situation perhaps works best in a romantic relationship, but that relationship doesn't have to be with Lois. I know, I know. Lois is an important character. I think a lot of the problems are down to poor characterization and a lack of vision for the supporting cast. But sometimes, and especially in conversations like this, it’s worth throwing out ideas and thoughts and seeing if any of them stick, even if they're not how things have been in the past. We hear a lot about redefining Superman, but of all the aspects of the mythos, Clark's character is perhaps one of the things that doesn't NEED changing. Maybe Lois’ role IS something that could change…. (Is there a devil's advocate smiley?)”

Post by Elroy the Cat, specifically citing the Lois/Clark marriage as a death knell:

“ The more fundamental problem with Lois in current continuity is not whether she's married to Superman or not. It’s whether readers can understand what the fuck Clark sees in her, because Lois is either annoying or more annoying, depending on the writer who's handling her. She's a difficult character, apparently, for male writers to pull off successfully. And that's a problem, because you can [and already do] have readers going, “This man could have ANY woman he wants! Why this troll?” It's distracting, and no one has thought to explore whether or not it speaks of a deficiency in Clark that he should seek to be loved by someone as clearly flawed as Lois is. Great story there…but then you'd have to have a real writer to write it. Having said that, the marriage as an idea is only as good as its usefulness to the greater story. Presently, it’s about as useful to the greater “journey” of the character of Superman as shoes are to fish. And therein lies the problem. Bottom line: the marriage is the nail that makes an eventual total reboot of this version of Superman inevitable.“

Another anonymous post in response to infamous forum troll Michael “ManoftheAtom” Sacal, pretty much backing up Bizarro Mark Engblom’s previous argument:

“To me, all Superman needs to be is… An infant rocketed to earth from a dying planet. Raised by the Kents. A reporter. And THAT’S IT!! I don't understand what these “established guidelines” are, exactly. So you guys are saying that if Superman is rebooted 1000 times, he always has to live the same exact life in each and every one of them??”

Excerpt from another anonymous post, again in respose to Kilgore Trout vis-a-vis DC’s pet failed decisions:

“I could not have said it better [following a laundry list of bad ideas DC implemented]. Actually the addition of each of these things was usually a part of a good story. But retaining them after the story as part of the Superman legend has created this disaster that I describe as clutter. Besides, kids who are getting their driver's licenses today (and probably giving up comics) were not even born at the time of the Crisis. It is time to relaunch, have another Crisis, or simply designate everything since the last Crisis as having occurred on some alternate earth (like the GA's Earth 2 or the SA). Then start writing comics for the next generation. Superman could discover Kryptonite again. He could be a bachelor and play the field. He could marry Lana instead of Lois (and that would not require a divorce)—in this brave new world maybe he had been a Superboy before becoming a Superman. He might have a cousin, fly in space, or travel in time. Or maybe not. But there would be room to do new things without having to screw up everything that has gotten him to where he is today.”

Again, some of these suggestions are from longtime fans whose readership stretched back decades. And even as far back as the early 2000s, there were those pondering if perhaps the Superman franchise needed a drastic makeover. I can’t imagine those sentiments are any less now in the wake of DC’s regressive tactics.

[mikeswheeler]

how in the hell is mileven healthy or wholesome - they’re extremely dependent on each other (even though they only knew each other for a week??) and eleven doesn’t even have a solid grasp on living like a normal person yet, much less having a healthy romantic relationship. they need to develop first

there’s a lot of things i want to unpack in this message and i don’t know where to even BEGIN... 

i mean, first off, “only knew each for a week” like I GUESS ??? THAT CAN BE A POINT TO MAKE ???? but also, what’s the minimum time requirement of knowing someone in order to say that you feel a connection with them (sometimes it happens faster for others - just because you haven’t experienced a bond to form so quickly with someone, doesn’t mean it’s impossible / unrealistic /shrugs/)

secondly, i don’t necessarily think their dependency on one another is ~unhealthy~ so to speak. i think their high emotions regarding one another’s safety makes sense considering a) mike literally witnessed eleven disappear into thin air right before his very eyes, there was NO closure whatsoever regarding if she was still out there or DEAD and b) eleven was forced to stay away from mike for a WHOLE YEAR... all while witnessing him try to reach out to her, but not being able to do anything about it... both these circumstances are pretty fucking painful, so i think the whole not wanting to lose you again scene in episode 9 makes sense when you think about what they’ve been through to reunite, only for eleven to have to go off and RISK HER LIFE AGAIN FOR THEM ??? they just really care about each other ??? 

while yes, it’s evident just how much they love one another and how it effects them being apart for so long, if it was truly unhealthy i feel like it would’ve been written in a sense of that’s all they focus on ! that’s all their character is for ! ONLY focusing on eleven / mike ! that’s it ! but it’s very clear in this season that they are able to focus on OTHER aspects of their life as well (eleven wondering about her backstory and where she came from, looking for her mother, seeking out kali // mike being primarily focused on will, concerned about his well being, sleeping over at his place and staying by his side in the hospital, a lot of his energy was actually put towards will this season if you think about it)  

all characters are due for some development, especially the kids because well, they’re kids. i think it kind of sucks though that people assume mike and eleven can’t do that while still maintaining a type of relationship with one another. to be fair, we haven’t even seen a storyline of them while canonically ‘together-together’ so i don’t know if it’s really fair to say ‘well, they’re unable to develop as people if they’re together’ ??? i also just feel like this is reducing them / simplifying their characters (ESPECIALLY eleven, oh my god, y’all seriously infantilize her sometimes) like i think they’re more complex than that my dude but to each their own !

ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY, i can see this issue and how it arises when talking about the fandom and how they interpret their characters but not so much the canon story. like, sometimes all i see from people when writing eleven is “she likes eggos and she likes mike, that’s it” or when writing mike “he has heart eyes for el, that’s it” there’s more depth to them, people ! 

in short, keep this opinion. be against mileven. whatever. it’s your life, i don’t really care. but these were my thoughts on the topic ! and there were many more but i didn’t know how to coherently include them so HAVE THIS MESS THAT I TRIED TO ORGANIZE INSTEAD ta-dah ! thank you for your time ! 

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: Many Asylum Seekers in Mexico Can’t Get U.S. Court Hearings Until 2021. A Coronavirus Outbreak Could ‘Devastate’ Them

On the morning of May 6, a Brazilian mother got her family ready to leave the shelter they’ve been staying at for three months in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, to present themselves at the border as is required for those seeking asylum. Two of her children are physically disabled—a 1-year-old girl with congenital hydrocephalus, a brain disorder, and a 2-year-old boy who has suffered brain damage as a result of being born prematurely. She says they need urgent and constant medical care, which is not available at the shelter.

Without masks or other protection, they made their way to a port of entry connecting Juárez to El Paso to speak with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). However, the pandemic means that instead of meeting with a judge, she was presented with a delayed court date.

“We’re sleeping on the floor with the children in a hall, so it’s really hard,” the mother tells TIME through an interpreter, and asked that her identity and specific location be kept private as she has concerns about the family’s safety.

Given that the delay could have serious implications for her children with health conditions, the mother asked that she and her family be exempt from the Trump Administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)—also known as the Remain in Mexico policy—and allowed to enter the U.S. while waiting for their court hearing. According to CBP’s MPP guidelines, “vulnerable” asylum seekers with known “physical/mental health issues” should be exempt from the policy. Lawyers for the mother provided medical records and letters written by American physicians who had reviewed those records.

“Both of [the mother’s] children are at risk of serious health consequences or even death without access to proper and advanced medical care,” wrote Dr. Bonnie Arzuaga, one of the physicians who reviewed the children’s medical records, in a letter to CBP seen by TIME. “Additionally, living in a crowded shelter puts these medically fragile children at risk for serious illness from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.”

Ultimately, CBP denied the mother’s requests, and she and her family were back in the Juárez shelter by the end of the day. “The only thing that we can do is just wait,” the mother says. “All I can do is just pray.”

Fred RamosA member of the Global Responses Management medical team in the Matamoros camp on April 24. “Social distancing and quarantine in refugee situations is nearly impossible,” says Helen Perry, an acute care nurse practitioner and executive director of GRM.

The family is among approximately 20,000 asylum seekers with pending cases under the MPP program, according to recent estimates from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Asylum seekers who made their way to the U.S. were sent back to Mexico to wait for court hearings to decide on their requests for asylum. Due to COVID-19, MPP hearings have been suspended until at least June 8, which has caused a further backlog in court proceedings. Many of those waiting along Mexico’s northern border with the U.S. not only face delays, but also live in cramped and unsanitary conditions, potentially exposing them to a greater danger of COVID-19. There is also a lack of testing in Mexico.

Public health officials in both Juárez and Matamoros did not immediately respond to TIME’s requests for comment on conditions for migrants.

While the Brazilian mother has her next court date tentatively set for July 14, 2020, many have had their dates pushed back even further as a result of the COVID-19 suspension, until 2021 in some cases. El Paso-based lawyer Taylor Levy tells TIME she has met several asylum seekers whose court dates have been pushed back until April 2021. One man from Venezuela, for example, would have had his final asylum hearing on May 6. Instead, he now has to wait until April 21, 2021.

“He was pretty devastated,” says Levy, who most days stands at the Paso del Norte port of entry ready to speak to asylum seekers as they present themselves to Border Patrol. She also provides donated goods to them, including face masks and hand sanitizer. “He didn’t necessarily think he was going to wait the year, he didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Fred RamosDinner at the migrant camp in Matamoros on April 25. “Bathrooms are communal, kitchens are communal, sinks are communal,” says Perry, of GRM. “So it’s incredibly difficult.”

In the city of Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, roughly 2,500 asylum seekers await their court dates living on a muddy strip of land the size of two football fields on the banks of the Rio Grande. Among them is Perla, an asylum seeker from Nicaragua, who, along with her daughter and grandchildren, has been living in the camp for nine months while they wait to have their asylum case heard. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, their court date has been pushed back to July. Perla asked not to be identified by her full name after expressing concern for her and her family’s safety.

The family, like the other asylum seekers in the camp, face potential exposure to the coronavirus, which could spread like wildfire in the cramped conditions. Perla was a pharmacist in Nicaragua before she and her family fled violence that broke out under the administration of President Daniel Ortega, which she says resulted in her cousin being killed. She now works with a medical non-governmental organization (NGO) at the encampment to help try to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19, but if the virus does make its way into the camp, “it’ll be in God’s hands,” she says in Spanish.

Dr. Dairon Elisondo Rojas, a doctor from Cuba who is waiting for his asylum case to be heard, has been working with Perla and a team of volunteer health care workers from Global Response Management (GRM), an international medical NGO with a medical unit at the center of camp, to put in place protective measures to try to prevent an outbreak, something Elisondo says would “devastate” the camp if it arrived.

“All of these measures we’ve come up with, they were created in the context of the people who live in overcrowded conditions, people who live in unhygienic and unsanitary conditions,” Elisondo tells TIME in Spanish. “That’s what makes this plan of action unique.”

Fred Ramos—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA burial at a newly dug grave at the Municipal Cemetery No. 13 in Tijuana, Mexico, on May 12. Experts say Mexico’s COVID-19 case count and death toll have been underreported.

Everyone is instructed to sleep head-to-toe in tents that are open or have vents they can open, which they hope will limit the respiratory droplets they’re exposed to at night, Elisondo says. The team has created a hotline for people to call if they start to display symptoms, and have passed out vitamins in an effort to boost immune systems. They’ve also installed 40 additional sinks for hand washing and are making their own hand sanitizer.

However, despite their best efforts, since March 12, 19 people have presented with some combination of cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, abdominal pain—all symptoms of COVID-19. Most have been isolated at a sectioned-off part of camp, where they have access to their own bathroom setup. Others, with more serious symptoms, were removed to hotels. One man, for example, who had severe diarrhea, was vomiting and had a fever, was placed in a hotel to quarantine.

Seventeen of the asylum seekers have so far completed their quarantines and returned to the camp, but two patients who are showing symptoms, including one child, remain in isolation and are awaiting the results of testing by Matamoros health officials.

In general, the asylum seekers are concerned for their safety, Helen Perry, an acute care nurse practitioner and executive director of GRM, tells TIME. “Social distancing and quarantine in refugee situations is nearly impossible,” she says. “Bathrooms are communal, kitchens are communal, sinks are communal. So it’s incredibly difficult.”

Fred Ramos—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA family wearing protective masks mourns during the burial of a relative who died from coronavirus at Municipal Cemetery No. 13 in Tijuana, Mexico, on May 12.

But without widespread access to testing, it’s impossible to know if the virus has officially arrived. It’s the public health officials who determine who can receive a COVID-19 test, Perry says. Officials have so far tested eight people at the camp, and have only shared the results of one person, whose test came back negative. The two people who are currently in isolation were tested by public health officials on Tuesday, Perry says, but she’s unsure if she’ll ever know the results.

Experts say across Mexico the COVID-19 case count and death toll have been underreported. State officials in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where Matamoros is located, have reported 917 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday morning, and 56 deaths. The city of Matamoros has the highest case count and death toll in the state, with 205 cases and 16 deaths as of May 14. The actual case and death count could be higher, as Mexico ranks last for testing out of all countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to OECD, Mexico is only testing 0.6 people for every 1,000.

“With Mexico, as with many other countries around the world, their public health system, their public health infrastructure is very poor,” Perry says. “For us, it’s been very hit or miss whether we’ve been able to get our patients tested or not. But it would absolutely not surprise me to find out that the death toll [in the city of Matamoros] is much higher than what’s really known.”

Fred RamosA girl plays in the migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, on April 23. The city has the highest case count and death toll in the state.

To make due amid a lack of local COVID-19 testing, GRM says it has started to utilize thousands of antibody tests transported from the U.S. to use as a screening tool. Although there is widespread concern many of the tests might be flawed, GRM says these rapid detection tests can help the health care workers determine if someone was potentially exposed to the virus. “That’s the agreement we’ve come up with, with the public health department in Matamoros,” Perry says. “So we’re not using it to predict immunity or to predict who is safe to go out and about in public.”

Additionally, some shelters, including the one in Juárez where the mother from Brazil is staying, have implemented rules to try and prevent an outbreak. People are only allowed to leave if they have a court date — and if they do decide to leave they risk losing their spot at that shelter.

Other Juárez shelters — there are about 20 of them — have started to reduce their capacity to help with social distancing, Levy says. Most shelters have not been accepting new residents for several weeks, and personal protective equipment is limited.

“The shelters are incredibly dedicated in terms of doing everything that’s within the realm possible to try and prevent contagion,” she says. “But they’re still very limited.”

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[queenofnohr]

Dantes Interlude 1 - Nightmares, or Perhaps the Call of Love and Hate

I’m finally able to do commissions again, so here’s Dantes!

[the screen is completely black]

---I can’t see anything. Only blackness. Only darkness. It’s so very dark. I get the terrible feeling I’m somewhere no one can reach me. Can I not see because nothing exists? I don’t know. Even if I open my eyes, nothing changes. Where is this place? I don’t understand. I don’t even know if I’m sitting or standing. I try to speak. My lips to not move. My tongue does not move. No sound escapes my throat. Ah, maybe my situation is worse than I thought. After all, my body is so heavy……

???: ---How unfortunate, to have fallen so deeply into this place. No. If you are here, can I really say that? Welcome, Gudako. To the place where all ruins fall and sink, stagnating deeper and deeper, forever. …...Hmph. What’s with that face? Looking up at me with puppy-dog eyes is a waste of time. Even if time is inconsequential, seeing as it doesn’t exist here. Yes, this is that kind of place.

> ……………...Are you, maybe-

???: You think you know “me”?* No. No, you really don’t. Do you understand, Master? Gudako. I come from beyond love and hate. Thus I am different from the me that is close to you. ---Now then. It is almost time for them to arrive. You must leave this place. I am the one who burns away the dregs of darkness of that which has fallen. My flames will destroy your soul and your self, and I cannot guarantee your absolute safety. Forgive me. This is not somewhere you should be.

> I won’t go > I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t just leave you alone

???: ……I see. Then, do not lag behind my flames.

[Battle, then My Room comes into view]

Dantes: …...What are you doing there, Berserker? Nightingale: I should be asking you that. What business do you have in Master’s private room? It is already late into the night. Sleep is essential to keeping the human body healthy. Return to your own room and rest, Mister Edmond Dantes. Dantes: I am a Servant. As you are. Nightingale: That is correct. Dantes: …………. Nightingale: It’s about our Master. Our conversation hinders her going to bed. Right now, her breathing is quite peaceful. Dantes: Oho. Peaceful, is it? Nightingale: …...What is it, Good Sir.** Dantes: Oh, nothing. If she’s sleeping, then it’s fine. I was just a bit worried that some kind of influence was left on the surface of her consciousness, but--- No, it’s nothing. Forget about it. Nightingale: Mister Dantes. If I may ask a question? Dantes: Go ahead. Nightingale: This is something I’ve felt for a while - that there is an injured person in need of aid. Action must be taken before it is too late. Please leave it to me. I’ll treat the affected part. Dantes: ……She probably isn’t wounded or anything. It’s as you said, she’s resting peacefully. Nightingale: No. No, not her, Good Sir. Dantes: ---. Nightingale: It’s you. It is your spirit that is wounded. Action is required. Leave the amputation of the affected area to me. Dantes: …...What? I know you’re stern, but if you go this far for a joke, no one will laugh. Nightingale: That’s it. Right there. You may not be aware of it, but you make remarks that confuse me for another person from before. We must take immediate action. Yes, yes, indeed. You also said something cryptic in regards to Master’s sleep. Dantes: ………...Wait. Nightingale: No. I will take the appropriate measures. Dantes: You’re holding a scalpel in your left and, and a pistol in your right. At the very least, hold the scalpel in your dominant hand. No, what am I saying. This isn’t right. Why are you specifically looking at our Master’s sleeping face? It seems you’ve sensed some sort of abnormality. I don’t know if it’s your intuition or a sign of your magical power, but you come to the correct conclusion. You were able to accurately grasp the situation. Our Master’s soul is under the contract of a large number of Servants, so--- Nightingale: Don’t get carried away spouting thoughtless things. Dantes: ………...Mercedes. Nightingale: That’s another thing - my name isn’t Mercedes. You have an injured spirit. You don’t see me as a single Heroic Spirit, do you? Even though you’ve called me Berserker, you also mistakenly call me Mercedes. I am not her. I am not a woman who possesses that name. Dantes: It is only natural. Your spiritual foundation has the memory of those seven days. Nightingale: Just…… hearing that name, it’s strange…… It makes me feel like I am not within this body, but somewhere far away. But still, I am not someone who bears that name. I will take appropriate action, so. ---I will sterilize your spirit. Dantes: …………. Nightingale: Ah, it seems he’s escaped. …...How bothersome. I will definitely treat him next we meet.

[Part 2]

Mash: ---You had a dream that Nightingale was arguing with someone?

> It was something like that……… > I don’t remember it well, but……

Mash: What a strange dream. Oh, no, I’m not familiar with dream interpretation, but if you want to, we could access Chaldea’s database? Shiva and Trismegistus aren’t really meant for this, but it should be possible. Helena: You’re talking about dream interpretation, aren’t you? Then just leave it to me! Since ancient times, humans have been interpreting all kinds of dreams. Since the age of gods, so to speak. In contemporary times, Freud is famous for dream interpretation…… My dream interpretation is a bit different. Fufu. I call it--- Edison: Exciting Direct Current Dream Interpretation! Tesla: Exciting Alternating Current Dream Interpretation! Edison: Huh---!? The moment an alternating current flows to the brain, the scanners would go haywire! Tesla: Fuhahaha, you know nothing, Lion-el! It can do anything! It can observe cranial nerve transmissions! Let’s uncover everything about what’s happening in Gudako’s brain……! Like what her favorite food is! Of if she prefers alternating current! Edison: Hmmmmm, or what kind of clothes she likes! Or if she prefers direct current! Tesla: ……Direct current……? Hmph, Edison, I feel like you said something. But what you were talking about was total gibberish. Edison: WHAT DID YOU SAY, BASTARD---! Mash: T- They’ve started fighting…… It’s amazing how both of them squabble like children! But to observe the brain like that---

> It does seem a bit interesting, doesn’t it > The invasion of privacy is a bit much

Mash: S- Senpai! It really is interesting……! Those two could learn everything about Senpai’s cranial nerves, and then…… If that happened, with the amount of information there, would it be a problem or not…… There shouldn’t be a problem with finding out Senpai’s favorite food ………But depending on what it is…… …………T- That’s a problem! That’s right! There’s a problem with this! It’s not right to look into somebody else’s head without their permission! Helena: Well said, Mash. That’s it exactly. Getting secrets like that is wrong. I didn’t like where this went after those two walked in either. I think that’s enough talk of both Lemuria style dream interpretation and Mahatma direct transmission dream interpretation for today. Yes, mm-hm, that’s right. I’m sorry. And also…… You two geniuses over there! The Gentleman and the Lion***: Y- Yes. Helena: Don’t just start quarrelling as soon as you see each other’s faces. Honestly. If you have so much energy, get into the simulator! Twenty Soul Eaters and Spriggins in a row! Go let your feelings out with that! The Gentleman and the Lion: Uhhhhhm--- Helena: Reply properly! Where are your manners! The Gentleman and the Lion: YES MA’AM!!

[we’re back in the corridor]

Mash: ……Seeing that was amazing. They really went through twenty rapidfire simulations. Both of them had such incredible spirit, didn’t they. So, what was the impression you got from their display of bravery?

> I shall christen it “The Infinite Battle of the Electric Lion’s Pride” > I shall christen it “The Infinite Battle of the Electric Gentleman’s Pride”

Mash: Infinite…… They did indeed have a lot of vigor…… Senpai. You seem to be a bit unsteady? Amakusa: Oya, Master, Mash. Good morning. Mash: Good morning, Amakusa. And to you too, ummm, Jeanne d’Arc Alter Santa Lily. Jeanne Alter Santa Lily: Good morning! Um, if it’s a bit hard to say, I don’t mind if you call me Lily or Alter. Or even Jeanne! Mash: Then, Jeanne Alter, once again, good morning. Jeanne Alter Santa Lily: Yes…… good morning! Amakusa: --- Jeanne Alter Santa Lily: Teacher, how was that? Amakusa: Your cheerful smiling was brilliant. Even the sun rising in the sky cannot compare to its warmth. Indeed, it is wonderful. I felt it deep within my heart. Jeanne Alter Santa Lily: I- Is that so? Um, did I just get praised? Amakusa: Yes, of course I praised you. …...By the way, Master, is there anything new since we’ve last seen each other?

> Nothing in particular--- > Last night I had a dream about Nightingale

Amakusa: Is that so. No, if that’s the case, it’s fine. As expected, the demon of vengeance has only grown to a certain point. I’m relieved I seem to be doing my job properly. …...Nightingale was arguing with someone in your dream? Oh, I see. I wonder if it was related to that? That person is sharp…… No, it’s nothing. Please excuse me. Mash: …...Amakusa? Amakusa: No, it’s really nothing. I’m just talking to myself. Jeanne Alter Santa Lily: …… ……? Amakusa: ---It is a dream of that story. It will be a dream passing through a year of suffering.

[the screen is completely black again]

???: ---So, you’ve come down here. Good grief, you really are a curious Master. To stay within a peaceful dream or to drift softly within a dreamless sleep are both fine choices - but there is no reason to be here. Stop. Do you understand? Being here is too dangerous. This darkness is also one of your dreams, but it is one not meant to be seen. It should not be. “I” should also seem slightly different than the me you know. I will not treat you as a guest forever. Leave, and forget this place.

> Nothing looks different about you > You aren’t smoking cigarettes are you?

???: ……Heh. You’ve made me laugh! It doesn’t matter where you are, you never change, Master! I haven’t changed, huh. I see. It’s as you say. No matter how different “I” am from me, at the heart of it, I am the same person. I am an Avenger that exists within those seven days, as I am a Servant fighting alongside you. Yes, I suppose I am indeed both. But, if I must choose…… “I” am a different person in this place after all. It is in these depths that my true potential is reached, where when I affix my eyes to your soul, it shines like hellfire. …………Ah, that’s right. I don’t have even have even a moderate fire. No - didn’t I give it to you once before? Then I entrust it to you. My black flames of love and hate would turn this rare cigar to ash. Hm---. You are a clever Master. Even in the depths of a dream, you still entertain me. …………Tonight it will end. A swarm of ever growing noise. From being tied to many Heroic Spirits, your soul has accumulated shadows and illusions, and the wreckage of dreams. The depths in which they settle in the dark. In that regard, this is a dumping ground for you. Regret for enemies you’ve violently killed. Resentment. Hope. That’s right---. Again, “I” have no choice but to say this to you. Leave--- that’s all. This is “my” job. This is something you should not see. You have accomplished much by way of dreams through the memories of the many Heroic Spirits you are bound to. If you do things that way, it is fine. There is no need to reach out to the remnant of love and hatred.

> ---

???: …………But, just in case. Gudako. Perhaps, if you wish from the bottom of your heart---

> I don’t want you to have to fight all alone > Even so, I can’t just leave you!

???: Heh--- Aha- hahahahahaha! Very well! In that case, do not lag behind my flames! Else you will be abandoned, a single drop spilled, left to rot for all time! Without feeling even anger you will simply sink, continue to stagnate--- Burn until not even ash remains! The memories of the Heroic Spirits your soul continues to watch over, the remains of illusions that fought there - that is “my” prey! Heheh--- Well, I’ll make it easy to understand! That this person is also “me”!

[He reveals himself as Dantes]

Dantes: ---Come, together now. Let us cut down those that remain. Conquer them, Master. Take them beyond this place of love and hatred!

[Fight, then it’s Chaldea again]

Nightingale: ……So, we meet again, Good Sir. Dantes: Indeed. Nightingale: The Master’s room is just up ahead; do you have business there? It is already late - making her lose sleep would be detrimental to her health. Dantes: No, I don’t. I…… I simply enjoy taking evening strolls. And what of you, Berserker? The threat the King of Magic posed is already gone. What are you wary of? Nightingale: There is nothing I am concerned about. I’m waiting for you to lower you guard so I can sterilize your spirit. You wound the spirit. Your way of being is not correct for a human being. ……It is distorted. It is damaged. It is wounded. Dantes: ………...Heh. Nightingale: Did you just laugh? Dantes: Indeed, I did laugh. Why did I laugh? My soul is already far from that of a human being! I am the Cavern King. I am a demon of vengeance! I’ve already stopped being anything human! ……But, receiving your treatment is impossible. I am me, and I exist as “myself” within the 21st century. If Master so desires it, the Cavern King will exist. So long as there is fighting, she wields that power. It is as you say. Even if you tried amputating the spiritual wound, it cannot be separated. My spirit lies at the ends of love and hate, and madness - so long as that holds true…… There isn’t anything much to do but exist. Nightingale: You aren’t making sense. Repeat yourself clearly and concisely. Dantes: Treatment is unnecessary. It’s fine, so just let it be. Mercedes - do not get close to me. Your straightforward way is similar to Gudako, and…… It’s just. A bit too dazzling for one such as me. Nightingale: …………? Dantes: Come morning, please go to see our Master. She could be quite exhausted in both mind and body. …………She’s probably having a bad dream.

*In Japanese, Dantes uses pronouns to refer to himself in both kanji and katakana. There’s no actual difference in what he’s saying, but the text makes it clear there’s a difference in meaning. Namely, he seems to use katakana (and so, in my translations, quotation marks) to refer to the self that lingers in this weird dream world. Please be aware, however, I only use quotations when he’s specifically making a comparison - I thought quotation marks might get obnoxious. **Nightingale actually refers to him as simply “Mister”, but calling someone only Mister in English is a bit weird, and the feeling it seems she’s going for is a kind of terse, formal, and distant way of address, which is why I replaced it with Good Sir at times Mister doesn’t read well. ***This is…… something I tried very hard to, but ultimately couldn’t translate into English. The words for Gentleman and Lion are pronounced the same in Japanese, and while it’s already sort of funny when both of them are talking, it feeds into the response gag since Mash wouldn’t know which you were referring to.

[kennysamathedeviant]

Man of Steel's Critique Of The No Kill Rule

I’ve made it no secret that i detest the no kill rule, and it’s not because i think the rule is bad in and of itself, but it’s that it’s always been presented as this superficial, mentally coddled world view of absolutist morality; a view that says that no amount of innocent lives being wasted and lost is ever a reasonable, nor justifiable reason to circumvent your morals, you’re better left shrugging and holding onto it, regardless of consequences. It’s a rule that celebrates apathy but masks it to be about virtue. If your virtue comes at the expense of letting evil prosper, then are you really virtuous? This rule, of which my distaste is bottomless, has only ever been applied intelligently twice to my satisfaction, once in the DCAU Justice League and secondly, as a broken rule (imagine that) in Man of Steel. I’ve always had very high opinions of Man of Steel, it’s only gotten higher ever since i became conscious of the anti mos/dceu narrative (i was out of the loop initially), which challenged me to scrutinize the story and it’s final act all over again and again and again and again and for me, it continues to hold up and it will continue to hold up for eternity.

Man of Steel, as the complex masterpiece it is, can be interpreted in numerous ways, as long as your “interpretation”, is supported by the canon. One such interpretation i’ve had forever, is that the entire film can be viewed as a direct critique of the moral absolutism associated with the no kill rule and the kind of apathy it creates in the name of virtue. Basically, it criticizes the no kill rule, not as bad, but as horrifically ineffective and atrocious in most applications, just like the movie shows what actually happens (what you see but don’t think about even when it’s right in front of you) when superheroes and supervillains fight in populated areas, so also does it reveal the inherent folly of holding so tightly to the no kill rule as if it’s about virtue, when a little closer inspection will reveal it promotes apathy and detachment. Let’s look at the ways i believe the movie makes this statement:

The Kryptonian Council 

This is the first red flag we’re introduced to in the story, the Kryptonian council is painted in a negative light right from their introduction. They are horribly ineffective, engage in endless debates and when they do bother to make a decision, it’s a decision that negatively affects every other Kryptonian in the story. With their planet on the verge of death and their race on the verge of extinction, what does the Kryptonian council do? Dedicates the last of it’s resources to imprison a criminal who goes on to later cause pain and hardships for everyone else in the movie. For clarity, this criminal; General Zod, who’s murdered dozens of people, a council member, and his own best friend, all in the name of being more proactive in comparison to the slowness of the council, is sentenced to the Phantom Zone. This requires the very last of their resources, resources that could have been used to get however number of Kryptonian citizens off-world to the old Kryptonian outposts like Jor-el suggested in the first place. And in so doing, they damned not only their race, but Earth by extension because their actions, while unforeseen, were callous enough to be considered culpable. And this isn’t the first time the Kryptonian council is guilty of finding “another way” when they blatantly had only one way out.

In the Man of Steel prequel comic, the council stashes Dev-em; a Kryptonian murderer, the first in generations, aboard a maiden voyage to the stars in search of new worlds, because in their own words, “we are not barbarians like the Thanagarians” so in other words, they were too “moral” to execute him. That maiden voyage’s crew included Kara Zor-el, Kal-el’s ancestor, who was undertaking what was at the time, a bold move for their race to stretch their influence to other worlds. The magnitude of this mission can’t be understated, this voyage was one of many that led to the creation of the Kryptonian outposts mentioned in the film. The film points out that abandoning this venture, was one of the ways Krypton’s eventual demise started, along with artificial population control, the eugenics based system it employed, the predetermining of a child’s purpose and the waste of their natural resources including drilling into their planet’s core. But back to the council’s decision, Dev-em escapes captivity, kills all crew on board the ship, gets in a scuffle with Kara Zor-el and crashes the ship. That ship is the scout ship that summons Zod to Earth in the movie, it’s distress signal being a cry for salvation from Dev-em. So we have two important instances where the Kryptonian council would rather find “another way” than take the one in front of them because it’s not moral enough for their virtuous tastes. But let’s also look at the methods they seemingly prefer to use, shall we? Let’s see if these methods are actually better than this immoral action they constantly refuse to take.

The Phantom Zone Prison

To those unaware, the phantom zone is a Kryptonian prison that houses Krypton’s most dangerous criminals. But even more insidiously, it has in most incarnations, been described as and looks like a fate worse than death, with the Donner movies, Smallville and the DCEU basically contesting for the most horrible version ever. Donner’s Phantom Zone was a diamond shaped prison where prisoners are stuck and ejected into space forever, Smallville had the prisoners bodies destroyed and their essence left in the zone as shambling, body stealing wraiths. The DCEU’s version will require a more explicit explanation. It involves a process of encasing the accused completely in ice, a very painful process as seen by General Zod’s cohorts screaming in pain, with the exception of Zod himself and Faora, who manage to bear it all with teeth clenched willpower. There’s also the implication that they are completely conscious even while encased completely in ice and in pain the whole time, their nociceptors working on overdrive. It’s so easy to overlook the horrific nature of this “moral” punishment while joking that their ice-maiden cocoons (because they look like and function like iron-maidens) look like dicks, doesn’t it? Then they’re sent into a ship, that carries their cocoons through a hyperspace portal to the phantom zone until their sentence runs out and then they’ll be released. Except they wouldn’t be. Krypton was dying, the end was here, their sentence of 300 cycles of sematic reconditioning meant nothing, they were damned for all eternity by those who considered execution too morally repulsive, even though given a choice, they would likely choose death. They were to consciously suffer their punishment within the ice for all eternity, and yet were only being sentenced for 300 years in what sounds like a sick joke.

Zod: You won’t kill us yourselves! You won’t sully your hands but you’ll damn us to a black hole for eternity!

The phantom zone is the go to excuse for that “another way” but there’s nothing better about the way it’s been applied in most media, it’s just there to coddle the morality of a desensitized viewer about what was right and what was needed in a story and Man of Steel clearly shows that there was nothing right or “moral” about it. But does the kind of morality that Kryptonians display influence the way Zod or any of his followers view Kal-el?

Expectations of Kryptonian Morality

If you’re like me, and you believe that absolute morality is being criticized in this movie, then Faora’s verbal smack down on Kal carries more meaning. While it’s easy to interprete her words as being about Clark having moral principles which put him at a disadvantage compared to their advantageous lack of it, it could also be interpreted as Faora pointing out that she expects him to display the very same self righteous air of moral superiority common to Kryptonians, a morality so high, it’s not above letting evil triumph as long as it stays intact. She expects him to be so caught up and drunk on his idea of morality, that he’d be willing to let people die rather than stop them, just like the Kryptonian council did. It’s decision to imprison them, ensured their survival, hence their “evolutionary advantage” over Kal, who could still be stuck in that same bubble.

Even in the final battle, Zod visibly smirks when Kal declares he’ll stop him, how could he not? Kal’s statement was virtually empty, how could he stop Zod? He’s exhausted all alternatives, sentenced his people to a fate worse than death, now he was going to feel Zod’s wrath. It was going down, of course he’d smirk. Kal’s been placed in that very same position Krypton’s council was, an entire planet’s fate in his hands, and Zod naturally expects his mind to be soaked in that same Kryptonian mentality, so will he keep trying to find “another way” as people keep dying or will he realize that there’s only so much he can actually control? Is his sense of morality really stronger than his concern for the billions of lives depending on him? And throughout the fight, Zod hammers the message home:

Zod: I will make them suffer, Kal. These humans you’ve adopted, i will take them all from you one by one!

Zod: There is only one way this ends, Kal. Either you die, or i do...

Zod: If you love these people so much, then you can mourn for them!

Add to this, earlier in the movie Jonathan tells him he has to decide the kind of man he wants to be, because that man; good character or bad, will change the world. Throughout the movie he’s proved what kind of man he was in different ways; selfless, brave, vulnerable, kind, empathetic, trusting, hopeful, etc. Now, he had to make a choice again, this time for an entire race and he chose what is undoubtedly the right choice in my opinion. Sure, it may not be a comfortable message for people to hear or read that Superman’s choice should involve killing Zod, but this is a movie that has proven time and again that actions have consequences, there are no deus ex machinas, get out of jail free cards, nothing. Clark has helplessly watched his father die, all his life he’s learnt there’s only so much you can control, you can’t save those who don’t want to be saved, you can’t just harmlessly stop those who don’t want to be stopped. He’s been pushed hard all his life but Zod is no schoolyard bully pushing him against a fence, Zod isn’t some nobody that can’t hurt him, Zod is the single worst phenomenon that dwarfs everything else he’d been able to passively endure in his life. Clark was able to keep his existence a secret for most of his life but within an hour of showing up, Zod outs him. Clark’s been passive his whole life despite ridicule, bullying and humiliation but within 24hrs of showing up, Zod pushes him enough that he throws his first punch ever. Everything he was taught, Zod was that antithesis that put it all to shame. But more importantly, Zod was proof that Clark was ultimately as helpless to control life like any other human and therefore, his decisions will carry repercussions and can’t be taken naively. And so, Clark chose to kill Zod, out of a lack of other options beyond falling back on the suicidal black/white morality his people were known for.

But since i said the no kill rule encourages apathy and detachment from viewers, is there any basis to any of it in the real world? Hello? This is Man of Steel, aka the movie that proved lots of people are fine letting evil prosper as long as they can shrug and say “at least my morals are intact”. This movie definitively proved that people’s sense of morality had taken a nose dive straight into apathy masqueraded as virtue. There was no end of “the real superman would have found another way!” in a story where an entire race vanishes overnight over that very same mentality. The obsessive focus on the action of Superman killing Zod rather than the context that more than justified a death that was already rightly bought when Zod commanded the World Engine be used to kill people. That the movie frames his death as a last resort only adds to my respect for it because he doesn’t even deserve that benefit. “Superman never ever kills! Ever!” cried detractors as they salivated over a version of superman killing a powerless man and joking about it. What do we call this kind of morality? One that calls an unavoidable death inexcusable but relishes a senseless one? And then would years later, go on to salivate over a near repeat of it, another senseless death covered up in jokes considered as acceptable? Because it seems people are 100% okay with their heroes (especially superman) killing, as long as they joke about it and feel nothing. So is this really about virtue? Or is it just an apathetic and detached populace fooling itself that it actually cares about morality? Because when it comes down to it, even despite proving that he wasn’t the kind of man to let people die in some misplaced sense of moral superiority, Superman mourns having had to take such a decision and mourns the death of a man who didn’t deserve it and refused to back down or stay down regardless of his pleas. He cries over his own helplessness and the ultimate imperfection that living in the real world (so to speak) brings. Because even though the movie criticizes moral absolutism, even though it hammers home the inherent stupidity of the no kill rule as an absolute, it never pretends like subverting it was without it’s own moral and emotional consequence. It was a blow to all his years of upbringing, his ability to navigate the world, to make decisions, his pacifism, but most of all, his conscience and faith in himself. A bad man died, a world lived and a good man was broken despite taking the only reasonable decision he had left, actions have consequences, we make decisions and we have to live with it. So Superman ends up showing more moral fiber in a movie where he kills than his own detractors do and it became just one more reason why i detested the rule because people didn’t care about morality in the first place.

[itsfinancethings]

On the morning of May 6, a Brazilian mother got her family ready to leave the shelter they’ve been staying at for three months in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, to present themselves at the border as is required for those seeking asylum. Two of her children are physically disabled—a 1-year-old girl with congenital hydrocephalus, a brain disorder, and a 2-year-old boy who has suffered brain damage as a result of being born prematurely. She says they need urgent and constant medical care, which is not available at the shelter.

Without masks or other protection, they made their way to a port of entry connecting Juárez to El Paso to speak with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). However, the pandemic means that instead of meeting with a judge, she was presented with a delayed court date.

“We’re sleeping on the floor with the children in a hall, so it’s really hard,” the mother tells TIME through an interpreter, and asked that her identity and specific location be kept private as she has concerns about the family’s safety.

Given that the delay could have serious implications for her children with health conditions, the mother asked that she and her family be exempt from the Trump Administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)—also known as the Remain in Mexico policy—and allowed to enter the U.S. while waiting for their court hearing. According to CBP’s MPP guidelines, “vulnerable” asylum seekers with known “physical/mental health issues” should be exempt from the policy. Lawyers for the mother provided medical records and letters written by American physicians who had reviewed those records.

“Both of [the mother’s] children are at risk of serious health consequences or even death without access to proper and advanced medical care,” wrote Dr. Bonnie Arzuaga, one of the physicians who reviewed the children’s medical records, in a letter to CBP seen by TIME. “Additionally, living in a crowded shelter puts these medically fragile children at risk for serious illness from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.”

Ultimately, CBP denied the mother’s requests, and she and her family were back in the Juárez shelter by the end of the day. “The only thing that we can do is just wait,” the mother says. “All I can do is just pray.”

Fred RamosA member of the Global Responses Management medical team in the Matamoros camp on April 24. “Social distancing and quarantine in refugee situations is nearly impossible,” says Helen Perry, an acute care nurse practitioner and executive director of GRM.

The family is among approximately 20,000 asylum seekers with pending cases under the MPP program, according to recent estimates from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Asylum seekers who made their way to the U.S. were sent back to Mexico to wait for court hearings to decide on their requests for asylum. Due to COVID-19, MPP hearings have been suspended until at least June 8, which has caused a further backlog in court proceedings. Many of those waiting along Mexico’s northern border with the U.S. not only face delays, but also live in cramped and unsanitary conditions, potentially exposing them to a greater danger of COVID-19. There is also a lack of testing in Mexico.

Public health officials in both Juárez and Matamoros did not immediately respond to TIME’s requests for comment on conditions for migrants.

While the Brazilian mother has her next court date tentatively set for July 14, 2020, many have had their dates pushed back even further as a result of the COVID-19 suspension, until 2021 in some cases. El Paso-based lawyer Taylor Levy tells TIME she has met several asylum seekers whose court dates have been pushed back until April 2021. One man from Venezuela, for example, would have had his final asylum hearing on May 6. Instead, he now has to wait until April 21, 2021.

“He was pretty devastated,” says Levy, who most days stands at the Paso del Norte port of entry ready to speak to asylum seekers as they present themselves to Border Patrol. She also provides donated goods to them, including face masks and hand sanitizer. “He didn’t necessarily think he was going to wait the year, he didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Fred RamosDinner at the migrant camp in Matamoros on April 25. “Bathrooms are communal, kitchens are communal, sinks are communal,” says Perry, of GRM. “So it’s incredibly difficult.”

In the city of Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, roughly 2,500 asylum seekers await their court dates living on a muddy strip of land the size of two football fields on the banks of the Rio Grande. Among them is Perla, an asylum seeker from Nicaragua, who, along with her daughter and grandchildren, has been living in the camp for nine months while they wait to have their asylum case heard. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, their court date has been pushed back to July. Perla asked not to be identified by her full name after expressing concern for her and her family’s safety.

The family, like the other asylum seekers in the camp, face potential exposure to the coronavirus, which could spread like wildfire in the cramped conditions. Perla was a pharmacist in Nicaragua before she and her family fled violence that broke out under the administration of President Daniel Ortega, which she says resulted in her cousin being killed. She now works with a medical non-governmental organization (NGO) at the encampment to help try to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19, but if the virus does make its way into the camp, “it’ll be in God’s hands,” she says in Spanish.

Dr. Dairon Elisondo Rojas, a doctor from Cuba who is waiting for his asylum case to be heard, has been working with Perla and a team of volunteer health care workers from Global Response Management (GRM), an international medical NGO with a medical unit at the center of camp, to put in place protective measures to try to prevent an outbreak, something Elisondo says would “devastate” the camp if it arrived.

“All of these measures we’ve come up with, they were created in the context of the people who live in overcrowded conditions, people who live in unhygienic and unsanitary conditions,” Elisondo tells TIME in Spanish. “That’s what makes this plan of action unique.”

Fred Ramos—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA burial at a newly dug grave at the Municipal Cemetery No. 13 in Tijuana, Mexico, on May 12. Experts say Mexico’s COVID-19 case count and death toll have been underreported.

Everyone is instructed to sleep head-to-toe in tents that are open or have vents they can open, which they hope will limit the respiratory droplets they’re exposed to at night, Elisondo says. The team has created a hotline for people to call if they start to display symptoms, and have passed out vitamins in an effort to boost immune systems. They’ve also installed 40 additional sinks for hand washing and are making their own hand sanitizer.

However, despite their best efforts, since March 12, 19 people have presented with some combination of cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, abdominal pain—all symptoms of COVID-19. Most have been isolated at a sectioned-off part of camp, where they have access to their own bathroom setup. Others, with more serious symptoms, were removed to hotels. One man, for example, who had severe diarrhea, was vomiting and had a fever, was placed in a hotel to quarantine.

Seventeen of the asylum seekers have so far completed their quarantines and returned to the camp, but two patients who are showing symptoms, including one child, remain in isolation and are awaiting the results of testing by Matamoros health officials.

In general, the asylum seekers are concerned for their safety, Helen Perry, an acute care nurse practitioner and executive director of GRM, tells TIME. “Social distancing and quarantine in refugee situations is nearly impossible,” she says. “Bathrooms are communal, kitchens are communal, sinks are communal. So it’s incredibly difficult.”

Fred Ramos—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA family wearing protective masks mourns during the burial of a relative who died from coronavirus at Municipal Cemetery No. 13 in Tijuana, Mexico, on May 12.

But without widespread access to testing, it’s impossible to know if the virus has officially arrived. It’s the public health officials who determine who can receive a COVID-19 test, Perry says. Officials have so far tested eight people at the camp, and have only shared the results of one person, whose test came back negative. The two people who are currently in isolation were tested by public health officials on Tuesday, Perry says, but she’s unsure if she’ll ever know the results.

Experts say across Mexico the COVID-19 case count and death toll have been underreported. State officials in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where Matamoros is located, have reported 917 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday morning, and 56 deaths. The city of Matamoros has the highest case count and death toll in the state, with 205 cases and 16 deaths as of May 14. The actual case and death count could be higher, as Mexico ranks last for testing out of all countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to OECD, Mexico is only testing 0.6 people for every 1,000.

“With Mexico, as with many other countries around the world, their public health system, their public health infrastructure is very poor,” Perry says. “For us, it’s been very hit or miss whether we’ve been able to get our patients tested or not. But it would absolutely not surprise me to find out that the death toll [in the city of Matamoros] is much higher than what’s really known.”

Fred RamosA girl plays in the migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, on April 23. The city has the highest case count and death toll in the state.

To make due amid a lack of local COVID-19 testing, GRM says it has started to utilize thousands of antibody tests transported from the U.S. to use as a screening tool. Although there is widespread concern many of the tests might be flawed, GRM says these rapid detection tests can help the health care workers determine if someone was potentially exposed to the virus. “That’s the agreement we’ve come up with, with the public health department in Matamoros,” Perry says. “So we’re not using it to predict immunity or to predict who is safe to go out and about in public.”

Additionally, some shelters, including the one in Juárez where the mother from Brazil is staying, have implemented rules to try and prevent an outbreak. People are only allowed to leave if they have a court date — and if they do decide to leave they risk losing their spot at that shelter.

Other Juárez shelters — there are about 20 of them — have started to reduce their capacity to help with social distancing, Levy says. Most shelters have not been accepting new residents for several weeks, and personal protective equipment is limited.

“The shelters are incredibly dedicated in terms of doing everything that’s within the realm possible to try and prevent contagion,” she says. “But they’re still very limited.”

[kacydeneen]

For Asylum Seekers, Due Process Is Hard to Find

Flora boarded a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Atlanta earlier this month to attend a hearing that her attorney feared would be futile for both her and the U.S. government.

Flora, a 19-year-old Mayan Mam woman who struggles to walk because of a disability she and her attorney said was caused by persecution in Guatemala, flew more than 2,000 miles to report in front of an immigration judge with a recent 95.8% asylum denial rate. The immigration court didn’t provide an interpreter who spoke her regional dialect, so Flora couldn't even express herself.

Trump Unhappy With Special Counsel's Comments on Obstruction

"I never thought that I would suffer," Flora told NBC through an interpreter. "I never thought I would feel sad or frustrated in front of a U.S. judge."

When Flora arrived in Georgia for her May 17 hearing, she could at least wait with her attorney Alexandra Bachan at a cafe instead of at Irwin County Detention Center, a local detention facility where she had previously spent seven months.

Trump Says Russia Helped Him Get Elected, Then Denies It

When Flora was still detained at Irwin, she said she tried to call her attorney eight to 10 times per day for a month but the line inevitably dropped because most of the phones did not work (the center was unaware of any phone access issues, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Bachan, who asked NBC not to use Flora's last name to protect her privacy, flew to Atlanta to secure her client's release on bond in January.

The obstacles Flora has endured while seeking asylum in the United States resonate with immigration attorneys across the country. They say unfair parole and bond practices that keep asylum seekers detained long after they demonstrate a credible fear and immigration judges who do not seem impartial or independent have created an environment where violations to due process are rampant. With immigration judges under the purview of America’s top prosecutor, the attorney general, and with parole decisions in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security, lawyers feel asylum seekers face an uphill and often insurmountable battle.

Here's the Full Video and Transcript of Mueller's Statement

"I’ve never seen such due process violations as I do in immigration courts, and just really what I would consider an absence of justice,” said Anne M. Rios, an attorney with Al Otro Lado in California.

"There is no longer, it seems, a right to due process," said Luz Lopez-Ortiz, a senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

SPLC and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana on Thursday filed a complaint in the District of Columbia concerning the New Orleans ICE field office, claiming its "blanket denials of parole" under President Donald Trump have deprived asylum seekers of liberty without due process of law — in other words, fairness in legal matters. The field office, which exercises control in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, accepted fewer than 2% of parole requests in 2018. That’s in stark contrast with 2016, when the field office granted parole in 75.9% of cases, according to ICE data.

Asylum seekers who demonstrate a credible fear may be granted parole by DHS if they can establish their identity and prove they are not a security or flight risk.

The suit, which has been filed in relation to the ACLU’s Damus v. Nielsen case challenging parole practices elsewhere, is meant to compel federal immigration authorities to ensure asylum seekers do not languish indefinitely in detention. All of the plaintiffs came through a port of entry and demonstrated a credible fear of persecution or torture, according to the complaint. Though a decision would only pertain to the New Orleans field office, Laura Rivera, an SPLC attorney representing the plaintiffs, said she hopes the lawsuit will more broadly enforce the rights of asylum seekers to a fair and humane process.

But drawn-out detentions are only one of several hurdles stacked against asylum seekers. In April, representatives of the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed an administrative complaint regarding immigration judges in El Paso, Texas, detailing behaviors they claimed represented “a systemic pattern of dysfunction and lack of meaningful oversight in the U.S. immigration court system at large.” They found that immigration judges at the El Paso Service Processing Center immigration court placed arbitrary page limits on evidence asylum seekers could submit, denied appearances by telephone and made inappropriate comments such as “You know your client is going bye-bye, right?” and “Due process is an opportunity, not a privilege.”

“This isn’t just a problem in El Paso — it’s a problem across the board,” said Kathryn Shepherd, national advocacy counsel for the Immigration Justice Campaign at the American Immigration Council.

Since Trump took office, the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review has pursued two policies that attorneys fear may have made it even more difficult for asylum seekers to get a fair day in court. In early 2018, EOIR announced that it had “established new performance metrics for immigration judges,” and for a “satisfactory” performance review, judges must complete 700 cases per year. Those standards went into effect in October.

“When you’re placing quotas on judges or when you closely look at their denial rates for asylum and they’re subject to evaluations on those types of measurements, you can see how perhaps the process may not be the most constitutional,” Lopez-Ortiz said.

Then, in November, EOIR’s Director James McHenry sent out guidance that immigration judges should adjudicate asylum cases within six months, “to the maximum extent practicable.” When it was released, McHenry cited more than “350,000 cases in immigration proceedings with an asylum application pending,” part of a backlog of more than 859,000 pending cases based on immigration charges as of April 2019.

“Judges are human, and the types of pressures that are being placed on them is frankly indefensible,” said Judge Ashley Tabaddor in Los Angeles, speaking in her capacity as president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. 

She said quotas, deadlines, lack of access to interpreters and antiquated technology are putting "undue pressure" on judges who are trying to stay true to their oath of office.

“Everything we’re facing is due to the fact that we’re treated as an extension of a law enforcement agency,” she said.

Now, attorneys are reporting rushed court dates that do not give them enough time to build a case and frenetic hearings in front of inattentive judges. Rios said some judges are giving attorneys only two weeks to construct an asylum brief, which usually consists of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 pages.

“These things just take way more time than they’re allotting, and they know it,” said Bachan. “They certainly know it.”

Due process in detention When Mamadou Balde was detained in Guinea for his affiliation with an opposition party in 2018, he was tortured with hot water and beaten until he escaped, he said. Balde, 25, traveled through almost a dozen countries to seek asylum in the U.S. On the way, his brother was shot and dumped in a river in Panama by men Balde described as “mafia.”

For two days, Balde waited by the river for a sign of his brother. One never came.

When Balde finally arrived in the U.S., he was incarcerated again, this time at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County. He was eventually granted parole with a $10,000 bond, which he could not pay. So Balde remained in detention for six months while he awaited his asylum hearing.

Rios, Balde’s attorney, said parole from ICE in San Diego comes at a high price. That’s when asylum seekers are lucky enough to have it granted.

Attorneys say officers deliver denials with arbitrarily checked boxes to justify their decisions, and mistakes on ICE forms happen often. Rios provided a redacted parole request from Jan. 7, for a client who had come to the U.S. through a port of entry last fall. The parole denial was dated to Dec. 20 — weeks before the request had been submitted — and claimed that ICE had conducted a parole interview with the asylum seeker on July 31, 2015, more than three years before he entered the country.

In the detention centers overseen by the New Orleans ICE field office, Rivera said detainees are often notified of their eligibility for parole after the due date has already passed to submit documents and well after a parole interview was supposedly scheduled (the form provided to an asylum seeker is called a parole advisal). For example, one client received his advisal on Sept. 8, but the due date to provide documents for parole was four days earlier, and his parole interview had been scheduled for August. His family sent documents two days before he was given the advisal, but he was still denied parole on Sept. 10. Rivera suspects ICE never truly considered the documentation they sent.

“We don’t think that any of them are conducting an actual review of the request. We think they’re just rubber stamping the denial,” Rivera said.

When asylum seekers are detained, it makes it harder for them to pursue their asylum claims. For one, it can be challenging to find counsel, especially when detention centers are remote and require long drives to visit. Rivera said one of the men under the jurisdiction of the New Orleans field office was guaranteed representation through his wife’s attorney if he was released. Instead, because he is still detained, he must represent himself in his asylum claim.

Even if detainees have an attorney, the fact that they’re incarcerated makes it more difficult to piece together evidence. During quarantines, detainees can’t meet with their lawyers. And even on normal days, Rios said she has waited almost three hours just to get a client’s signature.

“I feel like all of these things add up to really affect the client to where the system is stacked against them,” said Rios.

An ICE spokesperson said via email that generally speaking, legal visitation is allowed seven days a week, including holidays. Custody decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account factors such as immigration history, criminal history, medical history and ties to the community, and parole decisions "consider many of the same factors."

He could not confirm incidents described in this story without the names and dates of birth of each asylum seeker. 

"ICE officers review all the facts of a case before making parole determinations, and the processes is (sic) done professionally, humanely and in accordance with federal law and agency policy," the spokesperson said. 

Due process in immigration courts When Flora moved in with her aunt in Oakland, California, after being released from detention in Georgia, Bachan filed a motion for change of venue so that her client could finish her asylum case closer to home. Because of her disability and modest means, Flora told NBC, it’s difficult for her to fly.

Her impaired motor functions were likely caused by blows to the head from assailants in her home country who targeted her because she is indigenous, her attorney said. Flora today still feels the lasting impacts of those injuries, which make her hands and feet cramp and cause tremendous pain.

Judge William A. Cassidy denied the motion, even though DHS did not oppose the change of venue.

“It definitely flies in the face of long-held case law and just common practice,” said Bachan. “It’s just a consensus that if someone relocates, they need to be able to go to court close to where they live.”

Days before the May hearing, Bachan found out that the court had ordered the wrong interpreter and called the judge’s clerk and court administrator. Judge Cassidy still made her and Flora travel to Atlanta, which cost roughly $2,797 just for flights. Only when they arrived did he decide the hearing could not proceed because Flora could not communicate without a capable Mam interpreter. A date for her next hearing has not yet been scheduled, and she is now filing an unopposed motion for change of venue. 

Flora said Judge Cassidy made her feel like trash. “He got angry a lot,” she said. “He didn’t ever listen to what I said.”

NBC contacted EOIR for a response from Judge Cassidy but was told immigration judges do not grant interviews or make statements. EOIR did not comment on the record about more general requests surrounding due process in their courts at the time of this article's publication. Complaints regarding an EOIR judge's conduct can be filed online.  

Tabaddor, with the National Association of Immigration Judges, said she does not comment on particular cases but emphasized that the association is committed to standing for due process and professionalism. She said she and her colleagues constantly remind judges to be mindful of their oath of office, "which means you have to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”

In San Diego, Rios warns clients that, as they talk about some of their most difficult life experiences, the judge may not even look at them. She remembered one judge who, during four or five hours of testimony, looked at her client just two or three times. One of those times, she said, was when the judge criticized her client for not displaying the right emotion.

Tabaddor said that judges might not look at asylum seekers because they are taking notes, knowing they will have to deliver an oral decision mere minutes later.

Sometimes, judges won’t allow attorneys to speak. When William Silverman, a partner at Proskauer in New York, visited South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, for a week last June, he represented four children in their appeals after negative credible fear determinations. The cases were heard one after the other in a court trailer within the family detention facility, where the judge appeared by video.

Silverman asked, “Your Honor, may I be heard?” The judge said no. Silverman was allowed to state his appearance, but he could not otherwise speak.

“If a proceeding is going to be a joke, that should be a big red flag,” he said.

Silverman felt it was clear the judge had already made up his mind before they convened. As he denied each child’s appeal, he told them, “good luck in your home country.”

“To have that cavalier attitude in the face of such hardship in my mind violated everything we are as a country,” Silverman said.

When judges join government attorneys in cross-examining asylum seekers, Rios said, it compromises their impartiality — especially when the line of questioning has little to do with the asylum claim. At Balde’s asylum hearing, the government attorney asked him about his mother, who still lives in Guinea. The judge chimed in, asking Balde if he loved his mother, and what he could do from here to protect her if police arrested her. He could do nothing, Balde said, because he was detained in the U.S.

“It was actually to the point that it nauseated me,” Rios said.

Balde was granted asylum. But not everyone he met along the way got the same happy ending.

“I know so many people, they suffer in detention center(s),” he said. “So many people, their case was denied.”

There is a mental image Silverman thinks about a lot from last June. In a waiting room, people sat patiently before being called into a side room to discuss their credible fear interviews. They had to wait for a while, Silverman said, but no one ever complained. He remembers how so many of the women sat for hours staring straight ahead of them, trauma etched in their faces.

“I really view it as a refugee crisis, the equivalent of people fleeing war zones,” Silverman said. “There’s no policy here that could be cruel enough to deter people from crossing the border.”

Photo Credit: Southern Poverty Law Center This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. For Asylum Seekers, Due Process Is Hard to Find published first on Miami News

[rnrmarineservices-blog]

Why cruising sailors should consider using a professional weather router

If you're making an ocean crossing this year, employing a weather routeing service could make for a safer, smoother, and faster sail

Should you consider support from aprofessional weather router on your next ocean crossing? With costs lower than you might realise, maybe it's time you should. Employing the services of an expert meteorologist is not just the preserve of the record-chasing ocean sailor or professional crew.

Avoiding heavy weather or potentially dangerous conditions is the main reason bluewater sailors seek out weather routeing advice. Stephanie Ball is a forecaster and router in Gibraltar, whose MeteoGib service covers the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel and Strait of Gibraltar, as well as yachts making transatlantic and other ocean crossings.

Safety is always foremost in my mind, she explains. If the accuracy of weather data and availability has improved so much and many storms are now so well documented, why are ships still caught out? Admittedly there are situations when stormy conditions can develop very quickly or where in a vast ocean one has nowhere to go, but I wondered what I could offer to help.

Data such as GRIB files is now commonly available, but only of use if you are a seasoned sailor with the communications tools to download all the available data, and confident enough in your weather skills to interpret these. GRIB data is fantastic and around 90 per cent of times is correct, but I think there can be an overreliance on its accuracy.

GRIB data is also only as good as the resolution being downloaded, it can't always capture the finer detail or tell you the options of a developing storm which perhaps isn't being handled well. This you would only gauge by reviewing several models. The invaluable benefit that I as a professional forecaster can bring is the improved safety aspect when the weather falls foul, because I have all the data to hand and can analyse the bigger picture.

Category 4 hurricane

Ball's services were tested in 2015, when a Cat 2 cyclone developed along the route of the 67ft Blue Pearl. In late October and early November I was instructed by Nicolas Vergnes to help his team with a delivery from Turkey to the Maldives. Weather forecasts were sent every two days as requested with wind, weather, sea state and swell.

After passing through the Suez Canal, I informed them on 28 October about a low which had developed off western India. Over the next few days this became more of a concern as it intensified unusually rapidly. While communications were difficult in the area, I shifted to sending several forecast updates daily and advised that Nico head for land and seek shelter as a matter of urgency.

Cyclone Chapala developed from a low pressure system into the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Gulf of Aden

In the matter of a few days, what had now become Cyclone Chapala had intensified to a Cat 4 or Extremely Severe cyclone, heading into the Gulf of Aden on 2 November sporting winds up to 215km/h and a 30ft swell where it became the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Gulf of Aden. Blue Pearl made it to safety.

Skipper Nico Vergnes recalls: When we came out of Bab el Mandeb Strait, things changed for us; Stephanie detected a cyclone rapidly heading direct to the entrance of the Gulf of Aden. Stephanie was with us at all moments, she really worried for us, our security and health. In all she sent us 24 messages with forecasts and attempts to warn/advise us of the cyclone position. We are very grateful for her sending us the forecasts so early and [because of] this we had time to take action. Without her work, our situation would have been completely different and we might not be here to tell our story.

With so much at stake, why don't more sailors use a shore-based forecaster?

Not that many are actually using the service, says Simon Rowell, who is meteorologist for the British Sailing Team and has forecast for events such as the Clipper Round the World Race as well as individual sailors. Not among amateur sailors anyway, because I think the perception is that it can be quite expensive and if you've done your RYA courses then you know about weather anyway.

Simon Rowell of Rowell Yachting Services provides routing for individual yachts as well as events and pro teams

However, Rowell recommends that anyone sailing beyond their comfort zone should consider having some onshore back-up, even if you don't use a professional service. If they are going over waters which are significantly further away from their normal cruising ground, or if they're doing something that is potentially at a more messy time of year, then I would recommend it. For example, if you bought your boat in the Med and you've got to get it back home in winter because that's the only time you can take time off.

Basically whenever you're doing something you haven't really done before, then it's worth if nothing else just picking up the phone and speaking to someone who's a little bit more experienced or has access to a little bit more data. That's quite important, and I think it's important for people like me not to automatically charge 300 for that.

Even if it's just a friend that you trust who's done a lot of sailing and knows his or her way around a synoptic chart, if you ping them an email each day and at least someone ashore is looking out for you.

Ten potential routes for the same yacht over the same period using ten different weather forecasts

Eye from shore

Weather routeing support is not a substitute for having sufficient knowledge on board, and Rowell is keen to point out that he requires skippers to stay engaged with the conditions and forecasting for their own safety.

If I'm doing forecasting or routeing for, say, people on their first transatlantic, I'll ask them to tell me every morning at 0600 what the weather's doing, so basic observations and their thoughts on what's going on. The way I do it is like leaving a note for the milkman: so if the weather's fairly settled and they don't need me to give them any input then they can mail me and say: We're at this latitude, this longitude, we're going in this direction heading towards the next waypoint, and don't need anything from you today, thank you very much.

So they're not locked in to paying for every single day if they don't want to, but they also have the knowledge that even if they don't specifically want something back from me that day I am plotting their position electronically and I'm having a look. And if I think that they really should be getting some advice from me I'll do that anyway.

What they have, which I don't, is that vital eyeball on the barometer which is a really important thing, which is why I get them to send it in every morning. If nothing else, it gets them to look at it.

However, what a forecaster can offer is a huge time saving, both in downloading and examining data. Rowell explains: I'm sitting here in Cornwall with a massively fast internet connection, whereas if you're on a boat it's a bit tricky and really expensive to do. So I have access to an awful lot more weather here than they will on board.

It's also the time, and the faffing around. If there's only two of you or four of you on board, there's other stuff going on.

Stephanie Ball adds: A good forecaster can take the worry out of your sailing, and hours spent poring over charts and pondering the options. A good forecaster should look at various models, and also keep an eye on any real-time data such as from ocean buoys or satellite imagery to help make as accurate a forecast as possible. By tracking your daily progress a forecaster can offer a bespoke forecast exactly to your location. A good professional won't just look at winds but also sea state and where possible will try and help you avoid the more challenging or uncomfortable conditions for your boat.

Ball has advised boats that are becalmed and re-routed yachts when the situation changes on board. For instance my client John Alcantara found himself halfway between Portugal and the Azores with a steering cable failure and having to set up an emergency tiller. It's having someone to help you make safe decisions for you and your crew, to watch over you and to take the worry out of your sail.

John Alcantara confirms: In August 2016, we set off on Citadel, a Jeanneau 54DS, on our adventure. A trip from Gibraltar to Azores and back had been on my bucket list for a while but we never expected a steering cable failure to make the passage more challenging than anticipated. Helming a 54ft boat with an emergency tiller is very hard work. We were almost 400 miles from the Azores when the steering cable parted.

We considered a diversion to Madeira 175 miles to the south but on advice from MeteoGib we decided that conditions on the 375 miles left to the Azores were more benign.

The invaluable YB trackerenabled us to stay in contact with Stephanie and feel that someone ashore was aware ofour predicament.

Stephanie Ball, of MeteoGib, launching a weather balloon

Surprisingly affordable

Having someone with a land-based connection crunch the data for you can be relatively cost effective. The data I use for a standard forecast to send out to people, I'm downloading here probably the best part of a quarter to half a gigabyte per forecast. And over a sat connection that would be an immense cost, explains Rowell.

There is still a cost associated with receiving the forecast, but this it can be edited down to key information. I spend quite a lot of time getting my file sizes as efficient as possible so I try and really make sure that the stuff I send them is as small as possible email size, and if they do want pictures which not many people do these days then I cut that right down. If it's GRIB files that they want, then I make sure they are at the most efficient size.

Ball comments: It doesn't have to break the bank. There are various options for accessing professional support including calling by satellite phone, marine planning forecasts, or receiving short simple forecasts to your satellite phone or tracker.

How much?

Simon Rowell says that for an average 40-footer Atlantic crossing, his company Rowell Yachting Services charges no more than 500 for his time and email support.

For an estimated two-week Atlantic crossing, MeteoGib* charges 70 for daily 24hr SMS-type forecasts to a sat phone or tracker. Full support over a two-week crossing, with MeteoGib available for advice, tracking progress and forewarning of inclement weather which may develop across your route, is 140.

Cheaper options include forecasts every two or three days. Additional forecasts and outlooks cost 5.

*Costs as at April 2017

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